Railway Historical Memory. Purification

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Approximately 90,000 records

From the outset, the rebels set up a repressive apparatus in which 'cleansing' - the obligation to prove non-culpability - played a central role. The Law of Political Responsibilities on February 10, 1939, consolidated what was previously legislated in this aspect, putting its articulation at the service of “purifying” all those who had belonged or had some kind of political relationship with the “enemies of the National Movement”.

This was reflected in a large and detailed catalogue of cases that, according to the gravity estimated, required the imposition of punishments ranging from absolute or special disqualification from work to estrangement, confinement, banishment or total loss of property, in the latter case even extending to their descendants in the cases they had inherited.

On the railway all the workers were confined to an “alleged guilt” that could only be exonerated if they went through an investigation process conducted by the Debugger Tribunals created ad hoc by the railway companies for each group of professional categories.

About ninety thousand workers had to submit an affidavit stating what their relationship with the front populist parties had been. A large number of them were punished, which resulted in a stigmatization of the whole group.

This section makes available to society the documentary references existing in our archives on the purification process.

Railway Historical Memory. Railways sanctioned in the purification process in application of the Law of Political Responsibilities

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4.592

The rebels made it clear from the outset that they would apply specific repression to women because of their gender status. Their central goal was to achieve their social submission by confining them to the sole role of “wives and mothers.”

This led to their expulsion from the labour markets or their placement in a labour situation that was discriminated against by men. In short, they were attributed a permanent “minority of age” status.

Research indicates that 4,592 women were “purged” as an application of Law 10/02/1939 (only one day after the Law of Political Responsibilities and not repealed until the death of Franco), which provided for the beginning of the purge of public employees who were in the areas controlled by the rebellious army. The Decree of 27/02/1939 extended the law to the purge of corporations and public service concession companies, which included the staff of railway companies.

These women, like their peers, had to prove that they had an “unblemished” political past and that they had not opposed the National Uprising to be able to regain their jobs. However, the crimes attributed to them were always considered more serious because they were women and many were punished for the crimes attributed to their husbands and children, when otherwise this circumstance did not occur.

This process was documented and all the files are kept, with information on each process – charges, disclaimers, deletions and sanctions – and their work and personal trajectory. Thanks to the latter, it is possible to rebuild their working situation with respect to men and the existing family networks since many of them were family members of railway workers. At least, it is known that 716 railway workers received some kind of labor sanction.

The incorporation of women’s work in the railways occurred during the last decades of the 19th century, when companies went to the wives of workers on the roads and works to keep the steps at a level with salaries that represented between a third and half of that received by men. The companies considered this work as an ex gratia concession to supplement family income.

In this way, a great hegemonic female labor collective was formed in the railroad –the guardesas- that the companies institutionalized in labor as a “species” of extension of their husbands. At a considerable distance there was a second group made up of women recruited for cleaning duties, with women performing skilled trades being marginal.

Although the Republic established legal equality between men and women, its application in the labour market was limited and late. In 1931, maternity insurance, breastfeeding allowance and medical and pharmaceutical rights were introduced. However, the ban on women performing hazardous and night work, as was the case with railway guards, was maintained. This sexist policy reached its epicentre when the military coup plotters in the Labour Court of 1938 accepted the principle that the State “liberated the married woman from the workshop and the factory” to ensure that she fulfilled the role of wife and mother that supposedly corresponded to her by her nature.

It is not surprising that, after the constitution of the new regime, they were incorporated into the prohibitive catalogue that could be registered in the placement offices if they were not heads of families or access to high-level jobs in the Administration. They were also forced to take a forced leave in the event of marriage, which affected several hundred railway women.

To access the document you have to open a PDF that contains the list.

Railway Historical Memory. List of railway workers convicted by Francoist courts between 1936 and 1944

1936-1944

1,378

The railwaymen were the subject of judicial proceedings, the balance of which is unknown. However, in 1944 Renfe prepared a report with the aim of knowing the situation of those workers who were punished with the greatest severity by the purification process, which provides the only information available in this regard.

According to the Report, in 1944 railway workers convicted by courts, in most military cases, totaled 1,378. The sentences were extremely serious since 79.2% of the established sentences exceeded 12 years in prison.

97 railway workers were sentenced to death and 35 to life imprisonment. The most prevalent sentences were between 12 and 13 years with 322 cases, over 30 years with 266, between 6 and 7 years with 181 and between 20 and 21 with 155.

Railway Historical Memory. Forced workers belonging to BDSTP 95 and BBTT 151 and 68

1938-1945

Approximately 9,000

The railway was also used for several thousand prisoners to serve long sentences as forced labor in different works.

Forced labor in the railway infrastructure during the Franco regime constituted one of the various facets of the Franco repression that was undertaken in two major modalities:

• Concentrational System: Worker Battalions (BBTT) and Worker Soldier Disciplinary Battalions (BDST).

• Criminal detachments in which thousands of prisoners were working, to which the System of Redemption of Penalties for Work was applied.

Since 1938 prisoners of war and political prisoners have been used in different railway works: repairs, double-track constructions and new infrastructure. Between 1939 and 1940, the number of forced labourers exceeded 9,000.

During the last months of the war, work on the railroad accounted for 7.1% of that done by prisoners of war. The figures remained close to 3,000 until 1945; declining thereafter to below 500 during the 1950s.

In the link that we share you can access the list of forced workers belonging to the Disciplinary Battalion of Penalized Working Soldiers 95, and the Workers Battalions 151 and 68, from 1938 to 1945. It includes in detail all the works carried out on the railway.

To access the document you have to open a PDF that contains the list

Railway Historical Memory. Stories of life

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9

It gathers unique and forgotten stories of the railway workers who were victims of the civil war and Franco's repression. Each life is unique and reflects the troubled times that they had to live. It is important to count on the participation and collaboration of their descendants so that the story of their grandparents, parents and relatives is not forgotten and has a place in our memory.