The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, on his visit to the Criminal Detachment of Chozas de la Sierra, currently Soto del Real, has announced that a census will also be prepared of the people who suffered the consequences of the prison and the Board of Trustees for the Redemption of Penalties for Work.
The Secretary of State for Democratic Memory will prepare an inventory of the works that were erected with forced labour during the dictatorship
03/01/2024
The Secretary of State for Democratic Memory will prepare an inventory of the works that were erected with forced labour during the dictatorship
Soto del Real, Madrid
The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, has announced that he will promote an investigation into forced labor in Spain with the aim of preparing a census of victims and an inventory of buildings built with forced labor during the dictatorship: "Our souls are broken when we hear the testimonies of daughters and granddaughters of those who suffered prison for defending democracy and who were forced to work in conditions of inhuman misery and isolation." These are statements made by the minister in the course of a visit to the ruins of the Chozas de la Sierra Criminal Detachment, currently Soto del Real, in which during the dictatorship more than 2,000 Republican prisoners of the 6,000 who worked in the construction of the train line between Chamartín and Lozoya, of the Madrid-Burgos railway were confined.
This location of the Sierra de Madrid is discovered as one of the darkest and most forgotten episodes in the history of Spain "They were people who defended democracy and who, therefore, suffered prison and forced labour. Silence cannot be the answer and to restore its memory we have a Democratic Memory Law that we will continue to develop and promote," he said.
In the surroundings you can see the remains of shacks built by the prisoners where, in little more than four square meters, women and children survived overcrowded, near their husbands, parents or sons and daughters. The minister assured that the work will continue "because they are of justice" and explained that the Secretary of State for Democratic Memory is promoting studies of recovery of this part of the forgotten memory in Chozas de la Sierra, Bustarviejo and Las Jarillas de Colmenar Viejo.
