SPANISH CIVIL WAR IN VIC (1936-39) - COOLTUR€¦ · • 1936-1939 as Government of the Popular...

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SPANISH CIVIL WAR IN VIC (1936-39)

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RUTA TURÍSTICA DE COOLTUR TURISME CULTURAL

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THE SECOND REPUBLIC

On April 14, 1931, the Second Republic was proclaimed in Spain, after the

monarch Alfonso XIII left the country to emigrate to Italy. With the proclamation

of the new democratic regime, a new constitution was drawn up on December

9, 1931, which marked a hitherto non-existent separation between Church and

State, and also accepted regional autonomies (with the approval of the Statutes

of Autonomy of Catalonia, 9 of September of 1932, Euskadi, October of 1936,

and Galicia, 1 of February of 1938).

We can divide the Second Republic into three very clear phases:

• 1931-1933 as the Biennial Reformist, where the new government of the

Republic implemented a large number of reforms, such as improvements in

labour rights, reform of the army, creation of a law for divorce, secularization of

cemeteries (the cemeteries began public places and non-ecclesiastical places),

the dissolution of the Society of Jesus Christ, the construction of new schools

(with a change of the law of education, no longer segregating classes for

reasons of sex), etc. All these reforms were strongly criticized by parties of

right-wing ideology, as well as by the church and the army, without receiving

much support from the working classes. This Government, moreover, had to

face some attempt of military uprising.

• 1933-1936 as Black Biennium, where the new Government of the Republic

was formed by right-wing political formations. During this biennium, the new

Government paralyzed all the reforms made during the first biennium. In

addition, this government had to deal with the uprising of the Asturian miners,

as well as the revolt, known as Acts of October, in Catalonia (in which the

Statute of Autonomy was suspended, and representatives of the Government of

the Generalitat were imprisoned after Lluís Companys proclaimed the Catalan

State within a Federal Republic of Spain).

• 1936-1939 as Government of the Popular Front, where the left-wing parties

regain the government, and restart the reforms begun in 1931. This is the

Government that had to manage the entire Civil War after the attempt, half-

frustrated, Coup d’état by conservative sectors of the army.

BEGINNING OF WAR

On July 19, 1936, two days after the troops of Morocco rose, there was a

military uprising in Catalonia. This revolt was halted thanks to law enforcement

and groups of different popular militias (formed by militants from different

political parties and trade unions, as well as volunteers).

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Although in Catalonia, as in other Spanish regions, the uprising could be

stopped, this Coup d’état triumphed in other parts of the territory, and in this

way, the Spanish Civil War began.

The Government of the Republic, seeing the military uprising, signed decrees

dissolving all the units of the Army that took part in the coup d’état, and licensed

to all the troops whose commands had been put against the republican legality.

This decision of the Government left, the state, practically without troops of the

army. In addition, most of the army chiefs who had rebelled were executed by

the popular militias.

The disappearance of the army, together with an increase in the armed civilian

population, led a total collapse of the public administration, which was replaced,

for a brief period of confusion, by neighbourhood, local and district committees,

formed by heavily armed civilians.

During these days, the prisons of Catalonia were opened, releasing the

prisoners (most of these prisoners were common criminals) to fill them with

people of right ideology, religious people, military people, etc. (they were

detained by their ideas and beliefs). This repression was made using the legal

methods that existed. However, 8,500 people were killed by the "uncontrolled"

who acted on their own. The Generalitat attempted to prevent these massacres,

as well as the destruction of religious buildings, archives, libraries and religious

treasures by giving passports and protecting the departure of thousands of

people, and protecting religious buildings to avoid their destruction. In certain

towns and cities, in addition, the local committees managed to save some

buildings, such as Girona Cathedral, Seo de Urgel, Tarragona, etc. However,

religious practice was reduced to clandestinely, causing Catalan Catholic

opinion approach to Franco.

To try to redress this situation of huge disorder, on July 20, 1936 President

Companys met with the union leaders to try to reach an agreement. First he

admitted their merit on the victory against the rebel army, and he apologized for

the repressions that these organizations might have suffered in the past. In

addition, he also offered them power (knowing they could not accept it) and

proposed to create a Central Committee of Antifascist Militias, an organization

that was accepted by the CNT-FAI. On November 27, 1936, when the CNT-FAI

decided to join the Government, the Central Committee of Antifascist Militia was

dissolved, establishing, again, the power of the Government of the Generalitat.

In this agreement, the Generalitat was made up of three representatives of the

CNT, two from the FAI, three from the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya

(ERC), three from the UGT and one from the Catalan Republican Union,

Rabassaires Union, PSUC and POUM.

In addition, from the outset of the Civil War, different groups of militias

(volunteers) went to fight in Aragon, with the idea of recovering Zaragoza. All

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these columns were made up of volunteers who wanted to fight against fascism,

and others eager to use weapons taken. These groups, without military training,

were advised by some military chief, and they obtained the first victories in the

field of battle.

Once the Generalitat took control of the situation, it tried to regularize all the

collectivisations of companies that the committees had done, as well as to try to

investigate and to prosecute all those crimes that the revolutionaries had

perpetrated without a legal trial.

During the war, the large ideological divergences of all the political forces that

acted in Catalonia (anarchists, communists and socialists), exploded on May 3,

1937, giving way to the well-known "Acts of May", creating a War within the

War, where communist groups clashed against Generalitat, while CNT fight

against POUM. These events took place in Barcelona and lasted a week,

leaving near 280 dead.

Once the events of May were controlled, a new Council of the Generalitat was

formed.

VIC

From the elections of 1934, Vic had a city council formed, basically, by

members of Unió Ciutadana, a party that comprised of the Lliga Catalana

(with right ideology). This city council operated in the city until 20 of July of

1936, where all the members of this party resigned, leaving the city council in

the hands of ERC.

During the war years, like the rest of Catalan and Spanish populations that were

under the republican zone, this city lived a huge disorder.

Many people of Vic were killed, at the beginning of the war, for their ideology

(right) or to be part of the clergy. Many buildings were confiscated and, as the

war progressed, large numbers of soldiers and law enforcement personnel

moved to Vic. In addition, the city had to organize the reception of a large

number of refugees who were arriving at Vic. One of the huge problems that the

city council had was to try to distribute the food, increasingly scarce to an

increasingly large population.

The war was advancing, and the front line was, each time, closer to the city,

until on February 1, 1939, when the Francoist troops, commanded by General

Franco, occupied the city.

From COOLTUR we want to propose a tour of Vic to discover the years of

the War until this city was occupied by Franco army.

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Major Square

Town hall

In order to make a more pleasant and

careful explanation, we have

considered necessary to subdivide the

explanation into different apparatuses,

because the subject to be treated has

a great complexity.

1. The formation of the city council of Vic

Since the elections of 1934, the city council of Vic counted with a Government

of Unió Ciutadana, a party that formed part of the Lliga Catalana, a right-wing

political formation. With the outbreak of the Civil War the city council met on

July 20, 1936, in the mayor's office to hold an extraordinary session in which all

members of Unió Ciutadana resigned their charges, leaving the city council in

hands of the political formations of Popular Front. With this decision, ERC

regained the mayoralty of Vic.

However, during the first months of the Civil War, in Vic, as in all other Catalan

towns, there was a duality of powers between municipalities and local

Antifascist Committees. In Vic's case, this committee was constituted on July

19, 1936 and lasted until its dissolution on October 12, 1936, when the

Generalitat create governments of popular restraint in against the War. These

governments should have a number of representatives for all organizations

related to the Popular Front (the number of representatives of each formation

was marked by its territorial weight). In the case of Vic, the new consistory, that

was constituted on October 19, was formed by 6 representatives of the

Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), 6 representatives of the Francoist

Confederation of Labor (CNT), 4 representatives of the General Union of

Workers (UGT), 2 representatives of the Union of Rabasaires (UR), 2

representatives of the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM), and the 2

representatives that were assigned to Acció Catalana were distributed between

CNT and POUM.

2. First Days of War. Mobility and dead

After the beginning of the Civil War there was a period of large uncertainty. In

fact, groups of militiamen built a series of barricades and parapets at the

entrances of Vic to try to avoid a possible entry of the army into the city. All

these barricades were held until the end of October.

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In the destruction of religious elements, all the militias forced all the inhabitants

of Vic to take all the religious elements that they had in their houses in the Major

Place to be burned, under threat of registries. Many inhabitants made

alternative bonfires in different points of Vic. Some religious merchants were

forced to rent trucks to be able to transport all the religious elements they had in

their stores.

In the early days of War, the companies remained closed until the committee

gave the guidelines to reopen all establishments. In addition, some of the

companies in Vic were confiscated by workers' committees, where in some

cases the former owners were allowed to continue working as one more

employees.

In addition, during the first few days, as we will see later, a large number of

churches were burned, and many people, mainly religious or right-wing

extremists, were killed. Vic was no exception, and during the first months of the

Civil War a large number of people were murdered for their ideology. There

was, therefore, a large ideological persecution. All these dead were known as

the dead of roads, because their corpses were found near the roads (it is

necessary to say that not only the republican side persecuted and killed people

of the Catholic Church. The Francoist army tortured and killed a large number of

clerics). As a result of these persecutions, many religious people or right-wing

ideology hid to avoid being executed by groups of exalted people. During these

first months, in addition, many of the houses of religious people or of right-wing

ideology were registered by the militias of Vic, who seized everything they

thought opportune. Once the situation stabilized, from the Generalitat, as well

as from the different municipalities, many of the perpetrators of these murders

began to be investigated, detained and tried.

Another point to note is that once the Civil War began, and until October 1936,

everyone who wanted to circulate had to have a pass that they issued from the

local committee. If people did not have this pass, people could be detained.

3. The Facts of May 1937

The ideological differences between the different political parties and trade

union formations of the Popular Front created some tensions between them.

All these tensions culminated with the well-known facts of May of 1937, where

the fight by the control of the different institutions caused fights between

communist groups with the Generalitat of Catalonia, as well as fights between

CNT and POUM. Although the peak of these events occurred in Barcelona, Vic

also experienced a period of strong tensions.

At the outbreak of these events, at the beginning of May, militants of CNT in Vic

built several barricades and parapets at the entrances of the city. All of these

points were protected by members of this organisation heavily armed.

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In view of this conflict, the City Council tried, from the outset, to resolve the

conflict by negotiating with all parties. These events lasted for a week, but had

certain consequences for Catalonia.

Once these events happened, the city council issued an edict in which within 72

hours, everyone had to deliver any type of weapon in the Town Hall. In addition,

in late May and early June, assault forces carried out a series of searches and

arrests of persons linked to the events in May, most of the detained were

members of CNT.

As a direct consequence, a new municipal council was formed at the beginning

of July, which was constituted by 14 councillors, because CNT did not present

the 6 representatives that corresponded to them, alleging that a persecution

had been carried out against its organization. Until October, CNT did not return

to comprise of the municipal council of Vic.

4. Supplies and Economy

From the outset, the town hall of Vic had to face the lack of products. He tried to

control the prices of these products because some farmers, in view of the

increasing scarcity, increased the prices of their products.

In addition, it was tried to control the movement of these products trying to

guarantee it access to the inhabitants of the city (as the months passed, more

people from the metropolitan area of Barcelona went to Vic to try to acquire

products of first necessity, creating the procession of the potatoes, because

in Barcelona the scarcity of food was more notorious).

In 1937, the city council created family ration cards, which were necessary to

be able to buy any product both in stores and in the market. Also, the city

council implemented the same menu for all restaurants. As the months passed,

scarcity became more noticeable. In 1938, the council ordered to cultivate all

unpaved and solar sites within the city. In order to guarantee that all children

could have access to food, a Children restaurant was created, subsidized by

the Carabineers corps, which served food to all children at a price of 2 pesetas

per child.

The council had the same problems of scarcity with gas and electricity. In the

case of gasoline, as early as 1937, the circulation of private vehicles was

banned to use this product in war.

Electricity had to be rationed. In this respect, steam trains were reincorporated

for railway journeys, because electricity was reserved for the war industries.

With the increasing scarcity, the prices of the products were increasing.

The market was saturated, and the money circulation was paralyzed. In order to

try to revive the economic market, Generalitat emit banknote of 10 and 5

pesetas on October of 1937.

The problem is that the currency issued was too high to be used in commercial

transactions, and that is why the municipality of Vic, like the rest of Catalonia

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municipalities, issued paper money that only had validity of the municipality of

Vic.

5. Actions for war

Another aspect that also had to face Vic city council was to manage the defence

of Vic, as well as the organization of the war.

Vic city council, from the first moment, took actions for the defence of Vic.

Already 26 of October of 1936 tested a siren that had been installed in the

tower / bell tower of the Town Hall to warn the population of possible

bombings.

At the end of the 1936, the city council issued an edict giving 24 hours for all

property owners in Vic to have a written list of the characteristics of their

properties (number of

floors, existence of

underground, etc.) in

order to calculate the

defensive conditions of

the city. Once the

defensive conditions

were calculated, at the

end of 1937 the city

council began to

construct different air

raid shelters in

different buildings to

face possible

bombings. These

supposed bombings became reality in late 1938 and early 1939, where the

Francoist Army bombarded Vic four times, causing low human casualties and

material damage.

Regarding the organization of War,

from the City Council had to deal

with various aspects, like the

military formation for men, because

most of them had no formation in

this aspect, and the Government

wanted to create a regular army. It

is for this reason that already 1936,

began to make a series of military

practices to train men. These

1 Actions for War. Fons Sala Relats (Arxiu Comarcal d'Osona)

2 War Propaganda. Fons Sala Relats (Arxiu Comarcal d'Osona) 1 War Propaganda. Fons Sala Relats (Arxiu Comarcal d'Osona)

2 Actions for War. Fons Sala Relats (Arxiu Comarcal d'Osona)

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practices were done in the various sports fields.

As well as the city council, the different parties and unions started, too, some

military practices for their affiliates.

He also had to face the requisition of vehicles to use them for the War. These

vehicles were used to help in the front or to move refugees from areas that were

in the front line.

Another problem was the number of deserters and fugitives. Either for

ideological reasons or for fear of having to fight, many men hid in places close

to their home (these were known as ambushes), or emigrated to other countries

or to the Francoist Spain. Public administration tried to find all these "deserters".

It also penalized the families of those who had gone to the Francoist Zone, as

happened in September 1937, where all the families that had a member in the

Francoist Spain were forced to deliver a bed with all its equipment to the city

hall. As the war progressed, more and more efforts were made to find the

fugitives, many of whom were located and detained.

6. Vic at the end of the War

As the war progressed, the battle front was increasingly closer to Vic.

In the case of Vic, the presence of the Republican army increased and settles in

the city, using this city as an operations centre. Some hospitals were installed

too in this city. This increased number of new citizens increased the problems

for inhabitants to be able to access to the essential supplies to survive.

Major Square

This Square has been the city's

nerve centre ever since. In this

place is where the famous Vic

Market is celebrated, and the land

has been an immovable element,

creating the expression of "Terra

Plaça".

Obviously, during the war was also

an important point for all citizens.

This square is where Vic's market was celebrated, which lived, with concern,

the shortcomings of the war, seeing how it became smaller while the shortage

of products was increasing.

Also in this place were demonstrations of all kinds, from parliaments of the city

council, demonstrations complaining of the increase of essential products such

as milk, and concerts, such as the day the members of the International

Brigades were saw off.

However, we would like to point out a fact that occurred in this place at the

beginning of the War. As we have already explained, an anticlerical movement

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started. This movement pursued all catholic elements as the conservative

ideologies (right-wing ideology). This movement was characterized by

destroying the catholic elements, so on September 8 of 1936, all Vic's

families and businesses were forced to carry, in this Square, all the

religious symbols they had in their homes or businesses, under threat of

being registered and executed in case of failure to comply with the order.

(Some religious image dealers had to rent trucks to be able to transport all of

their products.) Once they had all the objects stacked in the square a big

bonfire was made to burn them all. It is known that some neighbours made

other bonfires in different streets.

Head west across the square

72 m

Casa Joaquim Costa, Casino of Vic and Can Mastrot (or house Comella)

Many houses and premises in Vic

were confiscated and used as the

headquarters of the parties and

trade unions that were attached

to the Popular Front.

In this case, we know that Casa

Joaquín Costa was used by

PSUC, Vic Casino by CNT-FAI,

POUM and ERC, and Can

Mastrot or Casa Comella by

commissions of collectivized

trades such as carpenters and

cabinetmakers. Other collectivized

trades installed their premises in

other Vic buildings, such as

locksmith, electricians and plumbers

who settled in the old school of Sant

Josep, buldiers and pawns that was

in the old parish of Carmen, Painters

who installed in the basement of the

old building that occupied the

Catholic Youths, Barbers and

hairdressers occupied different

buildings of Carme Boulevard, Hospital

Boulevard, Garces Square and

Promenade.

3 Estat Català Headquarter. Fons Sala Relats (Arxiu Comarcal d'Osona)

4 PSUC Headquarter. Fons Sala Relats (Arxiu Comarcal d'Osona)

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Go down to Verdaguer Street until reach Rambla Hospital

60 m

Turn left and go down to Rambla Hospital

103m

Casa Abadal

As we have seen before, many buildings

of Vic were occupied to install the

headquarters of the different parties and

trade unions. The city council also

installed different delegations in different

buildings of the city, deconcentrating all

the consistorial activity. In this building

was where the delegation of culture

of and the Public Order Department were

installed.

Turn around and go up to Rambla Hospital towards north

103 m

Cross Verdaguer Street and continue, heading north, through Rambla del

Carme

95 m

Continue along Rambla del Carme

40 m

Turn left and continue, direction northwest, for Calle del Pare Coll to the end

283 m

On the left is the Pare Coll Convent

5 Sindicat Agrícola Headquarter.

Fons Sala Relats (Arxiu Comarcal d'Osona)

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Pare Coll Convent

As we all know, war is a warlike

conflict that carries a large number

of consequences, such as deaths

or the destruction of inhabited

areas. Another direct consequence

of a war is the large number of

refugees it creates. Many people

try to escape to save their life.

Within the refugees we could

distinguish two groups. Those who

flee for fear of reprisals from the

rear and those who flee from areas close to the battlefields.

Many Vic citizens, especially those who belonged to the clergy or had a right-

wing ideology, fled at the outset of the war for fear of reprisals by radical

groups. Also refugees were those people who fled to refuse to fight in a war

they did not want or simply did not want to fight alongside the Republican side

as they felt more identified with the " Francoist " movement. Many of these hid

in other Catalan towns where they had relatives and / or acquaintances and

where they could go unnoticed, because people would not recognize them.

Also, many others emigrated to France or moved to areas occupied by the

Francoist Army.

Although many citizens of Vic fled, the city welcomed many refugees fleeing the

firing line, or areas occupied by the Francoist Army. Once they arrived in this

city, they were located in different buildings of the city, or in other towns in the

Osona region.

Although later we will see others, one of the buildings used to accommodate

refugees was the convent of Pare Coll. Maybe, the first refugees who

occupied this building were the 210 people who on 26 December 1936 arrived

by train from the Balearic Islands.

As the war progressed, the number of refugees increased. The City Council

was placing these refugees in different buildings, and when one building was

already full, another was used. At the end of the war many of these refugees

were relocated to private homes, especially in family houses that were

considered right-wing.

The city council gave to all refugees a place to stay and a ration card to survive.

Although it may seem a utopia compared to today, the reception of the refugees

was not very traumatic for the population, because everyone was suffering the

consequences of war and empathy was great.

At the end of Pare Coll street turn left and continue along Ronda Francesc

Camprodon

225 m

Continue through Ronda Francesc Camprodon

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65m

Mil·lenari Square

As we saw in the previous stop, the

arrival of refugees did not stop during

the whole war. Every time a building

was full, another building was set aside

to locate the arriving refugees.

One of the buildings used in 1938 to

locate refugees was the old bullring

of Vic, a square that no longer exists,

but which was located just where the

building of the Mil·lenari Square is currently located.

Turn left and go down Bisbe Morgades Street

136m

Cross the street of Arquebisbe Alemany and continue along the street of Bisbe

Morgades

113m

Turn left and climb Verdaguer Street

59m

Vigatà Theatre

We could say that in this building

was where the War began in Vic.

In this theatre, on July 19 and 20

of 1936, the two assemblies that

marked the beginning of the War

in Vic took place. Specifically, on

July 19, all the parties and trade

unions affiliated to the Popular

Front created the Antifascist

Liaison Committee. This committee, which

governed Vic's life during the first months of

War, was led by CNT-FAI representative,

Francesc Freixenet, who ordered a general

strike throughout the city. As we have seen

previously, the committee had authority over

other existing authorities, such as the city

council itself.

The beginning of the war was a strong

anticlerical movement and against the people

and families of right-wing ideology. Many 6 Teatre Vigatà in 1930. Fons Sala Relats (Arxiu Comarcal d'Osona)

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Catalan towns had already begun to burn religious buildings, and that is why the

Antifascist committee met on July 20 in the same theatre to discuss the issue.

At the end of the assembly, Vic's committee had decided to create a

commission to visit all convents of the city and control the interior life to try to

avoid possible dangers. However, since the Vic committee could not prevent

the burning of churches in the city, as we will see later.

The committee worked until the month of October of 1936, dissolving with

an act that was celebrated in this same theatre.

Also, during all the War, in this theatre different propaganda acts were realized

by the different organizations of the Popular Front. Among these acts, we wish

to highlight official parliaments of members of the Government of the

Generalitat, acts of homage to the URSS, or concerts to raise funds for the

Blood Hospital, for the War, for refugees and for children.

Different assemblies were also held to organize the population in the face of the

war, such as meetings for the construction of the Aviation camp, or assemblies

to inform all men about the military training they were to receive.

Turn around and go down Verdaguer street direction west

59m

Turn left and go down of Bisbe Morgades Street

194m

Can Forcada Park

Currently the building no longer

exists, and to remember it, this

park was created with its name.

According to people of Vic, in this

place was the second Roman

temple of Vic, because the

building had an appearance to

the building that is called Roman

Temple.

As the War progressed, there

were more and more refugees at

Vic as the city became increasingly militarized, where different companies of the

army and the public order had settled here.

In this building, in particular, was where in 1938 was installed the

dependencies of the Popular Army to operate all its units from here.

Reach the end of Bisbe Morgades Street

85m

Turn right and walk up Dr. Junyent Street until you reach a roundabout

181 m

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Cross the Avenue of the Catalan Països and continue, straight, by Historian R.

de Abadal Street

230 m

El Sucre

It is known that every war involves a

large number of industries directly

related to it in order to build

vehicles, armaments, ammunition,

uniforms, etc.

Many Catalan companies saw their

activity paralyzed to start producing

war material, to supply the army that

was fighting fiercely on the

battlefield.

In Vic's case, we know of two war industries. One was the Busquets factory,

from which we do not know its exact location, where hand pumps were

made. The other industry was installed, at the end of 1937, in the Sucre

factory. In this factory was located a company for the assembly of warplanes.

Its dimensions and location made it ideal for this purpose, since, as we will see

later, it was located not far from the Airfield.

The installation of this industry entailed the arrival of workers, surely engineers

or mechanics. It may be said that the workers of these war industries had

certain advantages over the rest of the population. As they worked in a key

sector to deal with the Francoist Army, workers were guaranteed a larger

amount of food than the rest of the population. However, all these workers did

not enjoy weekends, since production could not be stopped.

These two industries, like the power station in Vic, were a military objective by

the Francoist Army from the outset. In fact, these three facilities were the target

of the various bombings suffered by the city of Vic during the War.

Turn left and go down Llotja Street

79m

Cross Mercat Avenue and continue, heading south, down Llotja Street until the

end

257 m

Airfield

As early as 1936, the Generalitat of

Catalonia envisaged a series of actions

to deal with the war, such as the creation

of airfields throughout the Catalan

territory to establish different aviation

bases for the Republican army.

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One of the places with the greatest potential to build airfields, thanks to its

orography, was the Plana de Vic. In fact, there are known airfields in Santa

Eugènia de Berga, in Tona-Balenya, or in Sant Julià of Vilatorta. Another airfield

was constructed in Vic.

This field began to be constructed in 1936, and was located between the

present house of the Griell and the Remei. Many unemployed people were

assigned to work in the construction of the airfield on a permanent basis,

creating a brigade of about 60-70 people, but for construction also mobilized, on

specific days, the workers of the different companies of Vic.

The intention of the government was that it was a quick construction to have, as

soon as possible, operational this airfield. Despite the desire of the government,

its construction was slower than expected.

Already in April of 1937 airplanes began to land. We highlight the landing of

Indalecio Prieto, one of the leaders of the PSOE, who made an incognito visit to

this city. Apart from Indalecio Prieto, Azaña and other ministers of the

Republican Government also landed, as well as many Councilors of the Catalan

Generalitat, who were gathered in the house of the Heures, which was right

next to the field.

Already in 1938, between 12 and 14 bombers were used for the practices of

the pilots of the republican army. With these practices, the army evicted

many country houses that were around the airfield, since they wanted to avoid

that the people could see, exactly, what works were realized in this field.

All the pilots who arrived at Vic were housed in the schools that were

between the meadow of the Riera and the bridge of the Calla.

This field of aviation was a military objective from 1937. They are conserved

reports that describe to us as this field counted on some underground of cement

reinforced, as well as a deposit of gasoline located in the house and old chapel

of Sant Llorenç. In fact, some of the bombings that Vic suffered, were destined

to try to destroy this airfield to make difficult the Republic army its actions.

Continue along the same street, east direction, passing the side of Horta Nova

Park until you reach a roundabout

181m

Cross Països Catalans Avenue and down Pep Ventura Promenade

93 m

Cross Remei Bridge

101 m

Turn left and walk up Carretera de la Guixa until the end

301m

Turn right onto the Generalitat Promenade until you see Sagrat Cor convent on

your left

25 m

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Sagrat Cor Convent

This convent was quickly

abandoned by its inhabitants, who

fled fearful for their life, and was

reused from the outset.

Already at the end of 1936, this

building was used by the Militias

of Vic, which tried to mobilize

different volunteers to be able to go

to the Front.

The use of this building by the

Militia did not last long, since from the month of June 1937, as a result of the

events of May 1937, was installed to the corps of the Assault guards. The

government tried to distance the militias from security forces, trying to control

the security forces directly.

Some 150 Assault Guards settled, although later the number of members of this

corps increased.

This corps was in charge of enforcing all provisions dictated by both the

Generalitat and Vic City Council. The citizens' view of this corps was not very

good; as they considered that they used the power of their uniforms to have

access to large quantities of food, while the neighbours went hungry. They were

also criticized because they considered their members were people who shied

away from going to war, when by age and training, were good candidates to go

to the front of battle.

Turn around and go up Generalitat Promenade

25m

Continue, direction North, by the same Walk

68m

Cross Lluís Vila and Abadal Street and cross the bridge in front of us

74 m

Continue straight on, heading north, going through Jaume Balmes Park until the

end

172m

On the left there is Sant Domènec Convent

Sant Domènec Convent

Before we talked about the War industry

that settled in Vic, which was located in

the Sucre factory and the Busquets

factory. Although that industry was the

one that was most related in warfare,

another company, key to the

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Government of the Generalitat, also settled in Vic.

In April 1938, from Tarragona, all machinery was moved to install, just in this

convent, a tobacco factory.

As we have said, this industry was also a key to the Generalitat. The number of

smokers in the society was very large, since we have to think that during that

time, smoking gave a good social status. In addition, it must be remembered

that the front had a large number of people mobilized, who were to be provided

with tobacco, one of the few "pleasures" they could still enjoy.

Cross Rambla Sant Domènec and continue northwards along Sant Antoni

María Claret Street

75m

To the right was Mercè Convent

Mercè Convent

Once the Civil war began, this

convent was object, already in the

month of October of 1936 of

looting. In fact, from the committee

were created different brigades to

remove all the metal from the religious

buildings, as well as the bells of these,

to take all this metal to the foundries

of Manlleu to be used as material of

war.

Apparently, also different brigades were created to demolish the convent of this

building.

The area not demolished was used,

already from 1937, to install to

different groups of refugees that

arrived at the city.

Refugees were also found in the

Saïts convent, Sacramentaries

Convent, Beatas convent, Josefinas

convent, Santa Teresa convent and

many stately houses of the city.

When all these buildings were already

occupied, the refugees began to be

distributed to private houses, especially

those considered as right-wing.

7 Convent Demolition. Fons Col·lecció de

Fotografia Històrica de l'Ajuntament de Vic (Antoni Robert). (Arxiu Comarcal d'Osona)

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Continue, north direction, by Sant Antoni Maria Claret Street

28m

Turn right and continue along Gibraltar street until you reach Catedral Square

63 m

Cathedral

As we have seen before, the Local

Antifascist committee, presided over

by Francesc Freixenet, created a

commission that should manage the

life of all the convents and churches

of the city, in an attempt to

safeguard them from burning and

destruction. In spite of the efforts of

the Antifascist committee of Vic, the

misfortune could not be avoided and on July 21,

1936, along with other churches, such as

Mercè, Davallades and Remei, these were

burned. Other religious buildings were burned

only with the furniture and religious images

they had, such as the church of Carme, the

Saït, Santa Clara, the Third Rule and the

Beatas among others.

Written sources say that the Militiamen who

caused the fires came from the Hospitalet de

Llobregat, but according to some witnesses, the

Militiamen who burned the churches of Vic came

from Santa Coloma de Gramanet. Apparently,

those Militiamen, commanded by a woman,

intended to burn the

church of Granollers, but

were stopped by the local

committee of Granollers.

Their desire for action led

them to Vic, where they

burned the churches

mentioned above, along

with the Cathedral, the

Episcopal Museum and the

Episcopal Palace. As the

fire burned, the militiamen,

heavily armed, did not let

the firemen act. Some

8Interior of the Cathedral after the

fire. Fons Sala Relats (Arxiu Comarcal d'Osona)

9 Cathedral Roof after the fire. Fons Sala Relats (Arxiu Comarcal d'Osona)

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youths ignored the militiamen and began to put out the fire, which caused the

ignorance of fire-fighters to the militiamen and start work. Although they could

not save the cathedral, they managed to put out the fire of the Palace and the

Episcopal Museum.

The ruins of the cathedral remained there,

and these were looted to collect all the

metal. The month of September the bells

were extracted, throwing them from the

top of the bell tower. All this material, as

we have seen before, was taken to the

foundries of Manlleu to be used as war

material.

We can say, then, that with the burning of

Vic Cathedral began the persecution

against people of the clergy or right-wing

ideology. The dead people found near the

roads were many, and although the

Generalitat tried to find the culprits of

these crimes, could not find them all. Vic's

local committee tried to guarantee the

safety of many priests and right-wing

people, but the arrival of militiamen from

other municipalities made it impossible to

guarantee anyone's personal integrity.

Throughout the war, many priests and right-wing people hid themselves. Some

went to the Francoist Spain. Others, like the mayor of Vic at the outbreak of the

War, Manuel Gros and Raguer, chose to seek refuge in other towns in

Catalonia where citizens did not recognize them.

Turn left and cross the Cathedral Square

45m

Turn right and go through Cloquer Street, passing between the Cathedral and

Bisbe Oliba Square

80m

Continue along the same street

20m

Turn right on Vergós Street

33m

Cross Malla Square north direction until you reach Mont-Rodon Square

26m

10 Interior of the Cathedral before its reconstruction. Foto: Francesc Xavier Bach Puigferragut

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Santa Clara Convent

The present convent, which we

have in front of us, was created

after the war, because the

convent of Santa Clara, which

was located in the Santa Clara

Square, was burned and

demolished during the war.

The convent of Santa Clara was a

point of inflection in the War in

Vic, because here the first

deaths of the War took place.

On July 23, 1936, when people of the militias went to this convent to sack him

and take the priest, they found the resistance of the priest's relatives, firing on

them and causing the death of the priest's nephew.

During the months of July and August, in this convent, an Economic Dining

Room was managed by the local committee. This dining room was moved to

the Ristol Fonda, as we will see later, on September 11, 1936, since on that

date began to tear down Santa Clara’s convent.

Continue, heading north, passing Guiu street

29m

Pietat Square

In this square was located the

headquarters of the Federation of

Young Christians. This building,

like others, was seized and used by

the Libertarian Youth and POUM.

In this square was also the house

of many religious, priests and right-

wing people. These houses

successively looted by the Militia,

who took away all the valuable

pieces they found. Also many of these neighbours were victims of the murders

of the rear, finding their bodies near the roads that were around Vic.

Turn right and continue on Pietat square

29 m

Continue along Dues Soles street, crossing Don Miquel de Clariana Square

until the end

126 m

To the right we have the Convent of Santa Teresa

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Santa Teresa Convent

As we have seen before, this

convent was used to install

part of the refugees who were

arriving in Vic during all the

War. These refugees occupied

this place until the month of

March of 1938 when a group of

about 200 soldiers from the

sector of Valencia arrived at

the city and settled in this building.

These soldiers came to clean up all those young men who had not been in

ranks and had hidden in country houses around Vic. In order to search for these

fugitives, the guards controlled the documentation of all men there were in Vic.

If they found people who did not show up or did not keep the documents in

order, they were arrested.

They also made statements to all relatives of fugitives.

We must keep in mind that not all the fugitive men who were discovered were

arrested by these, since there are many cases of executions to people not

presented, since they were considered deserters and they were applied the

code of War, where the accusation of deserter was a grave accusation that was

usually paid with death.

The year 2017 it was found an arsenal hidden in this building. Although the

press related it to CNT-FAI, the fact that Republican military occupied this

building in 1938 makes us think that this arsenal would correspond to these

military forces.

Cross Bisbe Torras and Bages Street and continue, direction northeast, by the

Santa Joaquina Vedruna Street

95 m

To the right is the Convent of El Escorial

Escorial Convent

In this building, the Town Hall

Supplies Committee of Vic

was set up. This committee,

as we have seen at the outset,

set about regulating the prices

of products to try to ensure

that everyone had access.

The use of this building by the

committee was until April

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1938 when this committee moved in dependencies of the City Council,

and El Escorial was occupied by 400 carabineers.

The carabineers were the body in charge of keeping the borders. Since the war

began, this body was in charge of monitoring the borders to prevent the flight of

many citizens, especially men, to France.

At the end of the war, when food was almost impossible and the prices of the

products were very high, this corps created a Children's Room, which

served menus for the little ones at a price of 2 pesetas per child.

Continue along Santa Joaquina Vedruna Street, crossing Santa Eulàlia Square

69m

To our right is the convent of Josefines

The Josefines

In this building is where a hospital was installed for

the war wounded. The majority of the wounded who

entered this centre came from the International

Brigades, although also wounded of other companies

were attended.

The hygienic conditions of this centre were not very

good, but they were enough to try to cure the different

wounds that their patients suffered.

Many young people from Vic worked in this centre as

nurses. The hospital was open until the occupation by

the Francoist Army of Vic.

The wounded that were in better condition were

part of various demonstrations that took place in

Vic, until October 29, 1938, when a demonstration was held to dismiss all

members of the International Brigades.

Continue along Santa Joaquina Vedruna Street until the end

30m

Turn left and continue along Sant Pau Street until the end

134m

Turn left onto Màrtirs Square

53m

Turn right onto Màrtirs Square

45m

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Fusina Street

In this street was located Fonda

Ristol, an establishment that was at

number 1 of this street, and that at the

moment no longer exists.

As with all other restaurants, this

establishment had to adapt to the

shortage of products during the war.

Also, at the beginning of the War, and

by order of the City Council, this

restaurant had to serve the menu

dictated by the consistory.

We would like to highlight two specific moments about this establishment. The

first is on September 11, 1936, when this establishment was set up the

Economic Dining Room that the local committee of Vic had created a few

months earlier in the convent of Santa Clara.

The second point is already at the end of the War, precisely the month of

August 1938, when this inn was used by the staff of the air army,

operating in the field of aviation that we have seen previously.

Continue, direction northwest, by Fusina Street

91m

Cross Trinquet Street and continue, straight, by Sant Fidel Street

86m

To our left is the old Hotel Colon

Colon Hotel

As we have been repeating, as the war

progressed, more army and law enforcement

corps settled in Vic.

In this building was where the general

command of the carabineers corps was

installed as early as 1938. This body is

responsible, among other things, to keep the

borders.

3000 members of this corps arrived in

Vic, so the squad together with the

offices occupied this building while the

rest of the carabineers were divided by

Vic ex-convents, as well as in other

towns like Taradell, Tona, Malla, Seva

and Guixa.

11 Hotel Colon Advertising in Publicació Artística de Vic 1936

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Turn left and go down, direction southeast, along Rambla del Passeig

88 m

Cross Rambla del Passeig

Turn right and continue along Sant Vicenç Street

31m

Turn left and continue along Argenters street until you reach Canonge Collell

Square

53 m

Turn right and follow Canelles Street

42 m

Turn right and cross Sant Felip Square

18 m

Continue along Ciutat Street

37 m

To our left is Casa Cortada

Cortada House

The events of May 1937 had serious

consequences for the Government of

the Generalitat. The struggles

between the different parties and

trade unions in the Popular Front are

usually explained, but it is not usually

explained that the Central

Government decreed a state of

emergency, suppressing freedom

of expression, and causing the

Generalitat of Catalonia to lose its competition in Public Order and

Defence.

This decree lost much power to the Generalitat of Catalonia. The Central

Government appointed a colonel to control the Security of Catalonia. In

addition, all municipalities, although they did not disappear, lost their authority.

This authority was awarded to the delegate of Public Order appointed

directly by the Central Government.

A delegate of Public Order was appointed for each district, which was

accompanied by a number of assault guards who tried to throw the Militia from

the security corps. As we have seen before, the assault guards settled in the

convent of Sagrat Cor, while the delegate of Public Order settled in this

house.

The delegate of Osona was Jose Torres Panadero, an officer of the Corps of

Vigilance, and was responsible for all the county services that, since July of

1936, had managed the Local Ministry of Defense. Thus, this delegate was in

charge, from June 3, 1937, to organize Vic's public order and his defence

against the War.

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Turn right and we just walk up Ciutat street to Major Square

39m

Major Square

We arrived at the last stop of our tour. At

this point, we will explain how the

Francoist troops occupied Vic, causing

this city to enter into Franco territory.

With the defeat by the Republican Army

of the Battle of the Ebro, the well-known

Campaign of Catalonia began a military

campaign by the Francoist Army to

occupy the rest of the Catalan territory

that was still under republican power.

With the beginning of this campaign, the first line of fire was increasingly

approaching to Vic. The republican army, with morale lower and lower,

attempted to withstand the different attacks of the Francoist Army, in part, even

, on the conviction that the war could be won, in part to try to safeguard the

various tours of evacuation by the increasingly numerous refugees. In addition,

to try to hinder the march of the enemy, the Republican army was destroying

bridges while burning strategic places like grain stores.

On January 31, 1939, the corps of the Maestrazgo army, of the Francoist

Army, flanked Vic occupying the Tallada, Collsuspina, Sant Sebastià and the

Cross of Gurb. The occupation of these places was not random, because

previous reports of intelligence of the Francoist Army had chosen these points

like ways to occupy the city of Vic.

The intention of the Francoist

Army was to make the

offensive to occupy the city of

Vic on February 2, leaving, in

this way, a day of rest to the

troops. However, Franco's

generals' fear that

Republicans burned a large

number of strategic points in

both Vic and Manlleu led the

Vic offensive to be advanced

on February 1, 1939.

Thus, on the afternoon of

February 1, 1939, the

Francoist Army began the offensive in the city of Vic, conquering this city

after a few hours. Apparently, the Francoist Army found little resistance from

the Republican Army, as it had withdrawn early in the afternoon. However,

12 Pont de Queralt after the occupation of Vic in 1939. Foto: Francesc Xavier Bach Puigrefagut

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before retiring, most of the city's bridges, such as the Queralt Bridge, as well as

the entrance to Manlleu Street had been flown, thus attempting to slow down

the enemy's march.

During Vic's occupation, the Francoist Army made about 1700 prisoners, and

the prize of the battle was 6 aircraft prepared to fly, 12 aircraft still being built,

some 60 aircraft engines, a large number of artillery shells and a large number

of railway and electrical material.

Vic was part of the Francoist Spain. The cover of the Vanguard on February 2

was quite eloquent "Vich returns to be part of Spain".

Chaos dominated during the first days of being occupied. Ifni shooters,

popularly known as "Moors", were engaged in entering the houses where they

killed people to steal possessions. In addition, the violations were abundant

during these first days. To try to avoid this, many citizens hung, at the entrances

to their homes, a paper that read "This house is inhabited by its owners.

Arriba España. Viva Franco”

With the entrance of the Francoist troops, the religious practice was recovered

officially. The first Mass that took place in Vic was February 5. This was a

Campaign Mass celebrated in the Major Square, which had the numerous

presences of the inhabitants of Vic. At the end of February, on the 26th, the

First Procession of the Way of the Cross was made since the beginning of

the war.

The war was advancing, and in all the occupied towns they were creating

municipal management commissions to manage the populations, until the

municipal representatives were officially appointed. On 6 February, the

management commission of Vic was formed, where Josep Sala, a 75-year-

old lawyer, became Vic's acting mayor. This first city council had to manage the

city, as well as the currency exchange (causing huge problems to people, since

many were scammed and ruined, claiming that the currency they had was not

good).

Little by little, under Franco's rule, normality (if you can call it that), was

reinstalled again. The transport began to return to work, and on 11

February the Vic - Barcelona train was restored.

From COOLTUR we wish you have enjoyed this touristic tour, and you will

have a very good day.

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SPANISH CIVIL WAR IN VIC (1936-39) - COOLTUR€¦ · • 1936-1939 as Government of the Popular...

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Transcript of SPANISH CIVIL WAR IN VIC (1936-39) - COOLTUR€¦ · • 1936-1939 as Government of the Popular...