PODCAST: Neus Català - Fighting fascism across borders in WWII

On this week’s podcast, we explore how one remarkable woman defied the Nazi regime and spent a lifetime battling injustice

Neus Català sitting on the train tracks near Barcelona's Estació de França
Neus Català sitting on the train tracks near Barcelona's Estació de França / Pilar Aymerich, courtesy of the Fundació Neus Català
Catalan News

Catalan News | @catalannews | Barcelona

May 10, 2025 09:45 AM

May 10, 2025 10:07 AM

On May 8, 1945, the Second World War ended in Europe. Eighty years on, we reflect on how Catalonia was affected by the conflict and highlight the remarkable story of Neus Català, an anti-fascist resistance fighter and Holocaust survivor from Tarragona.

Press play below to listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or Spotify.

Reporters Lea Beliaeva Bander and Cillian Shields join host Beth Cohen to discuss the effects of WWII in Catalonia and discover the story of a Catalan woman who dedicated her life to fighting fascism. 

We meet Dr. Alejandro Acosta, contemporary historian at the Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, who recounts Neus Català’s journey from rural Catalonia to the concentration camps of Ravensbrück and Holleischen, to her later years dedicated to the historical memory of Nazi atrocities. Neus played a vital role in the anti-fascist struggle in the French resistance as a Republican exile, carrying messages, participating in the escape networks, providing food to guerrillas and giving the Nazi soldiers false information. Plus Ricard Ribera Llorens, president of the Neus Català Fundació, analyzes the ongoing presence of fascist politics in contemporary society and the conditions which favor its’ expansion.

This week, our Catalan phrase is a quote from Neus Català herself: “L’única mort que em preocupa és la mort de la memòria” - “The only death which worries me is the death of memory.” 

Get in touch with the podcast team: fillingthesink@acn.cat

Listen to more episodes of Filling the Sink below or find out more here.

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