Government pays tribute to Catalan deportees to Nazi concentration camps

Collective memory is a fundamental tool for ensuring we do not "repeat the mistakes of the past," President Salvador Illa stated during a ceremony held by the Catalan government on Monday to honour Catalans deported to Nazi concentration camps.

At the same, memory is "fragile and vulnerable," Salvador Illa warned at the event in the Saló Sant Jordi at the Palau de la Generalitat in Barcelona, which was also attended by Catalan justice minister Ramon Espadaler.

“We must take care of our [collective] memory and adopt strategies that allow young people to make it their own," Illa said, warning of the growing climate of armed conflict around the world and the rise of the far right.

The president referred, for example, to the controversy sparked by the raised-arm salute made by the billionaire Elon Musk during celebrations following Donald Trump's US election victory – a gesture widely condemned as fascist in many quarters.

Illa warned that this was not an "isolated incident."

He noted that the far right is now the third largest political force in the European Parliament.

Descendants of Catalan deportees to Nazi camps – liberated 80 years ago – were also present at the event, with Illa describing them as "spokespersons of history and defenders of the present."

He also underlined the Catalan government's commitment to being "at the forefront of strengthening the democracy we have fought hard to achieve."

Over a thousand Catalans were killed in Nazi concentration camps, many of them after going into exile in France after the Spanish Civil War. 

"Never again"

The Minister for Justice and Democratic Quality, Ramon Espadaler, said that it was a "civic and ethical duty" to remember that democracy "has a price" and that it must not be taken away "by any regime or under any circumstances."

"Never again, and not anywhere," he reiterated, noting that "very close to home," there are currently situations that are "absolutely indefensible." 

Espadaler also expressed concern over surveys showing a significant number of young people who would not oppose a dictatorship as a response to certain crises.

He highlighted the importance of "passing memory on to younger generations."

Spain transitioned to democracy in the years following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.

Neus Català

Listen to the podcast below on Neus Català, a remarkable woman who defied the Nazi regime and spent a lifetime battling injustice.