New research names hundreds of International Brigades who died in the Spanish Civil War

New research by the Catalan government has identified hundreds of international fighters who died or went missing in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).

The study focuses on southern Catalonia, a key battleground in the war, and shed light on foreign volunteers who joined the anti-fascist fight as part of the International Brigades.

The Department of Justice and Democratic Quality in Catalonia published the findings through its 'Alvah Bessie programme', which documents the role of international volunteers in the war. 

The documents expand the official list of International Brigade members known to have fought and died in Catalonia to 1,139 names.

One study focuses on 208 Italian volunteers, most of whom fought with the Garibaldi Brigade, a unit made up largely of Italian anti-fascists who had fled Mussolini’s regime. 

Researchers were able to determine likely locations where many of these men disappeared or were killed.

A second study looks at 363 fighters from the Garibaldi Brigade and the Czecho-Balkan Battalion.

These units played major roles in the Battle of the Ebro in late 1938, one of the largest and bloodiest campaigns of the war. 

Of these 363 combatants, 226 were International Brigade members, and in most cases researchers have now pinpointed where they went missing or were killed.

"The Alvah Bessie programme, and specifically these two studies, consolidates the recognition of the international brigades as an essential part of the democratic memory in Catalonia," said the Director General of Democratic Memory, F. Xavier Menéndez.

People from more than 50 countries volunteered to defend the Republic during the Spanish Civil War, many of whom are still being traced through records and battle sites across Spain.

Catalonia has stepped up efforts in recent years to investigate the legacy of the war and dictatorship. Authorities have identified around 1,000 Civil War and Franco-era mass graves across the territory.