Spanish Civil War Memory Project

Summary

María Magdalena García Hernández tells that her granddaughter found on the Internet that the libraries of the University of California, San Diego and Columbia University have archives that include drawings she made during the Civil War. María Magdalena recalls being a child during the war. She remembers that in the mornings they were picked up and taken to France, and at night they were returned to Spain. María Magdalena narrates that the man who cared for them would make the children draw things about the war to keep them occupied. She recounts making a drawing of houses damaged by the bombardments and another of the refugees crossing the border to reach the tunnel and enter France. María Magdalena relates that she and her family sought exile in France in 1939 and were placed in the Argelès-sur-Mer concentration camp. She notes that later the mothers and small children were taken to a refuge in Cordes-sur-Ciel, and the men were placed in a concentration camp. María Magdalena explains the importance of her drawings and the reason why she drew damaged houses. The archive, "They Still Draw Pictures: Drawings Made by Spanish Children during the Spanish Civil War, circa 1938", can be found on the webpage of the Special Collections & Archives of the UC San Diego Library at: http://libraries.ucsd.edu/speccoll/tsdp