Testimony of Lluís Martí Bielsa, interview with Andrea Davis; June 30, 2009

Part 1

Interviewee:
Martí Bielsa, Lluís
Interviewer:
Davis, Andrea
Interview date(s):
June 30, 2009
Published:
Madrid, Spain, Spanish Civil War Memory Project
Number of Tapes:
8
Notes:
Martí Bielsa's testimony was recorded in Madrid. Testimony is in Spanish without subtitles.
Topics:
Political prisoners
World War, 1939-1945
Geographics:
Aragon (Spain)
Barcelona (Spain)
Burgos (Spain)
Spain
Corporate name:
Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas

Summary

Martí Bielsa was born in 1921 to an impoverished family from Aragon. Before the Spanish Civil War his father was blacklisted and couldn't get regular work. At one point his parents even sold their linen in order to eat. During the Civil War Martí was associated with the Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas (JSU). After the Civil War he went to Paris to work in a German-owned factory. During World War II he helping the Resistance with sabotage campaigns. After World War II he worked underground with the PSUC. In 1946 he was detained, tortured and incarcerated at the Carcel Modelo in Barcelona and also at Burgos. He participated in hunger strikes while in prison, and describes a horrifying six-month period in dark solitary confinement. Martí Bielsa is the author of a memoir, Un d'entre tants : memòries d'un home amb sort (2012)