Spanish Civil War Memory Project

Summary

Francisco Cedenilla was born in Talavera. Francisco recounts that his father was a day laborer and his mother washed clothes for their cousins in order to help support their six children. He describes his father as apolitical. Francisco notes that in the 1931 elections, one of his parents voted for the Republic and the other against it so that later the family would not be penalized. He relates that his family fled to the mountains on September 11, 1936, following the beginning of the fighting in Talavera. Francisco recalls the atmosphere of the town as well as his family's experiences. He details that on October 15, 1936, his father was summoned to the police barracks and the family never saw him again. Francisco explains that his father's execution was an act of revenge and implicates the local priest in the execution. He tells of working for Renfe (the Spanish national railway network) after the Civil War. Francisco speaks about the struggle he and his children have taken on to exhume his father's remains in order to finally bury him next to his mother