Spanish Civil War Memory Project

Summary

Jesús Tello Gómez was born in Zaragoza in 1924. Jesús describes his family's life during the Republic. He tells of the coup d'état and the Civil War, and recalls the closing of schools, the Italian volunteers who joined the Republican forces and anti-Fascist militias, and the unity of the regional villages. Jesús comments on the Battle of the Ebro. He recounts that in 1939, he and his family went into exile in France and were placed in refugee camps. Jesús explains that at the start of World War II, they were taken from Ruelle to Les Alliers in Angoulême. He relates that he and his father were part of the Convoy de los 927, the nine hundred and twenty seven Spanish refugees who were taken to the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. Jesús presents a thorough description of life in the Nazi camp, detailing its conditions, the deaths--including that of his father--, the illnesses, and the extreme abuse the detained suffered. He discusses being moved to the Gusen concentration camp, where most of the Spanish exiles died. Jesús narrates the arrival of the U.S. Army and the liberation of the camp, noting that he helped take down the Nazi eagle at the entrance of Mauthausen-Gusen. He remembers being taken to Paris and settling in Toulouse. Jesús speaks about the left and the current political parties