Testimony of Felicidad García Bienzobas, interview with Luis Martín-Cabrera and Andrea Davis, August 1, 2008
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Asociación de Ex-presos y Represaliados Políticos Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica Federación Estatal de Foros por la Memoria University of California, San Diego García Bienzobas, Felicidad Davis, Andrea Martín Cabrera, Luis
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García Bienzobas, Felicidad
Description
Felicidad García Bienzobas was born in 1916 in Bierzo. Felicidad recounts that her mother's family were Republicans and her father was the sole Republican in his family. She notes that her family did not go to Church and, according to their official sentences, she and her sister were imprisoned for not going to mass and for painting their fingernails red. Felicidad recalls first being sent to prison in Salamanca and then to a women's prison in Guipúzcoa with her sister. Meanwhile, her father and her brother were detained in the Burgos Prison for four and a half years. She describes her experiences inside Guipúzcoa , a monastery that was converted into a prison where the nuns were the guards, and tells of the hunger and typhus inside the prison. She remembers that the nuns were sympathetic to the Basque nationalist cause and did not mistreat the prisoners. Felicidad was released on July 30, 1941, and subsequently reunited with her family in Madrid. She speaks of her family's life and comments that her father returned from Burgos a psychologically broken man. Felicidad relates her and her family's relationship with the Azaña and Unamuno families. She discusses her son and husband's experiences as political prisoners. As a result of her life experiences, Felicidad has recently asked for the annulment of her baptism Felicidad García Bienzobas nació en Bierzo en 1916. Felicidad cuenta que la familia de su madre era Republicana y su padre era el único Republicano en su familia. Relata que su familia no iba a la iglesia y, según sus sentencias oficiales, ella y su hermana fueron encarceladas por no ir a misa y por pintarse las uñas de rojo. Felicidad recuerda que primero estuvo detenida en Salamanca y después en una cárcel de mujeres en Guipúzcoa con su hermana. Mientras tanto, su padre y su hermano estuvieron presos en la Prisión de Burgos por cuatro años y medio. Felicidad recuenta sus experiencias dentro de Guipúzcoa, un monasterio convertido en cárcel donde las monjas eran los guardias, y señala el hambre y la tifus dentro de la prisión. Nota que las monjas eran simpatizantes de la causa del nacionalismo vasco y no maltrataban a las detenidas. Felicidad fue dejada en libertad el 30 de julio de 1941, y posteriormente se reencontró con su familia en Madrid. Habla sobre la vida de su familia y señala que al regresar de Burgos su padre sufría un trastorno psicológico. Felicidad describe su relación y la de su familia con las familias Azaña y Unamuno. Comenta sobre las experiencias que su hijo y su esposo vivieron como presos políticos. A raíz de todas sus experiencias, Felicidad ha pedido que su bautismo sea anulado. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego, La Jolla, 92093-0175 (https://lib.ucsd.edu/sca) Felicidad García Bienzobas' testimony was recorded in her home outside of Madrid Testimony of the Spanish Civil War and the Francoist dictatorship Interviews in Spanish García Bienzobas, Felicidad. Testimony of the Spanish Civil War and the Francoist Dictatorship. University of California, San Diego, 2008 Madrid, Spain, Spanish Civil War Memory Project
Type
moving image
Format
4 video files : digital, sound, color
Identifier
ark:/20775/bb6110313r
Language
Spanish
Subject
Political prisoners Civil War (Spain : 1936-1939) Personal narratives-Spanish Interviews Nonfiction films History Oral history Burgos (Spain) Madrid (Spain) Spain
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