Testimony of Neus Catalá, Interview with Elize Mazadiego and Andrea Davis; June 26, 2009
Contributor
Davis, Andrea Mazadiego, Elize Asociación de Ex-presos y Represaliados Políticos Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica Federación Estatal de Foros por la Memoria Catalá, Neus University of California, San Diego
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Rights Holder and Contact
Catalá, Neus
Description
Neus Catalá nació en Els Guiamets en 1915. Neus recuenta su participación temprana en la política, notando que de joven co-fundó el Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya (Partido Socialista Unificado de Cataluña) y organizó las Joventuts Socialistes Unificades de Catalunya (Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas de Cataluña). Narra sus experiencias durante la República y explica cómo su vida cambió durante la Guerra Civil. Neus comenta que al comienzo de la guerra se trasladó a Barcelona para estudiar teatro y enfermería. Después cruzó la frontera entre España y Francia con 180 niños. Neus describe su exilio a Francia, ilustrando en detalle los bombardeos de Barcelona. Recuerda que al llegar a Francia fue puesta en campos de refugiados, a los cuales identifica explícitamente como campos de concentración. Neus detalla las malas condiciones de los campos de refugiados, subrayando los factores que les distinguen como campos de concentración. Relata su participación en la Resistencia al comienzo de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y su encarcelamiento en 1944 en el campo de concentración Ravensbrück en Alemania. Neus estuvo encarcelada por dos meses y pasó dieciséis meses en Ravensbrück. Habla de las condiciones diarias del campo y sobre algunas de las mujeres que conoció allí. Neus cuenta que al final de su detención, fue trasladada temporalmente a una clínica de reposo en Suiza. Posteriormente, Neus se mudó a Francia y regresó a España después de la dictadura. Neus Catalá was born in Els Guiamets in 1915. Neus recalls her early entry into politics, noting that as a young adult she co-founded the Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya (Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia) and organized the Joventuts Socialistes Unificades de Catalunya (Unified Socialist Youth of Catalonia). She narrates her experiences during the Republic and explains how her life changed during the Civil War. Neus relates moving to Barcelona at the start of the war to study theater and nursing. She later crossed the Spanish-French border with 180 children. Neus discusses her exile to France, providing a thorough account of the bombings of Barcelona. Upon arrival in France she was placed in refugee camps, which she explicitly identifies as concentration camps. Neus details the poor conditions of the refugee camps, highlighting the factors that distinguish these sites as concentration camps. She recounts her participation in the Resistance at the start of World War II and her imprisonment in 1944 at the Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany. Neus spent two months in jail and sixteen months in Ravensbrück. She describes the camp's daily conditions and speaks of some of the women she encountered there. Neus tells that at the end of her detention, she was temporarily moved to a nursing home in Switzerland. Subsequently, Neus settled in France and returned to Spain after the dictatorship Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego, La Jolla, 92093-0175 (https://lib.ucsd.edu/sca) Interviews in Spanish Neus Catalá's testimony was recorded in her home in Rubí outside of Barcelona Testimony of the Spanish Civil War and the Francoist dictatorship Catalá, Neus. Testimony of the Spanish Civil War and the Francoist Dictatorship. University of California, San Diego, 2009 Rubí, Spain :, Spanish Civil War Memory Project, 2009
Type
moving image
Format
3 video files : digital, sound, color
Identifier
ark:/20775/bb81923865
Language
Spanish
Subject
Interviews Exiles Nonfiction films Oral history History Personal narratives-Spanish Civil War (Spain : 1936-1939) World War, 1939-1945 Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya Joventuts Socialistes Unificades de Catalunya Barcelona (Spain) Germany Spain France Catalonia (Spain)
Place
Barcelona (Spain) Germany Spain France Catalonia (Spain)
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