Neus Català, the only living Catalan survivor of Ravensbrück Nazi camp, honoured on her 100th birthday

Barcelona (CNA).- Neus Català, the only living Catalan survivor of the Nazi concentration camp Ravensbrück and a symbol of anti-fascist resistance, turns 100 this Tuesday. To commemorate her birthday and pay homage to the women deported to Nazi camps, the Memorial Democràtic de Catalunya (‘Democracy Fighters’ Memorial’) organised ‘La vida és preciosa’ (‘Life is beautiful’). The Memorial Democràtic de Catalunya is the public institution which aims to promote the investigation of the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship and commemorates the ideological victims. The commemoration of Neus Català’s birthday culminated a year focused on her personage and legacy. Throughout 2015, commemorative events organised by different entities across the world have been carried out to preserve Català’s testimony.

The event ‘La vida és preciosa’ was held in Liceu Opera House Conservatory’s auditorium, in Barcelona. Catalan actress Mercè Aranega performed the role of Neus Català in ‘Un cel de plom’ (‘A sky made of lead’), a play adapted from the novel of the same name, written by Carme Martí  and based on Neus Català’s memoirs.

Català’s daughet, Margarita, explained that her mother fought to preserve the memory of all these women extermined by Nazism. “To assume and to give voice to her personal experience is still Neus’ way to defend the loneliness of human kind and the validity of these committed lives” she stated. 

The Catalan Minister for Public Administration, Meritxell Borràs called to preserve the historical memory and to give voice to those who suffered “the horror” of the extermination camps, which “must be remembered and explained” to avoid its reappearance. 

Following this, Catalan songwriter Marina Rossell came to stage, together with the BCN City Ballet, two perform ‘Five songs of resistance’. Rossell, who was a strong anti-Franco activist, is also one of the Vice-Presidents of ‘Amical Ravensbrück’. 

President Mas personally sent a letter to Neus Català wishing her a happy birthday and described her fight as a  “point of reference for Catalonia and for human kind”. “Today is your 100^th birthday, A very intense century of life and history for a fighter, such as you are”. Mas also emphasised in his letter “the fight for justice and democratic freedom” of Català as well as her role as the “deported’s witness”, of those who were sent to the Nazi extermination camps.

2015: The year of ‘Neus Català’

Throughout 2015, commemorative events organised by different entities across the world have been carried out to commemorate two anniversaries: Neus Català’s birthday and the 70^th anniversary of the liberation of Ravensbrück Nazi concentration camp. 

In April, she was awarded with the Gold Medal of the Government of Catalonia, the highest prize given to those people or institutions whose work in the political, social, economic, cultural or scientific field has been outstanding.

A few weeks later, the ‘Amical Ravensbrück’ association and the Catalan Government commemorated the 70^th anniversary of the liberation of the Ravensbrück concentration camp in north-eastern Germany. The association of Catalan survivors of this Nazi camp and their relatives organised the event and Catalan poet Montserrat Roig wrote thesong 'Morir a Ravensbrück (‘Dying in Ravensbrück’) as a homage to the 92,000 women who were killed there. The song was performed with great emotion on Sunday by Marina Rossell, one of the most recognised Catalan singer-songwriters, who was also part of the opposition against Franco's dictatorial regime. The performance took place in front of the commemorative plaque at the concentration camp, closing the ceremony. 

Exhibitions, readings, documentary projections, roundtables and other events have been held this year both in and outside of Catalonia to preserve Neus Català’s legacy and keep Ravensbrück and fascism victims’ memory alive.  

A life of resistance

Neus Catalá was born on the 6th of October 1915 in a small town in the south-east of Catalonia. Anti-fascist fighter and member of the PSUC (Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia) in her youth, she was forced into exile with the fall of the Second Republic and the victory of Franco’s troops in 1939. Catalá crossed the French border together with 200 orphan children she was in charge of at ‘Las Acacias’ orphanage. Once in France, she collaborated with the republican and anti-fascist resistance in Spain until she was caught by the Nazi authorities. In 1944, she was deported to the female-only Nazi concentration camp of Ravensbrück where more than 132,000 women were detained between 1939 and the end of World War II. In 1945, she was moved to Flossenbürg, where she was freed by the Soviet army on 30th April 1945.  

After this experience she returned to Catalonia, where she founded ‘Amical Ravensbrück’, an association which works with the constant objective of recognising the life of Neus Catalá and by extension all those who suffered from the consequences of the Second World War and the horrors of the concentration camps.