nazism

The Catalan photographer who contributed to the Nuremberg trials with more than 20,000 photographs

Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, joined the international gathering this weekend to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the liberation of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, the biggest example of Nazi brutality in Austria. On Sunday, Romeva unveiled a plaque at Mauthausen Concetration Camp to “pay homage to the memory of all the victims of the Nazi concentration camps and to those who survived them”. Around 2,000 Catalans died at the Mauthausen-Gusen camp between [falten les dates aquí]. “We ourselves lived through our own Civil War just before World War II and we are very familiar with the ugly face of fascism and the ravages of violence,” added Romeva. Other associations such as Amical Mauthausen and the Catalan Association of Friends of Israel also participated in paying their respects.

This year Catalonia commemorates the 100th birthday of the only living Catalan survivor of the Nazi concentration camp Ravensbrück, Neus Català, whom is regarded as a symbol of anti-fascist resistance. In April, Català was given the Gold Medal of the Government of Catalonia and throughout 2015 commemorative events organised by different entities have been held to preserve Català’s testimony. This Tuesday, Neus Català turned 100 and the ‘Memorial Democràtic de Catalunya’, together with twenty other institutions, celebrated her birthday with the event ‘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.

L'Amical de Ravensbrück association and the Catalan Government commemorated the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany on Sunday. The association of Catalan survivors of this Nazi camp and their relatives organised the event, in which some of the camp survivors participated, including Neus Catalá - the only living Spanish survivor of Ravensbrück. The commemoration coincided with celebration of Neus Catalá, aged 99, who this year was given the Gold Medal of the Government of Catalonia, the highest award given by the institution.

The Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, which runs the surrealist genius’ museum in Figueres (near Catalonia’s Costa Brava and the French border), has purchased ‘Violetes imperials’ (‘Imperial violets’) from a private collector. The piece from 1938 is a dark creation, painted during Spain’s Civil War and just before the start of the Second World War. It will be on display at the museum from Tuesday onwards. The painting, the price of which has not been disclosed, belongs to the Catalan artist’s surrealist period, but does not employ the colours regularly used by Dalí. Nonetheless, ‘Violetes imperials’ does depict some of the symbols used by one of the world’s most important artists of the 20^th century. 

On the same day, both the Spanish Justice Minister, Rafael Català, and the 'number 2' of the governing People's Party (PP), María Dolores de Cospedal, compared Catalonia's self-determination process with the Fascist and Nazi movements of the 1930s. Such a comparison trivialises Nazism and is highly offensive for millions of Catalan citizens. The Catalan pro-independence movement mainly demands to hold a democratic vote on independence, as in Scotland, and it has always acted in a peaceful and festive way. The expert in European populism, Meindert Fennema, stated he considered that to compare Catalan self-determination with Nazism to be "ridiculous" and "nonsensical". On top of this, he highlighted that Catalonia's society is highly inclusive, since it has welcomed and integrated millions of immigrants in the last 100 years. In fact, 70% of the Catalan population has origins from outside Catalonia and 80% of the Catalan population want to hold a self-determination vote. 

The Emeritus Professor at the University of Amsterdam and political scientist, Meindert Fennema, spoke with the CNA about the Catalan independence process. According to this recognised expert in populism throughout Europe, the "Catalan process is not populist". Fennema emphasised that the origins of European populism and the Catalan independence movement are rooted in different historical contexts, and pointed out that the two have indisputable differences. One great contrast is that "populism started as an anti-immigrant movement", while "for historical reasons, Catalans have always embraced their immigrants". Moreover, the Catalan attitude towards government and the European Union integration is totally different than those adopted in populist stances, he highlighted. Furthermore he asserted that the claims that the Catalan independence process is a populist movement are false.

The Spanish Government's Delegate in Catalonia, María de los Llanos de Luna, sent letters on Thursday to the directors of high-schools throughout Catalonia reminding them that the Constitutional Court had temporarily suspended November 9's participatory process. Furthermore she added that "neither agreements nor actions going against the Court's decision" should be carried out. De Luna explained that "allowing the use of education centres to carry out actions related to the suspended consultation vote" might go against the Court's decision. In addition, she sent similar letters to all the mayors, chairmen of supra-municipal bodies, main municipal officers and Catalan Ministers related to the participation process' organisation. Furthermore, on Friday, the Spanish Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, asked the Catalan President, Artur Mas, "not to force" civil servants, mayors and citizens to "disobey the law".

Catalan author Jaume Cabré’s latest novel 'Jo confesso' has been translated into English and is finally hitting bookstores in the Anglophone world for the first time since its original publication in 2011. It was translated by Mara Faye Letham and published by Arcadia books. The novel, which this year won the Courrier International Prize for 'Best foreign novel', as well as several Catalan literature awards, has already been translated into Spanish, German, Italian and Chinese, among others. This is another success for Catalan literature, after the publication in English of 'Quadern gris' ('The Grey Notebook') by Josep Pla and the Joan Sales classic 'Incerta Glòria' ('Uncertain Glory'). Catalan literature is blossoming among English readers, thanks to the recent translations of several other classics.

Comparing Catalonia's self-determination process with the Nazi regime has become one of the arguments the Spanish nationalists have used over the last two years, repeated in extreme-right television stations and even at the Spanish Parliament. Such an offensive comparison outrages most of Catalan society, for its total unfairness in describing a democratic process and for trivialising Nazism and the suffering of its victims. Now, the issue has reached the European Parliament, where the Spanish nationalist party UPyD sent a letter to all 751 MEPs comparing the situation in Catalonia with that of "Italy and Germany in the 1920s and 1930s". The CDU MEP Ingeborg Grässle was outraged by the letter and urged UPyD "to at least apologise". "Any politician in Germany would have immediately resigned", she added. Besides, civil society organisations in Barcelona have filed a complaint to the Public Prosecutor Office against dozens of calumnies against self-determination process and its comparison to Nazism.

On Spain's National Day, the 12^th of October, the unionist association called Catalan Civil Society (SCC) organised a massive demonstration against Catalonia's self-determination and independence in downtown Barcelona, which was backed by the People's Party (PP) – running the Spanish Government, the anti-Catalan nationalist party Ciutadans (C's) and the Spanish nationalist party UPyD. It is the 3^rd consecutive year that a demonstration has been organised to support Spain's unity on the 12^th of October in the Catalan capital.  As happened on the two other occasions, organisers failed to fill up Catalunya Square although they gathered thousands of people carrying Spanish and Catalan flags. According to Barcelona's Police, 38,000 participated in it, while according to the Catalan Police 1.8 million people participated in the rally for the consultation vote and independence a month ago.

In addition, the Spanish nationalist and populist partyUPyD compared Catalonia's self-determination process with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, in a letter sent to all the 751 Members of the European Parliament. Furthermore, it states that "defending democracy in Europe" means stopping Catalonia's "illegal referendum", thus denying the existence of a Catalan nation.  Furthermore, after the recent measures adopted by Catalan authorities to organise a non-binding consultation vote on independence, UPyD – with no representation in Catalonia – filed on Wednesday a judicial complaint at the Supreme Court against the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, and most of the members of the Catalan Parliament's Bureau, including its President, Núria de Gispert. UPyD accuses all them of "disobedience" while Mas has also been accused of "an alleged prevarication offense", as well as of "usurpation of powers" and "embezzlement".

Sixty Catalans travelled to Poland to honour the victims of the Romani genocide in Auschwitz concentration camp which coincides with the 70^th anniversary of the horrific crime. The delegation consisted of members of the Federation of Gypsy Associations of Catalonia (FAGIC), the Nakeramos Intercultural Association, formed by young people from Barcelona, and the women's group, Veus Gitanes. The five-day commemoration was organised by the International Roma Youth Network, ternYpe, which remembered that on the night of the 2^nd to the 3^rd  of August 1944, the Nazi regime killed 2,897 Romani people in the so-called ‘Gypsy Family Camp’ in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Conferences, thematic history workshops and meetings with Roma survivors from the death camps were held on the 2^nd of August to pay tribute to the Roma Genocide victims at a ceremony in Auschwitz. Delegations from 20 other countries gathered to attend the commemorative events.