On this day, 5 August 1939, 56 people including 13 women and girls, known as the 13 Roses, were executed en masse by the right-wing regime of general Francisco Franco. They were lined up against the walls of the Eastern cemetery in Madrid and shot. 15 of them were legally minors, which was under 21 at that time. Most of those killed were members of the Unified Socialist Youth, trying to rebuild the organisation underground following the defeat of the democratically elected Republic in the Spanish civil war. They were just some of some tens of thousands of people executed in an orgy of violent revenge by the right after Franco’s victory. The 13 Roses’ names were Ana López Gallego, Victoria Muñoz García, Martina Barroso García, Virtudes González García, Luisa Rodríguez de la Fuente, Elena Gil Olaya, Dionisia Manzanero Sala, Joaquina López Laffite, Carmen Barrero Aguado, Pilar Bueno Ibáñez, Blanca Brisac Vázquez, Adelina García Casillas and Julia Conesa Conesa. Conesa wrote a final letter to her family:
“Mother, dear mother, I’m going to join my sister and father in the other world, but keep in mind that I’m dying as an honest person. Goodbye, beloved mother, goodbye forever. Your daughter who will never be able to kiss you or hug you anymore. Don’t cry for me. May my name not be erased from history.”
Learn more about the civil war and the subsequent repression in our podcast: https://workingclasshistory.com/2020/06/17/e39-the-spanish-civil-war-an-introduction/
About the design: This month’s artwork by Rio de Janeiro based tattoo artist and illustrator Helena Lopes shows the muse Clio, who is the patron of history, using a string of 13 roses. When researching on the subject, Helena was very touched by the quote “Que mi nombre no se borre en la historia”. It is from one of the 13 Roses asking that her name may not be erased from history. Helena, then used this appeal as an inspiration for her illustration where Clio aka history is dressed with roses, and thus the 13 Roses become a part of history and will not be forgotten.
