© 2024 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WECS · WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM · WVOF
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Spanish Mark Civil War Milestone; Unease Lingers

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the start of the Spanish Civil War. In Spain, there are no official commemoration ceremonies. That's in keeping with the silence with which Spaniards have generally treated the war - and the Franco dictatorship that followed.

But many, including the now-elderly children of victims, are increasingly seeking some kind of closure. In the village of Parillas, residents will finally be able to give a proper burial to parents and grandparents executed during the conflict. A team of archeologists will exhume their remains from four mass graves outside the town.

The government of Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose own grandfather was executed during the war, has drawn up a new law to honor those who suffered during the war or under the Franco dictatorship.

But seven decades after the Spanish civil war, it is, in many ways, still being fought.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Jerome Socolovsky is the Audio Storytelling Specialist for NPR Training. He has been a reporter and editor for more than two decades, mostly overseas. Socolovsky filed stories for NPR on bullfighting, bullet trains, the Madrid bombings and much more from Spain between 2002 and 2010. He has also been a foreign and international justice correspondent for The Associated Press, religion reporter for the Voice of America and editor-in-chief of Religion News Service. He won the Religion News Association's TV reporting award in 2013 and 2014 and an honorable mention from the Association of International Broadcasters in 2011. Socolovsky speaks five languages in addition to his native Spanish and English. He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and graduate degrees from Hebrew University and the Harvard Kennedy School. He's also a sculler and a home DIY nut.

Stand up for civility

This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Public’s Members — listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. As a community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years.

Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are building a better—and more civil—Connecticut to live, work, and play.