Remains of Spanish Civil War Victims Exhumed

News December 17, 2020

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FARASDUES, SPAIN—According to a Reuters report, a mass grave holding the remains of ten women from the village of Uncastillo has been uncovered in northeastern Spain. The women were taken from their homes and executed by a fascist firing squad on August 31, 1936, during the first year of the Spanish Civil War. White buttons left behind by decomposed clothing were found on the spines of some of the remains. Researcher Cristina Sanchez of Zaragoza University said women were sometimes killed for their own actions, and as substitutes for their male relatives when they could not be found. “We have deaths by drowning, deaths by hanging, and the majority were killed by firing squad,” she said. Archaeologist Javier Ruiz said a grave holding the remains of at least seven men was found next to the women’s grave. The remains of the dead will be identified and returned to their families for burial. To read about Spanish Civil War archaeology, go to “Battle of the Proxies.”

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