The Consell Comarcal of Ripollès has formalized its adherence to the petition to exhume the mass grave in the Girona cemetery in which 510 bodies of executed people are buried. At least 24 of those victims were originally from the region.
The petition seeks to accelerate the opening of a space that was dignified years ago with identification plaques, but which remains unexhumed. The distance between these two steps now marks the institutional claim of Ripollès, which wants to locate living relatives and make known the names of the buried people.
Amadeu Rosell asked to accelerate the opening of the grave with the Memorial Democràtic
The agreement was reached this Thursday in a meeting between the president of the Consell Comarcal of Ripollès, Amadeu Rosell, and the president of the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Llagostera, Teresa Mur. Other councilors and mayors from the region also participated in the meeting.
After that meeting, both parties agreed to formally request the Memorial Democràtic to accelerate the opening of the grave. The Consell Comarcal of Ripollès will act in coordination with the association in this petition.
In addition, the regional institution has committed to disseminating the names of the executed people buried in the Girona cemetery to try to locate their living relatives. The initiative also aims to extend knowledge about the existence of the grave and the events that caused it.
Documentation places 510 executions between March 1939 and January 1945
The available documentation places the executions at the southern wall of the Girona cemetery. These executions would have occurred between March 1939 and January 1945.
Among the 510 victims are two women. By profession, the largest group is that of peasants, with 208 cases, ahead of masons, day laborers, and drivers from different regions.
In the case of Ripollès, the minimum documented figure is 24 people buried in that mass grave. This direct link with the region explains the involvement of the Consell Comarcal in a claim that until now had been promoted by the memorialist association.
As early as 2010, the site was dignified with the installation of 510 plaques with the name, surname, age, town, and date of execution of each victim.