New Projects

Once the marble slabs and the front  were installed, the tribute to the victims needs just a small detail in order to accomplish their restoration: the place where the Republicans were executed just before being carried to the Grave, is still a place without a name, a spot outside the graveyard that only those who haven't forgotten our History regard with deep sorrow: we can't forget the blood-stained cemetery wall, blood from the executed Republicans who were thrown against the wall and piled up after being shot and before being buried.

That place can be seen in the pictures just below these lines.

Flowers and sad looks are always present there, but we need something more: the idea of a monument in memory of the hundreds of innocents who lost their lives right there, has always been a permanent thought in our minds. The Association is now considering ideas, budgets and technical details which, within a reasonable period of time, will become a monolith, probably made of, or covered with, marble. The problem, once again, will be money.

And that's because a monument made of concrete and covered with marble will cost more than 3,600 euros, and the amount adds up to 12,000 euros if the monolith is entirely made of marble. That's a lot of money, there's no doubt about that. Anyway, deciding which type of monument is going to be made and installed will be the first step. Thence the Association will go as far as its funds and all possible contributions allow.

OTHER PROJECTS

The Association of Relatives and Friends of the Oviedo Common Grave has also in mind to publish a book and a CD-Rom with exhaustive information on the History of the Grave and the horrible repression carried out by Franco across Asturias. Our intention is to take one step further in the investigation of our most tragic legacy; the first one had been the book "Repression of Franco's military tribunals in Oviedo" published some years ago by the Association of Widows of the Republic. Many data and facts were taken from that book to make both the marble slabs and this web site.

On the other hand, a further aim of the Association is to take schoolchildren to visit the Common Grave, so that boys and girls of different ages can get in touch with the reality of a terrible past that must never be forgotten, however distant it may look today, in the 21st Century. Let's not forget that "the nation who forgets its History will be forced to repeat it".

Last, but by no means least, the AFAFC is also considering the possibility of establishing a research grant to study Franco's repression in Asturias, always in collaboration with public and/or private institutions. Our goal will always be the same: to keep History alive, both in the elderly and in the new generations, born in democracy. We don't want to perpetuate horror, but to learn from past mistakes and aberrations committed in this land and all over Spain.

This site will be updated as soon as further information can be offered on this or any other interesting subject, concerning the Oviedo Common Grave.

This is the place where hundreds of lives were lost.
This will be the place for a monument to the victims