"Grave of the railroad workers" believed to have been discovered in La Legua dig

[xchrom]

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/english/Grave/of/the/railroad/workers/believed/to/have/been/discovered/in/Legua/elpepueng/20110711elpeng_12/Ten

An intense week of digging in the area known as La Legua, in the city limits of Gumiel de Izán in Burgos province, has yielded 59 skeletons in a mass grave over 30 meters long dating back to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). The forensic expert and expedition coordinator, Francisco Etxeberria, says the victims were piled up here in six layers, and that some were executed on the spot, 75 years ago.

"We found rifle cases and broken bullets near the bones that they hit. Most of the skulls have bullet holes," he explains.

The executioners did not have time to kill everyone they wanted to, because this particular grave was built to fit even more bodies: the last 10 meters of it were still lying empty when the grave was reopened recently. "This is a very carefully prepared grave," explains José Ignacio Casado, a researcher with the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory, which works to find the bodies of people executed during the war and Franco's ensuing repression.

"The bodies were covered with lime. They were buried by the street sweepers of Aranda de Duero after having all valuables stolen from them, people from the village have told us. Some residents still remember seeing them walk by wearing the clothes of the missing people."


A view of part of the 30-foot-long mass grave found near Gumiel de Izán by Association for the Recovery of Historial Memory investigators.- ÓSCAR RODRÍGUEZ

[dipsydoodle]

1. That's terrible

:(

[xchrom]

2. the past is never really over. nt