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[[File:Neus_Catala_7593_resize.jpg|thumb|Neus Català]] |
[[File:Neus_Catala_7593_resize.jpg|thumb|Neus Català]] |
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<div>'''Neus Català Pallejà''' ([[Els Guiamets]], [[province of Tarragona]]; October 6, 1915),<ref>[http://www.amicalravensbruck.org/Uploads/docs/Neus%20Catal%E0%2C%20un%20testimoni%20de%20lluita%20contra%20loblit.pdf]</ref> was a member of the [[Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia]] (PSUC) during the [[Spanish Civil War]] |
<div>'''Neus Català Pallejà''' ([[Els Guiamets]], [[province of Tarragona]]; October 6, 1915),<ref>[http://www.amicalravensbruck.org/Uploads/docs/Neus%20Catal%E0%2C%20un%20testimoni%20de%20lluita%20contra%20loblit.pdf]</ref> was a member of the [[Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia]] (PSUC) during the [[Spanish Civil War]] and is the only Spanish survivor of the concentration camp of [[Ravensbrück concentration camp|Ravensbrück]].</div> |
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== Biography == |
== Biography == |
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Revision as of 18:28, 7 December 2015
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (October 2015) |
Neus Català Pallejà (Els Guiamets, province of Tarragona; October 6, 1915),[1] was a member of the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC) during the Spanish Civil War and is the only Spanish survivor of the concentration camp of Ravensbrück.
Biography
Neus Catala was born on October 6, 1915 in Els Guiamets (Priorat, Tarragona, Catalonia), although her godmother officially registered her birth on June 15 of that year, because of the disappearance of the documentation of the Municipality of Barcelona after The Spanish Civil War. This date is considered official and was used to celebrate the centenary of her birth. She obtained her nursing degree in 1937 and moved to Barcelona at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.
In 1939 she crossed the French border, taking with her 180 orphaned children of the colony Las Acacias from Premià de Dalt, better known as the Children of Negrin. She collaborated with her husband, the Occitan Albert Roger,[2] in the activities of the French Resistance, centralizing (at her home) the reception and transmission of messages, documents and weapons and sheltering political refugees. She was reported to the Nazi authorities by a pharmacist of Sarlat. She and her husband were arrested by the Nazis in 1943. Imprisoned and mistreated in Limoges, in 1944, she was deported to Ravensbrück, where she was forced to work in the armaments industry. There, she was part of the "Command of vague," a group of women who boycotted the development of weapons that were manufactured in Holleischen, a factory which depended on the concentration camp of Flossenburg.[3] Thanks to sabotage, many women forced to work in that factory rendered useless about 10 million bales and marred numerous weapons making machines.
After her release, she returned to France where she continued her clandestine struggle against Franco. She lived in Sarcelles, near the city of Paris, and chaired the Association of Victims of Ravensbrück,[5] Currently, she continues her membership in the Communist Party of Catalonia (PCC) and United and Alternative Left (EUiA) and Pedro Ardiaca Foundation, of which she is a member of honor.
Recognitions
The Generalitat of Catalonia has awarded her with the Cross of St. George in 2005, and later she was chosen Catalan of the Year in 2006 for her defense of the memory of the more than 92,000 women who died in Ravensbrück. In 2006, she also received the Award for Alternative granted by the United and Alternative Left.
The October 29, 2014, when she was 92, the Barcelona City Council awarded her the Gold Medal of Civic Merit, in recognition for her work to preserve historical memory, the fight against fascism and the defense of women . In 2015, she received the Gold Medal of the Generalitat of Catalonia, for her struggle for justice and democratic freedom, the memory of those deported to Nazi death camps and the defense of human rights.
Neus Català's Year
Catalonia has dedicated 2015 to the memory of she who, about to turn one hundred years old, is the last person in Spain that has survived Ravensbrück. This commemoration pays tribute, by extension, to all those who suffered the consequences of war, the fascist dictatorship and internment in prison camps and death camps. During the presentation, the Minister of Welfare and Family said: "She is a strong and caring woman, an antifascist fighter, a survivor of the Nazi death camps and reference and testimony for all the women who fought in the Spanish Civil War and World War II.".[7]
References
Bibliography
- Neus Català, De la resistencia y la deportación: 50 testimonios de mujeres españolas, Barcelona, Península, 2005, ISBN 84-8307-283-1
- Elisenda Belenguer, Neus Català : memòria i lluita, Barcelona, Fundació Pere Ardiaca, 2006, ISBN 978-84-935342-0-2
- Mar Trallero, "Neus Català: la mujer antifascista en Europa", Barcelona, Mina, 2008, ISBN 978-84-96499-94-2
- Carme Martí, Un cel de plom (novela), Barcelona: Amsterdam llibres, 2012. ISBN 978-84-15224-51-8
- Carme Martí, Cenizas en el cielo (novela, traducción de Un cel de plom): Roca Editorial, 2012. ISBN 978-84-9918-455-5