In May 2016, the Faculty of Chemical Sciences of the Complutense University of Madrid was the scene of one of those events that any writer or screenwriter would refuse to include in a story because it was unbelievable and exaggerated. A strong wind caused a piece of paper to begin flying through the skylight’s opening. Surprised, one of the doormen approached to see what it was and when he pulled he discovered this: Fifty political pamphlets released during the Franco dictatorship were stuck in the ceiling Plaster for over forty years.
Political treatises are not materials to be passed on to future generations due to their temporary purposes and modest workmanship. If we add to this that the production and mere possession of this work during the Franco regime could constitute a crime, the job of archivists and researchers becomes extremely complicated.
“Such materials were preserved by militants of political and trade union organizations, despite all the risks. They were also stored in the archives of the organizations and even for several years as a Documentation specialist at the Complutense University for professional reasons, he collected hundreds of brochures from the University floor and today they form part of the legacy of this educational institution It is an institution that has secret publications and photographs from that period in its archive. All of them have been added. this and that General and Historical Defense Archive “He holds secret publications and pamphlets as evidence against those accused in the Trial Court,” he explains Jesus A. MartinezProfessor of Contemporary History at Complutense University. Vietnamese against Franco (Cátedra, 2023), an article on secret publications during the dictatorship.
” The Vietnamese were small, homemade multi-copying machines, very primitive and making no noise. There were many techniques and models that could be created from the instructions and drawings that the organizations distributed among militants. All that was needed were four wooden slats, an organza or curtain, waxed paper on which typewriter letters or drawings were printed, and an ink roller. In a short time, thousands of leaflets could be dropped, transported, placed anywhere, and anyone could print them. From political activists to trade unionists, from students to neighborhood associations or unorganized dissidents such as citizens protesting against the increase in transportation prices,” Martínez recalls.
Although guerrillas in the 1940s and early 1950s used covert propaganda to convey their messages and keep armed resistance against Francoism alive, neighbors in rural communities were easier to identify and propaganda was more difficult to hide, resulting in the dissemination of such material. developed mainly in the urban environment.
“All kinds of printed or written materials were produced on paper. For example, banned books, magazines, small books or newspapers with fake covers to hide their contentsBoth those printed secretly and those made by hand in prisons. There were also bulletins or cut-out letters, forged documents, coded messages, poems, drawings, stickers, flyers, brochures, fragments of which were sent to different people who had to meet to read their contents… But there was also graffiti, posters, engravings of a dissident art, posters or murals,” lists Jesús A. Martínez, noting that although most of these materials were produced in the interior of the country, some came from exile.
“Both the production and distribution of those produced in Spain were secret. But there were also those that came from abroad and became secret when they entered the country. These cases were, above all, publications in which books, magazines or traditional periodicals were distributed, for example suitcases or double-bottomed wallets, or vehicles in accordance with all precautions. In fact, the police provided their agents with drawings of automobiles containing search instructions.”
special danger
Despite its limited scope and apparent innocence, Franco authorities took the persecution of such material very seriously. So much so that Such crimes are committed not by the ordinary justice system, but by organizations such as the feared Public Order Tribunal, predecessor of the current National Court.
“The dictatorship has understood that any publication that goes beyond the restrictive boundaries of the state is always dangerous. 1938 Printing House and Printing House LawCensorship of the war and later 1966 Printing House and Printing House LawThis did not mean any tolerance, but rather the modernization of control systems in the face of an avalanche of publications in the sixties. That is why secret broadcasts are not in the ordinary jurisdiction, but in special military courts with military courts and the Public Order Tribunal, which became operational in 1964.” Martínez, recall as an anecdote: The police also declassified their materials to confuse and discredit secret political organizations..
“The content, morphology, nature and meaning of these materials left no doubt as to their origin. However, there were some leaflets prepared by the police themselves, especially the police. National Countersubversive OrganizationIt was the first part of the restructuring of the secret services in 1968, whose main activities were to discredit dissidents and surveillance, infiltration and persecution, especially in the university environment.
Finally, although anecdotal compared to the covert propaganda of the left, Vietnamese against Franco Also referenced here Secret propaganda carried out by Phalangist or Carlist groups after they have been disgraced in the eyes of the dictator.
“These were materials from the Falange, or dissident Carlism, especially since 1947, when Franco Law of Succession of the Head of State, frustrated the expectations of these sectors to build the regime through their own political projects. These groups imitated the techniques and procedures of the secret opposition, but they were marginal, had little power, and were not the primary concern of the regime, which never applied to them the repressive procedures applied to the democratic opposition,” Martínez points out, as follows: with the attitudes and results that militants of organizations affiliated with the dictatorship had. clearly distinguishes between the attitudes and consequences of those who are prohibited.
“In response to the tyranny of the state that won the Civil War and relentlessly planned to eliminate its enemies and control its opponents, secret organizations waged a permanent struggle. They went underground, driven by their resistance capacity. , Because Spreading or launching covert propaganda can lead to fines, arrest, imprisonment, and sometimes even death.. Things like this are what emphasizes the importance and value of freedom of expression and distinguishes a dictatorship from a democratic State,” Martínez concludes.