A republican war hospital
The grave of the hermitage of Remei de Flix is the largest that has been exhumed in Catalonia during 2023. In it, the skeletal remains of 57 people who died during the Civil War have been recovered. But what were they doing there? We find the answer in the history of a republican field hospital that was installed in this place.
Evidence of amputations and medical treatments
The archaeological team that carried out the excavation, coordinated by the General Directorate of Democratic Memory of the Department of Justice, took more than five months – between September and January – to complete the task, given the large number of exhumations to perform The experts have been able to verify that many of the exhumed had amputations and medical treatments, such as nails, needles or threads, which show that they were treated in a health center. In addition, remains of medical equipment, such as bottles, syringes or gauze, have been found next to the bodies.
The accidental discovery of some children
The location of this Flix pit was serendipitous, when children playing with shovels and buckets on the beach discovered the first remains in March 2013. The site was then sealed off and a historical search began. A resident of the town explained that the hermitage of Remei served as a field hospital for the republican forces during the war.
The identification and dignified reburial of the bodies
Now, anthropological and genetic studies are being carried out to determine the identity of the exhumed and to be able to return the remains to the families registered in the Census of Missing Persons. Alfons Aragoneses, director general of the Generalitat’s Democratic Memory, has stated that “not only do we recover bodies that we can rebury with dignity, but we also advance scientific knowledge about this historical period”. Likewise, he emphasized that “every excavation, research and scientific investigation demonstrates the Government’s commitment to the international principles of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition”.
