The ministers for Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda, Pablo Bustinduy, and for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, at the commemoration ceremony of the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp
Of these, almost 7,000 were imprisoned in this Austrian prison complex, which includes the Gusen sub-camp. As every year, this tribute was held to coincide with the anniversary of the liberation of this camp, an event that will be 79 years old this year, 2024. On behalf of the Government of Spain, in addition to Pablo Bustinduy, Ángel Víctor Torres, Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, and Fernando Martínez, Secretary of State for Democratic Memory, were also present.
Minister Bustinduy took part in this act of homage with a brief speech in which he claimed "the duty of memory" of current generations, and especially of leaders, to promote the memory of the victims of Nazism and Francoism, while at the same time calling for work to be done "on guarantees of non-repetition" so that Nazism and fascism cannot return to Europe. He also recalled that the struggle of these men and women against fascism "opened the way to a new idea of Europe".
"In that Europe, torn apart by war and marked by suffering, a path was opened towards a common space, built on freedom and reason. This is the origin of the European Union, an alliance of countries with the conviction of the need to protect democracy and human rights, which understood that its strength lay in solidarity and mutual cooperation," he said.
From Mauthausen, Pablo Bustinduy had words of remembrance for the Spanish men and women who were victims of this and other Nazi camps. "I come to pay tribute to those killed here and to those who suffered the atrocity of these camps. Many of them were Spanish Republicans who ended up in French camps after exile. They fought against Franco and Hitler, and were forgotten by our country and by the European democracies when they did not come to Spain's rescue from Franco's dictatorship", said the minister, recalling that more than 5,000 Spaniards were murdered in Nazi camps while they were branded as "stateless".
Minister Bustinduy also took part in the acts of homage and commemoration of the Jewish and Roma victims who suffered in the Mauthausen prison complex, and of its political prisoners of various nationalities. "They will never again be forgotten. We must work to integrate their memory into the fabric of our collective conscience, fostering a reflection as a country that leads to an unwavering commitment to freedom, solidarity and the fight against all forms of discrimination and intolerance," he said.
Finally, Pablo Bustinduy criticised the "false concord" laws of the PP and Vox, and expressed his support for the victims of Francoism and Nazism, as well as their families. "They call it concord, but what they are proposing is to recover the amnesia, or worse, the memory of the dictatorship. There is no need for false conciliation between murderers and executioners. The only thing that should mediate between perpetrators and victims is justice, truth and reparation," he said.
Non official translation
