Spanish Civil War Refugees in the U.S.

[Corsino]

Hi Sweeney,
After I found a sister in Asturias, she told me that for years she had tried to find my whereabouts. She contacted people in France, Belgium and Russia, but never dreamed that I might have come to the U.S. We were such a small group, that apparently nobody knew that we were brought here.

Corsino.

[Corsino]

Hi Sweeney,
I don't know yet how useful will be the information that the AFSC is sending me. If it's useful, it might be worth a try having it written up in a Spanish newspaper. I did meet a reporter for La Nueva Espan`a , named Leoncio Camporro, who lives in Moreda, Asturias, but unfortunately, I don't know if he has an e-mail address. But I think other reporters too would be willing to write an article ( they might get paid by the articles they submit ).

Corsino.

[Art]

Hi, Corsino,

I'm sure that LNE would be interested in this story and your book. Let Bob or I know when you're ready by sending us an email, and we'll see what we can do to connect you with someone. The reporters get shifted around regularly, from what I can tell, so the person who was doing it a week ago might be assigned to something different today.

[Carlos]

Hola, Corsino. Puedes dirigirte al subidrector del diario La Nueva España, el señor Evelio Palacio, en esta dirección:

pam (a) lne (dot) es

También me dicen los editores de la revista "Asturies" que estarían muy interesados en publicarte un artículo extenso, con fotografías incluidas si lo deseas, sin limitación de espacio. Uno de los miembros más relevantes del Consejo de Redacción de esta revista, Lisardo Lombardía, es también el director del Club de Prensa del diario La Nueva España, que organiza con regularidad toda clase de charlas, conferencias y presentaciones públicas, normalmente en el salón de actos del propio periódico.

Translation:

Hi, Corsino. You can go to the subidrector of the diary La Nueva España, mister Evelio Palacio, in this address:

pam (a) lne (dot) es

Also say to me the publishers of the magazine "Asturies" who would be very interested in publishing an extensive article, with included photographies if you wish it, without limitation of space. One of the most relevant members of the publishers of this magazine, Lisardo Lombardía, is also the director of the Press Club of the diary La Nueva España, who organizes regularly all kinds of acts, conferences and public presentations, normally in the lounge of acts of the own newspaper.

Un abrazo desde Asturias.

[Terechu]

Corsino, listen to Carlos. La Nueva España has a hard time finding interesting stuff to fill its pages every day (to the point where almost half of it is of no interest to anyone ), so I'm convinced they would give you a full page any time. It would also be a beautiful story for "Asturias" magazine.
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Corsino, hazle caso a Carlos. La Nueva España tiene bastantes problemas para encontrar material interesante con que llenar sus páginas todos los dias (hasta el punto de que la mitad de ello no interesa a nadie ), así que yo estoy convencida de que darían una página entera cuando quisieras. También sería una historia hermosa para la revista "Asturias".

Terechu

[Corsino]

Hi, Art, Carlos, Terechu,

Thanks for your help. Actually, at this point I'm not trying to get publicity for me or my book. Several years ago, when I first returned to Asturias, LNE published a couple of articles about my return, and the alcalde of Cabanaquinta presented me with a plaque of the shield of Aller, so I've had my day of 'glory'.
Right now I'm more interested in seeing if any information I get, could help somebody find their relatives. So any article that might appear in LNE should be more about the other children that came to the U.S. with me. I do have a group photo of those children,which Art already has, and if the information that AFSC is sending me is useful, maybe LNE or another publication might be interested in writing about them.

Corsino.

[Sweeney]

Dear Corsino:

You should not only contact the Spanish media, but it is important to contact the Media in the USA.

A good friend of mine was in similar situation to yours. He and his two sisters were evacuted from Vietnam in the 1970s. All of their family records were in another Airplane that crashed. So when they came to America they had no documentation. Luckily, his sister was old enough to remember her family name and town her family was from. In the early 1990s they began searching for their family. Once they found their family they contacted the TV show 48 hours to film their return to Vietnam.

I really think if you can interest one of the TV Magazine shows about this story it would get the national attention it deserves. You have received so many responses from your Query because this is a very interesting story. It is heartbreaking that families in Spain searched for years for their refugee children and never knew they were taken to the USA.

I think it is especially important to get this information out to Americans, because once the people in Spain realize their long lost child or sibling is in the USA they are going to want to contact them.

Please keep the forum updated on this story. It is very interesting.

[Corsino]

Hi Sweeney,
Well, I'm not as optimistic about the American media as you are. Your friends were very lucky. In the U.S. there are a zillion people with fantastic stories trying to get media attention. I've had two unsuccessful experiences:
1. Several years ago, when I was researching information to make my first trip to Spain in search of my family, a friend told me that he had contacted a TV program about my story but that the program was not interested.
2. Last year, shortly after my book was published, I asked my local newspaper if they could review my book. They flatly told me that they didn't have the time or space to review books that weren't published by a major publishing company.

Now, I don't have a "master plan" about the refugee children project. I started out by wondering about their whereabouts. Lately, it has expanded into seeing if anybody in Spain is still looking for any of them.
I do agree with Terechu that LNE, or another publication, would probably be willing to publish a story about the children. In Spain, there's still some interest in the " children of the war".
But I'll follow whatever path appears doable and see where it leads.

Corsino.

[Sweeney]

Dear Corsino:

Yes, I agree it is a long shot. I guess this is a very interesting story because we are all of Asturian descent. I guess you should wait until you see if there is a large response from Spain. If you end up with a dozen families responding and begging for a reunion, then that might be enough to tempt a TV or newspaper to run the story.

Personally, I think the overall story is more compelling than your own individual story. The fact that hundreds of children were evacuated to other parts of Europe to avoid the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War only to find themselves emboiled in the madness of WWII is facinating. Some of the children were sent to England, some to America and others to Russia. The part about Russia is very compelling. You are a child refugee sent to Russia for safety, but at the end of WWII you find yourself a prisoner of your own savior.

I think you have a wonderful story to tell. I plan to buy your book. I am really happy you were able to find your family. I hope that many, if not all, of your friends were able to reunit with their families in Spain.

[Corsino]

Sweeney,
WOW !!! You ARE an optimistic person. Much more so than I am. I always try not to have too high expectations. There were only about two dozen children in our group, so if I get ONE good result , I'll consider the effort worthwhile.

Corsino.

[Terechu]

Dear Donna and Corsino,
I believe a little correction is in place about the children evacuated to Russia. I get the impression that you believe they were forced to stay because of the Russian government, but it was the other way around. Once Franco won the Civil War (with the aid of Hitler and Mussolini), he not only launched a fierce "ethnic cleansing" that caused an additional 200.000 civilians suspected of being Republicans (liberals, communists, socialists, etc.) to be murdered, but they refused to let the expatriated children return home. Those in other countries gradually came back on their own after WWII because the borders were open, but those behind the "Iron Curtain" had to stay.
By the way, the mass graves of Bosnia are insignificant compared to Franco's.
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Queridos Donna y Corsino,
Creo que procede una pequeña corrección en cuanto a los niños evacuados a Rusia. Me da la impresión de que creéis que fueron obligados a quedarse por el gobierno ruso, pero fue justo al revés. Una vez que Franco ganó la guerra (con la ayuda de Hitler y Mussolini), no sólo lanzó una feroz campaña de "limpieza étnica" en la que fueron asesinados otros 200.000 civiles sospechos de ser republicanos (liberales, comunistas, socialistas, etc., sino que se negó a dejar que volvieran los niños que habían sido expatriados. Los que estaban en otros países fueron volviendo por su cuenta poco a poco después del final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial porque las fronteras estaban abiertas, pero los que quedaron tras el Telón de Acero se tuvieron que quedar.
Por cierto, las fosas comunes de Bosnia son insignificantes comparadas con las de Franco.

Terechu

[Sweeney]

Dear Terechu:

Thank you for clearing up that point. I never learned about the Spanish Civil War in school [or at least I do not remember doing so], therefore I am somewhat ignorant on the subject. Even after reading about it in the last few months it is still confusing to me. It must have been a terrible time for my family that remained in Spain. I was told my grandmother would send care packages back to Salinas, Asturias to help them during the war.

[Sweeney]

Dear Corsino:

Yes I am optimistic, but it is because I have had so much luck in finding my family from Spain. With the invention of the internet things are so much easier to research.

Last year the only thing I knew for certain about my family from Spain was my grandparent's surnames. I put queries on all the genealogical sites with no success. I then started a large letter writing campaign. I wrote everybody in Salinas, Castrillon, Aviles and Piedras Blancas, Spain with the surname Artimez or Verdin. This is the way I discovered my many long lost cousins. When one cousin told me my great Aunt Maria Artimez married a man named Muniz, I wrote everybody in those towns with the name Muniz (not an easy task). I found the descendants of my Great Aunt Maria.

I did the same thing in the United States. I wrote letters to every Artimez and Verdin in WV, PA, IL, MO and NJ. I found the descendants of almost all of my grandparent's siblings. Another cousin contacted me through this forum.

So I am optimistic that if a person has a will to find somebody, there is a good possibility they will succeed.

[jomaguca]

Hola Corsino, he estado leyendo sú historia y me ha emocionado aunque a la vez entristezido por lo qué tuvo qué pasar, siendo un niño, pero pensandolo bien puede dar gracias a Dios qué lo puede contar ,yo tengo varios canales de T.V. y en especial el canal de HISTORIA y cuando dan reportajes de aquella época se me ponen los pelos de punta de ver lo qué pasaron los prisioneros en los campos de concentración ,pero las guerras ya sabemos lo qué traen ,es triste decirlo pero es así ,por lo demás me alegró mucho leer sú historia y saber qué intenta encontrar aquellos niños qué estuvieron con usd. gracias por contarnosla. seguro qué al entrar en este foro encuentra lo qué usd. desea,de nuevo gracias y bien venido al foro.

[Corsino]

Terechu and Sweeney,

I don't know much about the refugees that went to Russia, but I was told by Spanish family members that Franco eventually stopped the return of refugees from France. So I think that Terechu is correct.

Many Americans have the wrong impression of Franco. A very good friend of mine, who claimed that he had studied the Spanish Civil War, once wrote me that Franco had saved Spain from Communism. Although I'm not a Communist nor a Communist sympathizer, I had to tell him that Franco had not "saved" Spain from anything, that he was a murderer and the worst thing that had happened to Spain in centuries.

As for Sweeney, I admire your perseverance. Yes, you were lucky. Lucky that you were not looking for a Fernandez. Of a million people in Asturias, I think at least half of them have a Fernandez surname !!!

Corsino.