Asturian-American Migration Forum

http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/histori ... juan.shtml

"El Infante Alfonso de Borbón y Borbón, fallecido en accidente en 1956", del que se habla en el enlace, era hermano pequeño de Juanito, el actual rey. El accidente fue que a Juanito se le escapo una bala de la escopeta que estaba manipulando y mató a su hermano.

Se dice también que accedió a ser el heredero por la abdicación de Alfonso XIII, pero tengo entendido, que este ya había renunciado al trono para él y sus descendientes con anterioridad, justo antes de salir de España.

Otros enlaces :

http://www.fuenterrebollo.com/conde-barcelona.html

http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biograf ... celona.htm

Estos enlaces, bastante más críticos :

http://www.galeon.com/razonespanola/re86-jua.htm

http://www.pce.es/foroporlamemoria/docu ... _arias.htm

As some of you may know, a few of us have been laboring deep into the night by the dim light of candles, writing our brief stories. After almost a year, we are nearing the end, and our fantastic book should be available in about six more weeks (maybe).
Although we are writing it mainly for our children and friends, it'll probably be available for anybody that wants to buy a copy, at our cost.

Probably everybody has read accounts of the Spanish Civil War refugees escaping to France and other countries just ahead of Franco's army. This book includes first-hand accounts written by about nine of us. Some portions are written in English and other portions are in Spanish, with no translations..
The title of the book is "We Came Alone". Donna Sweeney has been doing the "page makeup" and probably will do the binding. Anybody interested can get more details from her.

Have you got a PayPal account?
I do want a copy of the first edition, so count me in, Donna. Let me know when it's finished.

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Tenéis cuenta con PayPal?
Yo desdeluego que quiero un ejemplar de la primera edición, así que contad conmigo, Donna. Avisad cuando esté listo.

Terechu

Ha! There's news, even here in the US, that Spain is going to give pensions to refugees of the Spanish Civil War. Personally, I consider it an insult. Even if I were starving, which I'm not, no amount of money would make up for the suffering. No, not my suffering...my family's suffering. I would rather that Spain publicly burn Franco's flag. I'm sure my attitude will raise outcries from those of you in Spain.

Corsino you are DEAD WRONG. Here comes the sermon and the scolding:

The Government has been giving pensions to some refugees for quite some time, especially the former "Niños de la guerra" who were stranded with hunger-pensions in Russia and Ukraine after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989.
These pensions are not a handout, they were implemented by the former socialist Government of Felipe González in an effort to right some of the wrongs inflicted by Franco.

It is not the Aznar Government, but the SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT of José Luis R. Zapatero, who is again granting these pensions. In other words, it's mostly the children of Republican families who are in power now. (Zapatero's grandfather was one of those executed for being a Socialist). And it is this new generation of young socialists who is trying to widen the scope and pay all refugees a pension. They just seek to continue righting the wrongs inflicted by Franco's dictatorship.

As to the flag, the Franco emblem was removed by the first democratic Government and replaced by the State Arms. Many of us would prefer the old tri-color Republican flag, but the current one has nothing to do with the past.

So, if you're eligible for a pension, you would do wrong to turn it down. The Socialists were voted back into power mostly because of their social program, which included higher pensions and pensions for all Spaniards, regardless where they lived. It's a tax-paying effort we are all making to
help our relatives abroad.
In fact, I would feel insulted if you turned it down, because most of us voted for Zapatero because of his platform on social issues. It is the will of democratic Spain that you exiles have the same rights as those who remained here. No more, no less.

Take care
Terechu

Terechu
Ha ! I knew you'd have a reply. I could hardly wait to get up this morning to see what you'd actually say. Actually, I'm glad that some that might need it, mostly in Russia, are getting a handout.
As far as the flag change, it was a superficial change. The colors are still the facists colors.

Corsino, when I was little my grandma would slap me on my mouth for talking back. It never did any good!

Terechu
There's nothing wrong with being outspoken. Actually, I was "rattling your cage."

Although at times I get sidetracked into writing about other subjects besides the main topic, which is the search for other refugees, I'm still working at it.
The main problem is that it's very difficult to obtain information from organizations that have, or should have, useful information.
The other problem is that most of the remaining surnames are very common. In the US, there are literally thousands of people with the same Spanish surnames. So even though, every so often, I mail inquiries to some of them, it has become a matter of pure luck. But I'm still "plugging" at it.

PENSION MONEY AND "THE SEARCH"

It may be that inquiring about the required qualifications for obtaining refugee pension money may be a way to get attention to our search for other refugees, and maybe even getting some assistance in pursuing the search.
The truth is that an individual trying to obtain information from organizations sometimes meets all kinds of obstacles. Those same organizations may be more cooperative if the requests come from a more prestigious source.
Now I don't know if the offer of pension money is just a symbolic gesture or not. If it is not, then it may be possible that the appropriate branch of the Spanish government may be interested in locating the refugees.
Although I intend to e-mail some Spanish embassies/consulates in the US , perhaps some of you more knowlegeable on the subject have a better idea?

Corsino, I don't know who qualifies or who doesn't. Normally it's a question of income, but the pensions are being paid and they will be extended to exiles all over the world. According to the newpapers, the maximum pension granted to exiles will now be 8.000 USD/year, four times more than what it was until now.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.es.hts/sp/nws/3002945

http://servicios.hoy.es/pg050124/actual ... rusia.html

I suppose the best way to find out is contacting either of these two offices in the USA, the first one is specifically for pensions from Spain and the second one is an American partner-office that handles international pensions:

Consejería de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales, in Washington DC (Spanish Government delegation)
http://www.mtas.es/infgral/consejerias/p1.htm

Social Security Admin. Office of International Programs in Baltimore, MD
http://www.mtas.es/infgral/enlace/e1.htm

Link to Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs web site with info on pensions and free health care for Spaniards abroad:

http://www.mtas.es/migraciones/ayudas/1 ... .htm#prog2 Articles 8, 9, 10 and 11

My advise would be:
1)Call the Washington DC or Baltimore, MD addresses and find out if you’re eligible for either the pension or free health care or both.
2) If you are, get your Spanish origin certified at your nearest Spanish Consulate General.
3)See if your family in Asturias can do as much paper as possible from this end, i.e. send you your birth certificate, etc.

Have fun!

Thanks Terechu
I'll try to contact the offices you mentioned. At the present, I'm not personally as interested in getting money as I am in seeing if they'll help in locating refugees. But it is possible that some in our group may need the pension. I don't know.

TERECHU FOUND ONE !!!
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Terechu located Germinal Luis Fernandez, one of our group of refugees, in Barcelona. A few days ago we obtained the passenger list for the ship Nyassa and found out Germinal's Fernandez surname and that he was from Barcelona.
Terechu used the Barcelona "Paginas Blancas" and found him listed.

CONGRATULATIONS AND MUCHAS GRACIAS, TERECHU !!!!

No thanks due, Corsino. It was my pleasure. It was very rewarding to talk to Germinal, because he was truly surprised and thrilled and I could tell he didn't need to put his memory in gear, all the events were still fresh in his mind. He started telling me about the colony in France, the voyage on the Nyassa and Sherpa Pinto, the arrival in the USA, etc. He said you had sent him a a picture of yourself on a horse or pony, and asked about Eusebio and Felipe and then all the others, one by one.

Like Felipe Llerandi says, you deserve all the credit for bringing this peculiar group back together, and I, for one, would like to some day soon see a picture of you all reunited .

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No hay de qué, Corsino. Ha sido un placer. Fue muy gratificante hablar con Germinal, porque estaba francamente sorprendido y emocionado y no le hizo falta poner en marcha la memoria, tenía todos los acontecimientos muy presentes. Me habló de la colonia infantil en Francia, el viaje a bordo del Nyassa y del Sherpa Pinto, la llegada a EE.UU., etc. Me contó que tú le habías enviado una foto montado a caballo, creo, y preguntó por Eusebio y Felipe primero y luego por todos los demás, uno por uno.

Como dice Felipe Llerandi, el mérito de haber encontrado y puesto en contacto a vuestro peculiar grupo es todo tuyo, y en lo que a mí respecta, me encantaría poder algún día no muy lejano una foto de todos vosotros reunidos.

THE BOOK "WE CAME ALONE"
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As some of you know, about 10 of us Spanish Civil War refugees in the US have been collaborating on a book titled "We Came Alone". We've been working on it for almost a year. It should be finished within a month.
It is not a book published by a publishing company. Each of the 10 writers has submitted his portion to Donna Sweeney, and she's been doing the "page makeup".
The stories are as written by each "author". Some are in English, Some are in Spanish, and some are a combination of both languages.

It is possible that some of you in Spain may be interested in a copy. However, from past experience, I know that mailing a paper copy to Spain would cost almost as much as the book itself.

However, if a CD-ROM made in the US is usable in Spanish computers, it would be much cheaper to mail a CD- ROM than a paper copy of the book. I ask the question because I know that tapes for a VCR made in the US do not work in Spain.
Does anybody know the answer?