Qualitative analysis and methodological approach for the identification of volunteers of the Antifascist Militias of Catalonia killed in combat: fronts of Aragon, Balearic Islands and Madrid (July 24-December 31, 1936)

Abstract

The article focuses on the analysis and documentation of the dead and disappeared who fought as volunteers in the different columns organized by the Anti-Fascist Militias of Catalonia, seeking to provide information regarding the administrative system that regulated the legal rights of militiamen killed in combat. This approach shows the importance of the organization of the Anti-Fascist Militias of Catalonia and its administrative structure, particularly in relation to the payment of war subsidies, in the traceability of documentary sources. Information is also provided on the evolution of the system that, from August 1936, tried to guarantee the right to compensation for the death or disabling of combatants. At the same time, it offers a first approximation, using both quantitative and qualitative data, of the total number of casualties that this organization suffered between July 24 and December 31, 1936.

At the same time, the work seeks to provide a methodology to complement the exhumation of human remains from graves or cemeteries which allows the identification of the physical remains of combatants linked to the battlefields of the Spanish War. This is framed within the recent legal initiatives in Spain to comply with public policies of democratic memory. The methodology is based on the identification of the victims and their active participation in military units at the time of their death.