The UAB Communication Library and General Newspaper Archives is hosting the exhibition "Where are they? Eighty-five years of exhumations of mass graves from the Civil War in Catalonia", an exhibition that explains the work of locating, exhuming and identifying missing persons from the Civil War and Franco's dictatorship carried out by the Government of Catalonia with the participation of the UAB Biological Anthropology Research Group.
During the Spanish Civil War and Franco's dictatorship, thousands of people were murdered or died without anyone knowing where they were buried. The question "Where are they?" continues to be a cry today from families searching for their loved ones. For decades, the Government of Catalonia has promoted a programme to recover and identify the remains found in mass graves, a task that has both a scientific dimension and one of democratic memory and moral reparation.
The exhibition aims to disseminate the work carried out by the government in locating and exhuming mass graves, and in the identification of victims. The exhibition covers eighty-five years of actions, from the first exhumations by Catalonia's Republican government to the most recent ones, and incorporates testimonials from families who have been able to find or continue to search for their missing relatives. One of the most important aspects is the scientific collaboration: the Biological Anthropology Unit of the UAB, through the Biological Anthropology Research Group, participates in the remains identification programme, both in the study of human remains and in genetic identifications through DNA analysis.
The exhibition is structured into six areas that revolve around mass graves, missing people and their families. Visitors will be able to learn how the search for a missing person is carried out, how a mass grave is exhumed, and what is later done with the identified or anonymous remains. The exhibition, which can be visited starting on 28 October at the UAB's Communication Library and General Newspaper Archives, features audiovisual materials, historical documents, and educational resources.
This initiative is part of the commitment of the government and Catalan universities to the historical memory of and reparation for victims. The exhibition aims to raise awareness in society about the importance of continuing this work and consolidating collaborations between public institutions and scientific teams.
