The Ajuntament de Barcelona will soon replace a damaged ‘stolpersteine’ in the Sants district. This action honours José Alcubierre Pérez, a former resident deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp during World War II. The city installed this commemorative brass plaque, located outside 48 Daoiz i Velarde street, in May 2022 to remember his ordeal.
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Damage to Historical Memorial
The Francesc Boix historical memory association raised the alarm about the plaque’s damaged state last week. The group questioned if the damage resulted from an accident or vandalism. “Accident or vandalism?” the association asked on social media, alongside an image of the broken plaque.
The Ajuntament de Barcelona confirmed it learned of the damage in November. However, it has no evidence of a premeditated attack. “We asked the German workshop that produces them to send a new one,” the Ajuntament stated. Officials expect to replace the damaged ‘stolpersteine’ shortly, as the replacement piece has now arrived.
Remembering José Alcubierre Pérez
José Alcubierre Pérez, born in 1924, lived at the Sants address until he went into exile at 15 during the Spanish Civil War. Nazi forces captured him in the first year of World War II. They deported him to Mauthausen, Austria, on a train carrying 927 Republican refugees from occupied France. Alcubierre was one of the youngest Republicans imprisoned in Mauthausen. He also became one of the last Spaniards to recount the atrocities of Nazism firsthand.
He was part of the ‘Poschacher commando’, a group of young prisoners who smuggled out photographs documenting the horrors of Mauthausen. These images later served as crucial evidence in the Nuremberg trials. The ‘stolpersteine’, meaning “stumbling stones” in German, are the brainchild of German artist Gunter Demnig. Over 70,000 of these brass plaques are installed across Europe. They commemorate individual victims of Nazism.
Barcelona’s Commitment to Memory
Barcelona currently hosts around 50 ‘stolpersteine’, each marking the last known voluntary residence of a victim. These small memorials ensure that the city remembers its residents’ personal histories during a dark period. Alcubierre endured nearly four years of oppression. US troops liberated the concentration camp on 5 May 1945, just four days before his 21st birthday. Rescuers found the survivors in an extreme state of decrepitude.
Nazi forces imprisoned approximately 10,000 Spanish Republicans in concentration camps. The Nazi carceral system marked them with a blue triangle, designating them as stateless. Mauthausen claimed the lives of 4,427 Spaniards due to starvation, disease, torture, and forced labour. Alcubierre’s father, Miguel Alcubierre Panzano, died in the Gusen sub-camp. His family placed a plaque in his honour at the Mauthausen camp pavilion. It reads, “To my grandfather Miguel Alcubierre. Your Cardelina never let us forget you.”
Historian Montserrat Roig noted in her work ‘Els catalans als camps nazis’ that José Alcubierre and other young men shared the experience of seeing their fathers die alongside them. Roig wrote, “It was necessary to save them. It was necessary that they not be ‘touched’ either in body or spirit, and that was one of the purposes of the solidarity of the ‘elders’.” Alcubierre remained in Angoulême, France, after his liberation. He died there in 2017 at the age of 92. France awarded him the Legion of Honour a year before his death.
Preserving History for Future Generations
The replacement of the ‘stolpersteine’ ensures that José Alcubierre Pérez’s story and the broader history of Spanish Republicans in Nazi camps continue to be remembered in Barcelona. This act reinforces the city’s commitment to historical memory and education for future generations.
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Originally published by El Periódico Barcelona. Read original article.
