20mar09
List of individual plaintiffs in the case of the Spanish victims of the extermination camps of the Third Reich.
Introduction:
On 19th June 2008, Equipo Nizkor filed the first lawsuit in Spain on behalf of the Spanish victims of the National Socialist extermination camps of the Second World War. This lawsuit was admitted by the Central Investigating Court No.2 of the National Court on 17th July 2008.
The legal strategy in this case was to provide the families and survivors of the concentration camps, especially of Mauthausen concentration camp, with a chance to be represented directly, so that they are the principal parties to the proceedings. With this objective, all the individuals we list below as private accusing parties have granted powers of attorney to Equipo Nizkor in order to ensure procedural unity and the appointment of lawyers and legal representatives (procuradores). In this way, the case is managed by us using our own legal team and certain additional lawyers nominated by us; these have either acted in the Scilingo case or are members of other associations of the victims of Francoism who have their own lawyers.
The following entities have also collaborated and are collaborating in the proceedings under Equipo Nizkor’s direction and coordination: the International Human Rights Law Clinic (American University, Washington College of Law), the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic of the Law Faculty of the University of Yale and the international law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (New York and Moscow offices).
As a way of supporting these historical proceedings, the associations AFAR II Rep and AGE have also granted powers of attorney to Equipo Nizkor to represent them as collective accusing parties.
After 60 years, victims of German National Socialism, and especially of the extermination camp of Mauthausen, come before the Spanish justice system for the first time and for the purposes not only of demanding justice, but also of obtaining the legal recognition systematically denied by the Spanish State, both by the Francoist regime and by the democratic governments which emerged after the constitution of 1978.
In this particular case the National Court, and especially the public prosecutors and the investigating judge assigned to the case, have in their hands, not only the chance to do justice, which would be itself sufficient, but the chance to obtain recognition of such victims and of the Spanish collaboration with the Third Reich.
Equipo Nizkor
Charleroi and Madrid, 20 March 2009* * * Plaintiffs participating in the proceedings as private accusing parties:
As of 20th March 2009, the following private accusing parties had granted powers of attorney to Equipo Nizkor, and are therefore represented in the Preliminary Proceedings 211/08, commenced as a result of the lawsuit of 19th June 2008 in the case of the Spanish victims of the National Socialist concentration camps (in the order of their appearance in the proceedings):
1. DAVID MOYANO TEJERINA
David Moyano Native of Ujo (Mieres, Asturias, Spain).
David Moyano was a prisoner in Stalag XI-B (Fallingbostel). He was deported to Mauthausen, where he was assigned the registration number 6060.
In Mauthausen he was assigned to Kommando Poschacher, a special youth Kommando, which takes its name from a private quarry situated in the town of Mauthausen. The quarry was exploited by Anton Poschacher, a local Nazi leader who employed manual slave labourers from Mauthausen concentration camp.
David Moyano holds a French veteran card, lives in Belgium and has Belgian nationality.
* * * 2. SILVIA DINHOF-CUETO
Víctor Cueto Silvia Dinhof-Cueto has chaired the Gedenkverein der Republikanischen Spanier in Österreich (Comemmorative Association of Spanish Republicans in Austria) and is the daughter of Víctor Cueto Espina.
Víctor Cueto Espina was born on 23rd February 1918 in Ceceda (Asturias, Spain).
He was made prisoner on 4th June 1940 in Malo-les-Bains (France), where he found himself in the work company in which he was incorporated. He was interned in Stalag XIII A, where he was assigned the registration number 65.138. On 11th July 1940 he was transferred to Stalag VII A. He was deported to the camp of Mauthausen, where he arrived on 5th August 1940, and where he was assigned the registration number 3438. He was freed by the Allied troops in the subcamp of Ebensee on 6th May 1945.
Víctor Cueto maintained his stateless condition until 13th August 1955, when he was granted Austrian nationality. Affected by a tuberculosis which made him an invalid, he remained in Austria, where he lived until his death on 22nd April 1990.
* * * 3. CONCEPCIÓN RAMÍREZ NARANJO
Gabriel Torralba Widow of Gabriel Torralba.
Gabriel Torralba was working in Barcelona at the time of the coup d’etat led by General Franco. In 1939 he crossed the border into France and arrived in Bourg-Madame, to be interned three weeks later in the camp of Septfonds (Tarn-et-Garonne).
In October 1940 he was arrested by the Poinsot Squad for having distributed pamphlets against the German occupation of France. He was incarcerated for three months in Burdeos. In November 1940 his father and two of his brothers were arrested and taken to the camp of Mérignac; the youngest of his brothers, eighteen years old, was sent instead to the prison of Fort du Hâ. Fort du Hâ is an ancient fortress, situated in Burdeos, which was used during the Nazi occupation as a prison for political opponents and members of the resistance.
In May 1942, Gabriel Torralba was sent to the camp of Compiègne, from where he was deported to Auschwitz. There he was assigned the registration number 46264.
At the end of August he was transferred to Flossenbürg concentration camp in Bavaria, near the Czech border. In April 1945 he was evacuated in one of the infamous “SS death marches”. After three days of marching without food or water, he was freed by U.S. troops near the Bavarian city of Cham.
At the end of May 1945 he was repatriated to France.
* * * 4. DONATO JESÚS DE COS BORBOLLA
Donato de Cos Son of Donato de Cos Gutiérrez.
Donato de Cos Gutiérrez was a native of Rionansa (Cantabria, Spain).
In the retreat to France in 1939 he was interned in the camp of Argelès, from which he came out to be incorporated by a militarised work company. He was taken prisoner in Dunkirk pocket and sent to Mauthausen-Gusen. In Mauthausen he was assigned the registration number 3498, and was assassinated in the subcamp of Gusen on 2nd August 1941.
* * * 5. AURORE GUTIÉRREZ
Agustín Puente Fco. Puente Marcos Puente Granddaughter of Agustín Francisco Puente Lavín, born 05/05/1887 in Laredo (Cantabria, Spain), with registration number 58659 in the concentration camp (KL) of Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen.
Niece of Marcos Puente Izaguirre, born 22/10/1907 in Laredo (Cantabria, Spain), with registration number 58661 in the KL of Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen.
Niece of Francisco Elías Puente Izaguirre, born 21/07/1921 en Laredo (Cantabria, Spain), with registration number 58660 in the KL of Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen.
Agustín, Marcos, and Francisco Puente were detained in Fort du Hâ, Burdeos, from November 1942 until their transferral to the camp of Compiègne. It is important to note that during the treason case brought before the Court of Appeals of Burdeos against Pierre François Langlade, a policeman in the position of inspector of the Section of Political Affairs (S.A.P.), who was killed in 1942 under the orders of the Poinsot commissioner, it was proven that while exercising this position he carried out massive arrests of Spaniards which he himself estimated at 150 Spaniards arrested and handed over to the Germans. Langlade had been in charge of the “Spanish Brigade”, which was responsible for the repression of Spanish communists and anarchists. All the Spaniards arrested were sent to the German headquarters of Fort du Hâ, and put at the disposal of the Germans. The majority were later deported, some were shot.
This was what happened to the members of the Puente family, who were detained in the context of the persecution carried out against the family of Domingo Gutiérrez, father of the plaintiff. After being detained in Fort du Hâ, they were transferred to the concentration camp of Sachsenhausen in the convoys that left for this purpose in January 1943 from the French city of Compiègne.
* * * 6. JEAN OCAÑA
José Ocaña Ex-honorary consul of Spain. Son of José Ocaña García.
José Ocaña García was born on 5th May 1907 in Paterna del Madera (Albacete, Spain).
He was prisoner in Mauthausen between 6th August 1940 and 6th May 1945. In Mauthausen he was assigned the registration number 4617. He spent several months in the subcamp of Gusen, where he was assigned the number 48294.
José Ocaña was a supply officer in the service of the army of the Republic and liaison officer between the International Brigades and the Republican Army in Albacete. In the Autumn of 1938, after the Brigade’s retreat and until the end of the war, he joined his original regiment (transports) on the Ebro Front. In May 1939 he crossed the French border in exile. In France he was in the internment camp of Argèles-sur-Mer, from which he got out in September 1939 to enrol himself in the 22nd Volunteer Regiment. He was captured by the Nazi troops in June 1940, on the front of La Somme.
After passing through Stalag VII A (in the city of Mobsburg, near Munich), in August 1940 he was sent to the concentration camp of Mauthausen. He ended his deportation in Schlier-Redl Zipf, to be liberated by the Allied troops in Ebensee, both subcamps of Mauthausen. In the subcamp of Ebensee the prisoners worked as manual slave labourers in the construction of subterranean tunnels for the use of the arms industry.
José Ocaña, who holds a French veteran card, passed away in 1989.
* * * 7. HENRI LEDROIT
Henri Ledroit Deported to Mauthausen and sent, with others, to the subcamps of Wr. Neustadt and Ebensee, from where he was liberated by the United States army on 6th May 1945.
Son of Henriette Ledroit, who was assassinated in the concentration camp of Ravensbruck (Germany) on 4th March 1945.
Henri, his mother, and his brother Roland Ledroit became members of the French Communist Party at the end of 1939, when it had already been dissolved. On 8th April 1942 they were arrested in their home. His mother was incarcerated in the prison of Petite Roquette, and Henri and his brother in the prison of la Santé in Paris.
A French tribunal condemned his mother to five years in prison, Henri to one year and his brother to 15 months. His mother was then sent to the detention centres of “Centrale de Rennes”, and Henri and his brother to that of “Centrale de Poissy”.
On 16th April 1943, after a short internment in the camp of Royalieu, Henri was deported to Mauthausen and sent to the annex camps of Wr. Neustadt, Schlier-Redl Zipf and Ebensee, where he was liberated by U.S. troops on 6th May 1945.
His brother, Roland Ledroit, was sent to the camps of Vosves, Pithiviers and to the prison of the Island of Ré.
Henriette Ledroit was deported to the concentration camp of Ravensbruck on 13th May 1944, where she was assassinated on 4th march 1945, within the framework of the so-called “selection of the white-haired”.
* * * 8. CANDIDA ÁLVAREZ FERNÁNDEZ
Rafael Álvarez Widow of Rafael Álvarez, born 8th September 1915 in Buitrago (Madrid, Spain).
Rafael Álvarez was deported to the camp of Mauthausen on 25th January 1941, where he was assigned the registration number 3315. He was incorporated into several work Kommandos in subcamps of Mauthausen: Vöcklabruck, Ternberg and Gusen II.
He was liberated on 5th May 1945 and lived in exile in Paris, where he died on 8th September 2006.
* * * 9. ROMAIN PEREZ
Eustasio Pérez Son of Eustasio Pérez.
Eustasio Pérez was born 29th March 1897 in Ustarroz (Navarra, Spain). He fought with the French army during the Second World War until he was deported to the camp of Dachau, where he was assigned the registration number 94264. He died in Melk, a subcamp of Mauthausen, on 11th November 1944.
By means of a judicial resolution issued in 1952, the French State adopted Romain Pérez as a ward, given his condition as an orphan of war.
* * * 10. PIERRE PÉREZ
Son of Eustasio Pérez.
Eustasio Pérez was born 29th March 1897 in Ustarroz (Navarra, Spain). He fought with the French army during the Second World War until he was deported to the camp of Dachau, where he was assigned the registration number 94264. He died in Melk, a subcamp of Mauthasen, on 11th November 1944.
By means of a judicial resolution issued in 1952, the French State adopted Pierre Pérez as a ward, given his condition as an orphan of war.
* * * 11. ROSITA JUAN STERQUEL
José Juan Daughter of José Juan Forcadell, born 13th April 1915 in Alcanar (Tarragona, Spain).
José Juan entered France on 8th February 1939. Between 9th February 1939 and 12th October 1939 he was in the camp of Vernet-d'Ariège. Between 13th October 1939 and 18th December 1939 he was in the camp of Septfonds. On 18th December 1939 he entered a Company of Foreign Workers (CTE). On 19th June 1940 he was made prisoner in Sablé sur Sarthe. Until 4th November 1940 he was in the camp of Auvours. That November he was taken to Stalag X-B in Sandbostel, where he was assigned the registration number 77231.
Between 3rd March 1941 and 5th May 1945 he was prisoner in the concentration camp of Mauthausen (the central camp and Kommando Steyr), where he was assigned the registration number 3468.
* * * 12. PIERRETTE SÁEZ CUTANDA
José Sáez Widow of José Sáez Cutanda.
José Sáez Cutanda was born 27th October 1919 in Bormate (Albacete, Spain).
At the age of eighteen he enrolled in the Spanish Republican army.
In February 1939, he sought refuge in France where he was interned in the camps of Septfonds, Vernet-d'Ariège and Saint Cyprien.
In December 1939, he entered the 25th Company of Foreign Workers (CTE). In June 1940 he was captured by the German army in Granges sur Vologne (Vosges) and interned in Frontstalag 140 in Belfort (a prison camp of the German army in France, where he was assigned the registration number 8770). Subsequently he was taken to Stalag XI-B in Fallingbostel, a prisoners of war camp in Germany, where he was assigned the registration number 87484.
In January 1941 he was interned in the camp of Mauthausen, with the registration number 6676. Between 27th January 1941 and 6th June 1941 he worked in the Mauthausen quarry.
On 6th June 1941 he became part of Kommando Cesar, which takes its name from a young Spaniard, César Orquín, a deportee in charge of a group of 460 men, all Spaniards. José Sáez formed part of this Kommando until his liberation.
Between 6th June 1941 and 14th May 1942, he was assigned to works of street repairs and the construction of a bridge in Vöcklabruck. Between 14th May 1942 and 18th September 1944 he was posted to Ternberg, where he worked on the construction of a dam to supply electricity to the Linz industries.
Between September 1942 and December 1944 he was in the central camp again. That December, until 3rd May 1945, he was sent to Schlier-Redl Zipf for the construction of tunnels. On 3rd May 1945 he was transferred to the subcamp of Ebensee, from which he was liberated by American soldiers on 6th May 1945.
On 20th May 1945 he was repatriated by plane to Paris.
José Sáez Cutanda passed away in 2004.
* * * 13. EMILIO BASILIO CABALLERO VICO
Emilio Caballero Born 14th June 1917 in Mahora (Albacete, Spain).
Emilio Caballero belonged to the 218th Mixed Brigade, 4th Battalion, 3rd Company, in the service of the Spanish Republican army.
On 13th February 1939 he took refuge in France in Prats de Moll. On arrival he was interned in the camp of Barcarès, until in March of that same year he enrolled in the 89th Company of Foreign Workers, with which he went to the Maginot Line.
He was made prisoner of war on 14th June 1940 and sent to Stalag XI B for prisoners of war. In September 1940 he was transferred to the concentration camp of Mauthausen, and in June 1941 to the subcamp of Gusen I, where he remained prisoner until the liberation of the camp by American troops on 5th May 1945. In these camps he was assigned the registration numbers 45372 and 9073.
After the liberation, Emilio went into exile and established himself in France, where he now lives.
* * * 14. RAMIRO-EMETERIO SANTISTEBAN CASTILLO
R. Santisteban Native of Laredo (Cantabria, Spain).
First registration in Mauthausen: 3237. Co-founder and last president of the self-dissolved Spanish Federation of Deportees and Political Interns (FEDIP).
Ramiro Santisteban was made prisoner of war in Amiens, 90 kilometres from Paris, in May 1940. He was sent to Mauthausen in August 1940.
* * * 15. VIRGILIO PEÑA CÓRDOBA
Virgilio Peña Native of Espejo (Córdoba, Spain).
Virgilio Peña fought in service to the Republic. At the beginning of 1942 he joined the antifascist resistance (maquis) in Burdeos. In 1943 he was arrested by the French police, handed over to the Gestapo and made prisoner. In September 1943 he was interned in the camp of Compiègne, finally to be deported to the concentration camp of Buchenwald, where he was assigned the registration number 40843.
He now lives in France, his country of exile.
* * * 16. SANTIAGO BENÍTEZ MARÍN
Santiago Benítez Native of Sonseca (Toledo, Spain). Deported to Mauthausen, where he was assigned the registration number 4514.
Santiago Benítez was also sent to the subcamps of Steyr and Gusen.
He now lives in France, his country of exile.
* * * 17. GINETTE OLIVARES
Ángel Olivares Widow of Ángel Olivares Gallego.
Ángel Olivares Gallego was a native of Abrucena (Almería, Spain).
He formed part of the 1st Battalion of the 119th Brigade of the 26th Division. On entering France, he was interned in the camp of Vernet-d'Ariège, and subsequently in Septfonds, until he enlisted in a Company of Workers. At the time of the German offensive, he was with this company in the Maginot Line.
After passing through Stalag V-D (Strasbourg), Ángel Olivares was deported to Mauthausen, where he was assigned the registration number 5080. In 1941 he was assigned to what was known as Kommando César, passing through the subcamps Vöcklabrück, Ternberg and Schlier-Redl-Zipf.
Throughout his whole life he was a member of the National Confederation of Workers (CNT) and of the Spanish Federation of Deportees and Political Interns (FEDIP), of which he was secretary to the Department of the Seine.
Ángel Olivares died in Paris on 5th March 1982.
* * * 18. FABIEN GARRIDO GAYET
Ramón Garrido Son of Ramón Garrido Vidal, alias León Carrero Mestre.
Ramón Garrido Vidal was a native of O Grove, Pontevedra, Spain.
He belonged to the 151st Mixed Brigade of the Marines, in the service of the Spanish Republic.
In February 1939 he went to France, where he was interned in the camps of Argelès, Barcarès, St Médard en Jalles and Elne.
In July 1941 he was handed over by the French “authorities” to the Germans to participate in the construction of a submarine base in Brest (Finisterre), where he organised the local Spanish resistance.
He escaped in January 1942 and went to Lorient where there was another Nazi submarine base. He also organised the Spanish resistance in that city.
He was tracked down by the Gestapo in July 1942, but he managed to flee to Rennes where he had the responsibility of the Spanish Resistance in Brittany.
He was detained on 30th November 1942 in Paris with the clandestine Spanish leadership in Occupied France.
Incarcerated in la Santé (nº: 2-83 and nº: 13-50), he was tried and condemned in December 1943 by the " Section Spéciale de Paris".
He was also incarcerated in Eysses (nº 2753) until 30th May 1940 and subsequently sent on 20th May 1944 to Compiègne by the SS Division Das Reich.
He was deported to the concentration camp of Dachau, where he was assigned the registration number 73.229.
On 14th July 1944 he was sent to the Kommando of Landsberg. After the Death March of April 1945, he arrived at the Kommando of Allach, where he was liberated by the American troops.
Ramón Garrido passed away on 14th January 1995 in France.
