![SovietSpainCivilWarPoster](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/SovietSpainCivilWarPoster.jpg)
The Niños de Rusia (Children of Russia) were the 2,895 children evacuated to the Soviet Union by the Republican authorities during the
Spanish civil war
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
. During 1937 and 1938, the children were sent from the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
zone to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, to avoid the rigours of war. Spanish children were sent to several other countries as well as Russia during this period and they are more widely referred to as Niños de la Guerra (Children of War).
At first, the Niños enjoyed a warm welcome and decent treatment from the Soviet authorities, as the Spanish civil war raged on. However, when the Soviet Union entered into
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and the Nazi's invaded the areas where the Niños children had been housed, they had to endure the harsh reality and deprivations of the war once more. The Niños were not able to leave the USSR during the war, and due to the political differences between the countries, the right wing dictatorship in Spain treated those who finally succeeded in returning with suspicion.
The first of the Niños to be repatriated was Celestino Fernández-Miranda Tuñón, who arrived in Spain on 7 January 1942. He had fought in the Soviet army and been taken prisoner by the
Finns
Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland.
Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...
in
Karelia.
Some of the Niños de Rusia returned to Spain between 1956 and 1959 and others moved to
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
during the 1960s, although an significant number remained in Russia.
According to the archives of the Centro Español de Moscú (Spanish Center in Moscow), 239 Niños de Rusia of Spanish origin were still resident in the territories of the former Soviet Union in February 2004.
The evacuations
As the
Spanish civil war
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
(1936–1939) progressed, conditions became very harsh in the Republican controlled areas, so children at risk from the conflict were evacuated to other countries. The evacuations were organised through the National Council for Evacuated Children, created for this purpose by the
Popular Front
A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault".
More generally, it is "a coalition ...
government. France took c. 20,000 children, Belgium 5,000. The United Kingdom took 4,000, Switzerland took 800, Mexico took 455 and Denmark took 100 evacuee children.
[ Alted Vigil, Alicia (2005)]
«El “instante congelado” del exilio de los niños de la guerra civil española»
, revista ''Deportate, Esuli, Prófughe'', n.º 3, págs. 263–281.
Four transports of evacuees (Niños), totalling 2,895 children were sent to the Soviet Union between 1937 and 1938, 1,197 girls and 1,676 boys. The evacuations from
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
and
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
were made up of children or relatives of pilots or the military. The evacuations were organised through the government of the Spanish Republic, the Soviet Union and the
International Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...
, with the selection of the children and their adult companions made through calls to the public. The evacuations were sometimes undertaken with great urgency because of the proximity of
Francoist
Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...
Nationalist troops. This led to a number of cases of confusion and loss of children (lost on the journey from one province to another, or where parents who thought that their children were going to France and not to the Soviet Union).
* The data in black is confirmed by both sources, otherwise they differ or only appear in the source in which they are coloured. The total number of 2895 children is that given by the Red Cross, endorsed by historians Alted Vigil, Nicolás Marín and González Martell
Most of the child evacuees came from the
Basque Country,
Asturias
Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensiv ...
and
Cantabria
Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...
, areas that had been isolated from the rest of the Republic by the
Francoist
Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...
advance.
[Exposición]
El exilio español de la Guerra Civil: Los niños de la guerra.
Fundación Francisco Largo Caballero. Several of the transfers were made on merchant ships, in which the children travelled crowded in the holds. According to the agreement with the Soviet Union, the children were to be between five and twelve years old, although there is evidence of cases of concealment or falsification of some of the Niños children's real ages, with some sources indicating that the actual ages ranged from 3 to 14 years.
[Informe de la Dirección General de Inmigración](_blank)
de 11/05/06. Ministerio de Trabajo e Inmigración, Gobierno de España. A small group of adults (aged between 19 and 50) accompanied them to take care of them and to continue their education.
Las Casas de Niños (The Children's Houses)
The reception given to some of the evacuees in
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
was akin to a party. The Niños children were seen as demonstrating Soviet support for the fight against
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
in Spain. The Soviet authorities were concerned with children's hygiene, food and health. They were distributed to different reception centers, the "Casas de Niños" (Children's Houses) or "Casas Infantiles para Niños Españoles" (Children's Houses for Spanish Children), some of which were small palaces that had been expropriated during the
October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
. In these houses, the Niños were cared for and educated, taught mostly in Spanish, and by Spanish teachers (mostly women), but following the Soviet educational model. Communist propaganda portrayed them as the future political elite in a Spanish socialist republic which would emerge from victory in the Civil War. The children and their families believed that their time in Russia would be short, and in their later testimonies they confirm that they were happy with the adventure of travelling to a foreign country.
At the end of 1938 there were a total of sixteen Niños houses in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. Eleven of them were located in the current
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
: one in the center of
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
(known as Pirogóvskaya), two in the Leningrad area (one in
Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
, current
Tsárskoye Seló, 24 kilometers south of the city ; one in
Óbninsk) and 5 in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
(including one in
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
, one in
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
and one in
Yevpatoria
Yevpatoria ( uk, Євпаторія, Yevpatoriia; russian: Евпатория, Yevpatoriya; crh, , , gr, Ευπατορία) is a city of regional significance in Western Crimea, north of Kalamita Bay. Yevpatoria serves as the administrative ...
). Life in the Children's Houses is generally remembered by the surviving Niños as a happy interlude during which they received a decent education.
Second World War
The Niños's fate changed with the start of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Soviet interest in the Niños decreased after the end of the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, and with the signing of the
Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact in August 1939, which assured non aggression between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Soon after Germany, and then the Soviet Union invaded Poland, creating a new boundary between the two powers. The pact was fully terminated in June 1941. The Niños houses were dismantled due to the dangers of Nazi invasion. When the German army besieged Leningrad, and moved towards Moscow, and into Ukraine in the south, all the areas where the Spanish children had been placed were compromised. The Niños children in the two houses of Leningrad endured the blockade of the city by the German army during the harsh winter of 1941 to 1942.
300 Niños children were evacuated once the fence could be opened, crossing the frozen lake Ladoga in trucks. Gradually, and with the agreement of the
Communist Party of Spain
The Communist Party of Spain ( es, Partido Comunista de España; PCE) is a Marxist-Leninist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is part of Unidas Podemos. It currently has two of its politicians serving as ...
, the different Niños houses were evacuated to areas considered safer, in some cases quite remote, near the Ural Mountains and Central Asia.
Living conditions in the "second exile" worsened markedly. Many children died or fell ill.
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
and
typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure.
...
, together with the extreme temperatures of the Soviet winter and a poor diet, claimed numerous victims. Many of the older boys enlisted in the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
. Many chose to fight against fascism in Russia just as their parents did in Spain, and to repay the people who had received them and cared for them until the arrival of war. However, there were also cases of retaliation by the Soviet Union itself when there were challenges to communism. Dr. Juan Bote García, who had accompanied the children as a teacher, was arrested and was interned in the
Karagandá concentration camp for refusing to educate the children in a Soviet way, wanting "less Marxism and more mathematics".
![Eastern_Front_1942-05_to_1942-11-es](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Eastern_Front_1942-05_to_1942-11-es.svg)
130 Niños enlisted in the Red Army and served in the defense of the main cities of the country, especially in the battles for the defense of
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
,
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and
Stalingrad
Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...
, some were decorated for their military service. Seventy Spaniards died in the
Siege of Leningrad
The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...
, 46 were children or teenagers.
The rest of the Niños were no luckier. The transfers across the Soviet Union took them to remote places such as
Samarkand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
or
Kokand
Kokand ( uz, Qo‘qon/Қўқон/قوقان, ; russian: Кока́нд; fa, خوقند, Xuqand; Chagatai: خوقند, ''Xuqand''; ky, Кокон, Kokon; tg, Хӯқанд, Xöqand) is a city in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan, at the sou ...
(present-day
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
),
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...
(present-day
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
), or
Krasnoarmeysk (in present-day
Saratov Oblast
Saratov Oblast (russian: Сара́товская о́бласть, ''Saratovskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the types of ...
, Russia). In August 1942 the Nazi army captured sixteen (or fourteen, according to some sources) Spanish children in Krasnoarmeysk. They were handed over to the
Falange
The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco F ...
for repatriation to
Francoist Spain
Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...
in December, where they were used for propaganda purposes.
![Dolores002](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Dolores002.jpg)
The most shocking testimonies come from this period: hunger, disease, crime, rape and prostitution. Various sources refer to the existence of Niños gangs dedicated to stealing. The
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
military commander
Valentín González ''El Campesino'' refers to the existence of a gang of Spanish children in
Kokand
Kokand ( uz, Qo‘qon/Қўқон/قوقان, ; russian: Кока́нд; fa, خوقند, Xuqand; Chagatai: خوقند, ''Xuqand''; ky, Кокон, Kokon; tg, Хӯқанд, Xöqand) is a city in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan, at the sou ...
, who refused to mix with Russian children, and who used the
flag of the Spanish Republic
The flag of the Second Spanish Republic, known in Spanish as ', was the official flag of Spain between 1931 and 1939 and the flag of the Spanish Republican government in exile until 1977. Its present-day use in Spain is associated with the moder ...
as an emblem. González said that when one of those children was captured and executed, it was not in his role as a bandit, but as a supposed "
Falangist
Falangism ( es, falangismo) was the political ideology of two political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS) and afterwards the Fal ...
".
[González González, Valentín. ''Vida y muerte en la URSS (1939–1949)'']
Texto completo (en inglés)
de la edición de International Press Alliance Corporation. Nueva York, 1952. Páginas 95–96.
The children's settlements where the Niños had been transferred to began to suffer the rigours of war. Although the Niños were still, at least nominally, under the protection of the
Communist Party of Spain
The Communist Party of Spain ( es, Partido Comunista de España; PCE) is a Marxist-Leninist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is part of Unidas Podemos. It currently has two of its politicians serving as ...
(PCE), the
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
and other Soviet institutions and unions, the then leader of the PCE
Jesús Hernández, himself exiled in the Soviet Union, often had to pressure the authorities to provide the most basic items for the Niños's survival: food, medicine, heating. Those who did survive managed to do so by enduring harsh living conditions, living in peasant houses and working the fields to secure a livelihood.
When Hernández left the Soviet Union in 1943 on his way to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, nearly 40% of the Niños had died. In 1947, on the anniversary of their arrival in Russia, an event was organised where fewer than 2000 of the children were present. There was significant criticism of the PCE, for not returning the children to Spain. Hernández claimed that
Dolores Ibárruri
Isidora Dolores Ibárruri Gómez (; 9 December 189512 November 1989), also known as (English: "the Passionflower"), was a Spanish Republican politician of the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 and a communist known for her slogan ''¡No Pasará ...
stated that: "''No podemos devolverlos a sus padres convertidos en golfos y prostitutas, ni permitir que salgan de aquí como furibundos antisoviéticos."'' (''We cannot return them to their parents turned gullies and prostitutes, nor allow them to leave here as angry anti-Soviets.'') The memories the Niños had of the behavior of the PCE, and particularly that of
Ibárruri, was often negative.
The deprivation suffered by the Niños was reflected by the similar experiences of the wider Soviet population during the Second World War.
Attempts to retrieve the Niños children by the Spanish state
The return of the Niños evacuees, especially those in the Soviet Union, was something which the Franco regime in Spain continued to pursue. Even before the end of the Second World War, the
Falange
The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco F ...
took control of the repatriation project.
Manuel Hedilla
Manuel Hedilla Larrey (born July 18, 1902 in Ambrosero, Cantabria – died February 4, 1970 in Madrid) was a Spanish political figure who was a leading member of the Falange and an early rival for power towards Francisco Franco. He was a mechan ...
, head of the organisation, sent a letter to
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
in 1937 asking for help in reversing what he described as "inhumane export of children" to the Soviet Union,
[Blanco Moral, Francisco A]
«Los "niños de la guerra": expatriación y repatriación»
revist
''El Rastro de la Historia''
n.º 2. offering to defray the costs of maintaining the children. The
Servicio Exterior de Falange (the Falange Foreign Service) was placed in charge of the project. The records are held in the
Alcalá de Henares
Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish city in the Community of Madrid. Straddling the Henares River, it is located to the northeast of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municipalities ...
archives, including a 1949 document describing some of the methods used.
[Artículo](_blank)
e
''El Comercio Digital''
7 de octubre de 2007.
"''Nuestros delegados en el extranjero solicitan su devolución a España; en un 99 por ciento de los casos esa solicitud es denegada. Se recurre entonces sin miramientos a los medios extraordinarios, con los que, de una forma u otra, casi siempre se logra al fin obtener al menor.''" (''Our delegates abroad request their return to Spain; but in 99 percent of cases that request is denied. Extraordinary means are then used without regard, with which, in one way or another, it is almost always possible to finally obtain the minor.'')
The first returnee under this policy was one of the Niños who become a soldier in the Red Army, and was taken prisoner during the
Winter War
The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1939–40. Information obtained from him convinced the Falange that the Niños were being trained as communist activists. This was enhanced by the Nazi capture of a group of Niños in 1942, allegedly members of an "activist cell". The regime was always suspicious that the repatriated Niños could be communist agents. In 1952, the Falangist writer and poet Federico de Urrutia railled against "the minor expatriates of 1937" sent to the Soviet Union, who he claimed "''dada la infrahumana educación recibida
..ya habrían dejado de ser criaturas humanas, para convertirse en desalmados entes sovietizados.''"
(''Given the subhuman education they received,
..they would have ceased to be human creatures, to become soulless Soviet entities''.)
Under this policy, once the child was repatriated, they were not returned to their family, "''por no ofrecer
..ninguna garantía sobre su educación''" (for not being able to offer
..any guarantee on their education), but were handed over to the Auxilio Social (a Francoist era humanitarian relief organisation much used for state propaganda).
After the war: Spain, Mexico, Cuba, the Soviet Union
After the end of the Second World War, most of the surviving Niños returned to the original area they had been settled in within the Soviet Union. Many ended up settling in Moscow, although some did settle elsewhere.
Eventually, holidays in Spain were permitted for those who had spent twenty years in the Soviet Union.
In 1946, a small group of about 150 of the original Niños had obtained permission to go to Mexico to be reunited with their relatives.
After
Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
's death in 1953, a period of slow diplomatic thaw began between Spain and the Soviet Union. Spain joined the
UN in 1955 and in 1957 an agreement was reached for the return of the Niños who wished to go back to Spain. The transfer was organised quietly, although the Spanish government was keen to paint the exercise as rescuing the former child evacuees from the dangers of the Soviets. On 21 January, as part of an agreement between both countries and with the assistance of the Red Cross, the Soviet ship ''Crimea'' arrived at the port of
Castellón de la Plana
Castellón de la Plana (officially in ca-valencia, Castelló de la Plana), or simply Castellón ( ca-valencia, Castelló, link=no) is the capital city of the province of Castellón, in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is located in the east ...
with 412 Spaniards on board. Between that year and the next, nearly half of the Niños sent to the Soviet Union would arrive in Spain.
The Niños encountered hostility on their return. Some authorities mistrusted them, suspecting that they now held communist beliefs. For many families the reunion was difficult. They had sent children away for their safety, but were now being reunited with adults after almost twenty years, some now parents themselves, and with very different life experiences. A significant number of the Niños ultimately decided to return to the Soviet Union.
Knowledge of the Spanish language led another group of about 200 Niños to move to
Castro
Castro is a Romance language word that originally derived from Latin ''castrum'', a pre-Roman military camp or fortification (cf: Greek: ''kastron''; Proto-Celtic:''*Kassrik;'' br, kaer, *kastro). The English-language equivalent is '' chester''.
...
's
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
from 1961 to the mid-1970s, as Soviet specialists sent by the
Communist Party of Spain
The Communist Party of Spain ( es, Partido Comunista de España; PCE) is a Marxist-Leninist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is part of Unidas Podemos. It currently has two of its politicians serving as ...
. They worked as translators, teachers, in construction or even for Cuban intelligence.
[«65 años como “niño de la guerra” en Rusia»](_blank)
reportaje en ''El País
''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA.
It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...
'' sobre la vida de Alberto Fernández, presidente del Centro Español de Moscú. In Cuba they received the nickname of "''hispano-soviéticos''" (Hispano-Soviets).
Since the 1960s, some individuals have chosen to return to Spain, and after the fall of the
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a considerable number returned. Those who stayed permanently in the Soviet Union, specifically in Moscow, used to meet in the halls of a factory, in the Chkálov Club or in the Spanish Center itself (also known as the House of Spain).
Diplomatic relations were not revived between Spain and the Soviet Union until the last months of the Francoist dictatorship in 1977. With the crumbling of the Soviet regime in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Niños remained in legal limbo until 1990, when the Spanish courts made it possible for them to recover their "lost" nationality. In 1994, the Niños were granted the right to receive retirement, disability and survival pensions from Spain and in 2005, the rights to economic benefits was recognised for Niños still living abroad and for returnees who had spent most of their lives outside of Spain.
In December 2003, the surviving Niños received the gold Medalla de Honor a la Emigración (the Emigration Medal of Honour).
Notable Niños
*
Araceli Sánchez Urquijo
Araceli Sánchez Urquijo (1920–2010) was a Niños de Rusia child evacuee during the Spanish Civil War and the first woman to work as a civil engineer in Spain.
Early life
Araceli Sánchez Urquijo was born in Sestao in the Basque Country i ...
, the first woman to work as a civil engineer in Spain
*Ángel Gutierrez, (in Russian,
Анхель Гутьеррес), former student of the
Russian Institute of Theatre Arts
The Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS) (russian: Российский институт театрального искусства – ГИТИС) is the largest and oldest independent theatrical arts school in Russia. Located in Moscow, ...
(GITIS), theater director and actor, founder of Chekhov Chambre Theatre in Madrid, specialist of Chekhov, who personally knew
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky ( rus, Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐrˈsʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tɐrˈkofskʲɪj; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian filmmaker. Widely considered one of the greates ...
, Peter Fomenko, Andrei Lobanov, Oleg Efremov, Vladimir Vysotsky….
*Carmen Orive-Abad, the mother of the legendary Soviet hockey player
Valeri Kharlamov
The French name Valery () is a male given name or surname of Germanic origin ''Walaric'' (see Walric of Leuconay), that has often been confused in modern times with the Latin name ''Valerius''—that explains the variant spelling Valéry (). The S ...
.
*
Agustín Gómez
Agustín is a Spanish given name and sometimes a surname. It is related to Augustín. People with the name include:
Given name
* Agustín (footballer), Spanish footballer
* Agustín Calleri (born 1976), Argentine tennis player
* Agustín Cá ...
, footballer and captain of
Torpedo Moscow
Football Club Torpedo Moscow (russian: link=no, ФК "Торпедо" Москва, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow that was founded in 1924 and returned to the Russian Pre ...
References
{{Reflist, 2
Bibliography
* Heredia, Carmen; Zafra, Enrique; Crego, Rosalía.
"Los niños españoles evacuados a la URSS (1937)" Madrid. Ediciones La Torre. 1989.
* Castillo Rodríguez, Susana (1999)
«Memoria, Educación e Historia: el caso de los niños españoles evacuados a la Unión Soviética durante la Guerra Civil Española».Tesis doctoral.
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university lo ...
. Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociología. Departamento de Antropología Social. Madrid, 1999.
* Sierra Blas, Verónica. ''Palabras huérfanas, los niños y la Guerra Civil''. Madrid: Taurus, 2009.
* Pablo Fernández-Miranda "Pisaré sus calles nuevamente" Ediciones GPS, 2019
External links
Centro Español de MoscúLos niños de la guerra: en sus propiаs palabras Fundación Francisco Largo Caballero.
Con abundante material fotográfico.
«Los niños de Rusia, historia del desarraigo» audio en Documentos RNE.
* Lista de los españoles caídos combatiendo en las filas del Ejército Rojo en la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Centro Español de Moscú.
Imágenes del retorno de uno de los barcos. NO-DO.
* ''Los niños españoles evacuados a la Unión Soviética (1937)''. España: Ediciones de la Torre, 1989.
Spanish emigrants
Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in the Soviet Union
Evacuations
Refugees in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union–Spain relations
Child refugees