War Bones

To date, the political response has been to avoid any involvement in the mass graves and tiptoe around Franco's crimes as if he were sleeping. Zapatero sponsored the recent Historical Memory Law. But the application of the law has been spotty and not as forceful as some would like. Three years ago, when the government removed the equestrian Franco statue next to the Environment Ministry in Madrid, they did it in the middle of the night.

If judge Garzón finds proof of a nationwide, systematic plan to eliminate the regime's enemies, the High Court can assume jurisdiction over the cases, and a subsequent investigation could force the government to take responsibility for any future exhumations. Catalonia has already taken that step. The Catalan regional Parliament is expected to vote soon on a white paper that will permit the regional government to locate, identify and in some cases excavate the 179 known mass graves in Catalonia. Over the past five years, the Catalan government has received 2,161 requests from people for information on the whereabouts of family members.

This summer, Silva's volunteers excavated three graves in the central Burgos region, and it began a fourth Tuesday. In addition to the exhumations, investigators took DNA samples from 100 or so locals to help identify the remains. In the forest outside the village of Vadocondes, volunteers found the grave containing five men: two brothers, a father and son, and another man. Among the skeletons were some belt buckles, the rubber soles of their shoes and bullet casings. Each skull bore a distinct hole.

The same day, in the nearby Aranda de Duero cemetery, the association unveiled a plaque to the 606 documented people who were killed in Burgos. The organizers expected a few dozen people, but about 400 showed up, including victims' relatives from Brazil, Italy, Switzerland, France and Belgium. "I remember the man from São Paulo," Silva said. "He was 79 years old, touching his father's name on the plaque with his finger. His father became someone again after decades of being no one. And the others told me the same thing that I've heard over and over again at the exhumations: 'Now I can die in peace'."

© 2008