George Orwell never fulfilled his wish to visit Huesca when he fought in the Spanish Civil War, but almost 90 years later, his son Richard Blair has made the trip to unveil a statue in honor of his famous father.
With a tender kiss, George Orwell’s son made a silent gesture to his father: in a way, the writer had finally returned home.
When Orwell fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War, the division he was part of was about to take the eastern city of Huesca.
Confident of victory over the coup plotters, the generals promised the troops that the next day they would have coffee in the city, something that was never fulfilled.
Now, almost 90 years after the author of Tribute to Catalonia was about to lose his life in the war of 1936-1939, his son Richard Blair has finally made his father’s wish to reach Huesca come true – at least symbolically – when a bronze relief of Orwell was erected in his honor last month.
Blair has led a campaign with the Spanish historian Victor Pardoto preserve the memory of his father in Huesca.
British and Spanish activists organized a campaign to raise around 25,000 euros to finance the monument.
After the ceremony, Blair kissed his hand and placed it on her father’s face.
A band played Long live the Fifth Brigadea republican song from the civil war, but with the lyrics changed to include members of the contingent of the now defunct Independent Labor Partyto which Orwell belonged.
“As Orwell wrote in Tribute in Cataloniathe generals said every day ‘Tomorrow we will have coffee in Huesca‘ but of course it never happened. Now he has finally done it in a very symbolic way,” Blair told Euronews Culture. “I felt very proud and very excited. It has been the highlight of our visits to Spain.”
“What he has done, of course, has cemented our relationship with Huesca. I think many people in Aragón have recognized that Orwell reported honestly of what was happening.”
Orwell said “If I ever return to Spain, I firmly promise to have a coffee in Huesca.”
Protect the past
Today, the eastern region of Spain is embroiled in an ongoing controversy over the conflict that tore the country apart in the Orwell’s time.
The regional governments of Aragon, Castile and León y Valenciaare led by a coalition of the conservative Popular Party and the far-right Vox.
Last month, these right-wing coalitions were accused by the United Nations of attempting to “whitewash” the general’s dictatorship Francisco Franco.
Democratic Memory Law versus “concord laws”
Two years ago, the Spanish socialist government presented aDemocratic Memory Law intended to contribute “justice, reparation and dignity” to the victims of the civil war.
It contains dozens of measures that aim to “pay off the debt of Spanish democracy with its past.”
Among them, the creation of a DNA bank that helps locate and identify the remains of tens of thousands of people who lie in common pits; the ban on glorifying Franco and the redefinition of Valley of the Fallenthe gigantic basilica and memorial where Franco remained for 44 years.
However, the PP and the Vox coalition have tried to replace all this with what they define as “concord laws” in the regions where they govern.
ADVERTISINGIn a letter sent to the Spanish government in April, experts of the HIM They stated that the information that they received about the proposed laws “could affect the obligations of the Spanish State in matters of human rights, especially its obligations to guarantee the preservation of historical memory about serious violations of human rights“.
The laborious preparation of a memorial
However, despite his father’s involvement, Blair is quite reluctant to be involved in controversial Spanish politics.
Orwell fought in the Spanish republican militias of the Labor Party for Marxist Unification (POUM) during the Civil War that followed the coup d’état of the rebellious military with strong international support. He received a shot in the neck in 1937 on the Aragon front, but survived thanks to luck. He died in 1950, when his adopted son was five years old.
To help the campaign, Blair matched every pound donated with a pound of his own money.
He Eton CollegeOrwell’s alma mater, contributed money to the project.
ADVERTISING“If my pen were worth your gun”
The historian Victor Pardo He believes that for Orwell his stay in Spain was the most important of his life.
“Orwell came to Spain in 1936 as a journalist, but He changed the pen for a gun. We celebrate a man who sought TRUE and defended the freedom“Pardo said at the memorial ceremony.
Quentin Kopppresident of the Orwell Society, has been a key figure in the campaign. His father, Georges Koppwas Orwell’s commanding officer in the Civil War.
Later, after the war, Kopp married into the Orwell family, making Richard Blair and Quentin Kopp cousins as well as faithful friends.
“For me it was emotional in a different way than Richard. It was an important project and more than necessary,” Quentin Kopp told Euronews Culture.
ADVERTISING“It was very special. That’s what it means Tribute to Catalonia for those who were on the Republican side during the war. Orwell spoke openly of what he saw around him at that time. “That is valued much more in Spain than anywhere else.”
