CAMÍ DE L'ESPOIR
The rise of repression and the beginning of the exodus.
At the end of the Spanish Civil War, Franco's troops, supported by the Italian army and the German Nazis, swept away the last pockets of Republican resistance.
Living conditions for civilians in areas still under Republican control are rapidly deteriorating, with bombings, food shortages and increasingly violent repression.
On January 26, 1939, Barcelona, capital of Catalonia, fell to Franco.
Within days, hundreds of thousands of refugees took to the road towards the border, hoping to escape the Francoist invasion.
Among these exiles, soldiers, civilians, women and children, all fleeing terror, head north towards France.
Many, tired and desperate, know only one goal: to find refuge, a safe place, far from political persecution and summary executions.
Crossing the border at Pertus: a journey of suffering
In Pertus, the situation is particularly dramatic . This small village, located at the foot of the mountains, becomes a main crossing point for refugees fleeing Spain. The conditions are horrible.
Upon arrival at the border, refugees face physical, political and human obstacles that make their crossing of the pass extremely difficult.
Thousands of people, exhausted and hungry, walk on congested roads, often in rain and snow, in freezing temperatures.
The overwhelmed French authorities did not anticipate the scale of the refugee influx and did not have the means to manage this massive influx. Many were mistreated by French soldiers, who, although sometimes supportive, remained largely indifferent to the human distress unfolding before their eyes.
In this border crossing, the reception is far from dignified. Women, children and old people are forced to sleep on the ground, in deplorable sanitary conditions.
The refugees suffered from illness, injuries, hunger and cold. Those who managed to cross the border were often taken in by temporary concentration camps, where they were interned before being released or sent back to larger camps such as those in Rivesaltes, Argelès-sur-Mer or Saint-Cyprien, which were only places of precarious detention.
