The Department of Justice, Rights and Memory has recovered the remains of 264 victims of the Civil War buried in pits, according to the balance sheet of the 2020-2022 Pits Plan that the General Directorate of Democratic Memory has released.
During these last three years, archaeological interventions have been carried out in 28 graves and the remains of 10 identified victims have been returned to their families. In addition, more than 3,000 objects of materials associated with exhumed soldiers have been recovered, both from the Republican army and from the insurgents, and from other civilian victims.
Of the 10 people identified and returned in the plan's march, four corresponded to soldiers exhumed in the graves of the old Soleràs cemetery: three Republican soldiers: Josep Pérez Fajardo, Francisco Salvador Moreno Costa and a Francoist soldier, Herminio Bonilla Javato.
Of the nearly 200 individuals unearthed in the farmhouse of Santa Magdalena, in Móra d'Ebre, the remains of Anton Casanovas Castany, Andreu Flores Flores and Josep Aubeso Rovira were returned. In addition, the remains of the republican soldier Josep Sans Cabot, excavated in the Corbella del Ebre wind farm, and those of the maqui Francisco Serrano Iranzo, recovered from the Reguers cemetery, were identified.
Finally, within the framework of the collaboration agreement with the government of Navarra and thanks to the transfer of genetic data, it was possible to identify the remains of Ramon Haro Gómez, murdered while fleeing from the Fort of San Cristóbal in Pamplona.
Between 2020 and 2022, up to 28 interventions were made. The graves were located in various buildings: close to places for excursions, field hospitals and relief places on the battlefield, in cemeteries and in trench lines.
Despite the fact that no remains could be found, those responsible for the plan emphasize the effort made in the excavations of the hermitage of Sant Josep de Bot, in Terra Alta, the Montjuïc cemetery in Barcelona, where the remains of the Cuban poet were sought and international brigadier Pablo de la Torriente Brau. In addition to the search in the Griera farmhouse, in Gurb, the castle of Monclar (Urgell) and the fosas del plat de Clem, the plain of Mont-ros or the tower of Capdella, located in the Pallars Jussà.
Parallel to the interventions, 61 points with bone remains on the surface were also recorded. This action mole does not imply excavation, but consists in the collection of human remains and related materials located on the surface, either because they have emerged naturally or because there have been earth movements.
