Memories of Repression and Resistance: Narratives of Children Institutionalized by Auxilio Social in Postwar Spain

Auxilio Social became the main welfare institution in Franco’s Spain in which poor women and children, mostly belonging to the “vanquished” in the Spanish Civil War (1936–39), were assisted by a new class of social workers composed of Falangists, priests and professionals. The narratives and memories of the institutionalized children demonstrate their attempt to build an alternative identity to the one promoted by the regime. Although fragmented, this identity became an instrument for resisting the imposition of the regime’s monolithic discourse. This particular case sheds light on the extent to which the Francoist elite succeeded in achieving its goals, as well as on the power relations between “victors” and “vanquished” in postwar Spain.