REVIEW
BOOK
La secreta de Franco .
La Brigada Político-Social durante la dictadura .
Alcántara , Pablo . Planeta , 2022
Ricard Conesa Historian , project officer at the EUROM
Barcelona , August 2022 . The information panel in front of the police station at No . 43 on Via Laietana was vandalised again . Nothing is legible . What did it say ? Who poured paint on it ? And why ? In the spring of 2019 , Barcelona City Council decided to put up a panel a few metres away from the building telling the frightening story behind its walls . The Barcelona headquarters of Franco ’ s political police , the Brigada Político-Social ( BPS , the Political-Social Brigade ), its premises were used to torture and systematically violate human rights during the Franco dictatorship . Today , different associations of ex-political prisoners , former deportees or relatives of victims of Franco ’ s regime – such as those gathered under the umbrella of the Ateneu Memòria Popular ( Popular Memory Atheneum ), among others – recall the facts and call for this police station , still in operation , to be turned into a centre of memory .
It ’ s hard to understand the reason why a study on the role played by Franco ’ s political police in Spain had not been carried out until now . While other countries have seen the publication of books , articles , reports by human rights institutions and even the release of films dedicated to the political police and secret services , Spain still lacked such a study . Historian Pablo Alcántara sought to fill this gap with his book La secreta de Franco . La Brigada Político-Social durante la dictadura [ Franco ’ s Secret Police . The Political-Social Brigade during the Dictatorship ], a publication resulting from his PhD thesis .
As a result of the restructuring of the Public Order Forces between 1938 ( still at war ) and 1942 , the BPS emerged as the dictatorship ’ s “ true praetorian guard ”. To this end , it had the invaluable assistance of H . Himmler ’ s Gestapo and from 1953 , in the throes of the Cold War , the CIA ’ s cooperation through collaboration in international operations and the training of Spanish agents . Alcántara delves into the working methodology of the BPS and its role in major acts of repression , such as the fight against the anti-Franco guerrillas , the workers ’ movement , the student movement , clandestine political parties ( especially Spain ’ s
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Observing Memories Issue 6