a disgrace for spain and for europe. spain now plans to move franklin's remains and some victims of franco's regime of being from a mask rife to be given a proper burial. told to charge it up for them and i'm not sad i'm glad to finally find out whether my brother is buried here here is executed a day or two years ago during the civil war or for. about it. this is the village of us in northeastern spain. was born in the village ninety seven years ago. tomorrow workers will start digging at the site of the graves that contains the bodies of franco era victims martin believes that the remains of one of his brothers may be there two of his brothers were executed by pro franco militias in one thousand nine hundred thirty seven the bodies have never been found martin has fought for years to recover the remains and give them a decent burial. here our fronts are excited. you know the beard yes the up with my brother through so much. i'm just happy that i blew it long enough to see this i have wonderful memories of my brothers. they were older than i was so we spent a lot of time together we were right here toys and replied together. but all of a sudden they disappeared or so. they were executed a few months after the civil war started and wished martins daughter who is preparing some food to take to the site tomorrow. the exhumation will be carried out by a group that's trying to get spain to come to terms with its fascist past. so we think a lot of your friends and acquaintances will be there. i mean you know but the people from the village are staying away. that's the way it is in our country you know how some people keep silent and look the other way and they say it all goes back to the civil war. it was the right wingers say they won the war they're legal i've got a young man you know but some are there. tomorrow no set of people. and . martin found out only by chance where his brother's remains may be buried. some neighbors told him that there was a mass grave at the cemetery in whisker. the exhumation work will take nearly a week martin plans to be here to see all of it. it's a difficult time for him and his daughters. we have a board here at c b o c forty seven he doesn't want any strangers around the house right now. who can only see why would you want. it's still not clear whether the remains of martin's brother will be found here. but witnesses say that he and four others were buried at this location. the d.n.a. tests will be carried out later to try to determine the identity of the remains. of . the spanish civil war took place from one thousand nine hundred thirty six to nine hundred thirty nine martina now was just a child at the time but his memories of the war is still clear. in the future the holy revenue if on july eighteenth one thousand nine hundred thirty six it was quieter in our village absolutely it was a saturday at all the young people went dancing. and we were just enjoying life or north of the all we heard about the right wing coup against the republican government. but that was so far away from us that the forklift that. said i'll give i don't get morning july nineteenth. the restrict large is in our area and then you have this in my two brothers and some of their friends have been not sleeping in the fields. and when they came back on july twenty third the police arrested the yemen people where. the bodies of an estimated one hundred fourteen thousand civil war victims still lie in anonymous scribes. a federal law passed in two thousand and seven includes provisions for the bodies to be identified and properly buried but government funding is in short supply so private groups like our rico have stepped in to try to fill the gap with support from don't. nations are eco seeks to preserve the memory of the victims and to recover they were minus. the middle period pena's grandfather and a great uncle were buried in anonymous graves. period her husband miguel the director of arica filed a number of lawsuits taking the case all the way to the european court for human rights. in twenty sixteen a spanish court finally ruled that the exhumations could take place. we fought for twelve years to get that decision. and even though permission has been granted for the exhumations we have no idea when they're going to start i mean. one of which. we have no information at all. all we can do is hope. that the bad guys. win now moved west of madrid at the via. it's name means valley of the fall and the site contains the remains of many civil war victims from both sides the dictator francisco franco is also buried here the memorial often attracts right wing demonstrators. it was. historian and activist antonio gomez wants spain to deal openly and honestly with its divisive and violent past gomez supports the recent decision by the spanish government to move franco's grave to another location. he says this memorial should honor only the victims of the spanish civil war. this is the famous or infamous via their last car you house. in both it has the tallest cross in the christian world at about one hundred fifty meters is the basilica was carved into the rock face all of that. franco is buried here but this is also the biggest mass grave in spain will be about thirty three thousand civil war victims are interred here supporters of the republic were buried anonymously in nations in the basilica. only franco claimed that this is a place of reconciliation. but it's not it's an insult to those spaniards who fought for freedom and democracy. via their last carried those is a fascist monument it is a home to represent the divisions in our country. it's a disgrace to spain and to europe for us the world there are. many spaniards see this side as a monument to a dictator who ordered the torture and execution of hundreds of thousands of his opponents who work on the project began in one thousand nine hundred forty and took eighteen years to complete some reports say much of the structure was built using forced labor including political prisoners. this video was shot by a tourist using a hidden camera it shows the interior of the basilica it cost the spanish government about a million euros a year to maintain a memorial. of benedictine abbey on the site receives a share of that maintenance money the monks fear that if franco's body is moved elsewhere that funding may be cut side they've blocked the proposal. here antonio gomez meets a colleague who is a fellow member of. a spanish association that advocates the separation of church and state. and they're planning to confront the benedictine at about his opposition to moving franco's body out of via dallas kind os. but the abbot refuses to meet them. we return to madrid. antonio gomez has an appointment with maria another member of. they plan to attend a rally organized by political conservatives and talk to some of the demonstrators . what up parliament's decision to move franco's remains has divided the country and emotions are running high. conservatives and franco's descendants oppose the plan liberals say that franco's remains should not be kept in the same place as those of the victims. to the demonstration is being held at the plaza cologne in central madrid. many of the participants want socialist prime minister pedro sanchez to resign. that. many of these people support franco's legacy. but antonio and maria want to find out more about the demonstrate his political views. but it would be a little bit like that spain has so many problems right now that why should we focus on the past. no matter how much we talk about it we can change it take us if that matters to debase about franco's to load and labor strikes unemployment low wages and low pension us those are the problems that we should deal with and it's almost out of work oh but i do know that if i can go to spain should focus on the living not the dead you know all of us say that we shouldn't spend hundreds of thousands of euros digging up the past it was you know whatever the mother's family values feels right now but what would you say if your own relatives have been buried anonymously in mass graves. was it was. an estimated five hundred thousand civilians were killed in the spanish civil war. two hundred thousand others died in a campaign of a. oppression carried out by franco's government after the war ended. was i in one nine hundred seventy seven parliament approved a law that declared an amnesty for those who committed crimes during the civil war and lyta under franco's regime. was that was that the catalyst what's your opinion on moving franco's remains but i do think it's a small bit of the buy and arrows qaida is a sacred place when dad is dead for the year left or right don't act as though the only victims are leftists but it is not at least that whether we don't have that here. i differences still franco national foundation was founded shortly after the dictator's death in one thousand nine hundred seventy six to promote a positive interpretation of his legacy. at the foundation's office we asked the organizations director one child or take whether this wasn't like having a hitler foundation in germany. you know even if you're from the there's a fundamental difference hitler lost his war. and you destroyed germany franco got one of his war and he helped to lead spain to great there's. a lot of good. he'd left it or he was an atheist franco was a catholic let me finish you simply can't compare these two situations is this but yes yes there were no more civilian deaths are concerned what was it how many germans died in world war two with the same account of all the wonderful among them were ten million are among the enemy younus and imposing their number on a six million dollars is by just how much on screen we're talking about an estimated two hundred fifty thousand civilians have died in the civil war and then there were these are my numbers of mass graves is nothing but lies. one child or take i underestimated the number of civilians who were killed in the civil war the number is actually closer to five hundred thousand and the question of how to deal with this bloody chapter of history continues to divide spanish society. at the cemetery in western the excavators have made their first find. the bones were lying just a few centimeters below the surface. that indicates that the body was buried quickly. but it will be weeks before lab results can confirm whether martin arnold's brother roman was buried here. i don't know. some of the younger volunteers have taken a real interest in the civil war and its consequences. to your question there are fanboys a long way to like us and spanish society as a whole have a duty to deal with what happened but i remember a lot of people who fought and died for a better world deserved dignity for the rest i'm doing what i can here. we won't be able to identify all of the victims your good but we're going to try for and that all of it at the. most spaniards believe that franco was a dictator. but many say that he was more moderate and less cruel than some others and they point out that spain's economy grew under franco's leadership. but in recent years many spaniards have adopted a more critical view. last year many madrid residents joined the city's mayor to demand that franco era symbols be removed and that some street names be changed but the franco foundation got a court order to stop the move later some of the street names were changed after a higher court overturned the original order there were plans to rebury franco in his hometown and for all include c.r. it was hoped this would also help stop pilgrimages to his grave but his grandchildren want him to be interred with full military honors at large in a cathedral in central madrid and tonio gomez hopes that doesn't happen yet according that you've heard him spain has been a democracy for more than four decades. and during that time franco's graven via data has been maintained by the catholic church here and now some say it should be moved to the cathedral in madrid opposite the royal palace. that would be a disaster especially for the government. of course the church thinks it's a great idea and franco's regime could not have stayed in power without the support of the catholic church. the cathedral stands just south of the royal palace franco lived at the palace for a ton after the civil war. after their interviews at the rally antonio and maria stop for coffee. antonio is researching the relationship between franco's government and the catholic church the church is the second largest property owner in spain after the federal government and antonio is preparing a report on its assets the church supported franco and in return acquired considerable new powers. that would that go financial new year catholic church in spain is an earthly kingdom that's worth billions of dollars there but church lost its privileges during the second republican the one nine hundred thirty s. but its support for franco soon paid off. in one thousand thirty seven the bishops announced that the civil war was a christian crusade in return franco approved legislation that allowed the church to register public buildings as private property for a small fee of all the bishops had to do was sign a few papers that i was going to live in that that happened here with the churches same barbara. thousand other building and. yes no more of it to leave also to. the church as a real estate portfolio is not limited to places of worship it also includes apartment blocks. antonio gomez says that here in the archdiocese of our villa the church owns up to two thirds of all property. some left wing city governments have questioned whether the church should own that much real estate church officials have promised to make a public inventory of their properties but that hasn't happened yet. antonio has come to the office of the archdiocese of madrid to find out more about its real estate holdings officials declined comment but said he could submit a written request. antonio returns to the over a polite office to work on his church report. but his colleague solidarity lou prayer arrives with news about a controversial decision. hi antonio. when on the stand it's an outrage have you heard what happened. yet mr know what when i talk to go. on that that when i was here the prosecutors had demanded an eleven year prison sentence. but now the court has ruled that the statute of limitations has run out. dr eduardo valle was the first person to stand trial for his part in one of the most notorious crimes of the franco era of more than four decades tens of thousands of newborn babies were taken from their parents many of whom were opponents of the regime and then placed with pro franco families the practice continued as an illegal trafficking network until the nineteen eighties in which doctors lawyers and the catholic church took part. in course at lotto villa denied any wrongdoing solid adds twin brother was one of the babies that was taken away much she's still trying to find him. i mean this seems stunning and i'm just astonished at the court's decision that i have to face in the rule of law you know and wonder why i said this was a crime against humanity that they should be no statute of limitations on such crimes ok it's ok not to scream. once again the catholic church is involved in criminal activity with remember judicial system keeps covering it up. because look. there. was. many of those who survived persecution by the franco regime and now dead every thursday appointed those will square in madrid their relatives gather and demand that the perpetrators be brought to justice. was it. the photographs he depict those who disappeared joined the franco era. poor relocate his grandfather was one of the victims. were not then he really didn't get involved in politics but if you didn't actively support franco you were considered a read. my grandfather was executed and that left my grandmother to support four children on her own only. the youngest was five and the oldest was eleven and no one had to see for them in the village to the contrary. franco's men shave the heads of women who are married to leftists who would smell the liquid over them and paraded them like that through the streets leftists and their families were terrified back then because of the atrocities that were committed that they were too frightened to even talk about it and that was the start of the great silence and then you know i grew up believing that my grandfather had died fighting in the civil who know but decades later my father told me the truth son no i mean i will not i don't allow it around for ten years piri has been trying to recover her grandfather's remains i mean what else spain has the second largest number of disappeared people in the world after cambodia. and this is in europe oh yeah well much more bullshit just pointed out. a little girl save us i wish they had me in prison for six days. but the perpetrators still haven't been arrested or punished. over the state can afford subsidies for all kinds of things but it does nothing for us victims the survivors of the dead. and all the you will it is demanded that the bodies of the victims from both sides being sued. and given a proper burial at state expense. but that hasn't happened yet or rather that get out got through until. at least they've made a start here inquest. martin and now is convinced that his brother's remains will be found here right now he's checking a list of those in his village who were executed and he's surprised that almost no one from the village has come here today to observe the exhumation work up. from. any remains that are correctly identified will be given a proper burial lifestyle. rather than a filmmaker named marco is making a video recording of the exhumation work marco and miguel kappa pay director of the article denies ation for victims of repression had hoped that some members of the spanish media would be here today to cover the story of the. american that i'm talking more like and i that is so typical of you know local press coverage at all and a lot of we have a t.v. crew from germany with us today but there's not a spanish reporter in sight. i studied history when i was at university but they taught us almost nothing about twentieth century spain are going to go to nothing about the civil war or the repression as he will be or the anonymous graves that they are today people just aren't aware of what happened back then so they can't relate to it that you know they think it was their grandfather's war and that it has nothing to do with that again they focus i don't know they just don't know that i know that i will only know about the remains of the dead cannot speak to us not i'm not going to come out but they can bear witness to what took place at that time . and she didn't ask for evil and only when me uncover all the details about that period in our history if i so you can really be able to say the civil war is finally over that may not know. who holds the power in germany we asked voters. the corporations capital the ones with the money what do lawmakers think about food risking it. functions big business and the business leaders those of us with money have to get involved we are the state who holds the power in this land of inequality says to me . here's what's coming up for the book is playing you how flimsy to talk about here going to double. the money is legal every weekend here comes to. what's the connection between bread butter and the european union dinos guild motto w correspondent and alan baker can stretch this second line with the rules set by the team. no smoking recipes or success strategy that could make a difference. baking bread on d.w. . again. either through love is respect. is the most of the. team. please please. respect. each piece of. shit. list. oh ha ha ha. ha. ha ha ha ha ha ha. respect. this is the job you use live from a test for turkey's ruling party votes are being counted regional elections the country's deeper recession could cost president one support we'll find out what's at stake from our correspondent also coming up. could ukrainians choose a comedian as their next president will see why. he is leading the polls in a closely watched rings. and byron munich were looking to keep dortmund at bay best way to do that was to get three points of their own to try for a.

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