The Law of Historical Memory may reinstate Spanish Civil War victim Martinez Endique’s honor.
Awaiting for the finalization of the articles to be included in the Historical Memory Law (Law 52/2007), one of the puzzling fragments of the city of Murcia’s past covering the period before and after the Spanish Civil War, Antonio Martinez Endique seek to be rescued from oblivion so that his honor be reinstated albeit posthumously.
A trade union activist in several fronts, musical composer, politician and journalist, Endique was jailed and sentenced to death for the crime of “adherence to the rebellion”. The verdict showed no evidence that Endique had shed not even one drop of blood from his opponents.
More than 30 years after his death, his heirs seek that his honor be repaired and have already succeeded in the acceptance of their appeal by the Ministry of Justice, although the requirements of the Historical Memory Law for this purpose have yet to be defined.
In like manner, and throughout a lengthy and extensive investigation, Endique’s family have obtained the support of institutions such as the PSEO (Spanish Socialist Party), the Royal Family, the Presidency, IU (United Left Party), and the UGT and CNT trade unions, among others.
On the other hand, and in spite of being the author of several sacred musical pieces such as the “Hymn to the Virgin of Hope”, and of having saved religious works of art from the iconoclast movement, the Catholic Church remains silent and prefers to not support reinstating Endique´s honor.
Endique was condemned to death by the Nationalist faction, yet thanks to a signature collections campaign undertaken by his family, and widely supported by Murcian society of that historical period, including the signatures of several local leaders of the Franco regime, accomplished commuting the sentence to 20 years and one day in prison of which he served a little over six years.
Before serving his sentence, Antonio Martinez Endique was president of the Murcia Region Republican Youth (1934-1939), secretary of the “Izquierda Murciana” political party (1936), and an activist of the UGT and CNT trade unions.
As a journalist, he was a collaborator of diverse publications such as “La Region” (The Region), “El Liberal” (The Liberal), “La Hoja del Lunes” (Monday’s Page), “Linea” (Line), and “La Razon” (The Reason).
Yet, undoubtedly, the activity for which he is best remembered was neither his political militancy nor his newspaper articles, but for the lyrics of the many songs he wrote to narrate the music of great composers such as maestro Manuel Massoti, Little, Antonio Acosta Raya, and Agustin Sanchez Lopez. Several of these pieces, transported to present times by famed singer Manolo Escobar, among others are “Murcian Folk Songs”, “Divine Havanera”, and “Nocturnal Murcia”, among others.
Puzzling though it may seem, the national authors organization (SGAE) have denied Endique’s heirs petitions to receive the intellectual property rights and copies of the original musical scores arguing that “he did not bequeath these rights in his will”.
Juan Romero, father of Antonio Martinez Endique’s great-granddaughters, and prime architect of the investigation that seeks to reinstate Endique’s honor argued, in a letter sent to Murcia’s daily Elfaro News that, “the policy and law for recovering historical memory underwritten by the Spanish government is not for opening up old wounds, as the Popular Party may believe it to be, it means recovering the cultural legacy that belongs to all Spaniards, and which constitute a moral duty of recognizing the truth that the Spanish Civil War was partisan, xenophobic, and radically opposed to the principles of legality and legal certainty, annulling his summary proceedings sentencing and reinstating his good name to be represented as such in the annals of history”.
Traducción de fotos
Soldado del bando Nacional arrancando un símbolo republicano.
“A soldier of Franco’s nationalist army removing a republican symbol”
Imagen de la ciudad de Murcia antes de la Guerra civil española.
“A view of the city of Murcia before the Spanish Civil War”
Presos politicos de la Guerra Civil se hacinan en la prisión.
“Spanish Civil War political prisoners are crammed together in prison”
Simulación virtual de la batalla de Murcia en la Guerra Civil.
“Computer simulation of the battle of Murcia in the Spanish Civl War”
Documentos procedentes del proceso judicial de Martinez Endique.
“Original documents of the court proceedings in the trial of Martinez Endique”
