FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 94 - ENGLISH

22 GRAPO MADRID EXHIBITION behind a widow and four children who have ever since wondered why he was murdered. “Fifty years on, I still haven’t found an answer,” she stated. In the same vein as the GRAPO victim, Carmen Ladrón de Guevara explained that the exhibition is now coming to the Ateneo de Madrid to attempt to “tell the bloody story of GRAPO through the story of the 93 fatalities, the true protagonists”. “Spanish society owes a debt of rec- ognition and understanding regard- ing GRAPO’s terrorism,” said Carmen Ladrón de Guevara. For his part, the director of the Memori- al Centre, Florencio Domínguez, pointed out that the victims of GRAPO went “rel- atively unnoticed due to the omnipres- ence of ETA”, and therefore “hopes” that exhibitions of this kind will help to keep their memory alive. The Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Susana Crisóstomo, con- cluded the proceedings by thanking the institutions that have collaborat- ed on “Fifty Years of Lead. 1975–2025, the Bloody Path of GRAPO”, namely the Memorial Centre for the Victims of Terrorism and the Victims of Terror- ismFoundation. “It is another step to- wards remembering the fifty years of freedom in Spain,” she noted. THE EXHIBITION The exhibition traces the history of GRAPO, which was initially linked as a ‘technical wing’ to the Commu- nist Party of Spain (Reconstituted) (PCE-r), founded in the summer of 1975 and inspired by Maoism. Their aim was to subvert the political and economic order through terrorist acts including murders, extortion, kidnappings, robber- ies and bombings, with the aim of vio- lently establishing a Marxist-Leninist regime. Between 1975 and 2006, they carried out more than a thousand at- tacks, resulting in 93 fatalities and nearly a hundred injuries, making them the third most lethal terrorist group in Europe in terms of murders, after the Northern Irish armed groups and ETA. Police and judicial actions, cul- minating in the dissolution of the PCE-r in 2006, led to an end to the violence, but not to the announcement of the dissolution of GRAPO. Their spaces for propaganda and proselytising, linked to their legacy, still remain. The exhibition’s main highlights include explanations of the PCE-r, the role of propaganda through publications, post- ers and stickers; the actions of the justice system, the kidnappings, their methods and their victims. Also on display are two dioramas depicting an attack on an armoured vehicle in Vigo in 2000 and a reproduction of the house near Lyon (France) where the businessman Publio Cordón was held hostage in 1995. In addition, the Memorial has pro- duced two videos posted on its YouTube channel ( https://www. youtube.com/@ centrome-morialvicti- masdelt4750) containing information about GRAPO and testimonies from victims of terrorism perpetrated by this armed group. For its part, the Victims of Terrorism Foundation has added the ‘Stories of Life ’ microsite to its website, an In Memoriam dedicat- ed to the victims, as well as information on the terrorist group and its activities. It can be viewed at the following link : https://fundacionvt.o rg/historias-de-vi- da/index.html. The exhibition “Fifty Years of Lead. 1975–2025, the Bloody Path of GRA- PO” remained open to the public in the Anselma Hall of the Ateneo de Madrid until 1 March. EDUCATION, CULTURE AND COMMUNITY LIFE