FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 94 - ENGLISH

62 Although you did not live through those years, does your involvement stem from a sense that this memory also belongs to you, and that turning it into a commitment is a way of giving meaning to that absence? Yes, absolutely. Although I didn’t live through those years, I feel that memory is also a part of me. Family stories, values and convictions are also passed down. Turning memory into civic commitment means living according to my family’s political and moral principles, striving to ensure that future generations are aware of what human beings are capable of, so that they remain vigilant and do not tolerate it, thereby preventing anything similar from ever happening again. To mark this anniversary, the short documentary film Recuerdo de un hombre libre (Memories of a Free Man) has been made about your grandfather. What has it meant to you to take part in and see this project come to fruition? It has allowed me to delve into my fami- ly history with a depth I might not have achieved had it not been for the project. It has been a very intense experience, be- cause it involves listening, asking ques- tions and confronting memories that remain deeply painful for my family. At the same time, it has been a very beau- tiful way of paying tribute to my grand- father. The project doesn’t end there, as we are now working on a feature-length documentary that will explore our family history in greater detail and highlight the period of the Transition and the heroic role of the victims of terrorism in the his- tory of Spain. What do you hope viewers will feel or understand when they see it for the first time? I would like viewers to understand that behind every victim of terrorism there is a real person, with a life, a family, ideals and hopes. I also want them to realise that the ideas justifying terrorism—in short, the murder of innocent citizens over ideological differences—have no place in a democratic society that aspires to peaceful coexistence. Sometimes the story is told in a very abstract way, but ETA’s nationalist terrorism had profound human and social consequences that de- serve empathy and attention. Three decades on, do you think Spanish society has managed to preserve the memory and dignity of the victims of terrorism? I believe that, as far as Spanish socie- ty’s responsibility towards the victims and future generations in this regard is concerned, the efforts made leave much to be desired. Specifically, in the Basque Country and Navarre, where the full force of ETA’s violence was felt most acutely and dramatically, there is a clear institu- tional failure to ensure that the truth of what happened is made known. Worse still, the trivialisation, and even justifi- cation, of terrorism persists within na- tionalist circles. This is demonstrated by the extremely high level of radicalisation among young people in both autonomous communities. Memory is a fragile thing and requires a conscious and constant effort to be preserved with rigour and re- spect. Much remains to be done. “As time goes by, there is a risk that what happened will be simplified or diluted in accounts that do not reflect the gravity or the truth of what ETA terrorism was” How did the attack shape your family’s life story? It shaped it in an inevitable and very pro- found way. The attack left a wound that is part of our family history and has been passed down through the generations. Growing up with that absence means liv- ing with a void, but also with the example of the dignity with which my family has faced the trauma of lifelong persecution. Do you learn to live with an absence caused by violence, or does grief transform but never disappear? Each of us, as individuals, develops our own ways of overcoming it and learning to live with that loss, to integrate it into our lives, but there is always the aware- ness that it is an injustice stemming from unjustifiable fanaticism. Grief trans- forms, but it does not disappear. You are part of the Ego Non platform, a civic space working for the memory and dignity of the victims of terrorism. What does being part of this project mean to you? Discovering Ego Non was a real blessing. Firstly, it brings peace of mind knowing that, in future generations, there are peo- ple who are fully aware that exclusionary nationalism gives rise to the basest in- stincts of human beings. Ego Non means having the constant support of active, so- cially committed individuals who refuse to normalise the anomalies and shameful aspects of an unjustifiable reality. Ulti- mately, being able to form part of a group of young people with an intellectual and moral steadfastness worthy of admira- tion is a privilege and gives me hope for the future.