FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 95 - ENGLISH

EDUCATION AND COEXISTENCE 27 is not truth, it will probably not be justice and it will not be reparation." In that sense, he considered it especially appropriate that the exhibition be shown at a university. EDUCATION AND UNITY AS A RESPONSE TO TERRORISM For his part, the president of the Victims of Terrorism Foundation, Juan Benito Valenciano, called for firm institutional unity against terrorism and stressed that "extremist violence is fought through education," an idea that runs through the spirit of the entire exhibition and connects directly with its presence in a university setting. Finally, the Councilor for Employment of Albacete City Council, Lucrecia Ro- driguez de Vera, thanked the Founda- tion for choosing Albacete as a venue for the exhibition and emphasized that ini- tiatives such as this help keep collective memory alive and pay tribute to victims. She also encouraged citizens to visit the exhibition, convinced that only through remembrance and unity can a more just, free society committed to peace be built. A TRAVELING EXHIBITION IN THE SERVICE OF MEMORY After its time in Albacete, the exhibition will continue its tour through Cuenca and Toledo, consolidating itself as a tra- veling project in the service of democra- tic memory. Through this initiative, the organizing institutions renew their com- mitment to keeping alive the memory of the victims of jihadist terrorism and preserving the values of coexistence, soli- darity, and social cohesion that emerged so strongly after the 11M attacks. On the Albacete campus, the images remained as silent witnesses to a his- tory that must not be forgotten and as an appeal to new generations to un- derstand that memory is not only about the past, but a responsibility shared with the future. memory of 11M closer to students, many of whom had not yet been born in 2004. For them, the exhibition is an exercise in civic learning and reflection on terrorism, its consequences, and the response of a democratic society. Among the 193 people murdered, 18 were from Castilla-La Mancha. To that pain are added the two victims from Cas- tilla-La Mancha killed in the 1985 attack on the El Descanso restaurant and three others murdered in attacks against Spa- nish interests abroad. THE UNIVERSITY AS A SPACE FOR MEMORY AND TRUTH The first speaker was the rector of UCLM, José Julian Garde, who thanked the Victims of Terrorism Foundation for the opportunity to host an in memoriam exhibition dedicated to victims of terro- rism, with special remembrance for vic- tims from Castilla-La Mancha. The rector defended the university as an ideal spa- ce for preserving memory and enabling young people to approach a reality that, for many of them, is distant or unknown. Along the same lines, the authorities agreed in highlighting the educational va- lue of the initiative and its contribution to a collective memory built on knowledge, empathy, and democratic commitment. UNITY IN THE FACE OF BARBA- RISM TheSecondVicePresidentoftheGovernment ofCastilla-LaMancha,JoséManuelCaballero, focusedhisremarksonthesocialresponsethat followedtheattacks.Herecalledthat"Spanish societydemonstratedon that terrible 11Mthe importance of standing together against bar- barismand indefense of peace." Of all the images in the exhibition, he said, one remains indelible in his me- mory: "Of all the images that 11M left us, and of all those shown here, with your permission I want to keep one unforget- table image of social unity." It was a unity that transcended territories and differen- ces and was expressed in the streets of every city in the country. In this regard, he recalled that "millions of people took to the streets to reject terrorism and show solidarity with the victims, and that collective response was no longer only a memory of pain, but also one of dignity, solidarity, democra- tic maturity, and social cohesion in our country." Caballero reiterated the regional gover- nment's commitment to memory un- derstood as both a right and a collective duty: "As long as we continue looking at these images, listening to these stories, honoring the victims, and reconstructing history, we will be keeping memory alive." He also highlighted the role of photojour- nalists and EFE professionals, whose work preserves "moments of reality that remain for eternity," and issued a special appeal to young people to visit the exhibition and learn what the country experienced. MEMORY WITH AN EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE The president of the Albacete Provincial Council, Santiago Cabañero, defended a form of memory that goes beyond emo- tional remembrance. In his remarks he stressed that "memory cannot be only an empathetic memory, a memory of solida- rity; it is collective memory and it has to be something more, it must also have an educational component, a lesson that we as a society must draw." He also warned about the risks of mani- pulating the past and defended the link between memory and academic knowled- ge: "We are living through times in which there is a temptation to rewrite history, to reinterpret it, and I believe science is ne- cessary so that memory may be truth; if it