Javi Julio

Photographer

www.javijulio.com

the end of oblivion

Follow Hire

Location: San Sebastian, Basque Country, Spain

Nationality: Spanish

Biography: San Sebastian, Basque Country (1978) is a photojournalist and filmmaker. He has worked as a freelance photo and video journalist collaborating with different international media and agencies, focusing his objective on social struggles, respect... MORE

According to UN figures, Spain is the second country in the world, behind Cambodia, with the highest number of missing persons.

It is estimated that there are about 114,000 people buried in ditches, mass graves or next to the cemetery wall, where they were shot. After the end of the Spanish Civil War, the period of dictatorship from 1939 to 1975 under the government of the dictator Francisco Franco was a period of repression, where in summary trials and without the possibility of defense, the enemies of the dictatorship were imprisoned and shot.

After spending 80 years missing and buried in graves, their relatives have begun to search for them.

In Paterna, Valencia, about 2,300 people were shot from 1939 to 1951 and buried in mass graves. Their relatives suffered harassment and property theft by the same people who accused them.

After years of silence, the end of the oblivion about these people is gradually being lifted and their memory is beginning to recover.

A worker lifts a bucket of eart...ship are suspected to be found.

A worker lifts a bucket of earth into a grave in the cemetery of Paterna, Valencia, where the remains of several people shot during the dictatorship are suspected to be found.

The sun hits a slab in the ceme...shot and buried in mass graves.

The sun hits a slab in the cemetery of Paterna, Valencia, where relatives of people killed during the dictatorship have placed as a tribute to their loved ones, shot and buried in mass graves.

Drawing of a scheme with the po... cemetery of Paterna, Valencia.

Drawing of a scheme with the position of the bodies found in a mass grave of people shot during the dictatorship in the cemetery of Paterna, Valencia.

Bodies found inside a mass grav... cemetery of Paterna, Valencia.

Bodies found inside a mass grave of people shot during the dictatorship in the cemetery of Paterna, Valencia.

A member of the grave exhumatio... cemetery of Paterna, Valencia.

A member of the grave exhumation team accompanies a family member in the cemetery of Paterna, Valencia.

The daughter of one of those sh...m and bury him with her mother.

The daughter of one of those shot holds the photo of her father, shot and buried in a mass grave in the cemetery of Paterna, Valencia.
After almost 80 years, she was finally able to find him and bury him with her mother.

An exhumation team worker annul... cemetery of Paterna, Valencia.

An exhumation team worker annuls the remains of a body in a mass grave in the cemetery of Paterna, Valencia.

A bullet found inside a skull i...mp;acirc;ce after the shooting.

A bullet found inside a skull in the mass grave where the bodies of the people shot were found. This is evidence of the coup de grâce after the shooting.

Remains of a skull with a bulle...ear. A bullet was found inside.

Remains of a skull with a bullet hole. The entrance hole is clear. A bullet was found inside.

Remains of a comb were found in...the grave of Paterna, Valencia.

Remains of a comb were found in the pocket of one of the people shot and buried in the grave of Paterna, Valencia.

A woman shows a lock of hair fr...er daughter-in-law as a memory.

A woman shows a lock of hair from one of her relatives. After her murder, they were taken to the cemetery and piled up. His wife was able to go in to mourn her husband and in an oversight by the guards, she cut off a lock of his hair as a souvenir.
Before dying, she gave it to her daughter-in-law as a memory.

The great-granddaughter of a mi...e 49 bodies found in the grave.

The great-granddaughter of a missing person, shows the portrait of her great-grandfather. After months of excavation, DNA remains confirmed that he was one of the 49 bodies found in the grave.

Remains of the shirt and suit w...en them days before being shot.

Remains of the shirt and suit worn by the person shot. His relatives also keep a written letter that he could have given them days before being shot.

Remains of a skull appear in th...t of them before being exhumed.

Remains of a skull appear in the grave where 49 bodies have been found. The last of them before being exhumed.

One of the workers of the exhum...s have managed to recover them.

One of the workers of the exhumation team places a sign before taking a photo with the number 49, corresponding to the last body recovered from the grave. Buried and dumped, 49 people have spent 80 years until their relatives have managed to recover them.

Tiles with the names, age and p...were residents of nearby towns.

Tiles with the names, age and profession of the missing are installed as a memorial in the cemetery of Paterna, Valencia. Most of the people killed were residents of nearby towns.

About 114,000 people remain bur...ore than 2300 people were shot.

About 114,000 people remain buried in graves, ditches or along the walls of cemeteries in mass graves. Spain is one of the countries in the world with the highest number of missing persons.
After 80 years forgotten, their relatives are beginning to recover their memory and their bodies.

In the photo the dawn sun illuminates a grave with plastic flowers in Paterna, Valencia, where missing persons are believed to be buried. Only in Paterna, more than 2300 people were shot.