My Soul - Mi Alma (Ongoing)

23 Revelations

When Carlos and I came home from work, I threw the envelope from Francisco Lopez on the kitchen island like it was besotted with some deadly contagious disease.

"Carlos, we need to go through this – but somehow, I think mama should be  here as well – should I get her on Skype?"

Carlos sent me a thoughtful look; "Let me call my dad, he lives pretty close by, he has asked to meet you anyhow – I think he will be our best guide in going through this documentation. After all he was your abuelos best friend.

I started crying, "I'm afraid to open that envelope, Carlos."

"Then let's wait for my dad to come over" Carlos hugged me tightly, knowing how difficult this was going to be for me.

Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang, and a beautiful white-haired man in his 80-ies entered. I totally knew where Carlos inherited his good looks.

"Carlito" His dad gave him a bear hug, then he turned his attention towards me. "There is no doubt you are a Bech, my dear; you look exactly like your mother," he gave me a warm hug as well.

We all looked at the envelope on the kitchen island, Noone dared to open it.

Carlos went over to the wine cabinet and fetched a bottle of red.

Carlos's dad – Sebastian Alvarez – took the envelope and looked inside. It's a lot of newspaper clippings, some handwritten notes, and photos.

"My children, I want to tell you the whole story. I know you Carlos know some of it, and I also know that you Alma have been kept in ignorance your entire life" Sebastian looked like Moses when he came down from the mountain with the ten commandments.

"Should I get mama on skype?" I asked carefully

Sebastian nodded. "I think she should hear this as well."

I called mum on skype and asked if she cared to join our meeting. Her face looked petrified, but she nodded, so I put my laptop on the island, and she and Sebastian exchanged a few polite greetings.

Sebastian started talking in a dark voice. "In this envelope, we find Antonio Bechs legacy as an unafraid editor. And Susannah, I think some of those tales I am going to tell are unknown to you." Sebastian really had a Moses air about him, just missing the long white beard.

"Back in the 1950-ies, when we started university together, we knew each other, because our fathers had fought side by side in the civil war, and they were equally disillusioned after the second world war. They both thought the western powers would support the opposition movement since Franco was on Hitler's side during the war. But alas, they didn't. They moved back into their embassies in Madrid in the late 40-ies and early 50-ies. They were so afraid of the Sovjet power, so it was easier to go along with a fascist dictator than an unorganized opposition that was a mix of communists, socialist, social democrats, and liberals."

"Unfortunately, the opposition didn't have strong enough leadership. My father and the father of Antonio Bech were among the moderate social democrats. But they were outpowered by several other groups with more violent ideas about the opposition against the authorities. They were tired of war after four years of civil war before the five years of the second world war. They tried to be pragmatic about the movement. But when you shall fight alongside both Basque and Catalan separatists and a pretty strong communist movement, the project is bound to fail, and it did."

"The Bech family had a house in Perpignan in France; it was used as a safe house for people who had to flee the Franco regime's atrocities. Actually, at one point in the early fifties, Antonio's parents moved there to take care of the people fleeing. Since the older Bech was a doctor, he could also mend together people who had withstood torture.

"My parents and the Bech family chose very different ways in the 50-ies. My parents became resigned and unpolitical, and just ran their two jewelry shops in Sevilla, The Becks kept on fighting for freedom in Barcelona.

"The Franco regime's laws became more and more restrictive, taking away fundamental human rights from political opponents, women and gay communities, among others. They also had tons of political prosecutions. The country was under Marshal law from the mid-fifties until Franco died.

"My oldest brother Francesco, who went to law school, joined the fascist movement. He soon became a career judge and climbed the political system in the Franco party. He was partly estranged from the family. Even though my parents were very sure what side they were on, they never became politically active again, but they kept their friendship with the Bech family. We usually spent the summers together – either in Sevilla, Barcelona or Perpignan.

"When my mum died from cancer, I was 17. After a few years, my father remarried, and soon after, my little brother Juan – that I believe you all know – was born. It was strange to be a 22 years old university student and become a "big brother," but we all adored baby Juan.

"Antonio got me back on the political track when we started university together in Barcelona. We were active in the student movement, and I lived for long periods in the Bech residence. That was a beautiful place- Lots of artists, painters, writers, and theatre people were among their friends, and there were always good food and good discussions.

"Antonio met the love of his life, Elizabetta, when he was 20, and she was only 18. They married one year later, and had Gabriel – about the same time as my father and his new wife, Alicia, had Juan.

"By the time you were born, Susannah, Antonio was already working as a journalist in "La Prensa," a popular newspaper critical to the Franco regime. The press censorship was harsh, so he had to walk a very fine line to get articles published, or even get the newspaper out. In 1963 he took over as chief editor -the youngest chief editor in Spain. The authorities stopped the paper on several occasions, but it kept coming out. It was discontinued in 1975, just after Franco died. But I guess Francisco Lopez can tell you more in the morning from the press point of view Alma" Sebastian took a sip of his wine and went quiet.

Mama had been quiet on skype through all of this.

"What about my father's younger brother, Jorge? I remember him as a child, but he disappeared when I was eight." Mama asks quietly.

"While your father was a liberal social democrat, and that's why the authorities let him get away with a lot more than the communist editors, your uncle Jorge chose another direction. He joined the communist Catalan separatist movement. He was imprisoned several times during the 60-ies and the early 70-ties. He was sentenced to death in 1974 and hung just days before the Franco regime fell in 1975." Sebastian explains quietly, but by that time, you were all safe in New York.

"I believe my brother has told you everything about Gabriel?" We all nod.

"Then let's go through the clippings and the photos in the envelope from Francisco Lopez" Sebastian pours all the content on the kitchen island.

One picture, the front page of La Prensa, was one of two men dangling from a rope. One of them was my uncle Jorge.

"This was the last copy of La Pensa to be published," Sebastian says quietly. We all stared at the picture of the last two to be executed during the Franco regime. Francisco Lopez wrote the article.

When Sebastian left I kept talking with my mum on skype for a while, she confirmed that a lot of this information was unknown to her.

 I told her about the interview with Francisco Lopez this afternoon and that I would meet him for coffee in the morning and she seemed happy with it.

When I logged of skype, Carlos and I talked for hours about all this, much of what his father said was unknown to him as well.

"Funny to think that your dad and my grandfather are the same age," I said.

Carlos smiled and put his arms around me. "You know, mi Alma, my dad promised himself not to marry before Spain was a free country, so Yes, I have an old dad."