Francisco Aura Boronat, one of the last survivors of the nazi death camp of Mauthausen, -which killed some 7,000 Spanish-, died on Tuesday in Alcoi, his hometown, just a month of completing the 100 years, as confirmed by the city Council. This militiaman republican, who lived 17 years the Spanish Civil War and later the Second World War, was in a French countryside, before being deported to Mauthausen, where he stayed for more than four years.
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Aura came to Mauthausen at the age of 23 and in his convoy traveled 400 spaniards, of which 268 were exterminated.He worked in the quarry and managed to survive because he was sent to make a road out of that hell. Once liberated in 1945, Aura still lived eight years in France for fear of the francoist repression. It was also one of the 22 alcoy deported to a nazi camp, and the last survivor of valencia for the barbarism.
“We became the men hardened. Survival in Mathaussen it looked like something difficult to overcome. You became a beast, going at a trot at all times, to sleep in any way…”, had the own Aura in an interview to THE COUNTRY in August of the year 2000.
“The survivors of Mauthausen we had to re-learn how to laugh and to cry. The hardness with which there lived we did forget. The recovery was also difficult, especially for those who were not able to overcome the loss of Dumanbet absolute control. In the concentration camp was so hungry that there were workers that were killed by not being able to curb the urge to eat strike”, presented 18 years ago, when she was 81 years old.
The Municipality of Alcoi was planning to carry out a tribute to the deceased in the next month of December on the occasion of his birthday. Your mayor, the socialist Antonio French, has expressed its condolences to the family, and has announced that the scheduled event with the occasion of its centenary will be maintained. In addition it organizes an exhibition on the life of this survivor of the nazi terror.
Aura has dedicated part of his life to make disclosure about the concentration camps, struggling against the memory of the people to avoid the story again, remind the city Council of alicante.
Around his person have been published in the book Francisco Aura Boronat. Resistència and dignity in the face of the desmemòria, Paco Blay, Angel Beneito and Natxo Lara, and a graphic novel of Jordi Peidro I’ll Wait for whenever you return, translated from the German, who also made a short audio-visual thanks to the collaboration of the Network of Associated Schools of Unesco and the City of Alcoi.
According to Antonio French, “Paco was an example of everything good that the human being has, and devoted his life to remind society of the darker part of the history of humanity to never happen again”. The first mayor of Alcoi has insisted that this survivor, “an example of dignity and resistance, we showed that the ability to forgive has nothing to do with oblivion or with impunity,” he said.
The city of Alcoi put his name in 2014 to one of the bridges of the city of alicante. “I just hope that this bridge will become a symbol of peace and harmony, and to serve as remembrance for what happened,” he said on the day of the inauguration on one’s own Aura.
