Remember Me
Page 28
January 1937
The population of Madrid is ordered to evacuate, but most remain in the city despite the bombings and scarcities. The people create the slogan, “They shall not pass.”
February 6, 1937
The Nationalist offensive against Jarama begins, with the aim of isolating Madrid.
April 19, 1937
Franco decrees the unification of Falangists, Carlists, and the Juntas Ofensivas Nacionales Sindicalists (Committees for National Syndicalist Attack) under an umbrella party called the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS. Franco thus secures both full political and military power.
May 15, 1937
Largo Caballero resigns. Juan Negrín replaces him and forms a more extreme Republican government.
May 26, 1937
The expedition of Republican children going to Mexico leaves Bordeaux.
June 7, 1937
Republican children are welcomed by large crowds at the port of Veracruz.
June 10, 1937
The Republican children arrive in the city of Morelia.
July 1937
France opens its borders with Spain to receive refugees of war.
October 1937
Women between seventeen and thirty-five years old in Nationalist-occupied Spain are required to volunteer to serve with social services and aid programs.
May 1938
The Vatican recognizes Franco’s government as the only legitimate government of Spain.
June 1938
France bows to international pressure and closes its border with Spain, leaving thousands of refugees trapped.
September 1938
Internationally negotiated peace agreements between Republicans and Nationalists are rejected by Franco.
January 1939
France reopens its borders to Spanish refugees.
February 1939
France and Great Britain recognize Franco’s government as the only legitimate government of Spain.
March 28, 1939
Nationalist troops enter and occupy Madrid.
March 31, 1939
Republican troops fall at Alicante, the last front of resistance against the rebellion, thus ending the armed conflicts.
April 1, 1939
In his final wartime military dispatch, Franco declares the war to be over.
Discussion Questions
Before the war begins, Francisco and Amparo Alcalde are idealists devoted to a social cause. What changes and challenges them? How are their beliefs tested as the war unfolds?
The Alcaldes make a terrifically difficult decision when faced with the realities of war. If forced into a similar position, would you have chosen to send your children far away to safety? If not, what would you have done?
Describe how this novel reckons with notions of identity. How do Marco, Ana, and Isabel merge what they remember of their homeland with the realities of being “adopted children of Mexico”? How do the Alcalde children experience these notions differently?
How were the Spanish refugee children received by the citizens of Mexico? Had the Alcaldes fully understood the conditions under which their children would be living, do you think they would have chosen to send them across the ocean?
Marco describes war as one of the primary causes of human degradation and suffering. In this story, and in your experience, how does war turn people into “unfeeling monsters”?
How much did you know about the Spanish Civil War before you read this novel? What did you learn, and what did the story teach you about the nature of civil wars in particular?
Describe a moment of heroism in this novel. What was striking about the moment you chose?
Though Morelia becomes an important place to Marco, he never stops missing his homeland of Spain. How do you define home, and how does this story define it?
What does this story tell you about the power of family? About the power of love and sacrifice?
The author based this novel upon the real Children of Morelia—many of whom never returned to Spain or reunited with their families. How does the truth of this story change the way you read and experience it?
Acknowledgments
Writing a book is always hard, lonely work. It’s almost paradoxical that what you write all alone in your study is destined to be poured into thousands of souls in the farthest corners of the world. But this, as every project that’s worth the effort, only comes about through the support and help of many people.
I want to thank Emeterio Payá Valera for his book Los Niños Españoles de Morelia. His sincerity and lucidity in relaying his difficult life provided inspiration for me on countless occasions.
I’m also indebted to Pedro Montoliú, who’s spent a lifetime researching Madrid during the civil war and the hardships its population endured.
I would also like to thank Alicia González Sterling for her support as an agent but even more for her friendship.
My deepest admiration is due the booksellers of the Americas and of Spain. They keep fighting for books and are changing the world, even if they don’t fully understand their impact.
I would like to thank HarperCollins Español and HarperCollins Ibérica for transmitting through literature a bit of hope in this lost, confusing world.
Above all else, I’m grateful for readers throughout the world who read my books in over ten languages and cry with me in their hours of keeping watch over the fate of these characters.
About the Author
Photo by Elisabeth Monje
Mario Escobar has a master’s degree in modern history and has written numerous books and articles that delve into the depths of church history, the struggle of sectarian groups, and the discovery and colonization of the Americas. Escobar, who makes his home in Madrid, Spain, is passionate about history and its mysteries.
Find him online at marioescobar.es
Instagram: @escobar7788
Facebook: MarioEscobarGolderos
Twitter: @EscobarGolderos
About the Translator
Photo by Sally Chambers
Gretchen Abernathy worked full-time in the Spanish Christian publishing world for several years until her oldest son was born. Since then, she has worked as a freelance editor and translator. Her main focus includes translating/editing for the Journal of Latin American Theology and supporting the production of Bible products with the Nueva Versión Internacional. Chilean ecological poetry, the occasional thriller novel, and audio proofs spice up her work routines. She and her husband make their home in Nashville, Tennessee, with their two sons.
Acclaim for Mario Escobar
“Luminous and beautifully researched, Remember Me is a study of displacement, belonging, compassion, and forged family amidst a heart-wrenching escape from the atrocities of the Spanish Civil War. A strong sense of place and the excavation of a little known part of history are reverently handled in a narrative both urgent and romantic. Fans of Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Chanel Cleeton, and Lisa Wingate will be mesmerized.”
—Rachel McMillan, author of The London Restoration
“An exciting and moving novel.”
—People en Español on Recuérdame
“Escobar highlights the tempestuous, uplifting story of two Jewish brothers who cross Nazi-occupied France in hope of reuniting with their parents in this excellent tale . . . Among the brutality and despair that follows in the wake of the Nazis’ rampage through France, Escobar uncovers hope, heart, and faith in humanity.”
—Publishers Weekly on Children of the Stars
“A poignant telling of the tragedies of war and the sacrificing kindness of others seen through the innocent eyes of children.”
—J’nell Ciesielski, author of The Socialite, on Children of the Stars
“Auschwitz Lullaby grabbed my heart and drew me in. A great choice for readers of historical fiction.”
—Irma Joubert, author of The Girl from the Train
“Based on historical events, Auschwitz Lullaby is
a deeply moving and harrowing story of love and commitment.”
—Historical Novels Review
Also by Mario Escobar
Auschwitz Lullaby
Children of the Stars
Copyright
Remember Me
English Translation © 2020 Thomas Nelson
Recuérdame
Copyright © 2019 Mario Escobar Golderos
First edition published in Spanish by HarperCollins Español
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Concerning the song in chapter 6: There’s no traceable author though several singers have covered it. It was a popular protest/rallying song for Madrid during the siege.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.
Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please email SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.
Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Escobar, Mario, 1971- author. | Abernathy, Gretchen, translator.
Title: Remember me : a Spanish Civil War novel / Mario Escobar ; [English translation: Gretchen Abernathy].
Other titles: Recuérdame. English
Description: Nashville, Tennessee : Thomas Nelson, [2020] | Originally published in Spanish as Recuérdame in 2019 by HarperCollins Español. | Summary: "From international bestseller Mario Escobar comes a 20th-century historical novel of tragedy and resilience inspired by Spain's famed Children of Morelia and the true events that shaped their lives"-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020015430 (print) | LCCN 2020015431 (ebook) | ISBN 9780785236580 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780785236597 (epub) | ISBN 9780785236603 (downloadable audio) | ISBN 9780785236702 (international edition)
Subjects: LCSH: Spain--History--Civil War, 1936-1939--Fiction. | Children and war--Fiction. | Political refugees--Mexico--Fiction.
Classification: LCC PQ6705.S618 R4313 2020 (print) | LCC PQ6705.S618 (ebook) | DDC 863/.7--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020015430
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020015431
Spanish Editor in Chief: Edward Benitez
English Editor: Jocelyn Bailey
English translation: Gretchen Abernathy
Printed in the United States of America
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* Juan Ramón Jiménez, quoted by Antonio Machado in his prologue from 1937 to J.R. Jiménez, Guerra en España. Prosa y verso (1936-1954), rev. and expanded, Madrid, Point de Lunettes, 2009, 7. (Translated from original Spanish.)
* Antonio Machado, La Guerra. Escritos: 1936-39. Ed. por Julio Rodríguez Puértolas y Gerardo Pérez Herrero. Madrid: Emiliano Escolar Editor, 1983. (Translated from original Spanish.)