euskalkultura.eus

Southampton, England.  May 23 will mark seventy five years since the “Havana” left Santurtzi and arrived at the port of Southampton with nearly 4,000 Basque children aboard.  These children, war refugees, came to England with what they had on, leaving their families and the life that they knew behind. 

Last weekend, a large number of these children, now of an advanced age, gathered in Southampton, where they were honored by the Basque Children of ’37 association as well as by the Basque Government and the University of Southampton. 

[Thirty survivors of that group of children reunited at the tribute at Southampton (photo Irekia)]

The association Basque Children of ’37 was founded in 2002 aiming to recover the historical memory and offer cultural and social activities.  To this end, the association has given its archives to the University of Southampton that includes official documents, oral histories, songs and drawings.  The material will now become part of the holdings of the Hartley Library at the university. 

The awards ceremony and the official tribute were celebrated with great emotion and excitement on the part of the survivors of the group and their families that wouldn’t miss the anniversary.  The event was attended by a notable Basque institutional representation, headed by the Speaker of the Basque Government and Minister of Justice and Public Administration, Idoia Mendia along with the Secretary General of Foreign Affairs, Guillermo Echenique, and the director of Human Rights, Inés Ibáñez de Maeztu.

[The Basque delegation visiting the exhibit “Here, Look after him: Refugee children from the Spanish Civil War” at the University of Southampton (photo Irekia)]