The General Archives of the Spanish Civil War Salamanca

The General Archives of the Spanish Civil War are located in the city of Salamanca in the building of the Colegio de San Ambrosio, an ancient hospice built in 1715 by Joaquín de Churriguera.
It was established by Royal Decree in 1999 with the aim of preserving and organizing documentary collections from the period between 1936 and 1978 for research, culture and information.

The location in Salamanca is due to the fact that during the first years of the conflict, Franco's General Headquarters was located in this city, within which several organizations emerged charged with gathering information about the enemy.
In 1937, the Office for Anti-Communist Research and Propaganda (OIPA) was established by decision of April 20, and the National Delegation for Special Affairs by decision of May 29. The first had clearly counter-propagandistic purposes, while the second concentrated its activities on matters related to secret sects, the documentation of which it had to collect in order to create an archive that would make it possible to "know, expose and punish".

The Civil War is one of the most important periods in the history of Spain and is considered fundamental. These historical documents therefore form the largest part of the archive's collections and are a valuable source for historians.
The archive also has a room dedicated to Freemasonry, the material of which was confiscated in the Spanish lodges.
In addition to the large collection on the Civil War, there is also rich documentation on the Second Republic, Franco's dictatorship, the Republican exile, the deportation of Spaniards to concentration camps and the Transition to democracy.
The archive is part of the Spanish National Historical Archives.

For current visiting hours, please contact the museum.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Koos Winkelman