the value. is a memorial that houses the tomb of the spanish dictator francisco franco the site has become a shrine for nationalists and right wingers. the it was it's a fascist monument a metaphor for the division of our country and a disgrace for spain and for europe. spain now plans to move franklin's remains and some victims of franco's regime are being examined from a mass grave to be given a proper burial. of the tragic outcome for them i'm not sad i'm glad i'll finally find out whether my brother is buried here the reason executed eighty two years ago during the civil war are still. there but.

this is the village of us in northeastern spain martina now was born in the village ninety seven years ago. and tomorrow workers will start digging at the site of a grave that contains the bodies of franco era victims martin believes that the remains of one of his brothers may be there two of his brothers were executed by pro franco militias in one thousand nine hundred thirty seven the bodies have never been found martin has fought for years to recover the remains and give them a decent burial. here our sponsor excited or not you know you're not a bit yes the up with margaret through so much. i'm just happy that i blew it long enough to see this. i have wonderful memories of my brothers. they were older than i was spent a lot of time together with a lot more toys and replayed together. but all of a sudden they disappeared. they were executed

a few months after the civil war started and wish martin store who is preparing some food to take to the site tomorrow. the exhumation will be carried out by a group that's trying to get spain to come to terms with its fascist past. so. a lot of your friends and acquaintances will be there. i mean you know but the people from the village are staying away. that's the way it is in our country you know how some people keep silent and look the other way and they say it all goes back to the civil war. and the listeria the right wingers say they won the war they're little. man you know but some are there. tomorrow no said.

martin found out only by chance where his brothers remains may be buried. some neighbors told him that there was a mass grave at the cemetery in whisker. the exhumation work will take nearly a week martin plans to be here to see all of it. it's a difficult time for him and his daughters. well you know who they are c b o c forty seven he doesn't want any strangers around the house right now. who can only see why would i want to. it's still not clear whether the remains of martin's brother will be found here.

but witnesses say that he and four others were buried at this location. the d.n.a. tests will be carried out later to try to determine the identity of the remains. of . the spanish civil war took place from one thousand nine hundred thirty six to nine hundred thirty nine martina now was just a child at the time but his memories of the war is still clear. in the future they're fully revenue if you prefer on july eighteenth one thousand nine hundred thirty six it was quieter in our village absolutely it was a saturday at all the young people went dancing. and they were just enjoying life or north of the we heard about the right wing coup against the republican government. but there are so far away from much of that. so i give i don't get morning july nineteenth. the restrict large is in our area and condemned this

in my two brothers and some of their friends have been not sleeping in the fields. and when they came back on july twenty third the police arrested are. you going to let. the bodies of an estimated two hundred fourteen thousand civil war victims still lie in anonymous scribes. a federal law passed in two thousand and seven includes provisions for the bodies to be identified and properly buried but government funding is in short supply so private groups like our rico have stepped in to try to fill the gap with support from donations our eco seeks to preserve the memory of the victims and to recover they remind us. of the lost over those period pena's grandfather and a great uncle were buried in anonymous graves. period her husband miguel the director of arica filed a number of lawsuits taking the case all the way to the european court for human rights in twenty sixteen

a spanish court finally ruled that the exhumations could take place. we fought for twelve years to get that decision. and even though permission has been granted for the exhumations we have no idea when they're going to start i mean. one of which. we have no information at all. all we can do is hope. that russia isn't the bad guys that. we're now moved west of madrid at the via. it's name means valley of the fall and the site contains the remains of many civil war victims from both sides the dictator francisco franco is also buried here the memorial often attracts right wing demonstrations.

the. historian and activist antonio gomez once bang to deal honestly with its divisive and violent past gomez supports the recent decision by the spanish government to move franco's grave to another location. he says this memorial should honor only the victims of the spanish civil war. this is the famous or infamous via us. in both it has the tallest cross in the christian world at about one hundred fifty meters but the basilica was carved into the rock face all of the rubble franco is buried here but this is also the biggest mass grave in spain. about thirty three thousand civil war victims are interred here. supporters of the republic were buried anonymously in missions in the

basilica. only franco claimed that this is a place of reconciliation. but it's not it's an insult to those spaniards who fought for freedom and democracy. via their last coyote those is a fascist monument that is home to represent the divisions in our country. it's a disgrace to spain and to europe first of all there will. many spaniards see this side as a monument to a dictator who ordered the torture and execution of hundreds of thousands of his opponents who work on the project began in one thousand nine hundred forty and took eighteen years to complete some reports say much of the structure was built using forced labor including political prisoners. this video was shot by a tourist using a hidden camera it shows the interior of the basilica it cost the spanish government about a million euros a year to maintain a memorial. a benedictine abbey on the side

receives a share of that maintenance money the monks fear that if franco's body is moved elsewhere that funding may be cut so they've blocked the proposal. here and turning a gomez meets a colleague who is a fellow member of a rope or leica a spanish association that advocates the separation of church and state. and they're planning to confront the benedictine at about his opposition to moving franco's body out of via. the abbott refuses to meet them. we return to madrid. antonio gomez has an appointment with maria another member of. they plan to attend a rally organized by political conservatives and talk to some of the demonstrators

. parliament's decision to move franco's remains has divided the country and emotions are running high. conservatives and franco's descendants oppose the plan liberals say that franco's remains should not be kept in the same place as those of the victims that report. to the demonstration is being held at the plaza cologne in central madrid. many of the participants want socialist prime minister pedro sanchez to resign. that. many of these people support franco's legacy. antonio and maria want to find out more about the demonstrate his political views. it was a little bit like the spain has so many problems right now that why should we focus on the past. no matter how much we talk about it we can't change it because us is

that much a debate about frankness to load and labor strikes unemployment low wages and low pension us those are the problems that we should deal with and it's almost that i would go but i do know that if i can go to spain should focus on the living not the dead you know. we shouldn't spend hundreds of thousands of euros digging up the past it was you know that whatever kind of funny that instills that but what would you say if your own relatives have been buried anonymously in mass graves. in the shuttle was she still. an estimated five hundred thousand civilians were killed in the spanish civil war. two hundred thousand others died in a campaign of repression carried out by franco. government after the war ended. was i in one nine hundred seventy seven parliament approved a law that declared an amnesty for those who committed crimes during the civil war

and later under franco's regime. was that was that the nationalist what's your opinion on moving franco's remains but i do think it was a small bit of the pioneer as qaeda is a sacred place when dad is dead for the year left or right don't act as though the only victims were leftists but you know what jodi's that's why they don't have the president. i the francisco franco national foundation was founded shortly after the dictator's death in one thousand nine hundred seventy six to promote a positive interpretation of his legacy at the foundation's office we asked the organizations director one charter or take whether this wasn't like having a hitler foundation in germany. you know if you're from that there's a fundamental difference hitler lost his war and he destroyed germany

franco got wind of his war and he helped to lead spain to great there's. a lot i let it get he'd let hitler he was an atheist franco was a catholic let's be fair if you simply can't compare these two situations bullshitters this by yourself so when the nights are civilian deaths are concerned what equipment company germans died in world war two was just an account of the bundle of money or ten million or among them give me your news and imposing your number on six million dollars is biased almost on a screen we're talking about an estimated two hundred fifty thousand civilians are died in the civil war and then there were these many murders of mass graves and this is nothing but lies. paunchy child or take up underestimated the number of civilians who were killed in the civil war the number is actually closer to five hundred thousand and the question of how to deal with this bloody chapter of history continues to divide spanish society. at the

cemetery in western the excavators have made their first find. the bones were lying just a few centimeters below the surface. that indicates that the body was buried quickly. but it will be weeks before lev brazelton can confirm whether martine arnold's brother roman was buried here. i don't know. some of the younger volunteers have taken a real interest in the civil war and its consequences. when they were done by the way but like us and spanish society as a whole have a duty to deal with what happened for him on the road people who fought and died for a better world deserved dignity for the rest i'm doing what i can here. we won't be

able to identify all of the victims of your work but we're going to try for and that all of that at the heart of what. most spaniards believe that franco was a dictator. but many say that he was more moderate and less cruel than some others and they point out that spain's economy grew under franco's leadership. but in recent years many spaniards have adopted a more critical view. last year many madrid residents joined the city's mayor to demand that franco era symbols be removed and that some street names be changed but the franco foundation got a court order to stop the move later some of the street names were changed after a higher court overturned the original order there were plans to rebury franco in his hometown and for all include c.r.

it was hoped this would also help stop pilgrimages to his grave but his grandchildren want him to be interred with full military honors at large in a cathedral in central madrid and tonio gomez hopes that doesn't happen. that any of it in spain has been a democracy for more than four decades. and during that time franco's grave and via . has been maintained by the catholic church here and now some say it should be moved to the cathedral in madrid opposite the royal palace. that would be a disaster especially for the government. of course the church thinks it's a great idea and franco's regime could not have stayed in power without the support of the catholic church. the cathedral stands just south of the royal palace franco lived at the palace for a ton after the civil war.

after their interviews at the rally antonio and maria stopped for coffee. and tonio is researching the relationship between franco's government and the catholic church the church is the second largest property in spain after the federal government and antonio is preparing a report on its assets the church supported franco and in return acquired considerable new powers. and there is. another word that go financial new year the catholic church in spain is an earthly kingdom that's worth billions of dollars there but church lost its privileges during the second republican the one nine hundred thirty s. but its support for franco soon paid off. in one thousand thirty seven the bishops announced that the civil war was a christian crusade in return franco approved legislation that allowed the church

to register public buildings as private property for a small fee of all the bishops had to do was sign a few papers as i was going to have it that happened here for the church of st barbara. thousand other building and. yes no more of it to leave the city. the church is a real estate portfolio is not limited to places of worship it also includes apartment blocks. antonio gomez says that here in the archdiocese of our villa the church owns up to two thirds of all property. some left wing city governments have questioned whether the church should own that much real estate church officials have promised to make a public inventory of their properties but that hasn't happened yet. antonio has come to the office of the archdiocese of madrid to find out more about

its real estate holdings officials declined comment but said he could submit a written request. antonio returns to the over open like office to work on his church report. but his colleague solidarity loop arrives with news about a controversial decision. well and the high antonio was. when on the stand it's an outrage have you heard what happened. yet nor know what. they let dr beller go. on that that was the prosecutors had demanded an eleven year prison sentence. but now the court has ruled that the statute of limitations has run out. dr eduardo villa was the first person to stand

trial for his part in one of the most notorious crimes of the franco iraq over more than four decades tens of thousands of newborn babies were taken from their parents many of whom were opponents of the regime and then placed with pro franco families the practice continued as an illegal trafficking network until the nineteen eighties in which doctors lawyers and the catholic church took. in course at lot of ala denied any wrongdoing solid ads twin brother was one of the babies that was taken away much she's still trying to find him. i mean this seems stunning and i'm just astonished at the court's decision that ok i know i have to face in the rule of law you know and on the ice and this was a crime against humanity they should be no statute of limitations on such crimes. cannot escape. once again the catholic church is involved in criminal activity guilty remember judicial system keeps covering it up. because look.

many of those who survived persecution by the franco regime and now dead every thursday appointed ozwald square in madrid their relatives gather and demand that the perpetrators be brought to justice. was it. was. the photographs he depict those who disappeared joined the franco era. poor relocate his grandfather was one of the victims. were not then he really didn't get involved in politics but if you didn't actively support franco you were considered a red. in my grandfather was executed and that left my grandmother to support four

children on her own only. the youngest was five and the oldest was eleven and no one had to see for them in the village to the contrary. franco's men shaved the heads of women who were married to leftists who had smelly liquid over them and paraded them like that through the streets leftists and their families were terrified back then because of the atrocities that were committed they were too frightened to even talk about it and that was the start of the great scientists and you know i grew up believing that my grandfather had died fighting in the civil hooo but decades later my father told me the truth son no. i will not that i'm allowed out for ten years piri has been trying to recover her grandfather's remains i mean what else spain has the second largest number of disappeared people in the world after cambodia. and this is in europe well you know much more of those split out. a little

girl save us i wish they had me in prison for six days. but the perpetrators still haven't been arrested or punished the little hill over the state can afford subsidies for all kinds of things but it does nothing for us victims the survivors of the dead. until the year when is demanded that the bodies of the victims from both sides being sued. and given a proper burial at state expense. but that hasn't happened yet or rather that get out got through until. at least they've made a start here in. martin and is convinced that his brother's remains will be found here right now he's checking a list of those in his village who were executed and he's surprised that almost no

one from the village has come here today to observe the exhumation work up. any remains that are correctly identified will be given a proper burial later. that will have. a filmmaker named marco is making a video recording of the exhumation work marco and miguel kappa pay director of the arctic cold in a zation for victims of repression had hoped that some members of the spanish media would be here today to cover this story of the. american that i'm talking more like an eye that is so typical no local press coverage at all and a lot of we have a t.v. crew from germany with us today but there's not a spanish reporter in sight. i studied history when i was at university but they taught us almost nothing about twentieth century spain. nothing about the civil war

or the repressurize you were looking for the anonymous graves. today people just aren't aware of what happened back then so they can't relate to it with that you know he said i think it was their grandfather's war and that it has nothing to do with that people got out of the stuff so that i would only know. the remains of the dead cannot speak to us. but they can bear witness to what took place at that time spent. asking for you know and only when me uncover all the details about that period in our history by so you know will we be able to say the civil war is finally over that it may not go.

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it's one of germany's most popular travel destinations big names for the city on the danube is experiencing at tourism. what attracts is an array of this unesco world heritage site our host nicole flourish looks around tries local specialities and is impressed it's going to be and journey for two thousand years of history. in thirty minutes d w. o. what secrets lie behind these moments. find out immersive experience and explore fascinating cultural heritage sites. the d w world heritage three sixty get the up no. i'm not nothing out of the germans

because sometimes i am placed on nothing with the them but i have been thinking deep into the german culture of. new jersey who take this grandmother they owe to you because it's all that who they know i'm rachel join me for me to devon to the fullest. after. overcoming gravity floating weightless said i will leave the craziest party on earth or this case above earth hello and welcome to another exciting edition of your own max i'm your host meghan lee here's a look at what else we've got in store for you today.