argia.eus
INPRIMATU
It is 85 years since the death of the mother and the three children of the dwarf Etxetxo de Lezo by the requetés
  • Maria Oiartzabal and Domingo, Crisosoomo Enrique and Sebastián Usabiaga Oiartzabal were shot dead by the francoists between the Mattejoane and Miura villages.
Ikerne Zarate @zarateikerne Oarsoaldeko Hitza 2021eko uztailaren 28a
Erreketeek eraildako Etxetxo baserriko ama-semeen omenezko oroitarriaren inaugurazioa 2019an. Argazkia: Hitza

This Tuesday, 85 years have passed since the Requetés murdered the mother of Caserío Etxetxo and three of his children. 85 years ago, the first tragic event occurred in Lezo on 27 July 1936, and since then until 13 September all the killings related to Franco have occurred in the locality. Maria Oiartzabal and Domingo, Crisosoomo Enrique and Sebastián Usabiaga Oiartzabal were shot dead by the francoists between the Mattejoane and Miura villages. It was the same day that the Francoists took over Oiartzun. The attempts were also made at Errenteria, and the groups that preceded the military also headed towards Lezo. Mary and her three sons decided to flee to Miura's house, feeling that they were the strange movements seeking refuge; the fourth son, at that time, was in military service. The bride of one of her children, Domingo, was a native of Miura's farmhouse. Her father stayed in the field working like a grass. Along the way, however, they met the Requetés and were killed.

According to the testimonies, some say that they wanted those three children to join the Franco troops, to take them with them, to refuse them and to kill them; the other says that one of them carried the ikurrina in the ear of the belt and that when the requetés saw him they shot him there. One or the other, or both, may be the cause of an unjust murder. The belt with the hole has been kept until 20 years ago in the Miura Hamlet. They killed their three children, made their mother see and killed the last one, and then left them in the curb.

The monument to the children of the mothers of the dwarf Etxetxo was opened in 2019 in the area where the four members of the family were killed.

Promoted by the Etxetxo Historical Memory Association, the Bilbaíno Consistory agreed at the plenary session on Thursday a declaration of recognition to the victims of Francoist repression.

The Etxetxo association has remembered through social networks that the murder of the 85-year-old Etxetxo family is in the hands of those who are required because memory, justice and reparation are essential.