The Gernika Memory Local Network, which participates in the Gernika Memoriagune platform, has organised a special initiative for Saturday 23 April, on the eve of the Gernika bombing: The railway from Gernika to Bermeo, rebuilt by the Republican prisoners in the post-war period, will be an excuse to know and remember their hidden history.

The railroad began in Amorebieta-Etxano and ended in Sukarrieta when the war began in 1936, but was damaged by Francoist bombings and later rebuilt through the slave labor of the Republican prisoners. In addition, in the 1950s, the section from Sukarrieta to Bermeo was performed.

The prisoners worked in very precarious conditions, as they had to open several tunnels and there were attempts to escape. The section between Bermeo was inaugurated in 1956 by the dictator Francisco Franco and was not yet fully completed. The prisoners in charge of the works were then sent to some battalions of more remote workers to continue to serve their unending sentence.

The Sare tour will start at 12:00 from Gernika Train Station and end on the tour. Attendees will be given a leaflet with more information.

The Gernika-Lumo Network has organised several events between March and June, and in addition to remembering the anniversary of the Gernika bombing, it will talk about the problems faced today by Basque prisoners, such as the number of convictions.