Anarcho-syndicalism
A trade-union current combining worker organisation, direct action and a libertarian project for social transformation. The CNT is its principal historical expression in Spain.
The words
in the archive
Acronyms, institutions and historical terms run throughout the research. This glossary explains them without assuming prior knowledge and places them back within the family story.
1910 · Barcelona
What is the CNT?
The Confederación Nacional del Trabajo is a confederation of trade unions founded in Barcelona in 1910 out of Solidaridad Obrera. Historically linked to anarcho-syndicalism, it advocates workers organising directly to improve their conditions and transform society.
Emilio was a textile worker in the fabric printers’ section and a CNT activist. In exile he remained involved with the local federation in Agde, where he was known by the nickname “Valencia”.
Read the PARES institutional record ↗From the padrón to the Retirada
Coastal battery
A group of artillery pieces positioned to defend the coast. Emilio was political commissar of Calella’s 7th battery from 1 December 1936.
See Calella on the map →Centuria
A militia unit usually made up of around one hundred men during the first months of the Spanish Civil War. It was not yet equivalent to a regular army unit.
Political commissar
An official responsible for morale, political education and cohesion in a Republican unit. He was not necessarily the technical commander directing artillery fire.
Fabra i Coats
A major textile company established in 1903, with factories in Sant Andreu and La Sagrera. The museum database identifies Dolores Pons Peydró, from Maria’s family, as a weaver from 1929.
See the family lead →Mar Cantábrico
A Republican cargo ship carrying arms and aid, captured by the cruiser Canarias in March 1937. Eugenio, Emilio’s brother, was its first steward.
Read Eugenio’s story →OFPRA
Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatridesThe French agency holding Emilio’s refugee file: civil status, address in Agde, occupation and renewals of his status.
Padrón
A municipal register of residents organised by household. It can reveal who lived at an address and their occupations. Barcelona’s 1930 padrón is a central research lead.
PS-SERIE_MILITAR
A series at the Centro Documental de la Memoria Histórica, largely made up of seized Republican military records. Emilio appears in its lists of commissars.
Retirada
The exodus of hundreds of thousands of Republicans into France as Catalonia fell between January and February 1939. Emilio crossed the border and passed through several camps.
Internment camp
The precise term for the French enclosures where many Spanish refugees were confined in 1939. Family memory places Emilio at Argelès for about ten months, but his individual record has not been found.
Evidence levels A–D
The site’s system: A means a primary source; B, corroborated sources; C, testimony or a secondary source; D, an unproven hypothesis.