"We couldn't see anything because the skylights of the wagons were too small, we didn't know where they were taking us". It is with these words that José Alcubierre, who died in 2017, had told, a few years ago to the newspaper Sud Ouest, his departure for Mauthausen by the first convoy to leave France, on August 20, 1940.
Then aged only 16, he was part of a group of nearly 900 Spanish Republicans rounded up by the German authorities in Angoulême, less than two months after the signing of the armistice. These men, women and children had found refuge in Charente in 1939 during the Retirada, the retreat of half a million Spaniards fleeing the Franco regime. A camp, that of the Alliers, had been set up by the French authorities to regroup them, at the exit of Angoulême. "They were not prisoners. They could go out. They were recruited for agricultural work and many also worked at the nearby blowing snow. Some even lived outside the camp, with inhabitant", describes Arnaud Bouligny, researcher at the Foundation for the memory of the deportation.
Unwanted people
But when the Germans arrived in June 1940, everything changed. "For them, the Spanish Republicans were reds, enemies of the Reich," says the historian. "They explain to the French Ministry of the Interior that they must be grouped together because they represent a threat." On July 13, 1940, the order was thus given to regroup all the Spanish refugees from the department in a camp near a railway line, that of the Alliers. It then numbered around 1,500 people.
Little by little, the rumor of the formation of a convoy circulates in Angoulême while the Spanish refugees are identified. Some say they will be taken to the free zone, others to Spain and even to Norway or Russia to work there. On the morning of August 20, 1940, these rumors became reality. The German forces, soldiers of the Wehrmacht and the Feldengendarmes, according to Arnaud Bouligny, surrounded the camp of the Alliers. They order the occupants to go with their belongings to Angoulême station, where the Republicans discover a train made up of 20 to 30 cattle cars. "They will not leave until mid-afternoon because at the same time, the French authorities had orders from the Germans to recover as many people as possible from those who were staying in the city", specifies this specialist in deportation. A document kept by the departmental archives of Charente reports 437 women and children, 490 men, or 927 people, without this figure being able to be verified. The convoy will in any case keep this name, that of the 927.
Separated families
Inside, no one knows the final destination. It was only after four days of travel that the train finally arrived in Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. It is one of the toughest set up by the Nazi regime, where, since 1938, prisoners of common and political rights deemed irrecoverable. The doors open and SS officers only ask the men to come down. "The women shouted the first names of their husbands and their sons. I have the impression of hearing them again", testified José Alcubierre. Deported with his father, the young man discovers hell.
In Mauthausen, he finds compatriots who had joined the French army and who had been taken prisoner during the Battle of France. Deemed dangerous, they had been taken from their "stalag" to be taken to this concentration camp: "We saw men dressed in zebra. We understood that something was wrong. They undressed us, passed under the window. shower and sanitized. We were given a ladle of some kind of smelly soup to eat. I thought I was going to die there. "
At the same time, the train resumes its journey. He set off again towards the West and returned to Angoulême, before heading towards Spain where he finally arrived on September 1st. Women and children are distributed according to their place of origin. Some are imprisoned by the Franco regime. Back in their country, most remain silent about what they have just experienced, and wait in anguish to hear from their relatives deported to Mauthausen. For them, everyday life is particularly harsh. The deportees were assigned to a granite quarry or to construction sites. Life expectancy is reduced. Of the 430 Spaniards in Angoulême, 354 died in deportation. José Alcubierre was separated from his father in January 1941: "He went to another camp, in Gusen. I never saw him again. I learned later that he had been kicked for having wanted to help another deportee ".
A hidden convoy
The young Spaniard was released in May 1945 and returned to settle in Charente, where he lived until his death. His memory, and those of his comrades, is today maintained in particular by the Association of Parents and Spanish Families Emigrated to France (APFEEF). "Our parents did not tell us about that. They wanted to forget," explains Grégorio Lázaro, president of the APFEEF in Charente, whose aunt was part of this convoy. "We talked about the deportation trains of the Jews, which only started to leave for Germany after the decision of the final solution in 1942, but this story of the convoy of 927 was completely concealed, in the same way. that the Spaniards have been forgotten for their role in the Resistance and the liberation of French towns ".
However, this train occupies a unique place in the history of France, due to its early date, its composition and the separation of families. "We wanted to commemorate this anniversary with dignity for the 80th anniversary of the convoy, unfortunately the Covid-19 crisis prevents us from doing so", regrets Grégorio Lázaro. "The authorities granted us a 'light' ceremony in front of our stele at Angoulême station and an outdoor cinema session with the screening of the documentary 'Le convoy des 927'".
In the absence of a big ceremony, a work organized by the Friends of the Foundation for the memory of the deportation is being carried out with schoolchildren from CM2 to the terminal. The students participate in the development of biographical notes on the deportees of this convoy. "These notices are then sent to the Foundation's Scientific Council for validation. They will be published by the daily La Charente Libre between November 2020 and the end of 2025", specifies Michèle Soult, departmental president of this association. These sheets will also be published on the website of the Foundation for the Memory of the Resistance and on that of the departmental archives.
A great reward for the participants, but above all an awareness that is more topical than ever, according to Michèle Soult : " At a time when, all over the world, extremists are emerging with their doctrines aimed at submitting, even to destroy everything that is not in line with their ideals, it is very important to make young people reflect on our painful past, to dismantle with them the mechanisms of these fascist policies, and often negationists or revisionists, so that they become enlightened citizens and that, perhaps, yesterday will not happen again tomorrow ".
The Foundation for the Memory of the Deportation is seeking to get in touch with the descendants of the deportees from convoy 927. Testimonies can be sent to this address: fmdcaen@yahoo.fr
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