Steven Perez
Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Fellow in the Humanities
2013—2014 Forum on Violence
Steven Perez
CAS, 2014; History
Once and For All: Nationalist Concentration Camps during the Spanish Civil War
This project examines the Nationalist concentration camps of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). First, it outlines the ideological origins of the war. Second, it covers how the Nationalists' ideological beliefs translated into extreme violence during the early months of the war. Third, it analyzes how an increasing number of Republican prisoners of war during the campaigns of 1937 led to the creation of the Inspección de Campos de Concentración de Prisioneros (ICCP), the bureaucratic department designed to administer the expanded camp system and classify Republican prisoners. Finally, this project examines the system of "reeducation" in the camps, the psychobiological studies conducted on the prisoners and the results of these studies. Ultimately, this study uncovers why and how the Nationalists attempted to create a "new" Spain.