History, memory and obscurity of the Republican exile. The Madrid School and its contribution to pedagogical renewal in Mexico

Abstract

One consequence of the new historiographical views of the 20th century is the revaluation of history in the construction of the past. Around these issues this study begins, where we demonstrate the value in the construction of the collective identity, whilst pointing out the importance of the moral dimension in the work of historians and the risks caused by historical amnesia. Along these lines, the present study analyses a hitherto poorly explored episode –the Republican exile in Mexico– and the significant educational relevance of its protagonists, made up of a large number of teaching professionals and of schoolchildren. These circumstances influenced the breadth of educational initiatives carried out by primary and secondary school teachers, and inspectors in the Spanish State, amongst which it is worth noting the creation of one of the most emblematic institutions –the Madrid School– a fundamental example of the influence of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza [Free Institution of Education] and of the New School outside Spain. We consider that retrieving the history of this institution entails, besides a didactic exercise of raising the awareness of the meaning of history in the present, an exercise in justice or in repairing the moral damage towards the exiles. Their current validity is a clear instance of the Hispanic-Mexican symbiosis that has taken shape over more than sixty years and
which can be appreciated nowadays. For this historical reconstruction, diverse written and photographic archive sources on this issue were analysed, paying special attention to
the archives of the Madrid School in Mexico (ACM) and of the Technical Committee to Aid Spanish Refugees (CTARE), as well as the Mexican press of the time.

KEY WORDS: Memory and history, Republican exile, Francoism, Mexico.