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A man, Santiago Gorostiza. Photo.

Santiago Gorostiza

Researcher

A man, Santiago Gorostiza. Photo.

Capitanear la reconstrucción, organizar el trabajo forzado. El ingeniero Juan Petrirena, del Servicio de Colonias Penitenciarias Militarizadas a la fortificación de los Pirineos

Commanding the reconstruction, organising forced labor. Engineer Juan Petrirena, from the Servicio de Colonias Penitenciarias Militarizadas to the fortification of the Pyrenees

Author

  • Santiago Gorostiza

Summary, in English

Interdisciplinary dialogues between political history, environmental history, and the history of science and technology have significantly expanded in recent years. In this context, research on engineers as a key professional group in the material construction of the state has addressed both the political and material dimensions of their work, particularly during the Francoist dictatorship. However, these studies have paid little attention to the role of engineers in the organisation of forced labour. From the perspective of Perpetrator Studies, the organisation of forced labour can be interpreted as a form of perpetration of violence, in which engineers played a key role. Drawing on this approach, this article examines the trajectory of military engineer General Juan Petrirena Aurrecoechea (1885-1956), who served as head of the Servicio de Colonias Penitenciarias Militarizadas from 1939 and was responsible for overseeing the engineering works for the fortification of the Pyrenees between 1945 and 1951.

Department/s

  • Human Rights Studies
  • LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)

Publishing year

2025

Language

Spanish

Pages

91-110

Publication/Series

Rubrica Contemporanea

Volume

14

Issue

29

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Dept. d'Història Moderna i Contemporània, UAB

Topic

  • History

Keywords

  • Engineers
  • forced labour
  • fortification
  • Francoism
  • perpetrators
  • Pyrenees

Status

Published

Project

  • From military to civil crime: an environmental history of ecocide (FORMAS career grant)

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2014-5748