Visiting Klara-Sites
Klara’s residence at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, calle Donoso Cortés, 8. Photo by Armando Mauleón, October, 2018.
In October, 2018, I presented an account of the research I had done toward my book about Klara to an international conference in Albacete, La Mancha, home of the headquarters of the International Brigades. I took the train there from Madrid, where I was hosted by my brilliant and charming nephew, Armando Mauleón, and his sweet family. While in Madrid, Armando took me on a tour of Klara sites, including the apartment building where she was staying when war broke out, the patio of the Convent of Saint Francis de Sales, where volunteers were signed up for the Fifth Regiment of People's Militias, the hospital on Maudes street (her first medical post), and the Casa del Pueblo, a former ducal palace which is no longer standing but represented by a tiny plaque on Piamonte Street.
In Albacete, as I was leaving the conference at lunchtime, I attempted a few selfies at the monument to the international volunteers, without much success. A young man was passing by and I asked him if he could take my picture. As he raised my phone, he remarked, casually, "My mother was present at the inauguration of this monument." WHAT? The attempt at a selfie resulted in an invitation to the home of Felipe Dapoza and the meeting of his wonderful parents, the mother born in exile of escapees from Fascist Spain.
Presenting the paper on my research for Home Far Away, Albacete, Universidad de Castilla La-Mancha, October, 2018. Photo by Robert Llopis.
Monument to the International Brigades, Albacete, October, 2018. Photo by Felipe Dapoza.
“… en el patio de un convento” - St. Francis de Sales convent, headquarters of the Fifth Regimiento, where Klara enrolled as a nurse in July, 1936. Photo by Armando Mauleón, October, 2018.