Redimir y adoctrinar : El Patronato de Protección a la Mujer (1941-1985)

Of all the fragments that make up the complex history of 20th-century Spain, few chapters are as dark and revealing as those linked to the repressive institutions of the Franco regime. The longest-lasting, and yet the least known, is the Patronato de Protección a la Mujer (Board for the Protection of Women). From 1941 until well into the democratic era, this institution based its work on four pillars: labor and prayer for redemption; discipline and punishment for indoctrination. In the intersection of Church and State interests, Catholic doctrine served to legitimize this control over women. Thousands of women of all ages, backgrounds, and socioeconomic circumstances were condemned without crime and imprisoned without trial in the name of this morality. Beneath a veneer of charity lay a reality rife with abuse, forced labor, stolen babies, and systematic human rights violations. This book analyzes the Patronato as a key piece in the moral and political architecture of Francoism and examines the mark it left on those who suffered it and on a collective memory that still tries to come to terms with that past.