Joaquim Amat-Piniella
Encyclopedia
Joaquim Amat-Piniella was a Catalan
writer and politician. He took part in the Spanish Civil War
on the republican
side, and moved to France
after the war. There, he was first interned at the French concentration camps in Rosselló, later forced to work on the Maginot line
, and finally deported by the Germans to the Mauthausen
concentration camp.
He survived for five years in the camp, until he was liberated by American troops. He later narrated his experiences and the atrocities of Nazism
in the novel K.L. Reich. Together with other survivors, he founded the Amical Mauthausen in 1962.
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
writer and politician. He took part in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
on the republican
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
side, and moved to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
after the war. There, he was first interned at the French concentration camps in Rosselló, later forced to work on the Maginot line
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line , named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defences, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in light of its experience in World War I,...
, and finally deported by the Germans to the Mauthausen
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
concentration camp.
He survived for five years in the camp, until he was liberated by American troops. He later narrated his experiences and the atrocities of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
in the novel K.L. Reich. Together with other survivors, he founded the Amical Mauthausen in 1962.