English versi贸n
A moving example of this is the monument I present to you today, which tells the tragic story of an event that occurred in Cuba on November 27, 1871. On that day, eight young Cubans were unjustly shot, an event that has remained engraved in the history as one of the most merciless and undignified episodes that occurred under the Spanish colonial regime in Cuba.
Narrating the facts
This event occurred in 19th century colonial Cuba, where a group of university students, medical students, were accused of dishonouring the grave of a Spanish government journalist. This accusation was totally false. Of a group of more than forty of these young people who were imprisoned and submitted to trial, only eight of them would be shot as an punishment of the Spanish government to the rebelliousness and the independence thoughts of the people of Cuba.
With this beautiful funerary monument located in the Christopher Columbus Necropolis in Havana, not only the memory of these young men is honored, but also that of their defense lawyer, the Spanish captain Federico Capdevila, responsible for their energetic defense during the trial and whose remains rest next to those of his defendants. Also buried here is Ferm铆n Valdez Dom铆nguez, a Cuban patriot who was imprisoned with the rest of the students in his youth and who later devoted part of his life to finding the remains of his classmates who were shot, since they were in a common grave. He also dedicated himself to cleanse their memory of the lie of which they were accused.
The monument
It is a beautiful monument made of white marble that shows several symbols allegorical to justice and representing the events that took place. It is on a pedestal of gray marble, and on the lateral faces of its lowest level are eight bronze reliefs (four on each side) of the faces of these young students along with their names.
When we stand in front of the place, in its central part we can see an angelic sculpture of a woman. Looking at her I can't help but think of something pure, it is a sculpture to represent the innocence and the truth that cannot be silenced.
At the top of this sculptural ensemble, there is a pillar as a funerary symbol, covered by a mantle and a wreath of flowers. For me, this represents the mourning and protection of the memory of those who rest here. On a shield in the center is carved the date when this sad event occurred.
On both sides of the pillar are two sculptures of women. One of the two represents justice with the sword in one hand and the scales in the other, but without the blindfold and in a somewhat severe attitude, as if making us see how little truth there was in the trial and in the accusations of which these young men were victims.
This is a very beautiful mausoleum, I see it as a wonderful tribute to the memory of these young people, so that their lives and their history will endure through time, being at the same time a symbol of repudiation of the injustice that was committed.
This is a very moving memorial and I am very happy to have discovered it. I hope it has moved you as much as it has me.
Bibliography
You can learn more about the historical event that inspired this monument on this web page of the official ECURED website.
All images used are of my authorship, taken from my cellular device.
VERSION en Espa帽ol
Los monumentos desempe帽an un papel fundamental al recordar y conmemorar eventos hist贸ricos. Nos permiten revivir sucesos pasados que no deben caer en el olvido, ya sea porque encarnan actos heroicos o nos recuerdan actos que nunca deben repetirse.
Un ejemplo conmovedor de esto es el monumento que les presento hoy, que narra la tr谩gica historia de un acontecimiento ocurrido en Cuba el 27 de noviembre de 1871. Ese d铆a, ocho j贸venes cubanos fueron injustamente fusilados, un hecho que se ha quedado grabado en la historia como uno de los episodios m谩s despiadados e indignos ocurridos bajo el r茅gimen colonial espa帽ol en Cuba.
Narrando los hechos
Este hecho ocurri贸 en la Cuba colonial del siglo XIX, d贸nde un grupo de alumnos universitarios, estudiantes de medicina, fueron acusados de deshonrar la tumba de un periodista del gobierno espa帽ol. Est谩 acusaci贸n era totalmente falsa. De un grupo de m谩s de cuarenta de estos j贸venes que fueron encarcelados y sometidos a juicio, solo ocho de ellos ser铆an fusilados como escarmiento del gobierno espa帽ol a la rebeld铆a y los pensamientos independentistas del pueblo de Cuba.
Con este hermoso monumento funerario que se encuentra en la Necr贸polis de Crist贸bal Col贸n en La Habana, no solo se honra la memoria de estos j贸venes, sino tambi茅n la de su abogado defensor, el capit谩n espa帽ol Federico Capdevila, responsable de su en茅rgica defensa durante el juicio que se les realiz贸 y cuyos restos descansan junto a los de sus defendidos. Tambi茅n aqu铆 se encuentra sepultado Ferm铆n Valdez Dom铆nguez, un patriota cubano que estuvo encarcelado con el resto de los estudiantes en su juventud y que despu茅s consagr贸 parte de su vida a encontrar los restos de sus compa帽eros de clase fusilados, ya que se encontraban en una fosa com煤n. Tambi茅n se dedic贸 a limpiar su memoria de la mentira de la que fueron acusados.
El monumento
Se trata de un bello monumento elaborado en m谩rmol blanco que muestra varios s铆mbolos aleg贸ricos a la justicia y que representan los hechos ocurridos. Esta sobre un pedestal de m谩rmol gris, y en las caras laterales de su nivel m谩s bajo est谩n los ocho relieves en bronce (cuatro por cada lado) de los rostros de estos j贸venes estudiantes junto con sus nombres.
Al pararnos de frente al lugar, en su parte central podemos ver asom谩ndose a una angelical escultura de mujer. Al mirarla no puedo dejar de pensar en algo puro, es una escultura para representar la inocencia y la verdad que no puede ser silenciada.
En lo m谩s alto de este conjunto escult贸rico, hay un pilar como s铆mbolo funerario, cubierto por un manto y una corona de flores. Para m铆, esto representa el duelo y la protecci贸n a la memoria de aquellos que descansan aqu铆. En un escudo en el centro hay tallada la fecha en que ocurri贸 este triste hecho.
A ambos lados del pilar se encuentran dos esculturas de mujeres. Una de las dos representa a la justicia con la espada en una mano y la balanza en la otra, pero sin la venda de los ojos y en actitud un poco severa, como haci茅ndonos ver lo poco de verdad que hubo en el juicio y en las acusaciones de las que fueron v铆ctimas estos j贸venes.
Este es un mausoleo muy hermoso, yo lo veo como un bello tributo a la memoria de estos j贸venes, para que su vida y su historia perduren a trav茅s del tiempo, siendo a la vez un s铆mbolo de repudio hacia la injusticia que se cometi贸.
Este es un monumento muy conmovedor y me alegro mucho haberlo descubierto. Espero que los haya emocionado tanto como a m铆.
Bibliograf铆a
Todas las im谩genes utilizadas son de mi autor铆a, tomadas desde mi dispositivo celular.
