I discovered that both the road leading up to the tunnel and the tunnel itself were rebuilt and refurbished by Spaniards, by exiles, prisoners of war forced to work for the French army.

As the title of this post suggests, I would like to dedicate both the YouTube video of our ascent this past summer to the Col/Tunnel de Parpaillon, as well as this blog entry, to the Spanish exiles who in 1939 worked on the refurbishment and reconstruction of the Tunnel and the road leading up to it at the Col du Parpaillon.

As on previous occasions, I have prepared a YouTube video, in this case of the ascent to the Tunnel du Parpaillon in the French Alps. The truth is, I don’t know what it is about the Alps, but they attract me, they call me, and now it has been three times, three summers that I have gone there. And after learning about this sad part of our history (our European history), I know I will return, perhaps with a different spirit, yes, but I will return. In fact I going back there this summer.

This time, this video is different, the feeling with which I prepare it, present it, and upload it is not the same; the emotion makes it special. As on other occasions, before finishing editing a video and publishing it, I like to look for information about the place, some details about its history, I like to document myself a bit to comment a bit on the route.

This time, while searching for information and documentation, I had a great surprise; I came face to face with the sad reality of our recent past, and it moved me deeply. It is a story I would have liked to know before going there because, without a doubt, the video would have been recorded differently.

While looking for information about the Tunnel, I discovered that both the road leading up to it and the tunnel itself were rebuilt and refurbished by Spaniards, by exiles, by prisoners of war forced to work for the French army. 

The road is another consequence of the sad history of Spain and of France itself. Since 1937, Spaniards fleeing the Spanish Civil War entered France en masse. Upon their arrival, they were separated, men on one side and women and children on the other. Men were separated from their families, families that in many cases never reunited.

To the sad reality of having to leave their country and arrive in a foreign land, the tragedy of forced family separation was added. This separation imposed by the French divided the men, who were considered prisoners of war and taken to and interned in the concentration camp of Argelès-sur-Mer.

In 1939, the Foreign Workers´ Companies were created in France. These companies were groups of prisoners, mostly Spaniards, who were given the status of French army corps, as unarmed companies, and their mission was to refurbish and maintain essential infrastructures for the defense of France, as well as to maintain military installations. Although they were part of the French army, they remained prisoners of war condemned to forced labor.

In the case at hand, the road and tunnel of the Col de Parpaillon involved two foreign workers´ companies, CTE 11 and CTE 10, each comprising between 200 and 250 workers. It is estimated that around 500 Spaniards were forced to work there in May 1939.

These companies were assigned two specific tasks: CTE 10 was responsible for refurbishing the Parpaillon tunnel itself, while CTE 11 was tasked with reconstructing the ascent road on the steepest part of the mountain, from Condamine-Chatelard to the summit. This is precisely the part of the ascent shown in the video.

Thus, in May 1939, 500 Spaniards were taken from the Argelès-sur-Mer concentration camp, with the never-fulfilled promise of reuniting them with their families. They were incorporated into both foreign workers´ companies and taken to the foot of the Col de Parpaillon to be forced to reconstruct the road and tunnel. This work was carried out from May to December 1939.

After the completion of the work, these two companies, like many others of this type, were distributed throughout much of France to continue with forced labor, many of them near the Franco-German border. After the German invasion of France, they were captured by the Germans, taken to Nazi concentration camps, where many of them were executed.

This is the history of some Spanish Republicans who, after fleeing Spain, never regained their freedom. They were prisoners of war in France, used as cheap labor, or slave labor, I would say, and ended up dying in German concentration camps.

Thus, let this video and this blog post serve as a heartfelt remembrance of those men who, after leaving Spain, never reunited with their families nor felt free again.

I hope that many of us, when passing through this legendary pass in the Alps, will have a small remembrance for those Spaniards who were forced to work there.

The current road and tunnel are the result of the work of those Spaniards. No major refurbishments have been made since then, apart from merely repairing the damage caused by the harsh winters of the area and the inexorable passage of time.

Here is a link where you can find more information about this group of exiles whose memory is being reconstructed...

Cartas Desde El Exilio