The sculpture depicts several men wearing heavy coats in a huddle, backs to the viewer, with their arms linked on each others shoulders. The monument recalls a tragic circumstance in which five lawyers were killed by right-wing terrorists in 1977.
Wikipedia's Spanish language page about the tragedy has a photo of this monument (
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"La Matanza de Atocha de 1977 fue un atentado terrorista cometido por extremistas de derecha en el centro de Madrid la noche del 24 de enero de 1977, en el marco del llamado terrorismo tardofranquista. Cinco abogados fueron asesinados, marcando la transición española iniciada tras la muerte del dictador Francisco Franco.
Un comando ultraderechista penetró en un despacho de abogados en derecho laboral de Comisiones Obreras (CC OO) y militantes del Partido Comunista de España (PCE), situado en el número 55 de la calle de Atocha, abriendo fuego contra los allí presentes, matando a cinco personas y dejando cuatro heridos. El Tribunal que dictó sentencia el 4 de marzo de 1980 consideró que los procesados Francisco Albadalejo (secretario del Sindicato Vertical del Transporte Privado de Madrid y vinculado a FE de las JONS), José Fernández Cerrá, Carlos García Juliá y Leocadio Jiménez Caravaca constituían un "grupo activista e ideológico, defensor de una ideología política radicalizada y totalitaria, disconforme con el cambio institucional que se estaba operando en España". El fallo condenó a José Fernández Cerrá y Carlos García Juliá a un total de 193 años a cada uno de ellos, y a Francisco Albadalejo, a un total de 73 años.
El periódico italiano Il Messaggero indicó en marzo de 1984 que neofascistas italianos habían participado en la matanza,1 tesis que fue respaldada en 1990, cuando un informe oficial italiano relató que Carlo Cicuttini, un neofascista italiano próximo a la organización Gladio (una red clandestina anti-comunista dirigida por la CIA), había participado en la matanza. Cicuttini había escapado a España donde adquirió la nacionalidad española, después del atentado de Peteano de 1972, hecho con Vincenzo Vinciguerra.2
En la actualidad hasta en 23 pueblos de la Comunidad de Madrid, existen calles y plazas, recordando a las víctimas de Atocha del número 55."
which Google translates as:
"The 1977 Massacre of Atocha was a terrorist attack by right-wing extremists in the center of Madrid on the night of January 24, 1977, under the Tardofranquismo called terrorism. Five lawyers were killed, marking the Spanish transition began after the death of dictator Francisco Franco.
A far-right command entered a law practice in labor law Workers' Commissions (CCOO) and members of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), located at number 55 on the street Atocha, opening fire on bystanders, killing five people and leaving four wounded. The Court gave judgment on 4 March 1980 found that the defendants Francisco Albadalejo (secretary of the Union of Private Transportation Vertical Madrid and linked to FE de las JONS), José Fernández Cerrá, Carlos García Jiménez Juliá and Leocadio Caravaca constituted "and ideological activist group, advocate of a radical and totalitarian political ideology, conforming to institutional change that was taking place in Spain ". The ruling sentenced José Carlos García Fernández Cerrá and Juliá a total of 193 years each, and Francisco Albadalejo, a total of 73 years.
The Italian newspaper Il Messaggero said in March 1984 that neo-fascist Italians had participated in the massacre, one thesis which was endorsed in 1990, when an Italian official report said that Carlo Cicuttini, a nearby Italian neofascist to the Gladio organization (an underground network anti -communist led by the CIA) had participated in the massacre. Cicuttini had escaped to Spain where he acquired Spanish citizenship after the 1972 bombing Peteano made with Vincenzo Vinciguerra.2
Currently there are streets and squares, remembering the victims of Atocha the number 55 to 23 villages in the Community of Madrid."
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