Neus Català, the last survivor of the Nazi horror, is dead

Neus Català, the last survivor of the Nazi horror, died Saturday in her hometown of El Guiamets (Tarragona). He was 103 years old and died at the geriatric residence of Els Guiamets where he spent his last days.

As recalled Efe agency, Català was one of the last Spanish survivors of the Nazi extermination camps and a symbol of resistance to totalitarianism for its integrity and its ability to fight against the worst adversities. She was also a pbadionate defender of women's rights.

Thanks to his long personal trajectory and his tenacious effort to recover his memory, he has received in recent years many tributes and recognitions, such as the Creu de Sant Jordi, awarded by the Generalitat in 2005, the Gold Medal of civic merit. Barcelona City Council, which received in 2014, and the Generalitat Gold Medal, awarded in 2015.

The funeral of Neus Català, which should be attended by members of the Government of the Generalitat, will take place next Tuesday at the funeral of Móra la Nova.

Català was the peasant girl and was linked from an early age to the unified socialist youth of Catalonia. As recalled La Vanguardia, he had to flee to France, like so many other Republicans, in 1939. He did so with 180 orphans who were his dependents in a settlement house, Las Acacias, in Premià de Dalt.

Once exiled, she met her future partner, Albert Roger, with whom she lived for a short time. The two joined the maquis (a group that was part of the French Resistance) and were arrested by the Gestapo.

This is how it was found in the Nazi concentration camp Ravensbrück. Meanwhile, his partner went to the Bergen-Belsen camp. Six years later, they were released in serious condition. Neus was able to recover, but Albert did not, and died shortly thereafter.

Neus was the dam of 27,534 at Ravensbrück and 50,446 at Holleischen. They took her as a slave and forced her to work in the Hitlerite war industry. There, he formed a clandestine command that boycotted the manufacture of weapons. This act put his life in danger, because if someone discovered him, he would kill her on the spot. That did not happen and they managed to boycott hundreds of weapons.

Català once said that when she left a conference, a girl called her "the woman who defeated Hitler".