Albert Pueyo (Clara Pueyo Jornet)

Albert Pueyo Tartera’s (Barcelona, 1936 – Caldes de Montbui, 2024) testimony is that of the nephew of a political prisoner. His paternal aunt, Clara Pueyo Jornet, was a communist militant who was forced to flee to France in 1939, only to return shortly thereafter to resume her political activities. She was arrested in Barcelona in 1941 due to her involvement in the reorganization of the PSUC (Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia) during the harsh post-war years, alongside comrades such as Soledad Real and Isabel Imbert.

In June 1943, Clara Pueyo escaped from Les Corts prison as part of an operation orchestrated by the PSUC leadership from the Model prison, called “El Gran Vol.” This escape was later chronicled in a documentary film by Carolina Astudillo. Albert’s memories refer to the rare occasions when, as a child, he accompanied his mother to visit his aunt Clara, until one day they were informed that she had escaped. They never heard from her again.

Albert retained no memories of his father, Armand, Clara’s brother. Exiled to France after the outbreak of World War II, Armand was taken prisoner by German troops. It wasn’t until 1952 that the family learned he had been executed at the Gusen concentration camp, after being detained at Mauthausen, on May 16, 1941.

Albert’s childhood was spent between Caldes de Montbui and Barcelona. He retained fond memories of the municipal school where he studied from 1944 to 1948, the Grup Escolar Baixeras, located on Via Laietana: a small oasis of freedom amidst the Francoist post-war era. In 1948, he entered the Industrial School of Barcelona, graduating at the age of nineteen and joining a multinational company, where he worked for a total of twenty-six years.

The filmmaker Carolina Astudillo captured Albert’s testimony in her short film De Monstruos y Faldas, part of the 2007-2008 Creative Documentary Master’s course at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). In November 2008, accompanied by his son, Albert visited the Mauthausen camp in Austria. Armand’s name is now commemorated in the "Sala des Noms" at the Mauthausen Memorial and also with a Stolperstein in Vilanova i La Geltrú.

Albert passed away on July 2, 2024. His family and friends paid their final respects by bringing a camera in honor of his passion for photography.