Wind on the fog: A reflection on the policy of historical memory at Televisió de Catalunya through the documentary Perseguits i salvats

Identity and collective memory are two sides of the same coin: both are constructed from a narrative of community that may either define the present (identity) or explain the past (memory). These constructs also feed into one another, since memory is built through a consciousness of identity, while identity is the product of our capacity to create and retain a narrative that explains who we are today. This article offers a reflection on the policy of historical memory adopted by the Catalan public broadcasting network Televisió de Catalunya (TVC) and a detailed study of the documentary Perseguits i salvats. Camins de nit i boira/Persecuted and Saved. Paths through the Night and Fog (Solé, 2014). The authors identify the elements that place the documentary within this policy framework, examining its discourse and finding in it three primary goals: to situate the memory of the Catalan people in the context of European memory; to convey the repression of the Spanish Civil War and the ensuing dictatorship to an international audience; and to bear witness to the responsibility of the Franco regime in the events of the Holocaust and the Nazi atrocities.