José Ester Borrás

On October 26, 1913, José Ester Borrás was born in Berga (province of Barcelona, Spain). He was active in the anarchist youth and trade union movement, fought in the famous Colonna Tierra y Libertad during the Spanish Civil War, was arrested by the communists, fled to France after the fall of the Spanish Republic, fought in the resistance against the Nazis, was arrested and deported to the concentration camp Mauthausen.
Ester returned to France in 1945 and founded FEDIP (Federación Española de Deportados e Internados Políticos). Ester and FEDIP campaigned for political prisoners in Franco's Spain, but also for the Spanish antifascists who were deported to labour camps in the Soviet Union after the Civil War. These prisoners were released only in 1956. Ester remained active until well into the 1970s, and died in 1980.

In 1998, the IISH received the FEDIP archive. It was joined by Esters personal papers this year. Both are accessible.

Here you can find: