by Sancho de Beurko Association
This article was written by Pedro Oiarzabal.
Martin, born on July 4, 1925, in Las Arenas, Getxo (Bizkaia), was one of the thousands of children evacuated by the Basque government in June 1937 to escape the aerial bombardments perpetrated by General Francisco Franco’s Italian and German allies against the civilian population. Martin and two younger brothers were sent to Belgium. At just 12 years of age, he became the head of his family during their exile and through the harsh times of World War II. In May 1940, Germany invaded Belgium. The Aguirres once again found themselves in the middle of a war.
Pedro J. Oiarzabal and Guillermo Tabernilla are the principal investigators of the research project “Fighting Basques: Basque Memory of World War II” of the Sancho de Beurko Elkartea in collaboration with the North American Basque Organizations (NABO). The present article derives from the “Fighting Basques” project.
Oiarzabal received his Doctorate of Political Science-Basque Studies from the University of Nevada, Reno. Over the last two decades, his work has focused on research and consulting on public policies (citizenship abroad and return), diasporas and new technologies, and social and historical memory (oral history, migration and exile), with special emphasis on the Basque case. He is a member of Eusko Ikaskuntza.
Tabernilla is a researcher and founder of the Sancho de Beurko Elkartea, a non-profit organization that studies the history of the Basques of both slopes of the Pyrenees in the Spanish Civil War and in World War II. Between 2008 and 2016 he directed the catalog of the “Iron Belt” for the Heritage Directorate of the Basque Government. He is author, along with Ander González, of Basque Fighters in World War II (Desperta Ferro, 2018).
During that last world conflict, Martin became an active member of a clandestine network in Belgium aiding and rescuing Jews from the Nazi regime. Despite being in his late teens, he saved the lives of a considerable number of children and teenage Jews. On January 11, 2011, Yad Vashem—The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority—recognized Martin as one of “The Righteous Among the Nations.” He is one of the very few Basques recognized in this way.
Aguirre’s biographer, Dr. Pedro J. Oiarzabal, describes him “as a humble man of great integrity and honesty.” “I am proud to call him my friend,” the Basque diaspora specialist said. “As an oral historian, I began a series of interviews with Martin back in 2014 and we have stayed connected as much as possible through the years. I am still thanking him for agreeing to be interviewed and for narrating his life, which included some very painful moments and memories, which I will always treasure and protect.” Dr. Oiarzabal concludes, “we owe him so much for making this world a freer and better place under the very difficult circumstances that were World War II. We will forever be in his debt.”
Happy birthday, Zorionak, Martin!
