Sort prison as a place of memory

In 2000, Sort Town Council converted the old prison into an exhibition space explaining the role of Sort during the years between the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War (1936-1945). After several refurbishments and conservation projects, and after commissioning the museology and museography projects to the University of Lleida’s History, Heritage and Documentation Department, in July 2007 the museum “El Camí de la Llibertat. Un museu de la pau a la frontera” was inaugurated in the former men’s prison. The museum’s aim is to raise awareness of Sort’s role as a place of refuge for hundreds of refugees fleeing Nazism and the Second World War.

The museum elements and the contents of the permanent exhibition were updated in 2014 after the Provincial Council of Lleida launched the project “Perseguits i Salvats” (Persecuted and Saved) to remember the passage through the Lleida Pyrenees of thousands of Jews fleeing Nazi persecution in Europe during the Second World War. At the same time, the exhibition aims to expose the role of Lleida citizens in helping and supporting people fleeing the horrors of Nazi-occupied Europe and more than probable death. The Prison-Museum became the centrepiece of the project and the women’s prison was bestowed an explanatory plaque.

Although the text makes minimal reference to the fact that women were imprisoned in an adjoining building, the space that had served as the women’s prison was preserved as it had been after it ceased to be a prison. In 2007, Sort Town Council signed an agreement with company Posan Cardós, which had previously acquired the property known as Casa Facèrcia, which was where the prisons had been located. Through this deal, the 12.03 m2 space would be preserved during the demolition of the building in order to guarantee its conservation as a historical space to be incorporated into the “Camí de la Llibertat” museum.

The interior of the room is in poor condition, so urgent action should be taken to conserve and consolidate the space. This action should be completed with the enhancement of the space as a place of memory with its own entity and as a complement to the museum exhibitions offered to visitors of the “El Camí de la llibertat” Prison-Museum.