Nicole Moore Sanborn

Argentina’s “Dirty War” began in 1976. Accounts of the “disappeared” have left a generation of Argentinians searching for answers. At the hands of General Videla’s regime, in camps such as “The Little School,” human rights violations reminiscent of concentration camps in Nazi Germany were forced upon “subversives.” The Little School by Alicia Partnoy heartbreakingly recounts her disappearance to and survival within “The Little School.” Despite the Videla regime’s rise to power, atrocities committed, and the regime’s effects today, powerful themes of humanity, suffering, consciousness, resistance, and compliance emerge from sources like the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and Partnoy’s work.

The Videla regime responsible for the “Dirty War” came to power through a coup. Peron, once a beloved president, fell from grace and was exiled, after which the military came to power. Two leftist groups, the Monteneros and the ERP, emerged from the urban sector to combat repressive military rule. In an effort to end the conflict, Peron returned to Argentina and was reelected. In 1974, Peron died, and Isabella (his third wife and vice president) rose to power. The military took advantage of Isabella’s inability to rule, and controlled her. In 1975, the military passed the “Annihilation Decrees” to allow the repression of left-wing subversives, such as the Monteneros and the ERP. The Argentine Anticommunist Alliance (AAA) was formed with the intent to search and destroy guerilla groups, starting state-sanctioned violence in Argentina. General Videla rose to power in 1976, and the “Dirty War” began. From 1976-1983 the military government gave themselves broad powers to “stabilize” the nation and “eradicate terrorism” by whatever means necessary. Videla’s regime, in an effort to eradicate subversive ideas, sanctioned the “disappearances” of anyone suspected of treason. The “disappeared” were taken to places like the Little School, concentration camps seeking to break people’s spirits and get information. The Monteneros and ERP were heavily targeted. The disappeared were usually young and usually male, but that did not stop the regime from taking pregnant women. Those seized were simply “disappeared,” and families had no way of knowing the state of their loved ones. Petitions were filed. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo formed. Approximately 30,000 people were “disappeared,” and now Argentina cries, “never again.”

The regime’s effects, especially of devastation and pain, are demonstrated in the film The Disappeared and in Partnoy’s accounts of her survival. Cesar, born in a concentration camp to a “disappeared” woman, tells his story in the film The Disappeared. Cesar was raised by the maid of a military leader and not told about his history, but he searched and found the truth. Cesar eventually found his extended family, which never truly forgave those who raised him. If Cesar had found his family sooner, he may have met his recently-deceased grandmother, a family member may not have battled addiction, and the family would have been more stable. Also, Partnoy dedicates her book to her brother Daniel, “for whom life became so absurd that he decided to take his own.” The regime altered the lives and families of countless Argentinians.

Despite a tendency for people to negate the humanity of captors and captives as a coping technique, Partnoy sheds light on their humanity. In The Little School, Partnoy writes of her conversations with captors and captives. She references the prisoners and guards by name. Many of the guards went by nicknames, such as Chiche, Abuelo, and Chamame. In “The One Flower Slippers,” Partnoy notes the “guffaws” of the guards at the concentration camp when they noticed Alicia did not have shoes. Partnoy records a conversation she had with Vasca, another captive, about her new slippers that only had one flower. Laughter and conversation are signs of life and humanity. Later, in “Benja’s First Night,” Partnoy notes how Vasca asked for water and was brought water, but when Benja asked, he was beaten, showing the prisoners’ basic human need for water. Partnoy hears guards beating Benja for simply asking for water, and she writes, “The guards feel almighty, yet for some reason I believe he’s afraid: deep down he must have some memory of justice.” Instead of brutalizing and dehumanizing the guard who beat Benja, Alicia acknowledges his emotions and memories. She believes the guards act almighty because they are scared of what the regime will do to them if they are disloyal, and wonders in her mind if they have lost their humanity and knowledge of justice. Partnoy reminds readers of the humanity of all involved in the Dirty War so people will never forget the atrocities humans are capable of inflicting on other humans and to deeply move readers.

The Little School juxtaposes resistance and compliance. The prisoners resist the torture and the breaking of their spirits and minds, but their bodies comply and break. “Telepathy” provides a clear example of Alicia’s resistance and compliance. Her mind resists the breaking of her spirit when she says, “The following day I tried it [telepathy] again…. I woke up alarmed because I couldn’t remember where I had left my child for her nap. I opened my eyes to a blindfold that had already been there for twenty days.” On the same page, she notes how she received so many orders, such as, “Lie down! Hurry Up! Get out!” and talks of peace. “I didn’t have any peace now either, just the hope that there still remained a share of air for me to breathe in a future freedom.” Her mind hopes for the future, and she attempts telepathy to communicate with her family, remember her daughter, and maintain her spirit. Partnoy’s body complies with guards’ orders, but her mind flies freely, away from her situation. The tormentors fail to break her spirit entirely. In addition, the “Madwomen of the Plaza de Mayo” text references the mothers’ resistance to their children “disappearing” by signing petitions to pressure Videla to bring their children back, yet they comply to police orders to maintain their peaceful, yet angry, protest by separating. Consistently, those who fought the Videla regime resisted in their hearts and minds, yet complied with police orders.

Suffering and consciousness are also juxtaposed in the film The Disappeared and in The Little School. Cesar remembers considering suicide at ages 9-10. Cesar lived with a constant fear of consequences for resisting his caretakers. From an early age, he was conscious he did not fit in with his family. His suffering and consciousness of his own identity ultimately bring him to uncover the truth and find his real family. In The Little School, one particular quotation stands out as Alicia recalls her suffering and consciousness. Partnoy writes in “The Small Box of Matches,” “I hope that what really matters to me is to be whole…meanwhile, I’m being destroyed.” Her body is being consistently destroyed through torture, lack of hygiene, water, proper food, and being blindfolded. Alicia’s small box of matches keeps her fake tooth, knocked out when she hit the iron fence at the Little School. She keeps her tooth, because it is a part of her, and she wants to be whole. Alicia is conscious of her intense desire to keep her tooth, and considers whether she is only holding onto it so she has a belonging, or if she truly and innately desires to be whole again. Consciousness and suffering are constantly juxtaposed in Partnoy’s text, as the prisoners’ bodies and spirits are suffering, yet they are consciously aware and occupy their minds with thoughts of better things, so as not to entirely succumb to the breaking of their spirits.

The Argentine Dirty War brings to light human rights violations and fierce atrocities. The film The Disappeared, Partnoy’s The Little School, and the “Madwomen of the Plaza de Mayo” all illustrate from first-hand accounts the atrocities of the Dirty War, revealing details historical overviews alone can never tell. The Dirty War, though painful to study, must never be forgotten. The effects of the Videla regime will continue forever for families of the “disappeared ones,” and we, as historians and as humans, must never allow such atrocities to happen again.