‘Take flowers to our mass grave’: letters from Spain’s Franco victims collected in new book

A postcard home that was written and decorated by Fernando Izquierdo Montes, who was shot dead in May 1943 at the age of 27. Photograph: memoriaylibertad.org

One day in 1939, a Spanish father wrote to his three small sons to ask them to behave themselves while he was away. “My dear boys, Pepe, little Félix and little Vicente, I’m in a beautiful castle with lots of turrets,” wrote Vicente González García-Carrizo.

“At night, little princesses come out into the courtyard. They’re very beautiful. When I sleep, Mummy comes to me dressed as a beautiful fairy with her hair hanging loose. She tells me about everything you do. It makes me so happy when I hear that you’ve been good and worked hard. And I cry so much when I hear you’ve made her cross.”