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BASQUE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT INTERVIEW TAPE INDEX
NAME:
Rementeria, Trini TAPE MINUTE SUMMARY OF CONTENTS Tape 1, side 1
0-2:45 Trini was born in Gernika in 1910. Baptized at Saint Mary’s in Gernika. Her father’s name was Baldomero Minteguia, and her mother was Rosa Loroño. She gives a list of her siblings from oldest to youngest: Paco, Adrian, herself, and Juana. Trini and her sister Juana, who lives in Gernika, are the only surviving members of her immediate family. She was married in Gernika and came to the United States in 1947. Her husband was a citizen when they arrived in the US, and had worked as a sheepherder for a few years there before returning to Gernika. 2:45-8:30 Trini went to a school run by Carmelite nuns, finishing at the age of 14. Her mother fell ill, so Trini took charge of the laundry. Her father was a bricklayer. Trini washed everything by hand, ironing after she washed. She explains that she had to help her mother a great deal because her mother had stomach problems. Rosa had been run over by a cart when she was an infant, and her son Paco had been born with his feet twisted (they later straightened out a bit). As a result of these two factors, Rosa’s abdomen was often in a great deal of pain, making it increasingly difficult for her to do the laundry. Trini compliments the local doctors on their success in helping her mother and brother with their medical problems. The doctors were able to lessen Paco’s deformity to some degree. 8:30-17:00 Trini’s first job was washing laundry for her family. She remembers how much work was involved in washing clothes and bed sheets for 5 men and 3 women. She washed nearly every day. Trini’s sister was too young to help much with the laundry, so Trini had to do it by herself. She also cooked for the family and did other chores, helping her mother as much as she could. Trini jokes about having a job where she made no money. But her life was not all work. She occasionally went to the movies on Sundays and enjoyed the festivals in Gernika. She talks about going out with her friends and immersing herself in the festivities. 17:00-18:00 Trini learned how to sew in high school; it was part of the curriculum. She would learn in the afternoons after lunch. 18:00-25:00 She discusses her political involvement at the end of the Spanish Civil War and the bombing of Gernika. It was a trying time to say the least, and she explains how the different members of her family had unique political bents, all of which were opposed to that of her father. She was opposed to the franquistas, and talks about how she went from house to house with her candidate to help him with his campaign. She explains that some people would sell their votes to candidates. When the franquistas assumed governing power, Trini was incarcerated for her involvement, and spent 27 months in prison in Bilbao. She sings a political song that her party used to sing during the war years. 25:00-30:00 Trini tells the story of how the authorities came to arrest her while she was in Bilbao, and some of the people involved in denouncing her for her political views and activities. Tape 1, side 2 0-11:00 Trini still harbors a great deal of resentment against those who sent her and others like her to prison. She says that no one has taken responsibility for the injustices committed during the war and the Franco dictatorship, and no one has offered an apology. 11:00-22:00 While in prison, Trini was locked up in a cell with 23 other women. She gives the dimensions of the cell. There were no beds in the cell. She describes how they were transported from the jail in Bilbao to the prison, and talks about their interactions with some of the guards. The food was tolerable, neither good nor bad. She sings another short song about the food they used to eat, and talks about the medical care they received from the prison doctors. Trini fell ill while she was locked up, but did not want her parents to know she was ill. 22:00-26:00 When Trini was released from prison, she was denounced by many people in her neighborhood. Others congratulated her and many people were thrilled to see her. Her father was ashamed of her, for he supported the political right. 26:00-30:00 Trini talks about the bombing of Gernika. She focuses on one of her most vivid memories. A friend of hers lost his arm during the bombing, and she wept bitterly when she met him again some time after the event. He had been transferred to a hospital in France to have his arm amputated. The two of them had planned to go to Bermeo the day of the bombing, but had not been able to leave Gernika. She was separated from her friend and family during the chaos. Tape 2, side 1 0-5:30 Trini continues to describe events surrounding the bombing of Gernika. Everyone was stunned by the terror and destruction, and no one knew what was going on. There was panic in the streets, and some people even took the opportunity to rob their neighbors. Trini’s family’s home was robbed and suffered a great deal of damage from the bombing itself. Neighbors would steal from neighbors in a sort of free-for-all. Several of Trini’s friends lost their lives. Nevertheless, when American news reporters arrived to report what had occurred, the soldiers told them that nobody had been killed. 5:30-11:00 Trini talks about what she imagined her future would be like when she was freed from prison. She thought she would spend most of her time at home, and had no idea of getting married. She had an idea of what the United States was like, for she had family in New York. She thought that life in America must be better than life in Gernika, and pictured it as being a very wealthy country. 11:00-15:45 She met her husband in Gernika after the Spanish Civil War. He stopped at the fruit shop where Trini worked one day and they took an interest in each other. She was not attracted to him at first, but grew to like him after a while, and thinks that destiny must have brought them together. She was dating a rich young man around the time she met her husband. Jokingly, she muses that destiny must have chosen which of the two young men she would marry. Trini finally married in Gernika in the spring of 1946 when she was 20 years old. Her husband already had his documents, but she had to go to a great deal of trouble to obtain the documents she needed to come to the United States. 15:45-23:00 They left from Bilbao by ship shortly after marrying and arrived in New York. Trini’s husband spoke English well, which made the journey and transition to the United States quite a bit smoother. Friends, some whom had recently arrived, and others whom they had not seen for many years greeted them in New York. Trini was not comfortable in the city, but took a job as a cook in the Empire State building. She and her husband decided to move to Boise, and took a train from New York to Boise. Some of her husband’s relatives met them at the train station when they arrived in Boise. 23:00-28:00 It was difficult for Trini to learn English during her first years in Boise. She could not work when she arrived, for she was pregnant with her first child. Some girl friends, Basque friends of her husband, helped her a great deal with the transition. They took her to the doctor and assisted her with the shopping, translating for her whenever she needed them. Her friends also helped her find a job with a cleaning service after she gave birth to her child. She worked for the cleaning service for about 7 years, cleaning a number of banks, and later took a job at a laundry, where she worked for about 10 years. Her husband did not want her to work, but she decided to do so anyway because she needed to work away from home. She talks about how she would maintain the household in addition to working away from home. Trini remarks on how easy it is to cook on an electric stove. 28:00-30:00 Even though she did not speak English, she was involved in her children’s schooling. Some of the nuns who taught at St. John’s (in Boise) spoke Spanish, making it possible for Trini to talk with about her children’s education. She remembers one particular nun who would help her learn some English in exchange for some Spanish and Basque.
NAMES AND PLACES NAMES: Carmelites
(“Carmelitas”) – order of nuns. The nuns ran Trini’s school. PLACES: Bermeo, Bizkaia – Trini and a
friend (see entry for “France”) were planning a trip to Bermeo the day
Gernika was bombed, but were unable to leave. Bombing of
Gernika |
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