Testimonies

Testimonies are sorted by publication date, showing the newest first.
Click on to sort by witness, to sort alphabetically by musical piece title, or to sort by publication date.


Everything Changes (Todo cambia)

Music piece by:
Julio Numhauser
Testimony by:
Carolina Videla
Experience in:
« My guitar accompanied me for the entire time that I was deprived of freedom. It was like a magnet. In the afternoon we would sing and play in the courtyard. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 26 September 2018


Far Away (Tamo daleko)

Music piece by:
Djordje Marinkovic. Chilean adaptation of traditional Serbian song, originally composed in 1916.
Testimony by:
Eduardo Ojeda
« At Compingin Camp on the island, Mario started telling us about the Spanish lyrics of the Yugoslav song 'Tamo daleko'. The song was not Croatian: it was Serbian. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 16 October 2015


Fifth Symphony

Music piece by:
Ludwig van Beethoven
Testimony by:
anonymous
Experience in:
« I like all classical music, particularly Beethoven and Mozart. I listen to it all day on Radio Esperanza, on the bus I drive. The passengers like it. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 13 January 2018


Filistoque's Cueca (Cueca del Filistoque)

Music piece by:
Víctor Canto Fuenzalida (lyrics), Efraín Navarro (music)
Testimony by:
Víctor Canto Fuenzalida
Experience in:
« Filistoque is a real-life person in all his mighty height (1.90 metres tall). I always remember him laughing. In Chacabuco, we shared a house for nearly ten months. Around him, you were never allowed to become depressed or get into a stew over our situation. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 15 December 2014


For the Guy Who's Leaving

Music piece by:
Alfredo Zitarrosa
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, November – April 1974
« Marcelo Concha Bascuñán, a member of the Los de Chacabuco band, was a young man of great charisma and personal skills. He had been a swimming champion and was an outstanding guitarist and singer. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 12 January 2015


Free (Libre)

Music piece by:
José Luis Armenteros and Pablo Herrero, popularised by Nino Bravo.
Testimony by:
anonymous
Experience in:
« While waiting in the grandstands to be interrogated for the first, second or more times, we would sing 'Free' to those who were being lined up to be released. 'Free' was a catharsis, a mixture of joy for those who were going and hope for those of us left behind. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 13 January 2015


Free (Libre)

Music piece by:
José Luis Armenteros and Pablo Herrero, popularised by Nino Bravo.
Testimony by:
Guillermo Orrego Valdebenito
« This song was performed in the Stadium grandstands by a worker from the Madeco factory: Peineta Vasquez, winner of a Song Festival that was organised at grassroots level, during the times when we were allowed to leave the spaces under the grandstands, inside the stadium,  to sunbathe, together with women from various countries, before they got sent off to the pool area. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 15 January 2015


Free (Libre)

Music piece by:
José Luis Armenteros and Pablo Herrero, popularised by Nino Bravo.
Testimony by:
Paicavi Painemal
Experience in:
« I’m from Chol Chol, part of the Coihue community. I was arrested along with 12 other people and they took us to the Second Police Station of Temuco. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 22 November 2017


Free (Libre)

Music piece by:
José Luis Armenteros and Pablo Herrero, popularised by Nino Bravo.
Testimony by:
Marianella Ubilla
Experience in:
« I was taken prisoner on 23 November 1973, at the University of Concepción. In the Regional Stadium of Concepción, we had to sing the National Anthem every day. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 13 July 2015


Friend (Amiga)

Music piece by:
Miguel Bosé
Testimony by:
Carolina Videla
Experience in:
« I was 19 years old when they arrested me. I was one of the youngest political prisoners at the time in Arica. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 26 September 2018