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.

Mid-Afternoon Love (Amor de media tarde)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
Experience in:
Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976
Tags:
« This song is dedicated to Graciela Navarro, who managed to make my prisoner's life more beautiful on the days we were allowed to receive visitors. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 23 September 2015

Moments (Los momentos)

Music piece by:
Eduardo Gatti
Testimony by:
Scarlett Mathieu
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, 1974
Tags:
« ‘Moments’ was a song sung by the female comrades whose partners were imprisoned on the other side of Tres Álamos, or were fugitives or disappeared. We all sang it, but it was like their anthem. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 11 June 2019

Morning Has Broken

Music piece by:
Cat Stevens, based on a traditional Gaelic hymn; lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros, Estadio Nacional, September - November 1973
Tags:
« At the time of the coup in 1973, this song was world-famous and frequently played on the radio. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 25 April 2015

Musicalized Dialogue between Two Old Prisoners (Diálogo musicalizado entre dos ancianos presos)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975
Tags:
« At Puchuncaví Detention Camp (Melinka) I shared a cell with an elderly man from Lota, where he had spent his entire life working in the coal mines. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 22 June 2015

National Anthem of Chile

Music piece by:
Eusebio Lillo and Ramón Carnicer
Testimony by:
Boris Chornik Aberbuch
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, March 1975
Tags:
« The Puchuncaví detention camp’s daily routine included mandatory participation in the ceremonies of raising and taking down the Chilean flag on the flagpole at the entrance to the camp. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 15 December 2014

National Anthem of Chile

Music piece by:
Eusebio Lillo and Ramón Carnicer
Testimony by:
anonymous
Experience in:
Cárcel de Valdivia / Cárcel de Isla Teja, September 1973
Tags:
« I was detained in Panguipulli on 24 September 1973, along with 17 other young people. I was a high school student. I was also working at the forestry and logging company of Huilo Huilo, which had been taken over by the working class. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 13 January 2018

National Anthem of Chile

Music piece by:
Eusebio Lillo and Ramón Carnicer
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975
Tags:
« The Puchuncaví Prisoners Camp had a daily routine similar to that of military regiments. In a ridiculous ceremony, the flag was raised every morning at dawn and then it was taken down at nightfall. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 25 September 2015

National Anthem of Chile

Music piece by:
Eusebio Lillo and Ramón Carnicer
Testimony by:
Eduardo Ojeda
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Isla Dawson, September 1973
Tags:
« We arrived at Dawson Island on the afternoon of 11 September. All we knew was that we had been arrested in the morning - nothing else. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 16 October 2015

Neither Fish nor Fowl (Ni chicha ni limoná)

Music piece by:
Víctor Jara
Testimony by:
Joaquín Vallejos
Experience in:
Academia de Guerra Naval, January 1974
Tags:
« I was arrested at home together with a childhood friend who they’d gone to pick up first. My family thought he’d stitched me up, which was not true. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 08 March 2015

Ode to Joy (Himno a la alegría)

Music piece by:
original by Friedrich von Schiller (lyrics) and Ludwig van Beethoven (music). Free version in Spanish by Amado Regueiro Rodríguez, aka Orbe (lyrics) y Waldo de los Ríos (music), popularised in Chile by Miguel Ríos.
Testimony by:
Luis Madariaga
Experience in:
Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1974 - 1976
Tags:
« In prison, we would sing the 'Ode to Joy' when a comrade was released or sent to exile. »
[Read full testimony]

Published on: 05 August 2016