'The 115 days' Interpretation Centre A museum to understand the battle Bookmark and Share
Consulted sources
- Hemeroteca Diari de Tarragona
- Own information diarideguerra.com

On July 25, 2008, 70 years after the start of the battle of the Ebro, the president of Catalonia, José Montilla, opened an interpretation center called 115 days in Corbera d'Ebre, the centerpiece of the museum network of the battle of the Ebro built by Consorci Memorial Espais de la Batalla de l’Ebre (COMEBE). 

115 days were the days-long battle between 25th July and 16th November,1938. In this way, the museum shows the development of the battle of the Ebro and offers visitors a comprehensive view of the war and politics. To this objective, the museum draws on military equipment, personal belongings of the soldiers, some sceneries of soldiers' lives, touch screens and audiovisual. 

 

The exhibition consists of seven areas: 

"The Night of Saint James" is the area that introduces the exhibition, the aim of which is to transport visitors to battlefields across the sensations. 

“Crossing the River" shows the first days of the conflict and explains the objectives that had each of the opposing armies. 

"The preparations for the offensive" and "115 days of fighting," explained the course of the battle, the various offensives and counter-offensives, keeping in mind the military, human, political, strategic and territorial factors.

"The Last Day" is an area for reflection on the end of the battle and the defeat of the Republic, but it also shows the consequences suffered by the men and women who had to leave their homes, for whom a long time of darkness and penury had begun. 

"The wounded land" and "Creating Memory, Creating the Future” are areas for reflection, the restoration of historical memory and reconciliation with our past. A emotional audiovisual closed the exhibition area with several neighbors of Corbera d'Ebre who remember their experiences during the fighting, when they were children or adolescents, and tell how it possible to survive in a region with ruined villages, and the fields destroyed and full of corpses and almost nothing to eat. President Montilla and Interior minister, Joan Saura, watched in silence these audiovisual.

 

Montilla: "The memory does not imply hatred' 

 

After the visit and during the turn of parliaments, Montilla defined the museum as a "space of memory and the memories, a moral and civic duty. The memory does not imply rancor, but those to want to impose oblivion promote resentment". The president assures that "to know it was that horror, it helps not to repeat". The minister of Interior, Joan Saura, in his turn, defined the museum of "fantastic" and recalled that his goal is not to stir up hatred or revenge, "but to claim the validity of democracy." The Corbera d'Ebre's mayor, Sebastian Frixach , welcomed the opening of the museum, "a historic day for Corbera" and expressed hope that it "is useful for closing wounds". 

 

Currently, the center 115 days is the most visited museum in the network of museums in the Battle of the Ebro. It visit is highly recommended before starting a route through the various historical sites exist in the regions of the Terra Alta and Ribera d'Ebre .