Lisbon from Aljube the Clandestine Opposition

LISBON FROM ALJUBE

THE CLANDESTINE OPPOSITION

An itinerary through the clandestine houses of the dictatorship period

Support texts The Clandestine Opposition. An itinerary through the clandestine houses of the dictatorship period the dictatorship houses of the clandestine through Opposition. An itinerary Clandestine Aljube The Lisboan fom

1 «What was clandestinity? Clandestinity was nothing other

than the passage to anonymity, Aljube Museum Resistance and Freedom Support texts with the aim of escaping the persecutions of the PIDE and fighting fascism, Salazar and his cronies, more easily.»

(Aida Magro in Rose Nery Nobre de Melo, Mulheres Portuguesas na Resistência, Lisboa, Seara Nova, 1975, p. 140.)

2 3 THE CLANDESTINE HOUSE

MEMORIES

(MARQUES, J. A. Silva, «Relatos da Clandestinidade – O PCP visto por dentro», Lisboa, Ed. Jornal Expresso, 1976, pp. 300-302)

"The "Houses of the Party" were houses rented clandestinely and inhabited by the clandestine cadres of the Communist Party. (...) The rule was those who lived in clandestinity had to rent their own "facilities". The direction designated an area within which they could search for a house and it would be in this area that they would have to find it. If they concluded that it was impossible, the direction would designate another area. In any case, the individuals would always have to find a house within an area previously delimited by the direction. This to prevent the coincidence of having two or more officials installed in the same area, with all the inconvenience that could result from it, particularly if someone was under surveillance. When renting a house, the clandestine individuals would proceed like anyone else. With the only difference that they would use fake identification details. However, there was an additional difficulty: the guarantor. The clandestine person should not provide a guarantor when renting a house, even because it was very difficult to find one. It couldn't be one of his or her acquaintances, because then, they would know their location. A person who was not their acquaintance would very hardly accept The Clandestine Opposition. An itinerary through the clandestine houses of the dictatorship period the dictatorship houses of the clandestine through Opposition. An itinerary Clandestine Aljube The Lisboan fom to be a guarantor. To overcome the difficulty, the official would almost always have to give a few more months of deposit than what was normally required. However, the landlords were curious and suspicious, so they asked all sorts of questions. So, renting a house was one of the most unpleasant and difficult things for someone who was a beginner in the clandestine life. After a few years, it became a rou- 3 tine, and since so many stories and justifications had already been made up, there was a whole scheme of types of explanations that were handled with relative ease, adjusting to each situation the most appropriate kind of story. The hard part was dealing with the furniture. So much so that the clandestine individuals would usually have to rent the most expensive houses, because the cheaper ones had already been rented by people who had, for long, been looking for them. Since the rent of the house was expensive, the problem became conciliating it with the furnishings. Paying a high rent, and having half a dozen pieces of furniture, could be noticed. The most common solution was to arrange the entrance room accordingly. This allowed the curious neighbours to see the entrance without noticing the "misery", which would become the object of conversations, reflections and general questionings. Sometimes, to better guarantee the serenity of the spirits, the clandestine per- Aljube Museum Resistance and Freedom Support texts son would talk about the furniture he or she had left at some family member’s house, due to his/her professional activity, since moving furniture, when it is expensive and of good quality, should always be avoided, because there is always the risk of breaking or scratching something. The ideal clandestine house was a single-family house near or even within an already important urban agglomeration. A very rare thing to find. The opposite end was a dwelling in a village or rural area. Because it was isolated, the movements were very easily noticed, and the contact with the neighbours was difficult to avoid or to keep at a convenient distance. A building with plenty of floors was still a preferable choice and the easiest to find. Especially in areas with a very floating population."

(Joaquim Pires Jorge, Com uma imensa alegria. Notas autobiográficas, Lisboa, Editorial «Avante!», 1984, pp. 46-47)

"Those who lived in hiding had to cut ties with everything, with family and with the simplest things of everyday life – go to a movie theatre, buy a newspaper, grab a coffee, read a book. For many years, we lived connected to rural areas. We found pretexts to rent a house in a village: we said we were going there because we were sick, or because the wife was sick and we were going to get some fresh air, or because we were travelling salesmen. We stayed in the village for six months or a year; then we moved to another village. 4 5 However, in the meantime, the police realised that we were living in villages and sent circulars to all the city councils: if unknown individuals showed up in villages to rent houses, they should communicate it to the Police, quietly. This caused some problems and raised the need for us to take a turn. Go to the cities and merge with the city population. But how would we get the money to live in the city, to rent houses, to get matching clothes, take on the appearance of a technical agent, or an engineer, or a doctor, to stop riding a bicycle and start getting cab rides? We made great sacrifices with the help of many organisations and many comrades, particularly the intellectuals, to raise the money to make this turn. Of course, apart from this new look, we kept the standard of living we had before. The furniture was lumber bought in the old scrap yard and boxes, and we had to move during twilight so people wouldn't see us."

(Joaquim Gomes, Estórias e emoções de uma vida de Luta, Lisboa, Editorial «Avante!», 2001, pp.74-76)

"Although more experienced comrades said that renting a house was easy, the truth is that, in the early days and even afterwards, it was a terrifying task whenever it had to be accomplished. It is clear that the difficulties resulted not only from the lack of experience of this or that comrade but also of the landlords, who could be good or bad people (some even helped solving problems which were sometimes difficult to address, such as that of the guarantors, etc.). (...).

Of course, there was no handbook of rules that could prepare you for every situation that could emerge in the clandestine life of each party official. However, it is true that there was a vast amount of experiences that were shared from comrade to comrade and that it was of the utmost importance to know. However, here, more than in other things in The Clandestine Opposition. An itinerary through the clandestine houses of the dictatorship period the dictatorship houses of the clandestine through Opposition. An itinerary Clandestine Aljube The Lisboan fom life, the situations were never entirely the same, so the answers could not be the same either. When renting a house, it was necessary, among other things, to reveal our profession, and choosing that profession involved taking into account the place where we were going to live. To introduce oneself as a member of a technical staff, for example, when one wanted to rent a house in a popular neighbourhood, could attract people's at- tention. Likewise, it would hardly go unnoticed to say that one was a construction worker 4 5 when trying to rent a house in an apartment neighbourhood! It could also be noticed or even create some problems to say you were from a particular region when you knew nothing about it - habits, speech, gastronomy, etc.... "

SOURCES

(PIDE/DGS, SC SR 1098/60, NT 3004, fls. 7-10) "Copy of a confidential circular from the PIDE to different police bodies about the most common behaviours of clandestine people to facilitate the detention of fugitives" Aljube Museum Resistance and Freedom Support texts

Circular 76 – SR Confidential

Dear Sirs

To all facilities of the PIDE, District Commanders of PSP, Traffic And Transit Police, Judicial Police, General In- tendancy of Supplies, General Commander of PSP and General Commander of the Portuguese Legion I have the honour of sending photographs of the individuals identified below, the first ten all "officials" and leading "members" of the so-called "Portuguese Communist Party", who, on the night of the 3rd of the current month, escaped from the Prison of the Fort of Peniche, and the last, a sol- dier of the GNR working in that prison establishment, who disappeared from his post, I ask you to make sure that all necessary measures are adopted to recapture the fugitives. (...) I take this opportunity to inform that the individuals who live in "illegality" as "officials" and "leaders" of the aforementioned "Portuguese Communist Party", among which the fugitives, usually settle in small and large regions, in the following manner: 1 - By using a false identity which they prove with identity cards that are filled in legal forms, containing their photographs and fingerprints. Both the identification elements 6 7 and the white stamp and seal of the Director of the Archive are false. 2 - As it usually occurs, the landlords demand guarantors. To prevent this inconvenience, they typically offer 4 or 6 months of deposit, in addition to the two months of rent in advance, claiming that they do not know anyone on site to act as guarantor. If the landlord is pleased with the recognition of the signature in the contract, they do not hesitate and notarise the documents, using as witnesses, individuals who, in good faith, and often even attending to the landlord, do not hesitate to attest to the false identity of the renters. 3 - It is usually a couple. The husband always claims to have a profession that justifies his departure from the town where he settled, like, for example, a trader of articles that do not sell in the area, a travelling salesman, an engineer, etc. 4 - The wife always pays the groceries in cash. 5 - They do not receive correspondence by mail, except some who, making use of their false identity, subscribe to the newspapers "O Século" or "O 1° de Janeiro", according to where the locality is situated, South, Centre or North of the country. Those who do not receive the newspapers by mail, buy them daily because their reading is mandatory. It is understood that those who settle in the North acquire "O Primeiro de Janeiro" and those who are in the Centre or South, acquire "O Século". 6 - In the house, there are usually two men and one woman or two couples, the surplus of the renting couple is always presented to the neighbourhood as a family member. 7 - In rural areas or villages, they use bicycles or mo- peds with license plates issued in a City Council different The Clandestine Opposition. An itinerary through the clandestine houses of the dictatorship period the dictatorship houses of the clandestine through Opposition. An itinerary Clandestine Aljube The Lisboan fom from that of the location where they settle. 8 - The woman always does the surveillance of the vicinity of the house, without going to the street, through the windows and from behind the curtains. The rented houses - usually in higher floors - are always at the end of the blocks, preferably, at the end of a street, next to an open field, or the beginning of a street, if it's 6 7 open on the opposite side, to allow for perfect surveillance. Whenever possible, in smaller areas, they look for isolated houses in higher grounds, to be able to control all accesses from a distance. 9 - In general, they only buy furniture that is indis- pensable for them to settle in the town or its vicinity, always including sleeping divans. Even when they acquire bed- room furniture, they always buy one or two extra divans for "guests". When they move and leave town, they sell all the furniture, only carrying suitcases and packages with them. 10 - The wife of the couple usually also asks, in a store that has a phone and where she makes her purchases, to be called whenever someone calls for a name that she indicates. Aljube Museum Resistance and Freedom Support texts Claiming that since her husband is on the road, he likes to know how she is, or that it is a family member, friend or client of the husband who has to speak to him. 11 - The wife can go to the house of any neighbour with whom she relates, but she does not let any stranger into her home. When forced to let someone in, the person does not go beyond the entrance. 12 - The presence of cars in the locality or nearby, at night, with individuals who go to these houses or "meet" with their residents in dark places, may be an indication of a "couple settled" under the conditions mentioned. 13 - It is not customary for the inhabitants of this house to attend cafes, cinemas, taverns or any public rec- reational place. Usually, they go inside the house, and they do not go out, and when they do, it's to go out of town. 14 - They usually present the neighbourhood with some justification for their lack of interaction, which ispro- vided in such a simple manner that it is always believed. (...) For the Wellbeing of the Nation, Lisbon, 4 January 1960, The Director"

8 9 PRINTING HOUSES

(«Entrevista a Sérgio Vilarigues», Avante!, suplemento 50 anos do Avante!, 12/2/81)

It was not by chance that the political police focused part of their efforts on discov- ering and striking the printing houses, because they were the nerve centre of our mass action, from which not only the "Avante!" but also "O Militante” and other publications, manifests, flyers, etc. came out. When the PIDE was able to strike a printer house, it would flood the newspapers with unofficial notes screaming that it had put an end to the "subversion". But it turns out that, particularly, after a certain point, we had more than one operational printing house, and when one fell another soon came into operation. (...) The printing house was a normal home, where two or three comrades lived a seem- ingly normal life that served as a cover for their real activity of clandestine typographers. As for the technical processes used, the artisanal method of the 1940s was practically the same that lasted until 1974, although there were continuous improvements. (...) One of the main problems we had in the printing houses was, as can be understood, the noise. With those improvements, we reached a point where we were in a position to assemble a printing house anywhere, but the issue of the working of the press persisted, and we had to employ great efforts to solve it. Another problem was the weight of the materials, which greatly hampered the work itself, but also the moving of the printers from one house to the other when, for security reasons, this change became necessary. With regard to the press, for example, which was, for a long time, made of iron, we managed to change it to wood. (...) The "Avante!" started to be printed on plain paper, but then we found it was better, notably due to transport and defence issues, to adopt a thinner paper. However, of The Clandestine Opposition. An itinerary through the clandestine houses of the dictatorship period the dictatorship houses of the clandestine through Opposition. An itinerary Clandestine Aljube The Lisboan fom course, it wasn't easy to go to a store and buy large shipments of Bible paper. (...) Sometimes, there is this idea that there was an editorial office, in the strict sense of the term. It wasn’t like that. The direction of the Party - first the Secretariat, then the Ex- ecutive Board of the Central Committee - was directly responsible for the printing houses and the production of the newspaper, which does not mean that there wasn't - and there was a lot of - written collaboration from other comrades, namely those responsible for 8 9 this or that front of work. It is evident that, in addition to this collective responsibility, there was usually a comrade more directly responsible for this task - the first typographer after the reorganisation was José Gregório, albeit for a short time. (...) In my day, the "Avante!" was usually published in more than one printing house (...). It was not the "regionalisation" phase yet - a printing house in the North, one in the South and another one here in Lisbon, which made transport very dangerous, but which would only materialise in the 1960s. However, the Party had more than one printing house where, although "Avante!" wasn't systematically done there, everything was prepared to do so as a resource: there was the press, the header, the appropriate paper. If one printing house fell, there was always another one to "take the lead". This is how it was possible to maintain the publication of "Avante!” uninterrupted from 1941 onwards." Aljube Museum Resistance and Freedom Support texts

10 11 BIOGRAPHIES the IC. In April 1939, he went to Mexi- co, already under the identity of António Rodriguez Diaz, obtaining his Mexican Francisco de Oliveira (Pavel) nationality in 1941. In Mexico, he deve- Francisco de Oliveira was born on Oc- loped an intense activity as a journalist, tober 29, 1908, in Lisbon. He joined the writer, teacher and art critic. Federation of Young Unionists, abando- ning it afterwards, and then he joined the Portuguese Communist Youth Fe- Francisco Miguel Duarte deration and the PCP. A worker in the Francisco Miguel de Sousa was born Navy Arsenal since he was 11 years on December 18, 1907, in Baleizão. At old, he became friends with Bento the age of 13, he became an apprentice Gonçalves. Arrested in March 1933, shoemaker, participating in the dyna- on September 3 of the same year, he misation of professional associations managed to flee through the sanato- of shoemakers and rural workers. In rium of Ajuda to Spain, and from there 1932, he joined the PCP, and in 1935, to Russia, settling in Moscow. In 1935, already in Moscow, he attended the Le- he participated as a delegate in the VII ninist School and began interacting with Congress of the Communist Internatio- José Gregório, Bento Gonçalves and nal. He returned to Portugal in 1937 and Álvaro Cunhal. In 1937, he returned to went underground. After the deportation Portugal, where he immediately went of José de Sousa and Bento Gonçalves underground, taking up the responsibi- to the concentration camp of Tarrafal, lity for the Local Committee of Lisbon. he rose to the direction of the secreta- In 1938, he was detained in Praça do riat of the PCP. On January 10, 1938, he Marquês de Pombal. Francisco Miguel was arrested in the illegal house on Rua was arrested five times (1938, 1939, da Beneficência, no. 180 – 3rd floor. For 1947, 1950 and 1960), being the last The Clandestine Opposition. An itinerary through the clandestine houses of the dictatorship period the dictatorship houses of the clandestine through Opposition. An itinerary Clandestine Aljube The Lisboan fom health reasons, he went to the infirmary inmate to remain alone in the concen- of the Prison of Aljube to get pulmonary tration camp of Tarrafal, before being treatment, where a nurse helped him transferred to Lisbon in January 1954. flee. He then left to Paris, and from He was one of the protagonists of the there, to the Soviet Union. Suspicions escape of Peniche and, months later, surrounding the conditions in which the when he was in the Fort of Caxias, he 10 11 escape occurred led to his removal by participated in the collective escape in the armoured car of Salazar. In the ear- Sérgio Vilarigues ly 1970s, he participated, directed and Born on December 23 in Torredeita, planned the operations triggered by the municipality of Viseu. In 1932, he joined Armed Revolutionary Action, with the the Portuguese Communist Youth Fe- aim of sabotaging the Portuguese colo- deration and, in 1935, the PCP. In Sep- nial military apparatus. tember 1934, he was arrested, then he passed through several police stations and political prisons – Aljube, Peniche Joaquina Gomes Martins and Angra do Heroísmo, incorporating Born in Barreiro, married to Joaquim the first batch of prisoners who went to Caetano Rebelo, she was arrested on the concentration camp of Tarrafal. He Aljube Museum Resistance and Freedom Support texts November 24, 1942, in a clandestine returned to the continent in July 1940 printing house located in Algueirão, Sin- and joined the group that promoted the tra. She was tried and acquitted. reorganisation of the Communist Party. In the III Congress, which took place in 1943, he was elected for the Central Joaquim Caetano Rebelo ou Committee. In 1947, he moved to the Joaquim Cândido Martins Rebelo secretariat of the Central Committee, A locksmith in the workshops of the assuming the direction of Avante! for Southern and Southeastern Railways, 16 years. He was responsible for dif- he participated in an agitation and pro- ferent regional organisations (Algarve, paganda action organised by the PCP, Southern area of the Tagus River, Bei- in Barreiro, in February 1935. He mana- ras, Minho, Trás-os-Montes), and was ged to escape the action of the political also responsible for the International police and went to Spain, where he par- Section. Sérgio Vilarigues was in Paris ticipated in the civil war alongside the when the revolution of the 25th of April Republican forces. He returned to Por- broke out, and he was the last commu- tugal in February 1940. Upon the seizu- nist leader to come out of clandestinity, re of the printing house of Algueirão, he only definitively returning to the country was identified, but once again he mana- in September 1974. ged to escape the political police.

12 13 Alice Capela Carlos Pires Born in 1941 in Póvoa de Santa Iria, she He was born in July 1939, in Ílhavo. In was the daughter of communist militants. June 1955, a month before he turned Alice's father, José Parente Capela went 16, he went underground with his mo- underground when she was 10 years ther, joining his father who was already old, and his wife (Aurora da Piedade Di- in a clandestine facility, with Sofia Fer- nis) and daughter followed him, a year reira. Carlos Pires remained undergrou- later. At the age of 12, Alice Capela was nd from June 1955 to April 1974, and in a clandestine house, and at 16 she it was in clandestinity that he met his started working at a printing house. She future wife, Maria Fernanda Silva. He met her future companion, Adelino Pe- worked as a typographer for 17 years, reira da Silva in an illegal facility and, being the one who printed the last clan- in 1960, she gave birth to her only son, destine Avante!. Alfredo, at home, with great difficulties. In January 1963, Adelino Pereira da Silva was arrested. Alice Capela went Adelino Pereira da Silva through different "points of support" until Adelino Pereira da Silva was born in Al- she rejoined her mother in a clandestine valade, Santiago do Cacém, in February printing house. In 1964, they moved to 1937. A metallurgical worker, he joined a new facility in Charneca do Lumiar, the PCP in 1956 and went undergrou- where they were arrested on December nd in 1959. In 1962, he integrated the 13. Taken to Caxias, Alice and her mo- Local Committee of Lisbon, where he ther were placed in the same cell. They was responsible for the organisations of were accompanied by Alfredo, who was the eastern and western areas. On 31 4 years old, and who was handed over January 1963, he was arrested in the to her elder brother afterwards. She clandestine house of Rua General Jus- was interrogated and subjected to sleep tiniano Padrel, no. 19, 3rd floor D. He The Clandestine Opposition. An itinerary through the clandestine houses of the dictatorship period the dictatorship houses of the clandestine through Opposition. An itinerary Clandestine Aljube The Lisboan fom torture. She had been in jail for a year was subjected to interrogations, beatin- and a half when, on April 6, 1966, she gs and torture, but he did not make any married Adelino da Silva, who was, at statements. Tried in a Plenary Court, he the time, serving time in the Fort of Pe- was sentenced to 4 years with special niche. Alice remained incarcerated for security measures. He was incarce- five years, being released on parole in rated for 7 years, passing through the 12 13 September 1969. Aljube, Caxias and Peniche. He married Alice Capela on April 6, 1969, when he in the VI Congress of the PCP in Kiev, in was in Peniche and his wife in the Fort 1965. In 1968, she returned to Portugal of Caxias. He was released in 1969. and again assumed the role of editor of Avante!, also taking on the publication of the clandestine sectoral newspapers Margarida Tengarrinha Têxtil and Terra. She was born on May 7, 1928, in Porti- mão. In the Higher School of Fine Arts, she joined the Youth MUD and, in the José Dias Coelho meantime, she met her colleague and He was born on June 19, 1923, in Pi- future companion José Dias Coelho. In nhel. In 1942, he enrolled in the archi- Aljube Museum Resistance and Freedom Support texts 1952, she joined the PCP, integrating tecture course at the EBAL (School of the Democratic Committee of Women. Fine Arts of Lisbon), getting involved From 1954 onwards, she lived with Dias with the Communist Youth Federa- Coelho in a semi-clandestine situation tion and subsequently with the PCP. and, in the following year, they both In 1949, he was arrested by the PIDE “dived” into full clandestinity, becoming during the electoral campaign that su- responsible for a workshop of falsifica- pported Norton de Matos. In 1954, he tion of documents. She also assumed and Margarida Tengarrinha began living the responsibility of publishing A Voz in semi-clandestinity, a situation that das Camaradas and the magazine was materialised in 1955, when the Portugal-URSS. Between 1956 and couple was living in Av. Rio de Janeiro, 1961 she was the editor of Avante!, and No. 4 – 4th rear floor, where a Techni- wrote, in partnership with Dias Coelho, cal Office of Falsification was installed. the book Crónicas da Resistência em In 1960, in partnership with Margarida Portugal (Chronicles of the Portugue- Tengarrinha, he wrote the Crónicas da se Resistance), which was published Resistência em Portugal (Chronicles in Brazil first. After the murder of Dias of the Portuguese Resistance), being Coelho, she went to Moscow, where the author of the first and third chap- she worked directly with Álvaro Cunhal, ters. He was murdered by the PIDE and afterwards, she went to Bucharest, on December 19, 1961. At the time he where she performed tasks as editor of was a member of the Directorate of the Rádio Portugal Livre between 1964 and Regional Organisation of Lisbon, being 1967. She participated, as a delegate, responsible for the intellectual sector. 14 15 Killed by agents of the squad of José Gonçalves, the funeral only took place a few days later, on December 26, in the cemetery of Benfica. In 1977, one of the people who was involved in his death – António Domingues – was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison.

Teodósia Vagarinho Gregório She was born on January 11, 1935, in the parish of S. Cristóvão, Montemor- -O-Novo, and began working the land during childhood. She went underground at the age of 19, where she met her future companion, Afonso Gregório. In 1959, Afonso Gregório was arrested, he would only be released ten years later. During this period, Teodósia remained underground, emerging just after the release of Afonso, because his health was very debilitated. Subsequently, and in the face of the immediate imprison- ment of her companion, they both settled in Brussels, remaining outside of the country until April 25th. The Clandestine Opposition. An itinerary through the clandestine houses of the dictatorship period the dictatorship houses of the clandestine through Opposition. An itinerary Clandestine Aljube The Lisboan fom

14 15 ALJUBE MUSEUM RESISTANCE AND FREEDOM

LISBON FROM THE ALJUBE

THE CLANDESTINE OPPOSITION

An itinerary through the clandestine houses of the

dictatorship period Aljube Museum Resistance and Freedom Support texts

Support texts

ORGANISATION Museu do Aljube Resistência e Liberdade

COORDINATION Vanessa Almeida

For more information: www.museudoaljube.pt [email protected] / (+351) 215 818 535 Rua de Augusto Rosa, 42, 1100-059 Lisboa

Cover: View of the Permanent Exhibition of the Aljube Museum, "Clandestine Meeting". 16