Stolperstein dedicated to José Perlado Caamaño

The Stolperstein for José Perlado Caamaño is a small memorial stone set into the pavement in Madrid's Tetuán district, marking the life of one of the many Spaniards deported to Nazi concentration camps.

Where exactly is this Stolperstein?

The stone sits at Calle José Calvo 7, in the Berruguete neighborhood of the Tetuán district in Madrid. It's a quiet residential area, well off the usual tourist routes — the memorial itself is easy to walk past without noticing. A Stolperstein takes the form of a brass plaque set flush into the cobblestones, placed outside the last known home of the person it commemorates.

Who was José Perlado Caamaño?

José Perlado Caamaño was born in 1916 into a working-class family connected to tile-making. He left school at just twelve years old and, lying about his age, apprenticed as a carpenter. That trade, historians researching his story note, likely saved his life later on: it kept him out of the deadly quarry work at Mauthausen that killed so many prisoners.

During the Spanish Civil War, Perlado rose to captain in the Republican forces despite his youth, becoming one of the youngest officers to hold that rank. When the war ended in Republican defeat, he fled to France.

How did he end up in Mauthausen?

After Pétain's France capitulated to Germany, Perlado — rather than finding safety — was handed over to German authorities. He was swept into the concentration camp system and eventually sent to Mauthausen in Austria, one of the Third Reich's most brutal camps, where quarry labor killed thousands of prisoners.

What was his role in the camp resistance?

Inside the camp, Perlado joined a clandestine resistance network, initially communist-led and later expanded into an international group spanning prisoners of different nationalities. He belonged to the cell that smuggled and hid photographs the Germans had taken documenting crimes committed at the camp. Those images, saved at enormous personal risk, later served as key evidence at the Nuremberg trials. The Catalan prisoner Francesc Boix, who testified at Nuremberg using this very photographic evidence, was involved in the same effort.

What happened to him after the war?

Perlado survived until the camp's liberation in 1945. He remained in exile in France, where he obtained French citizenship in 1956 — a status that finally allowed him to visit Spain, even as Franco's dictatorship continued. He stayed active as a member of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) in exile for the rest of his life.

When was this Stolperstein installed?

The memorial stone for José Perlado Caamaño was unveiled on 28 May 2021, part of a broader initiative placing Stolpersteine for Tetuán residents deported to Nazi camps. His daughter Maggie traveled from France to attend the ceremony; she is producing a documentary about her father's life.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Stolperstein? A Stolperstein is a small brass memorial plaque embedded in the pavement outside the last known residence of a person persecuted by the Nazis, inscribed with their name, dates, and fate. The project was started by German artist Gunter Demnig, and thousands of these stones now mark sites across Europe, including several in Madrid.

Why was José Perlado sent to Mauthausen? After fleeing to France following the Spanish Civil War, and after the Pétain government's capitulation to Germany, he was handed over to German authorities and deported to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria.

Did he survive the camp? Yes. Perlado survived until Mauthausen's liberation in 1945 and later lived in France, where he was granted French citizenship.

Is this Stolperstein worth visiting? Its value is primarily historical and educational rather than touristic — it's not a sightseeing attraction in the conventional sense, but a quiet testimony to one Tetuán resident's story and to the wider history of Spaniards deported to Nazi camps.