Photos of the Salvadoran Civil War

The brutal civil war in El Salvador has been echoing on this blog during November as the torture and human rights violation trial of Colonel Nicolas Carranza proceeded and as the 25th anniversary of the murder of the four US churchwomen approaches. I recently came across some sites with photographs from that dark time period:
  • Marcelo Montecino has a collection of photographs taken in 1982-32.

  • The International Center of Photography is running an exhibition of photographers' work from the war. A description of the show and some of its pictures is here.

  • Mike Oso has a collection of photos from the period between 1989-1996.

  • John Hoagland was a combat photographer killed in El Salvador during the war. His last work is found at this web site.

Comments

Anonymous said…
These photos remind me of the times that I visited El Salvador while the war was still going on. I only experienced a small portion of the troubles faced by the population every day. It made me respect these brave souls who went on living with dignity and made me wonder how I would be able to go on each day under such terrible conditions.
9:34 AM
Anonymous said…
I was born in El Salvador and was a kid during the civil war. By the time I was 7, I lived in San Miguel and the war was taking it's effect there. The schools were closed so I couldn't go anymore. I couldn't play outside when I wanted to because the soldiers would be outside with their guns. It was hard to sleep at night because of the shooting between the soldiers and FMLN. We couldn't hold church services in peace anymore because the soldiers would come and start shooting at the walls. One time a helicopter was flying right above the church and shots were being fired all around the church. All of us inside were on the ground. Luckily, my parents were able to get legal residence in the US and we got out of there. I saw the movie "Voces Inocentes" and watching it was very emotional for me. I will never forget.

(caligirl54@hotmail.com)
3:16 PM
Anonymous said…
While I looked at these pictures I realized that somethings you can never forget. And I believe that we must never forget what hate and oppression can do to a people, so that history does not repeat itself. I attended the "Universidad Nacional de El Salvador" in 1987. It was there that my eyes were open to the political reality of our country at that time. These images describe the reasons for the armed struggle in El Salvador. Thank you for sharing these photos. Hasta la Victoria, Siempre!
4:57 PM
Anonymous said…
The pictures bring back memories of El Salvador then..I'm a Salvadoran national who lived thru the the years of struggle during the 70's. I started to work for the revolution since high school and my first 2 years in Law school at the National University. Organizing the masses at that time was hard but also fun. I will never forget and don't regret having been part of it.
7:41 PM
Anonymous said…
These photos are very sad for me because , even though I wasn't there to live it, my mom did, and she has told me everything they went through. It is very sad, and this made me open my eyes to being thankful that I was born in the United States, but this doesn't stop me from having Salvadorian pride.
7:20 PM
Ericka Garcia said…
Hi, I am a salvadorian girl age 13 and I used John Hoagland photographs for my History project, i also recomended the site to a friend. She also used it and chose the photographs of Rafael Montecino and said it was a lot of help.

Thanks.
11:30 AM
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