1977: Alicia Partnoy

1977

Alicia Partnoy - Argentina

Imprisoned

Alicia Partnoy was born in Bahía Blanca, Argentina in 1955. She attended the Southern National University where she became involved with the Peronist Youth Movement.

On 24 March 24 1976 a coup d'état ousted Perón's successor, his wife Isabel Martinez and installed a military junta to rule the country. The following year on 12 June, Alicia Partnoy was arrested and held at the concentration camp called the "Little School". During her six-month incarceration she was beaten and tortured before being transferred to the Villa Floresta prison where she was held until 1979. During her imprisonment she wrote poetry and accounts of her detention which were smuggled out and published anonymously.

Upon her release she left Argentina for the United States where she received asylum and was reunited with her family. Her book The Little School, in which she wrote about her incarceration, was published in 1985. She has since spoken of her experiences to the United Nations and has worked closely with Amnesty International and other organizations to achieve justice for those who disappeared in Argentina.

Writing Sample:

At the Little School we don't have a last name. Only Vasca calls me by my name. The guards have repeatedly said only numbers will be used to call us, but so far that has only been a threat.

The day we took our third shower-I had already been here for almost two months- a guard was bringing me back from the bathroom; my long hair was wet under the white blindfold, my dress still torn from the leap over the backyard wall, my hands tied, my bones sticking out of my cheeks and elbows...

...Since that moment they have called me Death. Maybe that is why every day when, I wake up, I say to myself that I, Alicia Partnoy, am still alive.

From The Little School: Tales of Disappearance and Survival. Translated by Alicia Partnoy, Lois Athey and Sandra Braunstein. Midnight Editions (San Francisco, 1998)1-57344-029-9.