Nazi prisoner's photo returned to his daughter 80 years on

Paquita Jourdà, née González, is now 83 and was recently contacted by historical researchers working on the 'Stolen Memories' project, an attempt to find information about the millions of death camp victims during World War II.

Francisco González Cuadrado, who was born on October 13, 1913, did in fact survive both Mauthausen and Dachau, although he weighed just 40 kilos (6st 4lb) when he returned home.

Working as a lorry driver on the Republican side, holding a humanities degree and based in Algeria, the Barcelona-born prisoner had his few personal possessions confiscated when he entered the concentration camp – one of which was a photograph of his young daughter.

Asturias-based historian Antonio Muñoz, working on the Beatriu de Pinós project, was able to access details held by Tarragona's Rovira i Virgili University, which included a form with Francisco González's details on it and the stolen photo.

Muñoz decided to trace the girl in the picture and return it to her if she was still alive.

She is, and has lived in France since the age of 10, before which she was brought up in Cabrianes, Barcelona by grandparents and an uncle.

Paquita now lives in the village of Font-Romeu, next to the Pyrénéen ski resort of the same name, and says she 'looks to Spain' every morning as she can just about make out the peaks of Puigcerdà from her window on the French side of the border.

Muñoz's journey that led to Paquita started in the small mining village of Cabrianes, which belongs to the larger village of Sallent, where he uncovered the tender story of a young couple in love who were forced apart by the Civil War.

In 1939, when the conflict broke out in Spain, 26-year-old Francisco, son of a mining family and who had decided to try to make a living in Algeria was forced to flee to France, where he ended up in a taskforce near Beçanson which was attempting to reinforce the Maginot line.

He was captured that year and, in 1940, sent to a prison camp along with thousands of French nationals before being moved to the notorious Mauthausen site in January 1941, then later to Dachau.

His wife, Teresa Serra, was also forced to cross the border into France in 1939, leaving her daughter behind in Cabrianes.

Teresa and Francisco were reunited in 1945 following the freeing of Dachau, and arranged for a Pasador – a professional guide who helped those fleeing Franco's régime navigate the snowy paths of the Pyrénées – to bring Paquita to them.

Paquita admits she had always held a grudge against her parents and had 'not always pleasant words' to say about them for having left her behind in Spain, but once she discovered her dad had carried a photograph of her when he was captured, she 'realised how much he must have loved her'.

Reporters were present when the picture was handed to her, and a further coincidence turned out to be a wonderful surprise: the press photographer, Robin Townsend, told her his father had been a US official in the 14^th Division and had been part of the force which liberated Dachau and set its prisoners free – one of whom was Paquita's dad.

As a result, Robin and Paquita had lots to talk about.

Curiously, their meeting and the photograph's being returned to its owner's daughter came during the 80^th anniversary year of the end of the Spanish Civil War and the start of World War II.

The above photograph of Paquita's picture was taken by Robin Townsend during their meeting.