The Associação Veteranos Lanceiros de Portugal (AVLP) promotes on September 5th, in Guimarães, the initiative "Cartas do Ultramar – Memória, Afeto e Identidade: As Madrinhas de Guerra Vimaranenses e os Combatentes" (Letters from the Overseas – Memory, Affection and Identity: The Vimaranense War Godmothers and the Combatants). The event is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Overseas War and to valuing the testimonies of former combatants and the so-called "War Godmothers."
The "War Godmothers" were Portuguese women who established epistolary correspondence with soldiers fighting in the African colonies during the Overseas conflicts, between 1961 and 1974. These affectionate relationships, which often transcended mere letter exchange, constituted a social and human phenomenon of great historical relevance that the initiative seeks to rescue from oblivion.
The session will include a dramatized reading of letters written by Vimaranense combatants during the war, allowing the audience to directly contact the experiences and emotions lived by both soldiers and their war godmothers. This approach aims to humanize the history of the Overseas War, giving voice to testimonies that are rarely heard.
The organization hopes the event will contribute to greater knowledge and reflection on this phase of Portuguese history, allowing new generations to better understand the human impact of the colonial conflicts on Vimaranense communities and on Portuguese society in general.
