"I endured the torture. I didn't speak. When we left the General Directorate of Security, my feet were black from the beatings, but I had a moment of euphoria because I hadn't said anything. None of us had spoken. The torturers broke me, and that's given me plenty all my life. If they didn't manage to break me, let's see me." An anti-Franco militant of the Revolutionary Communist League, she was tortured by Antonio González Pacheco, better known by the nickname Billy the Kid. During the 14 months she was detained in Madrid's Yeserías prison, Rius wrote and drew, which she is now publishing in book form: Drawn Memory. Yeserías Prison (1974-1975) With a prologue by Ignasi Aragay and published by L'Avenç. Neither repression nor beatings stopped her, and her resilience has served her well in many of the other struggles she has faced as an activist and militant throughout her life.

Torture is the intentional destruction of a human being at the hands of another. The methods used to inflict great pain and suffering vary, but they all have the same goal: to break the victim, destroy them as a person, and deny their human condition.

In 1940 political prisoners and common criminals crowded into the prison of Manresa, a former convent near the houses in Sant Bartomeu street. It was there that the love story between Vicent Prades, 22 years old and from Sant Fruitós de Bages - who was awaiting trial for having fought on the Republican side - and Lola Batlle, an 18 year old neighbour who lived in front of the prison, began. They wrote passionate letters to each other for two years and, when he got out, they got married. Then he went back to prison and the letters continued.