An old childhood game, a wooden box with raised letter pieces, has served as a trigger to recover the memory of a turbulent era in Lleida. The author recalls how his family hid this tool, which he called "Casamajó's printing press," unaware of its true meaning and danger during the Franco dictatorship.

Years later, it was discovered to be a Freinet printing press, a key pedagogical tool for republican teachers like Josep Casamajó Palau. Casamajó was part of the Batec group, a collective of teachers from Lleida committed to a renewed education during the Second Republic. He was the director of the school in Menàrguens, where he promoted the pedagogical magazine Inquietud, with contributions from other educators such as Lluís Aigé, Enriqueta Pocurull, and Ambrosina Roca. The publication produced 10 issues and was sent as far as Argentina, but ceased with the outbreak of the Civil War in July 1936.

Casamajó's career dates back to 1918, when he was the first teacher at the school in Butsènit, earning two pesetas daily. In 1921, he participated in rescue efforts during the "catastrophe of Butsènit," where 33 people drowned after a gathering.

At the end of the Civil War, Josep Casamajó was sentenced to death on charges including being a supporter of the Republic, possessing a teachers' union card, and teaching in Catalan. He died of pneumonia in the prison of Lleida while awaiting commutation of his sentence to exile. His widow and son had to flee to Brazil, where his descendants still live.

The printing press, a silent witness to this history, no longer exists. It was lost years ago, likely during renovations, leaving only the memory of childhood games in the attic of cal Cuadrat.