On April 30, 1977, Azucena Villaflor de Vincenti and 13 other women went to the Plaza de Mayo, a public square in the capital of Argentina. They sat on benches clutching their knitting, terrified of being arrested. Gatherings of more than three people were illegal, so when the police told them to move, they began walking around the plaza, two by two. These 14 women were all mothers, and they would continue to meet there every Thursday for the next 38 years, risking their lives and families in pursuit of one goal: to find out what had happened to their missing children.

From 1976 to 1983, Argentina was controlled by a military dictatorship that wanted to eliminate anyone who opposed it. During this time, sometimes known as the “Dirty War,” thousands of men and women were taken by the government, disappearing suddenly from homes, offices, classrooms, and streets, never to be seen again. They were called los desaparecidos (“the disappeared”): students, artists, professors, activists, social workers, and citizens who had expressed dissatisfaction with the military regime. Even the relatives of those who spoke up were targeted. No one knew whether they were alive or not. The government denied having anything to do with these disappearances, and most citizens were too scared to speak up.