John Heartfield.

         We can always learn from the revolutions, insurrections and revolts of the past, our opportunity will come, all we have to do is organise, we have the numbers, the imagination, the intelligence and the dream in our heart. One such revolution that is not too distant in the past, the Spanish Civil War. This was a time when ordinary people across a large swath of Spain learnt that they could run society the way they wanted and to the benefit of all. They worked out their strategies as the problems arose and done it a democratic and horizontal manner. The enemy was not a flawed dream, it was the reactionaries that surrounded them.
      Artists and poets have always played an important part in the fight against this corrupt and exploitative system. The list could fill a large volume, of course not all were anarchists, but they shared a hatred of the economic system that delivered poverty, inequality and injustice for the many, and privileges, wealth and power for the few.
     One such artist was John Heartfield, activist, artist and publisher whose graphic work, quite a portion on the Spanish Civil War, is well worth remembering and is still relevant to day as it was when he produced his many works.

A couple of my favourite John Hearfield works:

      The following article is from Spanish Sky:

       John Heartfield was a highly productive artist, especially in his young adult life. He is perhaps best known for his 240 photomontages, but he was also an accomplished scenographer and editor and the co-founder of a magazine as well as a publishing house
     You’ll probably recognise many of Heartfield’s photomontages. We have selected a few works relating to the Spanish Civil War and some of his more rarely shown works.
      John Heartfield is born in Berlin, Germany 19 June 1891 as Helmut Franz Josef Herzfeld. In 1916, he changes his name to John Heartfield in protest against the anti-British sentiment in Germany, expressed, for example, in the manner of which people greeted each other: ” – God punish England – May he punish it”.
       Heartfield studies art at the Royal Bavarian Arts and Crafts School in Munich from 1907 to 1913 and at the Arts and Craft School Berlin-Charlottenburg from 1913 to 1914.

        He joins the circle of artists associated with the magazines Der Sturm (‘The Storm’) and Die Aktion. The group’s central members are publishers Herwarth Walden and Franz Pfemfert. Artist George Grosz (who has changed his name from Georg Gross) is also part of the group. Grosz and Heartfield soon develop a close friendship and engage in a longstanding collaboration as fellow artistic rebels.
        With his brother, Wieland Hertzfeld, Heartfield founds the magazine Neue Jugend (‘New Youth’) in 1916 and the publishing company, Malik in 1917.
      The October Revolution in Russia and the political situation in Germany intensify his political views. As one of the leading members of the Dada group, Heartfield now insists on greater political clarity and commitment in the artistic work.
        Photomontage as a political weapon
      Heartfield comes to the realisation that photomontage is a highly viable approach to the enhancement of a greater political awareness and understanding among the general public, his theory being that photomontage can and must demonstrate what the world is and not what it looks like.
     In 1920, Heartfield, his brother and George Grosz found the political-satirical magazine Die Pleite (‘Bankrupt’).
      During the years of 1920-1923, Heartfield works as a scenographer for theatre directors and producers Erwin Piscator and Max Reinhardt (original name Max Goldmann). Heartfelt creates photomontages for the communist paper Der Knüppel (‘The Cudgel’), which he and Grosz co-edit from 1923 to 1927. In parallel, he creates covers and posters for the Party newspaper Die Rote Fahne (‘The Red Flag’). It is, however, as a staff illustrator (1930-1938) for the magazine Arbeiter Illustrierte Zeitung (‘The Workers’ Illustrated Paper’) that his thoughts and ideas gain momentum.
        Returning to Germany
       Having been denied a residence permit in England, Heartfield returns to Germany in 1950. He settles in Leipzig (then in East Germany) and later moves to Berlin (also in East Germany), where he lives until his death 26 April 1968.

Halt’ stand, rotes Madrid,
halt’ stand, stolzes Madrid!
Das Weltall dröhnt,
die Menschheit glüht,
der Erdball singt dein Heldenlied,
Millionen singen mit:
Halt’ stand, rotes Madrid!

*

Stand firm, red Madrid
stand firm, proud Madrid!
The universe is roaring,
mankind is glowing,
the globe is singing your heroic song,
Millions sing along:
Stand firm, red Madrid!

Lyrics and music: Louis Fürnberg
Vocals and video: Ernst Busch

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Regeneración.

        May 30th, last day of the month, so I suppose we just made it. Spirit of Revolt's "Read of the Month" for May is a copy of the paper, Regeneración. Started in 1900, in Mexico and continued in 1937 in Glasgow. Our Read of the Month is of the Glasgow version, from our MV Collection. Enjoy.

     The anarchist paper Regeneración first produced in Mexico 1n 1900, Wikipedia-(Regeneración (Spanish: [rexeneɾaˈsjon]) was a Mexicananarchist newspaper that functioned as the official organ of the Mexican Liberal Party. Founded by the Flores Magón brothers in 1900, it was forced to move to the United States in 1905.[1]Jesús Flores Magón published the paper (along with Anselmo Figueroa, a leading member of the party), while his brothers Ricardo and Enrique contributed articles.[2] The Spanish edition of Regeneración was edited by Ricardo, and the English version by W. C. Owen and Alfred G. Santleben.[3] )
      Guy Aldred, Glasgow anarchist, started an English version in 1937 as the Organ of the United Socialist Movement. At Spirit of Revolt we have Volume, 1 No. 3 dated 7th March 1937, of this relaunch in our MV Collection.

Courtesy of Warwick Library, Read on line:

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International Women's Day Glasgow Event.

          An International Women's Day event, initiated by the Equality Officers of the Clydeside Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World, will be held on Thursday, the 8th of March.
            The rally and Walk of Pride will assemble at 4.30 pm at the La Pasionaria statue located on the north bank of the River Clyde next to Glasgow Bridge, opposite the Custom House on Clyde Street.
          This site was chosen because of the prominent role Dolores Ibarruri, called La Pasionaria ('The Passionate Flower') played in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939, in defense of the Spanish Republic; and because the statue of her by sculptor Arthur Dooley so beautifully represents the revolutionary woman of courage that she was-- and that many of us strive to be.
            The rally will also honour the Scottish revolutionary, Ethel MacDonald, who was a key figure in the Scottish anarchist movement and in the Spanish Civil War. In 1936 she was sent by the United Socialist Movement to Barcelona where she became world-renowned as the English-speaking reporter for an anarchist radio station. She also remained an activist, daringly organising hunger strikes among the political prisoners, smuggling in letters, and helping some escape .

          The rally will feature a banner that says Celebrate International Women's Day For a World Free from Capitalism and Patriarchy, singing, and an open mic.
         At 5.30 pm we will start our Walk of Pride, with banner and placards, to George Square where we will join up with the Scottish Irish Abortion Rights campaigners for a #Solidarity4Repeal demo at 6 pm-- thus linking it to one of the most critical issues of the day: access to abortion as a woman's right. Throughout the afternoon, we will be proudly expressing our belief that Sisterhood, and Comradeship, are Powerful!

          All are welcome to attend. Please spread the word.
More information is available from
doraziosusan92@gmail.com
 

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Ronda's Dark Past.

      Thousands visit the beautiful town of Ronda in Andalusia, in Spain, and are rightfully awestruck by its spectacular, rugged scenery, its breath taking cliffs and natural beauty. But what is the dark secret behind that magnificent bridge?
      The following is taken from a discussion page on the Spanish Civil War, can anyone comrade with well found, backed up knowledge, verify or deny either or both of the two statements in the quotes. It is obvious that the bridge was the scene of hate and vengeance, but what are the facts, are they distorted by mythology, or are they lost in the mists of history.

        I would agree with you overall that the anarchist groups had more blood on their hands than anybody else on the Republican side. And of course there has been a lot of romantic mythology about revolutionary ideals of every kind. But to keep things in perspective, we need to remember that the Nationalists murdered over 600,000 people before and after the war. That's four times the amount killed by Republicans or their allies. Most left atrocities were spontaneous and fuelled by extreme anti-Church hatred amongst the poorest workers and peasants. Nationalist massacres were well organised and planned in an attempt to eradicate not only Socialists, Anarchists and Communists, but trade unionists, teachers, intellectuals and even those whose relatives were working for the elected Republican government. I suggest you visit Ronda in Andalusia where Franco's Moroccan troops threw 2000 people alive off the main bridge into a 260 ft. gorge.
War is hell for everybody and a civil war is worst of all.

         I've seen that too and I don't disagree with it. But I've talked to people in Ronda about it. I speak enough Spanish to do that. They admit that this did happen in the first month of the war. But they also told me what happened when Franco's Moroccan Spanish Legion took over the town a few months later, lists were drawn up of all socialists, anarchists, and teachers etc. and all herded onto the bridge and thrown into the gorge. This became a regular occurrence over a year or more until their enemies were dead. People there have put the number killed at between 1500 and 3000 over a period of time. Some people may have exaggerated and maybe it's not widely reported as an atrocity as it was a more gradual policy of revenge and political cleansing. But that's what I was told and I have no reason to not believe them. What is clear, as I've already said, is that atrocities were committed by both sides. It was a civil war.

        Somewhere in there lies the truth and happy welcoming Ronda of today, seems to have no mention of that dark past. Which tends to make me think that the Nationalist figures are reasonably accurate, and the state has no wishes to mark or broadcast this part of its history.

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Anarchy Is For Lovers.

       Anarchism, the philosophy of love, irrespective of what the babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media would have you believe, without love in your heart you can never be an anarchist. Of course that doesn't mean you are not a fighter, it is just that your battles are to spread love, peace and justice throughout the world. Anarchists have expressed their hopes and dreams in many ways, poetry, theatre, novels, paintings, etc., but also in direct action when and where they feel it is needed. Anarchism can claim among its ranks many poets one of them Frederico Arcos, Spanish anarchist and poet.

From The Anarchist Library, Frederico Acros:

       Federico Arcos (July 18, 1920-May 23, 2015), a lifelong anarchist, participated in the Spanish Revolution and Civil War in the 1930s, and later took part in the antifascist underground there. He immigrated to Canada in 1952, where he continued his commitment to anarchist goals. He eventually compiled an extensive archive of anarchist writings and other material.

Fifth Estaters met Federico in the early 1970s. In time he became a beloved elder to people working on the paper, and in the larger Detroit/Windsor anarchist, radical, and labor communities. The 50th anniversary retrospective exhibit of the FE at Detroit's Museum of Contemporary Art is dedicated to Federico. It runs from September 2015 to January 2016.

The following remembrance is presented with the understanding that each generation of rebels confronts the leviathan of oppression and exploitation in its own way, using the ideas and resources passed on to it by those who came before. Today's anarchists and anti-authoritarians fight for a future free from hierarchy and exploitation, developing means and strategies as they go. For some, living memory of the struggle goes back to the Occupy movement, for others, Seattle in 1999. Those of us who became active in the 1960s and '70s were personally acquainted with veterans of the revolts earlier in the century, from whom we drew deep inspiration and courage. Because the fight for freedom is still ongoing, awareness of the lives and legacies of yesterday's fighters and battles remains relevant, in fact essential.

—Robby Barnes

Continue reading:

           Now thanks to The Fifth Estate we are able to read Momentos a book of poetry by Federico Arcos in Spanish and in English on a free download HERE:  

Two of his poems from the collection:

WHITE DOVES

White doves. White doves
that pass by … return…
white doves flying in circles
as if protecting the neighborhood.
White doves. White doves
that perch on the roof of my house.
Peace… Peace and tranquility
the domain of those white doves.
But … what? But … what?
If there is no tranquility that lasts,
but there are vivid memories
of black doves in flight over
Barcelona!… Madrid!…
Guernica!… London!…
Hiroshima!!!… Nagasaki!!!
White doves. White doves
Lasting symbol. Endless beginning.
Oh, white doves; white doves!
—August 1960, Hiroshima 15 years on

And:

       Since 1939, young anarchists in Spain have paid the price for resisting Francoism. Raul Carballeira, a prominent figure in the anarchist underground, was one who paid the ultimate price when surrounded by police on Montjuïc Mountain in Barcelona.

RAUL CARBALLEIRA
(February 28, 1918-June 26, 1948)

Bursts of shrapnel
mowed down your young body.
But you still had a gasp of breath,
a gasp of breath and a bullet;
and your mind, like a rapid steed,
galloping in the air,
on a hot June afternoon,
exploded under your own impact.
I cry out and I cry out with vehemence;
I cry out with vehemence, oh brother;
for never did they succeed
in chaining The Idea
or silencing The Word.
The word that expresses
In ideas, the soul.
We are a hammer of steel.
We shall continue hammering.
Each word, a blow;
each blow, a spark;
each phrase, a flame;
and in fires of words,
torches of The Idea
illuminating the darkness,
we shall proceed on the path
with dawns of truth.

Read the full collection HERE:

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There Is a Gap In the Wall- It Has To be Filled.

        Just heard from Loam of arrezafe, of the death of a Spanish comrade, like all those hardy loyal fighters for a free society, they must not be forgotten, their lives and their stories must be recorded, to inspire the next generation of fighters. Their passing always leaves a gap, a hole in our wall, we can only hope that some younger fighter, will step up and fill that hole. Now more than ever, we need those characters of steel and honest resolve.

A Comrade has left us

         We are sorry to hear of the death of long-time anarchist militant and member of the CNT Spain, Jose Luis Garcia Rua. Garcia Rua passed peacefully on Friday morning, January 6 at the age of 93. Rua was born in 1923 in Asturias, Spain. His father had been a member of the CNT who perished on the Oveido front during the Civil War. In 1939, he was forced into exile in France, eventually winding up in a concentration camp of Argelers and Barcarès, however he was able to return later than year.
      Garcia Rua began a career as an academic, but worked in construction, metal and mines. He was involved in anti-Francoist activity and ultimately repressed for his role in a miners' strike. He lost his job in academia for some time but ultimately became a professor of philosophy in the University of Granada in the mid-70s. In 1977, after the death of Franco, he was chosen Secretary of the Andalucian region of the CNT, a position he held twice. Between 1986-1990, he served as the General Secretary of the CNT and from 1997-2000, as the General Secretary of the IWA.
        He is the author of numerous articles and books, both related to anarchosyndicalism as well as his academic interests. On May Day 2015, he made an impassioned speech about the International Workers Assocation, calling on comrades to continue the tradition of militant anarchosyndicalism. This was the last speech that he made in public.

We send our condolences to his family.

IWA Secretariat

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Deep In Our Hearts.

        I have always maintained that we are all born anarchists, but the society we grow up in bids us bury those feelings and desires somewhere deep in our hearts. However we do carry them with us through out our lives, they are there ready to sprout and grow if we can create the right circumstances. These occasions rise in all parts of the world, sometimes in small groups that grow and then some fade under pressure from without. Other times it is a mass movement that can only be crushed by the military might of an authoritarian regime. No matter what, we should always remember deep in all our hearts there is a desire to live, with each other, in peace, in caring, sharing communities.

I Want to Believe!

I want to believe

All that is good is out there

Sleeping in hearts that live in dark valleys,

About to blossom like some magic woodland,

In spite of war, in spite of greed

The essence that is humanity struggling to be free.

All around death arrives in many guises,

Silent as the frost poverty kills,

The ruthless march of war

With every drum beat seeks God’s blessing,

While the God fearing kill the God fearing,

Slaughter in the name of the greater good.

I want to believe

All that is good is out there

Sleeping in the hearts that live in dark valleys

About to blossom like some magic woodland,

Not just as the dream of poets.

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Charlie Doran.

      To all you knowledgeable comrades out there who remember names from the past, I'm seeking information regarding a Charlie Doran, 1894-1974. He was involved in the anti-parliamentary groups of the 1920-30s, during WW2 he was involved with Willie MacDougal, (well know Glasgow anarchist of that era, oddly enough, born the same year as Doran), and served in the Spanish Civil War. Since I know nothing of this person, it would great if we could build some sort of picture of his life. 

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Internationalism.

          There has been a lot written about the volunteers that went to fight fascism in Spain, 1936/39, but I personally haven't read anything about the Chinese contingent, that may be due to my ignorance. So it was interesting to come across this article giving some details of this, small, but dedicated group of volunteers from a country, on the other side of the world, that was facing its own problems from imperialist Japan.

         In the autumn of 1937, Zhang Ruishu was enjoying a rare break from his 14-hour days on the frontline. One of very few, if not the only, Chinese in Madrid, he hadn’t asked for time off – there was so much to do – but his commander had insisted he take a break. The Spanish capital was decorated with defiant if raggedy banners reading No pasarán (“They shall not pass”) and Madrid será la tumba del fascismo (“Madrid will be the tomb of fascism”). Zhang had seen many such signs before. At a newsstand, however, a large promotional poster for Spanish news magazine Estampa caught his eye.

        The intriguing poster featured a man’s face in profile. It wasn’t a handsome face, but ruddy and weathered, with tightly cropped hair, hollow cheeks and a muddle of crooked teeth in a mouth set slightly agape – the face of a no-nonsense man who had known hardship. Suddenly, a crowd was gathering around Zhang; eyes were widening and fingers pointing. “That’s him!” they cried, lunging forward to shake the stranger’s hand.

Read the full article HERE:

         Xie Weijin (left) and Zhang Ji (right) with a fellow Chinese in Spain, in 1938. Photo: courtesy of Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives.

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"Officially" Stolen Children.

      Wars never really end on the dates marked in the history books, the suffering, misery, deaths and torture, survives many years after the "official" end of any war. The Spanish civil war was no different, 1939 did not see peace and tranquillity reign across Spain, Franco and his obedient ranks of vermin seen to that. After 1939, children of republicans increasingly became victims of the fascist regime, with the blessing of the Catholic Church.

Wikipedia:

The lost children of Francoism were the children abducted from Republican parents, who were either in jail or had been assassinated by Francoist troops, during the Spanish Civil War and Francoist Spain.^[1] The number of abducted children is estimated to be up to 300,000.^[2][3] The kidnapped children were sometimes also victims of child trafficking and illegal adoption.^[4]

       This short film helps to convey the misery which continues to this day, that this practice heaped on children and whole families. Published April 29, 2016.

La Infancia Aniquilada
        Instantáneas fugaces de cuando los franquistas y los poderosos a los que servían robaron entre 1936 y 1978 a los niños republicanos españoles su tesoro más preciado, la Infancia, y por siempre y para siempre sembraron sus vidas de miedo. Y de terror...

Rough translation: 

The Annihilated Childhood.

          Fleeting Snapshots of when the Franco supporters and the powerful ones which they were serving stole between 1936 and 1978 republican Spanish children of their most valued treasure, their childhood, and forever and forever sowed their lives with fear. And of terror…

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We Will Never Forget.

 

Guernica after the Nazi bombing April 23rd.1937.

      Still on the subject of the Spanish Civil war, I thought this was worth re-posting, from comrade Loam at arrezafe.

Guernica by Pablo Picasso

http://todoslosrostros.blogspot.com.es/

       This is a blog that anyone who wants to know about the Spanish Civil War should visit. Its title is very significant: All Faces. In it, we can find plenty of written and graphic information. Of course it is not written in English, but the eloquence of the images coupled with the help of Google translator can approach the reader to the historical reality of this horrible episode.

We will never forget. We will never forgive. Death to fascism!

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The Wound That Will Not Heal.

         The Spanish Civil War is a subject most people know something about, but nobody knows everything about, it is also a subject we should all know more about, and a subject that we should never forget. For that reason I thought this would be of interest to a considerable group how read this blog.

This from ASN

Dear Colleagues,
I hope this event will be of interest to some of you.
Best wishes,
Ruth

Spain's Civil War 80 years later: The wound that will not heal?

an IAMCR 2016 pre-conference 

Canterbury Christ Church University
18-19 July 2016

       The Centre for Research on Communities and Cultures at Canterbury Christ Church University (UK) invites submissions for this IAMCR pre-conference, which will mark the eightieth anniversary of the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.
     During this two-day conference, we will examine the intersections between memory, truth, justice, ideology, the state and conceptions of the future, considering the role of the media, notions of collective identity and the place of new generations in relation to the continuing struggle over public memory in Spain.
      In addition, we are delighted to host a participatory workshop, co-sponsored by the IAMCR Emerging Scholars Network, which will focus on the methodological opportunities and challenges of conducting research into Memory.
     We invite contributions from scholars, researchers and practitioners from around the world to submit proposals on topics that may include, but are not limited to, the following:

- The significance of the conflict in contemporary Spain
- National, regional and local memories of the conflict
- Ideology and the state
- Representations of the conflict in the news, film and television
- Spain’s memory movement
- Memory, truth and justice
- Memory and the future
- Methodological opportunities and challenges IN researching memory
- Postmemory and new generations

    Please submit a 250-word abstract and 100-word biography at http://iamcr.org/leicester2016/preconf/spanish-civil-war by 12 February 2016. Proposals will be peer-reviewed and decisions will be communicated by 28 February. We expect to facilitate the publication of the conference papers as either a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal or as an edited book.



       Pre-Conferences; Spain’s Civil War 80 Years Later: The Wound That Will Not Heal? Spain’s Civil War 80 Years Later: The Wound That Will Not Heal? Iamcr.org
      For any questions about the event, please email Dr Ruth Sanz Sabido at ruth.sanz-sabido@canterbury.ac.uk

Best wishes,
Ruth

Dr Ruth Sanz Sabido
Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication
School Coordinator of International Chair,
Convenor, Canterbury Media Discourse Group  

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Mixed Bag Of Poems.

      April 30th. last day of National Poetry Month, so I thought I might finish it off with a bang. As usual one of my own, but a couple of others I like, and a wee film about Herbert Read, anarchist poet, writer, and art critic.

     First one by Herbert Read on the fascist bombing of Spain during the Spanish civil war.

Bombing Casualties In Spain.

Dolls' faces are rosier but these are children

their eyes not glass but gleaming gristle

dark lenses in whose quicksilver glances

the sunlight quivered. These blenched lips

were warm onceand bright with blood

but blood

held in moist bleb of flesh

not split and spatter'd in tousled hair.

In these shadowy tresses

red petals did not always

thus clot and blacken to scar.

These are dead faces.

wasps' nests are not so wanly waxen

wood embers not so greyly ashen.

They are laid out in ranks

like paper lanterns that have fallen

after a night of riot

extinct in the dry morning air.

Herbert Read.

Familiarity Breeds Contempt.

Now television has allowed the proles

to have a look at the eminent,

we sans-culottes can scan with great intent

their skins for pimples, wens and blackhead-holes,

quite pleased to find they too have scars and moles

just like the more plebian element.

Such epidermal flaws on dame and gent

bring the Mob close to those with Higher Goals.

Now we're all privileged to watch a lord

waggling his eyebrows or large moustache.

You don't get worried till They start to speak

and now that none of them has ssaid a word

worth listening to. What earns them all that cash?

Why didn't The Revolution start last week?

William Neil. 

A New Dawn.

Today we live in a peace

midst a thousand pygmy wars;

a humanity bankrupt by its past

dragged wearily through darkness and despair

yearns for a day that's cast

long, warm and fair,

a dawn that sees humankind dicard

its class, its nation and prepare

to grind outworn creeds to dust,

so mankind naked is revealed,

then moving with common cause,

share

what such a dawn may yield.

John Couzin.

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Workers Know Your History, Angel Pestana.

      A life dedicated to the cause of the ordinary people, one of our own, Angel Pestana Nunez, born in poverty in Ponferrada, Spain, on Feb 14, 1886, he was politically active throughout his life. At the age of 15 he was imprisoned for his part in a political rally. After travelling to North Africa and France, he settled in Catalonia and became involved in the local anarchist group. In 1918 he became editor in chief of the newspaper Solidaridad Obrera. During his editorship the paper ran a powerful campaign against the local police force. In April 1919 after Catalonia was subject to massive protests, he was detained and the paper banned. On returning from a visit to Russia he was again detained. Pestana was also victim to an assassination attempt by the Spanish authorities, while giving a speech in Manresa. In October 1936, with the start of the Spanish Civil War, he was appointed general sub-commissioner for war, but resigned shortly after this due to ill health, he died December 11, 1936. 

 

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Bread and Roses.

       A poem a day for the month of April. This one was taken from the article Bread and Roses on the Free Your Voice site:

         



As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: “Bread and roses! Bread and roses!”
As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women’s children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!
As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for — but we fight for roses, too!
As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler — ten that toil where one reposes,
Poem by James Oppenheim

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Workers Know Your History, Francisco Ascaso Abadia.

      April first, all fools day, but it also marks another anniversary. April, 1, 1901, in Spain, Francisco Ascaso Abadía was born. Though his life was short, it was one of struggle, serving the cause of the ordinary people. He died on the first day of conflict of the Spanish civil war in Barcelona, (The following is from The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest) An important figure in both the Spanish anarchosyndicalist Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (National Labor Confederation, CNT) and the Federación Anarquista Ibérica (Iberian Anarchist Federation, FAI) from 1922 until his death, Ascaso Abadía is associated with Buenaventura Durruti and Juan García Oliver , fellow members of the group Solidarity (Los Solidarios, later Nosotros [We]), who were together nicknamed “the three musketeers.” Imprisoned in 1923 for the assassination of Zaragoza's archbishop, Ascaso escaped, joining Durruti in France and traveling to the Americas. They returned to Europe by April 1926, and by 1931 Ascaso was back in Spain as one of the leading radicals of the movement. Deported to Africa in 1932, he returned with enhanced prestige, battling moderate forces both as an editor of Solidaridad Obrera (Workers' Solidarity) and as secretary of the Catalan CNT during 1934–5. Critical of the policies of the Asturian CNT, he opposed alliances with political organizations. Ascaso supported the formation of armed militia from CNT members and was at the forefront of the street battles in the 1936 Spanish Revolution; he died on July 20 during the struggle for Barcelona's Atarazanas Barracks. SEE ALSO: Abad de Santillán, Diego (1897–1983); Anarchism, Spain; Anarchosyndicalism; Asturias Uprising, October 1934 ; Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). 

                            

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