“Evil can only be fought and conquered by self-giving friendship. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Quaker peace testimonies resounded throughout Britain in reaction to the devastating violence and atrocities of the Spanish Civil War, in contrast to those who wanted to take up arms against the fascists responsible for those atrocities. Though the date of printing of this poster is unknown, its messages can be read in conversation with the Quaker peace propaganda distributed during the Spanish Civil War. The Quakers argue for what is now called a “positive peace,” cultivated through social justice and universal love for all of humankind. According to Quaker belief, each person’s Inner Light can be reached through love and friendship, and thus evil can be overcome through these connections. This poster underscores the religious nature of the Quaker’s argument by including the imagery of the Christian cross. The message also suggests that participating in violence, as many International Brigaders did, would result in being overcome by evil. Altogether, the peace testimony argues that nonviolent action against evil and violence is an act of resistance to war as well as an active promotion of “positive peace.”
Northern Friends Peace Board and the Friends Peace Committee.
Can peace ever be stable when injustice exists, and is just violence even possible? This poster, created by the London Quaker Friends in 1938, propels us to the heart of such questions by instantly equating peace and justice. Yet the Quakers were not alone in making this association. Virginia Woolf connects these ideas by setting women’s rights (justice) as a precondition for preventing war (peace). Langston Hughes argues the inextricability of communism (which he views as the path to peace) and racial equality (justice). Muriel Rukeyser shows that giving war victims a voice (justice) is an ethical undertaking in her quest for peace in Spain. Like the Quakers, these authors all worked within a field now called “positive peace”: exploring how to construct a world not only free of war, but where societies and institutions actively promote justice for all, thus generating a lasting peace.
Northern Friends Peace Board and the Friends Peace Committee
“Mothers! Have you given life to your son that he may kill the sons of other mothers?”
This poster, produced by Great Britain’s Northern Friends Peace Board in 1938, appeals to the ethics of family and maternity. It could be read as a response both to the Spanish Civil War and as a protest of the impending Second World War. In Three Guineas, Virginia Woolf addresses similar themes to the image here, as she points to the separation of the spheres of men and women, the public and the domestic. War manifests in the public realm, dominated by men. The domestic sphere of women, while suffocating and repressive, can be the center of care and peace, as exemplified by the way mothers love and care for their children. The message here, posed in the form of the question, puts decision-making power in the hands of women, which at the time was a foreign concept to those trapped in the domestic realm. The mother has a choice in her actions, in how she teaches values to her children, and that choice will greatly affect the development of war and peace. This poster suggests that the role of the mother has a strong capability to create peace.
“War is a wound in the family of God. Help to heal it by thought, word, and deed.”
This poster, printed in 1939, expresses the connection between pacifism and the Quaker religion by stating that war disagrees with God. It can be read both as a Spanish Civil War poster and as a caution against the looming Second World War. It is a call for active pacifism because it asks the viewer to “help heal [the wound in the family of God] by thought, word, and deed.” Active pacifism was important to the Quakers because it meant becoming involved in an active effort to bring about peace while staying neutral to partisan politics. This can be seen in their volunteer work in the relief effort during the Spanish Civil War. The significance of expressing active pacifism is to show that pacifism is more than simply abstaining from violence. It is necessary to take steps to prevent violence as the Quakers were doing through posters, pamphlets, and their volunteer work (“thought, word, and deed”).
American Friends Service Committee Study of Spanish Refugee Colony at Santa Clara
During the Spanish Civil War and well into Francisco Franco’s regime the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) played an active role supporting peace efforts. With the fall of the Republic in 1939, attention turned to refugees leaving Spain. The AFSC helped people emigrate to Mexico, where upon entry Republican refugees could receive citizenship if they were fleeing Franco. Mr. Jenson, researching relief possibilities in Mexico at the request of John Rich of the AFSC, had outlined potential goals that specified that the AFSC was dedicated to helping the exiles fleeing Franco’s regime both before and after the war. These goals included helping the refugees to maintain their morale and incorporating them within Mexican society in order to make a sustainable living community. Interestingly, the report featured here illustrates that in a documented visit to the Santa Clara community, Jenson concluded that the communist sympathisers were of a majority within these created colonies and that they tended to oppress the ideas of less represented political bodies.
“They Still Draw Pictures” is a collection of 60 original drawings created by the children who had first-hand experience with the violence of the Spanish Civil War. Its significance stems from the fact that the drawings allowed a child--whose unmistakable witness to the war was otherwise limited by an underdeveloped syntax--to eloquently illustrate the horror of modern war through creative visual expression. The publication of this book harnessed the international sympathy for the cause of the stricken Spanish children and accompanied a traveling fundraising exhibition of 118 of the children’s pictures. Widespread circulation of the drawings served as a way for the Spanish children to demonstrate how the war not only affected those who were fighting, but the innocent as well. Thus, these drawings stand alongside Picasso’s Guernica, calling for peace.
This pamphlet, titled Give for Spain’s Refugees, is one of a series that were distributed by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) to ask for help for the children refugees who were victims of the Spanish Civil War. This pamphlet shows that one important aspect of pacifism to the Quakers is the action of giving bread and soup to children and refugees. For the Quakers, feeding children is a form of pacifism because these children were the next generation of Spain. Neglecting to care for them would allow children to suffer and reinforce the bitterness of hatred and violence committed against them, giving them the idea that wars should be perpetuated. The Quakers, instead, tried to teach the children growing up in a time of war about peace by alleviating their suffering. This pamphlet has a British counterpart, distributed by the Friends Service Council in England, called Give for Spain, also displayed in this exhibition.
Philadelphia: American Friends Service Committee
In an effort to provide aid to the war torn countryside of Spain, the Friends Service Council (FSC) made and distributed pamphlets about the war to Friends in England to collect funds and donations to help bring a measure of peace to Spain. To the Friends, their relief efforts, which came in the form of material goods and spiritual relief, were actually combatting violence and spreading peace. The idea is beautifully and powerfully summarized by the opening lines of this pamphlet which reads, “In the face of bombs and slaughter in Spain, to talk of ‘Peace, Peace’ may seem futile. Yet by giving food to a hungry child you are sowing seeds of peace. In contrast to hatred and savagery we are giving unselfish, impartial aid to the people of Spain.” For the Friends, to give for Spain is to give for peace.
Sponsored by Eleanor Roosevelt, Dorothy Parker, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Helen Keller, and other prominent figures of the time, The American Rescue Ship Mission letter circulated in 1940 makes an appeal for donations to help Spanish Republican Refugees reach Mexico and amnesty. After the Spanish Civil War ended in 1939, those who fought Franco’s regime faced violent extrajudicial treatment in post-war Spain, and French refugee camps offered a hardly-better alternative. Mexico, however, as one of the few publicly pro-Republican nations during the Spanish Civil War, became a safe haven for Republican refugees. The American Rescue Ship Mission, a project of the United American Spanish Aid Committee, sought to transport refugees from France to Mexico. Considering its prominent sponsors and the broad target demographic, this document shows how the resettlement of Republican refugees became an issue that transcended Quaker concerns to involve the American public at large.
Evil can only be fought and conquered by self-giving friendship. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Robert Capa. Spanish Civil War, near Cerro Muriano, Córdoba front
While its authenticity has been debated since it was shot in September 1936, Robert Capa’s photograph, famously known as “Falling Soldier,” among other titles, is nonetheless an iconic pacifist image. Allegations that this photograph was staged far away from the real Spanish Civil War battle lines do not take away from its pacifist message. Another of the piece’s alternate titles, “Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death, Cerro Muriano, September 5, 1936,” suggests that it was taken in the midst of the violent struggle for power in Spain. This war, more than any other that had come before, was an astonishingly savage one. Capa’s photograph represents a new genre of photojournalism that captured these horrors and made them widely available outside of Spain. “Falling Soldier” evokes an ethical call for peace by creating a sense of intimacy between the observer and subject during a dying man’s last moments. The world was able to bear witness to the brutality of the war and feel affected by a far away conflict. Humanitarian responses to this ethical call sowed the seeds of pacifism during the Spanish Civil War.
Friendship Project and “Out of the Mouths of Babes,” The American Friend
Both the Friendship Project pamphlet and The American Friend article, “Out of the Mouths of Babes,” explore the role of children as peacebuilders during the Spanish Civil War. In these two artifacts, young people are recognized as uniquely powerful forces of change who can further the pacifist cause through their compassion and spirit. The documents illuminate the importance of children’s insights and contributions in times of crisis. They present the hopeful idea that society can capitalize on the incredible strength of childhood values—their instinctual equality-seeking and unquestioning acceptance of others. In the Friendship Project materials, these ideas coalesce in the effort to forge an international support community built on relationships between children. This is such a potent example of the role that young people play in responding to societal challenges; they offer comfort and confidence in the midst of instability and serve as ambassadors of peace in an unjust world.
The Nationalist aerial bombings during the Spanish Civil War displaced thousands of innocent civilians, creating a massive influx of refugees into the cities, resulting in severe food shortages for residents and refugees. This pamphlet, Winter in Spain, created by the Friends Service Council in England to raise funds for Spain, illustrates the Quakers’ attempt to neutrally alleviate Spanish suffering. They did so by providing essential goods and organizing food distribution canteens for both Republican and Nationalist areas. However, their mission was severely limited by funds. This pamphlet uses the pathos of innocent children to make readers empathize with Spain’s suffering, making them more likely to donate. The pamphlet illustrates their success, “More than 4,000 children are given a hot breakfast,” in order to assure the reader that their money makes a difference and is not wasted. These success claims are juxtaposed with the point that despite the success, there is still “no fuel in Madrid” and more relief could be provided, prompting the reader to donate.
Quakers from the United States and Britain assisted the relief work for children during the Spanish Civil War. This pamphlet, published in London in 1938 by the Friends Service Council, is one of the fund-raising propaganda leaflets sent to British populations. In order to provoke sympathy and a sense of responsibility from the British people, who were physically outside of the war and whose country had declared a “non-intervention” policy, this pamphlet includes statistics of how a small amount of donations could have a major impact, as well as photos of happy children benefiting from relief work. While the statistics reminded people of the value of their help and thus their responsibility to help, the hopeful eyes of the children in the photos leads both British audiences and contemporary readers in the United States alike to appreciate the real meanings of Quaker relief work: besides the material benefits, it is the invaluable warmth and love that brought hope to the war-ravaged nation.
Robert Capa. Pablo Picasso and Françoise Gilot, Golfe-Juan, France
This photograph, taken by the Spanish Civil War photographer, Robert Capa, in August 1948, shows the artist Pablo Picasso at the beach with Françoise Gilot, one woman in a long series of lovers. Picasso looked to the women in his life for artistic inspiration, developing a series of intense affairs and marriages that arguably shaped the trajectory of his career. This photograph, showing Picasso on a beautiful sunny day following behind Françoise Gilot as she strides ahead, captures an essential element of Picasso’s love of women. Drawing on the stereotype of women as peaceful and separate from the war effort, he used images of women in his painting Guernica to represent the civilian casualties of aerial bombardment during the Spanish Civil War.
S. Emily Parker. From The Devotional Diary of a Relief Worker in Spain.
According to Religious Society of Friends literature, we should live in a way that reflects the conviction that “love is at the heart of existence and all human beings are equal in the eyes of God.” The challenge arises in the process of transforming this belief into real, tangible action. The “Thoughts for Meditation” printed on page five of Emily Parker’s Devotional Diary addresses this challenge, which she encountered during her time as a Quaker relief worker in Spain. Parker’s three questions outline the thoughts of many others, who struggled to use religion as a catalyst for peace and action for those in need. If we replace the word “religion” with the more secularly used term “mission” in order to apply it to our present historical moment, it becomes clear that questions like these continue to echo through the minds of peace activists, religious and secular alike.
Letter from Herman Reissing to Elizabeth Jensen.
This letter is a part of series between Herman F. Ressig, the executive secretary of the Spanish Refugee Relief Campaign, and Daniel & Elizabeth Jensen, American Friends who worked to assist Spanish Civil War refugees in Mexico. These letters are written at the end of and after the Spanish Civil War and they focus on activism surrounding refugees in Mexico and France and how the refugees might be evacuated from France to Mexico. Note how the letterhead features a mother and child. Children were used in fundraising as they were seen as non-partisan and indisputably worthy of protection. This letter, written in 1940, highlights the importance of fundraising for activism and finding resources to support relocation of the Spanish refugees. It also shows the amount of organizational cooperation that went into assisting Spanish exiles, and the difficulty of finding suitable situations for the thousands from Spain living in refugee camps in France.
Spanish Relief Campaign. Elizabeth Marsh Jensen Papers
Dan West. Needy Spain: Dan West’s Report to The Committee on Spain
During the Spanish Civil War, Quakers from Britain and United States sent reports back to the Friends Service Council and the American Friends Service Committee from Spain exploring the conditions of the people and the gruesome effects of war. This document is an account from Dan West, a member of the Church of the Brethren who worked with the American Friends Service Committee in Nationalist Spain, as he explores Spain in the midst of the Spanish Civil War and sees how the war has transformed it. Of particular interest is the section in which he compares eastern and western Spain, the conditions in which people in either area are living during the war, and how the war has affected both sides differently. West reports that the Nationalists (the Francoists) were greatly in need of clothes and something warm to wear, whereas the Loyalists (the Republicans) were in desperate need of food.
American Friends Service Committee; Committee on Spain
On this pamphlet the suffering of the Spanish population is reflected in the expressions of their children. As propaganda both directly, for monetary support of Quaker relief work in Spain, and indirectly, against the war which necessitates such relief, the relief pamphlets of this era exemplify the greater Quaker pacifist position. “Spain’s Children are Hungry” typifies relief pamphlets through its depiction of civilian suffering and clear monetary requests from the reader. On the right-most column one can clearly see what relief specific contributions will provide, situating a child’s unavoidable suffering beside a negligible sum. Therein lies one aspect of the Quaker pacifist claim: peace itself is within the reader’s capacities to create, if only they would take action against war, proposed here in the form of donations, and remember the expressions of Spain’s hungry children.
John F. Rich, a Haverford graduate (class of 1924) and a prominent Quaker, was an influential figure during the Quaker relief efforts of the Spanish Civil War. In his capacity as Public Relations Director and Relief Administrator for the American Friends Service Committee, he traveled to Spain to assess the devastation, to formulate a plan to assist the Spanish refugees, and to begin the process of shutting down the relief operations in Spain. He kept a diary during his travels, and on Thursday June 1st 1939 he wrote, “My birthday- 37 years old. I am glad to have been involved in this Spanish War and to have contributed something to its pacification. If I died today I at least could say I’ve done something worthwhile.” These heartfelt words express the Quaker testimony of peace and pacifism by showing his belief that actions to promote peace are of tremendous value, especially in the midst of total war.
Pacifists often find solidarity in helping children. In his remarks, William Allen White addresses a tea of presumably wealthy New Yorkers to convince them to provide some form of contribution to his relief organization, The Spanish Child Welfare Association. The rhetoric of his message focuses upon delivering an emotional account of the destitute conditions of Spanish children and the similarities between the Spanish and American children. The nature of this appeal, and its racialized rhetoric, provides insight to the problematic race discourses of the early twentieth century. The pathos contained in this address frames Spain itself as a wounded, infantile, and helpless body of souls tormented by unparalleled suffering which may only be amended through the aid of philanthropic volunteers. This does not undermine the heroic efforts of their peace testimonies, although it does reveal something of the complicated nature of the way in which Northern Europe and the United States related to Spain in the 1930s.
Attributed to Agusto. “¿Que Fais-Tu Pour Empȇcher cela?”
The topic of the poster refers to the relentless bombing of Madrid by Franco's forces, which began in November 1936, targeting civilians. The journalist Louis Delaprée writes of the bombardments, “But night falls. The great butchery, the horror, the Apocalypse begin. The murdering planes incessantly perform evolutions in the sky dropping alternatively explosive bombs, incendiary bombs, and torpedos.” This poster also appeared in English and Spanish, a multi-lingual effort which demonstrates that the Republican government appealed to other countries, in addition to their own citizens, for help. The English version reads, “What are you doing to prevent this? Madrid,” which issues a call to the viewer to respond. This poster illustrates one of the many reasons Virginia Woolf was suspicious of propaganda--it acts as an appeal for peace, but also has the potential to drive soldiers to war to protect innocent civilians and stop the slaughter. In an ethically paradoxical bind, many soldiers of the Spanish Civil War fought under the sign of peace.
“If we go on turning ploughshares into swords how can we expect a harvest of peace?”
This quote, attributed to T. Edmund Harvey, alludes to the idea that society will reap what it sows, and that violence will never lead to peace, but only to more violence. Read on another register, images of Spanish peasants and workers forming militias with any available instruments as weapons also silhouette these words. T. Edmund Harvey, a Quaker and Minister of Parliament in Great Britain, was an advocate of humanitarian work during the Spanish Civil War and served on the International Commission for the Assistance of Child Refugees in Spain (IC), which was an international effort that collected funds from twenty-four counties. Friends’ work and organization was central to the IC. In 1938, in a report given to the House of Commons, Harvey spoke about the relief effort to help Spain, arguing that, “It will bring good will into homes where there is darkness at present, and hope into hearts where there is now nothing but hate.”
Northern Friends Peace Board and Friends Peace Committee
Sylvester Jones. Journal of Sylvester Jones
The victims of the Spanish Civil War were mainly civilians, as both sides engaged in total war against one another. Sylvester Jones was a Quaker sent to Spain by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) from late 1936 through early 1937. He was to investigate the situation in Spain and garner a sense of whether or not the AFSC should provide relief work, and, if so, how they should administer it. While in Spain he studied the work of the British Friends and other aid organizations who were already helping the Spanish people and discussed their efforts in his diary. His diary, written for distribution and propaganda purposes, also provides an unique insight into the realities of everyday life of the Spanish people during the War. It describes severe food shortages, children’s colonies, the soldiers he came across, and the meetings he had with various aid workers and organizers of relief efforts. In response to the reports of Jones and others, the AFSC sent aid in the form of provisions such as food, clothing, and personnel, allowing the Quakers to peacefully intervene in the face of the destructive power of total war.
Patrick Murphy Malin. Report to the Committee on Spain and to The American Friends Service Committee.
The American Friends Service Committee sent representatives to Civil War-ridden Spain to evaluate the situation. One such representative was Patrick Murphy Malin. His report illustrates Spain, especially rural Spain, as claustrophobic, dirty, and poorly maintained. However, just as important as Malin’s articulated findings is his definition of pacifism. Malin writes, “pacifism does not mean that exact neutrality...an ethic of abstract absolutism...It means simply that...we should be always concerned about the maximum conservation of good...we must be constantly at work by methods we can approve.” Here, Malin breaks down the misconceptions of pacifism as passive, as the sole promotion of the absence of war. This report is one of many documenting the horrible conditions of the war, but also the improving conditions, due to the Friends’ relief efforts, demonstrating the Quaker impact in Spain.
Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe and Benjamin Yellin
Heart of Spain: Robert Capa's Photographs of the Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War was a product of the clash between the opposing ideologies of the left-wing Republic and fascist Nationalists. In 1938, photographer Robert Capa captured scenes of the International Brigades, volunteer fighters for the Republic, in Montblanch. This photo feature throngs of men in military fatigues, raising their hands towards something off-camera, affirming their affiliation with the Republic. The unity of action portrayed in these photographs embody the belief that to protect their own convictions is to initiate the destruction of the opposition. Much like the photograph Falling Soldier, the photographs in this book expose the effects of war both on and off the battlefield. Capa sought to capture Spanish lives at the time and showcase his impressions to a global audience. This leads the viewer to imagine that prioritizing the coexistence of conflicting beliefs in a society can eventually lead to the collapse of the senseless hive-mind that perpetuates the cycle of war and violence.
This journal entry from January 1st, 1937 is found in a Quaker weekly journal from 1937 where it informed other Friends how the Friends Service Council (the British corollary to the American Friends Service Committee), together with the Save the Children Fund, were providing relief for Spain. Along with specifying where concerned Friends can send donations, this journal discusses who the Quakers were helping as well as why they were helping. It explains how the Quakers were giving relief to the children of Spain regardless of which side they were on. To the Friends, it did not matter if the Spanish refugees were on the Nationalist or Republican side; the article emphasizes the need for “impartiality” in the Quakers’ wartime relief work. The article goes on to explain that their “neutrality was a neutrality of active intervention on behalf of those whose chief enemy was war,” underscoring that the primary goal was to aid those who were the victims of the war (i.e. the women and children). By assisting the children of Spain, the Quakers were attempting to raise a new generation devoid of hate, one that could then hopefully bring an end to war once and for all.
“Behind the Battle Lines in a Devastated Spain”
New York Times Magazine by Alfred Winslow Jones
This article, published in the weekly New York Times Magazine on April 3rd, 1938, demonstrates how journalism brought the Spanish refugee crisis into the eyes and minds of American society. The focus of this article is the mass migrations of Spaniards within Spain as a result of the devastation of the Civil War. The vivid descriptions in the article, by Alfred Winslow Jones, of his experience in a “tour of inspection with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)” brings his experiences alive to his readers in the US. His detailed portrayal of the terrible plight of the Spaniards and the underfunded work the AFSC is doing in Spain is a humanitarian, emotional appeal. The inclusion of the photograph depicting the huddled masses wandering through the streets is another attempt to bring the horrid conditions refugees must live in to life for average Americans. Juxtaposing the text and photograph allows the story of the refugees to transcend the contemporaneous situation and resonates with readers many decades later.
Chicago Tribune by Diana Forbes Robertson
The bombings during the Spanish Civil War not only destroyed buildings and land, but they destroyed families. Children of all ages were victims of fascist attacks, and because of the numerous children who were left orphaned and who were in harms way of future bombardments and starvation, children’s colonies were created to provide them a place of refuge during the war. In this newspaper clipping Diana Forbes Robertson, the wife of journalist Vincent Sheean, writes of her time in Spain. This clipping was found in a folder titled L. Hollingsworth Woods Papers, in which there were many miscellaneous documents and letters either written by Woods himself or documents that referenced the Spanish Civil War. Woods was a co-founder of the American Friends Service Committee, which was a Quaker organization that worked to help the refugees and victims of the fascist attacks during the civil war. While the exact date of publication and the newspaper from which this article by Diana Robertson came from is unclear, based on evidence found in the article, along with a second newspaper article written by Robertson that can be found in the same folder, it can be inferred that the article was written around April of 1938 and that it was originally published in the Chicago Tribune. This article depicts several colonies in which children are hungry; yet their lives must continue as they “attend school, get their hair cut, and dance ballet.” In this piece Robertson provides an outsider’s perspective of the lives of child refugees during the Spanish Civil War.
Letter from J. Passmore Elkinton to L. Hollingworth Wood
The letter written by J. Passmore Elkinton, the chairman of the AFSC Spain Committee, is addressed to L. Hollingworth Wood, an active member of the Spanish Child Welfare Association (SCWA) in New York. In discussing the benefits of Quaker aid in Spain, Elkinton references the Book of Exodus, comparing the mission of the Friends to the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. In this Biblical passage, God’s partiality towards the Israelites leads Him to intervene on their behalf to deliver them from slavery. Elkinton implies that the difficulties of work in Spain were to be overcome through divine guidance. The letter demonstrates that relief work of the Friends in the 1930s was informed and strongly influenced by religious rhetoric and grounded in Christian faith. The desire to act out of moral and spiritual responsibility directed the Friends towards humanitarian aid, resulting in the distribution of the funds the SCWA raised for Spanish relief. In thanking Wood on behalf of the “Divine Master,” Elkinton makes clear his conviction in the correctness and support of his committee’s mission due to the gravitas which accompanies invoking divinity.
Puños en alto [Clenched Fists Held High]
Republican Spain published many propaganda items during the Spanish Civil War in order to promote their cause. This piece, “Clenched Fists Held High,” is part of a book of stamps published by the anarchist Office of Propaganda. This image represents the war as a glorious fight for social justice, motivating readers to support the fight against fascism. Its use of blurred, but colorful visuals portray the war as active and positive. The caption, which uses socialist rhetoric like “comrades” to illustrate the valiance and brotherhood of those fighting, demonstrates the goals of social justice and equality which motivated the war. All the captions in the book are printed in Spanish, English, and French, indicating that the government intended for it to be read abroad in order to encourage neutral foreign powers to join the side of of the Republic. Unlike many other materials in this exhibit, this piece is unique in its portrayal of violent means as effective.
Oficinas de Propaganda de la Confederación Nacional del Trabajo y de la Federación Anarquista Ibérica
“Cuando el arte se trueca en intérprete de la emoción popular, el arte se sublima… Se hace a un tiempo carne y espíritu.” “When art becomes the interpreter of some great national sentiment, it is sublime… [It is] a mingling of the flesh with the spirit.” —“The Doorway,” Preface to Estampas de la Revolución Española, 19 Julio de 1936 A collection of vignettes from the Spanish Civil War, brought forth within the realms of images with wide brushstrokes and trilingual captions, Estampas de la Revolución Española, 19 Julio de 1936, remains a testament to the many emotions and contradictions of the era. In this image, “El último abrazo,” a man lays down the dying body of his lifelong companion. Humanity’s looming mortality consumes this painting, leaving only a blurry conception of hope lost. While the artist—known solely as “hijo del pueblo” or “son of the people”—was featured in this volume for an anarchist, proletariat pursuit, his work transcends war’s partisan boundaries, serving as a traumatic reminder of war’s true victim: humanity, abandoned for the ether and painfully pieced together through art. Ultimately, El último abrazo confirms that ceaseless, unjustified violence fails to usher in prosperity, and that destruction never yields peace.
The artistic depiction of a helpless figure being persecuted is ubiquitous in times of Spanish agony. This is evident in both the Offices of Propaganda of the National Confederation of Workers’ “Estampas de la Revolución de Española” and Goya’s “Third of May”. The Offices of Propaganda of the CNT and the FAI created this book of stamps to bring color and glory to the war. While Goya’s work depicts a submissive Spanish man during Napoleon’s invasion of Madrid in 1808, the stamp takes an antithetical approach to the subject by casting the shooters in the foreground in a virtuous light. Unlike Goya’s emphasis on humanity, the “Brothers in Battle” stamp romanticizes inhumanity by depicting the death of a powerless man as an epic aspect of war. The stamp artist accomplishes this by painting two distinct, colorful shooters in the foreground and concealing the identity of the defenseless nationalist by facing him away from the viewer. While Goya commiserates with the innocent, surrendered man, the stamp artist celebrates his death as an act of “comradeship” among Republicans. Thus, these two pieces with similar subject matter present opposing perspectives that shed light on the multifaceted experience of war.
This painting from Estampas de la Revolución Española promotes a false sense of heroism established by society, a sense of heroism that traps humanity in a closed cycle of victims. It depicts a stern-faced man; clad in rolled pant legs and a polo with his hands squarely on his hips, shoulders back, head held high, and rifle at his side, he is the new Achilles. He is the hero whom young men revere and attempt to emulate. He is viewed as a figure of strength and bravery. However, in actuality, he personifies the Achilles’ heel of society: its tendency to exalt war. He exemplifies a war-glorifying system that has bound the minds of people. The paintings presented in this book by the Propaganda Offices of the CNT-FIA engenders positive feelings toward the cause of the Spanish people in fighting against the Fascist insurgents in Spain; it emphasizes the vivacious humanity of the Spaniards through endearing narratives and colorful imagery. Paradoxically, this painting screams for freedom in tones of war.
In this compilation of selections from letters, Esther Farquhar Kamp, a social worker and Quaker relief worker with the American Friends Service Committee, discusses the physical, mental, and emotional stresses on the Spanish children and the ways in which the AFSC attempted to combat such issues. Promoting the wellbeing of the young victims of the Spanish Civil War was a matter on which Quaker relief work placed strong emphasis, based on the recognition that children were victims of the combat who were highly susceptible to the violent ideals of war and would act as fodder for further conflict as they transitioned into adulthood. Close to 700,000 children took refuge in the children’s colonies or “colonias infantiles,” including the Bosque in the Woods, to which Esther Farquhar Kamp refers in this letter.
Letter from Lucille H Stevens to Daniel and Elizabeth Jensen
During the Spanish Civil War and for several years after, international relief efforts were coordinated between various Quaker and non-Quaker organizations, in the hope that the refugees and displaced peoples from the conflict could receive direct aid. Sometimes, the route to aid extended through other countries, as is specified in this letter from the American Friends’ Service Committee to representatives of the YMCA in Mexico City, on behalf of Alfred Jacob in Spain. The state of total war that had taken place within Spain led to extraordinarily high rates of hunger, poverty, and displacement, some of the conditions which no doubt led to the AFSC’s request to locate a Spanish refugee’s family member. The Quaker relief effort, encapsulated here in the plea to reunite a family, was guided by the belief in service and aid. Quakers not only fed the hungry and displaced within Spain, they also coordinated relief efforts beyond these into France and Mexico.
The Diaries of John F. Rich, AFSC Worker
In his capacity as public relations director and relief administrator for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), John F. Rich traveled to Spain in 1939 to wind down the AFSC’s refugee and child feeding relief facilities. During the trip, Rich recorded images of the bucolic countryside, juxtaposing it with the destruction of the Civil War. The diaries also include personal musings on his sadness at seeing the refugee children, work-related to-do lists, and first drafts of AFSC memos. Here, one can see Rich’s thoughts on what Quakers can do “to Make Nations Friendly to Spain”; he suggests that Quakers should use their “connections in high places” and publicly endorse Spain’s desire for diplomatic contact with North America. This action entails political involvement, and to an extent, taking sides. Hence, Rich’s suggestion that Quakers attempt to influence international politics even after the conflict has ended in this manner is contrary to some Friends’, such as relief worker Howard Kershner’s, belief that in order to impart effective relief, neutrality is essential. Rich and Kershner’s conflicting views towards political intervention represent contemporary debate within the greater Quaker community about the place of politics in relief work.
Recall to Religion - Peace and righteousness are inseparable.
By proclaiming that “peace and righteousness are inseparable,” and that if a “conflict should arise between the claims of Christ’s service and that of the State, it is to Him that our supreme loyalty should be given whatever the consequence,” the authors of this poster challenge the viewer’s understanding of morality by insinuating that to support the state’s war efforts is to turn one’s back on Christ. The poster’s last words, “whatever the consequence,” reinforce the Quaker conviction that pacifist thought and loyalty to God must never be sacrificed in the name of conflict and material goals. This poster forces these concepts into a complete dichotomy: one must choose between faith and support of the war, and to remain neutral or undecided is to betray God. The formal, intimidating appearance of the poster (no images; capital letters; bold-faced, red and black text) frames the message as a command, an imperative. Friends believe that the power of God to overcome evil can be accessed through a true desire for good; this poster aims to confirm that those wishing to conquer the evil of war must seek the guidance of Christ rather than that of the state.
This bulletin, released days before the end of the war on April 1, describes the desperate situations in both Republican and Nationalist Spain and pleads for money to transfer surplus wheat to Spain. It includes the warning that “if the remainder of Spain is to soon come under Nationalist control they will have a food problem that even propaganda will not be able to hide.” According to the bulletin, the food shortage in a Nationalist Spain would be so severe that even propaganda could not mask its effects from the public. As the nationalists gained territory, hundreds and thousands of refugees would also come under their jurisdiction. Towards the end of the war when it became clear that the Nationalists would win, the actions of the relief workers focused on preventing starvation instead of promoting peace, their original purpose. The workers felt frustrated that they lost the power to construct a society that created conditions for peace and, rather, were caught working to prevent starvation where they still had control.
Committee on Spain, American Friends Service Committee
The Friends’ Service Council (FSC), a Quaker relief organization in Great Britain, published and distributed this pamphlet in 1939 after Nationalist forces had overthrown Republican Spain. Despite the change in government, the FSC, in conjunction with the AFSC (American Friends Service Committee) continued relief work to help Spanish people and refugees in need on both sides of the conflict up to 1942. Unfortunately, the infrastructure and supplies needed to provide food and milk and to support hospitals were expensive; thus relief organizations distributed pamphlets such as this one to ask for financial help. The FSC aimed to “bring material and moral help” through their relief work: materially through food and milk, and morally through their support and solidarity. Through advocacy of both material and emotional support, the FSC attempted to build “the surest foundations for peace” with altruistic deeds that promoted pacifism and protested war and violence.
The Spanish Civil War marked a new period of modern warfare, as we can see through observing the pamphlets that were used to spread awareness of the war and the actions the Quakers were taking to aid those suffering. This pamphlet, written by Dr. Richard Ellis, focuses on the everyday influence of war on Spanish society. This reading speaks to the notion of total war, a concept addressed by Paul Saint-Amour in Tense Future. His work is mainly concerned with exploring the definition of total war as war affecting “political, economic, and cultural domains.” Extending upon the purview outlined by Saint-Amour, the pamphlets are able to speak to the mentality of civilians once such merciless war had become the standard of life. Specifically, Dr. Ellis retells the comments of a refugee he had encountered. The refugee said that “the war... taught him you could be constantly cold in bright sunshine and feel tired before the day’s work had started.” His remarks highlight that the totality of war affected normal routines for extended periods of time, thereby extending and reshaping our understanding of absolute warfare. This is crucial to explore because for those lucky enough to live, total war wasn’t one passing moment of panic, but rather, in the case of Spain, three years of heavy mental and physical deterioration.
Through Loyalist and Insurgent Spain: The Journal of Sylvester Jones
Sylvester Jones’ journal records his experiences travelling through Spain and his participation in relief work during the Spanish Civil War. Sent by the American Friends Service Committee in order to decide their level of involvement in the relief work, his writings describe the aid work of different organizations, including logistical issues such as the lack of resources. Sylvester’s descriptions of living in wartime Spain work towards uncovering the nature of Quaker pacifist views, which emphasize deliberate thought. This entry, describing his reaction to a play, showcases his hatred of propaganda, the opposite of deliberate thought: “It was obviously propaganda and not art… I do not refer to the war propaganda…[but] one which…[carries] on with a basis of hate for any who disagree with them.” Jones disapproves of the play’s message, militant or not, because it promotes homogeneous thought. The rejection of thoughtlessness echoes a defining aspect of Quaker pacifism, which draws upon their religious belief, which is centered around the need for conscious and deliberate thought.
Around the world the message send - ‘World justice means world peace’
The Society of Friends attempted to remain neutral during the Spanish Civil War, and conducted relief work for both the Republicans and the Nationalists. In Quaker Service in Modern War, Howard Kershner writes, “I maintain that when one undertakes to do relief work on both sides of a civil war he must be prepared to be impartial to his attitude, and even in his thinking, where need is concerned.” This poster created by the Northern Friends Peace Boardembraces the idea of neutrality, and emphasizes the importance of global peace. The words “justice” and “peace” are connected without the promise or even the notion of winning the war in Spain (or any future war) —which is the goal that people on either side of the argument may associate with the word “justice.” In Quaker Relief Work in the Spanish Civil War, Farah Mendlesohn quotes Alfred Jacob as he states, “Our effort is simply to do the works of peace in the midst of war, affirming the right of the human personality which war denies”. By recognizing the “human personality” of either side, one is embracing neutrality and recognizing the similarities of either side. By showing that justice and peace are in fact the same thing, as well as using the image of the entire world, the poster helps depict humankind as a single, unified force. The Quakers recognize human togetherness by not dividing the poster into states or political parties, and depicting instead a unified world, and one common humanity.
This Quaker poster criticizes conscription, the compulsory enrollment of persons for military service, and denounces war altogether. By claiming that, through conscription, the state has control of the collective human consciousness, which is rightfully God’s alone, the poster implies that the learnt practice of humans to destroy other humans is unvirtuous. Furthermore, the poster exposes war’s terrible nature with violent language: the use of “destroy” creates a powerful image of annihilation. Devastated by malnutrition, disease, bombing raids, and combat, the casualties of total war beg the question, “How do we end war?” For the Quaker community, the answer could be found within the creation of peaceful conditions, complete reconciliation, and abstinence from fighting—thus conquering total war with total peace. Ultimately, this poster encourages pacifism by condemning the morality of both conscription and war.
During the twentieth century, Quakers were active in publicizing peace-related concepts and striving against remilitarization. This poster, calling for a coordinated international effort in peace-building in place of force to deter war, sheds light on early explorations of what peace studies now call “positive peace.” Positive peace emphasizes the conditions necessary for peace, such as conflict resolution and peace-building. By presenting “new world conference” in red capital letters, the poster highlights the importance of this new mechanism. In accordance with the Quaker effort to foster conditions for peace, contemporaneous pacifist writers such as Virginia Woolf wrote about the role of socio-economic injustices (specifically financial and gender inequality) in the perpetuation of war. These features of pacifism manifest a paradigm shift during the modernist era, transforming pacifist activism from passive resistance of unethical wars to active promotion of peace. Therefore, this poster attests to the Friends’ active pacifism alongside the societal trend towards peace-building based on investigations of social justice issues.
Jesus said - love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you - is war forgiving?
This poster printed for the Peace Committee of the Society of Friends in 1936 incorporates an image of Jesus riding a donkey with a child in hand. This poster fosters a sense of humanity and condemns the types of atrocities that were induced and later escalated by the Spanish Civil War. The inclusion of Jesus’ teachings attempts to justify the opposition of war through religious virtues. The religious connotation in conjunction with the question, “Is war forgiving?” reiterates the inhumane nature of war and the opposition of Christian values. By raising this query, this poster aligns religion against war, thereby emphasizing how Jesus wanted people to resolve discord through forgiveness and peaceful rectitude. The visual of Jesus sitting on a donkey symbolizes humility. God’s choice to be one with the masses calls into question the exploitation and suffering that are consequences of war. The graphic of Jesus walking with a child morphs into the notion of an ideological society, in which children are guided into a harmonious world. The duality between the innocence of children and widespread civilian death by violence, calls upon an urgent need for pacifist retaliation. This artistic piece’s ability to resonate as anti-war propaganda showcases pacifism’s concordance with Christianity and humanity.
“Recall to religion: £2,000,000,000 spent on battleships, aeroplanes, tanks, poison gas, submarines, bombs - Can “Thy kingdom come on earth” this way?”
This anti-war poster calls attention to the obscene sums of money spent on war preparations, and simultaneously suggests that military stockpiling inhibits God’s kingdom from flourishing. It calls to mind the Quaker peace testimony, which states that war is an affront to humans living together lovingly, for war destroys the goodness and light within us all. This poster links money to war and argues that money is to blame for war. The taxes paid to a government allow that nation to fund the production of war machines. It also evokes a view on war deeply embedded in a Christian reading of the peace testimony. The Northern Friends Peace Board’s poster, published in England, is addressed to a primarily Christian audience, and incorporates the peace testimony into Christian language by pointedly stating, “Can ‘[God’s] kingdom come to earth’ this way?” In other words, the poster suggests that God’s intended world cannot exist in a world dominated by war.
This is one of the donation cards that were distributed by the Society of Friends. It is titled “Spain’s Children Are Hungry: Help Us Feed Them.” The card is folded into three, each section conveying a different message from the other. The first part of the folding, once you open it, focuses on the work that Quakers have been able to do. This include setting up of canteens and temporary hospitals and distributing milk and food to children and nursing mothers. The second section focuses more on those who are still in need. It describes a number of challenges that are still being experienced in the camps which include the increasing number of refugees, lack of enough food, children suffering from malnutrition, and lack of blankets and diseases. It is because of all the ongoing challenges that the Society of Friends still needs funds. This leads to the third section of the card requesting for donations to help feed the children who happen to be the most vulnerable in the camp and also to cater for the other people’s needs. A photo of one of the children in the camps is printed on the same side, a sad, young girl carrying a doll. On the side of the photo is a statement, ‘The hand of friendship that you stretch to the suffering people of Spain will create a better relationship between them later on.” It is clear that the card not only served to request donations but also to show the effect of the war on the children of Spain and what can still be done to save the situation. This naturally draws a lot of sympathy from the reader and would help them to be more willing to support those in the refugee camps in any way possible.