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30 September 2009

Find the International Brigade Statue

Between 1936 and 1939, around 2,100 British people travelled to Spain to fight with the anti-fascist for the Republic volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. A small monument, inscribed with the words "They went because their eyes could see no other way", sits on on the South Bank to remember them.


Opinion differs on whether they were freedom fighters or communist stooges, doing the work of the USSR's Comintern, but they believed in what they were doing, and around 500 gave their lives in pursuit of what they believed in.

You can find the statue in Jubilee Gardens beside County Hall and the London Eye.

3 comments:

  1. One British person to fight in the Spanish Civil war was the famous author George Orwell. He wrote about his experiences in 'Homage to Catalonia' - which for me is one of his best books. I'd highly recommend it.

    I have a massive respect for the people who felt it was their duty to stand up and fight against something that they knew was wrong, even though it was happening in another country.

    The book:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage_to_catalonia

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  2. Thanks for posting, i'll have to go find it in the next couple of weeks - lots of respect to those who fought Fascism even when it wasn't endangering themselves or their country (not for a few years anyway)

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  3. Communist stooges or not they saw the danger of fascism and did something about it.

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