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e-mail us with your comments or suggestions on: editor@spanishrefugees-basquechildren.org

We are offering this signed hard-back book for just £4.50 incl p&p.
(normal price £8.99)

Written by Ron Bill and Stan Newens in 1991 gives a good account of the life of Leah Manning.
Books for Sale
(please note that all profits go to the
Basque Children of '37 Association : UK).
Leah Manning Book for Sale
The Grave of
Antonio Machado
in Colliure France
For details contact the Secretary:
Natalia Benjamin
01865 459744

Basque Children of '37 Association:UK

Forthcoming Events 2007
We are now selling
ONLY FOR THREE MONTHS
by Adrian Bell at £8.50 incl. p&p mainland UK and France/Spain £2.46 p&p.
If you are interested in purchasing one please send us an e-mail.
The book tells the story of the 4,000 Basque children who fled fascism in 1937 and were helped by the British people.
Eastleigh Camp Picture Gallery
A selection from the Cox Collection
"We all cried when we were told that Bilboa had fallen to Franco's forces".
Spain commemorates the Republic 1931

Madrid, 22 de abril 2006
Más de 20.000 ciudadanos llenan el centro de Madrid reivindicando la III República. 'España, mañana, será republicana' fue la consigna más repetida Reportaje gráfico especial de nodo50.org/republica > Publicado: 23-04-06.
"A pesar de la cambiante climatología, con fuertes tormentas previas a la convocatoria aunque el cielo de Madrid se abrió justo al inicio de la marcha, y muy a pesar también de la indigna y vergonzosa censura informativa (a priori y a posteriori) de la mayoría de los denominados "medios informativos", la manifestación unitaria por la III República convocada en la capital de España el sábado 22 de abril con motivo del 75º aniversario de la II República, fue todo un éxito" [En la imagen superior, la madrileña calle de Alcalá, llena de manifestantes y banderas republicanas].
  
    On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Matxitxako and accompanied by members of his Cabinet, the Lehendakari, Juan Jose Ibarretxe paid homage to the members of the four Bous of the Auxiliary Navy of the Basque Country, who, against all the odds, engaged Franco's cruiser "Canarias" in battle.
    On the site of this historic naval battle, Ibarretxe threw a wreath of flowers onto the water (see photograph) in regognition of the courage of those seamen in the "face of Totalitarianism" and of "the bravery they showed by fighting for the liberty of the Basque Country on the Republican side".  "Despite the meagre provisions available to them, they were capable of making a decisive contribution to the work of supplyinh, escorting, evacuating and defending the Basque coastline".
    The ceremony was attended by some of the survivors and their families, whom the Lebendakari thanked for their "generosity" and for "having found the way towards coexistence and reconciliation".
                Article from the BASQUE NEWS, May, 2007.
Recognising the
valour of
combatants
Memorial to Republicans

This Memorial stands in France and commemorates those Republicans who died whilst in French concentration camps of which many were in the area of south-west France.
                      
"  Hundreds, thousands of people, through their work and generosity, made it possible for us to survive those difficult months and years, after we arrived here, in Southampton in May 1937.  Many of us were only six and seven years old.  What a task these people took on!
    It is a paradox, that whereas the people of Southampton and the British People received us with such warmth, the British Government did not want us.  Indeed, the policy of appeasement and of so called non intervention pursued by that government, would contribute to the defeat of Republican Spain.
    But, we are here today, to express our thanks and
gratitude to all those wonderful British people who
helped in so many different ways; to thank them for
their generosity, their solidarity and their humanity.
    I want to mention individually just a few from the
many. Who did so much for us.  They came from a
wide range of society and ideologies, from all walks
of life.
    Mrs. Somerset.  Her name was always mentioned
with affection and respect.  She worked in a number of
colonias.  She had a five year old son.  While playing
with some of the children, some just a little older, he
was hit on the head by a swing and was killed.  All the
children were terribly distressed.  Mrs. Somerset com-
forted them to reassure them that it had been an accident.
  This, while dealing with her own sorrow.  Nell Somer-
set was a Communist.
    The Duchess of Atholl was towards the other end ofthe political and social spectrum to Mrs. Somerset.  She was a Tory MP; an extraordinary person.  She had seen the plight of children in besieged Madrid.  She saw the danger of Nazism in Germany and Fascism in Italy.  This was the time of appeasement of “Herr Hitler”, as Chamberlain referred to him.  I understand she presented a copy of “Mein Kampf” to each member of the cabinet so they should be in no doubt as to what Hitler stood for.
    Chloe and Poppy Vulliamy devoted years to our welfare.  Chloe, cultured and perhaps shy.  Poppy, exuberant and full of energy.  She
wrote to Lord Faringdon that as a Labour
peer, he should not live in a mansion, while
her refugee children lived in a camp.  Lord
Faringdon responded.  He made accommoda-
tion available on his “estate”.  Adrian (Bell-
editor) and I attended Poppy’s memorial ser-
vice.  The Vicar, who had had many a tussle
with her, referred to her as a goat among the
sheep--but, he conceded; in heaven.
    There were the members of the BCC.
Among them, Ronald Thackrah; always very
much involved.  He persuaded Juan Negrin to
fund the Juan Luis Vives Scholarships.  Miss Picken, so quiet, so kind and so devoted to us.  Wilfred Roberts the Liberal MP. Who waged such a battle with the Foreign Office, that wanted to pack us all back to Spain whether we had parents to go back to or not; so as to appease Franco: to appease a brutal dictator.
    There were many, many others.  Walter Leonard, himself a refugee from Nazism.  Charlie West, a baker’s roundsman, who collected funds for the Oaks colony in Carshalton.
    At the centre of events was Leah Manning who worked in education and had been sent to Bilbao to organ ise the evacuation of the child ren to come to Britain and subsequently ran one of the excellent colonias.  In Bilbao there is now a “Plaza de Leah Manning” to commemorate her work.
    Our education was in many cases totally disrupted.  But the experience of living with others in the colonias and our contact wish exceptional people in some of them, gave us an education that was in many ways, unique.  It was the University of Life: at times, a tough university.
    For some of us, these early years bought us into contact with older Spanish exiles.  Some of them, the young Spanish intellectuals who had been part of the new cultural Renaissance and were now in exile.  Amongst them, Pepe Estruch, Luis Portillo, Luis Cernuda the poet and others who became our friends and teachers and who opened our eyes to that idealistic Spanish dream that had been crushed by fascism.
    Luis Portillo had been a professor of Law at Salamanca University.  He was now in exile in Britain.  He taught in one of the colonias but at times, had to earn his keep working in a café, peeling potatoes and washing up.
    Pepe Estruch who worked at
“The Culvers”, the last colonia to
close, was absolutely brilliant with
his theatrical work with the children,
producing plays by Lorca and the
classics of the Spanish Golden Age.
He was an excellent natural teacher
and such an inspiration to many of
us.
    To all these wonderful people, to
all these exceptional people and to
many, many others, those of us who
are here today, who arrived in
Southampton in May 1937, want to
say thank you…  "
The 70th Anniversary of the Basque children arrival to Britain was held in the Solent University of Southampton on Saturday 26th May 2007.
The following speech was given at the commemoration by a nino; Herminio Martinez.
Channel Islands Hilter's Nazi - Spanish
Republican Slave Labourers Remembered
Herminio giving his speech from the lectern.
The Spanish Ambassador and Helvecia Hidalgo.

There is now an ever-growing acceptance of the part many Spanish Republicans played in their support of the Allied Forces during World War II.  This acceptance has gained momentum in the last few years.
    In the case of slave workers, last year (2006), for the first time Spanish Slave Workers were recognised and commemorated by the Spanish Government when the Spanish Ambassador Carlos Miranda attended a commemorative ceremony in Jersey.  The Balliff, Sir Philip Balhache was also present.  A Russian Armed Forces representative has been attending this ceremony for many years.  Russians were the most numerous amongst the Slave Workers. They were treated so badly by the Nazis and their collabora-
tors that most of them died.
    Perhaps we are at last drawing closer to the day when an ac-
ceptance of the contribution made by the republican Spanish
soldiers will be fully recognised.  Following General Franco’s
victory in 1939, many Republicans crossed the Pyrenees into
France.  Most of them ended up in French concentration camps
dotted around the South-West of France, but many escaped and
joined the Free French Forces and the French resistance.  Many
also joined the British Armed Forces and took part in the inva-
sion of Norway at Narvik. Some took part in the D-Day land-
ings and they also fought in North Africa and other theatre’s of
war such as the Middle-East.
    Our object is to campaign for a memorial here in Britain in re-
cognition of those Spaniards who gave their lives in the battles
to secure a fascist-free world.
    If you are interested in this project and wish to help/support
us, e-mail us on: editor@spanishrefugees-basquechildren.org.
                                ==================
    Gary Font, the ceremony organiser led the proceedings by
thanking all those present and said;  “We gather here to remem-
ber foreign forced workers.  They came from all walks of life
and nationalities.  So many of them suffered the brutality of the
Organisation Todt.  We also pay tribute to those who freed
Jersey and the world from tyranny.”                                 Juanito
The last surviving Spanish slaveworker in Jersey, Innocent Martin (87), lays a wreath with his wife Joan.
The ceremony  organiser Gary Font (on the right) with the last Spanish Forced Worker to survive (on the left) Innocent Martin with his wife Joan.  Next to Gary Font is His Royal Hiighness.  This is the first time that Royalty has attended the commemoration at Westmount Crematorium.
Many wreaths have been laid commemorating all the Forced Workers of the Channel Islands.
 
...the Socialist Government of the Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, is currently trying to pass a law to rehabilitate the memory of Franco's re-
publican vic-
times.  The
plan, which
was critised
by the politi-
cal right and
as too timid
by the left,
appeared to
be on the
point of col-
lapse.  Legis-
lators only
have one
more week to agree a deal or Mr Zapatero's flagship Law of Historical Memory may run
out of parliamentary time.
    About 3000,000 people were killed in the Spanish Civil
War between
1936 and
1939, after
which tens of
thousands
of republi-
cans died in
reprisals, prisons and labour camps.
     Text from THE INDEPENDENT Sat 1 September 2007.
Recovering the
crimes of Franco
Basque Children 70th Anniversary
26th May Southampton

The following are concerns which are represenative of the
problem motivating us to seek your good will mediation:
1) There has been no legal recognition of the Spanish vic-
ims of the Second World War.
2) Francoist legislation punishing the Spanishcombatants
who sided with the Allied forces still continues in force
today.  For example, the Spaniards who fought in the
Allied forces against Nazism still have not had their civil
rights nor their Spanish nationality restored.
3) There has been no legal recognition of the victims of
Francoism.  Rather, the legal and judicial condemnation
of the victims adopted by the Franco regime continue
fully in force.
4) By action or omission, relatives and friends of victims
of extrjudicial killings and extemination have been denied the right to recuperate their loved ones remains in a legally prescribed manner.
5) The unresolved problem of the loss of civil rights and Spanish nationality of the Republican exiles and refugees in countries which did not diplomatically recognise the Francoist regime.
6) The looting, spoliation, and other such illegal acts remain unresolved and unrecognised by the Spanish state, which has taken no action to restore the rights which have been violated.
7) The forced lobour camps under Franco have still not been recognised, nor have their victims been recognised, despite the fact that these camps illegally existed not only during World War II, but persisted long after the war ended.
         (Part of a statement addressed to Kofi Annan Secretary-General of the United Nations - 24 January 2005)

A group of Spanish associations of victims of Francoism and World Warr II ask the UN Secretary-General for his meditation before the Spanish state. (Madrid, January 24,2005)
Francoism Crimes Finally Recognised

Wednesday 31 Octover 2997 a e-mail send from Alicia Pozo-Gutierrez to friends to ours friends in America.
    Today the very contested Historical Memory Law was passed by the Congreso (parliament) and now it will move on to the Spanish Senate.  The law was passed with the votes of most parties, but 22 parties voted against it:  The Partido Popular arguing that the law breaks the consensus reached during the Spanish democraic transition.  Part of their position is that the law opens old wounds and is not reconciliatory by revengeful.  The other party against it was Esquerra Republicana, arguing that the law is insufficient as it does not go far enogh in restituting the victims of Francoism.
    According the vesion of the law that was passed, finally the Catholic church won't have to retire Fraqncoist symbols if they can argue reasons of artistic or relgious nature.  I am sure the the debate will continue...

As most of you know, I went to Spain in September 1936 to join the Republican side on the Aragon front.
    We came from France and incorporated into the Durruti's Army in the "Sebastien Faure" Centuria, (later called Brigade).  Most of us were French volunteers, with some exiled Spaniards returning to their country to keep on fighting fasciam, and also many Polish Jews who came for the same purpose.
    At that time, I didn't speak any Spanish.  That I learnt late on, when I moved to Argentina - where I spent 20 years - and my opinion is candid with reference to the priests killing, that so often some "ninos" mention.
    Same thing as on the Aragon front, and all over Spanish battle fields, we had to fight hand to hand in the cities.  In most of them, Franco's troops, with help of the priests would transform the churches (centuries old), in fortresses.  We were disadvantaged and needed to destroy them to to help us advance.During this period some Francoists were killed.  I don't know of any case when a priest would be on our side.
    The "Goering" type propaganda, proclaimed the "reds" were killing priests and destroying churches.  I never saw any church purposely destroyed during all my time fighting in the Spanish Civil War.  Nor had I seen priests, belonging to the clergy, shot.  However I did see several shot orf spying and firing at us.  What could have been the pupose of killing priests?  We were short of ammunition and the churchs once liberated were transformed into hospitals...
Extract from George Sossenko's e-mail sent to friends in America.
Wednesday 31 Octocber 2007