Posts Tagged ‘anarcho-syndicalism’
Review of Living Anarchism – José Peirats and the Spanish Anarcho-Syndicalist Movement
Living Anarchism – José Peirats and the Spanish Anarcho-Syndicalist Movement by Chris Ealham [AK Press] Available here.
This review first published in Ideas and Action (Oct 2017).
On the cover of Living Anarchism, the publishers, AK Press, point out that the anarchist movement in Spain in the lead up to the revolution in 1936-37 was the ‘the largest anti-authoritarian movement’ ever created in the world. It numbered in the hundreds of thousands and resulted from a conscious and deliberate intervention by anarchists in the everyday world of work and community. Anarchists sought to build a new world in the shell of the old and they were surprisingly successful in significant ways. Living Anarchism is testimony to this. Not a history of Spanish anarchism as such, it is nonetheless a window into the life of that movement seen through the life of one its key activist, José Peirats.
So who was José Peirats? The son of labourers from Valencia province, he moved to Barcelona at a young age with his family in search of work and a future. Suffering illness and numerous privations, Peirats eventually found a home in one of the city’s vibrant rationalist schools. However his education was short-lived and at a young age he entered the workforce proper as a brick-maker. Gravitating to the anarcho-syndicalist union, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), he became a key activist in the L’Hospitalet area of Barcelona. Peirats lived through it all: at the young age of 28 he was in Barcelona as the Spanish Revolution got underway. He witnessed the enormous achievements and hope that the revolution generated and he witnessed, in time, its demise and defeat. In exile at the age of 31 he spent a great deal of the remainder of life documenting the rise of Spain’s anarchist movement, going on the produce The CNT in the Spanish Revolution – an extensive, three volume history of the largest workers’ union in Spain at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. In the last period of his life he said,
“I’ve done almost everything in the CNT: I’ve organised strikes, organised workers, spoken in assemblies, meetings, and given conferences, written articles, attended congresses, used pistols, and, some- times, explosives; I’ve been in jail and collected lawsuits, mainly for libelous press articles. I know what it means to be naked and take a beating in a police station. I was the only secretary of the CNT in exile to enter Spain clandestinely when they were still shooting people!”
Living Anarchism is broken into ten sections (if one includes the excellent summation) which can broadly be divided into two parts – the period leading up to the revolution and period after the revolution’s defeat. If the first section of the book is then a celebration of what anarchism was capable of building when its activists put their minds to it, then the second section is, in contrast, the tragedy of defeat at the hands of fascism and what that came to mean.
Exile
Exiled to South America and later France, Peirats struggled like many of his comrades to make sense of the defeat that had befallen the anarchist movement in Spain. Defeat is never easy and the tragedy was compounded by exile and isolation. A movement of Spanish anarchists abroad came into being but it was riven with division and acrimony. Peirats, more than most, understood the dilemma: the past could not be ignored and yet the movement, if it was to survive and rebuild, needed to move on too. It was a delicate and difficult line to walk along.
Peirats was clearly a product of the university of the class struggle and his early years and reputation as a resolute union activist in the cauldron of Barcelona was something that he never departed from. However, another side to the activist was his strong interest in the practice and spirit of anti-authoritarianism. A significant part of his life – perhaps deriving from his own early exposure to the rationalist/ free school movement in Barcelona – involved a commitment to the ‘athenaeum’: essentially self-organised community centres envisaged as ‘a focal point of social ferment’ for the locality around it. These centres hosted a library, debates, music recitals, evening classes and threatre productions. Before and during the revolution, as well as afterwards in exile, it was this activity surrounding the ‘athenaeum’ that Peirats returned to and was involved with again and again.
Although the person who emerges from his book appears exceptional in many respects, Peirats would have been the first to dispute this, it seems. Describing himself at one point as a ‘worker ant’ he believed himself to be very much a part and a product of the CNT. Clearly he was a talented activist, writer and organiser, but there emerges from this biography a man whose dedication to revolutionary change was absolute. By no means without faults – and this is explored in Living Anarchism – Peirats nevertheless had an abiding grasp of the importance and value of anarchist ideas. Given that he had witnessed the highest point of achievement and an avalanche of low points in its aftermath, he remained largely upbeat, understating near the end, ‘I did what I could despite many obstacles’.
Durruti
In terms of Spanish anarchism we hear a great deal about people like Durruti but activists like Jose Peirats, it seems to me, were a lot closer to the soul of Spanish anarchism. For Peirats anarchism was about democracy, education and the class struggle. In contrast Durruti was far more liable to be off taking a pot shot at some bishop or other – a headline grabbing activity but not necessarily as productive as it sounds or looks.
In 2010, the historian Chris Ealham produced what is undoubtedly one of the best social and political histories of anarchism, namely Anarchism and the City – the story of the rise of anarchism in the Catalonia port city of Barcelona. Now with this account of Peirat’s life he had done us a further service. He admits at the outset that ‘there are many aspects of Peirats life that he finds admirable’ and while this must certainly colour this work, it does not distract from what is a clear and concise account of an anarchist activist’s lived life in revolution and defeat.
Matters have moved on hugely since the revolution in Spain in 1936-37 and Peirats as much as anyone saw this in full measure by the time his life came to an end in 1989. However there is a great deal to learn from this book. The Spanish anarchists combined a practice of militant class struggle with a broad visionary belief in human desire and emancipation. Whatever about claims, dreams and aspirations, in the end it takes people to make politics happen: Peirats was clearly one of those who excelled at this task.
A book to read and treasure.
Barcelona’s El Fossar de la Pedrera
I first read about El Fossar de la Pedrera (“the Quarry grave”) in Michael Eaude’s excellent guide to Barcelona. Writng in 2008, Eaude points out that there is no mention of “the Quarry grave” in any of the standard guides to Barcelona, and then goes on to describe his encounter with Barcelona’s Tourist Office who proclaimed no knowledge of the “the Quarry grave”. It was exactly the same for me when I went looking September last (2010). Like Eaude I was directed to El Fossar de la Moreres, which is a monument related to the siege of Barcelona in in 1714! Despite repeated efforts to explain to the guide at the tourist office about El Fossar de la Pedrera and its connection to the Spanish Civil War, I had no luck. However El Fossar de la Pedrera is marked clearly on many of the good maps of the Barcelona area. I used Michelin’s current Barcelona map and made my way there on foot. It is a long walk admittedly but I got there. For more information see my post Getting to El Fossar de la Pedrera.
El Fossar de la Pedrera was the location for Franco’s bloody revenge against those who had stood against him in the Civil War and afterwards. It was a place of execution and is now the site of a mass grave exclusively connected to the Spanish Civil War. As a place of execution it was chosen for a number of reasons. Firstly because of what it was – the quarry was the ‘common’ or paupers’ grave in Barcelona and for this reason it provided the executioners with an easy and reliable method for the disposing of the bodies of their victims. On execution the dead fell down into cut away section far below and were left there to be buried in unmarked common graves. Something like 4000 people died, and are buried, at El Fossar de la Pedrera – resistance fighters of all hues, from anarchists to republicans; residents of Barcelona who had stood up to Franco and fascism; prisoners of war from the Civil War itself. Indeed many who just showed defiance and resistance to the dictatorship ended up here. The second reason why the ‘Quarry grave’ was chosen was due to its remote location – being on the south side of Barcelona’s Montjuic Cemetery (or Cementiri del Sud-oest in Catalan). Lastly, the execution site was within easy reach of Montjuic Castle where many were held before their execution.
Today El Fossar de la Pedrera is maintained as a memorial to those who fought Franco. Entry is via the main cemetery, but the ‘Quarry grave’ itself is in its own remote corner pinned between cliffs – separated from the main cemetery.
The entrance is marked by steps and rows of tall, square columns. On closer examination one can see the names of the thousands who were executed here, chiseled into the stonework. After you pass through these stark columns one can see the scene of execution clearly ahead. At the very back, the cliff is high above the base of the quarry floor. The executed were shot up there and their bodies fell downwards. Even now it is not difficult to see why this place was chosen – it is remote and quiet and detached from the bustle of Barcelona.
It is a very sad place, of course. When one dwells for any length of time on those who breathed their last here, one cannot escape the sadness that defeat in the Civil War heralded. For many individuals, this place was a lonely, ugly end to years of struggle and vision.
At the same time the “Quarry grave’ today is quite welcoming. It has to be kept in mind that this is one of the few memorials in Spain to the Left and republican cause. It is beautifully arranged and maintained. The floor of the quarry was evened out and landscaped; there are trees and shrubs and the grass is green (unusual in Spain) and well maintained. Different aspects of the Civil War are marked here by different memorials. Given that this is Catalonia there is a special place reserved for Luis Companys, who was buried here until his family reclaimed his body. There are memorials to the guerillas who fought Franco; there is also a memorial to the Holocaust victims; there are numerous others too.
At the very back, at the base of the cliff, are a series of randomly placed individuals plaques. Like miniature tombstones these bear testimony to the grave site of the fallen. Some have the names of individuals written on them, while others are from memorial committees set up to remember the various contingents who went to Spain in 1936 to help with the fight against Franco and international fascism.
Related Articles
- Review: Death In El Valle and Franco’s Victims (kfdoyle.wordpress.com)
- Getting To Barcelona’s El Fossar de la Pedrera (kfdoyle.wordpress.com)
- Anarchism In Action
- The Freedom To Succeed
Franco’s Victims and ‘culture of terror’ in Spain
I met CNT activist Manuel Garcia at this year’s Dublin Anarchist Bookfair where he was speaking about the CNT’s successes in organising workers in the Andalucía region. The anarchist movement in Spain is now in the process of rebuilding its influence among workers and the efforts of activists such as Manuel is central to the success that they are having. On this occasion I wanted to speak to Manuel about the legacy of the Franco dictatorship. (Translation for this interview was kindly provided by José Antonio Gutiérrez Danton.)
KD: The talk you gave just now was excellent. But I want to ask you about a different, though connected, struggle that is ongoing throughout Spain at this present time. This is what is known as the movement for the recovery of historical memory. What can you tell me about this?
MG: As you know the situation on July 19th 1936 was different in different areas of Spain. In many places the people rose up and the revolution triumphed. But in Andalucía the army had the upper hand very early on. So, in effect, in much of Andalucía the people were free for only a very short time. So you cannot properly speak of a civil war in the region. Rather, from the outset, there was a massive act of repression. When the coup happened, within one week, almost the entire region of Andalucía was in the control of the Nationalist troops – that is the Francoist troops that were coming across from Morocco. The truth is that tens of thousands of people died immediately at their hands.
KD: In Andalucía where was the resistance successful?
MG: There was some armed resistance in the mountains of Huelva and in Seville itself but in most places thousands of people were summarily executed. They had no guns in their hands. In the east of Andalucía, the resistance to Franco lasted the longest – around Almeria and that region. But here the repression when it came was even harsher. There is a particularly infamous event that is well documented. As people were fleeing from the Malaga area towards Almeria, after the collapse of the front there, thousands and thousand died on the roads just trying to get refuge. They were bombed and shot down from the skies. It was a slaughter.
KD: What happened once Franco had won the Civil War?
MG: In fact even when the Franco’s dictatorship had won they still considered the situation to be one of war and a veritable war was waged against the workers. In political and cultural terms it was waged with the purpose of annihilating any vestige of resistance. The 40s and the 50s were very harsh years. In other words then we are not only talking about people who were annihilated during this mass initial repression but we are talking about the thousands who were executed later on.
KD: What sort of numbers are we talking about?
MG: It is very hard to know how many died. There is no full record as such. And many of the executions were carried out summarily. And not just by the authorities but often just by the local boss or landowner. This is something of interest to the movement for the recovery of historical memory now. They are trying to piece together exactly what happened. There is a website called ‘We Want All The Names’ which is trying to get the name of each and every person who was executed. It wants to place a short biog with each name to record the situation of all those who suffered repression. This is a job that is being carried out in a very local way.
KD: Is the movement led by families and relatives or by political activists?
MG: Both. This effort is being driven by militants of the left but also in many many cases by relatives. The most important thing for many involved is actually to recover the bodies of the victims and give them a proper dignified burial.
KD: How has the anarchist movement related to his process and movement?
MG: Anarchists are very involved with this movement. As you know anarchism was a very big movement in the lead up to July 1936 and in particular the anarchist oriented union – the CNT – was a key organisation in the revolution. Furthermore the unions and the union movement itself were the main targets of the repression. And it’s fair to say that the CNT in particular was targeted. So we are very involved with the movement to recover historical memory. But not only in the sense of identifying the victims and what happened in this and that situation. As anarchists we are also involved in order to bring awareness on the social structures created and fostered by the dictatorship. What we are talking about here is specifically the culture of fear, of terror that has survived the dictatorship and that is alive in Spain today. There is still a real fear about getting involved in struggles because of the culture of terror that the Franco regime imbedded in society. This fear is alive and it is important to challenge it. So the movement to recovery memory also has an important role to play in addressing this big issue.
KD: It is a very difficult process to go through but necessary? Is that so?
MG: Yes, that is how it is. But it is very necessary because thirty years on from the end of the dictatorship many people who suffered repression are still afraid to speak. And that in part is because repression became a taboo subject for many families. This of course is what the dictatorship wanted. The repression that occurred was very effective in the sense that whole families were criminalised and stigmatised by the regime and the authorities. And this, in many cases, had the effect that the regime desired.
KD: Can you give an example?
MG: Well instead of opposing the regime some people reacted against the Left saying ‘My family was killed because of those ideas (i.e. the ideas of anarchism say)’. And then they often tried to rationalise the situation – the tragedies that had been visited on their families – by saying, ‘Oh look my father was not an anarchist or was not a communist. He was just a good chap and he was killed by mistake.’ So in many cases the response was what the Franco regime wanted deep down: people shied away at a very close level from some of the tragic events that happened around them.
KD: So the present upsurge in efforts to identify victims is a challenge to that?
MG: Yes, in that sense it is very good for Spanish society. And of course it is also very good for people as individuals. Many are finding out their family history for the first time. For example they discover that their grandfather was a militant with the CNT. The family lore may provided some information for example that their grandfather was ‘unusual’ and ‘had never got married but had a family’ or stuff like that. But by looking more closely and delving into the past they discover that say this grandfather had a CNT card. This gives people an understanding of what happened. So they find out the politics of their own family – that they may have been anarchists, communists or republicans – and that there was a reason for those things that may have happened to their families during the time of the dictatorship.
KD: How has the Spanish state reacted to this movement?
MG: There is a law of historical memory. But it is a very restrictive and now they are not even implementing it. So in most cases the work that has been done so far has been done by people acting as individuals. In fact in over 90% of cases it has been down to individual efforts that the graves of victims have been found. And a further example of the opposition in the Spanish state is the prosecution of Judge Garcon who is standing trial now. And for us as anarchist, our view is that this opposition is proof that the current society is in many ways the direct heir of the Franco dictatorship.
KD: The process of recovery memory has accelerated over the last while. Do you have a view as to why this is so?
MG: It’s a complicated matter. The CNT and all sections of the revolutionary left since the democratic opening at the end of the formal dictatorship in 1975 have been fighting for a social memory in order to purge the state apparatus – the judiciary and the police, the military – of fascist elements. But also in order to create awareness of what forty years of dictatorship has meant and what been its effect over ordinary people. For example we have argued that it is very important to rehabilitate the memories of those who resisted not just during the Civil War but actually after. Until recently many of those who opposed the dictatorship were considered as brigands and nothing more. Now the process of finding out what really went on is well underway.
KD: Many thanks for time comrades and my thanks to our fine translator.
Liberty Hall, Dublin May 2010.
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