•
Paul Sharkey
The Friends of Durruti --- A Chronology
J 6 rnl.ulIo flUe cl 1.9 de Julio 10' ttab~illl(.ore. fie, ~lor(eJo"a ..... r~h~l"rf)" contra. el fallcienlo ne:glo. el 9 de rfayo I ... hicleron c:on~ra 148 c:onJura,()ione. c 1;.."lq .... de 109 partido. PC'l"ci\oNblrquele. ",lIad.,. con cl capU all ..no Inlernadonal
Editorial Crisol, Tokyo, Japan May 1984, the first impression of the first edition
Spain postage only Japan donation needed the rest US $1 or its eqpivalent (including surface mail postage) (air mail postage extra) Preface
My hope is that the chronology I'lhich follows may go some of the way towards shedding some light upon the facts about the FoD group. Editorial Crisol, Tokyo, Japan, is a one-man publishing Because the fact is that, although nearly every textbook on the Spanish Revolution feels obliged to mention the group in connection collective whose aims are as follows; , ( ) t ublish Paul Sharkey, The Friends of Durrut1 --- with the May Events of 1937, the scrupulous reader will be confused rather than informed by the wide variety of assertions encountered. a A ~h~Onology, 1984, in English. , Even historians who mieht be expected to be scrupulously dili"ent in (b) to publish the Ja~anese version of HaC1a una nueva their research have penned remarks that can easily be refuted or revolucion, 1985. f h h can't be sustained by evidence. One of the earliest misrepresentations Crisol is composed of only one rnant' and tre~~s~~:e ~f ~~y of the FoD group Came in a pamphlet on the subject of the !.In.y Days t ' cessary fund, translate, ype an which was published by Ediciones Ebro. In reply, the FoD (in El Amigo o~h~~l~rs~~llaneous business so as to attain the above del Pueblo, no.7, 31 August 1937) accused the authors of ' ••• slipshod worlc, poor documentation or an attempt to excuse the I'larped attitude Obj~~;She has been putting Hacia into Japanese: He takfes adopted by the committees concerning our intervention in those days much. encouragernen t from materials, about the Fr1ends 0 of fighting.' 'rhose features are readily dis covered even in more D rruti which are sent to h1m. recent authors. u B the way during the Spani~~ h Revolution, some Jananese The principal allegation against the PoD croup is that, with its wereYinvolved'in the actual battles . Only one pekrsS~nh~s , ized He was Jac 1ral talk of a 'Revolutionary Junta' it was flirting with Bolshevism, Lenin identity has already been rec)gn • 'st who died at the ism, Marxism. Some n.cwe seen presumption in the eetablislunent of (aliaS s~rait' S~~Iayil~r f~~~: Ab~U~o~~~ls e~ next matter. such a Junta. Yet, it was never set up, and a readin/,: of the Fon Brune t e ron, ' .', N York manifesto 'Tol'lards a Fresh Revolution' will show why. The Junta was (a) The Volunteers by Steve Ne 1 son' ,ew , 1953 • 8 to be elected by and accountable to the union rank and file. (b) The Book of the XV Brigade, ~ndrld, ,193 • 'sited [<'unctions were to be rotated and members hip if limited duration. According to a certain Japanese Journalls~"who ~lin Repeatedly authors refer to manifestos C),nnouncing the formi'\tion of S ain those days, several more Japanc ~e pa~t1C1pate But as the Junta. According to the FoD newspaner and to Jaime Balius, it WM', Poth the Republican camps and, the Nat10nallst camps • b never formed. This fact alone makes nonsense of the further cl8im b , th ' ames nor d01ngs h ave een a matter of regx'et, ne1 ther elr n the FoD wanted a Junta to which the FOUM Vlould be admitted. One known down to date., t ' author* has sugeested that ' ••• the Junta ',~nuld aElsuredly have had to If a body has informat10n, documents or tes 1monles comprise the POUM and the "Friends of Durruti"', though he f,oes on to concern~~g the above mentioned Japanese, ple~se sen~dt~:m admit ' ••• though this is not stated; it cannot be otherwise.' A re~din to him. They, even though trivial or uncerta1n, wou of the final, lengthy s:l;atement from the FoD might have explained to him that it could indeed have been otherwise. appreciated invaluably. many tidings in not distant Hopefully, he could get Others.* have perceived in the statements of Jaime Dalius and the future. FoD group the impact of Marxist activists, such as Hans Freud-!·oulin. Publisher Yet one has only to compare the record of such as rablo TIui ,' , J:dme Balius and Francisco Carreno with that of the youthful Moulin, or to contact; ISOYA Takero read the admission by those very same authors that they themselves clo Tokiwa-so needed an interpreter in Spain and that :0 oulin had despaired of the Minami-kase 2516 Bolshevik-Leninists' factionalism, and review Balius's consistent Saiwai-ku outlook from 1936 onwards to realise that such as ~bulin were Kawasaki-shi influenced by the FoD and not vice versa. 211 JAPAN Hh.,'lt of the propriety of anarchists Cill) inl': for a revolutionary Junta? Some of the harshest criticisms hC'.ve come from the leading lights of the CN'r-FAI,and their apologists. Before entering the republican goverment in November 1936, the CN'r .had been callinl;. for a National Defence Council. ~rom May 1937 on the FoD were cnlling for Revolutionary Junta. In their brochure of mid-1938 the FoD described this as ' ••. a Revolutionary Junta or National Defence vouncil.' So
1 \~ho had departed from CN'i' policy? The FoD spoke of seizing power and ** Pavel and Clara Thalmann Combats pour la _L_i berte; ~;os cou have been condemned for it. Yet Solidaridad Obrera (13 July 1937) Madrid-Paris, Quimperle, 1983. ' approvingly quotes Camillo Berneri as saying; 'Anarchists accept the use of political-power by the proletariat, but they take that political power to be the ensemble of communist management systems, KU Letter t~ Union (;ommuniste, dated 17 November 1937 (quoted in H. corporative organisms, communal, regional and national institutions, ~hnze, ChrgnlQue de la Revolution Espanole, Ed. Srartacus, Paris freely constituted outside of and against the political monopoly of ,9 79). In esar M. Lorenzo's Los Anarquistas ~spanoles y el rOde~, one pE.rty and vIi th a view to minimal concentration of administration.' Inris, 1972, 1orenzo speaks of Union vommuniste speaking on behalf of Read the FoD brochure and Balius's articles in 1936 - 37 and spot the FoD, the POUM and some elements of the Libertarian Youth and the difference between what he advocated and the words of Berneri. ~alling f?r the formation' of these groUP!! . into a unit for_the Where, the,n, did the FoD err? Not in departing from accepted lab)oratlon 0: th~ progamme of the proletarian revolution.' (p.219 libertarian objectives and practices but in clinging stubbornly to ~.32 ~orenzo lS mlsleading here. He ought to know that Union ' them, in refusing to be seduced by 'circumstances!~ They believed, ,(;O mmunlste ~as ,a small group which had grown out of the Ligue with Evelio G. Fontaura that 'To invoke the CN'r or even the FAI is ~rots~s teoln vrance and was urging this amalgamation rather than not enough, if actions turn out to be equidistant from the por~l ng It, and also that the manifesto he quoted was a handbill revolutionary trajectory which the letters in question stand for' ( distr1~uted at a meeting in the Velodrome d'Hiver, Paris, 18 June Ideas, 14 January 1937). Even in the matter of their expulsion the 'FoD 1937! lts purpose ° beinG to expose and embar o, ss the speakers, Garcia ha'dOccasion to remind the CN'l'-FAl 'leadership' of the accepted norms Oliv1er an~ Feder1ca Montseny, who had 'pacified' the anarchists in of their organisations and that sovereignty resided with the rank and Barcelona 1n May i937. file. Andre Prudhommeaux regarded the FoD's policies as approximate to the views advanced by Bakunin after the battle of Sedan in 1670***. 'rhe chief fault of the Foll. appears to have been their too stead fast revolutionism. They refused to yield to the argument of 'circumstance'. They refused to be bullied by their own organisation. 'rhey were not deceived by the Stalin of the Populc>,r Front era, nor by the Moscow trials. Nor were they afraid to acknowledge the revolutionary credentials of Marxists. Yet they sorely resented the description marxist when applied to themselves. In short, they were unlucky enough to have held that anarchism was and had been and still *** *** *** *** *** would be their goal. In El Amigo del Pueblo, no.3 (12 June 1937) Ada Marti paid tribute to a POUM member, Francisco Jorda Montana, who had nroven her revolutionary credentials by her actions. l"ittingly, it The Friends of Durruti --- A Chronology was Ada ~1arti, writing elsewhere who encapsulated what the FoD were so painfully to discover throughout their existence and in their dealings with the CNT's 'circumstancialists'. 'And I tell you thisj there are no friends in high places. Fear of losing their "dignity" makes them strike majestic poses which distance them from remembrance of their friends.' (Esfuerzo, Baroelona, 7 October 1937) Paul Sharkey April 1984 8.9.36. that 'The ~~!!!n~fi~h!o~!~:ri~ad Obrer:,Jaime Baliuq gives his opinion * Helmut Ruediger, El Anarcosindicalismo en la Revolucion B en war mus be borne by the bou ° Espanola, Barcelona 1938, p.32. Elsewhere (p.29) Ruediger attempts ut in addition to moneys seized from the enemy we must imrgeo1S ••• to explain away the emergence of a disaffected libertarian press ~~~pulhasory charge ~n every township. No one is' to be exempt~~S~r~m (including El Amigo del Pueblo) py alluding to the ' ••• unduly bland 15 c rge. In thlS grave hour ';e u t nature of certain official organs.' For Ruediger's own adherence to Ba~ r~fices so that th~ social re~ol:t~O/~:;a~;i~~~~~l:~~ i~rs~~~~~er the precepts of anarchism, . see Manuel Azaretto, Las Pendientes no e forgotten that the comrades on the front are . Resbaladizas (105 Anarquistas en Espana), Montevideo, 1939· conduct of the workers left behind in the rearguard.~ountlng upon the
3 2 November 1936. Interviewea by L'E . October 1936. 'rhe War Committee of the Durruti Column decides to ~f th~ government decrees relative "~pagne Ant~fasciste, Durruti says send a delegate to the celebrations on the anniversary of the October • •• This decision 'b the 0 regurallsation of the militias Revolution in Moscow. Sceptical as to the purpose of the invitation i 1j,:alJsolutel;r de1}oid ~f"an governm~nt hae had a deplorable effect. It received from the Soviet consul in Barcelona, Antonov-Ovsenko . irre oonci~bl~ 6ont~ 't -b y sen~e Of , r~~lity. There i~ an Durruti nonetheless dravlS up an oren letter add.ressed to soviet m lit1I:1B' ~ '.'. 'We kno:\ha~tween ' that m~nta1ity and 'that of the militia:;: e of the other one.' one of these attitudes h!il:a to vanish in the workers. Francisco Carreno, the former teacher who belongs to the rll Column's i'lar Committee and has special responsibility for propaganda is ohosen as the delegate. 'rhe open letter says 'We have no confidence ') . 11.36. in politics even if it e;o es by the name demo cratic or antifascist. We Solidaridad Obrera 't ' trust in our class brothers ( ••• ) not for anythi ng in the world are over the CN'r-FAI radio stat.. prln s a radlo broadcast made by Durruti Oatalonia. 'The time ha 1. cm , and addressed to the workers of we going to renounce our principles, the principles of the working 1 I ving in the cities 'rhs come to dem and sacr i fices also from those struggle for liberation.' Carreno vis its the Soviet Union c l ~ S B 'S workers in the rear 'fO ere m~st be effective mobilisation of all I-li th riJartin Gudel!. Carreno Ivill be a FoD member. what sort of men we' canrr:~ w 0 ar~ already on the front want to know lho mi litarisation decreed ~yutPhon 1.n our rear ••• If the object of ' e Generalidad it· t· . o st a n lron discl' pll'ne u s 0 In lmldate us and Balius who , in 1935 had publ i s hed a book (Octubre Catala n! I) r i pon u~ that' . . on the s ubject of t he Oct ober 1934 upris inf, in catalonia 1,rites in an rlttthors of the decree to come o~~ t 1.S a mIstake and we invite the a rt i cle in solidaridad Obrera entitled ' ~ e cannot f orget; 6 October ' morale and discipline. The h l~ the front to get a taste of our rmd discipline in the rearn wedS a go and compare those with morale a pr ouos of Cata lanis t atte mpt s to mark the s econd a nniversary of the ar r evolt. 'ori the s e cond a nniversary of t he October event VIe have t.o ntrust the management of tguh ••• He who have left Catalonia I • e economy to you Y 1 uree a l l \-!O rkers to ensure tha t the revolution permeates every aspect .0 your responsibilitie s an d d'lsclpllne .. yours• e lveou s a.' so mtta' live up of life . 'l'he consequences \"1 i ll be deplorable i f the t r a nsformation ina u[,ura ted on 19 July s hould be nothing more than an outward s how••• ?O . 11.36. 6 October deserves to be passed over in s ilence. a longside the : ~ et million Durruti was killed on the ~i adrid front. (Over half a feat s of July, there i s no comparison poss ible.' people attend his funeral in Barcelona.)
10.10.36. A government de cree establishes the popular Army and makes Por 108 fucro8 de la "Verdad provis ion for militarisation of the volunteer militias.
15. 10 .36• In solidaridad Obrera, Jaime Balius compl a ins of the No 80lIl08 agente8 counter-revolutionary undertones of the pet it-bourgeo i s press a nd warns a gainst apnlying a brake to the revolution. ' The Revolution has t o be s erved 'l'Ii thout s elfis hness ••• Let a ny who fee l unable to folIo provocadore8 u s step aside and leave u s a clear path.' por JAIME BALIUS
In Solidaridad Obrera, Balius urges decentralisation and oidosHall el fra,ortranscurrido del combate muy· pocas Pa horas de las j orn!, d as de mayo. Aun perdura en nueslros que, auroleados de una ten,aOlos a nuestro lado aquellos camaradn! devolution to district level. 'Let us not forget that there must be N t mo;eda;"~:d~:\:u:n , e saron con .u frente el pavimento barcelones decentralisation. Let us remember that should any centralising organ ues ro cuerpo y nuestro. nervlos e.tan t d . . Nos sentlmos maltrechos y fatlrad 0 aVla presos de aquella a,ltacion lilantina. come into existence, the creative opportunities which have cost so conceptos que se han vertldo cont os'1 pero nos scnt l mos dolorldos, en Irado sumo, por 105 much blood and for which so much blood has yet to be shed ••• will ., a la revoluclon, qulslthos 'defend~: u::asca;::;c~:~:s q:: Ctuber~ntes de amor a las Ideas largely be lost to us.' mento y a cada Instante por los s to e· as ve am os rasladas a cada 010· I\quellos hombres que saivaron ;c ~e~ que deberian tencr un poco de conslderaclon a a spana, en las jornadas de julio del predomlnlo fasclsta.
5 4 2.12.36. Jaime Balius writes in Solidaridad Obrera , 'The so-called I 37. Catalan question as such has been resolved ••• Let us be equal to the . After the new year the government will issue no pay and no demands of the present moment.' qU1pment except to regularised (i.e. militarised) combat units.
6.12.36. Hriting in Solidaridad Obi'era on the subject of 'Durruti's testament', Balius asserts, 'Durruti roundly stated that we anarchists On behalf of the Durruti Column, the following units ••• require that the revolution be of an all pervasive (totalitario) I,h . no.4 Gelsa detachment, the'Accion y Alegria' Group, the Inter nature, and that the comrades so steadfastly resisting fascism on the 1\~~lonal Group, the artillery batteries,. the machine-gunner secti"ns fields of battle ~dll not tolerate anyone tampering with Itld 0 ther centuries ••• issue a statement "1'0 the comrades, to the revolutionary and liberating content of the present moment.' ! onf deral columns' protesting at militarisation and offerinc' a pnoific structure acceptable to the fighting men They clai~ to December 1936. p(n.k 'On behalf of everyone of the centuries of'the Durruti Column' 'l'he German volunteers in the Durruti Golumn's ""Ap~p arently the government is making the provision of equipment International Group express their objections to militarisation imposed (onditlonal upon our militarisation ••• According to what the from I'li thout and list a number of factors they insist should be '(lmm~ttees themselves say, they cannot give us any as"urances that the incorporated into any nel~ military code; they want the delegate system Mnd :nd government will supply us with the equipment even if we do to be re tained along I·d th egalitarian features and want soldiers' Illllitarise. That being the case, the trespalls against our principles Councils to represent the army as a I"hole. wnnl~ be rewarded with nothing more than an empty promise.' rhis ITlIJnU esto is published in the paper Acracia of Lerid.a. In the FoD 17.12.36. 11 wopaper (El Amigo del PUeblo, no.5, 20 July IJ37) this m1'J.nifesto is In Solidaridad Obrera, Jaime Balius says of opportunists J'( printed and it is stated ••• 'On the date given at the foot of thE' and upstarts that "rhe revolution must be harsh, we might even say lII11nifesto, the Friends of Durruti group, composed for the most part of brutal ••• 'l'he time has come to purify the cadres of the revolution. n()mr~des from ~he Aragon Front, Durruti Column (Gelsa section) Unless >~e do this, Vie risk making, a superficial revolution, a pnbllshed opinlons rec;ard:ing militarisation which the passage of time revolution in name ·o!lly. 'rhe parvenus must be stopped.' III V endorsed against the 'majority' \-Iho opposed it' ••• 'Even from III front line, amid the mud of the trenches, amid the cold and the lhlrst , watching our comrades fall day in day out, we opposed the Issue number 1 of Ideas the mouthpiece of the libertarian \n'ti-revolutionary suicidal course followed b', those l'lho were the movement in the Bajo Llobregat area, an area notorious for its III ntors of our organisation.' intransigent revolutioniam. A list of contributors to its columns names Jaime Balius and Francisco Carreno, both of whom will be 11l.1.37. members of the FoD. 'rhe General idad government of Ga talonia passes 58 de crees verelY 'curtailing the revolution.
No .. queda ot!O camina que el de una nueva revoluci6n. Vayamos a su .Ilreparac16n. Y en e1 fragor de la nueva gesta nos vo1veremos a enc~htrar en la cal1e 105 camaradas que hoy batallan en 105 fr~ ntes, 105 .camaradas que yacentras rejas y lo~ camaradas que El descenso de la revoluci6n de julio ha sido r~pido. Ninguna. en la hora actual adn no han perdido la esperanza de una revo de las revoluciones que se consideran como el arquetipo de las luci6n que rinda justicia a la clase trab~jadora. • conmociones sociales sufri6 un declive tan vertiginoso. No puede teorizarse en torno de la sucesi6n.escalonada de hechos A la consecuci6n de una nUeva revoluci6n que d~ satisfacci6n c~mpl eta a 10s obreros de la,ciudad y del campo. A la consecu porque la revoluci6n ya no existe. Es forzoso abrir nuevamente c16n.de una sociedad anar4uista que d~ satisfacci6n alas aspi brecha en la cantera inagotable de la Espafia pro1etaria. Hay que raciones humanas, volver a empezar. IIAdelante, camaradas!(
6 '1 5 - 8. 2 .31. 4.3.31. Delegates from the anar chist mi l iti "" IIIIH1t hl ooneres s A decree from the Generalidad dissolves the control patrols. in Valencia to diRcuss the question of mi li t nr-hm l. i (1 11 . 'I'hn oh,I ectors In the POUM paper La Batalla, Andres Nin reprints large extracts from from the Durruti Column (Gelsa sector) a r e rf'pro""o tlL nd It,Y i'll lllo fl.uiz, an article by Jaime Balius published in the CN'r eveninr,- paper La Noche. who helped Durruti storm the Ataraza nas barro.okll ,in IIII I'rn lcm:' on 20 (Balius was director of La Noche which, along \'Iith Catalunya sold July 1936. 'rhe Gelsa o.bjectors were sever a.l ti rn ~lIi ' ,l nd "\ lf1 \. lld to 'adhere around 45,000 copies daily ••• figures from SOlidaridad Obrera, 2 April to the decision taken reearding milita ri SCl. t ion. ]n.lll l1 o l,I"'111 1.0 this 1931). In that article, welcomed by Nin, Baiius had written '\~e 11 effect from the Reeional Committees of the CN'~ 11. 1111 1"/\ I w" ,." I " nored. anarchists have arrived at the limits of our concessiong •••• Not So Was the order that the refractories s h.-, u lcl 1 a,V \' 1, ,, 1 I' [I cl()I~ 1I I~ c ',~ro ns another step backward. It is the hour of action. Save the r~volution' and quit the front. Ho s tility between the compli(1.nL ,,,,d \' 11 " "I) f" 'uctory and 'If we continue to give up our positions there is no doubt that in sections of the Durruti Column was so ser i OU G thnL n "I/lII IIII"n lon from a short time we shall be overwhelmed and the revolution will simply be the column, headed by Jose Man;o;ana spoke with th(' )'1)/'.1111111 .) 1'" l11rn i ttees another souvenir. It i s for this fundamental reason that it is on the SUbject. As a result, the militiamen at GC]I"l Wil l '" I "v l Lod to necessary to develop a new orientation in our movement.' Dalius also li resolve the situation one way (by militaris inp;) or 1. 11" p l.II'J I' (hy wrote that he was eratified to find tha t 'Our anxiety is now shared by quitting the front). 'l'hey af:reed t o quit the f r ont II l1 d 1 ~lv" 1Ip their the evening paper of an organisation ,Ii th which we are in fundnmenta.l "ea pons within 15 days. Later the FoD would explain (Ill ISI /\iII ICg~ agreement concerning the present r evolutionary epoch and the role of E..ueblo, no.5, 21 July 1931) ' Our l·Jithdrawa l 'from th" " ""1 1. Will' clue to the working class.' Clearly that organisation was the pourn. the f a ct that ~le had no des ire to assulDe reponsibilll v ,1'0 " It 1II1 C1 ~ak4eil attitude whose failure we foresaw. Now, back in the 1'!)/II'/U"II'II, wo remain combatants.' 5-3.31. Solidaridad Obrera carries an announcement of the f ormation of the FoD group. "rhe Friends of Durruti is not just another club. We aim to see the Spanish Revolution per va ded by the revolutionary acumen ~ of our DurrutL 'rhe FoD remain f a ithful to the l ast words uttered by our comrade in the heart of Barcelona in denunciation of the work of c. N. T. the counter-revolution •••• To enrol in our association, it is vital F".A.I. that one belong to the CNT and sho~1 evidence of a record of struggle a love of ideas and the revolution. On a temporary basis, a pplications Agrupadon IILos f may be made at Rambla de Cataluna , 15,principa l ( CNT Journalis t s' omigos de Durruti' Section) between 5.00 pm a nd 1.00 pm.'
8.3.31. iTRABAJADORES .. i The forma tion of the PoD is .announced in the paees of Frente, the organ of the Durruti Column, printed in Pina de Ebro, Aragon. Una Junta revolucionaria, Fusilamiento de los cu lpnbles, 11.3&31. Desarme de todos Ics Cuerpos armados. A FoD meeting scheduled for 9.30 pm that day in wha t i s Socializaci6n de la economia. described as the group's 'social Premises' at Rambla de las Flores, 1, Disoluci6n de los Partidos politicos que hayan agredldo Cl la 1 is announced in ?olidaridad Obrera. The purpose of the meeting is to c!ase trabajadora. elect a new steering committee and lay do wn the statutes governing the group. 'At the same time we appeal to militants of some standing No cedamcs la caile. La revoluci6n ante todo. and various organisms with a view to forming a group that will live up Saludamos a nuestros , Camaradas del P. O. U. M. que tHIn entirely to the precepts bequeathed to us by the martyr of .the ideal, contraternizado en la calle con nosotros. the idol of the People.' VIVA lA REVOlUelON SOCIAL... jABAJO lA CONTRAREVOlUCIONI 20.3.31. Solideridad Obrera ca~ries notice of a FoD meeting schedule ~ for 11.00 am, 21 March 1931. This notice i " repeated on the folJowing day.
8 9 1.4.37. Ruta, the organ of the Libertarian Youth in Catalonia Issue no.6, vol.I! of the FOUlil's T~nglish language organ, carries an article by the FoD entitled ' On behalf of _the' anarchist The Spanish Revolution (31.3.37.) notes a move by the CNT to - concept of the revolution.' It says 'l'le point the finger at no one. We centralise authority in its regional committees. Those committees only feel a burning love for our precepts and our organisations. Bilt- as are emnowered to decree mobilisations, issue orders and watchwords, militants of them, we have an indisputable right to speak out. 'l'here etc. ' All who do not act accordinG to these rules and agreements ~rill is still time for us rescue the revolution and revitalise our precepts be publicly expelled from the organisation.' but \~e must press on with the revolution.'
The paper The Spanish Revolution from which the autho:: quotes here was the POUM's English-language o::gan publlshed Balius article 'Let's make the r evolution' appears in Ideas, in Barcelona under the editorship of the Amerlcan Charles. no.15. Speaking of- the presumption of Companys, Balius says 'It~ intolerable that an individual without the sli~htest support in the Orr. And besides, there was another paper ?alled.The Sp~nlsh workplaces should try to arrogate to himself the power which rightly Revolution published in New York by ~he Unlted Llbe::tarlan belongs only to the working people •••• But the bourgeois politicians _ Organisations. Each of them was reprlnted. Int~restlngly, are not to blame for this, for after all t his i !?, their stock in trade. S~m Dolgoff (pseud. Sam Weiner), who wa~ an edlt?r of the. No. To apportion the blame for the revolution's not having swept as ide anarchist The Spanish Revolu~ion and wrltes ~he 1~troductl0n the foes of the working class, one has to look to the workers' ranks to the reprint of the an8Tchlst paper, says ln S011 of •.• to those whose indecision in the early stages allowed:_the 'forces, Liberty, vol.8 no.2, that Russell Blackwell, who writes the of counter-revolution to erow to the extent that now it will be a introduction to the reprint of ~he P?UIVlist paper, was . a costly business to cut them down to size.' member of the Friends of Durrutl durlng the May Days ln Barcelona in 1937. (publisher) As the birthday celebrations of the Second Republic a pproach, the FoD issues a leaflet address ed 'To the working people'. It records the dangers posed to the revolution by the State, Programa ~evolu£ionaN parliamentary' socialism, government-controlled security -forces oand- an • a ttempt to shift attention away from July 1936 to April 1931. 'A wave rlo de la Agrupa£ion of reaction is fed by those segments of the middle class which re~y u pon the praetorian corps spawned by the bourgeois stage for backing.' (/I • •• 'If we retreat in the face of our enemies we will be ousted from Allligo§ de Durruti·. t he whole Penin~la. Let us not waver.' ••• 'We possess the organs which must replace the s tate which is in ruins. 'rhe unions and the _, U oa Jnota ReTolncionaria. municipalities must take charge of the economic and social life of the Peninsula . THE CLEAR AND OBVIOUS SOLlfrION ••• FREE UNIONS Arm FR EE El Poder econ6mico a 108 Sio... ~IUNICIPALITIES .' ••• 'parliamentary socialism ••• has a content more bourgeois than worker. ' ••• 'We are not prepared to tolerate the shame dicdtoll. f ul situation ~Iher e by fascists stroll throup;h the streets and a ne s t of place-seekers is respected - while our comrades linger in j a il LOll Mtinicipi08 IibIell. a wai ting their a ppears, nee in the dock.' •.• ' Ive want no part of 14 April. Its memory is obnoxious. Only the parasites of politics can commemorate it.' ••• '14 April is not a day for demonstrations . We know the meaning of the April masquerade. And because we do not ~ant July to end up like the hopeless early days of the Republic we Queremoll lIenar una etapa. resolutely oppose those who espouse the April anniversD.ry and the f igure of a lawyer raised to the heights of presidential office.' (a SOIDOI Ana. quilltall. reference to Companys)
11 10 See note 1. Solidaridad Obrera carries a notice concerning the funeral arranr,ements for one Francisco Garcia, which, it says, will be The FoD hold a public meetine; in the Goya Theatre, Barcelona . of especial interest to the "Friends of Durruti.'" They warn that an attack upon the Norkers is imminent, pointing to the funeral of Roldan Cortada , the revolt by the carabineers in Ripoll. 19.4.37. and other provocations as part of a series of incidents planned in The FoD hold a public meeting in Barcelona in the Foliorama eovernment circles by representatives of so-called antifascist groups. rheatre. It is attended by Jaime Balius, Pablo Huiz, I"rancisco Pellice (of the Iron Column) and l"rancisco Carreno (of the Durruti Column's \'/ar Committee). Balius, Ruiz and Pellicer belonged, along with Bruno Rodriguez Sala of the PSUC seiz es the 'relephone F,x c hanp:e in Llado,to the same anarchist group, the 'Renacer'group of the FAI. Barcelona. 'l'his signals the start of the May Events which pit the eN I' , leAI, 1i'IJL and POUM e,gainst the PSUC, the re publicans and Cat~lanist s and the official security forces. 'rile revolutionary f orces had soon secured the city, all except the city centre. Just as GN'r-FAI f)efence Al pueblo frabajador Committee had resolved to make a final a ssault on the Generalidad buildine, Police Headqunrters and the Hotel Colon' there came radio appeals by Garcia Oliver and Marano Va 7quez of the CNT , for a - ceasefire EL MOMENTO ACTUAL ~ .. "urliUm,,:o. :-;ur"lrn~ rrrrt~f',,""IU ." V.I.",lo I' ... ~" May). The reformist forces availed of this chance to renel-l their """ I. "hllR":JCio" .If' IIh",lar 11 ~h'GIG • dl",I"r. • EAI.,..o. 'I'h'ltndo uno d~ 10. I",hnln ma .... ul",ln.nl~" d. I. r .... oludOn up.... "I •. El F._~I.do u"II.II~h. qUit "ulrlo attacks. The conflict broke out again • 'nl .rrt.., .. t1d. 'armid.bl .. Irn bit mtmonblt'!! Jnrlllctu dt' )ullo, It m.nllltnt 10d'1'I. t" pie pOt I. ohr. ltonln1"", I.:\!-l l1'F.TF.:,\TIONES DE VALENCIA ,"oh,(lo".,I. 011 ,. ptqut'lI. bur,aul.. • Y fH·: OU-:!-l .\ nE ~1Il:-;TSERn:\T Un' 0"·.013 It .. ,,,,nto,, It" .I\",,,nl.d. pflr I".. .. ulnf'" dt 1. cl .... " '''''fU, qll(' .t rt11'1.1dlln tn I"" (11\'1'1''''' flrt'ln. L::t r'lnlnHc" .. luclOn "' ",.,,!flu" par dQq"lar. U ••• The FoD issue leaflets, readin~ 'CNT, FAI, The Priends of rl.not ".ddo. In I, el.p' bur,lIl'1'. Incid.·,H.· ..... furd,I ..... ,'n Vllltnel. , ." Olu ••h W."I"n.' Lt ui"l:I de I. Gtn",.lId.d It" lIn, dt'm'\ ~ 't:tciti" tah" h:a .. ,,,,,Ii, .,1 .. III rtelend.h, d. tin '1" •• ' •• f. 4, ...... Durruti Group., Workers! A Revolutionary Junta. Shoot the culprits. lorlc. d., !lUt ... h. dt t .. lrvdur.r un ","ntl" nu.· .... "rt',.. 1':"1",,.. 4:lndltnrln, POt tnhro, dt I .. fnrn"!! 1' .. '.1.1\· ... I_I r.,,·t1;:I 1,'-".lIt:l. qu .. I. "1,,",, 'al.,0.4. pof I, p •• Disarm all of the armed corps. Socialise the economy. Dissolve the 11.1 1I,· .. "tI" I. hurl do:o quco 1:1 1.."1.,,, ,It· :,,·..,u,·",,·· h.,,.. ~ ..... i;, .. ur::u.".~i . l. EL It DE A8JUL Peninsular Committee, the Local jcederc>.tion of (;Wr unions, the He{;ion 12 13 libertarian movement; this obliges us to disown it in full and in democratic powers are blatantly supportine fascism.' ••• 'Let us not public. abandon the streets.' ••• 'Comrades. a wa r footine. Do not lose heart. Let this be noted by all comrades and by the public in general. lie On Be on the alert for the first summons issued to you. Long live the categorically disol·m this leaflet and point out that yesterday l'Ie social revolution! iJO';/fl with the counter-revolution! All nraise to our found ourselves obliged to disol1n another by that very same body. fallen comrades.' He of the regional committees of the CN'r and FAI are not disposed to let anyone speculate with our organisations, nor may anyone flirt with dubious attitudes or maybe the intrigues of outright agents This manifesto is reported in Solidaridad Obrera with the provocateurs. . words "rhe body called the "Friends of Durru-ti" has issued a new Let everyone adhere to the specific watchl'lOrd of these comml tte:s. manifesto which a fresh display of !,rovo~ation adorned with demarogy. 'rhe Generalidad Council havinG been formed, everyone must accept Its 'l'he CN'r and the FAI must excise this intolerable demagogy and decisions for we all are represented in it. Get the guns off the provocation by the roots and immediately.' stt'eets. ' Also on 6 May, the FaD issues a larger manifesto headed with the '.ords '''NT FAI Friends of Durruti Group, \~orkers'. It reviews the . v, , )" l' 1 t· The regional Com~ittee of the UGT, meeting in BRrcelona the fighting, (then still in progress and the FoD sear ler a er Ing demands that members of the POm.! be expelled from the UG'r, the party of the Norkers to the imminent attack. It names the provocateurs as be disbanded, out la.Hed , its press shut down and its printine; C1. nd the P})uC, Estat Catala, the Esquerra and the Generalidad-controlled radio facilities confiscated ••• 'acting in the same fa~hion ae;ainst security forces with the Valencia government and Generalidad orr,anisations of the type of the "l"riends of Tlurruti" disOl·men by the governm'ent in the background. 'lfe have VIon the stre:ts l'fhich we ha,:,e CNT's regional cnmmittee.' no vlish to surrender, for they belong to us, \'Ie havlng taken them In an open and resolute battle.' ;i peaking of the May. fighting, the FoD explain that ".'le have not taken to the streets slmply to request that The first issue of thel"oJ) paper El Amigo del Pueblo the armed corps be disarmed. No. Ife want the du~ recompense for th~ appears. It has been printed at the Impremta Laietana, Bou de Sant blood which has been spilled.' ••• "rhe Generalldad represents nothlng. Pere, 9. The FoD have attempted (pa~e 2) to present -their publicationp. Its continued existence is a bolster to the counter-revolution.' ••• (the- manifesto of 61 May i937) alongside the datement iSf'ued by the 'It is inconceivable, that the CNT's committees should have acted so regional committees of the CNT and Libertari2.n and the Liaison cravenly as to order a ce<.l.se-fire and indeed have imposed a return to Committee of the FAI groups in Catalonia on 11 May 193 7 spelling out rk J'ust vlhen we were on the very brink of total victory.' ••• ' Such their attitude to the May Events. 'rhe purpose was to enable readers woconduct must be described as a betrayal of the revo 1 u t·lone ••• one to make up their own minde which Vie\i was the most correct. No less that no one ought to commit or encourage in the na~e 0: anything. We than 109 lines of the FoD document have been obliterated by the ind words to describe the harm done by Solldarldad Obrera and ~n not f , . censor. The FoD note that their manifesto has received the endorsement the most outstandingmilitarits'of1the·CN'r.' ••• "['he dis'a"irol-Ial'from' of a group of wounded comrades in the Humania hospital and another the CNT's so-called re~ponsible committees has come as no surpr~se to group of comrades from Hijar. Repe".tedly the FoD insist (as 16 17 22.6.37. El Amigo del Pueblo no.4 appears. It reports the arrest of 21.'1. 1(. Jaime Balius (as a result of the information given by 'rreball?). T'; I Amigo. del Prieblo no.8. Reports a raid by 'armed po] ice Replyinp; to an article in Las Noticias (18. 6. 37.), the FoD deny that l'ri I,ll I /11 rInd artillery 6n the premises of the GIlT Food Union, a they and the Libertarian Youth spearheaded the May fighting ••• 'Had uni"" 11\ which the FoD had much supnort. 23 individuals on the premiser" the Groups named been behind the revolt, \oIe should not in <"ny way>hs,ve wor III r r, trd,. The FoD state 'Once again, for the hundredth time, the given up control of the streets.' An article from Balius ane;rily commlLLr t opted to compromise, on the basis of who knows what insists that the allegation (by Fragua ;)ocial, et CNT paper in Valencia) compllrllLI()no at national level. ... ["or tactical reasons we are that he is a Marxist, be SUbstantiated or withdrawn. Like the preo~ding a((n I flrt L nonfrontat ions 1-li th the security forces. These receive the ir is~ue, no.4 carries an article by Juan, Santana Galero, the press and orc! r"1I I'rom s omeone and carry them out. In this specific instance we propoganda secretary of the Catalan Regional Committee of the must d Inoover who gave the order. No matter who he may bC', he must be Libertarian Youth. See note 4. hunt rI dOlm at gunpoint in the streets as a threat to public peace, even l r he is in government.' ? ]~l Amigo del Pueblo no.'). El Amigo del Pueblo no.5 appears. It contains a review B.11.37. of the dispute between the FoD and the 'superior committees' and El Amigo del l'uct)lo no.lO. Criticif'es the collaboration the text of the document 'To the comrades, to the confederal Columns' (Gelsa, 16 January 1937). ists of the GNT for allo1-lin~ the ~overnment to creep back and to consolidate its hold "l'o think that for six months all of the interests of the or/;otnlnlllion hn.ve played second fiddle to thiE' bagatelle • ... 'rhe "I"rlnndo of Durruti" maintain, that only a congress can chnnr,r lh CNJ"s tactioB". Anyone so unscrupulous as to sidestep this ro~uirumrnt makes himself a likely candidate for the label "traitor" .. .' 20.11.37. 12.B.37. ~ "miC,Cl_dol Pueblo no.ll. A commemorative issue on El Amigo del Pueblo no.6. It is indicated that this issue the anniveroar,Y of lJurruti's death. On page 2, it is noted' Durruti has been printed by the Imp. Libertaria, Perpignan, France. Much of told the politlolnrln and his own comrades; You demand discipline. Bul the content deals \o1i th the prisons, probably the result of the "That are you doinr: in the rearguard? And on more than onE' occasion, observations of the jailed Jaime Balius who continued to write from he gave aAGUrnnOI'f] thn.t once lk'wing triumphed on the fields of battle confinement. the militian wonl(] turn their gunsights upon the reargua,rd.' ••• 'The temperament of our lost leaders is the same as that which moves the 31.B.37. "Friends of f)urruLi" group. Durruti knew that, unless the enemy was El Amigo del Pueblo no.7 contains a oritique of a pamphlet cru8hed, tho Jlr~th of revolution could not be foU owed.' On page 3 on the ~lay Events published by Edi ciones Ebro. 'rhe pamphlet had the 'Durruti wnn It 100 ~~ proletarian. Had he lived until May, he would FoD announcing 'A revolutionary Junta has been formed in Barcelona', not have elldorncd the "ceasefire" but swept aside every compact, and adding 'T1E POUM must be admitted to the Revolutionary Junta every compromino behind the scenes and 110uld have placed himself at because it stood by the workers.' 'rhe l~oD move on in this critique the head of thnt class revolt.' to make the fol101ving points 'One; We could not speak of a Revolutionary Junta having been set up because in point of fact none had been formed. Two; The said Junta not having been set up we could mid-193B. not have invited a place in it for the P(1U]11 comrades. 'rhree; We salute Appearance of 'Towards a Fresh Revolution', a fuller the POUM because we saw them on the streets defending the working exposition of the views and aims of the ~oD. The decision to issue the class's interests.' brochure was taken in mid-1938 at what Jaime Balius deflcribed in 197R as 'the group's last session'. IB 19 Notes of a Local Plenum of Groups at which the matter was raised again. ' ••• certain elements asked unsuccess fully that we a.bsent ourselves 1. According to Pavel and Clara 'rhalm "