This collection consisted of photos from children’s colonies that were established during the Spanish Civil War by the Spanish Republic. While most of the pictures are from colonies in Spain, there are others from colonies that were established in France and England. The Finding Aid said that 200,000 of 60,000 refugees were children (!).
The photos show children playing basketball, climbing trees and exercising. There are photos of grand buildings in which the colonies were housed. The finding aid helped to explain this: many of the colonies were established in, “rural estates that had been abandoned by fascist sympathizers.” There were also photos of kids in the fields, sewing clothes, etc.
One of the estates.
The most interesting part of the collection was the selection of photos that had been used as propaganda for the Republic’s Children’s Aid organization.
Stamp of the Republic Children's Aid organization certifying that this photo was used as propaganda.
If we were to group the photos and look solely at the ones that were printed as propaganda, an interesting picture emerges. The selected photos show grand estates and laughing, happy children. There are pictures of spacious dining areas, children reading and rooms filled with toys. These pictures, I suppose, would have been used to present to the Spanish a favorable view of the Republic: the Republic was taking care of their children, and they were doing a wonderful job of it.
Various photos used for propaganda.
When comparing these pictures to others taken of the children, there are some discrepancies. Other photos show crowded living quarters, cramped dining halls and sleeping spaces. Looking closely at the picture of the children exercising, you see that some of the children aren’t wearing clothes. In the pictures of the boys working the fields, you notice the shoes they are wearing, barely more than cloth.
A picture used by the Republic showing a dining hall versus the picture on the right showing a more crowded hall.
Children working in the fields.
This blog was a result of 2 visits to the archive.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea these existed. The subject is very interesting. You know, if you wanted, you might be able to do a project on how children were used in the Spanish Civil war as symbols in propaganda. You could use these photos, posters, propaganda collages and maybe even the children's art to explore this idea. Anyway, this was a great find and something I knew nothing about. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was going to say the same thing, I've never heard about these! It's funny to realize people were forming these colonies right in Spain during the war when other people were fleeing - and even in the houses of the people who were fleeing. I liked the pictures. Definitely would have been good for propaganda. Does seem unbelievable that they would be able to provide for and make these kids happy under the circumstances. Very interesting.
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