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Authors: Alison Anderson, Joanna Gruda
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lives at risk, to lend a hand to the Republicans. The way Arnold was talking about them, you could see right away that they were heroes, and that it wouldnât be long before he crossed the border and enrolled in the International Brigades, which were supported by the French Communist Party, among others.
At the end of this lesson about current events, Arnold suggested we make some banners and posters for the demonstration. He was so good at convincing us of the importance of the events on the other side of the border that we abandoned all thought of using our outing as an excuse to fool around. We worked for hours on end preparing our material, for we were professional demonstrators. No one could say that the children of LâAvenir Socialâunlike France or Englandâhad abandoned their Spanish friends!
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The group that boarded a bus for Paris one fine spring morning was full of enthusiasm and passion. Roger Binet had the delicate task of carrying the banner which he and I had made, and we were very eager to display it the minute we reached Paris. After a long debate we had decided to write, âSolidarity with our Spanish Brothers.â Roger would have liked to put something funnier, more tough-guy, or so he said, but I wanted to show on the contrary that even though we were children we understood the gravity of the situation. I took my participation in this political demonstration very seriously, and I had prepared for it with all my heart. In the end, it was really nice, all yellow, red, and purple, the colors of the Republican flag.
Twenty of us got off the bus at Buttes-Chaumont in Paris. From there we had to go to the Communardsâ Wall in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, where all the demonstrators were gathering. Arnold, Geneviève, an instructor by the name of Feller, and his wife Margot came with us. In the bus they had explained the rules of the game so we wouldnât get lost during the demonstration. Each adult had five or six children under his supervision. Each subgroup was divided in two, which meant teams of two or three children who had to keep an eye on each other. They allowed us to choose our teams, and I was with Roger, obviously, because we had to carry our banner togetherâour work of art! We thought we were very lucky, because the children under seven had not been allowed to come to the demonstration and we had only just turned seven.
We walked very quickly toward Père Lachaiseâwell, in fact, because we were the youngest, we were trotting behind the others, and almost stumbled over our banner on more than one occasion. Other little groups were walking or running in the same direction as us with their signs, shouting and singing.
It was getting noisier and noisier, with chanting, and music, and horns blowing. People were screaming slogans through loudspeakers. All around I could see all sorts of signs and banners, not all of them referred to the war in Spain. I eventually understood that some of the crowd were demonstrating in support of the striking farm workers, another important cause in those days.
Arnold led us to a group of adults he seemed to know well who were shouting slogans for France to intervene on the side of the Republicans. Then we found our place. Roger and I unfurled our banner. We got jostled this way and that, and it wasnât easy to hold it above our heads, but in the end, two big kids who didnât have anything to carry helped us out. Once we had everything worked out, I added my voice to the general commotion. In our group there was a man with a big mustache who seemed to have a monopoly on the slogans. It was perfect, all you had to do was listen to him and you knew what to shout. I loved it.
âSolidarity among nations!â
â¡No pasarán!â
and the same slogan in French,
âIls ne passeront pas!ââ
they shall not pass. âBread, peace and freedom for our Spanish friends!â The songs were
At the end of this lesson about current events, Arnold suggested we make some banners and posters for the demonstration. He was so good at convincing us of the importance of the events on the other side of the border that we abandoned all thought of using our outing as an excuse to fool around. We worked for hours on end preparing our material, for we were professional demonstrators. No one could say that the children of LâAvenir Socialâunlike France or Englandâhad abandoned their Spanish friends!
Â
The group that boarded a bus for Paris one fine spring morning was full of enthusiasm and passion. Roger Binet had the delicate task of carrying the banner which he and I had made, and we were very eager to display it the minute we reached Paris. After a long debate we had decided to write, âSolidarity with our Spanish Brothers.â Roger would have liked to put something funnier, more tough-guy, or so he said, but I wanted to show on the contrary that even though we were children we understood the gravity of the situation. I took my participation in this political demonstration very seriously, and I had prepared for it with all my heart. In the end, it was really nice, all yellow, red, and purple, the colors of the Republican flag.
Twenty of us got off the bus at Buttes-Chaumont in Paris. From there we had to go to the Communardsâ Wall in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, where all the demonstrators were gathering. Arnold, Geneviève, an instructor by the name of Feller, and his wife Margot came with us. In the bus they had explained the rules of the game so we wouldnât get lost during the demonstration. Each adult had five or six children under his supervision. Each subgroup was divided in two, which meant teams of two or three children who had to keep an eye on each other. They allowed us to choose our teams, and I was with Roger, obviously, because we had to carry our banner togetherâour work of art! We thought we were very lucky, because the children under seven had not been allowed to come to the demonstration and we had only just turned seven.
We walked very quickly toward Père Lachaiseâwell, in fact, because we were the youngest, we were trotting behind the others, and almost stumbled over our banner on more than one occasion. Other little groups were walking or running in the same direction as us with their signs, shouting and singing.
It was getting noisier and noisier, with chanting, and music, and horns blowing. People were screaming slogans through loudspeakers. All around I could see all sorts of signs and banners, not all of them referred to the war in Spain. I eventually understood that some of the crowd were demonstrating in support of the striking farm workers, another important cause in those days.
Arnold led us to a group of adults he seemed to know well who were shouting slogans for France to intervene on the side of the Republicans. Then we found our place. Roger and I unfurled our banner. We got jostled this way and that, and it wasnât easy to hold it above our heads, but in the end, two big kids who didnât have anything to carry helped us out. Once we had everything worked out, I added my voice to the general commotion. In our group there was a man with a big mustache who seemed to have a monopoly on the slogans. It was perfect, all you had to do was listen to him and you knew what to shout. I loved it.
âSolidarity among nations!â
â¡No pasarán!â
and the same slogan in French,
âIls ne passeront pas!ââ
they shall not pass. âBread, peace and freedom for our Spanish friends!â The songs were
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