National Joint Committee for Spanish Relief

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The National Joint Committee for Spanish Relief (NJCSR) was a British voluntary association formed at the end of 1936, intended to co-ordinate relief efforts to the victims of the Spanish Civil War. The NJCSR was to act as an umbrella organization, in a field where a number of groups already existed in the United Kingdom. It concentrated on three areas: (a) care of refugees; (b) bringing civilians out of war-affected areas; and (c) medical relief.[1]

The NJCSR also acted as a

Republican Spain was a form of single-issue politics that acted through individuals.[3]

Supporters

Prominent supporters of the Committee included

Geoffrey Theodore Garratt, Eleanor Rathbone and Katharine Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl.[4][5][6] Its personnel overlapped largely with the Basque Children's Committee (BCC) of 1937, and the bodies shared London bases at 53 Marsham Street; but the BCC kept a certain distance, representing as it did organisations such as the Catholic Church which wanted nothing to do with the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) associations of the NJCSR.[7][8]

Publicity posters for the NJCSR were designed by Felicity Ashbee, a CPGB member.

Frida Stewart,[12] and Donald Darling.[13]

Formation

The war in Spain broke out in July 1936. An appeal from

Isobel Brown;[18] the Duchess was Chairman, with Grenfell, Macnamara and Roberts as secretaries.[19]

The Scottish Joint Committee for Spanish Relief was formed in February 1938.[20]

Before the formation of the NJCRS, there was a relief committee under the name "Friends of Spain" (National Committee of the Friends of Spain);[21] and by some point in 1937 this was regarded as incorporated into the NJCRS.[22] This group was not the American committee chaired by John A. Mackay,[23] nor the "Friends of National Spain", a pro-Franco group around Alfred Denville that renamed itself in 1937.[24][25]

Events

End of the Spanish war

With the close of the Spanish Civil War in March 1939, in victory for the forces of Francisco Franco, the NJCSR concentrated on humanitarian efforts in France. It gave some continuing support to the BCC.[28] In 1941 NJSCR funds were used to secure admission to Argentina of Spanish Republicans.[29] The BCC itself continued to function to 1951.[30]

Notes

  1. ISBN 978-1-84519-519-9
    .
  2. ISBN 978-0-521-53449-9
    .
  3. ISBN 978-0-521-39333-1
    .
  4. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39642. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  5. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35678. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  6. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36301. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  7. ISBN 978-0-7293-0286-9
    .
  8. ISBN 978-84-7100-467-3
    .
  9. ^ Crawford, Alan (20 August 2008). "Obituary: Felicity Ashbee: Keeper of her family's links to the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  10. ISBN 978-0-521-39333-1
    .
  11. ISBN 978-0-85303-778-1
    .
  12. ISBN 978-1-134-47107-2
    .
  13. ^ Holloway, Kerrie. "Chapter Two: The Flight to France and Concentration Camps" (PDF). Alba Volunteer. pp. 20, 26.
  14. ISBN 978-0-85772-170-9
    .
  15. ISBN 978-1-84519-127-6
    .
  16. ISBN 978-1-134-47106-5
    .
  17. ISBN 978-0-415-62461-9
    .
  18. ISBN 978-0-521-39333-1
    .
  19. ISBN 978-1-84519-519-9
    .
  20. ISBN 978-1-909912-12-0
    .
  21. ISBN 978-0-85303-778-1
    .
  22. ^ Life and Letters and the London Mercury. Brendin Publishing Company. 1967. p. 3.
  23. ^ "John H. Sinclair, The Hand and the Road: The Life and Times of John A. Mackay, International Bulletin of Missionary Research Book Reviews Vol. 34, No. 2 April 2010 pp. 114–26". Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  24. ISBN 978-0-8264-5814-8
    .
  25. ISBN 978-1-84519-332-4
    .
  26. ^ "1930s — Royal Albert Hall". Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  27. ^ "Aid to Spain, www2.warwick.ac.uk/". Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  28. ISBN 978-1-136-31319-6
    .
  29. ISBN 978-0-85303-778-1
    .
  30. ISBN 978-1-61132-029-9
    .

External links
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