Antifascistas

Those recruits joined the 35,000 volunteers from more than 50 countries to fight in the international brigades during what became known as the Spanish civil war. One in every five of them died and few escaped without injury.

The brigaders' motives in risking their lives in a foreign war are poignantly revealed in the words and striking images displayed in the seven sections of the exhibition which provide contexts to the conflict from its outbreak to the present day.

Its introduction highlights the principles of social justice, health, education, women's and workers' rights and respect for nationalities on which the fledgling Spanish republic was based and which came under threat from Franco's forces.

This, as much as the recognition that Spain was possibly a prelude to another world war, drew many from the working class to the ranks of the international brigades formed by the Communist International in 1936.

Many of them were communists, some already blooded in fighting fascism at home. But significant numbers were progressive intellectuals, writers and poets and their participation is graphically represented in the photographs, posters, banners and poetry on show along with many moving accounts of personal and collective heroism.

Some of those who joined the 15th International Brigade and who did not return were among the flower of the working class and progressive movements in Britain and Ireland. They were men and women like communist artist Felicia Browne, the first British fatality of the war, and the Daily Worker's circulation manager Walter Tapsell - killed while trying to shoot an Italian tank commander - or the brilliant young poet John Cornford.

Many of those who returned went on to outstanding positions of leadership, first during the second world war and later in the labour movement. Among them were Tom Wintringham, who was the driving force behind the Home Guard, and Jack Jones, to whom the exhibition is dedicated, who became T&G general secretary and an outstanding leader of his class.

But the core of Antifascistas is the terrible chronology of the war from the valley of Jarama to the last-ditch stand at the Ebro, where 200 brigaders lost their lives.

Their courage in the face of what became overwhelming odds is legendary, but inspirational too is the section devoted to the extraordinary role played by the international medical aid effort to treat the wounded at makeshift field hospitals, during which innovatory surgical methods were introduced.

The role of artists in supporting the republican cause, a continuing point of reference in contemporary progressive culture, is pervasive and due prominence is given to the contribution of poets like Christopher Caudwell and musicians Benjamin Britten and Randall Swingler.

Equally prominent are highly charged posters which still make an impact, as do the words of brigader David Marshall from Middlesbrough. "We that fought to warn a watching world/Were called false prophets by appeasers/Yet fought for the poor of the world."

The terrible consequences of this long night of fascism, in which more than a quarter of a million perished and 400,000 were driven into exile, makes for a sobering conclusion.

But the principled and indefatigable role of the International Brigade Association in helping escaping refugees escape and, from 1945 onwards, in agitating against the Franco regime and supporting political prisoners was recognised when brigade veterans were awarded Spanish citizenship in London last year.

"Your efforts were not in vain. Your ideals are part of the foundation of our democracy in Spain today," the Spanish ambassador told them.

That's an acknowledgement of an enduring debt but also why this exhibition couldn't be more pertinent.

The current convulsions in Spain over Judge Baltasar Garzon, who was charged last month with abuse of power for launching Spain's first-ever investigation into the forced disappearance of 114,000 victims of Franco's terror, brings to mind the dictum that those who ignore the lessons of history are condemned to repeat them.

That's a conclusion which has to be resisted, as Antifascistas spells out loud and clear.

Antifascistas is at the Star Gallery until this Friday May 14 and then can be seen on tour at Newcastle City Library from May 22-June 7, Nottingham Council House from July 19-August 3 and the People's History Museum, Manchester, from August 6-31.

The book Antifascistas by Richard Baxell, Angela Jackson and Jim Jump is published by Lawrence & Wishart, price £20.