Exhibit #9 The May Days in Barcelona, 1937
In the years since The May Days of 1937, a conflict between the Catalan authorities and the political militias of Barcelona, George Orwell's account has been the preeminent source of information about the events. In researching whether or not his account of events was accurate I have found that his account matches almost exactly with scholarly research on the topic which has since been done. I think I have proven that Orwell, in his description of how the crisis started, the motives and intentions behind the struggle, and the aftermath, were correct. The only thing Orwell does not describe in good detail are the events that his position in the P.O.U.M. barricade kept him from witnessing. As the struggle occurred citywide there was no way anyone stuck in one barricade could know what was occurring at other key points. He makes up for this deficiency with first hand accounts he received after the fighting ceased. I was only just now able to figure out how to download pictures and I have not figured out text wrapping yet, but once I do I think I can prove this quite well here. My plan for the exhibit is as follows:
- Description of P.O.U.M. and C.N.T. political situation and lead up to conflict. Including the conflicts withe the P.S.U.C. and the U.G.T. Pictures include propaganda posters.
- Day by day description of the fighting and political dealings of leadership not on the barricades. Pictures of barricades, and burning horses as well as pictures of the leaders.
- Aftermath of the fighting, arrests, P.O.U.M. suppression and scapegoating for the fighting.
- How the fighting affected the war effort of the Republic.
Above is a P.O.U.M. propaganda poster. The P.O.U.M. was an ultra radical communist group that often clashed with the Comintern, the Soviets, and the P.S.U.C., the major communist organ in The Republic. George Orwell belonged to the P.O.U.M. militia during his time in Spain, and during the May Days fighting he manned the barricades at the P.O.U.M. headquarters on the Ramblas, which was the main thoroughfare in Barcelona.
Above are pictures of men being released from a Barcelona prison in 1977 after the political prisoners were amnestied. Hundreds if not thousands of P.O.U.M. members were jailed without trial after the May Days and the suppression of the organization on June 16, 1937.
Pictured above is a scene of cleaning up Barcelona after the chaos of the fighting from may 3rd to the 7th. With all of the fighting going on dead animals had been left to rot in the streets. Here we see some Barcelona citizens using what was left of a barricade to burn a dead horse.
