Introduction

Visual Index (Entire Poster Collection)

Catalogue

Chronology of the War

Acknowledgements

Lists of References

Afterword: Herbert R. Southworth Collection

Asesinos! Quién al ver esto no empuña un fusil para aplastar al fascismo destructor. Niños muertos en Madrid por las bombas facciosas, víctimas inocentes de esta horrible guerra destada por los enemigos de España.

[Murderers! Seeing this, who wouldn't pick up a rifle to end fascism's destruction. Children killed by rebel bombs in Madrid, innocent victims of the horrible war unleashed by the enemies of Spain.]. . Gráficas Valencia Poster, 3 colors; 100 x 77 cm.

The Spanish Civil War is often characterized as a testing ground for new military technologies especially by German and Italian forces that fought on the side of Franco. Perhaps the most infamous of these "tests" was the indiscriminate bombing of the town of Guernica - the horror of what has been immortalized in Picasso's painting of the same name. In most cases, such as the bombings of Barcelona and Madrid, heavy bombardment was used to demoralize the Republican soldiers and population. In addition to destroying infrastructure, such bombing techniques led to the death of many civilians, especially women and children, on a scale that had not been experienced previously.

As also seen in poster 82, images of children killed in such bombardments were used by Republican propagandists to motivate the population. Propagandists sought to use these graphic images of dead children to turn the Nationalist strategy on its head. In this case, the nationalists are referred to as "murderers" and the death of "innocent victims" is suggested as a motivation for taking up a rifle and fighting for the Republican cause. Behind the pictures, the revolutionary colors of red and black figure prominently in the background.

While the artist of this image is unknown, we know that Gráficas Valencias, a prominent firm in the production of posters, produced the poster. The small text in the bottom right corner of the poster reads: "offered by the alliance of intellectuals for the defense culture." This gives further indication of the authorship of this poster. However, no specific information is available on this alliance.