At the center of this
poster is a member of the Socorro Rojo Internacional (International
Red Aid) studying a map of Spain. He appears to be considering how
to distribute various medical and food supplies to the Andalusian
front. The figure is wearing the traditional blue boiler suit that
had become a type of uniform for members of the popular militias
after the outbreak of the Civil War. Behind the soldier is the insignia
of SRI which consisted of a handkerchief with an "S" for
Socorro (Aid) poking through prison cell bars. The handkerchief
was a symbol of "relief and comfort" during a time of
suffering and need. The truck that the soldier holds is on a different
plane from the map, but it appears that it will be positioned above
the city of Málaga, which fell to the Nationalist troops
in January 1937. This suggests that the poster was released shortly
before that date, in which case it is an appeal for the support
of the resistance. However, since SRI also covertly aided communist
sympathizers trapped in the Nationalist zone to make their escape
to the Republican zone, the poster may have been issued after the
Nationalist victory at Málaga. To the right of the figure
are numerous crates each inscribed with the organization's acronym
(SRI) and various types of aid: milk (leche), coats (abrigos),
cotton (algodón), medications (medicamientos),
sanitation (sanidad), clothes (ropas), blankets (mantas),
foodstuffs (víveres) and a hospital (sanatorio).
The International Red
Aid was affiliated with the Comintern in Moscow, and it made its
first appearance in Spain in 1934 in connection with the aftermath
of the workers' rebellions of October 1934. SRI's pre-Civil War
activities were to "aid thousand of prisoners, defenseless
women and children," and "organize amnesty campaigns for
prisoners which saved many from certain death at the hands of the
fascists." During the Civil War, the Spanish section of International
Red Aid expanded its activities in many different areas. Among the
important services that SRI offered were its sanitation and medical
works, which included the hygienic transportation of injured and
dead soldiers from the front to one of the SRI's 275 hospitals,
the transportation of medical assistants, and the conversion of
convents and churches into blood banks throughout Republican Spain.
International Red Aid also set up an Orthodontics Clinic and College,
led proper dental hygiene campaigns, arranged for the mobilization
of dentists to the front, and provided an ambulance service. One
of the most effective contributions that SRI made was in the area
of provisions: the organization directed charity drives that led
to the donation of 365,000 coats, boots, mattresses, and slickers;
13,500 fowl; and over one million kilos of rice, sugar, eggs, and
other foodstuffs in 1937.
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