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(en) France, UCL AL #364 - Culture - Read Célia Keren, The Cause of Children (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Date Tue, 25 Nov 2025 07:42:29 +0200


Célia Keren opens a little-known chapter in the history of the Spanish Civil War. As is so often the case in armed conflicts, collateral victims are overlooked and then forgotten. This was the fate of nearly 15,000 children from the Republican zone who were transferred to France. Girls and boys, aged 5 to 15, were registered by their parents to be sent to France to be placed with families or in facilities designed specifically for them. This was an incredible humanitarian mission that involved a wide range of civil actors, some even opposed to each other, such as the Communists and Catholic institutions like the Diocese of Dax. This book attempts to understand the issues surrounding the involvement of these different spheres, from the Popular Front left to Catholic intellectuals, from the Vatican to feminist activists. These groups, although fully present, had to endure being sidelined from leadership positions in favor of activists.

Inevitably, the implementation of this aid went beyond its humanitarian aspect and clashed with the political context of the time, raising major questions about interventionism versus non-intervention, antifascism, and pacifism. These questions, in turn, led to many others, such as the position of the activists directly involved and their leadership, whether Catholic or Communist. Caught in the crossfire, some organizations opted for more neutral, less politically charged positions on the concept of solidarity. Célia Keren also examines the relationships between the "anarchist" ministers and these solidarity groups within the highly tense context of relations between the Communists and the CNT (National Confederation of Labor). In her research, Célia Keren recounts the development of these actions, the efforts of these women and men from diverse backgrounds who, in a challenging context, contributed to building transnational solidarity. Above all, through her writing, she sheds light on a little-known aspect of the Spanish Revolution.

Dominique Sureau (UCL Angers)

Célia Keren, *The Cause of Children*, Anamosa, September 2025, 512 pages, EUR28.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Lire-Celia-Keren-La-cause-des-enfants
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