On this day, 5 August 1936, Spanish railway worker, anti-fascist military leader and anarchist Buenaventura Durruti gave his famous “new world in our hearts” interview shortly after the outbreak of the civil war with journalist Pierre Van Passen.
After the right-wing nationalist military-rising, which was backed by Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, the workers and peasants of Spain fought back.
Durruti was a member of the CNT union, whose members had collectively taken over and socialised most of Spain’s industry, and a significant chunk of the country’s agricultural land. Together with members of the UGT union, the workers and peasants had begun constructing a new type of society, with them in the driving seat.
Faced with the potential devastation of the brutal civil war, Durruti told Van Passen: “We have always lived in slums and holes in the wall. We will know how to accommodate ourselves for a while. For you must not forget that we can also build. It is we who built these palaces and cities, here in Spain and America and everywhere. We, the workers. We can build others to take their place. And better ones. We are not in the least afraid of ruins. We are going to inherit the earth; there is not the slightest doubt about that. The bourgeoisie might blast and ruin its own world before it leaves the stage of history. We carry a new world here, in our hearts. That world is growing in this minute.”
Our podcast episodes 39-40 give a brief overview of the Spanish civil war: https://workingclasshistory.com/2020/06/17/e39-the-spanish-civil-war-an-introduction/https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/2050400591811747/?type=3
Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive rock-cut temples in the village of Abu Simbel (Arabic: أبو سمبل), Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It is situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about 230 km (140 mi) southwest of Aswan (about 300 km (190 mi) by road).
The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th Dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II. They serve as a lasting monument to the king Ramesses II. His wife Nefertari and children can be seen in smaller figures by his feet, considered to be of lesser importance and were not given the same position of scale. This commemorates his victory at the Battle of Kadesh. Their huge external rock relief figures have become iconic. [X]
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