workingclasshistory

On this day, 26 June 1945, Spanish anti-fascist prisoners in Britain who had been locked up alongside Nazi prisoners of war launched a hunger strike. 226 Spanish civil war fighters, many of whom also fought in the French resistance, were detained in Britain as enemy POWs alongside the fascists they fought against. The following month, one of them committed suicide in protest. These actions led to the men being transferred to a single camp in Chorley, Lancashire, where they were at least allowed to identify themselves as republicans. There, they took strike action the following January, and were eventually either released or deported during 1946. More info here: https://libcom.org/history/spanish-anti-fascist-prisoners-war-lancashire-1944-46 https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1154763671375448/?type=3