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Overview
This poster is from the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and is titled 'No pasaran!' They shall not pass! spoken by Dolores Ibárruri Gómez (1895-1989) who was a Spanish political leader and a founder of the Spanish Communist Party.
She wrote under the pseudonym La Pasionaria (the passion flower) and became a legendary figure during the Civil War for her impassioned orations against the fascists. Her speeches rallied a large part of the population, particularly women, to the anti-fascist cause. On 18 July 1936, she declared on the Ministry of the Interior radio station: “It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees! No pasaran!” From that moment, “They shall not pass!” became the battle cry of the resistance movement.
After living in exile in Moscow for 38 years, she returned to Spain in 1977 after the death of Franco and was elected to parliament in the new democracy’s first elections.