Translation in English below
Translation of internal bulletin of the International Brigades about the Ciudad de Barcelona.
545,3. D.472 Barcelona
2 December 1938
The sinking of the “Ciudad de Barcelona” on 30 May 1937 by a pirate fascist submarine resulted in the shipwreck of a large number of our International Volunteers, who were coming to Spain from Marseille to join our forces already in action. Booking a passage on board a ship in a French port was a heroic gesture. They knew they risked being attacked by fascist pirates and showed the self-sacrifice and indomitable spirit of our men, who left their homes and their countries to rush to the aid of the Spanish people, in their hour of greatest need.
The bodies of many comrades, recovered after the shipwreck, were buried along the Catalan coast, mainly in Malgrat, in whose cemetery there are seven bodies, only one having been identified.
It is necessary and right that those comrades receive the recognition and respect of all the antifascist peoples of the world, and especially as representatives of the International Brigades.
In honor and memory of those comrades, I propose a gravestone be placed on each grave.
The inscription could consist of the following words:
“OUR VICTORY IS YOUR REVENGE!
Name—————- who lost his life as a consequence of the sinking of the “CIUDAD de BARCELONA” off the Malgrat coast on 30 May, 1937, in an act of piracy by the foreign fascist invaders of Spain, at a time when men were offering themselves as volunteers in the glorious International Brigades to serve in the world antifascist cause.”
At the site where local people and fishermen plunged into the sea with their little fishing boats and picked up the volunteers, I suggest another stone could be placed with the appropriate inscription:
This beach is where the shameful sinking of the “CIUDAD de BARCELONA” occurred on 30 May 1938TN, caused by a torpedo from a fascist submarine at the service of the foreign invasion of Spain.
Most of the victims of this barbaric sinking of a ship of peace on a peaceful voyage were saved by the intrepid bravery of the people and fishermen of Malgrat.
Among those who perished on board the steamship were many men from various countries around the world, volunteers on their way to join the ranks of the glorious International Brigades in an expression of antifascist solidarity with the Spanish people, who are fighting for the freedom of their beloved country.
Our eternal homage to these heroes, with no songs, firm in the faith of Peace and Democracy, won in Spain and throughout the world, will be the biggest tribute we can pay to these heroic FREEDOM Volunteers.
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Translator’s notes
- 1937.
Solidarity Park 