- by Graham Holton
- The Guardian
- Issue #2135
They Shall Not Pass: Autobiography of La Pasionaria, was written by Dolores Ibarruri (Isidora Dolores Ibárruri Gómez), known as Pasionaria, meaning “the Passion flower.” ¡No Pasaran! means They Shall Not Pass!
Ibárruri shows how Communists should behave. She holds that a Communist Party is of the people, and for the people, and that communism is not dogmatic, but is to be practiced, studied and discussed. By reading and understanding Ibárruri we learn what is expected of us as Communists. Ibarruri does not quote Marxist theory to prove her point, instead citing the behaviour of Communists to illustrate how to behave as a Communist. She shows that being a Comrade is something special, something far more than merely being a Marxist. For our Party to succeed, as Communists, we work with and through the people for the class struggle.
It’s all very prescriptive, so who was this ‘Pasionara’ to tell other communists how to do it? Dolores Ibárruri joined the Spanish Communist Party on its founding in 1920 and worked with unions to develop class consciousness and educate people in the class struggle. She pushed for agrarian reform and land ownership for the peasants. After the Hoyo mine strike she asked the wife of a rich mine owner if she understood:
“-why I am a communist? Do you understand the pain, the bitterness, the desperation we mothers have in our hearts when we cannot feed our children or cure their sickness, when they die before our eyes because we have no money for doctors or medicine?”
The united front of antifascist policies gained ground among the masses. In 1933, Ibárruri founded Mujeres Antifascistas, a women’s organisation opposed to fascism and the coming war. She attended the First World Meeting of Women against War and Fascism the following year. The insurrectionary movement in Spain had an enormous educational value for the masses, with the Communists publicly assuming the responsibility for the insurrection. In 1935, Ibárruri attended the 7th World Congress of the Communist International in Moscow. She joined the strikers at the Cadavio mine in Asturias and helped poor tenants evicted from Madrid.
With the outbreak of civil war in 1936 Ibárruri delivered radio broadcasts from Madrid, including, “A Salute to Our Militia Women on the Front Line.” On 18 July she broadcast: “It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees! No passaran!” In 1939, Dolores became General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Spain, a position she held to 1960.
Ibárruri’s reflections on why she was a Communist and the work she did to help the working class struggles is an education on how to be a better Communist. She discusses the successes and shortcomings of the Socialist Party and how to improve it. Most of all, she shows what communist women were doing in Spain despite the violence against them. Ibárruri’s book is well worth studying, especially as she shows how women have greatly contributed to the Communist Party and to Communism. Her tireless work as a Communist we acknowledge on International Women’s Day.
