Remembrance Day - Tues. Nov. 11
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- Published on Monday, 10 November 2014 14:44
- Written by editor
Tues. November 11
Remembering people who stood and died for
Justice, Freedom and Democracy not for corporate greed and imperialism
During the Spanish Civil war of 1936-1939 a beleaguered Spanish Government put out a call for international volunteers to combat the forces of fascism arrayed against it. 40,000 volunteers from 53 countries answered the call forming the legendary International Brigades of the Spanish Civil war. 1500 of the volunteers travelled to Spain from Canada. Their battalion was the Mackenzie-Papineau - the "Macpaps". They fought bravely throughout the war against terrible odds, suffering heavy losses.
For the past decade on every Remembrance Day, numerous people have gathered in Victoria in front of the memorial dedicated to those Canadian volunteers who went to Spain. Each year we pay tribute to all those members who formed the International Brigades to fight Fascism. The tribute is in memory of those volunteers, the sacrifices that they made and the spirit in which they made them.
We hope you can join us with your family & friends.Wear your white poppy and share your experience of war or your hopes for peace. Open microphone for your words or singing.
Seventy-eight years have passed, yet they still get no respect. To this day the government ignores their legacy. The National War Museum of Canada is completely silent on the subject: not one picture, artifact or plaque marks the Mac-Pap memory. It’s as if they never existed.
The three pointed star was the symbol of the International Brigades. The Macpaps added to it a Maple Leaf for their battalion symbol.
The battalion was named after William Lyon Mackenzie and Louis-Joseph Papineau the leaders of the rebellions of 1837 in upper and lower Canada. They sought liberty, social justice and democracy, a spirit which the Canadian volunteers carried to Spain.
