Poster by Siwe. “Peasants, the land is yours. POUM. Barcelona, 1936. George Orwell would of course join their militia on the Aragón front.

POUM Antifascist Militia card

POUM Antifascist Militia card issued to American Marxist Harry Milton. On 20 May 1937, Milton saved George Orwell’s life after the writer was shot through the neck by a sniper on the Aragón front, by quickly stopping the bleeding. Note that the card is in Catalan reflecting party’s strong (Marxist) Catalanist identity.

Land and Freedom film by Ken Loach

Film poster of Land and Freedom (Tierra y Libertad) (1995) by Ken Loach (Spanish version) Loach tried to film Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia but was unable to acquire the rights. Instead Land and Freedom tackles similar events by very loosely telling the true story of Orwell’s POUM comrade Stafford Cottman, through the invented character of David Carr.

VIDEO The film Land and Freedom by Ken Loach and VIDEO Loach On Location making of Land and Freedom (1995)

Resources

POUM Wikipedia and Andreu Nin

See also Lois Orr, Letters from Barcelona: An American Woman in Revolution and Civil War, edited by Gerd-Rainer Hom (2009)