AEMI

Forbidden Heaven to Basque
Refugee Children
Susana Sabín-Fernández
Abstract
During the Spanish Civil War and soon
after the bombing of the Basque towns
of Durango and Gernika, about 32,000
children were evacuated to other countries
looking for safety. Whilst countries
such as France had already received
thousands of refugees, the UK government
had firmly refused to take refugees,
arguing that this was against its
policy of nonintervention. Evacuation
to the UK only materialized as a result of
enormous public pressure on the British
government and private initiative.
Simultaneously, there was an attempt to
evacuate 500 Basque children to the US.
Initially this initiative was supported by
numerous government officials and a
considerable section of the population,
to the extent that it was debated to increase
the number to 2,000. However,
the project was eventually rejected and
no refugee children were authorized to
enter the country.
This article examines who were the key
players involved in the process of negotiating
the evacuations, and the societal
impact of the strategies these players
employed in order to succeed, with an
emphasis on the US case. It also explores
the reasons why despite significant disagreement
between interest groups in
a variety of countries, some of them finally
came to be hosts for the children
but the US did not.
Which agents became involved and finally
decided the outcome of this endeavor?
What was their agenda? How
did they manage to engage other parties
to gain the necessary support? How did
they influence the decision makers in
power? These fundamental issues are addressed
from a perspective which utilizes
a wide range of primary sources.
Ultimately it is argued here that the
powerful pro-Francoist Catholic circle
in Boston was a main agent responsible
in stopping the evacuation to the US by
placing the debate within a religious and
anti-communist perspective. On the
other hand, in countries such as the UK
the Roman Catholic Church was not a
key player and society put the emphasis
on the humanitarian aspect of the venture.
Basque Refugee Children
Soon after the war started in July 1936,
committees were set up by trade unions
and humanitarian organizations to aid
Basque children, but the massive evacuations
abroad began in the spring of