[R-G] Fwd: Nov 11 To Remember is to End All War

[Anthony Fenton]

<From the Victoria (B.C.) Peace Coalition

Sunday, November 11
10:45 am

Remembering the first anti-fascist fighters of the mid 20th Century.

In 2000, a memorial was erected in Confederation Square in downtown  
Victoria. The "Spirit of the Republic" remembers the Canadians who  
joined the fight to defend the elected Socialist government of Spain  
against the fascist backed attack of General Franco. Most years since  
that time Vancouver Island citizens have gathered there on November  
11 to keep the spirit of that fight alive - the right of  
democratically elected governments to rule as the citizens have  
mandated.

They mean no disrespect to those who gather at the Cenotaph. Those  
who assemble at the Spirit of the Republic are also war veterans, war  
widows, peace activists and civilians who've been through war zones  
in Bosnia, Iraq, Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Cuba and  
Viet Nam. Like most, they seek a world without war and a world where  
disputes are resolved peacefully.

Sixteen hundred Canadians joined in the defence of the Republic of  
Spain. They had to travel to Spain secretly because the Canadian  
Parliament expressly forbid Canadians from fighting against the  
fascists from 1936 to 1939. Four hundred of these heroes didn't  
return. We remember them but we also remember the families they left  
behind.

This gathering will take place at the Spirit of the Republic on  
Menzies Street across from the Provincial Legislature in Victoria.


We'll also have words and thoughts about Tom Kozar, ex-BCGEU and son  
of a member of the Abraham Lincoln Battalion.  Tom passed away last  
month.  He was instrumental in the campaign to establish the Spirit  
of the Republic as the first significan monument to those Canadians  
who served in Spain.

For further information contact:
Art Farquharson 384-6893
Don Startin 477-5507