General Franco made me a 'Terrorist'
The Christie File: Part 2, 1964-1967
Stuart Christie
Christie Books
www.christiebooks.com
£35

This volume picks up where the last one ended, namely his leaving Britain to take part in an anarchist plan to assassinate Franco. Christie, however, was arrested by Franco's secret police long before he completed his mission to give the explosives he smuggled into Spain to those who were planning the assassination. Christie recounts his experiences being arrested and his time in various Spanish prisons with assurance, humanity and wit. He is not afraid to talk about the failures and cock-ups, the bickering and the surreal along with the bravery and dedication. As such, it is a real treat to read, giving the human side which history books never really manage to do. His account of the characters he met and the life of political prisoners in Franco's regime is engrossing.

Three things particularly resonated with me. Firstly, the dedication of the anarchists he met in the resistance both within and outwith prison. That they were willing to keep struggling in the face of such odds is inspiring. Secondly, how prison made Christie become aware that someone's politics and personality did not automatically match. For some reason, I found his comments on how surprised he was to discover that people with extremely obnoxious politics could be nice people on a personal level quite significant. Why? Perhaps because I've met a few anarchists who could do with a personality transplant? Who knows? But I think how we relate to each other as comrades is important. I've seen too many abusive attacks between comrades and know the hurt it can cause. Being more civil to each other would be a good first step towards the revolution in some cases!

Lastly, his account of the Stalinist prisoners he came across was deeply disturbing. They organised themselves into a tight little hierarchy, with the ordinary members banned from talking to their fellow political prisoners (particularly the anarchists). Clearly, the leadership knew they could only maintain their position if they had a loyal and obedient membership and that meant isolating the party rank and file from such dangers as alternative points of view and, of course, reality. Given the utter distortions of anarchist ideas I've came across over the years in Trotskyist journals I can see that that mentality is not gone the way of the USSR.

One thing which this book brings out is the sick morality of statism. Christie was branded a "terrorist" for trying to assassinate Franco, yet Franco, as Christie points out in his introduction, reigned over "an unbroken chain of mass murder, repression and unimaginable suffering." This state terrorism has been quietly ignored, with every Spanish government (including Socialist ones) turning a blind eye to the murderers and fascists in their midst. This continues to this day.

Spain's current Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar is a junior member of Bush's "Coalition of the Killing." When Saddam was arrested, he made it quite clear that the Iraqi dictator should pay for his crimes against humanity. Aznar, like Bush and Blair, is less outspoken about crimes nearer home. When it comes to Franco's crimes against humanity the resolute champion of human rights and historical accountability for Iraqis becomes the craven hypocrite we all have come to expect from leaders of the "Coalition."

In Spain, as Christie reminds us, Franco's dead were left to sleep in their mass graves. Things are changing and Anzar and his right-wing Popular Party are doing their best to stop them. The Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory, is trying to locate and excavate mass grave sites. Anzar's government has refused to help in any way. His was the only party in the Spanish Parliament to boycott a recent ceremony honouring Franco's victims. Its parliamentary spokesman stated that the ceremony was "a return to the past," which "contributes nothing positive." Saddam could not have put it any better. But rest assured, it is concerned about some of Spain's dead: it is paying to exhume the bodies of the Division Azul, Spanish volunteers that fought for Hitler on the Eastern Front.

We should not be surprised as Aznar's People's Party was founded after Franco's death by one of his cabinet ministers, who later picked Aznar as his successor. The party is Francoism's ideological heir and many of its functionaries are the offspring of the officials who staffed Franco's government. Aznar's government contributes taxpayer money to the National Franco Foundation, which is run by the dictator's daughter and, as well as maintaining fresh flowers on the Caudillo's grave, conducts many pro-Franco activities. So obviously Anzar is highly selective in which mass murdering tyrant he denounces. He happily protects the legacy of an even worse dictator and war criminal.

Franco died in his bed a decade after Christie was arrested. Was the struggle which Christie's imprisonment was a part of worth it? Of course. As Christie puts it, "the anarchist creed is simple . . . only struggle determines outcome, and progress towards a more meaningful community must begin with the will to resist every form of injustice." We can never be sure of success, but if we don't try then failure is guaranteed. Christie's autobiography is a testament to this truth as well as the struggle of our comrades to end Franco's reign. Given that Christie himself was released early due to an international solidarity campaign which, on the face of it, looked unlikely to succeed, his autobiography serves to remind us that our activities can make a difference. In these grim days, that makes it a worthwhile as well as a wonderful read.

I'm really looking forward to reading the third volume. That, I think, indicates why you should read this book. As in the first volume, this volume expands quite considerably on the original Christie File (published in 1980) and includes lots of pictures and appendices covering background details. And like the first (equally good) volume of Christie's memoirs, this book had been published as a limited edition. It costs so much in order to fund a bigger (and so cheaper) rerun. If you can afford it, please by a copy or order a copy from your local library. It is such a good read that it should be made available to more people and buying this edition will help ensure that.