we entered the tunnel. We were leaving behind a 
country at war, where no place is safe from the de-
struction of fascist planes. We were entering a coun-
try whose people were giving widespread support to 
the struggle of their heroic neighbor.

The train moved slowly into the tunnel and soon 
we saw the daylight at the other end. The train 
slowed down and stopped. After a couple of minutes 
it backed into the tunnel. As time passed, the smoke 
from the engine made its way into the coaches.

By five o'clock in the afternoon we had had nothing 
to eat for thirteen hours, and still we waited,.. Yet 
it was a most cruel thing to do, to suffocate people in 
the tunnel while two of the thirteen stretcher cases 
were in a serious condition.

Finally at a quarter to six, representatives of the 
Committee in charge came to the train and asked every-
one to get off. We lined up at the exit of the tunnel, 
first, the stretcher cases, then those on crutches, then 
all the others, headed by a group of fifty Frenchmen. 
In front of us we saw some thirty French gendarmes 
with guns in their hands, facing us. The spokesman 
of the Committee explained that he had on him the 
permission of the French Government for this train 
to enter France. Some reactionary official apparently 
tried to create difficulties. We decided to march into 
France. The head of our committee appealed to the 
boys to observe strict discipline, to yield to no provoca-
tions, and to enter France in an orderly fashion. He 
concluded by saying "Let those shoot who dare! The 
best sons of France and the best fighters for peace and 
democracy also fight in Spain to defend the South of 
France from its fascist enemies." This demonstration, 
lasting three minutes brought results.

The next day, in Paris, we learned of the offensive 
started by the Republican army on the Ebro river. In 
nine days, the Republicans were able to take 500 
square miles of territory, over six thousand prisoners, 
of whom four thousand were Italian, a large supply 
of ammunition and food. Franco admitted that the

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