killed during that bombardment and his father died 
at the front some time before. He was a very pleasant 
and intelligent boy. Doctor Roberto was very proud 
of him, bitterly remarking that this young Spaniard 
faces life with the stamp of the Non-Intervention Com-
mittee on him---a stamp that could never be erased from 
the thousands of other such cases in Spain.

Madrid appeared more serious now. The popula-
tion was already living on rations of 100 grams of 
bread, per person, per day; coffee without sugar had 
become a luxury. Houses, hospitals, public buildings 
remained unheated for the second successive winter. 
The people were more united and more determined to 
fight against fascism. Bombs and shells had broken 
many of the buildings, but not the spirit of the Madri-
lenos! 

The celebration of the second anniversary of the 
victory at the polls of the Popular Front Government 
was evidence of this. On February 16th, 1938, the 
biggest threatres and cinema houses, were overcrowded 
with people celebrating the occasion. The people turned 
out united---Socialists, Republicans, Communists, An-
archists, Catalans, Basques, Andalusians and Castil-
lians. Resolutions and greetings pledging support to 
the Government were adopted amid cheers. 

At the beginning of March, we heard that La Pas-
sionaria was coming to Madrid. On the evening of 
March the 5th, International Women's Day, a few of 
us went to hear her at Cine Monumental. The meet-
ing had been organized by the Women's Anti-Fascist 
Committee and was attended mainly by women. In 
the huge audience there were only three hundred men. 
Cheers and applause lasting for ten minutes greeted 
Passionaria as she appeared on the stage. Delegations 
of girls from various factories and sections of Madrid 
marched in with flowers, shaking her hands and kiss-
ing her.

She paid tribute to the Spanish women for the sac-
rifices they had made in the fight for independence and 
peace. She praised the Spanish mothers who had sent

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