The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) has been called the first media-war in history. Idealistic film makers and photographers like Joris Ivens, Robert Capa, and Gerda Taro rushed to the battlefields.
The IISH preserves about 2000 pictures from the Spanish Civil War that are less well-known. They belong to the archives of the CNT/FAI, the powerful anarcho-syndicalist trade union and its political arm. These photographs were intended for the organization's newspaper Solidaridad Obrera and other press services.
The anonymous Spanish photographers, like their famous colleagues from abroad, photographed the tragedy and the romanticism of the struggle: the ruins, the defenseless and the dead, the brave civilians at the barricades and the handsome lightly armed members of the militias. Apart from this, there are many photographs about life behind the front.
View a small selection from the collection: A Dozen Photos from the Spanish Civil War.
All Spanish Civil War Collections at the IISH (Collection Guide)