Inspirational teachers may be underpaid in this country, but they are not taken, beaten and murdered like they were in the Spanish civil war.
Children from that period remember their wonderful teacher from Catalunya who came to the town of Burgos in 1935. His name was Antonio Benaiges. His story has been told in “The Teacher who Promised the Sea” headlining at the Spanish Film Festival and directed by Patricia Font.
400-450,ooo were killed in the Civil War, and many international idealists came to the defence of the Republic including those such as Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell and double agent Kim Philby who went to Spain under the cover of journalism. A precursor to World War 2, the Communist Soviet Union supported the Republic and Fascist Germany and Italy supported the Nationalist Rebels led by General Franco.
This tragic story has familiar echoes of the stories of many in Spain whose grandparents were children at the time of this upheaval.
Image: Image: Supplied
Produced By: Roderick Chambers
Featured In Story: Patricia Font – Director
First aired on The Wire, Wednesday 12 June 2024