”Swiss Aid to Children in Spain" truck

Providing aid for Spain was the second pillar of Swiss support for the Republic, after the 800 combatants who volunteered for the International Brigades. The Fund for Aiding Swiss Workers (Schweizerische Arbeiterhilfswerk), which had been created by the Socialist Party and the Trade Union Federation (Gewerkschaftsbund) shortly before the war, was particularly active. As early as September 1936, it sent 10 tons of powdered milk to Madrid, and despite the persistent economic crisis, it was able to collectd 50,000 francs by the end of the year. In total, the Swiss donated 800 tons of goods worth more than 2 million francs. The campaign’s slogan, « Saving Spain is Saving Switzerland », makes clear the importance atttached to the Spanish conflict. 

 A number of attempts to send Spanish children to Switzerland in 1937 failed because of the resistance of Swiss authorities. Instead, a number of homes and canteens for children, pregnant women and old people wer established in Spain. That year, the Fund for Aiding Swiss Workers and thirteen other aid organizations created the Swiss Committee to Aid the Children of Spain (SAS: Schweizerische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Spanienkinder), also known as Swiss Aid. Its central mission was to evacuate children from places devastated by the fighting to safer areas; provide human and material support for the distribution of food and other basic necessities to children’s colonies, hospitals and refuges; and organize milk dispensaries for vulnerable and displaced people. 

SAS volunteers did much of their work in Madrid, Burjassot (Valencia) and Barcelona. The Committee also created a system of « adoption » in which individuals or groups promised to donate 15 francs per month, about 5 per cent of the average worker’s wage, to provide a child with food. The collective adoptions came from school classes, groups of friends, local sections of unions and political parties. Swiss Aid accepted 550 « adoptions » by the end of1937 and 900 during 1938.