Notes
See the short biographical article by Nick Heath at: http://libcom.org/history/partos-pal-1911-1964-aka-paul-polgare-pablo-polgare-folgare for the various pseudonyms employed by Paul or Pablo Folgare, a/k/a Paul Polgare, a/k/a Pal Partos. The original Spanish edition of 1937 utilized the Spanish version of Souchy’s first name, but not Folgare’s [Note added by the translator of the English edition]. The collectivization process in Russia never went beyond this stage. André Gide describes this in his book, Retour de l’URSS, as follows: “We visited a model Kolkhoz in the neighborhood of Sukhum. It dates from six years back. After having struggled obscurely for some time, it is now one of the most prosperous in the country. It is known as ‘the millionaire’ and is bursting with life and happiness. This Kolkhoz stretches over a very large tract of country. The climate ensures a luxurious vegetation. Th... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Part 4, Chapter 3 : Membrilla
3. MEMBRILLA In the rocky countryside of La Mancha, to the southwest of Ciudad Real, one finds Membrilla. In miserable huts, the poor inhabitants of a poor province; 8,000 people, but the streets are not paved; the town has no newspaper, no cinema, no café, no library. It did, however, contain many churches, which have all been burned. In 1920 some workers founded a branch Trade Union of the National Confederation of Labor. The militants underwent continuous persecution; the organization was even dissolved during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. The reestablished Republic reintroduced political freedom, but economic conditions did not improve, and the town was just as poor as before. Five years passed in this way, without anything having changed with regard to the social conditions of the town. When the military uprising began, on July 19, there were seven Civil Guards and several dozen fascists... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Part 4, Chapter 2 : Fraga
2. FRAGA Another small town, without wealth or comfort. At the junction of the Barcelona-Saragossa-Madrid highway, in the region of Aragon, on the slope of one of those hills that one finds throughout the region, Fraga, a little town with 9,000 inhabitants, the leading town in one of the provinces of Aragon, gives the impression of a large city of badly cobbled streets and dilapidated old hovels. From these hovels, simple and friendly workers emerge; the streets are full of life, and the town, which is usually so quiet, is today bustling with activity. Here, too, those who were always exploited, and who used to work incessantly only to die of hunger, these workers of the farms and the workshops, have taken their own destinies into their hands. This was not difficult, for as soon as the first news of the military uprising and the people’s reaction reached the town, the few active fascist sympathizers here rapidly disappeared. Oth... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Part 4, Chapter 1 : Lécera, An Aragonese Town Where Libertarian Communism Is A Reality
Part 4 - Libertarian Communism 1. LÉCERA, AN ARAGONESE TOWN WHERE LIBERTARIAN COMMUNISM IS A REALITY Lécera is a model town—Its characteristics—The understanding of the Revolutionary Committee—The administration and remuneration of labor—Distribution of products—The outpost of Monte Lobo—Belchite, two thousand five hundred meters from us—A talk with Captain Luis Jubert A MODEL TOWN FOR THE NOBILITY OF ITS SENTIMENTS Lécera is the largest town in the province of Zaragoza and belongs to the judicial district of Belchite. The latter town is twelve kilometers distant. Lécera has 2,400 inhabitants and possesses some industry, including a plaster factory. The rest of its economy is based on agriculture, its most important crops being wheat, grapes, saffron and a smaller quantity of miscellaneous grain crops. (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Part 4, Chapter 11 : Blanes
11. BLANES A PLACE THAT USED TO BE A HATEFUL LOCATION OF EXPLOITATION OF THE WORKERS Just before arriving at the town we encounter the concentration of buildings of the SAFA, a well-known factory producing artificial silk. When we look at this factory, when we converse with the workers employed in it, we must remind ourselves of all its odious past: the phases of struggle provoked by the management of this factory. SAFA operated with Swiss and French capital, and Romanones and Ventosa y Calvell were also major shareholders in the enterprise. The workers were treated with the most extreme despotism, as if they were servants born to endure every kind of insult and the most outrageous provocations; they were paid paltry wages for the unhealthiest jobs. Many became ill due to their work in the factory, so that the shareholders could see their profits rise. There were three major strikes at SAFA that demonstrated... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

The Organization of the Food Supply
4. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FOOD SUPPLY “THE DANCE COMES FROM THE BELLY” This refrain, which the gaunt farmers of Castile pass on from father to son, perhaps from the need to concentrate in one sentence the harsh experience of their days from sunrise to sunset, with little bread and hard work, is the one that is most applicable to the dramatic situation of Spain today. The bodies of Moors found in the vicinity of Madrid, bearing all the signs of starvation; the declarations of Hedilla, the leader of the Phalange, in which he expresses his sympathy for his fascists who march into battle with hardly anything to eat; and the “one meal days” imposed by Quepo de Llano on the impoverished people of Seville are perhaps&mdash... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

The Textile Industry
2. THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY The structure of the textile industry—Report of the Textile Trade Union of Barcelona—The structure of the collective organizations in the textile industry. Three patterns—La España Industrial: Report on the activity of the Central Committees in the factories. THE STRUCTURE OF THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY REPORT OF THE TEXTILE TRADE UNION OF BARCELONA One of the most important industries in Catalonia, most heavily concentrated in Sabadell and Tarrasa, is the textile industry. The trade union mentioned above has 40,000 CNT workers in Barcelona alone. The two major trade union federations together have 230,000 workers in the industry, 170,000 of whom are members of our Confederation. The current proport... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Collectivization in Spain
1. Collectivization in Spain I The military revolt of July 19, 1936 had wide-ranging consequences for the economic life of Spain. Defense against the militarists and the clergy was only possible with the help of the proletariat. Alone, the republican bourgeoisie would have succumbed. It had to align itself with the proletariat. In 1934, when the Catalonian left sought to challenge Madrid without the workers, and against the anarchists and the syndicalists, Madrid was victorious. The advocates of Catalonian autonomy were defeated. After this conquest, Madrid exacted its vengeance. The Catalonian politicians, beginning with Companys, were sentenced to years in prison. If the petty bourgeoisie did not want to expose itself this time to the sam... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Rubí
7. RUBÍ THE EFFORTS OF THE PEASANTS This town has some 8,000 inhabitants, and all of the workers in the town are members of the Confederation. It is an essentially agricultural area, although it does have about a dozen factories engaged in the manufacture of finished and semi-finished fabrics. Here, as everywhere else, it is the peasants of the countryside who especially demonstrated their faith in the advent of the new social structure born from the Revolution. It is the peasant comrades, members of the CNT, who are in the vanguard of the work of renewal that must be carried out in agriculture. Without a petty and grasping mentality, without abject bourgeois egoism, and without getting mixed up in any political scheming, these 180 f... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Torroella
3. TORROELLA WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED BY WILL-POWER Leaving Gerona, the highway, narrow and straight, bordered by trees, crosses between small villages of adobe houses, in each case crowded together around an old church, which is today deserted and useless. The automobile can go more slowly now and we may observe the countryside. We pass by the silhouettes, bent over the furrowed ground of the farms, of the men and women who are patiently working, and the sadness that characterizes the traditional peasant of the old style who, alone on “his” land, toils to extract the surplus product that must provide his sustenance. Compare the labor of these poor folk, so sad and so slow, with the enthusiasm, with the cheerfulness, with the vigor ... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)