TLS in French, one page both sides, 8.25 x 10.5, Librairie Gallimard letterhead, November 12, 1953. Letter to Nancy MacDonald, chairman of Spanish Refugee Aid, Inc. In part (translated): “I read your letter and its comical assertion that I was one of the supporters of communism in France, on the very same day that a communist newspaper, yet once more, was insulting me. But this question goes far beyond my personal situation. I simply wish to note once more the incredible ignorance that well-intentioned Americans can show with regard to European questions. The large majority of Spanish refugees in France are anti-communists. Many among them are anarchists, and the Medway Committee is free to think that that is worse. But it cannot do so without holding that Tolstoy, Kropotkin, Bakunin, Proud’hon, and the rest, are thugs whose only dream has been to take down the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. You know as well as I do that Spanish anarchism is a school and a doctrine. It seems to me in bad taste to be unaware of the fact that it was anarchists who fought the first battle of the third world war against our common foe, and who, after their defeat, found themselves once more at our side against Hitler’s armies. If the Medway Committee can only help out refugees who are radical socialists or conservatives, then it may as well stop any and all work....if it means you are a communist if you are not resigned to see the Azul Division defend the democratic camp, then we are all communists, in the same manner you will later be liquidated by the true communists. But after all, you and your husband know this better than I.” Camus also added three small ink corrections to the text. In fine condition, with central vertical and horizontal folds and a couple tiny edge tears. Provenance: The James S. Copley Library Collection, Sotheby’s, 2010.
Two years after publishing The Rebel, the philosophical analysis of rebellion and revolution that clearly displayed his rejection of Communism, alienating him from many of his contemporaries in France and putting an end to his friendship with Sartre, Camus began to devote his efforts to a variety of human rights causes, including the Spanish Refugee Aid. With the defeat of Spain’s Republican Army at the hands of Francisco Franco in 1939, half a million Spanish citizens fled to France for safety; those who survived World War II—approximately 200,000—were given the status of political refugees, and while many assimilated into the French workforce, those unable to work were left helpless and destitute. Founded by Nancy Macdonald in 1953, the Spanish Refugee Aid aimed to assist those still struggling, many of whom had fought with the Allied soldiers in the war. One of the SRA’s earliest supporters, Camus found himself in an interesting situation when confronted by the strongly anti-Communist Macdonald regarding his own political situation—seemingly unconvinced of his position, despite his frequent alignment with anarchist groups around the globe and his dismissal from groups of his Communist friends. A fascinating firsthand political commentary on the Spanish situation from the soon-to-be Nobel Prize winner—one of only a handful of Camus letters we have offered. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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