By Linda Newman
To mark the 90th anniversary of the historic clash at The Battle of Cable Street, the Board of Deputies of British Jews presents Cable Street 90, a festival of Jewish culture, history, and solidarity in which a whole kaleidoscope of fascinating events will be taking place
As part of the festival, historian and AJEX archivist Martin Sugarman whose work we featured in our current issue (p 10 ) will be giving a talk on October 8th titled Jews Against Franco: The Jewish Contribution to the Spanish Civil War. Martin’s talk will explore the Spanish Civil War as one of the defining struggles against fascism of the 20th century – in which Jews played a remarkable part.
The Battle of Cable Street took place on October 4, 1936. Just months earlier, in July 1936, the Spanish Civil War erupted. For the Jewish youth of East London, Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts at home and General Franco’s fascists in Spain were the same enemy. Many of the very same young Jewish men and women who stood at the barricades shouting “No Pasarán” (They Shall Not Pass) at Cable Street went on to volunteer for the International Brigades in Spain to continue the fight.
Thousands of Jews from around 53 countries became involved in the Republican cause. Many joined the International Brigades and travelled to Spain to fight Franco; others supported the struggle through fundraising, political activism, refugee aid and humanitarian work. Some went openly as Jews, while others adopted aliases. Some fought alongside fellow nationals, while others joined different national units. Some were refugees from antisemitism and political persecution; others left relatively secure lives in democratic countries to fight fascism.
Martin’s talk uncovers these often-overlooked stories of courage, idealism, international solidarity and sacrifice – and asks why the Jewish contribution to the fight against Franco remains so little known.
CABLE STREET 90
Running from 1–11 October 2026, Events will be taking place across iconic East London and central venues (locations revealed upon booking); the varied programme includes discussions, artistic performances, films, live performances and tailored black cab history tours of Whitechapel, Spitalfields, and Brick Lane.
For further info and to book, please go to: https://bod.org.uk/cable-street-90/
