Asylum for Spanish War Children in Belgium (1937-1939): Institutions and Civil Society

Abstract

The idea of asylum for children during the Spanish civil war grew within civil society groups advocating an effective solidarity with the threatened Spanish Republic, in opposition to the terms of the non-intervention policy promoted by the Belgian government. In the Belgian case, the initiative came from individuals and organisations linked to political parties or the Catholic Church, and the State only intervened later to manage the transit of thousands of unaccompanied minors. The Spanish children in Belgium were overhelmingly placed into foster families -a relatively cheap solution- moved by multifold interests such as solidarity, empathy, charity, or the will to adopt a child. The political situation in Belgium and Spain, the relations between both countries as well as the emotional ties created within the foster families determined further whether the children were repatriated back to Spain or permanently stayed in Belgium, as over a thousand of them did.