Patrick Murphy Malin. Report to the Committee on Spain and to The American Friends Service Committee.

Patrick Murphy Malin. Report to the Committee on Spain and to The American Friends Service Committee.

The American Friends Service Committee sent representatives to Civil War-ridden Spain to evaluate the situation. One such representative was Patrick Murphy Malin. His report illustrates Spain, especially rural Spain, as claustrophobic, dirty, and poorly maintained. However, just as important as Malin’s articulated findings is his definition of pacifism. Malin writes, “pacifism does not mean that exact neutrality...an ethic of abstract absolutism...It means simply that...we should be always concerned about the maximum conservation of good...we must be constantly at work by methods we can approve.” Here, Malin breaks down the misconceptions of pacifism as passive, as the sole promotion of the absence of war. This report is one of many documenting the horrible conditions of the war, but also the improving conditions, due to the Friends’ relief efforts, demonstrating the Quaker impact in Spain.

1937

Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe and Benjamin Yellin