Women in Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista

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Women in the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM) faced many of the same issues as other revolutionary women in the 1930s. Male leaders often spoke in favor of women’s rights, but privately they could act in sexist ways. Despite these tensions, POUM women played important roles during the Spanish Civil War.

What POUM was
POUM was founded in 1935 from a merger of two Trotskyist groups, representing dissident communists within the left. It had its strongest support in Catalonia and often clashed with the Communist Party of Spain and the CNT. Inside POUM, women worked to build their own space and influence.

Women’s organizing and training
POUM created a Women’s Secretariat to empower working-class women. They organized neighborhood committees to tackle daily concerns and formed the Barcelona-based Women’s Cultural Grouping, which ran classes in hygiene, sewing, reading, children’s welfare, and ideas about socialism and women’s rights. The group also trained women in weapon use, with POUM being unique in arming women alongside men.

Roles of POUM women
Women in POUM served in many crucial roles: some helped govern the organization, wrote and published POUM-supported materials, taught civilians, and joined militias or front-line activities. Although POUM had one of the smallest female contingents among leftist groups, its women were active in militias and in the war effort. Captains and other leaders highlighted that women fought bravely and performed duties in the trenches and on the home front.

Notable women and activities
- Mika Etchebéhère (Etchebéhère), an Argentine-born Trotskyist, joined a POUM militia near Madrid and rose to high command, earning recognition for her leadership.
- Katia Landau came from France to support POUM’s media defense against Stalinist slanders.
- Teresa Rebull worked as a nurse during the fighting and faced punishment for her involvement.
- Lois Orr and Lois Cusick were foreign POUM members who took part in events in Madrid and Barcelona; both faced arrest during the May Days of 1937 but were later released and left for France with others.
- Teresa Pàmies and Dolores Ibárruri (La Pasionaria) sometimes acted against POUM, trying to isolate or undermine it as they sought alliances with other groups.

May Days and the crackdown
In May 1937, power struggles widened. The Soviet-backed faction within the Republican side moved to control key areas, including ports, and the situation escalated into open conflict in Madrid. On June 16, 1937, POUM leader Andrés Nin and the POUM executive were arrested, and many foreign POUM supporters were imprisoned. Some were rescued after intervention by journalists and diplomats, but the crackdown helped lead to POUM’s dissolution.

Exile, war aftermath, and legacy
Many POUM women who had been imprisoned or exiled faced further repression after the Civil War. During World War II, American Nancy MacDonald helped POUM exiles and refugees through the organization Spanish Refugee Aid, assisting people in France and beyond. Some POUM women were forced to make false confessions in Moscow courts during the war, and later years saw a rethinking of their roles as Stalinist communism lost prestige.

In the long view, POUM’s women fought for equal front-line participation and for women’s rights, while also contending with hypocrisy and hostility from some male leaders. Their efforts showed that women could play decisive roles in politics, war, media, and community life, even in a turbulent and divided left.