Are You A Fifth Columnist? If You Spread Disease, You Are!
1939-1945. Colour process lithograph, 75.3 x 49.2cm. Repaired missing portions, creases and tears. Linen-backed. Text continues “Many hours are lost in war industries, due to influenza and common colds spread by droplet infection. Cover up each cough and sneeze, otherwise you’ll spread disease. Authorised by C.A. Kelly, Minister of Health, NSW.” A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group, such as a nation or a besieged city, from within. This phrase originates from Emilio Mola, a Nationalist General during the Spanish Civil War, where he told a journalist in 1936 that as his four columns of troops approached Madrid, a “fifth column” of supporters inside the city would support him and undermine the Republican government. The term was then widely used in Spain. Ernest Hemingway used it as the title of his only play, which he wrote in Madrid while the city was being bombarded.
Item #CL177-47
Price (AUD): $1,250.00 other currencies