Catalogue Number
NMLH.2006.14.26
Object Name
Plate
Title
The Battle Of Cable Street 1936 1996 They Shall Not Pass They Did Not Pass
Place
Cable Street & London
People
Mosley, Oswald
Events
The Battle Of Cable Street
Date
1996
Description
A plate made to commemorate the Battle of Cable Street. The plate depicts a street barricade with the police on one side and the anti-fascists on the other. Text around the plate reads: "THE BATTLE OF CABLE STREET / THEY SHALL NOT PASS / THEY DID NOT PASS / 1936-1996"
The Battle of Cable Street took place on 4 October 1936. It refers to an antifascist action in the East End of London, where antifascists blocaded roads like Cable Street in Wapping as they took to the streets to physically prevent Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) from marching through the area to intimidate Jewish residents. At the time, the East End was home to almost half of the UK's Jewish population, and the BUF sought to blame Jews for Britain's problems. The BUF's march was permitted by the Home Office, who sent seven thousand police officers to protect the fascist marchers, despite a hundred thousand strong petition from the Jewish People's Council, local residents and the mayors of the East London neighbourhoods asking for it to be banned.
On the day, anti-fascist protesters adopted the Spanish antifascist slogan 'No Passaran' which mean 'They shall not pass', and this is referenced on the plate text. The antifascist block included Jewish First World War veterans, Somali Muslim sailors, Communist and Independent Labour Party members and local residents. The estimated 100,000-310,000 antifascists physically resisted the 2000-5000 BUF fascists, and were successful in their goal - the fascists were forced to leave the East End, despite their police protection. The Battle of Cable Street, as it became known, was a wide-spread community response to fascism, and is often celebrated by antifascists as a moment of victory of British fascism, as evidenced by this plate commemorating the 60th anniversary.
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