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“...and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” TheThe VVolunteerolunteer ABRAHAM LINCOLN JOURNAL OF THE VETERANS OF THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE

Vol. XXVI, No.4 December 2004

Student Show About Lincolns Wins First Prize in Illinois, page 3. Dispatch from Madrid, Flag Controversy in Argentina and the SCW, p. 11 Parade, p. 5-6 Benicàssim Honors Brigades, p. 11 Spain’s Wartime Prime Minister, p. 7 Saul Wellman film reviewed, p. 17 Harry Fisher’s WWII Letters, p. 9 v2004-4.qxd 11/5/2004 2:36 PM Page 2

Please continue sending An Appeal to Our Readers me The Volunteer Publishing The Volunteer is expensive—and Individual/Family $30.00 ❐ increasingly so. The cost of producing The Senior (over 65) and Student $20.00 ❐ Volunteer continues to rise. The publication is Library $40.00 ❐ now running a deficit that makes a nominal Veterans of the Spanish Civil War No Charge ❐ subscription fee necessary. Rest assured that we I would also like to send __ gift subscriptions @____ $_____ are not about to go out of business or suspend To publication. If you would like to continue receiv- Address ing The Volunteer, we ask that you fill out the form below and send it with your check made I would like to make an additional contribution to ALBA $_____ out to ALBA to: Enclosed is my check for TOTAL $_____ ALBA 799 Broadway, Room 227 Name New York, NY 10003 Mailing address Or you can subscribe by credit card in a safe and Telephone number secure way at our website, www.alba-valb.org. Email address Click on contributions. Thank you for your continued support in keep- ☛Please make checks payable to ALBA. ing the fine traditions of the Abraham Lincoln Send to 799 Broadway, Rm. 227, New York, NY 10003 Brigade a vital and living legacy! You can make contributions online at www.alba-valb.org. The Volunteer Journal of the Veterans of the Letters Abraham Lincoln Brigade an ALBA publication

799 Broadway, Rm. 227 Dear friends, New York, NY 10003 I am disappointed about the article written by Paul Preston in your last issue. This article does not reflect the (212) 674-5398 reality of Spain. King Juan Carlos is the continuity of Franco’s ideolo- Editorial Board gy by other means. As the regime needed foreign Peter Carroll • Leonard Levenson investments, they needed to soften the regime and of Gina Herrmann • Fraser Ottanelli course give it a superficial democratic face. The Abe Smorodin Constitution was a mere compromise between the post- Francoists and the weak real democrats. In a way to clean Book Review Editor the dictatorship, post-Francoists presented the Monarchy. Shirley Mangini Spain has become richer in the last 25 years, mainly Art Director-Graphic Designer because of the foreign investments and not because of the Richard Bermack policies of their governments. We also must add the large amounts of European funds that have gone to Spain. Editorial Assistance The real majority that rules the country are post- Nancy Van Zwalenburg Francoists or their descendants, except in the Basque Submission of Manuscripts Country and Catalonia. In these territories a Francoist Please send manuscripts by E-mail or on disk. party has never won any election. E-mail: [email protected] Letters continued on page 20 2 THE VOLUNTEER December 2004 v2004-4.qxd 11/5/2004 2:36 PM Page 3

CChichicagoago SStudentudentsts SSalutalutee thethe LincLincolnoln BrBrigadeigade New Show Planned Last year, Jamie O’Reilly, co-cre- ator of the musical performance “Passiones: Songs of the Spanish Civil War,” invited ALBA to collabo- rate with Chicago’s Free Street Theater group in producing a stu- dent performance based on songs and texts of the Spanish Civil War, as interpreted by contemporary students. As reported in The Volunteer (March 2004), the result was Jugar/Muerte (Play/Dead), a production by and for high school students that told the story of the Lincoln Brigade and focused on the moral choices that young people face in a world of war. Inspired by the performance, a class at Curie High School, taught by Sandy Meyer, adopted the topic for its project in the National History Day competition. [See Chicago history and drama students accompanying article.] The Curie By Sandy Meyer (with Hector students won first prize in their the Riveter, the Emmett Till murder, and, school, then in the northern Illinois Cambray, Nick Morales, Tony this past year, the Abraham Lincoln district, and finally in the state’s his- Torres, Curtis Jackson, and Brigade. But I’ll let my students, Hector tory fair, earning the right to Jackie Rodriguez) Cambray, Nick Morales, Tony Torres, represent Illinois in the final compe- Curtis Jackson, and Jackie Rodriguez, tell tition in Washington, D.C. At a I was born shortly after World War II you in their own words what they did. ceremony last May to honor the and was raised by leftist parents who took students’ achievement, the awards me to peace marches and civil rights We chose the Spanish Civil War as committee also paid tribute to events. I spent time with family friends our topic because we are very con- Lincoln vet Chuck Hall—not only like Chuck Hall, who told me about his cerned with the war in Iraq. We for enlisting in the fight against fas- time in Spain. These events played a huge discussed the causes of war and those cism, but also for his personal role in my becoming a radical student who waged war in the past. We exam- involvement with today’s students. leader in the sixties and later a high school ined tyrants from history, the biggest This year ALBA is supporting teacher who always tries to find opportu- of whom was Hitler. We also studied another version of Chicago’s Free nities for my students to learn about our the political careers of Mussolini, Street project, thanks to the contin- history. Five times in my teaching career Salazar, and Franco. We became uing commitment of Jamie O’Reilly that meant taking students through the extremely interested in Franco when and teachers like Sandy Meyer. In stages necessary to become competitors in we learned he was the first dictator to October, ALBA Chair Peter Carroll National History Day, with projects on fight against democratic ideas after joined a group of teachers at Curie the anti-Vietnam War movement, Rosie World War I. This gave Hitler’s ideas High School to explore the 2005 a new wave of popularity in program. ALBA, in turn, acknowl- Sandy Meyer has been a high school Germany. The liberal democratic par- edges the recent grant from the drama and history teacher for the ties were gaining power, and Hitler Puffin Foundation that makes this Chicago public schools since 1972. Continued on page 4 important work possible.

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Students Continued from page 3

wanted it stopped. He used Franco’s to show our historical knowledge in a war as a blueprint for handling his passionate manner. Most importantly, opposition and he gave much sup- as history students, it reminds us of port to Franco. At this point, we the price that must be paid when our knew we wanted to do our project on principles, values, and beliefs are Franco’s war. opposed by what appear to be over- At the beginning of our research, whelming odds and forces. we watched a Free Street production of a play on the Spanish Civil War entitled Jugar/Muerte (Play/Dead). It deeply affected us and ignited our interest in learning about the war. We learned people can have all of their basic liberties taken away by force and be left with no recourse but to fight. We then met with Free Street actors who researched and wrote the play. And then we met Chuck Hall, a mem- ber of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, As great an experience as this was for who told us firsthand stories of his the kids, it meant so much to me (and his experiences during the Spanish Civil family and my family) to see Chuck finally War. These stories brought the learn- get the recognition he so deserved. The ing process to life. He loaned us standing ovation that he received at the videos of volunteers who were in Chicago Historical Society’s awards event Spain and we read several of their recognized him as an historical figure in memoirs. We continued to learn more his own right. We so often see the generals by reading books, as well as articles in get the accolades, but that day Charles The Volunteer: Journal of the Veterans of Hall was acknowledged as a true hero for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. living out his ideals. As a teacher, it is my We loved that the brave fighters greatest satisfaction to turn on new gener- of the ALB exchanged talk for action. ations to historical truths, as I see them. They picked up rifles and actively supported their ideas. And we loved having Chuck Hall finally honored, even though it was 50 years later at the Chicago Metro History Fair’s awards ceremony last spring, for his courage and his solidarity with the Spanish people in their encounters with the fascists in Spain. As history students, we learned a big lesson: sometimes we have to fight for our beliefs, no matter what we encounter along the way. We feel very passionate about the subject of fascism because millions of people died from its oppression. Due to the very dramatic nature of these events, we felt it necessary to stage Fighting the Good Fight as a live perfor- mance. Also, as drama majors in our high school, we love to act. Some of us hope to pursue careers in acting, and this project allows us the opportunity 4 THE VOLUNTEER December 2004 v2004-4.qxd 11/5/2004 2:36 PM Page 5

Dispatch from Madrid: Trading One Flag for Another

By Miguel Ángel Nieto this past summer in Paris, France hon- flag, he was accompanied by a surviv- (Translated by Tony Geist) ored the men and women who formed ing vet of the Blue Division. This is the the Leclerc Brigade in 1943 and scarce- first time, to the astonishment of n the military parade held on ly a year later, in 1944, contributed Spanish citizens, that there has been October 12 every year in Spain, the decisively to the liberation of France official, though symbolic, recognition Isymbols and weapons of the victors from Nazi occupation. The Spaniards of the terrible episode in the history of have always been on display, until who were part of the Leclerc Brigade, Spain called the Civil War. today. The uniforms are those worn like the Americans of the Lincoln Other Socialist leaders have gone by those who have called themselves Brigade in Spain, have never been even farther than the Zapatero gov- victors for centuries, for October 12 included in official parades in this ernment in the “flag affair”: “I would commemorates the date Christopher country. This year, though, things say that the only thing missing in the Columbus supposedly first set foot on have changed dramatically. Not only military parade this year is the American shores. did a surviving veteran of the Leclerc Continued on page 12 Francisco Franco always used this Brigade march escorted by the French military spectacle to show the world the presumed might of the armed forces of his dictatorial regime. And former president José Maria Aznar followed suit, initiating a new practice in 2001: the presence of the flag of the United States. In 2001, the U.S. flag was present in honor of the victims of the brutal terrorist attacks of September 11. The following year it was also there, as one of the member nations of NATO, spe- cially invited. And in 2003 it flew again in the Spanish parade, as sym- bolic confirmation of the “Pact Against Evil” signed in the Azores just before. Last year, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, today prime minister of the Spanish government, refused to salute Prime minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (center), with vets Matti the American flag as it passed the Mattson (left) and Moe Fishman (right) authorities’ stand. No one could have imagined the stunning turn of events that would bring the man who Spain’s Zapatero Praises remained seated and silent when the flag that represented the war in Iraq Lincoln Brigade marched by to be the prime minister of the Spanish government. Nor could n September, His Excellency José Molina, held a reception for the Prime they have imagined that in the Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Minister and his delegation on Columbus Day parade of 2004, the IPrime Minister of Spain, came to Monday, September 20, 2004. Before flag of the United States would be New York to attend the opening ses- being appointed head of Spain’s most replaced by the flag of France. sion of the United Nations. Because important cultural organization by the The French flag was invited this Spain was about to rotate into the Zapatero government, Molina had year not because France refused to presidency of the UN Security been the director of Madrid’s Círculo sign the Azores accords, but because Council, the Prime Minister was de Bellas Artes. Under his leadership, accompanied by an important Spanish the center has mounted several major Miguel Ángel Nieto is a prominent delegation. exhibitions and events related to the The General Director of the journalist based in Madrid. Continued on page 6 Instituto Cervantes, César Antonio THE VOLUNTEER December 2004 5 v2004-4.qxd 11/5/2004 2:36 PM Page 6

FFlaglag CConontrtroovversyersy TTainaintsts SSpainpain’’ss HHolidaolidayy PPararadeade By Robert Coale widely criticized by different political he participation of two antago- parties in Spain. nistic veterans groups during The Leclerc Division, arguably the TSpain’s National Holiday cere- most famous Free French fighting unit monies in October marred the of World War II, served as a rallying traditional day of patriotism. Spain’s point for volunteers from France and Minister of Defense José Bono defend- the rest of the world who refused to ed his invitation to one Spanish accept the defeat of the French army veteran of the Free French Second in 1940. It began as a hodgepodge col- Armored Division, known as the umn in 1941, and by 1943 was a Leclerc Division, which fought with modern armored division of some the Allies in liberating Paris in 1944, as 16,000 men, supplied by and integrat- well as to veterans of the Spanish ed into Patton’s Third U.S. Army. As a Volunteer Division, otherwise known result of the Allied invasion of North as the Blue Division, which fought Africa in November 1942, several hun- with the German army on the Eastern dred Spanish Republicans deserted Front, as a symbol of national reconcil- the Vichy France units they were iation. But this gesture has been forced into in 1939 and took up arms Zapatero Praises Lincolns Luis Royo-Ibáñez in front of a photo- Continued from page 5 graph of the half-track he rode into Spanish Civil War and the people invited to make remarks at the Paris while fighting the Nazis in WWII. International Brigades. The host of event were New York-area represen- Photo courtesy of Coasques. the New York reception was the new tatives of Sephardic Jews, Latin director of the Instituto Cervantes in American artists, and Spanish with De Gaulle to fight Hitler, New York, Antonio Muñoz Molina, Republican exiles. It seemed clear that Mussolini, and Franco. Most of these Spain’s most acclaimed novelist, who through this guest list and the choice men wound up in the armored is also keenly interested in the of speakers, the Instituto Cervantes infantry of Leclerc, where they were Spanish Civil War and the was intending to signal its broad and respected for their civil war combat International Brigades. Many of his inclusive conception of Spanish cul- experience. In a true quirk of history, novels deal with the legacy of the war ture. Prime Minister Zapatero, in his it was an advance column of these in contemporary Spain. And remarks, made explicit mention of the Spaniards that first entered Paris in Zapatero himself, though born in many young American idealists who halftracks baptized “Ebro,” “Teruel,” 1960, traces the origin of his interest had come to Spain to defend the “Guadalajara,” and even “Don in politics to the family memory of Spanish Republic in the ranks of the Quixote.” They went on to participate his grandfather, a military officer Abraham Lincoln Brigade. in the liberation of eastern France, who was executed by the fascists dur- The evening concluded with Strasbourg, and Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest ing the Spanish Civil War because of cocktails in the Instituto Cervantes in Berchtesgaden. his allegiance to the Republic. garden. Matti and I formed a flying In the wake of Charles De Gaulle’s It is probably because of this wedge and made our way through a rise to power, the contribution of interest in the Spanish Civil War, crowd of the Prime Minister’s friends volunteers of other nationalities was shared by Molina, Muñoz Molina and and admirers right to Sr. Zapatero’s quieted in the interest of French Zapatero, that a few veterans of the elbow. We told him who we were, Continued on page 10 Lincoln Brigade received special invi- and he greeted us warmly. We asked tations to attend the September 20 if he would take just a moment to Robert Coale is writing a book about event at New York’s Instituto have a photo taken with us. He gra- Spanish participation in the French army Cervantes. Matti Mattson and I ciously agreed. And here it is. during World War II. attended to represent the VALB. The —Moe Fishman

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Reconsidering Spain’s Wartime Prime Minister By Gabriel Jackson revolution in 1931 and a civil war five et me say at the start that Juan years later, Juan Negrín would have Negrín has been badly treated spent his life as a professor of Lin the historiography of the physiology, an occasional medical Spanish Civil War. Naturally, for the practitioner (it was never his main rightwing dictatorship, which won occupation), an academic administra- the war and then governed Spain for tor, a financial organizer and 36 years (1939-1975), Negrín was an manager, an inveterate book collec- agent of Stalin, the man who tor, and a man of endless curiosity “robbed” the gold of the Bank of about languages, anthropology, cui- Spain and handed it to the Russians. sine, sex, and human nature from But also, within the Republic, childhood to old age. Negrín’s tenure as prime minister Negrín was born in Las Palmas, (May 1937-March 1939) coincided principal port city of the island of with the loss of revolutionary hopes Gran Canaria, in February 1892. The among socialist and anarchist work- Canary Islands had belonged to the ers, steady military defeats, kingdom of Castile since 1479, but increasing food shortages, the total because the islands straddled all the diplomatic isolation of the Republic main trade routes being opened from except for Soviet Russia and Mexico, the 15th century to the present and the final loss of the war. Dozens between Africa, Latin America, and of writers among the exiled republi- Europe, the islanders were much more can and socialist leaders wrote interested in world commerce than memoirs in which Negrín is blamed were their cousins on the Iberian for most of the catastrophes that peninsula. Negrín was an excellent had he desired to stay on. befell the Republic, especially in the student in both the sciences and the In 1916 he returned to neutral last year of the war, after Franco’s humanities, graduated from high Spain with his Russian-Jewish pianist forces had reached the school with high honors at the age of wife and their two infant sons. Mediterranean and cut the 14, and maintained a lifelong interest Negrín’s Leipzig education and his Republican territories in two. in the culture of the Guanches, the research publications had attracted Negrín did not keep a diary—at native peoples who had inhabited the the highly favorable attention of least none that has survived—nor did archipelago for centuries before the Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spain’s he write many newspaper articles. European arrivals. Nobel Prize-winning physiologist. Other major leaders, such as Manuel On the advice of his German busi- Negrín was put in charge of the new Azaña, Indalecio Prieto, Luis ness associates, Negrín´s father, a physiology laboratories being devel- Araquistain, and Martínez Barrio, pro- successful self-made merchant and oped in what is now the Residencia de duced reams of prose explaining the land investor, sent his son to be edu- Estudiantes in Madrid. By 1922 he shortcomings and errors of Negrín. cated in German universities. Between was a professor of experimental But except for a handful of wartime 1908 and 1916 Juan Negrín acquired physiology and the secretary of the speeches, a public exchange of letters two doctorates, one in medicine and medical school faculty at the with Prieto in 1939, and his formal res- one in physiology, published a half University of Madrid (now called the ignation at the Cortes of August 1945 dozen research articles, and substitut- Complutense). He also founded a lab- in Mexico, Negrín did not defend him- ed in 1914-15 for one of his professors oratory of chemical analysis that self against these thousands of pages who was called to active military ser- served the needs of his own patients lambasting his actions. vice at the start of World War I. and those of several colleagues and a If there had not been a Republican Negrín was by this time completely publishing house, which in 1927 fluent in French, English, and issued the first up-to-date Spanish Gabriel Jackson’s biography of Juan German, also spoke some Russian and textbook in medical physiology and Negrín will soon be published in Spain. Italian, and had become a privat- also the Spanish translation of Erich dozent, an important step towards a Continued on page 14 full professorial career in Germany THE VOLUNTEER December 2004 7 v2004-4.qxd 11/5/2004 2:36 PM Page 8

Lincoln Vets Join Veterans for Peace Demonstrating at the Republican National Convention

Lincoln vets and friends marching with the Veterans for Peace joined thou- sands of demonstrators who protested at the Republican national convention in New York. Vet Matti Mattson marches with the VALB banner (right).

Commemoration of the Defense of Madrid

To commemorate the 67th anniversary of the battle to defend Madrid in November 1936, the Asociación de Amigos de las Brigadas Internacionales (AABI) held a series of programs that focused on the role of international volun- teers, hosting appearances by the Lincoln Brigade’s last commander, Milton Wolff, and ALBA chair Peter Carroll. The events, which were held at the Centro Cultural de Rivas Vaciamadrid, included the opening of an exhibition, “Volunteers for Liberty,” and round-table discus- sions that included both veterans of the war and historians. The Amigos also organized a tour of nearby battlefields.

WWW.ALBA-VALB.ORG

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Harry Fisher’s Letters Depict Lincoln Vets in World War II

By Michael Nash Oliver Law, the first African American he World War II correspondence to command an integrated military unit. of Harry Fisher (1911 – 2003) is During World War II, Fisher Tthe most recent addition to the trained as an engineer gunner in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archive at U.S. Army Air Corps, but he never New York University’s Tamiment saw action because of the discrimina- Library. This is a massive archive, tion he faced as a Lincoln Brigade some 2,000 letters describing the day- veteran. After the war, he became to-day life of a Lincoln veteran who chief of communications for the Tass was kept stateside until the end of the news agency in New York City. Like war because his politics and Spanish many of the veterans, Fisher was at Harry Fisher the center of most of the political and economic struggles that defined post- ing the Vietnam era, the effort to raise World War II war America: resistance to the money for ambulances for Nicaragua, McCarthy witch hunts, the civil rights and opposition to the war in Iraq. Letters Sought movement, the peace movement dur- Continued on page 10

ALBA is seeking letters writ- ten by Lincoln Brigade veterans from the World War II era for Excerpt of letter from inclusion in a volume that will be published by New York Harry Fisher to Ruth Fisher University Press. Anyone with June 27, 1943 such material is encouraged to Sweetheart: contact Executive Director Julia The other day I got into an argument with a corporal. It was while I Newman, 799 Broadway (Rm. was getting processed—the part where I was getting fit for uniforms. I 227), New York, NY 10003; 212- don’t want to go into details, but I can assure you it was his fault, or I’d 674-5398; [email protected]. have kept my mouth shut. Anyways, I kept my mouth shut so long as I could, but after the fifth time he called me a son-of-a-bitch, I lost my meek- ness and opened my mouth. I told him he was one of these 2 stripe generals Civil War service made him suspect in with a soft job in the rear, trying to bulldoze the new green guys in the the eyes of the Unites States military. army—that if he were a real soldier, he wouldn’t be in a reception camp. Fisher was a department store Then he started to threaten me, and I told him to go four letter word him- worker, seaman, and political activist self. And that was that! Later on another soldier comes over to me and who served with the Lincoln Brigade says—”You fought in a war before didn’t you.” I told him that I fought in Spain from March 1937 until with the Loyalists in Spain. That was the first time I mentioned Spain here. September 1938. He participated in The guy spoke as though he knew. He said—”You volunteered for Spain, most of the major campaigns of the didn’t you?” I said I did. “Did you volunteer for the American army,” he war, including the battle at Jarama in asked belligerently. “It’s none of your god-damn business, Bud,” I the spring of 1937, the Brunete offense answered. After that, all the fellows got around me and wanted to know all that summer, and the battle at Teruel about Spain. About half the group were Italians, but they were all sympa- in the winter of 1938. In Brunete, he thetic anti mussolini. Some of them never even heard of that war. To some served as a runner for Commander of them, it made no difference that I fought with the Loyalists—what mat- tered is that I fought in a war…. Michael Nash is head of the Tamiment Regards to all. Library at New York University. Harry

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Flag Controversy Continued from page 6

participation in the Allied victory. On the other hand, the Spanish friendly interpretations of the unit Then suddenly, 60 years later, the Volunteer Division, or the “Blue Franco sent to help Hitler claim that forgotten volunteer Spanish Division,” named for the color of the volunteers were recruited from prison Republicans of the Leclerc Division Spanish fascist Falange uniform or joined in order to buy freedom for were back in the vanguard when the mayor of Paris, socialist Bertrand Delanoë, seconded by his lieutenant Luis Royo-Ibáñez was not pleased at the idea of mayor of Spanish origins, Anne marching next to a veteran who had worn a Nazi Hidalgo, decided to inaugurate a plaque in their honor during official uniform. ceremonies in August 2004. The event received considerable news coverage shirts, was created in 1943 and fought detained family members, or even to in France and Spain. It was the in the German army on the Eastern desert to the USSR once at the front. Spanish Minister of Defense in person Front against the Soviet Red Army. While there were such cases, they who, shortly afterwards, invited Luis Recruited in Spain, some 40,000 sol- were a small minority. This was a unit Royo-Ibáñez, one of the two surviving diers fought in its ranks through a commanded by proven Francoist gen- veterans, to Madrid. system of rotations. Sixty years later, erals and infused with enthusiasm for the Nazi agenda. Flash forward to Madrid in Fisher Letters October 2004. Luis Royo-Ibáñez was Continued from page 9 not pleased at the idea of marching next to a veteran who had worn a Nazi uniform. One exchange caught Harry Fisher’s letters from the bat- expressed frustration at not being on video for the nightly news went as tlefields of Spain that have been part allowed to fight in Europe, watching follows: “While you were fighting to of the ALBA collection for many years many of the soldiers he trained with enslave part of Europe for Hitler, I capture the spirit of the volunteers and going off to war while he remained was fighting for democracy.” the Spanish people. On March 16, in the United States. It was February “Whatever you say,” responded Mr. 1937, shortly after arriving in Spain, he 1945 before the Air Corps sent Fisher Salamanca, veteran of the Blue wrote: “It is impossible for me to to a base in France. By then the war Division. “Darned right,” stated Mr. express the spirit of these children. was almost over, and as result, he Royo-Ibáñez. The latter, who fought in They will fight fascism to death.” did not see real action. For Fisher, the the Ebro battle at the age of 17, said In World War II, Harry Fisher war was characterized by frustration that participating in the ceremony experienced the type of discrimina- and boredom. One of his brighter next to a veteran of Franco’s army in the tion that was all too typical. Like moments came at an August 1945 civil war would not have upset him, many of his comrades, he saw that Paul Robeson concert that was held because in the civil war each side war as a continuation of the anti-fas- on a French military base. In an defended its vision for the future of cist struggle they had begun in Spain. August 6 letter Fisher, with consider- Spain. In fact, he thought that national However, Fisher’s service in the able satisfaction, quotes Robeson reconciliation could be a positive step. Spanish Civil War set him apart from saying, “ I sang for the American But marching next to a volunteer for the other soldiers, as the government boys of the Abraham Lincoln Hitler was a completely different matter. classified him as a security risk who Brigade, who were the first The subsequent public debate has should not be sent to the front lines. Americans to fight against fascism.” proven that many agree with Mr. On September 25, 1943, he wrote to Many of Harry Fisher’s letters Royo-Ibáñez. Now that the transition his wife Ruth: will be published in a forthcoming to democracy has been firmly estab- I learned this morning that the book on the Lincoln Brigade veterans lished in Spanish society, people radio gunners who shipped out during World War II. This edited col- believe that it is time to take a critical this week are now at Fort lection of letters will describe the full look at the legacy of the Franco Monmouth, N.J. I was supposed to range of experiences of the Lincoln regime, still present in Spanish cities be with that gang…. I was not Brigade—from those who served through statues and streets named for shipped because I’m being investi- heroically on the front lines to those rebellious generals, forgotten graves, gated. who, like Harry Fisher, were kept out and unforgotten prison sentences, In hundreds of letters, he of action because of their politics. before the reconciliation can truly take hold. 10 THE VOLUNTEER December 2004 v2004-4.qxd 11/5/2004 2:36 PM Page 11

Argentina and the Spanish Civil War

By Jerónimo Boragina (Translated by Tony Geist)

For the last several years a group of historians called “History from Below” has been meeting in Mar del Plata, Argentina, near Buenos Aires. We believe that history must be understood from a position counter to Benicàssim Honors the story told by the elite and those who hold power. That is, history in which the people, workers, and soci- Brigades with New Plaque ety in general are the creators and By Guillermo Casañ participants in social change, not unteers and relatives have visited it merely observers. ast July 23 a plaque was in the recent past: brigadistas like The Credicorp Bank recently unveiled in Benicàssim’s Ernst Kuntschic, Gerhard offered us support and space to orga- Lcemetery in honor of the Hoffmann, Len Levenson (with nize an event concerning the Spanish “Internationales” buried there. The Robert Coale); medical personnel Civil War. We were already aware of ceremony was organized by the like doctor Josep M. Massons and Spanish exile groups in Mar del Plata, “Associació González Chermá” and nurses Josephine Hill, Pilar Pitarch, and our fascination with the International Brigades led us to orga- It is moving to see how the fight against fascism by the men nize a series of lectures and discussions that took place on four and women of the International Brigades is still valued and successive Fridays in the month of admired despite the passing years. March 2004. Over 50 people attended each session. Argentinean volunteers recall the the townhall. About 50 people, Encarna Mus, Mercedes Ferrara, importance of international solidarity, young and old, attended the event, Carolina Klein and Rosita Cremón; telling tales of ships from different surrounded by republican flags. and relatives of Dr. Gunter Bodek countries arriving in Spain laden with Among them was Rosa Langer, and Dr. Desider Tallenberg, both food, medicine, clothing, etc. daughter of French brigadist Marcel directors of the hospital. Along Argentina was the second most active Langer. As a continuation of the with these visits, lectures have been country per capita to send aid to the homage, a talk titled “Benicàssim, organized. Austrian vet Hans Spanish Republic. Campaigns, events, Images from the I.B. Hospital” was Landauer, for example, has given parties, donation of a day’s wages given by Guillermo Casañ at Villa talks on I.B. history in prestigious (workers donated one day’s work to Elisa, a place which holds a plaque centers of the area. feed a Spanish miliciano) were among in honor of the I.B. hospital. The It is moving to see how the the many expressions of support from plaque was unveiled during the fight against fascism by the men the Argentinean people to Spain. The 1986 homage. and women of the International Centro Republicano Español, created The hospital in this Brigades is still valued and admired in 1931, was responsible for the Mediterranean village was one of despite the passing years. Continued on page 12 the biggest I.B. hospitals. Many vol-

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Argentina Abe Osheroff: Plenty of Continued from page 11

Steam in the Kettle organization of humanitarian aid to the Spanish Republic in Mar del Plata. Abe’s challenge to “live an authentic The struggle and solidarity of the life.” She says, “I was so impressed citizens and workers of Mar del Plata with his words and his thoughts is not remembered by history, and in that when I was called to do this some cases has been silenced by speech, I thought that’s what I can various administrations. (In 1936, for offer.” She credits Abe with a fine instance, our city was governed by definition of authenticity: “When General A. P. Justo, who took power what you say, what you think and through electoral fraud.) what you do are in harmony.” A Today our group is studying meaningful life is formed by “mean- Argentinean participation, individual ingful work and love.” and collective, in the Spanish Civil Her presentation challenged stu- War. It is a difficult task, as we dents to “listen to your convictions” encounter obstacles such as tracing and to “make the courageous choice. . the whereabouts of Argentinean vol- . standing up for personal beliefs.” She unteers who went to fight fascism in went on to say, “Every time you take Spain, but we will soon bring it to a the easy way, you sacrifice a bit of successful conclusion. your integrity.” The speech received Our desire is to take a leading role stunning responses from students, not just in remembering what the parents, and university colleagues. Spanish Civil War meant, but in She has had many requests for the reevaluating such critically important transcript and was asked to repeat the phenomena as the will of a people to speech a few days later to an alumni choose their own destiny and respect association meeting. for democratic institutions, as was As a UW student who fell under played out on the battlefields of Spain Abe’s spell some years ago put it, in 1936. By Mark Jenkins “The old rusty kettle still has plenty hen Robyn Hunt, a professor of steam.” in the School of Drama, was Wasked by the administration of the University of Washington to Dispatch give the keynote speech in September Continued from page 5 at the Freshman Convocation (the first “official” welcome to new students and their families), she turned to 89- Republican flag, so that we could say American flag might also fly, as an year-old Abe Osheroff, SCW vet and that Monarchy and Republic walk expression of historical gratitude. lifetime activist, who lives in Seattle. hand-in-hand in the reign of King For many, many Spaniards it is Osheroff is known to many on Juan Carlos I,” said Pasqual Maragall, also vitally important that someone campus, where he has lectured, taught president of the Catalan Generalitat. finally make a fundamental official history, spoken at rallies and, as he Clearly things are changing in distinction: George W. Bush’s flag is puts it, is “still out there recruiting the Spain. But there are still historical not the same as the flag of brother- young for the good fight for peace and debts of recognition that remain hood under which the Lincoln justice” every chance he gets. unpaid. In fact, no one has yet Brigade fought in Spain. That flag, a Professor Hunt, who is a recipient demanded, though it seems that for symbol of eternal solidarity, should be of one of the UW’s coveted the first time conditions are ripe for it, present in all future parades as Distinguished Teacher Awards, that the Republican tricolor fly, next homage to the American people who, speaks of having been inspired by wit- year if possible, next to the Lincoln regardless of who might be in power nessing a warm but provocative Brigade in the Columbus Day parade, in their country, have always shown speech Abe gave to a small group of and that next to the survivors of those solidarity with their Spanish brothers students a couple of years ago. For the men and women who gave their lives and sisters. theme of her speech, she borrowed for the Spanish Republic, the 12 THE VOLUNTEER December 2004 v2004-4.qxd 11/5/2004 2:36 PM Page 13

ALBA Launches New Website Program: AAnn IntrIntrooducductiontion ttoo thethe SpanishSpanish CCivilivil WWarar ALBA has just added another teaching program to its website. Written by Richard Baxell, London-based author of British Volunteers in the Spanish Civil For Your Liberty & War, the new program serves as an introduction to the major issues of the Spanish Civil War (see table of contents, right). Using links to other websites, Ours this teaching package will guide students to the questions and answers of key topics. Introduction to the The new educational package joins ALBA’s other teaching programs on the site. There programs can be found by going to www.alba-valb.org and clicking Spanish Civil War on “education.” We offer a sample below. Table of Contents Spain in 1931 The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939: An The Second Republic Overview for Students and Educators The 1936 elections and the By Richard Baxell Popular Front government “It was in Spain that [my generation] learned that one can be right and yet be beaten, that force can vanquish spirit, that there are times The military uprising when courage is not its own recompense. It is this, doubtless, which The onset of the Spanish Civil explains why so many, the world over, feel the Spanish drama as a per- War sonal tragedy.” Albert Camus. The formation of the SPAIN IN 1931 International Brigades Spain in 1931 was a country riven by inequalities. Still predominantly an agrarian country, traditional divisions endured between wealthy landown- The war from the defense of ers, doggedly preserving their position, and a huge number of landless Madrid to March 1939 labourers and poverty-stricken smallholders, desperate to lift themselves from an existence of near-starvation. One of the largest landowners was the Refugees and internment Catholic Church who, in addition to any theological motivations, were thus determined to maintain the status quo. Opposing the Church was the largest International Brigaders and Anarchist movement in Europe, with a history of incendiary anti-clericalism. Spaniards in the Second 'Spaniards' it was said, 'followed their priests either with a candle or a club'. World War In the very few areas witnessing industrial change—chiefly Catalonia and the Basque regions—corresponding social and political change was SCW chronology largely absent. Aspirations by these regions for some degree of autonomy APPENDIX were bitterly opposed by the Spanish army who, fighting in Morocco to regain an empire which had been lost with the catastrophic defeat to the RESOURCES United States in 1898, strongly resisted any attempts to break up Spain. Large, powerful and extremely top-heavy in officers, the Spanish army had a Images tradition of involvement in politics; Primo de Rivera's military dictatorship Audio/Video had ruled Spain as recently as the 1920s. The dictatorship's legacy was a huge budget deficit at a time when the world was already sinking into eco- Text nomic depression, and its collapse spelled the end for the Spanish monarchy. In April 1931, municipal elections were taken to be a plebiscite on the Maps monarchy and the result was an overwhelmingly hostile vote against it. The King, Alfonso XIII, realising that he had lost not just the support of the popu- Timelines lace but, crucially, the support of the military, fled Spain. Thus, on 12 April Glossary 1931, Spain's Second Republic, la niña bonita, was born. From the first part of The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939: An Lessons Overview for Students and Educators. For the entire module go to: http://www.alba-valb.org/curriculum/index.php?module=5

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Negrín Continued from page 7

Maria Remarque’s best-selling novel one whose program and organiza- anarcho-syndicalist persuasion—in about the Great War, All Quiet on the tional structure would make possible short, all those who had voted for the Western Front. (One of Negrín’s a real economic and political trans- Popular Front, naturally expected associates in the publishing venture formation of a Spain that had barely that France, which also had a Popular was Julio Alvarez del Vayo, future begun to develop modern industries, Front government, and hopefully Republican foreign minister and a professional middle class, responsi- also England, as the longest estab- future foreign affairs editor of The ble labor unions, and an intellectual lished democratic power, would aid Nation.) life not completely dominated by the the Spanish Republic in its self- As a student, Negrín had been Catholic Church. defense against a military revolt sympathetic to the demands for par- Juan Negrín’s role during the rapidly and copiously aided by liamentary democracy, and the Civil War (July 1936-March 1939) Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. emphasis on social services, of the reflected the tensions of three com- But that is not what happened. German Social Democratic Party. peting ideologies within Republican The French would have liked to aid When King Alfonso XIII sponsored a Spain: 1) capitalist democracy, rep- the Republic, but were quickly large expansion of the University of resented by a number of numerically warned by the British government Madrid in 1927, Negrín, as a known small republican parties composed not to intervene in the Spanish con- republican, was not named to the mostly of professionals and intellec- flict. Britain had already shown its planning committee. But he was a tuals; 2) monarchist-military preference for appeasement of the good friend of His Majesty’s dentist, reaction, looking to European fas- fascist powers rather than collective Dr. Florestan Aguilar, and via this cism as a model and as a source of security along the lines proposed by friendship his suggestions were military aid, and backed by the Soviet Russia. Under British leader- transmitted to the planners. In 1931, majority of the upper clergy, the ship and domination, from August shortly after Spain became a repub- landed and industrial aristocracies, 1936, a policy of “Non-Intervention” lic, Negrín became the chairman of and much of the professional mili- effectively prevented the Republic the construction committee of the tary; and 3) the large socialist and from buying arms in the democratic University City, working with many anarchist working classes and poor world while openly permitting Italy of the same colleagues with whom peasants, who followed the leader- and Germany to supply the forces of he had labored unofficially during ship of the two large, competing General Franco. Many of the banks the previous four years. labor federations, the Socialist UGT and important industries in the Having joined the Socialist Party and the anarcho-syndicalist CNT. democratic capitalist countries also in 1929, Negrín served the party in In an effort to prevent fascism supported Franco quietly while three capacities during the years from conquering Europe according completely boycotting the Republic. 1931-36. He was chosen as a Socialist to plans loudly announced by the Juan Negrín was active in the deputy from the Canary Islands in all Nazis, the Soviet Union proposed Republican wartime government three of the republican parliamentary two new policies in 1935: 1) “collec- from beginning to end. In the first elections; he served on several Cortes tive security” through a mutual terrible weeks, when many support- committees dealing with financial defense treaty to be signed by ers of the Republic were killing hated questions and represented Spain at England, France, and Soviet Russia; employers, Falangists, Civil Guards, the International Labor Office in and 2) a “Popular Front” policy to and priests, Negrín joined Indalecio Geneva, where his knowledge of for- unite the anti-fascist parliamentary Prieto and other Popular Front lead- eign languages was very useful; and parties with the leftwing labor ers in denouncing these “paseos” and in Madrid, as one of the relatively unions to protect political liberty in helping to hide, or get out of the few persons who owned an automo- each individual country. Spain was country, colleagues and students bile in those years, he occasionally the first country to elect a “Popular who felt threatened by their conser- chauffeured Largo Caballero and Front” government, in February vative and/or wealthy family other Socialist colleagues when they 1936, and France was the second to origins. He then served as Finance were about to be hassled by the do so, in May 1936. Minister under Largo Caballero police at political meetings. In July 1936, when a large part of (September 1936-May 1937). One of Negrín was a voracious reader, the Spanish military rose against the his principal accomplishments was and his reading had included Marx Popular Front government, the reconstitution of the Carabineros, and Engels, but he was not a Marxist. Spaniards of both the democratic the corps of frontier police. He had joined the Socialist Party in capitalist persuasion (Republicans) Establishing control of the Pyrenean the belief that the party was the only and of the Socialist, Communist, and Continued on page 15

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Negrín Continued from page 14

frontier enabled him both to protect blamed on him, by other socialists mediation, and Franco accepted only persons fleeing from political perse- and republicans at the time, and by unconditional surrender, followed by cution within the republican zone most historians since. But what were hundreds of thousands of exiles, and to restore the collection of cus- the alternatives for Negrín? The imprisonments, and deaths. toms duties at the frontier, a very democracies had turned their backs I conclude with a brief mention important and traditional source of on the Republic. He could either tol- of two other important points about government revenue that the anar- erate Stalinist abuses or surrender the Negrín. From his education and his chists had been taking over as a Republic to the tender mercies of knowledge of languages and of mod- species of collectivist enterprise of General Franco. What was he weigh- ern capitalist enterprise, Negrín was their own. ing in the balance? The crimes of two the most “European” of the One of the painful ironies of to three hundred Stalinist agents, as Republican leaders. He spoke to Popular Front politics was the irrec- against the reconstruction of the French, English, and American jour- oncilable split between the followers democratic republic and the continu- nalists and diplomats in their own of the parliamentary Socialist and ance of its military defense until the language. He appreciated the truly self-made newspaper executive democracies would wake up to the international outlook of the Indalecio Prieto and the historic head follies of appeasement and aid the International Brigaders and joined La of the Socialist Labor Federation republic—thereby also freeing it Pasionaria in her historic invitation (UGT) Francisco Largo Caballero. from total dependence on the Soviet to the veterans to return to Spain one Caballero had vetoed the naming of Union. I sometimes imagine to day when it was once again a free Prieto as Prime Minister in May 1936, myself the shame felt by British and country. Too many historians have a move that many historians (not French journalists and diplomats written about the “betrayal” of Spain including me) think might have who asked Negrín why he worked so as though it was the work of Stalin avoided the Civil War. Months later, closely with the Soviets and received (who in fact continued to supply arms when the failures of Largo Caballero the reply that he would much prefer until early 1939) and Negrín, as an as an administrator made it neces- to buy French and British arms if “agent” of Stalin. The real betrayal, sary to replace him in May 1937, those countries would sell to without quote marks, was the betrayal President Azaña nominated Juan Republican Spain. by the democratic powers, mistakenly Negrín in order both to avoid anoth- Negrín has also been widely decided upon in July 1936 and foolish- er split in Socialist ranks and to retain blamed by his contemporaries for ly maintained, not only until Franco’s the sterling services of Prieto as insisting on continued resistance victory, but into the postwar era until Minister of Defense. when the population was close to the dictator’s death in 1975. Under Negrín the now disci- starving and the Munich Pact The other point is Negrín’s strict plined army and the air force (which (October 1, 1938) had made it crystal separation between political dis- had remained loyal from the start) clear that the democracies would not agreements and personal attitude gave excellent accounts of themselves change their appeasement policy. In towards colleagues. In 1936-37, in battle (Brunete, Belchite, Teruel, the last months of the war, when Negrín publicly considered Prime the Ebro) but could not win strategic many loyal officers and many repub- Ministers Casares Quiroga and Largo victories because of Franco’s constant lican and socialist political figures Caballero completely unqualified for superiority in arms supplied by were dreaming of some kind of their jobs, and in the course of 1938 Germany and Italy. Democratic Anglo-French “mediation” that he became increasingly estranged police and judicial authority were would soften Franco’s terms, Negrín from President Manual Azaña. But slowly restored, but Stalin, without claimed that his policy of resistance when the Nazis were approaching consultation or concern for the pur- was the only one that might force Paris in June 1940, Negrín offered poses of the Republican government, Franco to make concessions, and that passage to England, on a small Greek established a parallel secret police all he was seeking were guarantees freighter he had rented, to Caballero and prison system. The kidnapping against massive postwar reprisals and Azaña (which neither accepted, and torture death of Andres Nin, and against the population of the republi- for reasons having nothing to do of numerous less famous Trotskyites, can zone. When his own officers with Negrín), and in his London anarchists, and dissident commu- revolted in March 1939, he was pas- home during World War II, there nists, became an international sive; he did not create a civil war was a room always for Casares scandal. within the remaining republican ter- Quiroga, physically ill and practically Since these things occurred “on ritory. But his prediction was penniless. Negrín’s watch,” they have been unhappily fulfilled. There was no

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Added to Memory’s Roster

Emanuel published an essay, “The Art Greenfield, an actress and playwright. of Anthony Toney,” in which he On the GI bill, he pursued graduate noted, “For him the act of painting is studies at Teacher’s College, no mere practice of a time-honored Columbia University, and received a profession. It is an urgent, continuous doctorate in fine arts and education in life-sustaining process whereby he 1955. Three years earlier, Toney had perpetually loses and rediscovers his begun his 43-year association with the own identity.” New School of Social Research in At the height of his career, Toney Manhattan. He was also a summer- exhibited regularly at the ACA gallery time artistic director of Festival House in New York, taught classes through- in the Berkshires, which attracted such out the New York area, published two luminaries as Anton Refregier and books on painting and drawing, and Jacob Lawrence as artists in residence

PHOTO BY STEPHANIE MOHAN completed several large murals for and teachers. Syracuse University. Toney saw his role as an artist ANTHONY TONEY Born in 1913 to Syrian immigrants very clearly: “I find positiveness in in Gloversville, New York, young depicting groups of people, suggest- (1913-2004) Anthony helped his father run a small ing the capability of individuals to grocery. At first planning to go to discuss differences, to share ideas and Anthony Toney, a noted New trade school after high school gradua- to work together, which may be deci- York painter whose career spanned 70 tion, Toney, the class valedictorian, sive for their survival. I want my years, died on September 10 in Marin received the school’s math prize and paintings to inspire a sense of opti- County, California, at the age of 91. In instead enrolled at Syracuse University. mism in the face of the seriousness of 1997, Mr. Toney ended his 40-year He graduated with a BFA in 1934. the human predicament.” teaching career with the New School Syracuse University awarded him of Social Research in New York City a stipend to study in Paris. But he first Veterans Who Died in 2004 and moved to Fairfax, California, to be returned to Gloversville in the depth Al Amery near his family. of the Great Depression and painted Although hampered by severe murals under the auspices of the Anna Goldman memory loss, Toney became a fixture Works Progress Administration Ben Holzman in the small town of Fairfax. He was (WPA). He went to Paris in 1937 and Robert Nagle embraced by the locals and could be studied at L’Ecole Superieur des Frank Richards seen roaming the streets, wearing his Beaux Arts and L’Academie de la Irene Goldin Spiegel trademark beret and carrying his Grande Chaumiere. “I walked all over sketchbook. He volunteered once a Paris, day and night. Even saw Anthony Toney week at a local elementary school, Picasso sitting in a cafe at wowing the kids with his artistry as Montparnasse one day,” he fondly He remained a political activist he painted their portraits. remembered. throughout his life, opposing the Until his death, Toney continued When the Spanish Civil War Vietnam War, the nuclear arms race, to be a creative force. Memory loss no began, Toney headed for Spain and and repression at home and abroad. longer allowed him to paint in the joined the Lincoln Brigade. Severely His paintings often reflected his strug- semi-abstract style that had marked wounded at Gandesa, he eventually gles for a saner world. his long and prolific career. But his returned home in 1939 and resumed Mr. Toney summarized his views unending drive to paint and draw his artistic career in New York. He on art in the book Creative Painting and each day of his life, as well as the worked again for the WPA and pre- Drawing (1968) and in an updated ver- extraordinary legacy of eight decades sented his first one-man show at the sion in 1978 titled Painting and of paintings, was an inspiration to all Wakefield Gallery (NYC) in 1941. Drawing. those who came in contact with him During World War II, Toney Edna Toney died in 1993. Four or his work. In 2003, the College of served in the South Pacific as a flight years later, plagued by worsening Marin hosted a large retrospective of engineer with a troop carrier memory loss, Toney relocated to his work, as had City College of San squadron. He was awarded the Fairfax, California. He is survived by a Francisco in 1998. Distinguished Flying Cross. sister and two daughters. In the early sixties, the artist Herzl In 1947, he married Edna —Anita Toney 16 THE VOLUNTEER December 2004 v2004-4.qxd 11/5/2004 2:36 PM Page 17

Film Review Life of a extensive interviews with Wellman before he died in 2003, as well as Revolutionary with his early cohorts in the Young Communist League (YCL), such as Professional Revolutionary: The Life of Lou Gordon and Abe Smorodin. Saul Wellman, a film by Judith Montell Wellman’s story begins with and Ronald Aronson activities in the YCL in the early 1930s. The vigor and intensity of the fights against mass evictions By Martha Olson Jarocki and the campaigns for unemploy- The sweep of history has such a ment relief, the dances and parties strong presence in this extraordinary and joys that drew young people to film that it nearly overtakes the film’s the movement, all come through. central character, Saul Wellman, no There’s a remarkable unemploy- shrinking violet himself. This is a film ment demonstration in New York’s to watch with a teenager, somebody Union Square that shaped who doesn’t know much about the Wellman’s life, getting him last 70 years of U.S. history, and cer- expelled from the academic high tainly doesn’t know how much school his parents wanted him to he/she has been shaped by it. attend. He was then sent to a voca- Saul Wellman, veteran of the tional high school, where he met Abraham Lincoln Brigade, longtime “working people.” American Communist Party organiz- The sequences in Spain are er and political activist in Detroit, beautifully told. Wellman became was at the center of many of the commissar of the MacKenzie- landmark events and movements of Papineau Battalion, stepping in the 20th century. when the previous commissar was The second major theme of this killed in battle on the Aragon front. Saul Wellman as a commissar in Spain documentary about Wellman’s life is Wellman’s explanation of the word that he, like a lot of veterans from “comrade” illustrates the film’s story- underground and later serves time in Spain, understood the important role telling style, a deft combination of the jail with other Party leadership. people play in making history. personal and political. Wellman says, Events are told from his point of view, Wellman mentored more than one “We were an army of comrades–com- but also from the point of view of his generation of Detroit political rades was a unifying word, a special children. An emotional sequence on activists, now scattered around the word, and it helped people overcome the Khrushchev revelations in 1956, county but still carrying the torch. weaknesses or difficulties or hesita- described by Dorothy Healey, marks a One of them, Jim Jacobs, influenced by tions. These were tense moments, new period in Wellman’s life in which Wellman and now an educator in because you’re facing death all the he left the Party and began work for Detroit, says, “What Saul is a master time. I could walk up to a group of an industrial-scaled printing outfit in at is taking the moment and placing it guys in which I could see the element Detroit. within a historical context. You feel of fear manifested strongly, and on It is the film’s portrayal of that suddenly your individual issue is occasion I could say to them, Wellman during the 1960s through the part of this huge river of events. And ‘Comrades,’ and found the use of that 1980s, in which he engaged in many there’s a progression that goes on, and word very calming.” political struggles, or actually orga- you’re part of this larger movement. After Spain, Wellman worked for nized others to do political work, that That somehow it does make a differ- the Communist Party, volunteered I personally found the most gratifying. ence to almost the entire world.” and fought as a paratrooper in World Wellman, as described by the people Filmmaker Judith Montell lets War II, and returned to Detroit with he mentored in Detroit, was the Wellman’s story unfold with preci- his wife Peggy and two children to supreme political organizer, instiga- sion, using archival footage and work for the Party in the auto indus- tor, and teacher–a role played by try. The film’s treatment of Wellman’s many veterans from Spain. He Martha Olson Jarocki, vice chair of the indictment under the Smith Act is also coached, cajoled, pushed and stepped Bay Area Post, is the daughter of vet touched with the personal and politi- Leonard Olson. cal, as he leaves his family to go Continued on page 19 THE VOLUNTEER December 2004 17 v2004-4.qxd 11/5/2004 2:36 PM Page 18

Book Reviews

again. The full-blooded scene of Soldiers’ Story Sánchez Mazas facing the firing squad is dramatic and quite suspenseful, even though the entire outcome of the Soldiers of Salamis. By Javier Cercas Sánchez Mazas, the soldier firing squad was narrated at the (translation by Anne McLean). announced to his compatriots that beginning of the novel. Bloomsbury, 208 pp., $23.95 there was no one there in the brush Soldiers of Salamis turns into a true and left Sánchez Mazas to his fate. novel in the third section, when the By Charles Oberndorf This anecdote fascinates the narra- narrator realizes he must try to find, if tor, who first tracks down Sánchez it’s possible, the Republican soldier “It was summer of 1994, more Mazas’ son, a novelist of some impor- who spared Sánchez Mazas’ life. than six years ago now, when I first tance in the 1960’s, then the surviving Every moment in this section feels heard about Rafael Sánchez Mazas people of the woods who had offered pitch perfect, perhaps too perfect, too facing the firing squad.” Thus are the refuge to the fleeing fascist. This sec- novelistic in a novel where everything opening words of a novel by a rela- tion has the feel of well-told else has the pace and feel of everyday tively unknown writer that became investigative journalism (and Cercas life. Most readers won’t find this to be one of the most important Spanish worked as a journalist before trying a problem; they will only be aware novels published in the last 10 years. his hand at fiction). Cercas has a that the world has disappeared while It has sold over 400,000 copies world- good journalist’s eye for character they’re immersed in the heart of the wide, been praised by Mario Vargas and place. novel. We are no longer concerned Llosa and Susan Sontag, and been gar- The second tale starts with with the war itself, but with the way landed with numerous prizes, Sánchez Mazas in a position of power the life we lead seems to have no rela- including the British newspaper in the new government when several tionship to the momentous choices we Independent Prize for Best Foreign of those who helped him have been made in our youths. Fiction, as well as the Valle Inclán arrested. After a few dramatically told At this point, we can see why the prize for the best translation of a work originally written in Spanish. It’s hard to call Soldiers of Salamis a The full-blooded scene of Sánchez Mazas facing the firing novel; Javier Cercas, its author, refers squad is dramatic and quite suspenseful, even though the to it as a true tale. There are actually several tales. The first section, or tale, entire outcome of the firing squad was narrated at the follows the efforts of the narrator, who beginning of the novel. is called Javier and shares the same biographical background as the author, to verify a story he has heard. moments, this section becomes a his- novel has been so popular in Spain. Rafael Sánchez Mazas, occasional nov- tory of our protagonist and feels less Unlike much popular film about the elist and leading propagandist for the like a novel and more like an engaging Civil War, Cercas’ view isn’t, as the Falange, faced a Republican firing historical essay, the kind of thoughtful Spaniards like to say, Manichean. squad in 1939 just as the Nationalists journalism found in Sunday maga- There isn’t a clear division of good were about to take control of zines of major newspapers. In the end, and evil, and this mirrors the desire of Cataluña. Through a stroke of luck, I’m not sure we know exactly what Spanish society to remember the war Sánchez Mazas was able to flee the drives Sánchez Mazas, what really but to move away from the finger soldiers who held him captive. A attracted him to the kind of violence pointing. The reader can empathize search party set off to track him down, the Falangist movement dreamed of. with Sánchez Mazas (though the and in the dense forest, one Cercas has a theory about why novel de-emphasizes the kinds of Republican soldier did find the hiding Sánchez Mazas became a fascist, but things he wrote in his pamphlets). The fugitive. But rather than capturing his reasoning sounds more like novel can just as easily remind us of Cercas’s historical interpretation the brutal natures on both sides of the Charles Oberndorf is the author of three rather than Sánchez Mazas’ very war. The last minute firing squad novels and teaches English at University human motivation. organized by fleeing Republicans has School in Cleveland, Ohio. However, at the end of the sec- Continued on page 20 tion, Cercas becomes a novelist once 18 THE VOLUNTEER December 2004 v2004-4.qxd 11/5/2004 2:36 PM Page 19

Film Review

British intelligence, observing Gilda Head-less in the Clouds carousing with a group of Nazi offi- By Fredda Weiss cers. The rest of the film is a morality expressed that we can hardly blame play of sorts. Why Guy remains com- Head in the Clouds is a film that Gilda for her lack of understanding pletely devoted to her, at this point, is uses our fascination with the middle and her fury at being abandoned. the true mystery of the film. However, decades of the 20th century (the roar- Director John Duigan is known there is a twist at the end, which shall ing twenties, the turbulent thirties, for developing interesting characters, remain unrevealed here—just in case and the war-torn forties) to weave a but he has missed entirely with Guy, you can’t resist the price of a ticket. story that has very little to do with the Gilda, and Mimi. Theron is believable For this reviewer, Head In The time or the place. It’s a sprawling soap in the beginning, but her motivations Clouds is a sad waste of a talented cast opera, set in England, Paris and Spain, become as vague as those of the other and will enlighten nobody as to the mainly between 1936 and 1945. To two in very short order. When Guy importance of the Spanish Civil War, some extent, the lush photography, and Mimi manage to meet at Teruel the complicated issues of the time, and sumptuous costumes, and outstand- and have a “moment” of their own, the impact that a mere three years had ing make-up are the most memorable the film begins to disintegrate into on the history of the 20th century. elements of the film. sentimental sop. The film takes a leap Fredda Weiss, Vice-Chair of ALBA, is a Charlize Theron plays Gilda from that point, as we see Guy, who film producer. Blesse, the self-involved, sybaritic has returned to Paris as a member of daughter of a fascistic French father (Steven Berkoff). She navigates the Revolutionary world as a sexually promiscuous, Continued from page 17 pseudo-bohemian dilettante. Her life is filled with parties and debauchery, greeted him. It was an experience and she seems to fascinate everyone— shared by many in the International including Guy, a student who takes Brigade during that visit of 1996. her into his bed for an innocent night. Wellman said of those events, “It was What follows is a tediously the first time in 60 years this old, hard- episodic story, told through corre- bitten revolutionary was on the verge spondence, as Gilda circumnavigates of tears. What impressed me and my the globe. Finally landing in Paris, she comrades more than anything was to miraculously becomes a model, a see thousands of young people turn some-time actress, and a very sought- out to greet us. And they greeted us after photographer. She asks Guy, to with one word, ‘gracias.’” whom she has been writing from exot- To Judith Montell, who has made ic places, to join her, and he several fine films about the Veterans (inexplicably) rushes to Paris and, of of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and course, becomes her lover. But she’s has a feel for the nuance of lives lived already involved with Mimi (Penelope in that community, and to Ronald Cruz), a Spanish dancer who has Aronson, Professor of Humanities at escaped to Paris after having been Wayne State University and friend interrogated and tortured by the fas- Saul Wellman at a vet reunion, 1988. and political protégé of Wellman, who cists. The three live together, sleep Photo by Richard Bermack produced this documentary through together, and have relatively carefree several years of labor, all I can say is a lives until Mimi, who has been study- back at the right times. The film heartfelt “gracias.” ing nursing, decides that she must makes clear that Detroit politics still Professional Revolutionary: The Life return to Spain and help her Spanish bear the fruit of his teaching. of Saul Wellman, 65 minutes, produced countrymen fight the fascists. As the film comes to an end, a by Judith Montell and Ronald Guy, who has demonstrated some sequence set during the 1996 Aronson, Democratic Values Project, very weak political opinions about the Homenaje to the International Brigade 5700 Cass Avenue, Room 2426, Spanish Civil War, decides that he in Spain is also moving. Wellman Detroit, MI 48202. See the website at must go with her. The political com- found himself the sole brigadista to www.professionalrevolutionary.org. mitment that serves as their visit the town of Alicante, where a Copies (videotape or DVD) available motivating factor is so superficially large and emotional crowd warmly for $30 (including shipping). THE VOLUNTEER December 2004 19 v2004-4.qxd 11/5/2004 2:36 PM Page 20

Letters Continued from page 2

The king is the past. The Wallace Burton, who was serving in Writing in 1939, she dedicated her Constitution was not approved by the the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. proposed autobiography like this: large majority of the Basque people. Burton was soon killed in action, For my husband Hans The king can neither understand but Bennett remained in Spain report- Amlie, who fought in Spain the republican principles of a democ- ing for the London Times, Associated against the brutalitarian forces racy nor the will of the Basque people Press and United Press. She also of Europe and for the liberty of for self-determination, another demo- worked as a press officer for the the Spanish people and is cratic right. Minister of State of the Spanish home with me—and for my I think that this kind of article, as Popular Front government. A U.S. friends Robert Hale Merriman, Mr. Paul Preston has written, does State Department memo cited a rumor Harry Hynes, Wallace F. Burton, not represent the legacy of the volun- that she was “the Spanish Philip Detro, Dave Doran, and teers of Liberty. Government’s best spy.” two thousand more Americans I can’ t write more about King While in Spain she met another who fought in Spain for the lib- Juan Carlos and his family. I can face Abraham Lincoln Brigadista, Hans erty of the Spanish people and prison for my criticism, another exam- Amlie, and they were married there in will never come home. ple of the superficial democracy. 1937. Upon their return to the United This is the real Spain: One King States on 1 January 1938 (Amlie had Sincerely, (appointed by Franco, the friend of been twice wounded) they spent sev- A. Tom Grunfeld Hitler and Mussolini), One Nation eral months traveling around the SUNY Distinguished Teaching (based on Madrid-Castile false and country raising money and support Professor exaggerated history), One Language for the Spanish cause. Amlie died in Empire State College - SUNY (Spanish-Castilian or Spanish, sidelin- 1949 and Bennett in 1960. ing Catalan and Basque languages), What’s left of her papers, and and avoiding speaking about the last momentos from Spain, such as her civil war, but the Valley of the Fallen press pass, are at the Hoover Institution and other numerous monuments to Archives in Palo Alto, CA. Your readers the Francoists’ so-called “heroes” might be interested in an autobiogra- Subscribe to remain. phy of her early life and China years, J. V. which I edited and annotated: On Her Economist and businessman Own. Journalistic Adventures from San The Volunteer Francisco to the Chinese Revolution, 1917- Dear Editor, 1927 (M.E. Sharpe, Inc.). I just read Megan Trice’s superb award-winning essay, “The Lincoln Brigade Sisterhood: U.S. Women’s Soldiers’ Story Involvement in the Spanish Civil War, Continued from page 18 1936-1939.” The award was well deserved. However, the essay gave rather the feel of vengeance rather than jus- with a hymn to the right kind of sol- short-shrift to one of America’s pio- tice. Yet, in its sly way, the novel dier, the kind that actually tries to neer women journalists, Milly Bennett reminds us what kind of person in save civilization. While it’s appropri- (real name, Mildred Bremler), and I that terrible war could be heroic. ate and necessary to salute the men thought your readers might be inter- In this way, the ending of Soldiers and women who sacrificed their lives ested in learning more about her. of Salamis is sentimental. The Falange (and those who survive a war, in a Bennett had taken part in the saw themselves as soldiers who were sense, sacrificed a part of their lives) Chinese revolution in 1926-1927. She there to save civilization from the for the sake of others, it’s sentimental had lived in Moscow from 1931-1936, forces of 20th century change. Seeking and dangerous to make a cult of any mostly working for the English lan- violence and confrontation, they kind of warrior. guage Moscow News, while stringing helped drive Spain into a terrible war, However, even with this strong for the New York Times and Time mag- and they supported a dictatorship that conviction, when I read this fine novel azine, among others. In 1936 she went drove Spanish civilization into the for the second time, I discovered the off to Spain, both for political reasons ground. While Cercas deplores this ending to be twice as moving. and in pursuit of a former lover, cult of the soldier, he ends the novel 20 THE VOLUNTEER December 2004 v2004-4.qxd 11/5/2004 2:36 PM Page 21

Contributions

In Memory of a Veteran In Honor of Birthday Eileen & Ted Rowland in memory of Steve Edith & Harold Bluestone in honor of Enoch Nelson $50 Bluestone $25 Margaret Eberle in memory of Anthony Toney Contributions $50 Thelma Mielke $100 Margery Chapman in memory of Harry & Elaine Mensh $500 Jose Emilio Benjamin $30 Louis & Evelyn Schwartz in memory of Jack Professor Rick Halpern $30 Freeman $30 Online Contributions Elizabeth & Ted Rowland in memory of Steve Nelson $25 Miguel Ferguson (For Abe Osheroff. Viva La Brigade!) Austin, Texas $50 Lionel Davis in memory of George Zlatovski $50 Donald James Marshall Newcastle, Australia $30 Eleanor Marshall in memory of Anne Shuldiner Goldman, R.N. $50 Robert Fiddler Great Neck, New York $30 Anonymous in memory of Jack Lucid $50 Gerri Matusewitch Dale C. Hopper in memory of (Aviators) Albert New York, New York $75 John Baumler, Harold Edward Dahl, Frank Glasgow Turner $20 Ann Marie Taylor & Dick Lerner Berkeley, California $50 In Honor of a Veteran David E. Cane (In Memory of Larry Cane) Reyna Maymudes in honor of Abe Osheroff Providence, R.I. $200 $90

David Lichter in honor of Clarence Kailin $50 NACIONALES TER D IN E L S A IO In Memory of a Photojournalist in Spain L R I A B

T E R

N T

Anna Marie Taylor in memory of James Lerner U A

L

D O

$50 V 1936 1939 Dick Lerner in memory of James Lerner $50

In Memory of Linda Borodkin in memory of Mischa Borodkin $100 Debra Rosen in memory of Irv Brick $20 Georgia Wever and Moe Fishman in memory of www.alba.valb.org George Harrison $25

THE VOLUNTEER December 2004 21 v2004-4.qxd 11/5/2004 2:36 PM Page 22

ALBA’sALBA’s PlannedPlanned GivingGiving ProgramProgram Tax Advantages for Gift Annuities

HOW DOES A (two people dividing the income) CHARITABLE GIFT annuity. Cash gifts allow maxi- mum tax-free income; gifts of ANNUITY WORK? securities allow you to minimize A charitable gift annuity is a capital gains taxes. simple contract between you and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade DEFERRING PAYMENTS Archives (ALBA). Under this arrangement, you make a gift of If you are under 60 years of age, cash or marketable securities, worth you can still set up an annuity and a minimum of $5000, to ALBA. In defer the payments until any date return, ALBA will pay you (or up to after your 60th birthday. This gives two individuals) an annuity begin- you an immediate tax-deduction for ning on the date you specify, on or your gift while still guaranteeing after your sixtieth (60th) birthday. you income payments in the future. Because you are deferring pay- ments, your annuity payments will WHAT ARE THE be larger than if you had waited to ADVANTAGES OF A set up the annuity until your 60th CHARITABLE GIFT birthday. For more information on a cus- ANNUITY? tomized proposal for your Charitable A charitable gift annuity has Gift Annuity, please contact: four distinct advantages: Julia Newman Income for Life at attractive payout ALBA, room 227 ALBA’s planned giving pro- rates. 799 Broadway gram provides an extraordinary Tax Deduction Savings – A large NY, NY 10003 way to make a gift, increase part of what you give is a Ph. (212) 674-5398 income and slice the donor’s tax deductible charitable gift. bill – all in one transaction! Tax-Free Income – A large part of The charitable gift annuity pro- your annual payments is tax-free gram was created for our many return of principal. friends who have expressed a desire Capital Gains Tax Savings – When to make a significant gift, while still you contribute securities for a gift retaining income from the principal annuity, you minimize any taxes on during their lifetime. A charitable your “paper profit.” So gifts of secu- gift annuity gives the donor addi- rities save twice! tional retirement income, while affording the satisfaction of sup- PAYMENTS porting ALBA’s continuing educational programs and its tradi- You choose how frequently tions of fighting for social justice payments will be made – quarterly, and against fascism. semi-annually or annually. You can also choose a one-life or two-life

22 THE VOLUNTEER December 2004 v2004-4.qxd 11/5/2004 2:36 PM Page 23

ALBA BOOKS, VIDEOS AND POSTERS

ALBA EXPANDS WEB BOOKSTORE Buy Spanish Civil War books on the WEB. ALBA members receive a discount! WWWWWW.ALBA-V.ALBA-VALB.ORGALB.ORG BOOKS ABOUT THE LINCOLN BRIGADE VIDEOS Soldiers of Salamas Into the Fire: American Women in the Spanish Civil by Javier Cercas (reviewed on page 18) War Juan Carlos: Steering Spain from Dictatorship to Julia Newman Democracy Art in the Struggle for Freedom by Paul Preston Abe Osheroff British Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War Dreams and Nightmares by Richard Baxell Abe Osheroff The Selected Poems of Miguel Hernández The Good Fight edited by Ted Genoways Sills/Dore/Bruckner The Wound and the Dream: Sixty Years of American Forever Activists Poems about the Spanish Civil War Judith Montell by Cary Nelson You Are History, You Are Legend Passing the Torch: The Abraham Judith Montell Lincoln Brigade and its Legacy of Hope Professional Revolutionary: Life of Saul Wellman by Anthony Geist and Jose Moreno Judith Montell (reviewed on page 17) Another Hill by Milton Wolff Our Fight—Writings by Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Spain 1936-1939 ❑ Yes, I wish to become an ALBA edited by Alvah Bessie & Albert Prago Associate, and I enclose a check for $30 Spain’s Cause Was Mine made out to ALBA. Please send me The by Hank Rubin Volunteer. Comrades by Harry Fisher Name ______The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Address ______by Peter Carroll The Triumph of Democracy in Spain City______State ___Zip______by Paul Preston ❑ I’ve enclosed an additional donation of The Lincoln Brigade, a Picture History ______. I wish ❑ do not wish ❑ to have by William Katz and Marc Crawford this donation acknowledged in The Volunteer. EXHIBIT CATALOGS Please mail to: ALBA, 799 Broadway, Room 227, They Still Draw Pictures: Children’s Art in Wartime New York, NY 10003 by Anthony Geist and Peter Carroll The Aura of the Cause, a photo album edited by Cary Nelson

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SASAVEVE THETHE DADATESTES

FFebrebruaruaryy 27,27, 2005:2005: BBaayy AArreaea Reunion,Reunion, AA TTributributee ttoo MusicianMusician BrucBrucee ““UUtahtah”” PPhillipshillips

AAprprilil 29,29, 2005:2005: N.YN.Y.. ALBALBA-A- SSusmanusman LLececturturee,, NNoovvelistelist AAntntonioonio MuñeMuñezz MolinasMolinas

MMaayy 1,1, 2005:2005: N.YN.Y.. Reunion,Reunion, HHonoringonoring PPetetee SSeegereeger Pete Seeger, photo by Richard Bermack

The Volunteer c/o Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives NON PROFIT ORG 799 Broadway, Rm. 227 US POSTAGE New York, NY 10003 PAID SAN FRANCISCO, CA PERMIT NO. 1577

24 THE VOLUNTEER December 2004