Vol. XXVII, No. 2 September 2010 “…and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” ABRAHAM LINCOLN

FOUNDED BY THE VETERANS OF THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE

Veteran Aaron Harris, on right, in Catalunya, Barcelona, Jerry Cook in uniform in service in Belgium, 1945, where 1937. Photo provided by his family. he served after his return from Spain. Photo supplied by his daughter, Catherine Cook.

Lincoln Brigade volunteers’ photographs and biographies now online! After many years of research and collection of materials, the volunteers’ database is online. The above photographs were submitted by families of volunteers. Please consider submitting materials to this new resource. See “Recovering Voices of Unsung Heroes,” page 5. ALBA & Puffin Announce Human Rights Award

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives and the Puffin Online Volunteer Foundation are thrilled to announce a major new initiative: Starting with this issue, The Volunteer is going online! the Puffin/ALBA Human Rights Project (HRP), established Here’s our new address: to honor the international brigades and all those who www.albavolunteer.org fought against fascism during the Spanish Civil War by In addition to the full text of the March 2010 print issue, connecting that legacy with international activist causes the online edition carries materials such as photos, today, in particular the defense of human rights. videos, longer pieces, and a new blog. The project consists of two primary components: an We are planning only 3 printed issues this year, for annual Puffin/ALBA Award for Human Rights Activism Spring, Fall, and Winter. The Summer issue will appear in the amount of $100,000, and an informal international ONLY online. network of allied organizations working in the area of human rights, historical memory, and the legacy of the To be sure you don’t miss ALL the news, International Brigades. send YOUR email address to In the years after the Spanish Civil War, many of [email protected] the vets committed their lives to assisting political We’ll keep you posted. prisoners around the world—particularly in Spain and If you have not been receiving the ALBA email Latin America—aiding political refugees, advocating for newsletter, please email us at social justice, actively defending imperiled democratic [email protected] and ask to subscribe. institutions, or mobilizing the arts for worthy activist causes. Recent developments in Spain and Latin America, meanwhile, have focused world attention on the human rights issues associated with the legacies of dictatorships: the need for working through the violent past, recovering historical memory and honoring the rights of victims of repression. The olunteer The annual Puffin/ALBA Human Rights Activism V founded by the Award, which is intended to continue for a minimum Veterans of the of 10 years, aims to support this work and to keep it in Abraham Lincoln Brigade the public eye. The Human Rights Network will serve an ALBA publication to provide mutual support, collaboration, and exchange 799 Broadway, Suite 341 of information among its member organizations; to New York, NY 10003 collaborate on events and programs; and to help contribute (212) 674-5398 appropriate nominations for the Award. The HRP website will be launched later this fall. Editorial Board Peter N. Carroll • Gina Herrmann Founded in 1983, the Puffin Foundation Ltd is a non- Fraser Ottanelli profit foundation that receives thousands of requests from all parts of the United States each year from aspiring Art Director-Graphic Designer Richard Bermack artists, photographers, dancers, musicians and playwrights seeking financial support for the creation of new work. Editorial Assistance Puffin’s support helps confirm that cultural works that may Nancy Van Zwalenburg often be excluded from mainstream opportunities due to Submission of Manuscripts their creators’ race, gender, or social philosophy will have Please send manuscripts by E-mail or on disk. an opportunity to be viewed. Puffin is also a long-standing E-mail: [email protected] supporter of ALBA’s educational mission. Bay Area Reunion Honors Spanish Judge: Champion of Human Rights refugee and executive director of the about the Spanish Civil War. This Earl Warren Institute on Race, year’s menu included The Good Fight Ethnicity & Diversity at the and 20 minutes of raw footage, newly University of California, Berkeley, attributed to Henri Cartier-Bresson, described the legal background of the titled With the Abraham Lincoln Brigade current debate about memory and in Spain. human rights in Spain. The issue, she explained, Judge Baltasar Garzón. Photo by has roots in Richard Bermack. Garzón’s earlier investigations of he 74th annual Bay Area human rights reunion of the Abraham Lincoln violations in TBrigade, held in Berkeley, Latin America. California, on May 30, paid tribute Some 300 to the legal work of Judge Baltasar guests Garzón in challenging decades of answered her silence about mass murders conducted remarks about during the Spanish Civil War and the Judge Garzón subsequent dictatorship of General with thunderous Francisco Franco. The program, part applause (see page 8). of ALBA’s focus on issues of his- A special musical pro- torical memory and human rights, gram, scripted by Bruce focused attention on the continuing Barthol, featured singer struggle for justice in Spain today. Barbara Dane and sparkling Nate Thornton, the single veteran musicians Randy Craig, to attend the event, greeted the cheer- Barrett Nelson, and Greg ing audience with an appeal to stay Platt, as well as Barthol and in the struggle for freedom and social the famed harmonica player justice. Will Scarlett. A background Peter Carroll read the roster of slide show by Richard veterans who had died during the past Bermack highlighted the year, two of whom—Mark Billings changing lyrical mood. At and Hilda Roberts—had lived in the end, all that was left northern California. The others were were steaming applause and Carl Geiser of Oregon, Clarence Kailin cheers. of Wisconsin, and Saul Shapiro of Eight weeks later, ALBA Nate Thornton, one of the few remaining vets, Mexico City. joined the Bay Area Laborfest addressed the audience at the event. Photo by Guest speaker Maria Blanco, with the fifth annual screen- Richard Bermack. daughter of a Spanish Civil War ing of documentary films

September 2010 THE VOLUNTEER 3 IBs Meet for Future By Robert S. Coale event, supported a Paris-Berlin axis to Nevertheless, after an afternoon of or three years, the French and the organization, whereas many other debates, a plenary meeting of German International Brigade IB groups with closer geographical A.C.E.R. and a day of visits in Paris, FAssociations, respectively and emotional ties to Spain advocated the weekend was declared a great A.C.E.R. and K.S.F.R., have pushed a Spanish presidency and an office for success. The French and German for the creation of an international any future international brigade coor- positions carried the day. The umbrella committee whose role dinating committee. In essence, this is Coordination Internationale will have would be to link the many national IB exactly what the Asociación de Amigos a revolving presidency, no permanent associations. The most recent meet- de las Brigadas Internacionales has headquarters, and will manage with ing for the future “Coordination strived unsuccessfuly to accomplish the present budgets of its standing Internationale” took place in Paris last ever since the 1996 Homenaje. members. May. Delegations, principally from Europe, met for a weekend of debates. The ambitious program that was discussed is the envy of any IB orga- nization: an internet network of IB Baseball in España sites; a program of meetings for the By Maynard Goldstein 2011 75th anniversary of the IB; a cal- endar of upcoming commemorations; ar is not all shot and shell and go to hell. a so-called “observation committee” Infrequently, it’s play. It was on this occasion, when to warn of renewed fascist activites in Wthe Lincoln and Washington Brigades got together Europe; an international catalogue of after Brunete for R and R—and a baseball game. archives, photos, films and books on I was the unofficial athletic director of the ALB, the proud guard- the IB; a future international confer- ian of all the bats and balls and gloves that our friends had shipped ence on IB history; the creation of a over from America and the comrade who discovered an ideal baseball “pedogogical brochure” on the IB; a field not far from our rest camp—smooth, hard, big enough to chal- selection of books for translations; lenge the sluggers and just waiting for somebody to sing: “Take me out and, finally, an inventory of IB graves to the ball game.” in Spain. We dug in the bases, raked out the foul lines and had a memorable For me as a historian, attending game on that wheat field in Spain. The final score, for history’s sake, these 21st-century debates turned into was Lincoln 2 and Washington 1. a golden opportunity for a glimpse On my return to quarters, I was summoned to Steve Nelson’s tent, into what it must have been like in where we were joined by three unhappy peasants. “Looks like you’re Albacete, just prior to the epic battle in a lot of trouble, Maynard,” said Steve. of Madrid, in the early days of the IB. Me? Trouble? What’s up? I played it cool. Many were the opinions, languages Steve pointed to the three men. “They claim that you took over and viewpoints. Despite the cacoph- their 100-year-old threshing grounds and converted it into a baseball ony of voices, the amateur interpreters field. They demand justice and demand your blood.” and the limited linguistic abilities of Indignantly, I questioned how my blood could possibly repair their the international delegations, it soon field. became apparent that two opinions “It can’t,” replied Steve grimly. “But your sweat can.” diverged. The French and German And it did. Under the vigilant direction of the peasants, our trium- delegations, the organizers of the phant baseball team worked its collective butts off to finally bring the field back to a resemblance of its smooth self. Robert S. Coale, an ALBA Board member, But we never played baseball again in España. teaches Spanish literature at the Université Paris 8. 4 THE VOLUNTEER September 2010 Recovering Voices of Unsung Heroes Documenting the Lives of the Volunteers on the ALBA Website By Nancy Wallach (My dad had a great sense of humor.)” Spain, Jack was sent to the auto park, y great aunt told me David Fellman goes on to let us where he would fix cars, trucks and that she was mar- know that his father Sol and Solomon ambulances and drive them back to “Mried as a young girl Feldman are two different people, the front. On one of these journeys, but because she and her husband clearing up an error in our database. Jack was very badly wounded, hurt were both employed by the Writer’s “Solomon Feldman came from New by fire from the fascists.…He was Project they had to keep their union York and was arrested trying to enter sent to a hospital in Madrid. At first a secret. When her husband went to Spain. My father was in the line at no one knew where he was sent and Spain he had to leave without telling Jarama when Solomon was arrested.” what hospital he was in. They finally her. She gave me her wedding band Secret marriages, humor under assumed he was dead and his mother which looks like it could be silver or fire. These memories from family was told he had died. As time went even nickel. She told me her husband members vividly capture aspects of on, he was finally found in the hospi- was Aaron Lopov and she knew the human beings who volunteered tal in Madrid where he was very much that Alvah Bessie had written about in the war against fascism in Spain alive.…A couple of years later Jack was him.…I wonder if there are members over 74 years ago. As their courageous stricken with a benign brain tumor, of Aaron’s family or anyone who was example continues to inspire genera- which his brother, a doctor, attributed in the Writer’s Project who know tions of activists who respond to the to being blown up in Spain. When anything about this. My aunt was issues of the day, ALBA feels we have Jack came home in 1938, I met him at a interrogated by the Dies Committee a unique opportunity and responsibil- dance at the Diplomat Hotel and fell in about the same time. I am holding ity to expand on and disseminate each love and married him in 1939. When a transcript of those hearings. She volunteer’s biography. We are combin- WWII started Jack was not drafted later went on to join the army ‘to fight ing these oral histories solicited from because he was married and had a fascism,’ is how she put it, and was family members with the information young child. However, he enlisted occasionally subjected to threats and we have from the archives at NYU’s and joined the navy where he served intimidation during her career.” Linda Tamiment collection into a permanent until the end of WWII.” One common Rubin sent this in to ALBA to help us feature on our website. By clicking thread that stands out in the range of in our initiative to honor the lives of on biographies, visitors to www.alba- responses we’ve received from family each of the volunteers on our website. valb.org can find a page for each of members is the pride and respect they “This letter tells the story of my the veterans of the Abraham Lincoln feel for the sacrifices of these real life father Sol Fellman and his brother Brigade. heroes. Harry,” begins another response to The responses often turn into fam- One of the most exciting contribu- ALBA. “The two brothers traveled to ily endeavors as computer savvy sons tions we elicited is featured in another Spain together, on the ‘Paris’ in 1937. or daughters assist widows in captur- article in this issue of The Volunteer. They were both members of the YCL. ing memories of lifetimes of activism. Veteran Maynard Goldstein, who had Sol was in the Tom Mooney unit.… This excerpt from 94-year-old Anne attended NYU’s school of journalism He was at Jarama, where my uncle Yellin’s letter beautifully renders the and advertising and lives in NYC, sent Harry was wounded. The letters of love and respect in her marriage to in “Baseball in Espana” in response to Paul Siegel (in the archives) mention a veteran Jack Yellin. “I did not know the biography project. meeting when my father found Harry him before he went to Spain. While I could not give you a complete in August 1937 when he left the line he was in Spain, my best friend…who picture of our efforts without mention- at Jarama, walked up to him and said, was the sister of George Watt, met ing the assistance of researchers who, ‘Don’t I know you from someplace?’ in Coney Island and became friends while not related to volunteers, have and helped organize ‘Friends of the been inspired by their example. Nacho Nancy Wallach is a member of ALBA’s Board of Governors. Lincoln Brigade in Brighton Beach.’ In Eli, a Spaniard, grew up next to the Continued on page 14 September 2010 THE VOLUNTEER 5 Florida Teachers Explore Spanish Civil War

By Sherman Dorn or the last two years, ALBA’s Teachers Institute in Tampa, FFlorida, has focused on the needs of social studies professionals (gener- ally history teachers), helping them to imagine and develop classroom approaches to the study of the Spanish Civil War and its global significance. This summer’s week-long institute encouraged teachers to write their own assignments and lesson plans tied to the Spanish Civil War, and The second Tampa Teachers’ Institute included a field trip to the Centro Asturiano, teachers were asked to devise some- the main center of pro-loyalist activity in Tampa during the Spanish Civil War. During their visit teachers were shown the Republican flag that flew over the thing they would use with their own building through the end of the war. In addition, they obtained oral histories students. Some teachers of advanced about activities within the city’s Latin community from former members of the placement courses designed struc- local Popular Front Committee: Delia Sanchez, José R. Oural, Aida Gonzalez, Elvira tured writing assignments (document Garcia and Angel Rañon. Not only do the teachers expect to use this information based questions) using ALBA’s unique in their classes, but in several cases they have made plans to invite these local primary sources, including letters activists to meet with their students. written by U.S. volunteers in Spain. Other teachers created lesson plans state requirements. For high school through both personal approaches for one, two, three, or five days. teachers, there are straightforward (Why would people risk their lives Toward this end, we prepared connections to Florida social-studies thousands of miles away for other peo- the teachers with an explanation of benchmarks in U.S. history, world ple they don’t know?) and larger issues (Why would a country ignore an emerg- We selected and organized specific Florida social-studies “benchmarks” to ing humanitarian crisis?). Sometimes help them think of lessons and to help them justify studying the Spanish the benchmarks help in making con- Civil War to administrators who want to know how classroom activities nections. One Florida high school are meeting state requirements. benchmark, for instance, focuses on international responses to genocide and so raises questions about human rights how the Florida state curriculum history, and generic history skills. For issues tied to the Spanish conflict. standards could be tied to the subject middle-school teachers, the Spanish The result of the Tampa summer of the Spanish Civil War. We selected Civil War can help students meet institutes shows that many experienced and organized specific Florida social- Florida’s benchmarks in civics and teachers need just a little help imagin- studies “benchmarks” to help them geography as well as historical skills. ing classroom use. With that assistance, think of lessons and to help them The sessions also included dis- they can devise activities on the Spanish justify studying the Spanish Civil War cussions about the teaching issues Civil War that are rich, rigorous, and to administrators who want to know surrounding the Spanish Civil War. For engaging for students. Nearly all the how classroom activities are meeting example, does it change how students teachers expect to implement these respond to the material when the end ideas during the coming school year. Sherman Dorn is a professor in the of the war in Spain is seen as a tragedy ALBA’s Tampa Teachers Institute Department of Psychological and Social rather than the standard triumphal was directed by Fraser Ottanelli and Foundations of the College of Education story of U.S. history textbooks? We Robert Alicea. Peter Carroll led the at the University of South Florida. also discussed how to engage students first day workshops.

6 THE VOLUNTEER September 2010 Ohio Institute Scores an A: Lesson Plans on Geiser, Kea, and McKelvy-White By Sebastiaan Faber Area, one objective was to help fter regular classes ended for teachers develop units by using 20 Ohio high school teachers primary source material, ranging Alast June, they spent another from letters and diaries to post- six days on the Oberlin College ers, photographs, and film. campus attending the first ALBA The impact of the Spanish “Teaching these institutes is Institute in the Midwest. Consisting Civil War on Ohio is not surpris- extremely gratifying,” Peter Carroll of nine social studies, nine Spanish, ing. The state had been hit hard by said. “The groups are fantastic, and the and two English teachers, cover- the Depression, which in turn had discussions often quite lively. And we ing all high school grade levels, the increased social and racial tensions, always discover new things. This time, group worked on lesson plans and including friction surrounding the for example, we realized how rich and classroom units—ranging from a state’s large immigrant population. compelling Carl Geiser’s letters are. His couple of days to more than two While Ohio’s centers of industry collection includes some real gems.” weeks’ worth—integrating materi- were strongholds of organized labor, The Spanish Civil War is an out- als related to the Abraham Lincoln which tended to sympathize with the standing pedagogical tool to introduce Brigade and the Spanish Civil War Spanish Republic, the state also had the major historical, political, and cul- into their regularly taught curriculum. a large Catholic population, which tural issues that marked the evolution The Institute was led by tended to favor Franco. In early 1937, of 20th century history and culture, Sebastiaan Faber, taught by Peter the pro-Republican documentary including violent clashes of compet- N. Carroll, James D. Fernández, Spain in Flames was banned by the ing ideologies and issues of national and Geoff Pingree, and sponsored Ohio State Board of Censorship, but identity, gender, and race. Yet that war by the Puffin Foundation, the Ohio in December of the same year, the is rarely included in the high school Humanities Council, ALBA, and equally pro-Republican film The curriculum, because teachers lack both Oberlin College. Spanish Earth was screened at Oberlin’s the knowledge and the tools to incor- A guiding principle of ALBA’s Apollo Theater as a fundraiser for the porate it meaningfully while meeting teacher institutes is that local and Republic. academic content standards. ALBA’s global issues are often closely inter- More than 100 Ohioans joined high school institutes fill that gap by twined and that examples close to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The teaching high-school instructors about home can provide a compelling win- selected five Ohioans were chosen the war while working with them to dow into the history of the world at because their careers were well docu- create compelling curricular materi- large. The Oberlin Institute specifically mented by historical materials and als based on primary sources that will focused on the effects of the Spanish covered a wide range of experiences: help them better meet the standards for conflict on life in the state of Ohio, Salaria Kea was the only African- their classes. and in particular on five individual American woman to volunteer in The lesson plans that the partici- Ohioans: Abraham Lincoln Brigade Spain; Geiser spent a year in a POW- pants produced will be posted on the volunteers Carl Geiser, Salaria Kea, camp (the topic of his book, Prisoners ALBA website for use by other high David McKelvy-White, and Paul of the Good Fight); McKelvy-White was school teachers in Ohio and nation- McEachron, as well as Oberlin Spanish from a prominent political family in ally, and all participating teachers professor Paul Rogers. As in ALBA’s Ohio; McEachron was a sophomore at will be supported throughout the other institutes and development days Oberlin College, where Rogers taught year by ALBA as they prepare to in New York City, Tampa, and the Bay Spanish—both went over to Spain. teach the topic.

September 2010 THE VOLUNTEER 7 Tribute to Baltazar Garzón

As Judge Baltasar Garzón faces a backlash that may cost him his position in Spain’s judiciary, ALBA invited María Blanco to give the keynote talk at the annual reunion of the Bay Area veterans and friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Berkeley, California, on May 30, 2010. The full text of her speech appears at www.albavolunteer.org. Photograph by Jeannette Ferrary. By María Blanco War songs, which all of us knew civil war and the long dictatorship. want to say that I am extremely by heart. I grew up surrounded by His investigation included the exhu- moved by the invitation to speak Spanish refugees: grandparents, mation of mass graves, including one Itoday. While I speak frequently at uncles and aunts, family friends who believed to contain the remains of the political and public events, this is the fluctuated between silence about the poet Garcia Lorca. first time that I have spoken about the war and the events leading up to Shortly after agreeing to speak, Spanish Civil War. My connection to the war and those who relived and however, the news arrived that the war has been personal rather than refought the war in their extended Garzón had been indicted for abusing public. I was born in Mexico, the Sunday “sobremesas” or “after meal” his judicial authority by opening this daughter of a Spanish civil war refu- conversations. investigation and that he was facing gee who arrived in Mexico at age 12 So when Peter Carroll asked me a suspension by the Supreme Court of with his parents, who left on the last few months ago to pay tribute to Judge Spain. This homage to Garzón quickly ship to cross the Atlantic before the Baltasar Garzón at this year’s Bay Area became an attempt to analyze what outbreak of World War II. ALBA event, I thought this would was happening to him in the context It is not much of an exaggeration be a wonderful and straightforward of Spain’s struggle to face its long hid- to say that I knew of the Abraham thing to do. As a civil rights lawyer, den and officially falsified history. Lincoln Brigades probably before I was familiar with Garzón’s impor- I think it’s helpful to review the age of 10. I also knew about the tant work to hold accountable Latin Garzón’s work and his cases in order Thalmann Brigade, and our family American dictators and military offi- to understand the current indictment road trips in Mexico, the U.S., and cials for the murder and torture of against him and what it means for much later Spain, were always to the thousands of leftists and democrats Spain. accompaniment of the Spanish Civil under international law. More rel- Beginning in 1996, in close collab- evant to ALBA, Garzón had opened oration with Chilean and Argentine María Blanco is currently executive a groundbreaking investigation in NGOs in Spain that represented the director of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity & Diversity at Spain into the disappearance of over victims of those dictatorships, Garzón, the University of California, Berkeley. 100,000 victims of Franco during the a magistrate of Spain’s national

8 THE VOLUNTEER September 2010 criminal court, used Spain’s Universal arrest for 17 months. Eventually, after committed by the military and the Jurisdiction law to indict the former much political soul searching and supporters of those dictatorships. In Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet under international scrutiny, England essence, by indicting Pinochet and and various Argentine military offi- refused to extradite Pinochet to Spain Scilingo under international law, cials who had been the architects and and he returned to Chile, where his Garzón took the legal and moral executioners of Argentina’s Dirty War senatorial immunity was eventually position that international law that from 1975 to 1983. Spanish Universal lifted and he was indicted for murder, prohibited crimes against human- Jurisdiction law, enacted in 1985, torture, and kidnapping. ity trumped national amnesty laws. allows for the prosecution in Spain of Even before the Pinochet indict- Additionally he argued that amnesty persons residing anywhere who have ment, Garzón had indicted the should only apply to situations where violated international law by commit- Argentine naval officer Adolfo a person is convicted or acquitted and ting crimes against humanity, which Scilingo for genocide, 30 counts of then granted a pardon or amnesty. include genocide, torture, kidnapping murder, and 286 of torture. The mur- To say that Garzón’s prosecu- and terrorism. der charges against Scilingo related to tions and indictments were extremely Under Garzón’s interpretation 30 prisoners, Argentine and foreign, controversial is an understatement. of Spain’s law of universal jurisdic- thrown out of government jets during They were controversial internation- tion (and the interpretation of other the Dirty War against the left. Unlike ally, in Spain, and even in democratic Spanish judges and legislators at the Pinochet, Scilingo was tried and political circles. In Spain and abroad, time), crimes against humanity that convicted in Spain and sentenced to the legal criticism of Garzón’s indict- occur outside of Spain can be ment was due to concern prosecuted in Spain, even if over the enforcement the crimes occurred before of international law by Spain’s law went into effect in criminal courts outside of 1985, and even if the victims or the International Courts perpetrators are not Spanish. established precisely for Based on this interpretation, the purpose of adjudicat- Garzón issued an interna- ing international law. The tional arrest warrant in 1998 criticism was particularly for Pinochet and sought his pointed because the indict- extradition to Spain for inter- ments were not limited national crimes of genocide, to crimes against Spanish murder and torture. victims, where there might At the heart of the indict- be grounds for bringing ment were the deaths and someone to justice under disappearances of Argentines, international law in Spain. Chileans, Spaniards and In the face of this criticism others during Pinochet’s dic- it is important to point out tatorship, in particular during that this is exactly what Chile’s infamous Operation María Blanco. Photo by Richard Bermack. Spain’s law of Universal Condor. Initially, Garzón sought the over 1000 years in Spanish prison for Jurisdiction spelled out and allowed indictments because of the murder crimes against humanity. for—it was only last year, in 2009, that of Spanish citizens by the Pinochet Garzón’s indictments of Pinochet the Spanish Parliament amended the dictatorship, but later he broadened and Scilingo were significant beyond law of National Jurisdiction to limit it his jurisdiction on the basis of crimes the application of international law. to cases that involve Spanish citizens against humanity regardless of the Of equal importance was the fact that or have a strong nexus to Spain. nationality of the victims. As many he went after Pinochet and Scilingo The political criticism of Garzón’s of us recall, based on that arrest despite the fact that at the time, both cases was of a different nature. While warrant, Pinochet was detained in countries had amnesty laws that there was much relief and cheering London and placed under house provided total immunity for crimes Continued on page 12

September 2010 THE VOLUNTEER 9 “Negrín was right” An interview with Gabriel Jackson

[For a longer version of this interview, as well as a video, see the online Volunteer at www.albavolunteer.org]

By Sebastiaan Faber e nos ha ido Gabriel Jackson”— “Gabriel Jackson Has Left “SUs.” The March 25 headline in La Vanguardia, Catalonia’s newspa- per of record, almost looked like an obituary. But it wasn’t: Gabe Jackson, who turned 89 this year, is alive and well. And yet the article in question was a lament about a deeply felt loss. After 26 years in Barcelona, one of the world’s most prominent historians of 20th century Spain was moving back to the United States. “It’s impos- sible,” the article said, “to imagine someone more down-to-earth—some- one kinder, more educated, discreet, tolerant, austere, always ready to lend a hand to the weak, incapable of flattering those in power.” Few foreign scholars command Photos by Sebastiaan Faber. the respect and authority that Gabriel Jackson enjoys in Spain. In the years ago, for his performances as a when there seemed little hope for a English-speaking world, Jackson is semiprofessional classical flutist. Republican victory earned him the best known as the author of two clas- Jackson has also been a long-time contempt, if not hatred, of many on sic accounts of Spanish history: The ALBA board member. Last March the Right and Left: Nationalist sup- Spanish Republic and the Civil War Jackson closed the Barcelona chapter porters of General Franco, of course, (1965) and A Concise History of the of his life, moving to Oregon to live in but also the more violent factions Spanish Civil War (1974). In Spain, how- closer proximity to his daughter and within Anarchism, the revolutionary ever, Jackson is an all-round public grandchildren. anti-Stalinist Left, and those fac- intellectual, known not only for his For the past decade, Jackson has tions of the deeply divided Spanish regular contributions to the op-ed been working on a major biography Socialist Party—to which he himself page of El País or his frequent review of Juan Negrín, the Republic’s Prime belonged—which sympathized with essays in La Revista de Libros (the Minister during much of the Civil Largo Caballero, Besteiro, or Prieto. Madrid equivalent of the Times Literary War. Negrín was an accomplished sci- Not surprisingly, Negrín has been one Supplement), but also, until a couple of entist and Socialist politician—as well of the most reviled figures of Spanish as a polyglot and bon vivant—whose politics. Jackson tirelessly scoured Sebastiaan Faber, professor of Spanish insistence on winning the war above through thousands of previously literature at Oberlin College, is Chair of ALBA’s Board of Governors. all else, acceptance of Soviet aid, and unseen archival materials to produce refusal to surrender to Franco even the most balanced and comprehensive

10 THE VOLUNTEER September 2010 account yet of the man’s life and sig- population were Spanish refugees. of California at San Diego, in 1965. nificance. A year after the publication I made a great many friends among Princeton had just published his The of the Spanish translation, his Juan Spanish fellow students and their par- Spanish Republic and the Civil War. Negrín: Physiologist, Socialist, and Spanish ents. In later years these connections It’s hard to overstate the impor- Republican War Leader has just come out proved crucial. When I went to Spain tance of Jackson’s first book. In the with Sussex University Press. to research the Republic, I carried let- His work on Negrín has strength- ters from my refugee friends vouching ened Jackson’s conviction that the that I could be trusted. That allowed Prime Minister was justified in his me to speak to people and hear the refusal to surrender, and that the unvarnished truth—despite the fact continued refusal on the part of the that I was an American and that the Western democracies to support the U.S. government supported Franco.” Spanish Republic was immoral and The first decade back in the States contrary to international law, as well was a difficult one, professionally as a huge political mistake. “Negrín’s speaking. Jackson quickly found he policy of resistance and constant dip- was haunted by his reputation as a lomatic effort was the right one. I am leftist troublemaker, which wasn’t United States, it helped put 20th also convinced that if England and helped by his refusal to provide the century Spanish history back on France had supported the Republic FBI with information on his friends. the academic map, earning him the and stood up to Hitler, the Second “It followed me whenever I went look- 1966 Herbert Baxter Adams Prize of World War would not have occurred ing for jobs. In the mid-1950s I had a the American Historical Association. in the terribly disastrous fashion that very favorable interview for a job in Its appearance did not go unnoticed it did.” Spanish and Latin American history in Spain, either. “I’ve been told it What moves a Jewish New Yorker at Dartmouth College. When we were made a considerable scandal among to dedicate his life to the study of finished, one of the interviewers took regime circles. Together with Herbert Spanish history? “I was 15 when the me aside quietly and said: Listen, I Southworth’s La cruzada de Francisco Civil War broke out. I was an avid am very sorry to have to say this, but we Franco and Hugh Thomas’s book, newspaper reader and quite politically know you’re on Roy Cohn’s list—Cohn which had come out just before, it conscious already. I clearly remember motivated the Spanish government to the heated dinner table discussions initiate a whole new line of research to on Spain between my father, who defend the Francoist record in the war.” was a Socialist, and my Communist Jackson, who holds double pass- older brother. Then in the summer of ports, will miss living in Barcelona. 1942, after graduating from Harvard “Personal relationships with College, I got to spend two months Spaniards have always been very in Mexico, which by then was full important to me. I have had more of Spanish Republican exiles. It was deep, adult, personal friendships in meeting and speaking with them that Spain than in the United States. It’s further opened my eyes to the history strange: I felt at home in Spain as soon of Spain and Latin America.” as I got there. At one point I realized Jackson was drafted that year and was McCarthy’s chief field investiga- that my Spanish hosts, the parents of spent World War II as a cartographer tor—and you’re not going to get an offer.” fellow student friends that I met in in the Pacific. In 1950, with a Stanford After three years at Goddard College, Spain, simply reminded me of my MA under his belt, Jackson began his five at Wellesley—where he became own East European Jewish aunts and doctoral studies at the University of close friends with the exiled Spanish uncles in New York. So yes, it will be Toulouse in Southern France, on the poet Jorge Guillén—and three at Knox hard giving up my life there. What I work of Joaquín Costa. “You have to College in Illinois, Jackson had almost will miss most? I like kissing people remember that at the time we lived in given up on a tenured position when on both cheeks.” Toulouse, a third or a half of the city’s he finally landed a job at the University

September 2010 THE VOLUNTEER 11 Blanco-Garzón Continued from page 9 over the fact that the Latin American related to mass graves from the Civil It calls for the provision of aid to architects of death and torture were War and the subsequent dictator- the victims and descendants of vic- finally being held accountable, there ship. He asked for the victims’ names, tims of the Civil War and the Francoist was concern that the overriding of dates and circumstances surrounding regime. amnesty laws could have the unin- their death. As noted by Emilio Silva, At the time Garzón initiated his tended consequence of eliminating a founder of the Spanish Association for investigation, 1,200 petitions had political tool often necessary for diffi- the Recovery of Historical Memory, already been filed at the High Court cult transitions to democracy.… this was the first time Spanish authori- for information on those who “disap- It is against this background that ties had done something like this, peared” between 1936 and 1975 and we need to understand what Baltasar and Silva expressed the hope that it approximately 120 mass graves had Garzón has been accused of in Spain could be the first step toward a Truth already been exhumed. and what has led to his suspension Commission in Spain. Despite the fact that the Law of from his judicial duties. Because Garzón is now accused Historical Memory acknowledged After years of pursuing war of abuse of judicial power, it is very and promised help with the recovery criminals and dictators abroad (and important to underscore that Garzón’s of victims of the civil war, Garzón’s the Basque terrorist organization ETA inquiry did not occur in a legal or inquiry quickly drew opposition from in Spain), in October 2008 Garzón political vacuum–his investigation is different political quarters. The crux opened an inquiry into the disap- part of a larger movement in Spain of the opposition lies in Spain’s 1977 pearance of approximately 113,000 to condemn its fascist past and face Amnesty Law, which bars investiga- victims of Francoist repression. He its history. In 2007, Spain’s Parliament tions and indictments for all political also ordered the exhumation of 19 passed the Law of Historical Memory. acts, whatever their outcome, includ- unmarked mass graves. Such graves Among other things, the law does the ing murder and mass executions that dating from the Civil War are spread following: occurred during the civil war and up across Spain. While it is believed It condemns the Francoist regime. to December 1976. Very shortly after that most of the Francoist dead were It prohibits political events at the opening the probe, and in the face recovered during the Franco dictator- Valley of the Fallen, Franco’s burial of mounting opposition, stating that ship, the same is not true for Franco’s place. he did not have legal jurisdiction to victims. For over 70 years, thousands It orders the removal of Francoist investigate due to the 1977 Amnesty of Republican families have been in symbols from public buildings and law, Garzón suspended the disappear- the dark about the fate of their loved spaces. ance probe and handed the issue of ones. The lucky ones were those who It promises state help in the exhumations of mass graves to local knew of their deaths in the battlefields tracing, identification and eventual authorities under the law of Historical or at official executions. The rest were exhumation of victims of Francoist Memory. silenced and kept in the dark through repression whose corpses are still The suspension of the inquiry, the long years of the fascist regime— missing, often buried in mass graves. however, did not end the opposition to often living side by side with suspected It grants Spanish national- Garzón’s investigation. In September accomplices in the murder of their rela- ity to surviving members of the 2009, a right wing fictitious union tives and unable to investigate a part of International Brigades, without called Manos Limpias (Clean Hands) history that officially did not exist. requiring them to renounce their own and the Spanish Falange, the Fascist As part of his 2008 inquiry, nationalities. organization that provided Franco’s Garzón asked the government It temporarily changes Spanish shock ideology, filed a complaint archives, the Roman Catholic Church, nationality law, granting the right of in the Spanish Supreme Court call- the keepers of Franco’s tomb and the return and citizenship to those who ing for Garzón’s removal from his governments of several cities, includ- left Spain under Franco for politi- position for having abused his judi- ing Madrid, Granada, Cordoba and cal or economic reasons, and their cial authority by opening the mass Seville, to turn over documentation descendants. Continued on page 14

12 THE VOLUNTEER September 2010 CONTRIBUTIONS Visionary (14,999+) Noble • Aaron Beckerman • Lotti Tobler Munday and Alvin Warren • Mary Ann The Puffin Foundation, Ltd. Berenson • Richard Bermack • Timuel Niki • Judy Nitzberg • Michael O’Connor Black • Charles Bloomer • Thompson • Robert Inget Or • Georgene M. Or • Benefactor ($5,000 - $14,999) & Anne Bradely • Heather Bridger • Fraser Ottanelli • Faith Petric • Nancy Perry Rosenstein • Mel Kaufman • Arthur Josh Brown • Selma Dewey Calnan in Piore • Yvette Pollack • Adele Pollard • & Rita Whitney memory of Clarence Kailin, a graduate of Michael G. Quigley • Yoa Sachs in honor Sponsor ($1,000 - $2,499) Central High in Madison, WI • Gabriella of Studs Terkel • Michael Sanderson • Jacob & Ruth Epstein Foundation • Jeffrey Befani Canfield • Jerry Chawes & Grace Leon and Jeanne Schwartz in memory of Heisler • The Levitt Foundation • Michael Chawes • Dan Czitrom • Joanne & James Henry McSorley, killed in Spain • Arthur Organek Collier • Juanita Conteras • Ralph & Mink • Rita Neri • Jospeh and Mary Doris Copperman in memory of Ben Palen • Luigi Paselli • Bradley Peterson • Supporter ($250 - $999) Goldstein • Robert Croghan • Alice M. Irene Piccone • Betty & Morris Phillips Grace Anderson • Alec Baldwin • Peter Dekker • Mary Dooley • Patricia Eames in honor of Bill Susman • Robert Praver N. Carroll • Henry Doherty • Hila & • Leni Edith • Robert Fitzgerald • Grania • Ellyn & Jim Polshek • Judy Polshek Gerry Feil • James Fernandez • Jeannette Flanagan • Noel & Kathy Folsom • Jose Goodman in honor of Ellyn Polshek R. Ferrary • Mr. and Mrs. Donald Harris Fortoul • Virginia Franco • Morton H. • George & Irma Rendina • Frank & • Rickard & Carol-Jeanette Jorgenson • Frank • Alex Gabriles • Anthony Geist • Maria Rico • Bill Roller • Fred W. Rohl Susan Mende • Timothy Parker • Robert Francis Ginsberg • Peter Glazer • Hyman • Chris Rhomberg • Naomi Rucker • Roth • Suzanne & Alan Jay Rom • Susan & Gold • Miriam Goldberg in memory Donald Sarason • Maurice Shilling • James Louis Segal • Fredda Weiss of Alex Goldberg • Roderic Gorney Skillman • Daniel Schaffer • Emily Sharpe Contributor ($100 - $249) • Delores Guerra • George Haber • • Arnold G. Schlanger in memory of Bert Aubrey • June Brummer • • Joan Kathleen Hager & Art Wasserman in Matilda G. 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September 2010 THE VOLUNTEER 13 As with other institutions in today’s military fascists who ruled by violence Blanco-Garzón Spain, the Supreme Court is also and repression for 40 years. Continued from page12 divided over maintaining the silence And it may turn out that Garzón’s disappearances inquiry in contraven- or bringing Spain’s painful history out insistence on the supremacy of inter- tion of the Amnesty Law. In April, of the shadows. national laws against genocide over Spain’s Supreme Tribunal sustained Pandora’s box has been opened blanket amnesties is making its way the complaint. Garzón has now been in Spain, and as always happens with to Spain and will ultimately lead to a suspended from his position pending Pandora’s box, some are attempting to Truth Commission or at least a willing- a trial on charges of abuse of power. close it, but I predict, unsuccessfully. ness to face history and name names. Since the case was filed against Garzón may lose his judicial appoint- After all, if countries with former fas- Garzón, it has become emblematic ment, but the movement to tell the cist regimes like Argentina, Chile and of the crossroads at which Spain true history of fascism in Spain can- Paraguay could do so, why not Spain? finds itself—both symbolically and not be turned back. New and accurate The international movement for truth concretely. history books will continue to be pub- and accountability, which owes a large It is no coincidence that it is the lished, more and more graves will be debt to Baltasar Garzón, is coming Falange and the Manos Limpias exhumed, and finally, there will be a full circle to Spain. And while Garzón group who filed the complaint. Their generation of Spaniards, and other gen- may not have a chance to implement it complaint is not really directed at erations that come after it, who know there, he surely had a historic role in its Garzón’s inquiry (since it was already the truth: who will know how a demo- growth and acceptance. suspended) or his supposed interfer- cratic government was overthrown by Thank you, Baltasar Garzón. ence with the Amnesty Law. Garzón’s investigation, or other investigations like it that might take place in the Heroes future, would undoubtedly reveal the Continued from page 5 names of high profile persons (dead monastery in San Pedro de Cardena, with right wing governments which and alive) who were complicit in the Burgos, Spain, where the International stopped attempts at solidarity.…I will disappearances and murders. In real- Volunteers were incarcerated during send you the other 25 authorizations ity, the complaint against Garzón is the Spanish Civil War. He started a of American prisoners, mostly from a heavy-handed attempt by the right blog, http://thejailynews.blogspot. communists to communists.” The blog wing and the remaining fascists in com/, named after the underground also documents the efforts of Eli to Spain to stop the Historical Memory paper edited in the prison by Lincoln bring various groups and associations movement; that is to say, it is an veterans Hy Wallach and Sydney together to erect another commemo- attempt to hold on to what up to now Rosenblatt. The latest information he rative monument at the site of the had been their complete revision- has sent us comes from his visit to the prison, after the original was removed ist control of Spanish history. And Public Record Office in Salamanca, by local authorities after its instal- it is not as surprising as it seems at where he viewed signatures from 25 lation. Eli states that the “aim of the first glance that the Supreme Court prisoners who gave parcel authoriza- blog is to draw attention to what hap- upheld the complaint. Four members tions to other international prisoners. pened in the concentration camp and of this court are well known conser- He sent me a copy of the record for the to highlight the ideals of those who vatives who climbed the legal ranks authorization my father, Hy Wallach, fought for them but have been forgot- during Franco’s reign, when all law- signed for his friend at San Pedro, a ten by official histories.” yers, including these members of the Yugoslav, Radavoy Nicolitch, a fellow His aim expresses our own pur- Supreme Court, took an oath asserting chess player. Eli explains that when a poses in undertaking the biography (and I quote) “unconditional loyalty prisoner was released “from countries project on each of the volunteers. I to the Caudillo, communion with like the USA, Canada, or England, know how moved I felt to hear from a the ideal of the ‘crusade’ (referring with strong solidarity groups for the person in Spain who was so inspired to the fascist National Movement), Republic, they normally gave autho- by the International Volunteers that and adherence to the fundamental rization to prisoners from countries he continues to use his holidays to principles of the National Movement.” like Germany, Austria or Yugoslavia, Continued on page 15

14 THE VOLUNTEER September 2010 Added to Memory’s Roster

also served in the U.S. army during compelled to help those less fortunate World War II. He was living in North than even himself. Carolina at the time of his death. Peter joined the Lincoln Brigade to help fight Fascism and restore Spanish Peter Schemrock Democracy to its citizens. Peter remembered well the suffering and (1910-2010) pain of those who fought in that war Lincoln vet Peter Schemrock died and the sacrifices they made. Peter on June 24 in southern California, a was also a veteran of World War II. few weeks before his 100th birthday. Throughout his life Peter Peter was born on August 17, championed the rights of the working l910, in Dunbar, Pennsylvania. His man. He was a man of great integrity family went back to Croatia (former and passion. He never failed to speak Yugoslavia) when he was about four up for those who were less fortunate, years old. and he would often donate money for Peter returned to the United States different causes. as a young man during the Great Peter is survived by Vjera, his wife Depression. It was during this time of 43 years, as well as several nieces Norman Berkowitz that Peter began to understand and and nephews. (1913-2010) sympathize with those less fortunate. — Claire Oppenheimer Dubin Because of his experiences, as well My father, Norman (Nathan) Berkowitz, as personal suffering, Peter was died peacefully at the age of 96 on July 30, 2010. After not being able to speak for 36 hours, Norman rallied and spoke continuously for 30 minutes. His final Heroes Continued from page 14 words were directed to his grandson and they were, surprisingly, entirely in travel to public record offices around Brooks and from the Tamiment Spanish. Not surpisingly, they were about his country to bring me documenta- archives, we’ve just started to reach his memories of Spain. tion on my father. The aptness of the out to families of volunteers to add to Long Live the ALB! characterization of the volunteers as the material and to help personalize Born in Boston, Norman “forgotten heroes” came home to me their biographies. The anecdotes in Berkowitz grew up in Brooklyn and when I was relating this project to a this article are just a few of the stories attended public schools. He joined young Caribbean-American teacher that we hope to bring to light on the the Young Communist League in at my school. He asked if I had a title website and in future issues of The 1935 and participated in political for this article and suggested I call Volunteer. Although the archives con- demonstrations around the city. With it “Stories of Our Unsung Heroes,” tain a wealth of material already other future Abraham Lincoln Brigade since he told me that although he was donated generously by friends and volunteers, such as Harry Fisher and a history buff, he was learning about family, as well as by VALB itself, the Irving Fajans, he played a role in Americans who volunteered in Spain database on ALBA’s website makes the organization of the Department for the first time through this ALBA these highlights immediately accessi- Store Workers Union. He served with initiative. ble. I look forward to sharing many the Lincoln-Washington battalion in Using the research begun by vet- more of the responses that are con- Spain and was wounded in action eran Adolph Ross and ALBA’s Chris tinuing to come in. during the Ebro offensive in 1938. He

September 2010 THE VOLUNTEER 15 The Volunteer Nn o PrOFIT org c/o Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives US Postage 799 Broadway, Suite 341 Paid New York, NY 10003 San Francisco, CA Change Service Requested permit no. 1577

Fall Events

September 17, 6:15 pm October 16, 5 pm Exhibit Opening: La Colonia: Spanish Puffin Foundation fundraising benefit for Immigrants in New York, 1898-1945 ALBA: An evening with Pete Seeger and Curated by Professor James Fernández, Special Guests co-sponsored by ALBA and KJCC Museum of the City of New York King Juan Carlos I Center 1220 Fifth Avenue, NYC 53 Washington Square South, NYC For details & tickets for performance and Free to the Public reception, see www.alba-valb.org and www. puffinfoundation.org/. September 24, 2010 - January 9, 2011 Exhibit: Mexican Suitcase November 11, 6:15 pm Photographs from the “Mexican Suitcase”— Nueva York: Roundtable discussion with almost 4,000 images from the Spanish Civil War Michael Wallace and Arcadio Díaz Quiñones by Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and David “Chim” Moderated by James D. Fernández Seymour. Includes Henri Cartier-Bresson’s film, Co-sponsored by ALBA and KJCC With the Lincoln Brigade (ALBA) King Juan Carlos I Center ICP Museum 53 Washington Square South, NYC 1133 Avenue of the Americas, NYC Free to the Public

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