Vol. XVII, No. 2 Fall 1995 58th Anniversary Dinner in NY — A call to fight the GOP’s ‘Contract’ radition, inseparable from the media star, who had politics of current history, insisted on being desig- Tmarked the VALB 58th a n n i- nated chairperson rather versary dinner held April 30 at the than a speechmaker, Sheraton-New York Hotel. Co-spon- began the post-meal pro- sored by the Abraham Lincoln gram with a crescendo of Brigade Archives, the event was an one-liners blistering the inspiring occasion for its six hun- Republican attack on the dred guests, among whom were 48 arts and civil liberties. Lincoln veterans. Cary Nelson, Jubilee Tony Randall, truly a multi- Professor of English at the University of Illinois and ALBA co-chair, then Tony Randall Rep. Jerrold Nadler described the 600-plus Roster of Lincoln Vets page collection of Lincoln Brigaders’ important years of service on the at the East Coast Dinner wartime letters from Spain that he VA L B st a f f . April 30, 1995 and Jeff Hendricks have edited for The inevitable effective fund publication early next year under appeal was made by Henry Foner, Ernest Amatniek, Al Amery, the title M a d r i d : 1 9 3 7 : L e t t e r s retired president of the Fur and Moe Bailin, Jack Bjoze, from the Abraham Lincoln brigade Leather Workers Union. (When tabu- Louis Bortz, Joe Brandt, Morris Brier, George Cullinen, in the Spanish Civil War. When he lated the next day, it totalled over Jacob Epstein, Ruth Epstein, read several letters by Lincolns who $9 , 0 0 0 . ) Ralph Fassinella, Harry Fisher, had died in Spain, a reverent As the final speaker, Tony Moe Fishman, Saul Friedberg, silence settled over the audience. Randall welcomed Jerrold L. (Jerry) Ben Goldring, Sam Gonshak, Appropriately, Professor Nelson Lou Gordon, Ken Graeber, was followed by a roll call of the Continued on page 20 Clarence Kailin, Al Koslow, Lincoln veterans in Manny Lanser, Len Levenson, attendance (one-fourth of Joe Luftig, Matti Mattson, the VALB survivors’ ros- Arthur Munday, Blas Padrino, John Perrone, Bob Reed, ter). They stood to a trib- Herman Rosenstein, Sam Schiff, ute from the guests. Jack Shafron, Jack Shulman, Mimi Turque, a prin- John Simon, Dave Smith, cipal actor in the current Abe Smorodin, Leo Solodkin, Broadway production of George Sossenko, Sam Spiller, Kiss of the Spider John Stockwell, Bill Susman, W o m a n, movingly read Hy Tabb, Anthony Toney, poems by Edwin Rolfe Bill Van Felix, Harry Wallach, and Genevieve Taggard. Jesse Wallach, Sam Walters, Al Warren, Bill Wheeler She was followed by the presentation of a plaque Abe Smorodin with his award for years of service on the to Abe Smorodin for his VALB staff. Photos by Eric Levenson 2 THE VOLUNTEER, FALL 1995 Spain in the summer of ’95 by Gabriel Jackson eral very able ministers who could serve as Prime Minister, and it would be good for the health of Spanish pain, on May 28, 1995, held elections for its seven- democracy for the present Prime Minister to take politi- teen autonomous governments. There are three cal responsibility for the economic and police scandals Sseparate tiers of elections under the constitution: that directly involve persons whom he named to office. general elections for the national parliament, the As for the second reason, there are undoubtedly Cortes; autonomous elections for the regional govern- many nostalgic Franquistas in the PP, but there is a ments; and municipal elections.} The elections indicated majority, especially younger professional and business a continuing strong trend towards the replacement of people, and university students, who intend to prove the socialists by the Popular Party of Manuel Aznar as that the new democratic Spain has a conservative party the majority party. PP governs either alone or in coali- comparable to the conservative and Christian tion in all the autonomies except Andalusia and the Democratic parties of Europe since 1945. Basque provinces. The Andalusian victory illustrated the interesting en Loach’s movie, Land and Liberty, has been a fact that the PSOE has become the party of the rural box office hit in Spain, and with mild reserva- working class: in part because the technical moderniza- K tions I recommend it to all vets who are not still tion of agriculture in the south has really benefitted fighting the Stalinist/Trotskyite battles of the thirties. what used to be the poorest provinces of Spain, and in There are two particularly fine sequences, I think: the part because the illegal but widely tolerated collection of opening scenes, where the English volunteer, not yet unemployment benefits by people who are partly knowing a word of Spanish or Catalan, becomes a com- employed in the subterranean economy makes it decid- rade through gestures, embraces, exchanges of ciga- edly worthwhile for those citizens to continue voting rettes and sandwich goodies in the train from Port Bou socialist. The Basque victory indicates that the Basque to Barcelona; and the debate among the villagers, after nationalists prefer to cooperate with the socialists, and they have seized the town government, as to whether judge Aznar to be either too centralist, or simply not they should distribute the land to individual peasants, competent to be Prime Minister. or collectivize it. I’ve read dozens of essays about the Politically and psychologically the most dramatic land reform question, but never have seen such accurate aspect of all the post-electoral situation is the determi- dramatization of what it meant to Spanish villagers. My nation of Felipe Gonzalez to remain in office. The finan- main reservation is that the movie exploits the current cial scandals, the revelations of corruption by the former fad for blaming all sins on the Communists. You would Civil Guard chief, the revelations about state terrorism think it was Stalin, and not the appeasing democracies, in the fight against the ETA (the Basque separatist who killed the Spanish Republic. movement), and most recently the revelation that the information services of the Department of Defense (CESID) had been wiretapping numerous prominent personalities, including the King, have steadily reduced The Volunteer the credibility and the moral standing of the govern- Journal of the ment and the governing party. Veterans of the I think Gonzalez holds on for the following reasons: Abraham Lincoln Brigade • Like many political leaders he tends to consider him- self indispensable (le parti, le gouvernment, c’est moi). 799 Broadway, Rm 227 • The older generation, people fifty and over, contin- New York, NY 10003 ue to fear that the PP really represents a Franco type (212) 674-5552 restoration in democratic disguise, and the PSOE lead- ership certainly plays to this fear. Editor • Spain will hold the rotating presidency of the Leonard Levenson European Committee for the second half of 1995 and Editorial Board Felipe is determined not to leave office without serving Abe Smorodin • Bill Susman • Irving Weissman in that capacity. Of these reasons, the third is the best. Gonzalez real- Contributing Editor ly is the man who brought Spain into Europe after three Seymour Joseph centuries of isolation, and he is the first Spanish politi- Submission of Manuscripts cian since Juan Negrin to speak with authority, as an Please send manuscripts typewritten and double-spaced, if possible. equal, in European councils. On this point his personal If you wish your manuscripts returned, enclose a self-a d d r e s s e d , wishes coincide with the interests of Spain and Europe. stamped envelope. But the first two reasons are unfortunate. There are sev- THE VOLUNTEER, FALL 1995 3 Toronto honors the Mac-Paps by Irma Penn of friends and veterans of the nition is long overdue and I will n Toronto’s Queen’s Park, nes- Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion as never forget. From the bottom of my tled in a grove of trees, a boulder well as a substantial news-media heart, I thank you.” Ibrought from Gandesa was corps. Señor Jose Zorlia, Consul for unveiled on June 4. It bears a com- The ceremony, favored by the Spain in Toronto, praised and memorative plaque inscribed: weather of a beautiful Sunday thanked the veterans for their morning, began with the singing of efforts, saying, “You spoke the lan- The “Mac-Paps” were a unit “O, Canada” by the Shevchenko guage of love.” of the International Brigades, a Choir who then presented a stirring Albina Guarnieri, Parlia- volunteer force recruited world - rendition of the International mentary Secretary to the Ministry wide to oppose the fascist forces Brigade ballad, Viva La Quince of Canadian Heritage, who unveiled bent on overthrowing the govern - Brigada. the plaque, stressed its significance ment of Spain. Formed in 1937, In the speeches that followed, as a recognition by the Ontario the battalion was named for the members of the canadian provincial provincial government of the Mac- leaders of the 1837 rebellions in and federal governments all Paps’ historic role. Upper and Lower Canada. stressed the historic significance of Despite their government’s oppo - the Mac-Paps. ill Kardash, a disabled Mac-Pap sition, more than 1,500 Can- The Honorable David Warner, B veteran, who had served in the adians volunteered to fight with Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Manitoba Legislative Assembly for the Republican forces in the of Toronto, emphasized that the 15 years, recalled, “We were the Spanish Civil War. They fought Mac-Paps’ “valiant efforts in rising first to take up arms against fas- courageously for their ideals, suf - up against fascism goes to the heart cism. Half of us came back.