Dutch Brigader Biography Project
Great news from the Netherlands, where a group of volunteers has started an online biographical database of all the Dutch who fought in Spain between 1936 and 1939 to defend the Spanish Republic against the forces of General Franco.
This is the first exhaustive investigation into the Dutch volunteers.In the Netherlands the Spanish Civil War is barely remembered, and estimates of the number of Dutch volunteers in Spain vary widely. We aim to collect any information on the background of these mostly forgotten fighters. We want to give these people a face, and to tell something about their lives.
The database will contain at least some basic information, such as date of birth and death, years spent in Spain, profession and political background. In addition, we hope that for a large number of these people we can publish a more complete biography, with references to interviews, literature, links to other websites, etc.
The renowned International Institute of Social History (IISG / IISH) in Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam are part of the project. A small number of students from the University of Amsterdam will perform the research and the digitisation of the collected data, under the supervision of and with the help of the Institute. The study is coordinated by Yvonne Scholten, who has done research on the Dutch volunteers in the Spanish Civil War for several years.
The research will start January 2015.
The project’s main website is in Dutch but summaries of the project are available English, Spanish, and French. We welcome any information from anyone who has information about Dutch volunteers. You can email us here.
