ALBA Receives Unique Donation
Two months ago, our New York office received a unique gift from David Geltman of Boston. Geltman is the grandson of Israel Perlman, who was a New York City bookseller. In February 1939, the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB) organized a fundraiser auction for anti-Nazi writers and the VALB Rehabilitation Fund. Sponsors included Dashiell Hammett, Dorothy Parker, Luise Rainer, George S. Kaufman, Thornton Wilder, and others. As it turned out, Perlman bid $35 dollars and won a collection of hand- and type-written statements from individual vets in which they explained why they’d joined the fight in Spain. The collection of notes, some quite extensive, is a unique historical document, a deeply moving window into the past. ALBA is deeply grateful to Mr. Geltman for this valuable donation. Here are some samples; click on the image to see it in a larger format.
