El País reports: The organizations for the recovery of historical memory on whose behalf Judge Baltasar Garzón initiated an investigation of Francoist crimes--an case that resulted in Garzón's being accused of overstepping his judicial boundaries, and facing a possible 20-year suspension--are now charging the Supreme Court Justice in question with overstepping his judicial...
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An interesting post at DailyKos linking Spain's memory of the Civil War with the situation in the United States:
After the transition to democracy, there was a Pact of Forgetting that was felt to be the only way to move forward. It allowed past Nationalists to participate in the nascent...
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From the AP:
The appeal claims the indictment is "contrary to law and implies a serious challenge to judicial independence."
More here.A fascinating initiative from the University of California at San Diego, together with a group of Spanish organizations, to create an online audiovisual archive of victims' testimonies:
It aspires to constitute itself both as an archive of the repression and as an archive of the multiple political cultures (communism,...
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Compiled by Peter Davison, reviewed by Juliet Gardiner for the Telegraph:
It is the portable Orwell, the condensed autobiography that Orwell never wrote, but maybe had his health rallied, he would have.
More here.
The new Henri Cartier-Bresson box set reviewed in the New York Times:
Two films made as fund-raisers for the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War, “Victory of Life” (1937) and “Spain Will Live” (1938), make a provocative contrast with two documentaries made for CBS News on American life in 1969...
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In an interview with Radio Nederland Wereldomroep, the Chilean judge who tried Augusto Pinochet defends Baltasar Garzón's attempt to investigate crimes against humanity committed under Francoism.
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An NYT editorial today:
The real crimes in this case are the disappearances, not Mr. Garzón’s investigation. If, as seems likely, these were crimes against humanity under international law, Spain’s 1977 amnesty could not legally absolve them. The suspected perpetrators are all dead, and Mr. Garzón long ago halted his...
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Lisa Abend writes from Madrid:
Charged with knowingly overreaching his jurisdiction when he opened an investigation into another dictator's crimes — in this case, Spain's Francisco Franco — Garzón has been suspended from his job while he awaits the start of his criminal trial.
The charges against...
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Yet another removal of a statue of the dictator, this time from the city of Valencia. More here.
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The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) is an educational non-profit dedicated to promoting social activism and the defense of human rights. ALBA’s work is inspired by the American volunteers of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade who fought fascism in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Learn more at our website or
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My grandfather (Nana), Suresh, moved to the United States in 1959 as a young man on a student visa pursuing his master’s degree. His parents, my great grandparents, sought value in being ‘foreign educated’ and bringing his education home – to Mumbai, India to run their family business. 2 years after my Nana moved...
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Peter N. Carroll, a respected and prolific writer, poet, and US historian, died after a short illness on September 16, surrounded by his family. He was 80. Born in New York City in 1943 to a secular Jewish family, Peter grew up in the Bronx and Queens, where his father worked as a composer,...
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LA RÉPUBLIQUE -QUOTIDINEN DE COMBAT RADICAL ET SOCIALISTE, February 5, 1938 Foreign Volunteer Arrested On March 27 last, 29 North Americans were arrested on board the boat Sans-Pareil while they were attempting to reach the Spanish Coast. They were sentenced to a prison term for violating the decree of February 18, 1937 on the...
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The “Spanija” series translates selected autobiographical accounts by Yugoslavian and Montenegrin volunteers of their actions in the Spanish Civil War. Dr. Ray Hoff used Google translate from Croatian to English and he edited the selections. As this is a machine translation, the idiomatic features of Croatian or Serbian and the translation of names and...
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The Spanija series translates select autobiographical accounts by Yugoslavian and Montenegrin volunteers of their actions in the Spanish Civil War. Dr. Ray Hoff used Google Translate from Croatian to English and he edited the selections. As this is a machine translation, the idiomatic features of Croatioan or Serbian and the translation of names and...
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Peter Verburgh’s translation from the French Newpaper Le Journal about a group of 29 Americans arrested in France. “29 American Volunteers Arrested in Muret” Le Journal, 5 April 1937 Toulouse, 4 April- The Control services of the Non-Intervention Committee do not remain inactive, especially with the help of the French Police and Gendarmerie. Thus...
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ALBA Board Member Steve Birnbaum made the trek on Memorial Day to the Home of Eternity Cemetary in Oakland, California to pay tribute to ALB veteran Hans Joachim. Joachim was born in Berlin, Germany in 1906 and moved to the US in 1924. He served in Spain with the George Washington Battalion and later...
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Please find attached photos of my visits to the graves of Lester Rowlson and Tersil Obriot last weekend. I left a brigade flag and a fresh white rose at each. ,,, I was also proud to include aspects of my Clapton CFC scarf; you might have heard of this small football club in London that...
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Peter Verbergh translated this article from CeSoir describing the arrest of the Dallet-Nelson Group. “The Interrogation of the Passengers of the Sans-Pareil”, CeSoir, March 29, 1937 (From our Special Correspondent) Perpignan March 28 (By Telephone) Yesterday morning around 10am, The Coast Guard Vessel Cebère docked in the port of Port-Vendres alongside the torpedo boat...
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Only five veterans of the Spanish Civil War are known to be buried in Virginia outside of Arlington National Cemetery: two in Richmond, two in Norfolk, and one in Big Stone Gap. ALB Tribute visited the graves of Harry Edward Farris and Thomas Moore in Richmond as well as Manuel Lizarrago and Crawford Morgan...
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ALBA's project to provide a complete list of the more than 2,800 individuals who left from U.S. territory to fight with the Spanish Republic
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