In Spain this past May, the usually dull and boring elections to the European Union’s Parliament produced a sudden shock to the political system. A new two-month-old party led by a 35-year-old, pony-tailed political scientist, appeared out of nowhere—but clearly from the Left—to sweep up a surprising 8 percent of the votes. The result...
Read more »
Over the course of three days, a selection of cutting-edge human rights documentaries will challenge, educate, and inspire audiences at IMPUGNING IMPUNITY: ALBA’s Human Rights Documentary Film Festival (program and trailers here). Now in its fourth year, and featuring films produced since 2013, this annual film festival brings human rights struggles to life through...
Read more »
Annual IBMT Len Crome Memorial Conference Date: Saturday 7th March 2015 Guernica: the destruction of a town and the creation of a masterpiece Speakers: Gijs van Hensbergen, Nicholas Rankin, Helen Little and Manuel Moreno Date: Saturday 7th March 2015Time: 11 am – 5 pm (optional meal in the evening).Venue: The Manchester Conference Centre and Hotel, Sackville Street, M1 3BBCost: Conference and...
Read more »
The Spanish historian Ángel Viñas, who was interviewed by the Volunteer last year, summarizes his research findings for the magazine Témpora in a concise new piece on the causes and responsibilities of the Spanish Civil War. Read it here (in Spanish). More on Prof. Viñas’s blog.
Read more »
One of the most memorable and original renditions of the Spanish Civil War songs that Pete Seeger made famous were recorded in the late 1960s by the Liberation Orchestra, under the brilliant direction of bassist and activist Charlie Haden. Haden passed away this week.
Read more »
Our friends at the International Brigade Memorial Trust have made a slideshow with images of their annual commemoration at the IB monument in Jubilee Gardens, London, last weekend. Click on any image to begin: http://bit.ly/1qJqEMW. Photos by Andrew Wiard.
Read more »
Documentary filmmaker Pamela Yates writes on Facebook: Joyce Horman never gave up on the quest for justice. Seeking justice is justice, and finally the U.S. role in ordering the murder of two US citizens in 1973, Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi, is verified by the Chilean courts. The perps are mostly dead – but this...
Read more »
“The United States military intelligence services played a pivotal role in setting up the murders of two American citizens in 1973, providing the Chilean military with the information that led to their deaths, a court here has ruled,” Pascale Bonnefoy writes in the New York Times today: The recent court decision found that an American naval...
Read more »
From our friends at the IBMT: One of Spain’s leading campaigners for justice for the tens of thousands of victims of Franco’s dictatorship will address the annual commemoration this Saturday (5 July 2014) for the British volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War as part of the legendary International Brigades. Emilio Silva will...
Read more »
Our friends at the International Brigade Memorial Trust are getting ready for their annual gathering at the IB monument in Jubilee Gardens, London: Saturday July 5,2014 IB Memorial, Jubilee Gardens, South Bank, London SE1 Assemble 12:30, program runs to 2pm Music from Maddy Carty and Na-mara Speakers include Emilio Silva of Spain’s Association for...
Read more »
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
sign up to receive email updates from ALBA. Support ALBA through a tax-deductible gift! To inquire about a donation, please contact the ALBA office at info@alba-valb.org or 212-674-5398.
Teesside, an industrial region in Northeast England that in the nineteenth century grew to be a center of shipbuilding and iron and steel production, spawned no fewer than thirty International Brigade volunteers. Of the nine who were born in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, moreover, six played leading roles in Spain: five rose to the rank of Lieutenant...
Read more »
The first thirty-six Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for Phase IV were submitted December 30, 2024. Phase IV is intended to focus on volunteers on whom we have minimal information. At some point in the future, I plan to resubmit some volunteers who were returned as not found or on whom no information...
Read more »
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...
Read more »
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,...
Read more »
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...
Read more »
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...
Read more »
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...
Read more »
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...
Read more »
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...
Read more »
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...
Read more »
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
Search the Database