The Volunteer for Liberty, V. 2, Special 15, April 9, 1938, p. 2. When I asked Capt. Diaz to give me his life story, he smiled and said it was unimportant. This time Capt. Diaz was wrong. The lives of all anti-fascists are important in these decisive days, especially those who have proved themselves...
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Pursuit of Reason, Philadelphia: Adelante Press, 1971, pp. 21-31 The early morning weather was fine, just fine; warm and sunny, with a very slight breeze from the South. I could smell Africa, over six hundred kilometers away and four thousand feet below me. The month was April. Blue swallows flitted greetings to Spring. I...
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The Volunteer for Liberty, Vol. 2, No. 20, May 25, 1938, p. 3. “Halto!” “Manos arriba!” “Que Brigada?” We of the Transmisiones are becoming expert in replying to these gambits. At Belchite, Lecera, Albalate and Caspe we learnt our lesson, and the fruits were shown in this latest march from Batea. Out of 78...
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The Volunteer for Liberty, Vol. 2, Special 15, April 9, 1938, p. 3. Attached to the British Battalion when we went into action at Fuentes de Ebro last October were two American comrades, Sam Kaplan and another (whose name I never knew), whose great courage in volunteering to get me to safety when I...
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An undated report listed the costs for sending a volunteer: Passport, birth certificate, picture, fare tot County seat etc. $15.00 Average fare (West Coast, Middle West, New York) $30.00 (from the West Coast $60.00 to come to N. Y. by bus.) ...
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With the passing of William Loren Katz, the world has lost a great historian and educator. Katz helped reshape the way American history is taught, publishing over 40 books on African American, Native American, and progressive history and editing two major series totaling over 200 books on anti-slavery resistance and African American thought. His lifetime...
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The International Brigades were a hybrid bunch: multi-ethnic, multi-national—and multi-lingual: not everybody spoke everybody’s language. This posed serious organizational challenges for the Republican war effort.
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The Record of John Gates at the Front, as described by his by his Brigade Commander The Volunteer for Liberty, V1, No. 20, October 25, 1937. 86 Brigada Mixta – Mando The adjutant Political Commissar of the 86th Brigade, Comrade John Gates, was one of the organizers of the 20th International Battalion that left...
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Spanish Republican Exile / Intimate Portraits: Sender Barayón. A Trip into the Light (2019) Venue: KJCC Auditorium // 53 Washington Square South, NYC November 19, 2019 7:00 pm Sender Barayón. A Trip to the Light (2019) Documentary , Dir. Luis Olano Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes In English US premiere From the Spanish Civil...
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Nuestra Voz, Organo de la 86 Brigada, No. 3, 18 de Julio 1937, p. 4-5 The comrades fighting in the front lines know better than anybody else the importance of having a well organized Medical Corps. Both the health of the soldier in everyday life and the condition of the same man, when wounded...
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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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New information about the New Zealand-born Spanish Civil War surgeon Doug Jolly (1904-1983) has emerged following the recent publication of his biography, Frontline Surgeon.
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On September 24, 1945, Dr. Barsky delivered this speech during the Spanish Refugee Appeal rally at Madison Square Garden.
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In 1944, Barsky wrote A Surgeon Goes to War, an 18-chapter memoir of his time in Spain, which was never published but can be consulted at NYU’s Tamiment Library. This is the first chapter.
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Self-effacing and shy though he was, Dr. Edward Barsky’s experience in Spain made him an outspoken activist, tireless organizer, innovative frontline surgeon, and political prisoner. “Eddie is a saint,” Hemingway wrote. “That’s where we put our saints in this country—in jail.”
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The Volunteer is thrilled to honor Dr. Barsky on the fiftieth anniversary of his death.
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For Edward Barsky, political and humanitarian activism were two sides of the same coin. Those who persecuted him begged to differ.
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The time she spent in civil-war Spain loomed large in the life of Martha Gellhorn, the St. Louis-born war journalist. “The truth is that Martha could not stop thinking, feeling, and writing about her Spanish experiences.” “Objectivity bullshit.” That’s what Martha Gellhorn (1908-1998) called the journalism of her day. Her letters to personalities like...
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Among the thousands of Jewish volunteers who joined the International Brigades were many descendants of the Sephardim. What was it like for them to “return” to Spain? Three case studies: Lini de Vries, César Covo, and Samuel Nahman, aka Manny Harriman.
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How the 22-year-old Jewish American dancer Janet Riesenfeld performed flamenco to help raise money for the Second Republic under fascist attack.
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Why did Jawaharlal Nehru, future prime minister of India, visit civil-war Spain in 1938? As it turned out, the triangular relationship between Britain, Spain, and India had deep cultural and geopolitical implications.
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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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