Associations of victims and their descendants decry the fact that, in spite of the provisions of the so-called Historical Memory Law of December 2007, access to Spanish military archives--which, among other things, hold information on Francoist trials--continues to pose serious problems to researches and family members. Part of the problem--Público reports--is a...
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Local amateur historian Michael Muñoz has uncovered the roots of farm workers' organized labor in the activism of Spanish emigrants who, via Hawaii, ended up in Vacaville, California in the early 1930s. A video presentation here.
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During the last weekend of May, the national organizations of friends of International Brigade veterans (Coordinación Internacional de Asociaciones de amigos de los combatientes en la España republicana, or ACER) met in Paris, among other things to plan a series of events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the International Brigades in...
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In its online Memorial Day slide show last week, The Nation included an image of Republican troops marching in Madrid (image 4), and a letter from a Lincoln Brigader that the magazine published in 1937.
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A video of a talk by biographer Irme Schaber on Gerda Taro, the Spanish Civil War photographer who worked with Robert Capa and died in Spain, and whose images will be part of the "Mexican Suitcase" exhibit at the ICP this fall.
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Forced as a child to live with her aunt, Conxa toils the harsh farmland of the Pyrenees, finding love in the form of local builder, Jaume, until his involvement with the Communist revolutionaries threatens her hard-won security.
As lapidary as its title suggests, this is a book of muted emotions. Conxa’s world is one in...
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The website of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives has just had a facelift. Check out the new look and improved navigation, including the ALBA Digital Library...
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The Socialist History News reports the death of British scholar Jim Fyrth, who wrote extensively about the history of the Popular Front and the British Left, including its involvement in the Spanish Civil War (see for example this article on the Aid Spain movement).
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The Spanish Ministry of Culture has launched a web portal on victims of the Spanish Civil War. In compliance with the so-called Law of Historical Memory, adopted in December 2007, this portal seeks to provide the public with an easy way to access to any information available in public archives about those who...
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The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company's version of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Ryan Whinnem and performed June 11–July 11 among the ruins of the Patapsco Female Institute Historic Park in Maryland, is set during the Spanish Civil War.
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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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