Pierre Assouline, biographer of Henri Cartier-Bresson, reflects in his blog at Le Monde on the importance of Juan Salas' discovery of a long-lost Spanish Civil War film (clip here):
It is hard to watch these silent images without being reminded of Cartier-Bresson's great regret: to have...
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The self-chosen "political exile" to The Hague of investigative magistrate Baltasar Garzón has been unexpectedly approved by Spain's General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ)--albeit not as a formal leave of absence (excedencia). Garzón had requested a seven-month leave to serve as special advisor on crimes against humanity to the Chief Prosecutor of the...
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Scott Horton writes:
In the end, it is not Garzón but rather the judicial oversight body that emerges with its reputation in a tatters. Moreover, the entire affair serves to put the spotlight just where it belongs. The assumption that the horrors of Spain’s fascist past must remain forever covered...
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A Los Angeles Times editorial: From the beginning, the case against Garzon has seemed to be motivated by political and personal vendettas, and the timing of these decisions is no exception. The vehemence with which Garzon’s inquiry was rejected is not surprising given the bloody history of the period, yet the legal action...
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José Ricardo de Prada: (Translated from El País, May 16, 2010:) "I’ve gone from anger on Friday, to desolation. I am deeply demoralized, not just in terms of myself, but in terms of my profession, which has been pretty much my whole life over these last 25 years. This goes way...
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The Spanish and international media are filled with editorials, op-eds, and interviews criticizing the suspension of investigative magistrate Baltasar Garzón. An editorial in Le Monde, for instance, states that case reveals the institutions of democratic Spain to be "dysfunctional" and "sick", and that the "strategy of forgetting has not worked": "The Garzón...
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Graham Keeley reports:
It is remarkable for the way in which Cartier-Bresson managed to get away from the censors and document the daily life of volunteers of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, who fought for the Republican Government against General Franco’s Nationalist forces.
More here.Spain's Consejo General del Poder Judicial, or General Council of the Judiciary, has postponed its decision on Baltasar Garzón's request for a seven-month leave of absence to work for the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC while it awaits several additional reports, after suspending him this morning--a decision that threw the country
As the Consejo General del Poder Judicial meets to decide on Garzón's request for a seven-month leave of absence to work at the ICC, indignation about the Council's decision, this morning, to suspend the groundbreaking investigative magistrate, is spreading rapidly, with prominent jurists and intellectuals from Spain and elsewhere speaking out, and grassroot...
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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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