IPS reports:
Argentina is an example for Spaniards to bear in mind as they investigate crimes committed during the 1939-1975 dictatorship of general Francisco Franco, says Emilio Silva, head of the Spanish Association for the Recovery of Historic Memory (ARMH). Silva took part in the Madrid launch of the book...
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On May 24, there will be a march in at least 22 Spanish cities and in front of the embassies in various places family members will bring photos of relatives persecuted by Franco.
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In a stunning move, report El País and Público, Supreme Court Justice Luciano Varela, in charge of the case against Baltasar Garzón, has sent back the documents submitted by Falange Española (the Spanish fascist party) and Manos Limpias (an extreme right-wing public-servant union) that lay out the charges against the magistrate, and...
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Have an idea for a story or blog post for the Volunteer? Send us an email at info@alba-valb.org
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In El País today:
It is clear that Francoism gave rise to a social elite that continues to hold positions of privlege. Some of the companies that are part of the stock market index began accumulating their fortunes through the use of political prisoners .
More here.From the New York Observer:
Pablo Picasso liked to work fast. When no new canvases were handy, he painted over what he already had. He reportedly completed his masterpiece of the Spanish Civil War, Guernica, in six weeks.
More here.
His views on the Garzón case at Radio Netherlands Worldwide:
Have conservative forces in Spain influenced this decision?
Yes, this also happened in Chile. The most conservative forces had an interest in repression, as they were on the ideological side of Pinochet in Chile and on that of Franco...
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Carlos Jiménez Villarejo, a former District Attorney who specialized in anti-corruption cases, writes in El Público on the allegations of bribe against Garzón:
It is reasonable and, above all, just, to demand an immediate dropping of these charges, which, like all of the charges still pending , are completely unfounded....
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El País reports that the Comisión Colombiana de Juristas has issued a press release in which it expresses great worry about the decision of the Spanish Supreme Court to move ahead with the case against the investigative magistrate.
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The Financial Times writes that the case against Garzón
has the hallmarks of a politically motivated attempt to smear and disbar a courageous public official who has fought terrorists and state-sanctioned death squads, corruption and tyranny. It is without merit and reflects poorly on Spain’s increasingly politicised judicial system. ...
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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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