“All eight of the trenches were used during the war just before Malaga fell. One of the trenches is located close to the town’s picnic area and the others are located in and around the castle. The trenches will be restored with the replacement of stones, removal of all grass and debris, and repair...
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Victor Grossman, of the German organization “Fighters and Friends of the Spanish Republic” sent a brief overview of their annual Spain Conference in Berlin to share with the ALBA community. “Held in late October 2014, the annual Spain Conference, as always included friends from similar organizations in other countries – this time Spain, France,...
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Great news from the Netherlands, where a group of volunteers has started an online biographical database of all the Dutch who fought in Spain between 1936 and 1939 to defend the Spanish Republic against the forces of General Franco. This is the first exhaustive investigation into the Dutch volunteers.In the Netherlands the Spanish Civil...
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The 1971 break-in at the FBI office in Media, PA, which led to the discovery of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s secret COINTELPRO operation, was never solved by the FBI. But the mystery of that break-in was revealed earlier this year in Betty Medsger’s book "The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s...
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The voices of British Battalion’s Charlie Donnelly, Bob Doyle, John Cornford, Jim Haughey and Dolores Ibárruri (La Pasionaria) were heard again at the Shankill Road Library in Belfast this August. Moving readings of their poetry and memoirs were delivered by Marlene Sideway, IBMT President and actor, Dr. Sinead Morrissey, Belfast’s first poet Laureate, and...
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Ruby Dee, legendary actress, author and activist was honored with a public memorial celebration at the Riverside Church in New York City on Sept. 20. She and her husband Ossie Davis, long-time friends of the veterans of the Lincoln Brigade, were extraordinarily generous and bold, lending their celebrity to a host of leftist causes....
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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...
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The exhibition of Lincoln Vet Ralph Fasanella’s paintings “Ralph Fasanella: Lest We Forget,” organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, opens on Tuesday (Sept. 2) at the American Folk Art Museum. (Through Nov. 30, 2 Lincoln Square, 212-595-9533, folkartmuseum.org.)
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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...
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The legacy of the courageous, young war photographer, Gerda Taro, was once buried in history. With the discovery of the photographic negatives, that have come to be known as The Mexican Suitcase, she is being rediscovered and her legacy celebrated. The first female photojournalist to shoot from the front lines, and the first to...
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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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Although this text by Ivens is little known—and has never been translated before—it offers an eye-opening reflection on the power of his filmmaking.
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Antifascism has long been synonymous with American values. In 1934, student activists at New York’s City College arguably understood this better than many do today.
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After the Nazis occupied the Netherlands, the Seegers family did not hesitate to join the resistance. They had experience fighting fascism: their son Piet had fought for the Spanish Republic. When Tom King started digging into his family history seventy years later, he fell from one surprise into the other.
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Tina Modotti’s short life took her from Italy to North Beach and from there to Mexico, Berlin, Moscow, and civil-war Spain. Rightly known as a pathbreaking modernist photographer, she was also a radical activist. “Modotti spent the second part of her working life fighting for revolution.”
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Kirsten Weld has spent years studying Latin American dictatorships and the citizens who fight to hold them accountable. That experience has proven valuable in her current role as president of the AAUP chapter at Harvard, which, in March, sued the federal government for targeting students and faculty—and won.
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Targeted by the far right, Rutgers historian Mark Bray and his family went into exile in October. Speaking with The Volunteer from Madrid, he reflects on the current political situation. “Fascism shamelessly takes over institutions that, under liberal norms, are supposed to remain neutral.”
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I. In the Beginning Second child, Bernard, born March 1, 1915 Older brother, my father, Jacob (Jack), born June 3, 1912 Younger sister, Roslyn, born (June 1, 1922) disabled, hospitalized, died February 10, 1942 Their father, Abraham, died March 21,1930 Their mother, Nettie, died April 29, 1953 Bernie Brilliant student, graduated High...
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The title of this new occasional feature of The Volunteer is the Esperanto word for “archive.” In it, we will present, translate, and contextualize iconic non-English language documents related to the anti-fascist struggle in Spain.
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In recent years, citizen groups in Leipzig and Madrid have fought to preserve the buildings that were backdrops in two of Robert Capa’s best-known photographs. Their steadfast dedication has created two sites of historical memory whose significance extends far beyond Capa’s original images.
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On November 8, 1937, Salaria Kea, a 26-year-old African American nurse from Ohio, had been in Spain for seven months and one day. The country was in disarray. Half its territory was controlled by fascist rebels. Cities were being bombed, and civilians were killed by the thousands. Thousands more were forcibly displaced. But Kea...
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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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