Some years ago, a student of mine did a back-of-the-envelope calculation of the percentage of Hispanic surnames that are included on the Lincoln Brigade roster, and she came up with the figure of 8% – 12%. The ALBA archives contain the personal papers of roughly 280 volunteers, or about 10% of the total number...
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Honest archival work is, I think, the most powerful antidote against complacent and arrogant certainty about the past. I believe that most of us somehow instinctively feel that the present is immensely complex and hard to grasp, and yet we often allow ourselves to think about the past as being somehow less complicated. While...
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Tereixa Constenla has a lengthy piece in today's El Pais on Prof. Paul Preston's new book, The Spanish Holocaust, which tallies, narrates, and explains the tremendous cost in human lives and suffering of the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath:
Lo averiguado hoy nada tiene que ver con la verdad oficial asentada...
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The argument being made by Interights is fascinating and compelling: the violation of Judge Garzón’s rights is being committed in the prosecution itself, undermining judicial independence. This argument seems powerful and coherent, given the lengthy list of bizarre twists and turns that have characterized this case from the start.
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From Colombia Reports:
Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon will travel to Colombia to work as an advisor to the Organization of American States (OAS) on human rights issues in the country and to monitor the paramilitary demobilization process, El Tiempo reported Thursday. No date has been set for his arrival though his...
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Images have begun to appear in the media of the set of Philip Kaufman's new film on Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn. Rolling Stone published this photo taken earlier this week, showing Nicole Kidman (Gellhorn), Clive Owens (Hem), and Lars Ulrich, the drummer of Metallica, as the Dutch filmmaker Joris Ivens.
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The Associated Press covers the story:
In its suit filed with the European court, Interights reiterates the judge’s argument that these were crimes against humanity and that a case body of international law says such crimes have no statute of limitations and cannot be covered by amnesty, according to a spokeswoman for...
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Yesterday the Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón brought a case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg challenging the lawfulness of his criminal prosecution in Spain for having opened an investigation into serious crimes committed during the Franco era, following a request by families and representatives of victims of the regime,. The...
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Today I had the pleasure of introducing the Spanish journalist, Anna Grau, to the treasures of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. Together, we went through the scrapbook of Bernard Danchik, a young gymnast from Brooklyn, who lobbied for, and participated in, the Olimpiada Popular, an alternative anti-fascist sports competition organized in Barcelona in 1936,...
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Marjorie Cohn, who gave ALBA's annual Susman lecture last month, calls for the US to stop bombing Libya:
There is no doubt that Muammar Qaddafi has been brutally repressing Libyans in order to maintain his power. But the purpose of the United Nations is to maintain international peace and security. The...
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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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