Features

Why Does the Spanish Right Want to “Recover the Historical Memory” of Sephardic Jews?

November 19, 2022
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Why Does the Spanish Right Want to “Recover the Historical Memory” of Sephardic Jews?

Spanish conservatives who have rejected any accounting for Francoist crimes are nevertheless willing to make amends with the descendants of the Sephardic Jews who were expelled five centuries ago. The contradiction is only apparent.
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Jeff Chang: “The Lincoln Brigade’s Example Is Poignant and Inspiring”

November 18, 2022
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Jeff Chang: “The Lincoln Brigade’s Example Is Poignant and Inspiring”

Here is the keynote address that Jeff Chang gave at ALBA's 2022 Bay Area Gala. Click here to see the videorecording.
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Spanish Diary by Dutch Resistance Hero Discovered

August 18, 2022
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Spanish Diary by Dutch Resistance Hero Discovered

When 93-year-old Rosa Ruivenkamp died in 2019, in her nightstand her son found a blue notebook that had belonged to her brother Evert, who had been active in the resistance and was murdered by the Nazis in 1943. The notebook—which, fortunately was not thrown out—turned out to contain the diary notes Evert had written...
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“Starting the IBMT is the best thing we’ve ever done.” Checking in with ALBA’s Younger Sister Across the Pond

August 18, 2022
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“Starting the IBMT is the best thing we’ve ever done.” Checking in with ALBA’s Younger Sister Across the Pond

Around the turn of the millennium, the association of British veterans of the Spanish Civil War merged with the Friends of the International Brigades to form the International Brigade Memorial Trust (IBMT), ALBA’s sister organization in the UK. Like ALBA, the IBMT is dedicated to keeping alive the memory of the antifascist volunteers who...
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Yes, Women Did Serve in the People’s Army of the Spanish Republic: Esther Gutiérrez Escoda Sets the Record Straight

August 18, 2022
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Yes, Women Did Serve in the People’s Army of the Spanish Republic: Esther Gutiérrez Escoda Sets the Record Straight

For more than 80 years, historians have ignored the important role played by thousands of women soldiers in the People’s Army of the Spanish Republic. A new dissertation takes a crucial first step to correct the record.
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Faces of ALBA: The Family of Oiva Halonen

August 18, 2022
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<em>Faces of ALBA:</em> The Family of Oiva Halonen

Eighty-six years after the last soldiers in the Lincoln Brigade left Spain, their legacy continues. As veterans shared their stories with friends and family, they shaped the lives of their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. The family of Lincoln veteran Oiva Halonen, a Finnish-American volunteer, is one example.
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Chick Chakin’s Last Chance

May 20, 2022
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Chick Chakin’s Last Chance

Like many participants in the 1936 Popular Olympics in Barcelona, Alfred Chakin was a talented athlete. He was also a committed antifascist.
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Radio Music in Civil-War Madrid

May 20, 2022
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Radio Music in Civil-War Madrid

The Spanish Civil War is often viewed as the first in which radio was used as a political and military weapon and an important instrument of propaganda. The radio provided a welcome means of entertainment and distraction amid the devastation and hardship. But what role did radio music play in the conflict and what...
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Spain and the War in Ukraine: Debates

May 20, 2022
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Spain and the War in Ukraine: Debates

The Russian invasion of Ukraine—which ALBA forcefully condemned—has unleashed a fascinating debate about historical parallels with the Spanish Civil War. A sampling.
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Two Poems

May 20, 2022
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Two Poems

"His Knee" and "The Spectrum"
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