the volunteer, march 1995

8/14/2019 The Volunteer, March 1995

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Vol. XVII, No. 1 Spring 1995

A b u lls e y e fo r t h e B a y Ar e aa n n u a l VALB d in n e r

The day after the annual dinner of th e Bay Area Post, the phone lineof t h e N e w Y or k VA L B of f ice w a sc l og g ed b y c a l l e r s f r o m t h e We s t Coast w ho un anim ously pronounced t h e ce l eb r a t i o n a t h r i l l i n g e v en t .T h e Vo lu n t e e r a s k e d R o b y

N e w m a n , s on o f Ve t e r a n B o bColodny, to write-up the event. As acontributor to the script, his person -al ized account , wh ich fo l lows , cap -t u r e s n o t on l y t h e en t h u s i a s m o f

thos e w h o a t t end ed the a f f a i r bu t the quality of th e mu lti-generationaleffort th at created an d carried it out.

Th e B a y A re a P o s t o f t h eVete ra ns o f th e Abrah am Lin-

coln Br igade he ld i t s 58 th an nu a ld i n n e r a t S a n F r a n ci s cos P a r cOaklan d Hote l on Febru ar y 27 . I twas a tten ded by a capa city crowd of 750 who contributed over $9,000 inth e c ol l ec t i on th a t c on c lu d e d th ememorable aftern oon.

The focus o f th e d inner was astaged dramatic reading, P ost scr i p t t o a Wa r. I t t o ld t h e s to ry of t h eLincoln vetera ns from crossing th ePyrenees t o p resen t -day ac t ivism.Those of us who collaborated in theselection and editing of the ma terialw a n te d t o h o n o r t h e Vet s , l i v in ga n d d e c e a s e d . A s A s s o c i a t e

Members, we saw this tribute in t hecont ext of our un flagging ongoingwork.

Wi th P e t e r C a r r o ll , a u th o r of the recen t ly pu b l ished Od yssey of the Abraham Lincoln Br igade , act-ing as MC, and Hannah Creighton,dau ghter of Vetera n Leonard Olson,as pitchperson, th e youn ger gener -ation of Associates consciously took a greater part in the dinner liter-ally from soup to nuts, as the oldsayin g goes.

P e t e r C a r r o ll s b r i e f op e n in greminded u s o f the g rea te r fami lyformed by the Vets an d th e i r sup-p o r t e r s . K e i t h C a r s o n , Al a m e d aC o u n ty S u p e rv i s o r, 5 th D i s t r i c t ,

e x p o u n d e d t h i svision. H e spoke of p e n d u lu m s h i ft s from Ga li leos s ci-entif ic s tu dy to ther e c e n t R e p u b l ic a nonslaught in Wash-ington an d the n eed

f o r u s t o r e m a i ns t r o n g in ou r c on -v ict ions and awaret h a t fu t u r e s h i ft sa r e p o s s ib l e i f w epersis t in the GoodFight.

F o l l o w i n gKeiths speech, MiltWolff , Pos t Com-ma n d e r, a s k e d th e

Continued on page 6 At the Bay Area dinner L-R: Douglas Morton, David Laub, Claudia Paige, Velina Brown, Arthur Holden,Barrett Nelson, Barbara Jepperson, Michael Sullivan and Rebecca Klinger.


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T h e J a r a m a m on u m en t i s d e d i ca t ed

An i m p r e s s i v e m o n u m e n t w a sdedicat ed in Madrids Morat ade Ta ju a cemete ry on October 8 ,1 9 9 4. I t c omme mo ra t e s t h e t h o u -sands o f Span ish Republ ican so l -

d ie rs and In te rn a t iona l Br igaderswho died in the Jarama valley bat-t l e t h a t r a g e d t h r o u g h o u t t h em o n t h o f F e b r u a r y 1 9 3 7 . Af t e rMadrid fell in 1939, their graves atTajua ha d been dug up by the fas-c is t s a n d t h r o wn i n t o a co m m o nunmarked pit.

J ar ama , following th e defense of Madrid in December 1936, was theRepublics next great military victo-ry. It pr eserved Spa ins democracyf o r t w o y e a r s l o n g e r u n t i l t h eweight of fascist ar ms a nd m en, bul-wark ed by the western democra ciesneu tr ality, began Fr an cos bloodyth i r t y -y e a r r u l e . J a r a ma w a s a l s ot h e b a p t i s m u n d e r f i r e o f t h eAbraham Lincoln battalion and theBritish battalion.

T h e M o r a t a c e r e m o n y w a sa t t e n d e d b y s e v e r a l s c or e I B e r s ,ma in ly from th e Br igade assoc ia -tions in Britain a nd Ireland, and byov e r a t h o u s a n d M a d r i l e os . T h ee v e n t c u lmin a t e d a 1 5 -y e a r c a m-paign wa ged by broad committ ees of I B v e t e r a n s a n d s u p p o r t e r s i nBritain and Ireland. It was dogged-ly fought for in Spain by three anti-fascist alliances representing veter-a n s of t h e R e p u b l ica n a rm y t h ewoun ded, the political pr isoners an dt h o s e w h o s e r v e d w i t h t h eInternational Brigades.

Wider geograp h ic r e p r e s e n t a -t ion a t th e Ta jua ded ica t ion wasc u r t a i l e d b y a t o o -b r i e f , t e n -d a y

a d v a n ce n o t i ce f r om t h e M a d r i da u t h o r i t ie s . L i n col n a n d J a r a m ave te ran J ack B joze , w ith in a t imec r u n c h o f fi v e d a y s , m a n a g e d t om a k e t r a v e l a r r a n g e m e n t s . H edelivered a brief tribute at the cere-mony, bringing warm est greetingsfrom th e Vetera ns of th e Abrah amLincoln Brigade.

Among the distinguished guestsand speakers was Amaya Ibr rur i ,d a u g h t e r o f L a P a s i on a r i a , w h ospoke again th e immortal Despidida

(Farewell) delivered by her mother atth e Barcelona far ewell para de of th eIB in 1939; General E nr ique Lister,who d ied severa l weeks la te r [Seepage 17-Ed], and represent at ives of the Cuban and Irish embassies.

B R I T A I N R ep o r t i n g t o t h eInt erna tiona l Brigade Associat ion,Bill Alexander wrote:

For a l l of us the m emorial is a profound em otional sym bol m arkingt h e s t r o n g , f i r m t i e s of s o l i d a r i t ybe tw een th e an t i - f a s ci s t peop le o f

S pain an d of Br i ta in . I t honors a l lwh o gave their l ives for liberty an d

peace, 1 936-39.There was detailed press cover-

a g e o f t h e d e d i c a t i o n i n t h eGuardian , the Morning Star by BillAlexander an d the N ew Worker byveteran Ma urice Levitas.

I R E L A N D A November 10t hc ommu n ic a t ion to T h e Vol u n t e er from Manus ORiordan, son of Irishv e t e r a n M i c h a e l O R i o r d a n ,enclosed press clippings from nineIrish papers that covered th e event.Excerpt s from his letter rea d:

I t w as a pr i v i lege for m e to be present at the graveside in Moratad e Ta j u a t o h o n or t h e J a r a m adead in th e company o f m y f a the r,( E b r o v e t M i c h a e l O R i o r d a n ) ,

Mau rice Levitas an d Peter OConnor (the sole surviving Irish veteran of

J aram a) , two other I r ish vets , Bob D oy le an d M au r ice Lev i t a s (both fo rmer p r i s oner s in S an P edro deCardeas).

The plaque at the Morata de Tajua Cemetery. The inscription reads: In memory of theheroic fighters, anti-fascist Spaniards and of the International Brigades that, in the battleof Jarama, February 1937, offered their lives for the cause of liberty of Spain, ofEurope and of the world. Draped across the top are the flags of the countries of theInternational Brigade. Jud Coleman, British volunteer from Manchester, a Jarama sur-vivor, is in the foreground.

Continued on page 8


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Bil l Ba i ley

Bi l l Ba i ley, whose c ra ggy face ,

i m p os i n g s t a t u r e a n d g r a v e lv oi ce w e l l s u i t e d h i s l e g e n d a r yc a re e r, d i e d i n S a n F r a n c is c o o nFebrua ry 27 after a long pulmonaryillness. He was 84.

Bill first won celebrity in anti-f a s c is t c ir c l e s i n 1 9 3 5 w h e n h er i p p e d a s w a s t i k a f la g f r om t h ebow of the passenger liner Bremena t a d o c k i n N e w Yo r k C i t y.Several months la t er, Bill upgrad-e d h i s a n t i -f a s ci s m to t h e b a t t l e -f ie l d s o f t h e S p a n i s h C i v i l Wa rw h e r e , a s a n I n t e r n a t i o n a lBrigader, he became comm issar of t h e L in c oln B a t t a l i on s ma c h in egun company.

B a i l e y g r e w u p i n e x t r e m epoverty his mother sent him bare-foot to firs t gra de an d he wa s sen-ten ced to two s t re t ches in re formschool, before shipp ing out a t a ge15. In his 1993 aut obiograph y, T h eKid f rom Hoboken (Smyrna P ress ,Un ion Ci ty, NJ ) Ba i ley b r ings to

life the Irish slums, where he grewup, his life at sea, his experiences int h e C om m u n i s t P a r t y, w h i ch h equit in 1956, an d the ups a nd downsof his tr ade u nion car eer.

B a i l e y j o i n e d t h e M a r i n eWorkers Indu str ia l Un ion in 1934,a t t e n d e d t h e C o m m u n i s t P a r t y sna t iona l t ra in ing school , an d wasdispa tched to a su ccession of diffi-c u l t o rg a n i z i n g p o s t s , i n c l u d i n gNorfolk, Virginia, and a sugar caneplantation in H awaii.

D u r in g Wor ld Wa r I I , B a i l e ys e r v e d a s b u s i n e s s a g e n t fo r t h eMarine Firemen, Oilers and Water-t e n d e r s U n ion (M F O W ), u n t i l h ecouldnt st an d sending out an y moremen to r i sk dea th . He sh ipped ou thimself, taking part in the invasionof the Philippines.

Expelled from t he MFOW in t heM cC a r th y y e a r s o f t h e 1 9 5 0 s , h ee d i t e d a d i s s e n t in g r a n k -a n d - fi lenewspaper, Th e Black Gang News,

before swit ching over to longsh orework. He was elected dispatcher atILWU Local 10 in San Francisco.

Bailey became a celebrity againin h i s 7 0 s , n e a r ly ru n n in g a w a ywith the documentaries, S eeing R ed an d The Good Fight . He was invitedto speak at Har vard University andcollege campuses across the UnitedS t a t e s , a n d w a s i n t e r v ie w e d byStu ds Terkel for The Good War . H ep l a y e d d r a m a t i c r o l e s i n t h eH o l ly w o o d f e a tu r e f i lms O n t h e

Edge and Guilty by S uspicion .Bill was extremely generous with

his t ime, was su pportive of activists,

youn g and o ld , seek ing to ma ke abetter world. Like E ugene Debs aw a rm e r h e a r t n e e r b e a t , b e tw ix there and the J udgment Seat. w

Bi l l s own postscr ip t

This is the text, undated and u n e d i t e d , o f a l e t t er i n B i l l sh a n d w r i t i n g t h a t h e h a d a s k e d

h i s s o n M i ch a e l t o s en d t o T h eVolunteer after he passed away.

Dea r ,My dad, Bill Bailey, often told

me th at his telephone book containsth e na mes of some of the best p eo-p l e i n t h e w o r ld p e o p le w h o inth e i r l if et ime h a v e d on e mu c h toimprove the lot of the working man& woma n t o achieve a bett er life asw e l l a s b r in g p e a c e i n t h i s w o r ldan d a sa fer a nd longer l ife for t hechildren yet to come.

I thought tha t in th is aspect i tw ou l d i n t e r e s t y ou t o k n ow t h a th e d i e d o n a f t e r b a t t l in g al on g c om p l i c a t i o n o f l u n g p r o b -l e m s . F o r s o m e 2 1 y e a r s h eworked in t he en g ine room of ourm e r c h a n t m a r i n e , b e in g a r o u n da n d h a n d l i n g a s b e s t o s l o n gbefore anyone would dare a dmit i tw a s d a n g e r ou s o r e v e n p e r m i tsafety precau tions to be used. For

2 2 y e a r s h e w o rk e d in l o n g s h ore ,u n t i l h e r e t i r e d , a g a i n w o r k i n ga r o u n d a n d w i t h d u s t y a n d d a n -gerous car goes.

I k n o w h e t r i e d t o r e m a i na c t i v e i n h e l p i n g a c h i e v e t h o s epolitical a nd tra de u nion objectivesan d if he experienced any bad da ysi t w a s b e ca u s e h e c o u l d n o t b eac t ive enough . He wa s loya l t o h ism a n y fr i e n d s a n d w a s i n p a i nw h e n t h e y w er e i n t r ou b l e & h ecould n ot help.

In respecting his wishes I k n o wh e w o u l d h a v e l ik e d t o h a v e h i sash es alongside of those brave com-rades he h e lped bury in Spa in bu tknowing this wa s n ot possible hisash es wil l join th ose of th e rest of h i s f a m i l y b y b e in g s p r i n k l e d a tsea . L ike he would say, May myashes wash up on the sh ores of th ewor ld , an d t ha nk you fo r enr ich-ing his l i fe by fr iendship over theyears. w

March 2, 1995

S e ym o u r Kle inS e y m o u r K l e i n w a s o n e o f t h el a s t v o lu n t e e r s t o a r r i v e inSpain (April 1938) and was also oneof the las t L inco ln Ba t ta l ion so l -d ie rs to be woun ded Sep tem ber15, 1938, on the Sierra Pandols. Hedied Ju ne 5, 1994, in Sa n Diego, hishome. He was 78.

As an NMU organ izer, in J uneof 1940 Sy led a st rik e, in Buffalo,

a g a in s t t h e S a g in a w D oc k a n dTe rmin a l C orp o ra t ion . A s a me r-ch a n t s e a ma n in Wo r ld Wa r I I h esailed the Murma nsk ru n to Russia.Before the war s end, he wa s awa rd -ed a lieuten an ts commission in th eNaval Reserve and acquired honor-able service r ibbons th at in cludedcommendation stars for the Asiatic-Pac i fic thea te r and the P h i l ipp ineliberat ion. In th e 1970s Sy serveda s c om m a n d e r o f t h e S a n D i e goVALB post. w

Adde d to Me m ory s Ros te r


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B e n K ot l e rB en was born on J un e 12 , 1915.He went to school in N e w a r k ,New J ersey, and th en to BrooklynC ol le g e w h e r e h e w a s g r a d u a t e dsum ma cum laude. He left for Spa inin Ju ne 1938, and se rved with t heLincoln Bat ta l ion unt i l the IB waswithdr awn for repa triat ion in 1938.

For 33 year s , 1951-1984 , Benworked in th e accoun ting depart mento f t h e U n i t e d E le c t r i c a l w ork e r su n i o n . Wh e n h e r e t i r e d , t h e U Ena tional leadersh ip honored him asam ong those who h old n o prominentposition in th e labor m ovement butwhose services ar e of ut most impor-t a n c e i n i t s f u n c t io n in g . B e n ,responding, expressed his gratitu defor h aving been a ble to contribute tothe UEs rank-and-file principles. Hiswidow, Ida , and da ughte r, J ud i th ,at tended the VALB memorial meet-ing in Febru ary. w

Le on a r d L a m b

L e n n ie L a mb w a s b o rn o nSeptem ber 1, 1910, an d died onOctober 21, 1994. Throughout hislong a nd constr uctive life, his pa rt ic-ipation in the history of th at t ime,th ere wa s a consist ency of commonsense, courage an d leadership.

I f irs t met Len nie in 1936. Wewere in th e Works Pr ogress Admin-i s t r a t i on . H e w a s in i t s You t hDivision wh ich was responsible forreaching local social clubs t ha t h ad

been set u p by thousan ds of youn gpeople as havens from the seeminghopelessn ess of th eir lives. The club-houses were in improvised quarter s sometimes just a st orefront, some-times a tenement basement.

As Lennie and t he group mem-bers would get t o know one a nother,h e w o n t h e i r fr i e n d s h i p w i t h h i spa t ience an d s t r a igh t forwardn ess .M a n y o f t h e m c a me to k n o w w h yt h e y we r e i n s u c h d ir e s t r a i t s .Above al l , Lennie Len nie directed

their at tention a nd energy to practi-cal i t ies . They became involved instru ggles tha t sought special re l ief measu res for jobless youth a nd t hey

becam e par t of th e nat iona l move-ment for Social Security.

It was with t his experience un derhis belt th at Lenn ie went to Spain.That was, of course, the fundamentalstr uggle for social justice writ la rge.

Fr om Bru nete on, Lennie was inevery batt le . To recall them now Quint o, Belchite, Teruel, Seguro deLos Baos, Gandesa, th e Ebro is tobe rem inded of Hemingways ph ra sein A Farewell to Arms , There comesa t ime w h e n th e n a m e s of p l a c e scomm un icat e dignity.

L e n n i e w a s w o u n d e d t h r e etimes. Ea ch t ime he deserted fromthe hospital to rejoin t he Lincolns.I r e m e m b e r h i m w a l k i n g p a s t agroup of us with a banda ge aroundhis neck where a bullet had m irac-u lous ly avo ided a v i ta l sp o t . Twoh a r d e n e d B r i t s w e r e t h e r e . T h e ylooked a t ea ch oth er, shook the i rh e a d s a n d o n e o b s er v e d , T h a tL a m b , h e i s a t ou g h m a n . T h i swas in th e Sierra Pan dols , af ter weh a d cr o s s e d t h e E b r o a n d w e r eh o ld in g on to t h e g ro u n d w e h a dg a i n e d . L e n n i e , b y t h e n , h a dear ned t he bat t lef ie ld commissionof captain. Und er the h ars hest con-d i t i on s , w h e t h e r i n a d v a n ce o rr e t r e a t , e v e ry on e h e c omma n d e dknew him as a reassur ing, calmingp r e s e n c e .

A ft e r S p a i n , L e n n i e s h i p p e dout . As a mem ber o f th e Nat iona lM a r i t i m e U n i o n , h e s a i le d t h e

North Atlantic bombing runs. AfterD-Day he became a member of th eBrewery Worker s Un ion.

Spain was a consta nt factor in h isl i f e . I n 1 9 7 9 , h e j o in e d th e f i r s tE x e c u t iv e B oa r d o f t h e A b ra h a mLincoln Brigade Archives. In th at rolehe spoke to an d enga ged in discussionwith a wide variety of au diences.

I particularly remember Lenniea t D a r t m o u t h C o ll e g e, in A p r i l1981. The occasion was a w eeken dcelebration of th e 50th an niversar y

o f t h e S e c on d S p a n i s h R e p u b l i c,h o s t e d b y t h e p r e s t i g i o u s I v yLeague ins t i tu t ion . Lenn ie jo inedsuch luminaries as Carlos Fuentes,

Gabriel J ackson a nd Ronald Fra ser,i n b r in g in g h o me th e me a n in g o f t h e S p a n i s h R e v ol u t i on t o 1 , 5 00students and guests.

Lennie was a th oughtful person.Wa l k i n g w a s h i s r e c r e a t i on . I nr e c e n t y e a r s I w ou l d s o m e t i m e saccompany h im for m iles th rough-ou t Man ha t tan . On th ose ou t ings ,he would ta lk , no t so much abouth is own exper iences , r ich as t heywere, as about general conclusions those formed by his l i fe , observa-tions and reading.

When the pa st figur ed in Lenniesth oughts , i t was no t someth ing inwhich h e was imprisoned. It was sim-ply a par t of history to be viewed and

judged in a curren t perspective.He was a compa ss iona te com-

ra de. While few of us kn ew of hisown terminal cancer, he unfailinglyv i s i t e d b e d r i d d e n c om r a d e s . H ewould perform acts of kindn ess inth e quietest way. Dur ing my wifesi llness , he showed up a t our homeone Sun day morn ing and drove usfor an excursion to Bear Mountain.He did innu merable such kindness-es and m ade no great sh ow of th em.

We have los t a f ine and n ob lecomrade. w

I rv in g We i ss ma n

C a r l Ma r za n iT h e f ol l o w i n g t r i b u t e t o C a r l

M arza n i , w ho d ied D ecember 11 ,1 9 9 4 , w a s w r i t t e n f o r t h e VA L Bm em or ia l meet ing in N ew Y ork onFebruary 19, 1995. Carl, l ike J ohnCorn fo rd , ha d s e rved b r i ef ly w i t hthe A narch i s t s in S pa in . H e w as am e m b e r o f t h e Ve t e r a n s o f t h e

A braham Linco ln Br igade . A f inebiographical t r ibu te to Car l by h is

fr iend Percy Brazil appeared in t he

Adde d to Me m ory s Ros te r

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Bu lls e ye fo r t h e Ba y Ar e a VAL B d i n n e r

Vets in the a ud ience to s tand a ndbe r ecognized. About two dozen r osean d were applau ded. Milt then fol-lowed the annual sad tradition and

an nounced the n ames of the Lincolnve te rans who had d ied in the pas ty e a r . A m o m e n t o f s i l e n c e w a so bs e rv e d in t h e i r me mo ry. I t i s amoving ritu al, th is acknowledgmentof the living and the dead, one thatunderscores the continuity, in fleshand spirit, that mark s our organiza-tion.

T he d inner ch icken-wi th -veg-etables a nd strawberry mousse,e t c ., fo ll ow e d . P e t e r C a r r o ll t h e nin t r oduced the focus o f th e a f te r-noon, the docudrama, Postscript toa War . The musicians an d musicald i rec to r Bruce Bar t ho l took the i rp os i t i on a t t h e r e a r o f t h e s t a g e ,f ron t e d b y th e a c to r s s e a t e d i n arow of stools.

Under the direction of co-authorP e t e r G la z e r, t h e a c to r s , mos t o f them members of the San FranciscoM i m e Tr o u p e , h a d s p e n t l o n gr e h e a r s a l s w it h t h e ch a r a c t e r s (our Brigade comrades) and prepar-ing the songs of the Spa n ish C iv i lWar. With a ded ica t ion , ce r ta in lynot motivated by the token stipend

th ey rece ived , they ha d per fectedtheir pronunciation of Venga Jaleo,

J a l e o a n d Los Cu a t ro G enera les ,and endu red the n ecessary t inker-ing with t he script.

From seven in the morning to alittle past noon, a crew of volunteershad h e lped the sound an d l igh t ingd e s i gn e r s s e t u p t h e e q u i p m e n tneeded to tra nsform t he hotel din-ing hall into a site amenable to the-a te r magic. At a few minu t es pas t2 : 3 0 p m , t h e h o u s e l i g h t s w e r edimmed and the trumpet strains of S i Me Quieres Escr ib ir t e n s e d th e

a u d i e n ce for t h e d r a m a t h a t f ol -lowed.

G i v e n m y c l os e i n v ol v e m e n twith P os t s c r i p t , it is impossible forme t o be complet ely objective; buth a v i n g s p ok e n w i t h a n u m b e r o f

people afterwar ds, including severa lVets whose words were featured inthe script, I can attest to the power-ful effect t he pr oduction h ad on boththe a udience an d th e performers.

The s t o ry of the L incolns wa se l o q u e n t l y t o l d b y t h e n a r -r a t or / a ct o r w it h t h e u n d e r s t a t e de l oq u e n c e a n d o cc a s i on a l b i t i n ghu mor of th e L incolns c ross ingth e Pyren ees in to Spa in (We arenow walkin g in s ix inches of snowand a few of our men were slippinga n d f a l l i n g , B i l l B a i l e y ) ; t h eanguish of combat (Cross-fire fromm a n y m a c h i n e g u n s m a d e a ni m p e n e t r a b l e s t e e l w a l l a g a i n s tadvance J ohn Tisa at J ara ma).

P ost scr i p t also depicted the vitalro le o f the n urses a t tend ing to th ecarn age at Brunete , Quinto, Teruelan d th e Ebr o (al l our l ives weha ve hated white m oonlight becau seit means t he birds of death a re busynear by Fredericka Mart in).

T h e in t e rw e a v in g of e x ce rp t sfrom the lett ers of Fr edericka, LiniF u h r a n d R os e F r e e d m o v in g l ydep icted t he sen se o f purp ose an d

Continued from page 1

H a p p y 80t h f or o n e of t h e F or t P oi n t Wa l k er s

The Fort Point Walking Group at Bill Sennetts 80th birthday party, last October 6. L-R: Earl Harju, Corinne Thornton, NateThornton, the late Bill Bailey, Bill Sennett, Peter Carroll, Ed Bender and Hon Brown.

Hannah Olson Creighton


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sacrifice tha t was so fun dam enta l tot h e i n v o l v e m e n t o f t h e I n t e r -na tiona l Brigades in Spain. A par-t i cu l a r ly p oign a n t m ome n t i n t h escript for me and many others wasMar ion Merr iman s d ia ry en t r y And so tonight I s i t a lone at mid-night in a cold room, drink ing tea t o

w a r m m y s p i r i t s . w i t h h e rh o p e o f r e u n i t i n g w i t h h e r B o b ,t h e n c om m a n d e r o f t h e L i n c ol nBatt al ion, who, five month s la t t er,would be killed in th e Ebro retr eat.

In pu t t ing toge ther P o s t s c r i p t ,we thought it importa nt to show thelong history of the struggle in whichV A L B h a s b e e n , a n d s t i l l i s ,involved. We therefore made narra-t ive referen ce to th e ma ny decora -tions won by Lincoln vets as GIs inWorld War II, even while they werea c cu m u l a t i n g F B I d os s i e r s a n den t r ies in th e At t o rney Genera l slist of subversives.

T h e M c C a r t h y p e r i o d w a sexam ined s oberly (The ju rors filedin , and I sudden ly knew there wasn o h o p e , S t e v e N e l s on i n h i sS e d i t i on t r i a l ) , b u t a l s o w i th t h esur v ivor s h um or o f def iance an dco n te mp t i n t h e p o e m b y th e l a t eRamon Du rem, Afr ican Amer icanLincoln vet: Award A Gold Wat chto the FBI Man Who has Fo llowedMe for Twen ty-Five Year s.

I w a s v e r y p r o u d t o h a v e a nexcerpt read from a speech that myf a t h e r , R o b e r t C o l o d n y, g a v ea g a i n s t t h e w a r i n V i e t n a m , i n1 9 6 9 : Tha t was a hor r ib le woun dcarved not only on the face of Spain,but on the flesh of humanity. It hasnever h ealed; it is r aw, it bleeds.

As people chee red , I fe lt for afew seconds th a t the ca lendar h adadvanced 25 years an d an other gen-e ra t ion was be ing r oused t o res is tthe invasion of Vietnam. It was thek i n d o f m o m e n t t h a t f i l l e dPostscript because t he l ives of the

Vets ha ve been so rich.We e n d e d w i t h m or e r e ce n t

testimonies, including one by VALBnu rse H ilda Roberts , who joined ahu nger st rike in Lar edo, Texas, on ab u s t h a t w a s i n t e r n e d d u r i n g aCaravan for Peace en route to Cuba I gave them [her companions on

th e bus] the feeling of th e greatn esso f p e o p le w h o h a d s t r u g g le d a n dun fortun at ely lost.

We concluded with a quote fromnu rse Ru th Davidow: The qu estionyou a lways ask me , How do youkeep active after fifty years? and Isa y, How do you n ot? The cast th enrecited Edwin Rolfes Postscript to aW a r (The d ra ma h ad opened withh is Bon Voyage ) . The f ina le was arousing version of Viva La Q u in ce

Brigada which had the audience onth e i r fe e t c h e e r in g , a s t h e l i g h t scame u p.

H a n n a h O l s o n C r e i g h t o n sw a r m c ol l e ct i o n s p e e c h t h a t f ol -lowed, l i tera l ly capita l ized on t heimpact of the play. She spoke of thee x t e n d e d VAL B fa m i l y s e a t e da ro u n d th e t a b l es a n d t h e n e e d tod ig d e e p er a n d g iv e mo re . As t h eban d played on, people began th eirf i n a l m i n g l i n g a n d t h e 5 8 t hA n n iv e r s a ry w h ic h w i ll , I t h in k ,a lways r e ta in a spec ia l g low, washistory. w

Keith Carson

Monthly Review , March 1995.

C a r l M a r z a n i e x e m p l i fi e d t h efinest chara cteristics of the sol-d i e r - s ch o la r. H i s g e n e r a t i on w a s

called u pon to exhibit cour age n otonly on t he ba tt lefields of Spain an dbeyond , bu t a l so in t he c iv ic a reaw h e r e p o li t i ca l b i g ot s a n d c r u e linquisitors backed by th e powers of th e sta te sought to silence the voicesof dissent . Car l never tr imm ed hissails to th e prevailing winds of ortho-doxy. He never recan ted, he n everflinched. Withal, he wore his virtuesmo d e s t ly. H i s e x a mp le l i g h t s t h ew a y fo r o u r c h i ld r e n a n d th e i rgrandchildren u ntil, as th e poet said,

th e last syllable of recorded t ime.As our f ina l sa lu te t o Car l we

can r epeat with the old Roman s: A veatqu e vale Hail and farewell. w

R o b e r t G . C o lo d n y

Mo r r is S e n n e t t

Ab ou t m y b r ot h e r M a u r y h ew a s a y e a r - a n d -a -h a l f o ld e rthan I and died last year at the ageof 81. We lived in Chicago, both of us being na tives of that city.

He volun teered t o go to Spain inApr i l o r May of 1937 . I ha d goneear l ie r in Febru ary. I was a l readyin the F i rs t Reg iment de Tren andhe was a dded to that out fit as one of

the truck drivers. In addition to hisdu t ies as a d r iver, becau se of h isknowledge and flair for languages,he often served as th e oral an d writ -ten translator for the Regiment. Hein te rpr e ted and spoke in En glish ,French, German and Yiddish.

W h e n M a u r y r e t u r n e d t o t h eU n i t e d S t a t e s , h e r e m a r r i e d a n db e c a m e t h e f a t h e r o f R i c h a r dS e n n e t t , n ow a p r o fe s s or a t N e wYork Un iversi ty an d a well knownprogressive aut hor.

F o l l ow i n g a d i v or c e , M a u r ymoved to Detroit, an d later t he fam-ily settled in California. At th e timeof his death, Maury lived in DesertHot Springs. w

B i ll S e n n e t t

Adde d to Me m ory s Ros te rContinued from page 5


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S p a in i n t h e w in t e r o f 95

Mar io Conde, ex-presiden t of one of the principal banks, Banesto, standsaccused of creaming h un dreds of mil-lions from his own in vestors by buy-ing and reselling, at enormous prof-its, various bu sinesses und er his con-trol. The debts a re in Spa in, owed tothousands of Spaniards, and m uch of th e money is in Switzerland, assu r-ing us tha t Conde will not sta rve.

A s e co n d w h iz k id fi n a n c i e r,Javier de la Rosa, lost millions for aSpan ish ban k in t he m id-80s, thenl o s t m o r e m i l l i o n s fo r K u w a i t iinvest ors, an d finally is in pr ison forlosing millions in pr ivate a nd public

money in Ca t a lon ia . The ques t ionn o n e o f m y C a t a l a n fr i e n d s c a nanswer fo r me i s why th e reg iona lau thori t ies ever tr usted de la Rosaw i t h a c e n t a f t e r h i s p r e v i o u skn own, indeed well-publicized, pre-vious failures.

More importan t from a n institu -tiona l point of view, th e govern or of t h e b a n k o f S p a i n , o n c e t r u l yrespected as a financial statesman la Voelcker or Gr eenspan , tur ns outt o h a v e e n r i ch e d h i m s e l f o n t h e

basis of inside information while hewas governor. And t he chief of the

Civil Guard, the elite police force of the last century and a half, has fledto n o on e k n ow s w h e re w i th h u n -dreds of millions of pesetas extract-ed from th e reser ved funds of hisdepartment after having collectedfat illegal commissions for years onthe construction contracts for civilguard barra cks.

These t wo scan dals a re especial-ly serious because they call in ques-tion t he good judgment of the Pr imeMinister, Felipe Gonzalez (not him-self accused of any personal corrup-tion), in ha ving named th ose gentle-men to their posts.

Fina lly, a CIA-like opera tion of

th e ear ly 1980s ha s come hometo r oost . Some officials, n ot yet fullyid e n t i f i e d , e vid e n t ly u s e d p u b l i cmoney to subs id ize the a ssass ina-t ions a nd a t tempted assa ssinat ionsof about twen ty Basque terr oris ts .Since th e terroris ts were man agingto k i l l an a verage o f one per son aweek, women an d children included,an d t he official police seemed un ablet o ca p t u r e t h e m , s om e d e s p e r a t egovernmen t personn el decided tha ts e cr e t s t a t e -s u b s id iz e d t e r ro r i s m

was th e only answer t o th e problem.The activities th is group, known by

the initials GAL, were concentratedin th e years 1983-4, and h ave beenan open secret ever sin ce 1983. Buto n l y r e c e n t l y h a v e j o u r n a l i s t i cinvestigations led to a judicial inves-t i g a t i o n w h i ch n o w t h r e a t e n s t oe x p os e a n d d i s cr e d i t a n u mb e r o f well-known political figures.

H a v i n g r e la t e d s o m u c h b a dn e w s , I a l s o w a n t t o a s s u r e t h er e a d e r s o f t h i s l e t t e r t h a t , i n m yo p i n i o n , f u n d a m e n t a l S p a n i s hd e m o cr a c y i s n o t t h r e a t e n e d b yth ese scan dals . On th e cont rar y, iti s a s i g n of h e a l th t h a t s w in d le r scan be imprisoned, and t ha t policeabuses can be investigated by inde-pendent judges and by a free press.

Such correctives were not availablee i ther dur ing th e Fra nco d icta t or-ship of 1939-75 (where lots of suche c o n o mic a n d p o l i c e c r ime soccurred) nor du ring t he superficial-ly democratic but actually oligarchi-cal system of th e Span ish monar chybetween 1875 an d 1931. However,both th e economic s lopp iness a ndt h e p o l i t i ca l s c a n d a l s s h o w t h a twhile Spain ha s become a free coun -tr y, with democra tic inst itut ions, itis still a country with too little expe-

rien ce of economic effic iency an ddemocratic practice. w


J o h n M c G r o t t y, b r o t h e r o f E a mo n M c G ro t ty, w h o f e l l a tJarama, was brief and to the point.He s im ply sa id , On beh a l f of thefa m i l i e s of t h e d e a d , a t h o u s a n dtha nks for keeping their m emoriesa l i v e . M a y t h e y r e s t i n p e a c e .Whereupon he produced a bott le of Paddy whiskey, poured some intot h e c a p t o s p r i n k l e on w h a t h ere fe r red t o as ha l lowed ground ,and t hen passed the bot t le a roundfor a 57-year s delayed Ir ish wa ke!

In Morata itself I was delightedto mak e th e acquaint an ce of Lincolnvet Jack Bjoze. Jacks long hair ledh i m t o b e m i s t a k e n f or t h e g r e a t

an ti-fascist poet Rafael Aberti, andit was to his advantage when dr inkswere being served.

P e t e r O C o n n e r , on b e h a l f of the u n ion a t Water ford Glass p re -s e n t e d t h e s p on s o r i n g S p a n i s h

organ iza t ions wi th a c rys ta l vasei n s c r i b e d w i t h a s a l u t e t o o u rS p a n i s h c omr a d e s w h o fo u g h t i nt h e a n t i - fa s c i s t s t r u g g l e , 1 9 3 6 -1939. No Pasaran.

W A L E S F r o m a l e t t e r b yWend y Lewis, niece of Lincoln Bri-gader S idney Shosteck, Bob Merri-ma ns a ide k i l led a t Be lch i te , an dher husband Ray Davies, nephew of Ha rold Da vies, a Welch volunt eer int h e B r i t i s h b a t t a l i on , k i l le d a t

J a r a ma :

It wa s a m oving experience to beat Morata for the Jarama memorialu n v e i l i n g a n d t o s e e s o m a n y

I n t e r n a t i o n a l B r i g a d e r s f r o maround the world receive some kind of recognition at last for the anti-fas -cists f ight . ( In cidenta l ly, th e f ight goes on h ere in Wal es as wel l ; not only did the socialist choir Ray and

I a r e i n s i n g t o co l l e ct m o n e y t or e p a i r a b o o k s h o p a t t a c k e d b yrac i s t s , bu t ju s t be fore w e l e f t f o r S p a i n a g r ou p c a l l ed C o m b a t 1 8( H i t l e r s i n i t i a l s ) s et f i r e t o t h e

In ternat ional Br igade m em orial inCardi ff , and t he plaques have beenremoved for cleani ng. w

T h e J a r a m a M on u m en t i s d ed i ca t ed Continued from page 3


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S em in a r onS p a n i s hCi v il Wa r a t Un iv. o f Wa s h i n g t o n

F ro m w id e a w a k e S e a t t l e , welearn t hat the Un iversi ty of Wash-ington recently institu ted a ser ies of semina rs to special ly inter est newstudents. Veteran Abe Osheroff, pro-

f es s o r i n t h e R o ma n c e L a n g u a g eDepar tm ent , i s lead ing one on t heSpanish Civil War. H e reports:

We are now in the 4th week of t h e Win t e r Q u a r t e r , a n d i t i s a nexcit ing experience. In ad dit ion t oselected rea dings, we wil l employfilm, poetry, music and a slide showof Spanish Civil War posters.

There are two objectives in thecourse, one to make history comealive and be excit ing; and t wo tod e mo n s t r a t e t h e con t in u in g r e l e -vancy of tha t Good F igh t . What agreat way to spend your old age! w

U n i on p a p er f ea tu res b ioof Va n Fel ix

T h e n e w s l e t t e r o f N e w Yor k Cit y Local 210, Tech nica l Officea n d P r o fe s s i o n a l U n i o n , U AW,Issue No. 3 , Wint er, 1995, devoteshalf of its four pages to a biographyof veteran Bill Van Felix. Under th etit le 60 year s of labor activism, itslead para graph qu otes Bill:

People ask me all the time why,at t he age of 80, Im still active in som any th i ngs . I gu ess i t s because I cant im agine livin g any other way.

Activism is a life-long h abit for Bil l , a teacher at T echn ical Career

I n s t i tu t es (T C I ) in m i d t ow n M a n -hat ta n . He serves as un i t chairper -son for the college, representing 250of his co-workers.

Asked about the un ion today, hesaid , I really su pport t he efforts of t h e U AW t o i n v o l v e i t s m e m b e r s

polit ically. He is al so active in h isneighborhood Dem ocratic club, theVi l l a g e I n d e p en d e n t D e m o cr a t s ,wh ere he is chair of the labor com -m ittee. He believes political action iscritical for the labor m ovem ent. w

A D a v i d ow /

Monte l lh ea l t h f i lm

project Heal th Edu ca t ion Media , Inc .,

h e a d e d b y R u t h D a v id ow, VA L Bnu rse/vetera n, is producing a docu-ment ar y film targeted on th e grow-ing worldwide rise of homelessnessan d n eo-fascism. J udith Mont ell willdirect t he film. H er Forever Activistsearned a n Academy Award nomina-t ion fo r i t s por t ra ya l o f th e a f te r-Spa in life of th e Lincoln Br igade vet-erans and their organization.

The p lann ed fi lm is about an dby ac t iv is t s a nd i t w i l l se rve as ah o w t o , d e m o n s t r a t i n g t h a t a nu n d e r s t a n d i n g o f h i s t o r y c o n -tr ibutes t o ones abil i ty to halt th era vages of greed an d rea ction.

The add ress to which finan cialsupport an d queries may be sent is:Health Edu cation Media, In c., 1207De Haro, San Francisco, CA 94107. w

Vet a r t i s t sa t w or k

B o t h R a l p h F a s a n e l l a a n dAnth ony Toney, L incoln ve te ra nswith long and a cclaimed careers a sp a i n t e r s , r e m a i n h a r d a t w or k .

Ralph wa s recently comm issioned bythe S mi ths on ian M agazine to do apainting about the South Br onx areaof New York City. It will appea r in

th e April issue of th e ma gazine.Tony h ad a retr ospective exhibitl a s t F a l l a t h i s a lm a m a t e r , t h eC o lu m b i a U n i v e r s i t y S c h o ol of E d u c a t i on . H e h a s d o n a t e d t w opaintings to th e Bran deis a rchives.On e i s o f To ledo, mot iva ted by avisit t here by Tony and his late wifeEdna.

He wr i tes: Edn a an d I vis itedToledo dur ing the 1986 50th a nn iver-sary trip to Spain by the IB v etera n s.Toledo fasc ina ted me a s an inn er

i s la n d , m a d e i m m e m o r i a l b y E lGreco a pa inter Ive always loved.

I e n d e d u p d o in g s e v e ra lToledo paintings. Included was t helargest , g iven t o the Vets and nowt o B r a n d e i s . N a t u r a l l y, I p u tPasionar ia in a prominent place andalso a reference to th e machine gun -ner s defending democracy again stfascism [Tony was wound ed whiles e r v i n g w i t h t h e S p e c i a l M a -c h i n e g u n B a t t a l i on o f t h e 1 5 t hArmy Corps Ed.]

The second painting deals withthe Lincoln vets an niversar y ma rchin New York City, celebrat ing ouro wn e f fo r t t o a i d t h e u n e n d i n gs t r u g g le a g a in s t f a s ci s m, a b ro a dand a t home.

Tony also ha d a lau dat ory reviewof S iqu ie ros : H is L i f e and Works ,p u b l is h e d i n t h e Peoples WeeklyW o r l d . T h e l e n g th y b iog ra p h y b yPh il ip Stein, copiously i llustr at ed,h a s a c h a p t e r d e a l i n g w it h t h e

renowned artists service in Spain.*That career had a storybook range from frontline Lieutenant Colonel inth e f a mo u s F i f t h R e g ime n t c o m-man ded by L is te r and Modes to, todiplomatic missions in Mexico, andespionage in fascist Italy. w

*S i q u i e r o s, H i s L i f e a n d Wo r k s , byPh i l i p S t e i n . Ne w Yor k : I n t e r n a t i o n a lPublishers, 416 pp. text , plus 72 pp i l lustra-t ions, color an d b&w, $49.50, cloth ; $29.95paper .

Re b e ls With o u t a P a u s e


10/20

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John Bernard Fisher, the composer of The Last American Heroes , is the son of Veteran Harry Fisher andthe late Ruth Fisher. He is a triple namesake of the VALB added to the Fisher birthright, John wasbestowed in honor of John Murra, and the Bernard for Bernard Entin, killed in the battle of Jarama.


11/20

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12/20

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A n o t h e r b r o w n i e

po in te r HE ROIC VICTIMS:S ta l i n s F o re ig n L e g io n inth e S p a n i s h C iv i l Wa rb y H e r b e r t R o m e r s t e i n .Th e C o u n c i l fo r t h e D e fe n s e o f F r e e d o m , Wa s h i n g t o n , D C , 1 99 4.$7 .95 . P ap er . 118 pp .

As a n op t i m i s t , I h a d t h o u g h t

tha t w i th t he end of the ColdWa r t h e r e w ou ld b e a n e n d t o t h ede l ibera te d is to r t ion o f h is to r ica l

rea li ty in order to win petty, ideo-logical br ownie points.

Now comes a long-time investi-gator for the Un ited Stat es Houseof Representatives who purports tobe an expert on the KGB, terrorisman d nefar ious Soviet act ivi t ies . Inth is booklet , Romerst ein, who ha sworked in t he S oviet ar chives con-cerning the International Brigades,i s co m m i t t e d t o p o r t r a y in g t h eIn te rna t iona l Br igades dur ing andaf te r th e Span ish conf lict a s mer epuppets of th e Soviet Un ion.

The ver y t i t le o f th e book i s agrat uitous insu lt to the 40,000 vol-un teers from 53 countr ies who went

t o d i e i n d e f e n s e o f t h e S p a n i s hRepublic . This is th e kind of l it t lev e rb a l s t i n k b omb th a t t h o s e e mi -

nen t c it izens Roy Cohn an d DavidS c h i n e m i g h t h a v e c on c oc t e d i norder to put a sm irk on th e face of S e n a t o r J os e p h M cC a r t h y. T h eauthor asserts, with reference to the2 , 8 0 0 A me r i ca n s , t h a t t h e y w ereun tra ined, poorly arm ed, led mainlyb y in c omp e te n t s , s o t h a t t h e ou t -come was never in doubt . There isthe impl ica t ion t ha t the sam e tagscould be applied to all the Brigades.

There i s no ques t ion about th ewre tched a rma ment of a l l the e le -me n t s o f t h e S p a n i s h R e p u b l ic a narm ies . But wh ose fau l t wa s th is?Our inves t iga to r sh ou ld go to theP u b l i c R e c o rd O ff i c e i n L o n d o n

where the files of the London-basedN o n -In t e r v e n t ion C o mmi t t e e a r enow open. There h e wil l be able to

B oo k Re v ie w s

P e t e r C a r r o ll s t r e a t m e n t of O l iver Law in Th e O dys s ey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade tendsto u n d e rc u t L a w a s a ma n o f h i s -toric proport ions. Comman ding theLincoln Ba tta l ion, he was t he f irs tAfrican American to lead white sol-diers in a u nit of th at size.

I w a s a b a t t a l i o n r u n n e ra t t a c h e d to L a w s c omm a n d p o s ta n d w a s n o more t h a n th i r t y fe e tfrom h im on J uly 9, 1937, when hewas str uck down by a bullet. He wasleading the a tta ck on Mosquito Hilldur ing the Br un ete offensive. I sawhim fa l l and th en t he e ffo r t o f h isrunner, Jerry Weinberg, to drag himto safety. Thats the essence of Lawsperformance in his ma rtyrdom.

A false tr a i l of s lan der a gainstLaw, which t he Odyssey regretta blyavoids blastin g, began over 25 year sa g o . I t s s t a r t w a s a n o v e l ,

H e r m a n o s , w r i t t e n i n t h e m i d -1 9 6 0 s , a b ou t t h e A m e r i ca n s i nSpain. The author was an IB volun-teer tur ned informer William He-rr ick. Among other pur e fictions, itd e s c r i b e s t h e s h o o t i n g b y a nA me r i ca n of a c omma n d e r w h o s es tu p id i ty wa s a lw a y s g e t t i n g h i smen k illed in ba ttle.

In 1969, th is ta le wa s incorpo-rat ed in a pu tative history, Betweent h e B u l l e t a n d t h e L i e , whichrepeat ed th e Her rick concoction an dspec i fied Ol iver Law as t he com-man der. Ceci l Eby was t he au thorand his Spanish work was financedby a Fulbright fellowship, a conduiti n t h o s e d a y s n o t f r e e o f M cC a r th y i t e i n f lu e n c e . E b y ( th ehistorian?) described his s our ce as ave t wh o was s t i l l l iving , bu t no tavailable for an interview.

Herricks lie festered on libraryshelves for a nother 17 years. On J un e22, 1986, it em erged from th e wood-work in a t hr ee-page Village Voicein te rv iew by Pa u l Berman . I t hadbeen enh anced by incorporating t he

Herrick slander th at Law h ad beenmorta l ly wounded by his own menwho, before he died, pissed on him.Later on they refused to bury him.

After VALBs repeated protestsand p icke t ing tha t dema nded con-f ir m a t i o n , H e r r i c k t o s s e d in t h en a m e s o f t w o l o n g d e a d L i n c ol nB r i g a d e h e r o e s : D ou g R oa c h a nAfrican Amer ican , dead for ha lf ac e n t u r y, a n d J o e G o r d o n , aMerchant Marine casu alty of WorldWa r I I . B e r m a n , w i t h a s h o r t

t o n g u e i n a n u n r e a c h a b l e ch e e k ,explained th at since both men a redea d, we will never be able to con-firm t he st ory.

In t wo lengthy int erviews withPeter Carroll I told him everythingI kn ew of Oliver La w, whom I ha dgreatly admired. In a 1991 letter tome he wrote:

I ve found ano th e r vet w hosaw Oliver Law k illed and com plete -ly con f i rm s your s to ry. P lus , I ve

found anoth er wh o attests to La wscourage and competence at Jarama.So I think we can put an end to allthose l ies and rum ors once and for all.

Th e r e s o n e o t h e r i t e m i n T h eO d y s s e y t h a t I d l i k e t o s e e

c h a n g e d . A t t r i b u t e d t o L a w,addressing Merriman, it reads:

a r ow o f I t a l i a n b om b er sappeared . S eeing a m e ta l l i c g l in t ,the b lack vo lun t eer O l ive r Law, as ix-year veteran of the U.S . Arm y,s h o u t e d i n h i s s o u t h e r n a c ce n t t o

M err im an , Lookeee boss , th eyredroppin g propagand a leaf le ts .

A f t e r t h e r a i d a n d a l o n g , l o n gs i l e n c e , t h e u n a b a s h e d L a w

An e x ch a n g e on T h e O d y s se y a n d O liv e r L a w

Continued on page 16


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reconstruct the obscene ballet of allthe Western worlds diplomats, who,u n d e r t h e p r e t e n s e o f p r e v e n t in gth e sprea d of th e Span ish confl ic t ,m a i n t a i n e d a n i r o n e m b a r g oagainst ar mament s for the Republicw h i l e G er m a n y a n d I t a l y, w h o s er e p r e s e n t a t i v e s s a t o n t h i sCommitt ee, carr ied out a veri ta blei n v a s i o n o f S p a i n . T h i s w a s t h eCommittee, at one of whose sessionst h e I t a l ia n r e p r e s e n t a t i ve s a i d ,The Italian troops who are now inSpain will not leave until they havea s s u r e d t h e v i ct o r y of Ge n e r a lFr an co! This wa s ga l lows hum orthat will be remembered long after

th e wretches wh o listened in silenceha ve been forgotten.

I t s h o u l d b e r e m e m b e r e d t h a twhenever th e Republic achieveda n y p a r i t y in a rm a me n t , it s a ma -teur forces could carry the field. AtG u a d a l a j a r a , w h e r e f ou r m e c h a -n ized I ta l ian d iv is ions an d two of the best fascist divisions attemptedto seize Madrid, they were crushedb y tw o S p a n i s h d iv i s ion s (L i s t e ra n d C a m p e s i n o ) a n d t w o of t h e

I n t e r n a t i on a l B r i g a d e s , t h e 11 t hand 12th. This came about becausefo r t h e f ir s t a n d l a s t t i m e , t h eR e p u b l i c , t h a n k s t o S o v ie t s h ip -ment s, could pu t over th e bat tlefield40 bombers a nd 60 fight er plan es. Itgoes without saying tha t if th e samera t io of a rmament had been main-tained, the Republic could have tri-ump hed , and wor ld h is to ry there -after might n ot ha ve taken t he tra g-ic turn that it did.

As to the competence of militaryleadership, there is no question buttha t the Amer icans and Cana d ianswere more ama teur outfits tha n th eother Brigades. But t hen one mustrecall that the embatt led farmers atLexington and Concord were civil-ians w i th guns . One migh t sa y thesame th ing about t he ragged SansC u l ot t e s w h o s t o p p ed t h e f eu d a linvaders of revolutionary F ra nce.

Romerstein seeks t o indict theVete ran s o f th e Abraha m LincolnB ri a d e for t h eir r e s on s e t o t h e

German-Soviet pact of August 1939.There is no question but that therewas a cer t a in degr ee of h is to r ica lblindness tha t dis torted the vision,not only of th e Spa nish Civil Warve te ran s , bu t o f la rge par t s o f thepopulat ion of th e wester n world. Iti s impor tan t t o reca l l some of theindisput able facts of the case. TheP o l i s h g o v e r n m e n t , i n w h o s ed e f e n s e E n g l a n d a n d F r a n c edeclared war against German y, wasa semi-fascist sta te th at had partici-p a t e d w i t h t h e N a z i s in t h e d i s-memberment of Czechoslovakia. Itw a s a s t a t e n o to r io u s for i t s m i s -t r e a t m e n t of it s J e w is h , R u s s i a n

a n d U k r a i n i a n p o p u l a t i o n s . T h epol it ica l figures in t he wes t , whoh a d b e e n p a s s i v e w h i l e t h eRhine land was occupied , Aus t r iagrabbed, Czechoslovakia betrayed,w e re n o w a t t h e h e lm o f g ov e rn -ment s su pposedly committed t o anan ti-fascist stru ggle. These were th esam e poli t icians, in th e main, whoh a d r e fu s e d a n a l l ia n c e w it h t h eSoviet Union an d had been vir tua lco-conspira tors in th e expan sion of t h e p o w e r of t h e n a s ce n t i n t e rn a -

tional fascist axis. They had accept-ed Ja pans claim tha t its ma raudingin China was to suppress Red ban-d i t s . I n t h e E t h i o p i a n c r i s i s ,L e op o ld A m e r y, s p e a k i n g i n t h eH o u s e o f C o mmo n s , s a id , H i sma je s ty s g o ve rn me n t i s n o t d i s -posed to give modern weapons t oblack African s.

B e fo r e t h e G e r m a n s i n v a d e dPoland, t he highest r eaches of French society had been penetratedby local fascists and secret agents of N a z i G e r m a n y a n d f a s ci s t I t a l y.There were t wo results of this politi-ca l rot : the Span ish re fugees whocrossed th e Pyren ees in flight fromFra nco were t rea ted wi th ex t remeb ru t a l i t y. T h e y w e re h e rd e d o n tob e a ch e s , w i th l i t t l e w a te r a n d n osan i ta t ion . They were r inged withb a r b e d w i r e a n d g u a r d e d b ySenega lese t r oops wh o spoke n e i -ther Spanish nor French. Of courseth e Ame r i ca n v e t e r a n s p ro t e s t e d.

A n d th e s e c on d c on s e q u e n c e w a sthat , about a year later, the brokenfragments of the French army werein f ligh t toward s what was n ow ah o s t i l e fr o n t i e r. W h e n t h e g r e a tmora l cha l lenge cam e in Spa in , i tbecame clear tha t t he Brit ish el i te ,in and out of government, preferredFr an co to the Republ ic. When th eUnited States Congress, under pres-sur e from right-wing and Ca th olicforces , passed th e Neu t ra l i ty Act ,t h e i s o l a t i o n o f t h e S p a n i s hRepublic was complete. The NobelL a u re a t e p oe t P a b lo N e ru d a , w h oh a d b e e n i n S p a i n , a n d s a w t h ep ro p h e t i c q u a l i t y of i t s s t r u g g le ,

wrote th e following:S pain tore the earth w ith h er nailsWh en Paris was m ost beautifu l.S pain poured out her enormous

tree of blood When L ondon tended its garden

and its lake of swan s.

The American volunt eers alongwith their embatt led brethren of theother International Brigades, con-tributed generously to this enormous

t r e e . T h a t i s w h y, wh e n t h e y l e ftSpa in, th ey were told, You can goproudly; you ar e history, you a re leg-end. There is n oth ing in an y archive,an ywhere in the world, tha t can falsi-fy t h a t s a d f a r e w e l l , o r t h a t aRomerstein can distort out of context.

Of cour se the n at ur e of th e warcha nged when th e Axis att acked theSoviet Union. It chan ged again whenthe J apanese atta cked Pearl Harboran d the Eu ropean Axis declared waragainst the Un ited States. Then, andonly then, did World War II a ssumeth e cha ra cter of a peoples crusa deagainst fascism.

Of course the veterans advocat-ed a second front in Europe, a frontto b e op e n e d a s s o o n a s ma t e r i a lmean s were available . We had notb e e n a m i l it a r y k i n d e r g a r t e n i nSpain. We r ealized th e ter rible con-sequences for Americans, above all,if th e easter n front collapsed. It wa s



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Ru ss i a

Percy Ludwicks la test Moscow

missive [Dec. 30, 1994] report sthat he examined an interesting IBar ch ive docum ent . Da ted October2 3 , 19 3 8 , a n d a d d r e s s e d t o t h eA rmy o f t h e E b ro , h i s l e t t e rdescribes it a s:

a List of distinguished com-r a d e s i n t h e 1 5 t h I n t e r n a t i on a l s , s i g n e d b y J o h n G a t e s a s t h eCommissar, of Internationals of the15th Brigad e:

The num bered names a re:1. Major, Sam Wild, British; 2.

Commissar, John Gates, American;3. Malcolm Dunbar, Major, British;4. Capta in, Jam es Ruskin, Bri t ish;5. Captain, Owen Smith, American;6 . C a p t a i n , G e o rg e F l e t c h e r,B r i t i s h ; 7 . C o m m i s s a r , R o b e r tCooney, Br i t i sh ; 8 . Cap ta in , J ohnPower, Irish ; 9. Major, Milton Wolff,American ; 10. Comm issar , GeorgeWat t , Amer ican ; 11 . Major, E . C .Smith , Can ad ian ; 12 . Commissar ,F r a n k R o g e r s , A m e r i c a n ; 1 3 .Soldier, George Murray, British; 14.A lv a h B e s s i e , A me r i c a n ; 1 5 .Te n i e n t e , Wi l l i a m M a t v e n k o ,C a n a d i a n ; 1 6 . C a p t a i n R o b e r tWalker , British ; 17. Soldado, TonyM a r t i n , C a n a d a ; 1 8 . Te n i e n t e ,Per cy Ludw ick, Brit ish; 19. Soldado,J i m B o u r n e , A m e r i c a n ; 2 0 .Te n i e n t e , M a n u e l E s t e v e z , [ n ocou nt ry given ].

More cur ren t ly, Percy con t in -ues:

T h i n g s w i t h u s s e e m t o b e

g o in g f ro m b a d to w o r s e . T h i sD e c e m b e r a l o n e , fo od p r i c e s i nMoscow ha ve g rown by f i fty per -c e n t . R e n t s , e le c t r i c it y a n d t e l e -phone bills have also risen st eeply,a n d n o b od y k n o w s w h e n a l l t h i sa n a r c h y i s g oi n g t o s t o p . S o b e r -minded people understand that thesocialism built in th e Soviet U nionhas p roved i t se lf inadequa te , tha tcapital ism is inevita ble in Russ ia .But t he t r oub le i s tha t the cos t o f th e economic re form is no t be ing

sha red equa lly. Wages and pen sionsar e lagging far behind living costs.The f ina l resu l t i s tha t the n ewly-r ich a re becoming r icher, and t hep o or , p o or e r . As r e g a r d s S a s h a[Percys wife] and myself personal-ly, we ha ve privi leges. As SecondWorld War veteran s, we ha ve a fiftypercent discount on rents, electrici-ty, te lephone bil ls , f ree drugs a ndt r a n s p o r t , a n d a b o ve -th e - a v era g epensions...

S p a i n a n d t h e I n t e r n a t i on a lBrigades arouse l i t t le interest n oww i t h u s . O u r w o r k a m o n g t h es c h o o l s h a s c o me to a n e n d .Idea l i sm is no t to th e tas te o f our

y ou n g s t e r s t o d a y. T h e y a r e v e r ypragmatic.Some hist orians call th e In ter-

na tiona l Brigad ers soldiers of for-tune who went to Spain to becomerich and have a fine time. Even thedecisive role of the Soviet Union inoverthrowing Nazi Germany duringt h e S e c on d Wo r l d Wa r i s b e i n gquestioned.

Things with us, as usual, go toextrem es. Seventy year s of Sovietru le ha ve brought nothing but dis-

ast er. But ma ny people, however, donot agree with th is.

A lt h o u g h o u r n u m b e r s a r ed w in d lin g , ou r S p a n i s h b u re a u i sst i l l functioning, than ks to a han d-ful of enth usiast s. Pa siona rias cen-t e n a r y n e x t y e a r w i l l h a r d l y b ema rk ed officially.

Im sorr y to end m y let t er onsuch a pessimistic note. Sasha a nd Isend you and all the American vetsour regar ds an d bes t w ishes fo r aha ppy New Year. Salud! w

C a n a d a

F ro m E to b ico k e (Toro n t o ) T h eA s s o ci a t i o n of Ve t e r a n s a n dFriends of th e MacKenzie-Pa pineauB a t t a l i o n , i n a c o m m u n i c a t i o nsigned by Pau l Skup, informs t hat :Ther e has been some con t inu in gp ro gre s s , t h a n k s t o t h e d e d ica t e d

work of a few, towar ds a ch iev ingth e e rec t ion o f a m emor ia l monu-men t an d the u nveil ing of plaquest o h o n o r t h e M a c -P a p s . T h es e l e ct e d r o c k [ fr o m G a n d e s a ] i sf ina lly in Toront o.. The unveil ingw i l l n o t t a k e p l a c e u n t i l t h eSpring.

Wi th t h e G a n d e s a M e mo r i a lRock bedded down for th e win te r ,awaiting resurrection in the spring,attention was directed to our majoram bi t ion th e e rec t ion o f a com-memora t ive monument in O t ta wa ,a d e c i s ion v o t e d b y th e M a c -P a pv e t e r a n s s e v e r a l y ea r s a g o . T h eM a c -P a p s a l s o vo t e d i n f a v or o f

e n g r a v in g on t h e m o n u m e n t t h enames of a l l Canadian volunteers . Sculpt ors will be invited t o sub-mit designs from which a committ eeof judges would select t he winn ingsculpture. w

E n g l a n d

Fr o m L o n d o n , B i ll Al e x a n d e r

writes:Than k you for sen ding me th ep h o to c o p ie s o f B e rn a rd K n o x sreviews in the N.Y. Review of Books actually he had sent them to me. Iam in correspondence with him overh i s c omm e n t s o n L a u r i e L e e s A

Mom ent of War , which is a completefantasy Laurie did not get nearerthe front than Barcelona.

Our members for m an y reasons old age, poverty, et c. could not join us in Mad rid in October. Th e

decisive thing is that the memorialwent up. w

S w e d e n

F r o m S t o ck h o l m , o u r S w e d i s hcomra d e s i n form u s t h a t t h e i ro rg a n iz a t io n h a s b e e n d i s s olv ed .R e d u c e d n o w t o on l y a f e w s u r -vivors, they are unable to continuefu n ct i on i n g . A r r a n g e m e n t s h a v e

Ne w s Fro m Ab ro a d


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been made for maintenance of theirrecords a nd a rchives.

Nearly 500 Swedish volunteersserved in Spain. They fought in al lt h e I B ca m p a i gn s , a s w e ll a s t h eguer ri l la forces of the Rep ublic 162 died in ba ttle. w

F r a n c e

A F re n c h f i lm c r e w, b a c k in1993, on location in th e USA,tap ed interviews with a nu mber of L incoln b r igader s for a p r o jec tedg ov e r n m e n t - s p on s o r e d T V d o c u -

m e n t a r y on t h e v et e r a n s o f t h eI n t e r n a t i on a l B r i g a d e s a n d t h eSpan ish Civil War.

The au th ors of the film ar e EmilWeiss and Jorge Amat, who was itsd i r e c t o r. T h e i r f in i s h e d w o r k , ath ree-hour long docum ent ar y, waste lecas t se r ia l ly las t year. A copybrought here in J anu ary was eager-ly and a ppreciatively previewed bythe VALB staff in N ew York, as wellas Veteran film experts Milt Felsenan d Bill Susman in Florida.

The exciting core of the pictu recons is t s o f much wa r t ime foo tagean d contemporar y int erviews withI B v e t e r a n s o f m a n y E u r o p e a n

countries . Many English-speaking

v e t s fr o m t h e U S A , Br i t a i n a n dIreland are seen and heard. Amongt h e m a r e S t e v e N e l s on , G e o r g eWat t , Milt Wolff , Bil l Bailey, Bil lA le x a n d e r , B e r n a r d K n o x, B il lS u s m a n , M i l t F e l s e n , C h a r l i eNusser , and Bill Alexan der.

Fu l l cr i t ica l eva lua t ion o f th efilms storyline was h inder ed by thelack of En glish s ubt itles. However,our VALB an d ALBA cinem a expertsar e aiding the director-auth ors rep-resentative, Laura Barton, to obtaina sh owing a t a U .S . fi lm fes t iva l .They are strongly urging th e produc-ers th at i t be shortened t o increasei t s c h a n c e s fo r t h e d o cu m e n t a r y

mar ket in the USA.w

Ne w s Fro m Ab ro a d

T h a n k s f r om Cu b aHavana City,

November 18, 1994Dear Fr iends,

It was with gr eat pleasu re th at we received in ourCardiocenter at th e William Soler P ediatric Hospita lin Ha vana , your donation of a Dinama p Vital SignsMonitor which ena bles us to measur e the ar terialpressur e of our pat ients th rough a n on-invasivemeth od. We a re m oved by your valua ble contributionan d the gestur e of solidarity tha t it represent s.

This was th e first pediatr ic hospital ina ugura ted byth e Cuban Revolution over 30 years a go an d it bears t hena me of William S oler, a child who, at t he a ge of 14,was k illed in the City of Santiago de Cuba, str ugglingagainst the tyran nical regime of Fu lgencio Batista.

Over these years, our h ospital has t urn ed into oneof th e most importan t m ulti-disciplina ry pediatr iccent ers in t he coun try, an d its Car diocenter providesmedical at tent ion t o pediat ric patients with congeni-tal hea rt disease who are referr ed to us by a nat iona l

cardiopediatric network a cross th e coun tr y. At t hesame time, hu ndr eds of children from Latin Americaan d Africa who ha ve needed such ser vices ha ve beenopera ted on in our Car diocent er.

In spite of the difficult economic situation that ourcountr y is facing at present , we ha ve been able to con-tinu e providing such h igh cost s ervice an d medicalattent ion t o these patients a nd t heir families, thanksto the effort s of our governm ent an d th e solidarity of friends from all over the world.

With our very best wishes,D r. F e li p e C r d e n a s

An omnibu s two-part r eview of eight books by an dabout International brigaders appeared in successiveissues (December 1 and 15, 1994) of the prestigious N ewYork R eview of Books (NYRB). They were wr it ten byBernard Knox, h imse lf a ve te ran of the In t e rna t iona lBrigades British Ba tta lion an d World War II.

The earlier NYR issue dealt with five titles: FallenS p a r r o w s : Th e In te rna t iona l Br igades in the S pan i s hC i v i l Wa r, b y M ich a e l J a c k s o n ; T h e O d y s s ey o f t h e

A braha m Lin coln b r igade , b y P e t e r N . C a r ro l l; T h ePr isoners of th e Good Fight , by Carl Geiser; R e m e m -ber ing S pa in : H emingw ays C iv il War Eu logy, and theVeterans o f the A braham Lin coln B r igade, essays byMilton Wolff and Cary Nelson (includes a tape of hem-ingways recording of the eulogy); and Another H ill , AnAutobiographical Novel by Milton Wolff.

The s econd set of Knoxs r eviews included: E d w i n R olfe: Col lected Poem s, e d i t e d b y C a r y N e l s on a n d

J e f f e r s o n H e n d r i c k s ; Ed w i n R o l f e : A B i o g r a p h i c a l Essay, by Cary Nelson and Jefferson Hendricks, and A Mom ent of War: A m emoir of the Span ish Civil War, byLaur ie Lee. w

8 B o ok s on t h e I Br e v ie w e d i n N YR B

By arrangement with the NYRB publisher, read-ers of Th e Volunteer may obtain a photocopied set of the Knox reviews by sending $5 to the VALB at 799Broadway, N ew York , NY 10003-6811 , reques t ingN Y R B r e v i e w s , a n d , o f c ou r s e , i n c l u d i n g t h esender s addr ess.


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A n ot h er b r o w n i e p o i n t er

exclaim ed, Boss Merr im an , themwa s sure powerful leaflets. (p. 99)

It is unt hinkable that this min-strel show performance in a south-e rn a c ce n t w a s p u t o n b y L a w inan y setting worth qu oting seriously.Even th e sour ces cited are most sus -pect Herr ick for one, an insensi-

t ive turn coat an d proven informer,and Millie Bennett, a reporter, whowas not at the scene.

Pete Car roll, in a r ecent letter tome, quotes an un na med batt a l ionofficer, who at tr ibutes cowar dice andinexperience to Law a t Bru nete. Onth e cha rge of coward ice Ive refut edthat above, and inexperience quiteaccur at ely describes a cha ra cteristicpossessed by al l th e ear ly LincolnBrigade comma nders. w

H a r r y F i sh e r

Peter Carroll responds

I do no t d isagree fun dam ent a l lywith Ha rry Fisher s assessmentof Oliver Law. But there are a cou-ple of points t ha t m ay be of inter estto your readers. Herricks novel wasnot the first fictional account of theassassination of a Negro comman-d e r o f t h e L i n c o ln B a t t a l i o n . I n1 9 5 9 , a n o v e li s t n a m e d B e r n a r d

Wolfe publish ed T he Great Pr ince Died, in which an African Americanna med Sheridan J ust ice is savage-ly t or tu r e d a n d k i l le d b y h i s o w nmen. I su spect (a l though I cann otprove the point) th at Herr icks ver-sion was inspired by Wolfes Prince.O n e r e a s o n I m a k e t h a t cl a i m i sth a t b o th o f t h e v e t e r a n s H e r r i ck c la ime d h a d in fo rme d h im o f t h ea s s a s s in a t ion , a s I e x p la in i n mybook, vigorously denied his charges.That does leave open t he quest ion of

w h e th e r Wol fe ma d e th e s to ry u pc omp le t e ly or w a s i n f lu e n c e d b ysomeone elses informa tion. In a nycase, my research support s Ha rr ysv i e w s a b o u t t h e d e a t h o f O li v e rLaw.

The qu es t ion o f the powerfu lleaflets should not be t aken l i ter-a l ly. As H ar ry po in ts ou t , I foundt w o t o t a l l y in d e p e n d e n t s o u r c e ss a y i n g e x a ct l y t h e s a m e t h i n g .

H e r r i c k a s s u r e d m e h e h a d n oth e a r d i t f r o m s o m e o n e e ls e , b u tw i t h h i s o w n e a r s . A n d M i l l i eB e n n e t t , a v e r y cl o s e f r i e n d o f R ob e r t M e r r i m a n , r e co r d e d t h es t o r y a s i f s h e h a d h e a r d i t f r omhim. But so what? Afte r a t e r r i f icbomb explosion, a soldier like La wmight well crack a joke t o ease thetension. And th e s tory was repeat-e d n o t t o s h o w L a w s i g n o ra n c e ,b u t t h e h u m a n q u a l i t y o f h i shumor. w

Continued from page 12 An e x ch a n g e on T h e O d y s se y a n d O liv e r L a w

one thing to go from the beaches of Norman dy to meet the Red Army ont h e b a n k s o f t h e E l b e R i ve r . I t

would h ave been infinitely worse t ogo from th a t po in t of depar tu re tome e t t h e m o n th e Vo lg a o r i n t h efooth ills of th e Ur al moun ta ins.

So the p rema tur e an t i -fasc is t so f S p a i n t h e n e m b a r k e d t o m e e ttheir old enemy on all the far-flungb a t t l e f i e ld s o f Wo r ld Wa r I I .R ome r s t e in a s s e r t s t h a t i n S p a inwe were incompetently led. He findsin the ar chives the mordant gripesof th e foot soldier. Th is was proba-b l y t r u e o f t h e G r e e k i n fa n t r y a tM a r a t h o n a n d f or s o l d ie r s e v e rsince. Romer stein would pr obablybe shocked if he hear d wha t soldiersi n t h e P a ci fi c h a d t o s a y a b ou tG e n e r a l M a c Ar t h u r or Ad m i r a lN i m i t z . T h e A m e r i c a n s o f t h eSpan ish war offered t heir ser vicesto the American govern ment an d itsmili tary off ic ials . Where we wereaccepted, we did as well as an y un it.

As to the competency of our officers,look at th e World War II r ecord of T h o m p s o n , We ll m a n , B ot t c h e r ,Watt, inter a lia.

T his response to Romersteins dia-tr ibe would n ot be complete with -ou t me n t ion in g th e Wor ld Wa r I Iachievement s of our foreign br others.Colonel Rol of th e 14th In ter na tionalBrigade commanded the insurrectiontha t liberated P aris. Titos pa rtisans,w h o p in n e d d ow n m o r e G e r m a ntr oops th an were deployed againstthe F ifth and Eighth Armies in Italy,were led by 13 genera ls , twelve of t h e m c a me f ro m th e 1 3 thI n t e r n a t i o n a l B r i g a d e . G e n e r a lWa l t e r of t h e 1 3 t h I n t e r n a t i o n a lB r ig a d e c o mma n d e d o n e o f t h eP o li s h a rm ie s t h a t ma r ch e d f romWarsaw to Berlin. Colonel Pacciardio f th e 12th In te rn a t iona l Br igadebecam e the first m inister of defensein the post-war World War II I t a liangovernment. Capt ain Wintr inghamof th e 15 th In te r na t iona l Br igadeo rg a n iz e d th e h o me g u a rd fo r

Winston Chur chill.T h e S o v ie t o ff ic e r s w h o g a v e

ta ctical and st ra tegic advice to theSpan ish Republican forces went ont o c o m m a n d t h e a r m i e s t h a t

d e s t ro ye d th e We h rma c h t . L e t u snote part icularly the tur ning pointat Stal ingrad, where the fie ld com-ma nder, E r emenk o , th e four d iv i-s ional comma nders, a nd the sectorcomma nders , including Rodimtsevan d Chu ikov, were a l l ve te ra ns o f th e Span ish front . It wasn t lack of military skill that made us victims.I t w a s t h e cr u s h i n g s u p e r i o r i t y,often ten- and twelve-to-one in mod-ern weapons , tha t made our sac r i -fice both un necessary an d tr agic.

Next yea r, t he world wil l cele-brate th e 50th ann iversary of the tr i-um ph of th e Allies over fascist ba r-barism. We are certain th at dur ingthose festivities th e premat ure ant i-fascists will be well remem bered. w

R o b e r t G . C o lo d n yProfessor Emeritus

of Hist ory, Universit y of Pittsbu rgh; VALB



17/20

,

w Ronald V. Dellums, Member of Congress, writesto the Bay Area Post from Washing ton , D .C . :

Dear Milt and Fr iends of th e VALB: I regret th at Iam una b le to join you for t he an nua l d inner. I un der-

sta nd t his will be a special event commem ora ting histor -ical ar t an d photos, songs and other t estimonials.As always, I wish you th e best. I especially enjoy

th e times I ha ve had th e opportun ity to join in t hese cel-ebrat ions because I always r eceive inspira tion from a llof you. Your ongoing work to support the work of localand international activities to achieve a better world ismore important than ever. I look forward to continuingto work with you.

w A comprehensive, compact history of th e nu rses wh oserved in th e Spanish Civil War a ppears in th e N u r s in g

History Review , Volum e 3, 1995, und er th e title Heroines of

th e Good Fight . The author is Fran ces Pata i, N e w Yo rk associate of the VALB, and Adjunct Lecturer at ManhattanCommu nity College of th e City University of New York .

With in a ca re fu l ly ann ota t ed 25 pages , Pa ta i p re -sents a concise and moving study of the cadre and thecaliber of nu rses who served in th e Medical Bur eau toAid Spanish Democracy.

Their history and their heroism, paralleling that of th e front line soldiers, is described an d docum ent ed bythe testimony oral and written, contemporary and ret-rospective of the women Volunteers themselves.

w We have a West Coast a viso from Herm an and

Mildred Rosenstein tha t th eir son Pa ul was elected ma yorof th e city of S a n ta M on ic a , California, in December.

w F u r th e r p ro v in g th a t t h e e l e cto r a l cl ima t e of Sou thern Ca l i fo rn ia i s indeed very specia l , Raven B .Earlygrow, mayor of P o i n t Ar e n a , CA, writ es:

My father George (Auvan) Chaikin brought back afairly significant collection of posters, postcards and cal-enda rs from Spain. Following his death severa l year sago, I had them m ounted a nd th ey had th eir first pu blicshowing last month in conjunction with a stage perfor-

mance by Luis Oropeza of his play, Th e Assassination of Federico Garcia Lorca . They will be exhibited later th isyear a t the Monterey Peninsu la Museum of Art a long-side a show of work s of Picas so.

w F r o m L o n d o n , T h e l m a F r y e (s t a g e n a m eThelma Ru by) writes (in pa rt ):

I enclose a contr ibution a nd would like it t o be record-ed as being in mem ory of my beloved hu sband Peter Fr yea n d ou r fr i e n d s C h a r l ie N u s s e r, A l P ra g o a n d S t e v eNelson. It is so tough t o lose a bun ch of friends an d evenmore tough when t hey die at th e same t ime. I can t tellyou how mu ch I m iss Cha rlies wonderful, frequen t lett ersan d his cut tings from the New Y ork T imes . As I read th ebiograp hies of th e vets who ha ve recent ly died, it rein-forces my belief th at you a re a unique a nd great bunch of hu man beings an d I am very privileged to know you.

As for me, it h as been a mixed year. I d id a ver y goodcomedy TV series. It ha s been bought by the U.S. calledSo Haunt Me . I am in t hr ee episodes of th e 2nd series an d4 episodes of th e 3rd. It s about a J ewish ghost!

I am going on a tr ip to China , and wh en I get back,I go int o Fidd ler on t he R oof , playing Goldie oppositeTopols Tevye. It will be the fourth time I have done thepar t a nd t he th ird opposite Topol. The only certa in dat esare Ea stbourne and Birmingham here in England, butther e is a strong probability tha t a fterwa rd we will go toDublin, Oslo, Hong Kong, the U.S. a nd Isra el.

w Bill Wheeler has moved diagonally cross-countryfrom Miss ion H i l ls , California, to A t h e n s , Georgia. Hereports that George Sossenko, his VALB neighbor inA t la n t a , h a s a l r e a d y b oo k e d h i m t o le ct u r e a t aUnita rian Chur ch, free-for-all discussion group.

w From K a n s a s C i t y, Ka n s a s , Fr ed Whitehea ds journal, Peoples Cu ltu re (new Series #24/25) plugs t heVALB an d Th e Volunt eer . This occasiona lly publishedcritical/cultu ra l newsletter deserves some hea rt y reciproc-ity a year s su pply (6 issues) ma y be ha d for $15 from:Peoples Culture, Box 5224, Kansas City, KS 66119.

Cu llin g th e m a il s a c k

E n r iq u e Lis t e r( S p a i n )

W i t h i n a f e w w e e k s a f t e ra t t e n d in g th e d e d ica t ion o f the Morat a de Tajua m onument atJ a r a ma , E n r iqu e L i s t e r d ie d in aM a d r id h o s p i t a l o n D e ce mb e r 9 ,1 9 9 4. H e w a s a comma n d a n te of

t h e l e ge n d a ry 5 th R e g ime n t t h a tsaved Madr id in th e winter of 1936-37, Lister rose to become a divisionand arm y corps comma nder wh oseun its were always in action a long-side the International Brigades.

When the Republic fell, Listersa rm y group re t rea ted in to F r a n c e .He found exile in the Soviet Union,where h e joined th e Red Arm y a t

th e outbreak of World War II. As ageneral , h e comma nded a divisionin the Na zi rout at Stalingrad.

T h e L in c oln v e t s a n d f r i e n d swho part icipated in th e 1986 50than niversary t rip to Spain will vivid-ly reca l l L is te r s hos t r o le a t th em a j o r e v e n t s i n M a d r i d a n dBarcelona. w

Adde d to Me m orys Ros te r Abroa d



18/20

,

B o o k o n VAL B le t t e r s fr o m S p a inn e a r ly d o n e ; m or e m a t e r ia l sou gh t

nu rses, doctors an d social work ers.We have t r ied to represen t a l l the

Americans who came to the defenseof th e Span ish Repu blic.Those of you wh o have le t t ers ,

d ia r ies o r ph o tograph s you wouldlike to have considered for the book c a n c a l l C a ry N e l s on a t 2 1 7 -2 5 6 -0 6 4 9 or s e n d t h e m t o h i s h o m ea d d r e s s : 8 0 8 S o u t h Ly n n S t . ,Cham paign, IL 61820. Time, howev-er, is very short. If you would sendor ig ina l le t te r s o r pho tos we wi llcopy them and return them to you.We are especially inter ested in let-

ters about Jarama and letters fromAfrican American volunteers. w

C a r y N e l so na n d J e ff H en d r i ck s

T he first book-length collection of letters wr itten by American volun-teers in S pain is nea rly done. It will beabout 500 pages and will include let-ters, dia ries an d ph otograph s. Wevesigned a contra ct with a N ew York publisher , Rout ledge; th ey are excitedabout th e book and plan t o work h ar dto get it in bookstores a cross th e coun -tr y. We expect t he book t o be in pr intin J anu ary of 1996.

Veteran s an d th eir family mem-bers ac ross the count ry ha ve beengenerous in shar ing their preciousand i r rep laceab le documen ts w i thus. Both t he N ew York office and t heB a y Are a Ve t s h a v e w ork e d h a rdan d su ccessfully not only to gath erletters for the book but also to collecta ser ies of extr aordinar y testimoni-a l s f r om p r o min e n t A me r i ca n s t oplace on t he books jacket .

The collections at Bran deis andB e rk e l ey h a v e b e e n a n imp or t a n tand essential resource. The quality

of th e letters we a re u sing could not behigher. Many of you will be surprised

by the deta iled an d often u nique sto-ries people were a ble to write homefrom time t o time. Even t hose of youw h o w e re i n S p a in ma y d i s co ve rth ings you d id not kn ow before, espe-cially as some of the volun teers wholost t heir lives in Spain will tell theirstories for t he first time.

The book is divided into elevenc h a p te r s : W h y W e Wen t O n t h eWa y t o S p a i n I n T r a i n i n g I nS p a n i s h V i l l a g es a n d C i t i e s I n

Ba t t l e : 1937 In B a t t l e 1938

F r om M a d r i d t o B a r c el on a T h e Medical Services Th e Regim ent deTren Politics On th e Way Hom e.

I t in cludes le t ter s by soldiers ,

T o encour age th e stu dy of theLincoln Br igade a nd t heSpan ish Civil War, the Abraha mLincoln Brigad e Archives (ALBA)an nounces establishm ent of theALBA-George Watt memorialprizes for the best college studentessays about the Span ish war, theanti-fascist struggles of the 1930s,or the lifetime histories of theAmerican s who participat ed in theSpanish war.

Two prizes of $500 will beawar ded each year one to thebest undergraduat e paper, one tothe best gradua te student paper;ru nn er-up awar ds of $250 may bepresented if the papers submittedmerit t hem. Pa pers will be judgedon t he basis of originality, effec-tiveness of argument and qualityof writing. Papers mus t u se bothprimar y and seconda ry sourcesand must have been written to ful-fill a cour se or degree requirem ent.

The dea dline for t he first

awards is Apr il 1, 1996 . For th einaugural year, essays written in1994-1996 will be eligible. Ess aysmu st be at least 5,000 words.Applicants should submit 5 copiesof the essay, typed, double spaced,with an SASE for r eturn . Entr iesshould be ma iled to:

P e t e r C a r r o ll , C h a i rAb r a h a m L i n c o ln B r i g a d e

A rc h iv e sB o x L I I, B ra n d e i s U n iv e r s i t yWal th am MA 02254

The first awa rds will bean nounced on J un e 1, 1996. The judges will be appointed by theALBA execut ive committ ee.

Fu nding for t his generousawa rd came from private donorswho wished to commemorate t hememory of veteran George Watt(1914-1994). With a dditiona l dona-tions, ALBA hopes to enlarge t heawards to include prizes for highschool student s as well. w

ALBA-Ge o rg e Wa ttMe m oria l Es s ay Con te s t

L lo yd E d m o n d s( A u s t r a l i a )

Amirah Inglis writes with t henews of the d eat h of LloydEdmonds, veteran of the In terna -t iona l Br igades , who se rved inth e Tra nsport section. Lloyd diedo n S e p t e m b e r 1 8 , 1 9 9 4 , of ahear t a t tack. He was buried pri-

vately but t here wil l be a publicm e m o r i a l s e r v i ce f or h i m i nMel bo u r n e .

Inglis included an obit whichnoted that Lloyd unveiled the IBmemoria l in Can berra a lmos t ay e a r a g o , a n d th i s y e a r, o n t h ean n iversa r y of th e unve i l ing , agroup of vets will gather at a pic-nic wher e We will thin k of Lloydand drink a toast to the memoryof a fine ma n. w

Me m orys Ros te rContinued from page 17


19/20

,

Vet erans of t he A braham Lincoln Brigadeand Abraham Lincoln Brigade A rchiv escordially invite you to our

58th A nnual Anniversary

Dinner Sunday , April 30, 1995

at the Sheraton-New York 52nd St. & Seventh AvenueCocktails: 12 noon Dinner: 1 pm

$45.00Please mak e your reserva tio ns early

Veterans of the A braham Lincoln Brigade799 Broadway, Room 227

New York, NY 10003-6811

If you wish to attend please fill out the adjacent coupon,cut it out and mail it in as soon as possible.

Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln brigade799 Broadway, Suite 227

New York, NY 10003-6811 1-212 674-5552

u Enclosed please find my check for $_____________for__________ tickets to the 58th Anniversary Dinner at $45 each.

Check box if fish or vegetarian preferred to chicken:u Fish_________(no.)u Vegetarian________(no.)

u I cannot attend the dinner, but I am enclosing my check for $ ________ to acquire and catalog the IBArchives and for the ongoing activities ofALBA and VALB.

Name (Print) ________________________________________________

Address ___________________________________________________

City__________________________________State_________Zip _____

Please make checks payable to the VALB and mail to the above address.

PROGRAM

Tony Rand all, actor Master of CeremoniesCary Nelson English Literatu re Professor, Univ . of Ill.

Mimi Turque, actor Kiss of the Spider WomanHen ry Foner Retired president, Fur & Leather UnionJerrold L. Nad ler U.S. Representative, 8th CD, NY

An appealYes! I be lieve that a c ontribution to the Ve terans of the Ab ra ham LincolnBriga d e h a s a unique q ua lity. It b rings The Volunteer to its rea d ers, free ofc ha rge , helps me et the expenses of the offic e w here the pe rsisting Vete ra n

sta ff c a rries on ; and assures VALB sup p ort fo r causes co nsistent w ith its 60-yea r trad ition.

Here s my contrib ution of $______________________________________________

Na me _________________________________________________________________

Ad d ress________________________________________________________________

City _________________________________Sta te ___________Zip ____________ Ma il to: Vete rans of th e A bra ha m Linc oln Briga de , 799 Broad wa y, Rm. 227, New York, NY 10003


20/20

Zelda Alberti for Tony, $25 w Al Amery in memory of Rudy Haber, $10 w Isabel Auerbach, $10 w

Andres Avellaneda, $20 w Mark, with Jeanette Alper, in memory of my brother Ben, $50 w JohnBandres, $10 w Irving Barr, $50 w Chris Brooks for Charlie Nusser, Harry Levine and Paul Wendorf,$25 w Leila C. Broughton, $25 w Megan Cogswell in memory of my father Theodore Cogswell, $50w Joe Di fferding for Mel Anderson and Frank Madigan, $30 w Sophie Fitzgerald, $15 w Dr. P.A.Freeman, $25 w Thelma Frye in memory of my beloved husband Peter Frye and our friends CharlieNusser, Al Prago and Steve Nelson, $200 w Irving Gold, $10 w Alan Gonzales, $50 w HerbertGrossman, $10 w H. David Hammond, $10 w Marianne Iceland for Ben, $45 w Martin Jacobs, $30w Clarence Kailin, $20 w Charles Kaufman, $20 w Lillian Kaufman for Sid Kauman, $200 w

Thomas Keenan for Felix Kusman, $50 w Karel Kiliminik, $20 w Hazel Klein in memory of Sy Klein,$10 w Irene and Irving Kohn in memory of Sophie Saloff, $100 w David Kolodoff, $10 w Al Koslow,$10 w Dana Lehman, $50 w Clara Levine, $20 w Betty Marion, $20 w Aurelia Masarsky forCharles Nusser, $20 w Chris McFail,$20 w Thelma Mielke, $25 w Annie Moy in memory of George

Chaikin w Ruth E. Neri in memory of my father, Dino Neri, $50 w Edith and Sol Newman, $20 wWarren Nusser for Charlie Nusser, $25 w Perley B. Payne for Tom OFlaherty and Luke Hinman, $100w Blas Padrino for Steve Nelson, $25 w John Penrod, $25 w David Rafiel, $50 w Jeffrey Lee Rocket,$20 w Adolph and Lillian Ross, $50 w Lillian Ross, $10 w Samuel Schiff for the Americans whoserved with the Garibaldis, $35 w Rosemarie Schober in memory of Hans Beimler, $100 w Lou andEv Schwartz, Janet Schwartz and Howard Spi vak, Karen and Sarah Schwartz, on Herb Freemans birth-day in memory of Jack Freeman, $200 w Roy Selby, MD, for all the Lincolns, $50 w Max Shufer, $50w Sam Sills, $25 w Roberta Soules, $10 w Birdie and George Sossenko in memory of Carl Einstein,$30 w Sonia Stolman in honor of Moe Fishman, $30 w Vivian Stromberg in honor of Norma Becker,$65 w Loretta Szelich for Ann Reel and Lenny Lamb, $10 w S. Savilla Teiger for the 80th birthday ofDavid Goldberg w Corinne Thornton for Bill Bailey and Rudy Valuch, $40 w Arendje Visser for Bil lB

the volunteer, march 1995

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