At 3:01 AM, upon commenting on everyone's blog, this is what I have succumed to in an attempt to procrastinate even further.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Judt, Tony
Judt did not actually have anything in his folder that really gave a detailed description of him or a view into his life but what he did do was a book review of "Spain Betrayed: The Soviet Union in the Spanish Civil War". It says that the Spanish Civil war was a struggle between democrats and authoritarians and contemporaries. Moreover, the Soviet Union was the only to give help to the Republican government buttt when Judt analyzes this, he says that the Soviet Union only gave money because they were trying to spread Communism. On the other hand, Judt then states that the Republicans brought their fate on themselves by not representing the heterogenity of Spain such as the peasant small holders, shopkeepers, and Catholics.
Then you have the crazy people which were made up of anarchists, unionists, COmmunists, SOcialists, Republicans, Basques & Catalan separatists. Communists were a mniority in Spain however. The only reason they survived there was because the Soviet Union promised to offer money if they increased communism's hold and because Spanish Communism tried to destroy all the competition within the left.
This folder focused a lot on the Soviet Union which is another cool viewpoint.
Then you have the crazy people which were made up of anarchists, unionists, COmmunists, SOcialists, Republicans, Basques & Catalan separatists. Communists were a mniority in Spain however. The only reason they survived there was because the Soviet Union promised to offer money if they increased communism's hold and because Spanish Communism tried to destroy all the competition within the left.
This folder focused a lot on the Soviet Union which is another cool viewpoint.
tivin, isadore
Isadore Tivin was from Venture, Cali and he died at 90 years old in 1997.
Oddly enough, I haven't heard of this before but Tivin served in the Brunete Campaign. However, he was sent home after he got the typhus fever. Which is such a depressing way to go home.
In the folder there's a letter sent by Tivin to the National Commander of the VALB asking Steve to remove 5 people in control of the VALB papers because they were using the papers for their own purposes/priorities. (I didn't really understand this but whatevzzz).
In the letter he states that at the VALB Conferences in NY in 1979, a man by the name of Gabby Rosenstein, slandered all the vets saying he was a McCarthy in his own way. Rosenstein was the Secretary of the LA Post.
So this was all that was there and upon examination, I feel like this was a good folder because it showed that the vets were still involved with the VALB causes even after the Spanish Civil War.
Oddly enough, I haven't heard of this before but Tivin served in the Brunete Campaign. However, he was sent home after he got the typhus fever. Which is such a depressing way to go home.
In the folder there's a letter sent by Tivin to the National Commander of the VALB asking Steve to remove 5 people in control of the VALB papers because they were using the papers for their own purposes/priorities. (I didn't really understand this but whatevzzz).
In the letter he states that at the VALB Conferences in NY in 1979, a man by the name of Gabby Rosenstein, slandered all the vets saying he was a McCarthy in his own way. Rosenstein was the Secretary of the LA Post.
So this was all that was there and upon examination, I feel like this was a good folder because it showed that the vets were still involved with the VALB causes even after the Spanish Civil War.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
11/04 pt 2
James Lardner
In this collection there were MANY letters/correspondences between Lardner and his mother and a man by the name of Ring Lardner. Maybe a brother or father? To Ring Lardner, he sends a postcard which he writes that he was hit by shrapnel and is at the hospital healing (there is a picture of a hospital on the card) and he refers to his group as "the Party" rather than the Reds or the Republicans or whatnot. It's cool to see what they all referred to their cause as.
In another letter to his mother, we also find out more about James himself. He writes to his mother saying that this is a hard thing to tell her but that he has decided to go off and fight in the war regardless of the fact that his best friend told him not to. Since James was a journalist, he had an opportunity to meet Ernest Hemingway as it sounds and Hemingway is said to have told him that if James wanted to go fight the fascists he should because it is a worthy cause. He then discusses how exclusive the army is which is very suprirsing because you would think they would have accepted everyone and anyone and would have been so ecstatic and inclusive to have people. He states that it took him a long time to get ot the position he has now which is very surprising. What's more interesting is then that he lists why he should join the ALB.
I'll write a few down.
1. Because I feel Facism is wrong and it must be exterminated and that liberal democracy or more probably communism is right.
2. Because my joining of the ALB might change the neutrality act the US has taken.
3. Because there is a girl in Paris who will learn that my prescence is not necessary to her existence.
4. Because I shall come in contact with many communists, who are very good company and from whom I expect to learn a lot of things.
5. Because I am tired of working for the Herald tribune in particular and newspapers in general.
I feel all of these reasons can sum up why a lot of the people joined the ALB and the cause in Spain. They believed they'd be doing something good for the world by exterminating fascists, for love or to run away from love, to learn from the Communists or because they were Communists, and perhaps because they were just tired of their daily lives in America.
There's also a news article from James' hometown which gives more of a history of James. James was educated at Andover and Harvard (which shows that even the highly prestigiousyl learned people went to fight).
It ends then with Jim's friend writing to James' mother about how James was lost (he was missing in action) and it's just a sad note because people started out with these amazing causes and then they were simply lost or died.
In this collection there were MANY letters/correspondences between Lardner and his mother and a man by the name of Ring Lardner. Maybe a brother or father? To Ring Lardner, he sends a postcard which he writes that he was hit by shrapnel and is at the hospital healing (there is a picture of a hospital on the card) and he refers to his group as "the Party" rather than the Reds or the Republicans or whatnot. It's cool to see what they all referred to their cause as.
In another letter to his mother, we also find out more about James himself. He writes to his mother saying that this is a hard thing to tell her but that he has decided to go off and fight in the war regardless of the fact that his best friend told him not to. Since James was a journalist, he had an opportunity to meet Ernest Hemingway as it sounds and Hemingway is said to have told him that if James wanted to go fight the fascists he should because it is a worthy cause. He then discusses how exclusive the army is which is very suprirsing because you would think they would have accepted everyone and anyone and would have been so ecstatic and inclusive to have people. He states that it took him a long time to get ot the position he has now which is very surprising. What's more interesting is then that he lists why he should join the ALB.
I'll write a few down.
1. Because I feel Facism is wrong and it must be exterminated and that liberal democracy or more probably communism is right.
2. Because my joining of the ALB might change the neutrality act the US has taken.
3. Because there is a girl in Paris who will learn that my prescence is not necessary to her existence.
4. Because I shall come in contact with many communists, who are very good company and from whom I expect to learn a lot of things.
5. Because I am tired of working for the Herald tribune in particular and newspapers in general.
I feel all of these reasons can sum up why a lot of the people joined the ALB and the cause in Spain. They believed they'd be doing something good for the world by exterminating fascists, for love or to run away from love, to learn from the Communists or because they were Communists, and perhaps because they were just tired of their daily lives in America.
There's also a news article from James' hometown which gives more of a history of James. James was educated at Andover and Harvard (which shows that even the highly prestigiousyl learned people went to fight).
It ends then with Jim's friend writing to James' mother about how James was lost (he was missing in action) and it's just a sad note because people started out with these amazing causes and then they were simply lost or died.
11/04/09
Herman Greenfield
One of the first things that popped up to me in this file was a letter from the "Friends of the ALB" and it was a death notice. It's a letter to Herman's father saying that his son had died and that they were sorry. The thing that interests me most is the paper. The paper has a picture of Abraham Lincoln on the left and below that is a list of sponsors. I mean, come on. They're sending a letter saying his son has died and the paper has a list of sponsors? I'd be so cynical if I were the father.
Along with this is a postcard asking for aid to the Red cause. There's a note along with the card (he sends it to his mother) saying that this is a postcard for the Reds and that they give aid to the soldiers. So perhaps he was a Communist?
Amongst these things are many letters Herman himself writes. He writes very often to his parents which may show that he was quite the family man or that the fact that he was in a war and the idea that death could approach him, led hiim to become more close to his parents. In one of the letters he writes to his mother that he is said to hear economic situations aren't so well back at home. This is great because it gives some input as to how situations are in the US besides Spain. Moreover he writes that he is so happy that his mother says she would like to be there working as well which shows that some parents did support what their kids were doing. By the likes of it, he sounds like he is in the medical division because he says the work of his medical comrades are so highly appreciated.
On the flipside, the letters he writes to his father are much more depressing. He says that he didn't want to write because then he'd have to say things were okay even though they werent. It shows that with mothers, one can be more "untruthful" while with fathers, you can just tell it how it is.
Overall this was a great collection and I feel like a possible idea could be the relations between parents and their kids in Spain.
One of the first things that popped up to me in this file was a letter from the "Friends of the ALB" and it was a death notice. It's a letter to Herman's father saying that his son had died and that they were sorry. The thing that interests me most is the paper. The paper has a picture of Abraham Lincoln on the left and below that is a list of sponsors. I mean, come on. They're sending a letter saying his son has died and the paper has a list of sponsors? I'd be so cynical if I were the father.
Along with this is a postcard asking for aid to the Red cause. There's a note along with the card (he sends it to his mother) saying that this is a postcard for the Reds and that they give aid to the soldiers. So perhaps he was a Communist?
Amongst these things are many letters Herman himself writes. He writes very often to his parents which may show that he was quite the family man or that the fact that he was in a war and the idea that death could approach him, led hiim to become more close to his parents. In one of the letters he writes to his mother that he is said to hear economic situations aren't so well back at home. This is great because it gives some input as to how situations are in the US besides Spain. Moreover he writes that he is so happy that his mother says she would like to be there working as well which shows that some parents did support what their kids were doing. By the likes of it, he sounds like he is in the medical division because he says the work of his medical comrades are so highly appreciated.
On the flipside, the letters he writes to his father are much more depressing. He says that he didn't want to write because then he'd have to say things were okay even though they werent. It shows that with mothers, one can be more "untruthful" while with fathers, you can just tell it how it is.
Overall this was a great collection and I feel like a possible idea could be the relations between parents and their kids in Spain.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
10/29
Negrin, Juan.
This is also another interesting person I found. Juan Negrin was a writer who wrote several articles which were found in the file as well. One was titled "The Spanish Problem" which was about how Spain had it's own pride and how they want no outside aid. It discusses that people used the Civil War in Spain as a scapegoat for fighting "The Red Legend" in Spain for a Cmomunist cause. This was highly...I don't know how to descirbe it. Blasphemic?
Then he writes another article titled "League of Nations must find solution" which was about how before the actual civil war, the SPanish Republic knew that the rebel army was being created yet they didn't "care". It also states that people who came over didn't know what they were getting themselves into and thought that they would just be doing this glorious thing. (Which is tottally wrong. People were individually affected by the idea of facism, not JUSt for the communist cause; they truly wanted to help and were scared of facism taking over".
So then the interesting part comes here. THere are two different views of Negirn. One is said that Negrin was just a compelte liar and a bad man. in fact he was expelled as a miltatnat by the Spanish Socialist Party.
Another states that his reputation had been unjustly besmirched since the start of the war.
In my opinion, I feel like Negrin was probably just a really cynical man. I mean, of course I don't agree with what he said but if that's how he felt abou tthe war and those who came over to help, well then that's how he felt.
I really liked this folder because it contained two different sides of the opinions. Usually these people are portrayed as courages men with amazing morals yet here's this man, who seems to be the complete opposite. It's a nice change.
This is also another interesting person I found. Juan Negrin was a writer who wrote several articles which were found in the file as well. One was titled "The Spanish Problem" which was about how Spain had it's own pride and how they want no outside aid. It discusses that people used the Civil War in Spain as a scapegoat for fighting "The Red Legend" in Spain for a Cmomunist cause. This was highly...I don't know how to descirbe it. Blasphemic?
Then he writes another article titled "League of Nations must find solution" which was about how before the actual civil war, the SPanish Republic knew that the rebel army was being created yet they didn't "care". It also states that people who came over didn't know what they were getting themselves into and thought that they would just be doing this glorious thing. (Which is tottally wrong. People were individually affected by the idea of facism, not JUSt for the communist cause; they truly wanted to help and were scared of facism taking over".
So then the interesting part comes here. THere are two different views of Negirn. One is said that Negrin was just a compelte liar and a bad man. in fact he was expelled as a miltatnat by the Spanish Socialist Party.
Another states that his reputation had been unjustly besmirched since the start of the war.
In my opinion, I feel like Negrin was probably just a really cynical man. I mean, of course I don't agree with what he said but if that's how he felt abou tthe war and those who came over to help, well then that's how he felt.
I really liked this folder because it contained two different sides of the opinions. Usually these people are portrayed as courages men with amazing morals yet here's this man, who seems to be the complete opposite. It's a nice change.
10/27 ?
Grigas, Joseph
Of all of the research things I've done, I thought this was the cutest one (I'm a huge fan of cute things).
So Joseph Grigas was born in Worchester Massachusetts on Feb 15, 1915 and was of Lithuanian descent. Being the rebel he was (I'm assuming this), he left home twice to go off and fight in wars. In the first instance he left for 3 1/2 years to fight with the US Army in Panama and the 2nd was when he left with 15 others from Worchester to fight in Spain for the Republican cause.
Now this is where I'm surprised. The fact that 15 people from Worchester all went together is incredulous because you have to remember that only 3000 approximately people from America went and 15 of them were from this SAME city? It's just surprising.
He was then captured in Spain on April 5th and brought to San Pedro, which is interesting because I've researched several people who were captured together and brought to San Pedro. In 1939, he was allowed to return.
After this (as we have some info to this), we find out from different people that Joe spoke 3 languages fluently (one including German) and he was very courages. Afterwards he enlisted with the Canadian Refgiment for WWII because (The US wasn't in the war hahah). and through this he wont the Distinguished Conduct Medal later on for capturing coastal artillery batteries. (A highly prestious award). However, because he was dead, he could not accept it. By the way he died in 2005 in Canada. This is odd once again because it strikes me that he seemed to have spent more time in other countries rather than his home one which may account for why he was nicknamed International joe during his stay in the International Brigades.
Later on a man by the name of Bob Steck went looking for him but he couldn't find Joe due to privacy laws in the Social Security thing and so he left his name with other people who knew Joe. Now while Steck was on vacation in Puerto Rico, he got a letter from his neighbor back in Conn saying that an old little man came by traveling by 2 days on bus and walking looking for him. This was Joe. How cute is that! Unfortunately he could not be found because he didn't leave a msg behind.
Overall, I feel that this guy is a great example of some of the courageous men of the war. I would havel oved to meet his guy.
Of all of the research things I've done, I thought this was the cutest one (I'm a huge fan of cute things).
So Joseph Grigas was born in Worchester Massachusetts on Feb 15, 1915 and was of Lithuanian descent. Being the rebel he was (I'm assuming this), he left home twice to go off and fight in wars. In the first instance he left for 3 1/2 years to fight with the US Army in Panama and the 2nd was when he left with 15 others from Worchester to fight in Spain for the Republican cause.
Now this is where I'm surprised. The fact that 15 people from Worchester all went together is incredulous because you have to remember that only 3000 approximately people from America went and 15 of them were from this SAME city? It's just surprising.
He was then captured in Spain on April 5th and brought to San Pedro, which is interesting because I've researched several people who were captured together and brought to San Pedro. In 1939, he was allowed to return.
After this (as we have some info to this), we find out from different people that Joe spoke 3 languages fluently (one including German) and he was very courages. Afterwards he enlisted with the Canadian Refgiment for WWII because (The US wasn't in the war hahah). and through this he wont the Distinguished Conduct Medal later on for capturing coastal artillery batteries. (A highly prestious award). However, because he was dead, he could not accept it. By the way he died in 2005 in Canada. This is odd once again because it strikes me that he seemed to have spent more time in other countries rather than his home one which may account for why he was nicknamed International joe during his stay in the International Brigades.
Later on a man by the name of Bob Steck went looking for him but he couldn't find Joe due to privacy laws in the Social Security thing and so he left his name with other people who knew Joe. Now while Steck was on vacation in Puerto Rico, he got a letter from his neighbor back in Conn saying that an old little man came by traveling by 2 days on bus and walking looking for him. This was Joe. How cute is that! Unfortunately he could not be found because he didn't leave a msg behind.
Overall, I feel that this guy is a great example of some of the courageous men of the war. I would havel oved to meet his guy.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
10/21/09
Another one I did was that of a woman by the name of Erna Polle. She was a woman from Conneticut and also a writer judging by the things found in the collection which included a short story and something else, which I'll discuss.
Basically Erna was German and in the novel/account (it's called Lucia - Tales from the Spain I knew and Loved), she writes about how there's a Spanish word, salida, and how they need a dictionary to translate it into German because they don't speak Spanish. It shows how much diversity could be found abroad in Spain, which is a point proven many times over by the demographical lists of people who went over including Polish people, Germans, and etc.
Anyways there's a folder within for correspondences between her and other people. Oddly enough it's not one between her lovers or anything but rather her petitioning to big companies or to Professors to donate some money to the cause in Spain. For example in one she writes to a Professor at Mit, Professor Spruik, asking if he could donate money. Another one is to the Coordinating COmmunist to aid anti-facism group in Spain asking if they could donate AND put in 10cents to cover the costs of the letter! (Kind of stingy..hahah). That I thought was classic. Moreover she writes to a magazine editor to ask if they have a copy of the Spanish Constitution although it does not ask why she wants it.
Then she has a collection of pamphlets that lead me to believe that she was quite religious because all of the pamphlets are about spreading the word of god, such as the Spanish Gospel Mission, abroad in Spain. The sad part is that at the end of all these pamphlets, theres some derivative of "Pray for Spain".
One other man she writes to quite often is that of Felix Marti-Ibanez who is the editor in chief of Medical Newsmagazine. This man wrote many articles about Spain but in a literary kind of sense. For example, he compares Don Quixote to some of the people in the Spanish war. They write because she wants his articles.
In the end, there's a folder of letters from publishers that reject her "children's book" (what I mentioned earlier) because "the publisher do not want to take the risk in publishing about Spain". There are probably 15 of these letters and it's the saddest thing because it shows how the US and even the media through books, did not want to get involved.
This was a great folder because it showed the depths of writers and petitioners and religion all in one box. However the thing that impacted me most was probably her efforts to secure money from a variety sources and the rejection letters.
Basically Erna was German and in the novel/account (it's called Lucia - Tales from the Spain I knew and Loved), she writes about how there's a Spanish word, salida, and how they need a dictionary to translate it into German because they don't speak Spanish. It shows how much diversity could be found abroad in Spain, which is a point proven many times over by the demographical lists of people who went over including Polish people, Germans, and etc.
Anyways there's a folder within for correspondences between her and other people. Oddly enough it's not one between her lovers or anything but rather her petitioning to big companies or to Professors to donate some money to the cause in Spain. For example in one she writes to a Professor at Mit, Professor Spruik, asking if he could donate money. Another one is to the Coordinating COmmunist to aid anti-facism group in Spain asking if they could donate AND put in 10cents to cover the costs of the letter! (Kind of stingy..hahah). That I thought was classic. Moreover she writes to a magazine editor to ask if they have a copy of the Spanish Constitution although it does not ask why she wants it.
Then she has a collection of pamphlets that lead me to believe that she was quite religious because all of the pamphlets are about spreading the word of god, such as the Spanish Gospel Mission, abroad in Spain. The sad part is that at the end of all these pamphlets, theres some derivative of "Pray for Spain".
One other man she writes to quite often is that of Felix Marti-Ibanez who is the editor in chief of Medical Newsmagazine. This man wrote many articles about Spain but in a literary kind of sense. For example, he compares Don Quixote to some of the people in the Spanish war. They write because she wants his articles.
In the end, there's a folder of letters from publishers that reject her "children's book" (what I mentioned earlier) because "the publisher do not want to take the risk in publishing about Spain". There are probably 15 of these letters and it's the saddest thing because it shows how the US and even the media through books, did not want to get involved.
This was a great folder because it showed the depths of writers and petitioners and religion all in one box. However the thing that impacted me most was probably her efforts to secure money from a variety sources and the rejection letters.
10/21/09
William Morell Papers
These I found interesting because there were pictures to go along with the file which is great because it goes along with the whole cliche of "face to a name" kind of ordeal.
William Morell in his pictures looks like a 30 - 40 year old man with piercing clear eyes, almost like a vampire. It's almost as if you can tell he is this hardcore man. Oddly enough, he's from California and then went to Barcelona for the Fonda Ca La Candida. (I'm not sure what this means).
Within his file, there were a lot of things that marked that he was in Spain/a member of groups in Spain. For example, in one thing, there is a membership paper for the Veterans of the Lincoln Brigades. It's quite a simple paper but it's like memorabilia. Also there's a little red book for the Communist party of the Spain. Alongside with the book, there are little "receipts" is the only way I could describe it, that show the amounts of money he donated to the cause. For example, in one he donated 50 pesetas and in another 10 pesatas. (I wonder how much that is with inflation)?
At the end of the collection there is a recommendation for Morell. This gives a little more information as to who he was in regards to the cause. It states that William Morell in 1937 jointed the Spanish Loyalist Army. However, upon returning, he had a hard time getting work because his employers (he used to be an active member of the American maritime workers), had blacklisted him. Instead of sitting around complaining, he went to Mexico and researched the Mexican labor movement to help the problems of the Mexican people and so this lady asks the Confederacion Trabajadores de Mexico to aid him in any way possible.
Overall, I thought this was interesting because I researched the Maritime workers and the same problems were faced by people who came back from fighting abroad in Spain. They all had a hard time getting work but unlike them who simply articulated their problems, Morell went off and did something else. A worthy cause :)
These I found interesting because there were pictures to go along with the file which is great because it goes along with the whole cliche of "face to a name" kind of ordeal.
William Morell in his pictures looks like a 30 - 40 year old man with piercing clear eyes, almost like a vampire. It's almost as if you can tell he is this hardcore man. Oddly enough, he's from California and then went to Barcelona for the Fonda Ca La Candida. (I'm not sure what this means).
Within his file, there were a lot of things that marked that he was in Spain/a member of groups in Spain. For example, in one thing, there is a membership paper for the Veterans of the Lincoln Brigades. It's quite a simple paper but it's like memorabilia. Also there's a little red book for the Communist party of the Spain. Alongside with the book, there are little "receipts" is the only way I could describe it, that show the amounts of money he donated to the cause. For example, in one he donated 50 pesetas and in another 10 pesatas. (I wonder how much that is with inflation)?
At the end of the collection there is a recommendation for Morell. This gives a little more information as to who he was in regards to the cause. It states that William Morell in 1937 jointed the Spanish Loyalist Army. However, upon returning, he had a hard time getting work because his employers (he used to be an active member of the American maritime workers), had blacklisted him. Instead of sitting around complaining, he went to Mexico and researched the Mexican labor movement to help the problems of the Mexican people and so this lady asks the Confederacion Trabajadores de Mexico to aid him in any way possible.
Overall, I thought this was interesting because I researched the Maritime workers and the same problems were faced by people who came back from fighting abroad in Spain. They all had a hard time getting work but unlike them who simply articulated their problems, Morell went off and did something else. A worthy cause :)
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
whatever post number this is +1..
These are going to be Spanish Civil War acronyms I found because I thought it might prove to be useful to some of us, especially me, when going through the archives and whatnot. They're divided by party lines basically. I didn't write them all down because there were so many but I picked 2 from each group.
Center & Right Wing:
- AP (Accion popular) - major party within CEDA (1932)
- CEDA (Confederacion Espanola de Derechas Autonomas) - Right wing, Catholic (1933)
Extreme Right Wing:
- JONS (Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista) - facist group (1931) joined with Falange in 1934
- UME (Union Militar Espanola) : unofficial Right-wing officers union
Left Wing:
- PCE (Partido Comunista de Espana) : Official communisty party (1921)
- SIM (Servicio de Investigacion Militar): Military intelligence service (controlled by the communists)
Extreme Left Wing:
- FAI Federaccion Anarquista Iberica)- militant federation of anarchist groups (1927)
-OARE (Organizacion Anarquista de la Region Espanola) - Anarchist organization (1888) that tried to give unions revolutionary orientation
Trade Unions:
- SEU (Sindicato Espanol Universitario): Falangist (apparently means fascist); student union
- UGT (Union General de Trabajadores): Socialist
Youth Organizations:
- JS (Juventudes Socialistas): Socialist youth
- FIJL (Federacion Iberica Juventudes Libertarias): Libertarian youth
What amazes me is the variety of organizations there were and the facth that they had Youth organizations, which kind of makes me think of the Young Nazi groups that were created by Hitler to brainwash children. In this sense, I feel like it shows that kids were either really pro-active about participating in the war efforts/government in any way or either the heads of each gruop wanted to brainwash kids as well and get a jumpstart on propaganda.
Center & Right Wing:
- AP (Accion popular) - major party within CEDA (1932)
- CEDA (Confederacion Espanola de Derechas Autonomas) - Right wing, Catholic (1933)
Extreme Right Wing:
- JONS (Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista) - facist group (1931) joined with Falange in 1934
- UME (Union Militar Espanola) : unofficial Right-wing officers union
Left Wing:
- PCE (Partido Comunista de Espana) : Official communisty party (1921)
- SIM (Servicio de Investigacion Militar): Military intelligence service (controlled by the communists)
Extreme Left Wing:
- FAI Federaccion Anarquista Iberica)- militant federation of anarchist groups (1927)
-OARE (Organizacion Anarquista de la Region Espanola) - Anarchist organization (1888) that tried to give unions revolutionary orientation
Trade Unions:
- SEU (Sindicato Espanol Universitario): Falangist (apparently means fascist); student union
- UGT (Union General de Trabajadores): Socialist
Youth Organizations:
- JS (Juventudes Socialistas): Socialist youth
- FIJL (Federacion Iberica Juventudes Libertarias): Libertarian youth
What amazes me is the variety of organizations there were and the facth that they had Youth organizations, which kind of makes me think of the Young Nazi groups that were created by Hitler to brainwash children. In this sense, I feel like it shows that kids were either really pro-active about participating in the war efforts/government in any way or either the heads of each gruop wanted to brainwash kids as well and get a jumpstart on propaganda.
whatever number post this is...
Today is going to be about Francisco Trejo Leon!
Basically he wrote a novel in the style of letters and he also has these random clippets of pictures and news articles he picked up.
So the novel he wrote, or I believe it seems to be a novel, is called En Cuatro Vientos no se sublevo' nadie which basically means, In 4 winds, no one rose in rebellion.
So our man Leon was the Colonel of Engineering and Aviation and he writes to his dad about his position, saying that no one really understands what they're doing and he's had to undertake so much work to get them back in order.
I guess a novel isn't the best way to describe it but rather a manly form of a scrapbook. It's actually really cool and I recommend it to all.
In the "scrapbook", he has a copy of his receiving a Spanish passport along with a map of Spain.
As for the whole, Cuatro Vientos, basically what it was is a place that he was stationed at and he talks about all of the Generals clothing and how it's so clean cut compared to all the other soldiers.
There's also many news articles and one I picked out was called, "unos cuantos aviadores leales tuvieron a raya y lograron dominar a los traidores que intentaban sumarse a los facciosos" and I may be a little off in this translation but what it means is something along the lines of some of the loyal aviators were at the bay and they managed to dominate the traitors that intended to join the facists. (I don't know if the bay part is correct but whatevs).
Overall, it was actually a really cool little collection because you don't see many novel/scrapbook like collections and most of all, men don't seem to do it. So it was just really cool. It also showed that through all the letters he was REALLY close to his father, which I thought was cute :)
Basically he wrote a novel in the style of letters and he also has these random clippets of pictures and news articles he picked up.
So the novel he wrote, or I believe it seems to be a novel, is called En Cuatro Vientos no se sublevo' nadie which basically means, In 4 winds, no one rose in rebellion.
So our man Leon was the Colonel of Engineering and Aviation and he writes to his dad about his position, saying that no one really understands what they're doing and he's had to undertake so much work to get them back in order.
I guess a novel isn't the best way to describe it but rather a manly form of a scrapbook. It's actually really cool and I recommend it to all.
In the "scrapbook", he has a copy of his receiving a Spanish passport along with a map of Spain.
As for the whole, Cuatro Vientos, basically what it was is a place that he was stationed at and he talks about all of the Generals clothing and how it's so clean cut compared to all the other soldiers.
There's also many news articles and one I picked out was called, "unos cuantos aviadores leales tuvieron a raya y lograron dominar a los traidores que intentaban sumarse a los facciosos" and I may be a little off in this translation but what it means is something along the lines of some of the loyal aviators were at the bay and they managed to dominate the traitors that intended to join the facists. (I don't know if the bay part is correct but whatevs).
Overall, it was actually a really cool little collection because you don't see many novel/scrapbook like collections and most of all, men don't seem to do it. So it was just really cool. It also showed that through all the letters he was REALLY close to his father, which I thought was cute :)
Monday, October 5, 2009
10/05/09
Jankovic, Matylda
I thought this one was cute. It was basically a sheet of paper in the portfolio for a marriage license!
Matylda was the daughter of Jose Jankovic (from Catalina) and was getting married to Augusto Weidemann and was dated on May 19, 1913. You can't really make out the handwriting but you can see that the witness was Alberto Wiener whose profession was the military. At the bottom of the paper is a stamp labeled Juzgado Municipal Benicasi, which is the Court name I'm assuming.
The funny thing is there are 3 different versions of Jankovic's name:
Jankovic
Jaukovic
Yankovic
So there ya go!
I thought this one was cute. It was basically a sheet of paper in the portfolio for a marriage license!
Matylda was the daughter of Jose Jankovic (from Catalina) and was getting married to Augusto Weidemann and was dated on May 19, 1913. You can't really make out the handwriting but you can see that the witness was Alberto Wiener whose profession was the military. At the bottom of the paper is a stamp labeled Juzgado Municipal Benicasi, which is the Court name I'm assuming.
The funny thing is there are 3 different versions of Jankovic's name:
Jankovic
Jaukovic
Yankovic
So there ya go!
10/05/09
Post 1 for the week:
SO this one was an article on Ernest Erber.
In the beginning it opens up with another individual by the name of Maximiliano Olay, who was a veteran of the anarchist labor struggles in Cuba and one of the leaders of the Chicago Free Society Group. What he did was move to New York later and open up an office for propaganda on 5th Ave. (The odd thing that I've noticed is that many of these offices were opened on 5th Ave. Perhaps this is something I'll look into further). Upon opening the office, he began to fundraise lots and lots of money for his comrades overseas in Spain.
This is where Ernest Erber comes in. Ernest Erber was a leader of the Young People's Socialist League in his days. He then joiend the staff of La Batalla because he was quite the writer apparently. Within the portfolio is a composition he wrote called the, "Overall Implications of Howe-Radosh Exchange". No lie, it was so complicated to read. I was at a loss for words at how complicated it was.
The Howe-Radosh exchange is basically a "retrospective evaluation of the Spanish Civil War) and whether "saving Republican Spain was a just cause for Liberals and Socialists" and the possibility of even having a Socialist Spain if the Republican party was victorious.
In this compisition, Erber argues that it wasn't just about a war to help people resist economic exploitation, as some people argue, but rather a fight for the struggle of peasants to own the land they tilled, the rights of people (civil rights), and a fight for raical and gender equality, which Franco totally opposed. (The traditional role of women at home, supporting the husband like the pious wife they should be).
It then transitions into the fact that Howe and Radish view the Soviet System as totalitarian in similarities to a Soviet society, which is anti-democratic and anti-capitalist (oddly enough I learned this in my Comparative Politics class).
Finally it closes with defining different parties, which I'll now record.
Social Revolutionary party: organized a military to overthrow the Soviet government
Left Social Revolutionary party: joined the Social Revolutionary party but opposed Lenin's strategy of a peace treaty with Germany
Menshevik party: wanted to overthrow the Soviet government but thought the Czarist White Guard army was worse
Anarchists: hated the White Guard & the Red Army
SO this one was an article on Ernest Erber.
In the beginning it opens up with another individual by the name of Maximiliano Olay, who was a veteran of the anarchist labor struggles in Cuba and one of the leaders of the Chicago Free Society Group. What he did was move to New York later and open up an office for propaganda on 5th Ave. (The odd thing that I've noticed is that many of these offices were opened on 5th Ave. Perhaps this is something I'll look into further). Upon opening the office, he began to fundraise lots and lots of money for his comrades overseas in Spain.
This is where Ernest Erber comes in. Ernest Erber was a leader of the Young People's Socialist League in his days. He then joiend the staff of La Batalla because he was quite the writer apparently. Within the portfolio is a composition he wrote called the, "Overall Implications of Howe-Radosh Exchange". No lie, it was so complicated to read. I was at a loss for words at how complicated it was.
The Howe-Radosh exchange is basically a "retrospective evaluation of the Spanish Civil War) and whether "saving Republican Spain was a just cause for Liberals and Socialists" and the possibility of even having a Socialist Spain if the Republican party was victorious.
In this compisition, Erber argues that it wasn't just about a war to help people resist economic exploitation, as some people argue, but rather a fight for the struggle of peasants to own the land they tilled, the rights of people (civil rights), and a fight for raical and gender equality, which Franco totally opposed. (The traditional role of women at home, supporting the husband like the pious wife they should be).
It then transitions into the fact that Howe and Radish view the Soviet System as totalitarian in similarities to a Soviet society, which is anti-democratic and anti-capitalist (oddly enough I learned this in my Comparative Politics class).
Finally it closes with defining different parties, which I'll now record.
Social Revolutionary party: organized a military to overthrow the Soviet government
Left Social Revolutionary party: joined the Social Revolutionary party but opposed Lenin's strategy of a peace treaty with Germany
Menshevik party: wanted to overthrow the Soviet government but thought the Czarist White Guard army was worse
Anarchists: hated the White Guard & the Red Army
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
magic number FOUR
9/28/09
So Im using my roommates laptop, which is an Italian mac so if any weird symbols come out, blame it onnn the Italian macbook.
Polanksy, Samuel
(wont lie, I just randomly picked him out of the ALBA file list of people)
Basically this file was THE shortest file I have ever seen. It was a 1 paragraph email from someone asking to know more about Samuel Polansky. However, what they did reveal was that Samuel was born in Newark, NJ on June 7, 1914.
This then made me wonder (this is a sidenote by the way) of what his life must have been like during the Great Depression.
He had a clerk job but then left October 9, 1937 to join the Abraham Lincoln Brigades. He was a first aid man in the Lincoln Battalion it states.
This is the most interesting part. Polansky was "knwon for bravery" it says and then it gives an example. Basically he went through raining fire of bullets to pull a soldier out of danger who was up in front of him aways. He was then later captured during the retreat from Gandesa but was exchanged with 71 others on April 22, 1939. This is where the email ends.
With more research (from another persons file, if anyone is interested in the source, here is the link: http://www.alba-valb.org/volunteers/david-hyman-hy-wallach), the Battle of Gandesa was the first time blitzkrieg was used. In the book, The Irish and the Spanish Civil War by Di R. A. Stradling, it states that "all the prisoners were transferred to various points in north central Spain to the camp at San Pedro de Cardena, a monastary" so Im assuming our friend Samuel Polansky was also brought there.
Well, I have no more to say or record about Mr. Polansky so here my blog entry ends.
Adios.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
three sounds like tree
9/21/09
.....I hope I'm doing these blogs/posts correctly...otherwise....that woud suck.....
Alright today is British Vounteers: Ambulance Drivers!
by Stevenson, McFarquhar & Scottish Ambulance Unit.
(Article)
There's two British doctors. You don't really hear about the second one but one of them is Len Crome. He was told by Harry Pollitt (Secretary General of the CPGB) to join the Scottish Ambulance Unit because he wanted to help the cause in Spain.
So then he went to Stevenson's home because Stevenson was organizing the group and turns out he's Sir Stevenson, with a grand house, butlers, the whole amazingness. So the guy takes him on and Crome tells his brother to tell his parents that he was "going on a prestigious medical expedition to Central Africa for a few months). I thought this was the most interesting part because we heard how people would make up stories to get away to France.
Anyways then Crome meets this person named Miss Jacobson who is "wishy washy" with politics and he then found her distributing food donated by the Spanish workers for the Spain Republic to right wing Madrilenos who took refuge at the British embassy. Deceit 1! Then he also found out that Captain Christo Lance, known as the "Spanish Pimpernel" was bandaging Franco supporters and smuggling them to Valenica so they could get out of Republic Spain. Basically 4 members of the Scottish Ambulance Unit were accused of robbing corpses on the battlefield also!
So Crome gets fed up with the deceivery (sp?) and decides to join the Lincoln Bridgades and Ms. J gets very mad and tells him he must meet with the British consul but when the consul comes back, he smiles at Crome and says it's perfectly fine and thanks for all the work he did.
It's a happy ending.
.....I hope I'm doing these blogs/posts correctly...otherwise....that woud suck.....
Alright today is British Vounteers: Ambulance Drivers!
by Stevenson, McFarquhar & Scottish Ambulance Unit.
(Article)
There's two British doctors. You don't really hear about the second one but one of them is Len Crome. He was told by Harry Pollitt (Secretary General of the CPGB) to join the Scottish Ambulance Unit because he wanted to help the cause in Spain.
So then he went to Stevenson's home because Stevenson was organizing the group and turns out he's Sir Stevenson, with a grand house, butlers, the whole amazingness. So the guy takes him on and Crome tells his brother to tell his parents that he was "going on a prestigious medical expedition to Central Africa for a few months). I thought this was the most interesting part because we heard how people would make up stories to get away to France.
Anyways then Crome meets this person named Miss Jacobson who is "wishy washy" with politics and he then found her distributing food donated by the Spanish workers for the Spain Republic to right wing Madrilenos who took refuge at the British embassy. Deceit 1! Then he also found out that Captain Christo Lance, known as the "Spanish Pimpernel" was bandaging Franco supporters and smuggling them to Valenica so they could get out of Republic Spain. Basically 4 members of the Scottish Ambulance Unit were accused of robbing corpses on the battlefield also!
So Crome gets fed up with the deceivery (sp?) and decides to join the Lincoln Bridgades and Ms. J gets very mad and tells him he must meet with the British consul but when the consul comes back, he smiles at Crome and says it's perfectly fine and thanks for all the work he did.
It's a happy ending.
deux
9/18/09
Maritime Workers: Volunteers in Spain!
In this volume, there's a small booklet called, A Tribute to American Maritime Workers Who Fought for World Democracy in the Trenches of Spain by Roy Hudson.
Basically the booklet talks how the issues in Spain were seen as affecting the future of democracy in that if Spain fell to facism, then facism's power would increase around the world. I guess you could say they wanted to act like the neighborhood watchers.
It's quite a sad booklet because it shows pictures of dead men who were seamen. Apparently 400 seamen from America joined, which is cool, because you don't hear much about the seamen that participated in the Spanish Civil War, along with the Latin-Americans.
Then there was a news article discussing the aftermaths of the Spanish Civil War for the maritime workers. When the seamen came back, there were no jobs for them left. The honored Lincoln Brigade seamen vets could only get jobs as seamen. They were also given no recognition or public congratulations. The only people who got jobs were those who had been union officials.
Anyways, at the back of the booklet, which I found the most interesting, was a little card that you could fill out. You could option to "Join the Communist Party" or learn more about it. You would have to mail the thing to 35 East 12 Street NY. We should all stop by sometime and see what's up.
Maritime Workers: Volunteers in Spain!
In this volume, there's a small booklet called, A Tribute to American Maritime Workers Who Fought for World Democracy in the Trenches of Spain by Roy Hudson.
Basically the booklet talks how the issues in Spain were seen as affecting the future of democracy in that if Spain fell to facism, then facism's power would increase around the world. I guess you could say they wanted to act like the neighborhood watchers.
It's quite a sad booklet because it shows pictures of dead men who were seamen. Apparently 400 seamen from America joined, which is cool, because you don't hear much about the seamen that participated in the Spanish Civil War, along with the Latin-Americans.
Then there was a news article discussing the aftermaths of the Spanish Civil War for the maritime workers. When the seamen came back, there were no jobs for them left. The honored Lincoln Brigade seamen vets could only get jobs as seamen. They were also given no recognition or public congratulations. The only people who got jobs were those who had been union officials.
Anyways, at the back of the booklet, which I found the most interesting, was a little card that you could fill out. You could option to "Join the Communist Party" or learn more about it. You would have to mail the thing to 35 East 12 Street NY. We should all stop by sometime and see what's up.
Trip numero uno
I'm awful at this posting thing so I guess I'll just put up the dates with each new entry whenever I'm on this blog.
9/17/09
Today I had the archive for the Battle of Madrid (ALBA Vertical File, in case anyone else wants to find it). Basically it's someone's account of the battle. At first you think it's a letter but then you realize it's not signed or addressed to someone. Anyways back to the point, it's a firsthand account of the Battle of Madrid.
So this guy (it sounds like a guy and the handwriting seems like a guy's), he talks about how there is this brigade fromed in Orihuela. They had no decent preparation for the war; the only thing that kept them going was the thought of helping this greater cause. So after the quick training they go on their way to Madrid where they try to avoid the Fascist aviation, which is obviously given by either Italy or Germany (I'm guessing Germany).
Then they're near Madrid, just on the outskirts hiding in an olive grove. And the cool thing here is some literary function of him describing an olive he eats. What happens is he bites into an olive and it's bitter and he states that this is the first time fruits haven't been harvested.
All of a sudden there's a turn of events when they start getting hit by the Fascists and realize that there was a betrayal amongst them. Everyone thinks they're going to die but then out of nowhere, these places come out of nowhere and start attacking the bigger planes, which are flying up above at the same time.
The guy then states that one of the guys from their "helper" forces has parachuted down from his burning plane but he's shot dead and he can't believe that people would be that cruel.
Afterwards the "flies" as he calls them, leave as they have to refuel.
This is where his account of the battle ends.
In this folder, there was also a newspaper article about the Battle of Madrid with some basic summaries but I felt that this drew me in more.
9/17/09
Today I had the archive for the Battle of Madrid (ALBA Vertical File, in case anyone else wants to find it). Basically it's someone's account of the battle. At first you think it's a letter but then you realize it's not signed or addressed to someone. Anyways back to the point, it's a firsthand account of the Battle of Madrid.
So this guy (it sounds like a guy and the handwriting seems like a guy's), he talks about how there is this brigade fromed in Orihuela. They had no decent preparation for the war; the only thing that kept them going was the thought of helping this greater cause. So after the quick training they go on their way to Madrid where they try to avoid the Fascist aviation, which is obviously given by either Italy or Germany (I'm guessing Germany).
Then they're near Madrid, just on the outskirts hiding in an olive grove. And the cool thing here is some literary function of him describing an olive he eats. What happens is he bites into an olive and it's bitter and he states that this is the first time fruits haven't been harvested.
All of a sudden there's a turn of events when they start getting hit by the Fascists and realize that there was a betrayal amongst them. Everyone thinks they're going to die but then out of nowhere, these places come out of nowhere and start attacking the bigger planes, which are flying up above at the same time.
The guy then states that one of the guys from their "helper" forces has parachuted down from his burning plane but he's shot dead and he can't believe that people would be that cruel.
Afterwards the "flies" as he calls them, leave as they have to refuel.
This is where his account of the battle ends.
In this folder, there was also a newspaper article about the Battle of Madrid with some basic summaries but I felt that this drew me in more.
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