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.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
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
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