TheVolunteer DECEMBER 2017 Final

Vol. XXXIV, No.
4 December 2017
PUBLISHED BY THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE ARCHIVES
The Catalan
Crisis
Human Rights Films (p. 5)
Watt Awards (p. 7)
Civil War Novels Translated (p. 14 & 23)
Pro-independence
supporters during a
rally in Barcelona on
September 11, 2017.
Photo Mrius Montn.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Dear Friends and Comrades:
Founded by the Veterans of the
Abraham Lincoln Brigade We have all been following the conflict over the status of Catalonia within the Spanish
state. This issue ofThe Volunteerfeatures an insightful interview on the topic with journalist
799 Broadway, Suite 341 New York, Emilio Silva (page 19). The conflict over Catalonia has not only mobilized a sector of the left
NY 10003 (212) 674-5398 but also, Silva notes, improved the image of the Catalan right and, in both Catalonia and
www.alba-valb.org
Spain, encouraged a return to authoritarian attitudes in day-to-day life as the hard right
Editor Print Edition is gathering force. He warns this response can have serious consequences in many areas of
Peter N. Carroll
society, including the defense of historical memory.
Editor Online Edition Concerns over the increase of fascist attitudes, symbols, and practices in Europe resonate
www.albavolunteer.org
Sebastiaan Faber on our side of the Atlantic. High school teachers who have attended our most recent insti-
Associate Editor tutes in Cleveland and Bowling Green (Ohio) as well as in Milwaukee have been receptive
Aaron B. Retish and, in many cases, eager to link the antifascist struggles of the past with issues confronting
Book Review Editor us in the present. From our Human Rights Film Festival (page 5) to the Watt Award Prize
Joshua Goode (page 7), from publishing excerpts of Julio Llamazaress newly translated novel about the
Graphic Design Spanish maquis after World War II to an interview with Pat Williamsen, Executive Director
www.eyestormonline.com
of Ohio Humanities, on her courageous public statement on the events in Charlottesville,
Editorial Assistance
Phil Kavanaugh The Volunteer continues to provide a platform for the discussion of different acts of resistance
against Fascism.
Manuscripts, inquiries, and letters to the
editor may be sent by email to The months ahead are shaping up to be possibly our most intense period in educational
[email protected] programs. On November 7, thanks to a major grant from the NYC Department of Cultural
The editors reserve the right to modify texts Affairs, we will be offering our 10th Teachers workshop at the King Juan Carlos Center in
for length and style. NY; followed by institutes in Pittsburgh and Clemson (SC) along with several other loca-
tions across the country that still need to be finalized.
Books for review may be sent to
Finally, it is with some sadness that we announce that ALBA will relocate its offices by
Joshua Goode
Claremont Graduate University January 2018. The historical building on 799 Broadway known as the St Denis Hotel,
Blaisdell House, #5, 143 East 10th Street where the vets worked since the 1970s, has been purchased by a real estate developer and
Claremont, CA 91711 will be demolished. On the bright side, a sister organization has offered to have us move into
their building. The agreement is being discussed as we go to press.
www.albavolunteer.org We welcome the challenges ahead and, with your support, the legacy of the Lincoln Bri-
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives gade, our legacy, will endure.
(ALBA) is an educational non-profit dedicated
to promoting social activism and the defense
of human rights. ALBAs work is inspired No Pasarn!
by the American volunteers of the Abraham
Lincoln Brigade who fought fascism in the
Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Drawing on the
ALBA collections in New York Universitys
Tamiment Library, and working to expand
such collections, ALBA works to preserve the Fraser Ottanelli
legacy of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade as an Chair of the Board Marina Garde
inspiration for present and future generations. of Governors Executive Director
IN THIS ISSUE
p 3 ALBA in the Classroom Letter to ALBA
p 5 Film Festival
To The Volunteer:
p 7 Watt Awards
Reading "Forgotten Fighters: American Anarchist Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War,"
p 9 Antifascism in Ohio I noted that at least one prominent American who volunteered for service in the Anarchist
p 11 Faces of ALBA-VALB Durruti Column remains forgotten. I mean, of course, Carl Marzani. Herein, I borrow freely
p 12 HR Column: Deporting Veterans from Carls memoir, "The Education of a Reluctant Radical," Vol. 3, pp. 11-36.
p 14 Julio Llamazares Carl had been awarded a fellowship to study at Oxford. By the time he arrived, early in
p 15 Wolf Moon October 1936, Germany and Italy had both invaded Spain and savage fighting was under-
p 16 ALBA/Susman Lecture way. He knew he couldnt stay away so he persuaded the Daily Herald to take him on as its
foreign correspondent in Spain. Early in December, he went to Spain by way of Paris where
p 17 Bob Smillie
he boarded a train carrying nearly a thousand, mostly French, volunteers for the international
p 19 Catalan Crisis
Brigades. Carl was the only American. The mood on the train was somber.
p 21 Alejandra Soler
p 23 Book Review
Robert A. Murtha, Jr.
p 25 Poetry Feature Editors note: Carl Marzani is a significant omission from the ranks of the anarchists who fought on behalf
of the Spanish Republic, but our author was writing about anarchists who served with the 15th Interna-
p 26 Contributions tional Brigade. Carl served with the Anarchist group that was not connected to the Communist-led IBs.
2 THE VOLUNTEER December 2017

Workshop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 2017. Photo A. Fernndez
ALBA in the Classroom

Institutes More Relevant
Than Ever By ALBA Educational Committee
Suddenly, the sorts of discussions that ALBA had been facilitating with teachers on the
fringe for over a decade found themselves in the headlines once again.
For the past 10 years, ALBA has been For the first eight or nine years of our educational programs, we
would often have to make the case for the current relevance of
conducting professional development many of the issues we focus on: fascism & anti-fascism, refugees,
interventionism and non-interventionism, internationalism,
workshops for high school educators Human Rights, the working class struggle, etc. And then came
the last presidential election cycle and its disastrous aftermath.
all over the country, and to date we Suddenly, the sorts of discussions that ALBA had been facilitating
have reached over 1,200 teachers in with teachers on the fringe for over a decade found themselves
in the headlines once again. This change in landscape has led to a
more than nine states. drastic increase in the demand for the type of educational outreach
we perform. As a result, this past Fall semester was our most active
In our workshops, ALBA faculty introduce the participating teach- semester ever, and the Spring of 2018 is shaping up to be even
ers to our extensive collection of primary-source material and work more lively (see below).
with them to come up with ways of getting the Spanish Civil War,
the history of anti-fascism, and the stories of the women and men We always knew that the anti-fascist legacy that we work to pre-
of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade into their classrooms. Over time, serve and pass on is vital and urgent, but we had no idea just how
we have expanded the historical arc covered in the workshops, vital and just how urgent it would become in the years immedi-
tracing threads from the conflict in Spain all the way to the present ately following the disappearance of the last remaining Lincoln
day, passing through World War II, Vietnam, the perennial Oil veterans. Todays general public, students and teachers included,
Wars in the Middle East, the conflict in Syria, and the ongoing are hungry to learn about and engage critically with the complexi-
struggle for social, racial and economic justice in the United States ties of the 1930s. And by connecting them with the extraordinary
and abroad. legacy of the Lincolns, we are helping them make sense of the
troubling times in which we now find ourselves.
December 2017 THE VOLUNTEER 3

Left: Teachers at the ALBA workshop in the Maltz Museum for Jewish Heritage (Cleveland).
Photo S. Faber. Right: James Lane at the Bowling Green workshop. Photo S. Faber.
ALBA INSTITUTE CALENDAR
FALL 2017
September 24-26: Peter N. Carroll and Sebastiaan Faber present
special workshop on professional development at the annual
conference of the Ohio Council for the Social Studies in Cincin-
nati, Ohio.
October 10: Carroll, Faber and James Lane co-teach a one-day
workshop in Cleveland, Ohio, co-hosted by the Maltz Museum
of Jewish Heritage. Ten participants.
October 12: Carroll, Faber, and Lane co-teach a one-day work-
shop in Bowling Green, Ohio, co-hosted by Bowling Green State I will definitely incorporate [into my teaching] several of
University. Thirty-three participants. Followed by a discussion at the primary sources and posters. [] Todays institute was
the Bowling Green Public Library. very informative and empowering. I will leave with a confi-
October 17: Andrs Fernndez Carrasco leads a class visit of 20 dence to teach the rise of fascism and the Spanish Civil War
NYC high school seniors to the Tamiment Library, where they with a variety of new lessons. The knowledge and delivery
handle and analyze posters from the Spanish Civil War. of information from the instructors was excellent. high
October 18: James D. Fernndez and Juan Salas co-teach a one- school social studies teacher, five years experience. Cleve-
day workshop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin., co-hosted by the School land, Ohio.
of Education and the Department of History at the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). Sixteen participants. This was by far one of the best professional workshops I
November 7: Carroll, Fernndez and Mara Hernndez-Ojeda have attended. It was well organized and the information
co-teach a one-day workshop for high school educators in New invaluable to my teaching. high school teacher of Spanish
York City, co-hosted by NYU, and sponsored, in part, by funds language and culture, 20 years experience. Bowling Green,
provided by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA). Ohio.
Fifty-five participan.
November 17: James D. Fernndez leads a class visit of 16 NJ
high schoolers to the Tamiment Library, where they handle and
analyze letters and other artifacts from the Spanish Civil War.
It was exhilarating to help implement what the two of you
provided for our teachers[at the Ohio Council for the
Social Studies Conference in Cincinatti]. Things flowed
SPRING 2018 seamlessly, we had a large crowd, teachers were in rapt
attention and it showed up in the superlative evaluations
February 22: one-day workshop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; you received. I was approached by one of our OCSS Board
co-sponsored by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU) and members who talked about how blown away she was by the
Classrooms Without Borders quality of the session and the materials which you provided.
March 2: one-day workshop Clemson, South Carolina; co-spon- She mentioned that she came to a brand new awareness of
sored by the Department of History at Clemson University the importance of the Spanish Civil War and its intercon-
March 8-10: Presentation at the annual conference of the NY nection with WWII and fascism. She just gushed appre-
State Council for the Social Studies (Albany, NY) ciation. She felt much as I did two years ago when I first
April 21: one-day workshop in Seattle, Washington; co-spon- attended Peters session at OCSS. I am so happy to have
sored by the University of Washington had the opportunity to bring you and the ALBA materials
April 21: Presentation at The Greater Metropolitan New York to our teachers.
Social Studies Conference (NYC, NY) James Lane
TBD, one-day workshop at Hofstra (Long Island, NY); co-spon-
sored by Hofstra University
TBD, one-day workshop in Columbus, Ohio
TBD, one-day workshop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; co-spon-
sored by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU) and Classrooms
Without Borders
TBD, two-day workshop in Eastern Massachusetts; co-sponsored
by the Collaborative for Educational Services.
TBD, three-day workshop in New York City, NY; co-sponsored
by NYU and funded, in part, by funds provided by the NYC
Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA).
Left: Students visit the ALB collection at NYUs Tamiment Library, October 2017.
Photo A. Fernndez Right: Teachers at the Bowling Green workshop. Photo S. Faber.
Impugning Impunity team
Ill Be There: Film Festival Shows

Legacy of the Lincolns
By James D. Fernndez
ALBAs Human Rights Film Festival shines a light on human rights abusesand on those who try to stop
themwherever they may happen. The geography covered by this years Impugning Impunity is vast.
J
ust a few minutes into The Good delivers his own Ill be there speech, very much themselves, the defense of hu-
Fight, the 1984 documentary that very much like the famous soliloquy that man rights. That is why, in different ways,
has introduced tens of thousands of Henry Fondas character intones in the ALBAs core activities focus precisely on
Americans to the history of the Abraham 1940 movie adaptation of Steinbecks those aspects. Our educational outreach
Lincoln Brigade, the inimitable Bill Bailey Grapes of Wrath. But Bailey, with much programs strive to help teachers and
describes the one thing that drove him and more directness than Steinbecks char- students access and interpret the materials
so many of the Lincolns to go to Spain: acter, points to, as the driving force of his they need to reconstruct, in all of its com-
wanting-to-be-everywhere, international plexity and richness, the world of solidarity
You were now concerned with what working class solidarity. And sure enough, out of which the Lincolns emerged. Our
happened in Timbuktu. If some poor once Spains Democratic Workers Repub- ALBA Puffin Human Rights Prize recog-
working stiff was on strike in Timbuktu, lic was attacked by fascists in July 1936, nizes and promotes the work of brave
or Addis Ababa, and hes out there Bailey and almost 3,000 other Americans individuals and organizations who take
carrying a placard, and some cop would eventually say: Ill be there. And on their own good fights against injustice.
comes down and starts bustin his there they went. And our Human Rights Film Festival, more
skull, you were concerned about that than any of our activities, shines a light
because that was your brother out in But now theyre gone. on human rights abusesand on those
Adis Ababa, or Timbuktu, or Cape who try to stop them wherever they may
Town, or Australia, or any place else. ALBAs mission is to keep alive the legacy happen. The geography covered by this
They were your human beings, your of the Lincolns at a time when they are no years Impugning Impunity festival is vast;
class brothers. longer among us. A key part of that legacy it seems as if the documentary filmmakers
was international solidarity and, though and the festival programmers have truly
Sounding every bit like a Tom Joads but the ever class-conscious volunteers prob- taken to heart Tom Joadss timeless call for
with a thick New Joysey accent, Bailey ably would not have used the expression ubiquity and solidarity.

The documentary filmmakers have truly taken to heart Tom Joadss timeless call for ubiquity and solidarity.
A fellow aint got a soul of his own, is altogether fitting that ALBA include, in
just a little piece of a big soul, the one the heart of our programmatic mission, this
big soul that belongs to everybody human rights film festival. The films show-
Ill be everywhere. Wherever you cased in Impugning Impunity respond
can look. Wherever theres a fight, so directly to the pleas of Tom Joads and Bill
hungry people can eat, Ill be there; Bailey. In their own ways, they appeal to,
wherever theres a cop, beating up and at the same time help construct, that
a guy, Ill be there. Ill be in the way borderless global conscience for which
guys yell when theyre mad the Lincolns longed and fought and died.
Harry Randall Award for Short
The films featured this year took us from Impugning Impunity, 2018? Ill be there. film: Molly Stuart for Objector (opera
Syria to Standing Rock; from Harvard prima). Stuart: It was an honor to screen
Yard to a Jordanian refugee camp; from my film within this beautifully curated
Guatemala to the streets of New York; selection of documentaries. The hosts were
IMPUGNING IMPUNITY
from Israel to Benin; and in a wide range well organized, gracious, and made the
AT A GLANCE
of styles, from experimental to denuncia- experience a delight for filmmakers and
tory, the films educated us and positioned THE PROGRAM audiences alike. I look forward to seeing
us to feel solidarity with those who suffer Eighteen films from 11 different coun- what's to come!
and fight injustice wherever it occurs. tries, including 12 New York premieres,
screened over three days at the historic
We were there. Downtown Community Television Center
(DCTV), with an opening reception, six
How did people like Bill Bailey acquire Q+As/Meet the Filmmakers, Sunday
the global perspective of international soli- brunch, and a closing awards ceremony.
darity that he displayed in The Good Fight Approximately 500 people attended the
and throughout his life? Bailey himself was five programs that made up the festival,
a seaman and, as such, a world traveler. including many new faces to ALBA.
But most people in the 1930sespe- SELECTION, CURATION AND STAFF
cially working-class peoplewould have Marina Garde, director and producer Harry Randall Award for Feature
acquired their worldliness through the Ruth Somalo, associate director and film: On a Knife Edge by Jerey Williams.
media. Newspapers, magazines, radio, programmer Producer Eli Cane (the grandson of
and, more as the 30s wore on, docu- Isabel Cadenas Can, programmer Lincoln vet Lawrence Cane): One of the
mentary film, whether in the form of short Michael McCanne, outreach coordinator central themes of On a Knife Edge is
newsreels screened in movie theaters, or Andres Fernndez Carrasco, artistic looking to one's past for guidance and
in the form of freestanding non-fiction films coordinator insight into one's present, and I believe this
that explored current issues. The making of Max Resnik, projectionist is one of the things that makes ALBA so
documentary films was a key component SPONSORS crucialespecially at this exact moment.
of the Republican propaganda effort dur- NY Council on the Arts (NYSCA); NACLA; As boundaries within our societies are
ing the Spanish Civil War, as the govern- King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center of once again being drawn along the same
ment struggled to win the hearts and minds NYU; Puffin Foundation; Pragda battle lines of xenophobia, racism, and
of the world over to the cause of antifas- economic repression, the lives of the men
cism. And we know of several recorded JURY and women of the Brigade become more
cases where volunteers decisions to go to Montserrat Armengou, award winning valuable to us than ever.
Spain were directly influenced by moving Catalonian investigative filmmaker; Emmy-
pictures they had seen. winning director Laurens Grant; and
Richard Pea, former director of the Film
Today, digital technology, which enables Society of Lincoln Center and of the New
high-quality and independent video pro- York Film Festival.
duction at relatively low cost, combined PRIZES
with the emergence of a generation of The Harry Randall Award for best film was
fearless and talented young filmmakers created in memory of Harry W. Randall,
who are determined to document and fight Jr. (1915-2012) who served in the Abra-
injustice, has engendered a golden age ham Lincoln Brigade as Chief Photogra-
of human rights documentary filmmak- pher of the Photographic Unit of the 15th
ing. These films generate knowledge and International Brigade during the Spanish
solidarity; the first necessary but insufficient Civil War.
steps to action. For all of these reasons, it
Filmmakers Rebecca Rojer and Sara Leonard
Anarchists march on the streets of Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War.
Watt Prizes Recognize

Student Writing
George Watt, May 1938. ALBA Photo
By Aaron Retish 011,11_0186, Tamiment Library.
The 2017 George Watt Essay Prize for the best writing
on the Spanish Civil War received a record number of
submissions. Students from Canada, Egypt, and 18 U.S.
states submitted essays, poems, and stories for this years
annual prizes.
J uliann Susas of Johns Hopkins University received the

award for the best essay in the undergraduate category for
her splendid piece, Spanish Civil War Music: A Crescendo of
This is the first year that the Watt Essay Prize included a pre-
collegiate category and we received 21 submissions, including
several co-authored pieces. The submissions were so strong that
Ideological Disjuncture (summary below). Susas delves into the jury decided to award two students, one in non-fiction and
the rich history of music that Spaniards sang during the Civil another in fiction. Raphael Wood and Liam Doyles essay A
War and compares Nationalist and Republican songs to see Revolution in Romanticism: The Shift in Fervor within the
how each side understood the war and how the songs reflected International Brigades and the Anarcho-Syndicalists through-
competing values. Based on Spanish-and English-language out the Spanish Civil War (summary below) studies the shaky
sources, Susas shows the importance of songs in understanding position of the Anarcho-Syndicalists in the Republican coalition
the opposing combatants worldviews. and draws on primary sources from the educational resources
section of the ALBA website and several secondary sources.

15th International Brigade band, March 1938. (Tamiment Library, NYU, 15th IB Photo Collection, Photo #11_1498)
Doyle and Wood are students of ALBA teaching institute alum Commonalities in the musical pieces composed by the
George Snook (recently featured in Faces of ALBA) at Packer Nationalists and Republicans demonstrate music as an
Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn. Josie Fischels, a student at instrument of solidarity to encourage soldiers to persevere,
Independence Jr-Senior High School in Independence, Iowa testaments to the ardent patriotism of war heroes and
also won a Watt award for her story Shattered: The Bombing
other important figures, and as a means of propaganda.
of Guernica. Fischels beautiful writing impressed the jury in
her moving story of a woman who grew up in Guernica and
Viewing music as an example of Spanish Civil War pro-
experienced the bombing, taking her grandchildren to see Pablo paganda, Spanish Civil War Music exposes the political
Picassos Guernica in the Reina Sofia Museum. divide between the Nationalists and Republicans. Nation-
alists perceived the war as a conflict to establish a new and
The jury for the Watt award was comprised of Angela Giral better regime for Spain. Republicans, on the other hand,
(Columbia University), Josh Goode (Claremont Graduate viewed the war as a fight for freedom and the defense of
University), Gina Herrmann (University of Oregon), and Aaron progress of the Spanish republic. Overall, Spanish Civil
Retish (Wayne State University). The George Watt Memorial War Music reveals how music can be utilized as a me-
Essay award honors the memory of Abraham Lincoln Brigade dium to explore the political dissonances of the Spanish
veteran George Watt (1914-1994), a social worker, writer, and
Civil War.
lifelong activist who was central to the creation of ALBA. Each
winner receives a prize of $250.
The full text of the prize-winning submissions is available

through the online edition of The Volunteer at albavolunteer.org.
A Revolution in Romanticism
By Liam Doyle & Raphael Wood
Spanish Civil War Music: A Crescendo of Our essay explores the romanticism that existed within
Ideological Disjuncture the International Brigades and the Anarcho-Syndicalist
faction during the Spanish Civil War. Both parties pro-
By Juliann Susas moted romantic notions of egalitarianism and humanism,
yet their different circumstances led to very divergent
outcomes. Through the lens of Abraham Lincoln Brigad-
ers like Alvah Bessie and Benjamin Iceland, we discov-
ered that the romantic idealism of the Internationals in
Spain allowed their movement, a loose confederation, to
transcend the war. Meanwhile, the Anarcho-Syndicalists
struggle to protect their homes and families necessitated a
doctrinaire pragmatism which undermined their roman-
tic qualities and entrenched them in the factionalism of
Republican Spain. The Brigaders cause would define the
fight against Fascism in World War II, living on even to
the present, while the Anarcho-Syndicalist movement was
the last bastion of utopian socialism at such a national
level in the Western world. In fact, the evolution of these
two movements was emblematic of the evolution of ro-
Analyzing the conflicting political ideologies of the manticism in the world as a whole. After all, we no longer
Spanish Civil War through a cultural lens is not a novel associate feelings of optimism and passion with Marxist
concept. However, much of academic scholarship has notions of revolution as the Anarcho-Syndicalists did
been dedicated to the study of visual art and literature as but rather with notions of democracy, international soli-
artistic expressions of the political contest, ignoring the darity, and secular humanism values the International
significance of music to the Spanish Civil War era. Music
Brigades embodied.
was more accessible to the illiterate people and more inte-
gral to the soldiers experience. Spanish Civil War Music
strives to bridge this gap in cultural analysis of the Spanish
Civil War by examining patriotic songs and war anthems
of the time.

ANTIFASCISM IN OHIO:
Humanities Director
Speaks Out Against
White Supremacy
By Sebastiaan Faber
Last August, in the wake of

violence in Charlottesville,
Virginia, Ohio Humanities issued
a powerful letter condemning
white supremacists who attacked
antifascist protestors. We speak
with Executive Director Pat
Williamsen about the need for
public humanists to take a stand.
America has forgotten itself.
The short shrift we give to the humanities in education really has done a
disservice to the American people.
F
ew people know Ohio and its history better than Pat ars these days are not necessarily encouraged by their universities
Williamsen. She has worked with Ohio Humanities, the to write for a broad audience. But I think that may be one of
states humanities council, for more than 30 years, serving the reasons why we are where we are as a society. These days, I
as Executive Director since 2011. On August 25, 10 days after find myself trying to parse through the moment that America is
white supremacists marched through Charlottesville, Virginia in. I dont think it started at the conclusion of the presidential
and killed Heather Heyer, Williamsen forcefully condemned election process in November, or at the party conventions in the
those events in a public letter that we reprint here. An accom- summer of 2016. This phenomenon has been brewing for a long
plished photographer and writer, Williamsen studied English timewhether were talking about the polarization of our civic
in Toledo and holds an M.A. in Film History and Theory from discourse, the rise of white supremacy, or even yet another mass
Ohio State University. She speaks slowly and reflectivelybut shooting.
she rarely hesitates.
What conclusion do you reach?
Although they are largely funded by the federal government, I I keep coming back to the notion that America has forgotten
understand the state humanities councils operate as indepen- itself. Weve forgotten so much about our historyor maybe we
dent non-profits, building bridges between academia and the never knew it in the first place. The short shrift we give to the
general public. humanities in our public school systems, colleges, and universi-
We create opportunities for the general public to use the hu- ties really has done a disservice to the American people. Why are
manities as it navigates through everyday life. Humanities schol- we even talking about white supremacy now? Why dont we have

a better grasp of that? What happened 150 years ago that created Ohio Humanities: A Special Message
an organization like the Ku Klux Klan? Why did the Klan have August 25, 2017
a remarkable resurgence in membership in the 1920s? Why was
there a hugely successful membership drive right here in Ohio? Just ten days ago, Americans watched horrific news videos of a car
We pride ourselves on being a fertile ground for abolition. And plowing in to demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia. Our hearts
its true that there are many documented routes to freedom across go out to friends and colleagues in Charlottesville. Ohio Humani-
the state. But at the same time, Ohio created black laws that ties condemns all efforts to discriminate, intimidate, or marginalize
discouraged men and women escaping from bondage from set- our residents.
tling here. The divisive racist rhetoric currently on display across the United
If we remembered these things and tried to understand those States should not be tolerated in a democratic society. Ohio Hu-
parts of our history, would we be better equipped to deal with manities has a long tradition of supporting the discussions that help
these extremist factions now? Would more people be willing to engaged citizens grapple with difficult ideas. Only together, can
stand up and say that what happened in Charlottesville is wrong? we explore the past to build vibrant communities that promise equi-
Would we as a culture stand up and say: enough? table futures for every resident of the United States.
We cannot allow ourselves to believe that white supremacy is
Your letter is exemplary not just because it takes a stand but a "Southern problem." After all, the man responsible for the car at-
because it creates a teachable moment to actually recall some tack in Charlottesville is from Lucas County.
important chapters of Ohio history. This past weekend, a Westerville neighborhood was leafletted
For that I am indebted to all the scholars in Ohio who, over by white supremacists who attached candies to the flyers, as though
the course of my career, have introduced me to a more nuanced a sugar treat could sweeten their message of bigotry. Reports from
sense of the statethings I simply didnt learn when Ohio his- other towns reveal that communities are quietly removing the graf-
tory was a requirement for the seventh or eighth grade. Actually, fiti of hate left by vandals on synagogues and mosques.
I am not sure if students now spend a full year studying Ohio History is filled with contradictions and conflicting perspectives.
history. Ohio can proudly point to its history for ending a system of re-
pression and slavery based on color and creed. During the Civil
Your letter was clearly born from a sense of moral indignation. War, Ohio contributed more men and material than any other state
What makes it so powerful is in part the fact that it takes an to defeat the Confederacy, thus ending slavery in the United States.
unusually strong position. I imagine writing it and hitting the And yet, the music and lyrics for "Dixie," the de facto Confeder-
send button cant have been easy. After all, the institutional ate anthem, were penned in Mt. Vernon, Ohio.
pressure is always toward the middle of the road. Instead, you The Underground Railroad crisscrossed the state, yet Ohio's
took a standthat is to say, you took a risk. legislature enacted a Black Code to discourage free blacks and
We sent that letter out with a fair amount of trepidation. The runaway slaves from settling here.
day after, I received appreciative emails from constituents. It was Home to several Union generals who later became Presidents,
an emotional moment for me. I realized many others had wanted Ohio is the birthplace of one of the Civil War's notorious criminals:
to make a statementbut didnt. I feel that we spoke for the William Quantrill was born in Dover.
community of public humanists in Ohio. In the 1920s, Ku Klux Klan membership swelled as Ohioans
I did consult with the executive committee of my board of joined up to protest the influx of Southern blacks and East Europe-
directors. They urged me to make a public statement. Still, we are ans seeking jobs in our industrial cities. As late as 1955, a cross-
quite aware that we are living in perilous times. We run the risk burning in Hillsboro was meant to intimidate black children seeking
of being called effete intellectuals or any number of other things equal education in that town's schools.
that people ascribe to humanities scholars. But there are points White supremacists would have us believe that it's simply a mat-
at which silence is not acceptable. And weve seen throughout ter of black and white. They lack the fundamental courage to parse
the course of world history what happens when moral people our nation's complicated history or to face contemporary facts of
are silent. I realize were at a moment when its very dangerous changing demographics. How sad that these hate groups cannot
to stick your head up above the lip of the foxhole. But as public appreciate the invaluable richness that every ethnic group and re-
humanists, how can we not? ligious tradition contribute to our communities.
Democracy demands wisdom. That wisdom can be gained only
Ohio Humanities has helped sponsor ALBAs Institutes for High by the participation of individuals willing to explore historic fact
School Teachers in 2010, 2012, and 2015. Sebastiaan Faber teaches and civilly debate differing interpretations of historic events.
at Oberlin College. Ohio Humanities offers grants and guidance to foster conversa-
tions that explore difficult questions. If we can help your commu-
nity hold a conversation about race and ethnicity in light of current
events, please contact us at [email protected].
Pat Williamsen
Executive Director, Ohio Humanities

Faces of ALBA-VALB
Learning the Truth is Hard Sometimes
By Marina Garde
Dayana Arrue is a Geoscience Engineering major at Rutgers University and an intern at an engineering firm.
An activist for environmental and migration-related causes, she hopes to remediate groundwater pollution by
designing wastewater treatment systems. She is also a passionate speaker on behalf of the Dreamers, the
undocumented young activists who received the ALBA/Puffin Prize for Human Rights Activism in 2013. Dayana
first attended ALBAs Human Rights Film Festival four years ago and has not missed the annual event since.
You have been attending Impugning Impunity since 2013. What is the most important thing for you right now?
How did you hear about ALBA? To learn and to share what I learn with others so they may be
I heard about the Lincoln Brigade volunteers and the human inspired to love learning as well. I believe I am still at an age where
rights film festival through my Honors History professor Hank my ideas are being molded, along with my worldviews and my
Doherty at Essex County College in Newark, who focused on ex- character. I know I will make a change in this world somehow,
posing us to different worldviews and to scholarly debate about so- but I must first learn how to do it. I went from wanting to study
cial events. He always invited his students to Impugning Impunity. business and international law/studies to engineering. I went from
Most students dont come because its a far trip from New Jersey. wanting to provide jobs to the poor to learning how to make
But I have always been interested in learning about other people, countries environmentally safe/healthy. Ive come to know that the
their struggles and even learning about my own culture. I came to health of our environment determines the health of every person.
the U.S. when I was six years old and forgot most of my culture
along the way. This is exactly what ALBAs film festival teaches Is there anything that scares you about the present moment?
me. I enjoy learning but also find it painful at times; it feels like a Honestly, the entire world is facing a clean water crisis, and few
burden to know the cruel truth many other people face and not be people pay enough attention to it. I want to continue teaching
able to do much about it. Its hard to bear sometimes. others about environmental causes such as this and also human
rights causes as in the crisis of the undocumented population and
What do you like about the festival that makes you attend year DACA recipients in the U.S. I learn and I share. I live, and I share
after year? that too. As a DACA recipient myself, I have tried my best to speak
The first year I was specifically interested in watching The Tiniest about our cause to big companies as well as to individuals, in con-
Place, which is a film based on the civil war in El Salvador, my ferences as well as through more intimate conversations.
home country. During that time I started questioning my fam-
ilys political preferences in El Salvador. Id ask: why do you prefer What do you think older people can do to support younger
the [conservative] ARENA party over [progressive] FMLN? They people like you?
would only say that the FMLN sent guerrilleros to hurt some I know I wouldnt be the person I am today without older
people in our little hometown during the civil war and that they people who simply took their time to sit down and talk to me. We
were simply rebellious people who did us harm. The film talks want genuine relationships; we get tired of being told what to do
specifically about the civil war. I wanted to know about Salvadorian or what we may be doing wrong. We all just need older people to
politics and history for myself and not simply follow blindly what inspire us by listening to us and sharing themselves with us too.
my family believed. The truth is, older people must lead by example. If you listen to
Of course, theres never an easy answer to events like the civil war meeven though I may be wrongI will also listen to you. My
and who was involved and at fault, but its important to know as professors simple invitation to watch The Tiniest Place changed
many facts as possible nonetheless. The film brought me to tears; my entire worldview! He offered to cover the ticket cost if I would
the hundreds of people massacred are my people, and it hurt to only show up. He told me this in our community colleges cafeteria
know the truth. Since then Ive started reading more about history while we were drinking coffee before class. He would always come
and keeping up with as much politics as I can. I think my family before our class started so we could go and have coffee with him
and I would never vote for a party blindly again; instead, we will and talk about life. We need older people to do this with us; we
seek the truth. Its a weird thing with many of our parents; there simply need time.
is one thing that they remember, and theyll stick to it for the
rest of their lives like my parents did with their preferred politi- What could ALBA do for young people?
cal party. They didnt even know the current political events they I think ALBA is already doing what it should do for everyone:
only remembered that one thing the political party did long ago. revealing truths from around the world and exposing cruelty. More
Once I began to learn facts, I began sharing it. My family who youth need to attend these film festivals; Im sure it would change
lived through the civil war only saw one side of everything and many peoples lives. I think having some film showings at different
only knew what they lived, but they didnt see the entire picture as colleges/universities and some genuine conversations about them
it is being revealed today. Im glad they listen to me when I speak would really help us as young people.
to them about the many things I am finding out about our little
country. Marina Garde is ALBAs Executive Director.

Rally for banished veterans and veterans facing possible deportation (At San Ysidro/Tijuana Border Point of Entry), Feb. 2010. From left to right:
Fabian Rebolledo, Salvadore C. Torres, Valente Valenzuela, Manuel Valenzuela. Photo April Arreola, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Human Rights Column
Disposable People:
Deporting US Veterans
By Paul Cox
The plight of the non-citizen veterans of US military service who have been deported
stands as a small but telling example of how our country falls far short of living up to
its promises.
T
his is the era of Bad Faith. The plight of non-citizen recruited or drafted into our military, often with promises of
veterans of US military service who have been deported automatic or streamlined citizenship. Hethough a few are
stands as a small but telling story. It is one more example womenserved at least one enlistment (or even made a career
of how our country falls far short of living up to its promises of of military service), deployed to a combat zone at least once,
justice and fairness, much less empathy and compassionor and received an honorable discharge. He later ran afoul of
even the dulcet promises of military recruiters. the law, was convicted, and imprisoned or given probation.
After serving his time, he was handed over to Homeland Secu-
While every case has its specifics, a typical deported veteran ritys Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and shipped
was a legal permanent resident (green card holder) when back to the country of his birth.

These veterans, who served as long ago as the Vietnam War bills (H.R.s 386, 2759, 2760, 2761) address the DoDs policies
or as recently as last year, are now stuck in a country they may in the future but do not help the current cohort of deported veter-
have left as infants; some do not even speak the language. Sep- ans. Please urge your congressperson to co-sponsor these bills,
arated from their families in the United States, they often have no but especially H.R. 1405.
family, support, or resources, and live in dire circumstances.
Veterans For Peace has a new chapter in Tijuana, the Baja
Miguel Hernandez, a legal permanent resident, joined the US Mexico Chapter 986, that opened the Deported Veterans Ad-
Army in 1970, served a tour in South Korea, and was honorably vocacy Project a block from the border. Its purpose is to help vet-
discharged in 1973. He later became a barber in Riverside, but erans with services and information at the very moment they are
his life after the military was marred by alcohol. After a DUI and ejected from the United States. They can use donations to keep
a conviction for bootlegging movies, ICE deported him in June the house open, advocate for deported veterans, and to provide
2017, to Tijuana. His sister brought him clothes from Riverside, legal advice and direct assistance to these men and women who
and other deported vets helped him find a place to live and jobs are being treated so very shabbily by our government. They are
as a barber and janitor. Now clean and sober, he is small man currently raising funds specifically to send deported veterans to
at 54 and 140 lbs, and dresses neatly for his work. On his way the School Of Americas Watch (SOAW) gathering in Nogales,
to work last month, he was accosted by thugs who wanted his Arizona, for their annual gathering to draw more attention to the
nice clothes, beaten, and left with a shattered femur. issue.
He is eligible for care from the Veterans Administration, but the Paul Cox is a recovering Marine of the Vietnam War, and mem-
nearest VA hospital is across the border in La Jolla. His sister ber of Veterans For Peace. He lives in Berkeley with his family
enlisted Congresswoman Norma Torres (D-CA-35th) to get him and chickens.
to the VA hospital via ICEs Humanitarian Parole program, but
they denied it. Other deported veterans and Veterans For Peace
supporters have since raised the funds for the needed operation Anthony L. Geist
to stitch his bone back together, but he is still in Tijuana, jobless, Angela Giral
broke, and recuperating without benefit of the extraordinary Peter Glazer
rehab care the VA can provide our veterans.
Jeanne Houck
Throughout our history, the United States has enlisted non- Tim Johnson
citizens to help fight our wars. Many men and women, living Jo Labanyi
here legally but not citizens, have stepped up, often with false ALBAs BOARD
Peter Miller
promises from recruiters of acceleratedor automaticpaths to OF GOVERNORS
citizenship. Immigrants currently represent about 13.5 percent of Josephine Nelson-Yurek
Fraser Ottanelli
the United States population. They constituted 18 percent of the Chair Julia Newman
Army soldiers in World War I and 43 percent of the Union Army Peter N. Carroll Nancy Wallach
during the Civil War. Immigrants currently represent 5 percent of Chair Emeritus Nancy Yanofsky
those in the armed forces and about 8 percent of Army recruits Dan Czitrom
last year. The ACLU estimates that there are around 300 US Chair Emeritus
veterans deported to countries around the world; many are sent HONORARY
Sebastiaan Faber
to Mexico and Central America. Approximately 30 currently Chair Emeritus BOARD
live near Tijuana with perhaps that many more in other border Larry Cox
James D. Fernandez
towns. Even with honorable discharges, and service connected Vice-Chair
health problems, none of them can get to the Veterans Adminis- Baltasar Garzn
Gina Herrmann Adam Hochschild
tration hospitals in the UNITED STATES for the medical care for Vice-Chair
which they otherwise qualify. Joyce Horman
Ellyn Polshek
Vice-Chair Gabriel Jackson
There are now five bills in Congress to address aspects of this
bizarre and unfair process. However, only one bill, by Congress- Joan Levenson-Cohen Robin D.G. Kelley
Treasurer Howard Lurie
man Raul Grijalva (D-AZ-3d), H.R. 1405Veterans Visa and Pro-
tection Act of 2017 will lead to cancellation of the deportation Aaron Retish Judy Montell
for some of the veterans, excluding those convicted of violent Secretary
Antonio Muoz Molina
or national security felonies. While some deported vets were John Brickman
convicted for violence, any extenuating circumstances, such as John Sayles
Christopher Brooks
severe PTSD, cannot be taken into account under this bill, if it James Skillman
Robert Coale
even passes in its current form. Still, this legislation would help Bryan Stevenson
many deported veterans to get back to the country they put their Burton Cohen
lives on the line for, and it deserves our support. The other four Kate Doyle

Julio Llamazares (courtesy of the author)
Rescue What We Can: Julio Llamazares cupied by Francos troops. And, given its landscape, it saw a large
number of Republicans flee to the mountains. For that same
and the Fight against Oblivion reason, there was a lot of repression during and after the war.
The memory of those years has marked the rural communities
By Sebastiaan Faber
deeply.
Do you consider Wolf Moon a political novel?
J ulio Llamazares was
born in 1955 in Veg-
amin, a small town in the
Everything is political because everything has a point of view.
The novel is told by one of the refugees, not by one of the police
pursuing them. But in reality the book is a reflection on the
province of Len, in the
instinct for survival. It could have been situated anywhere and at
north of Spain, where his
any time. In that sense its a literary novel, not [a] political one.
father worked as a teacher.
Still, in the last instance, a countrys historical memory are its
In 1968, Vegamin disap-
literature and art.
peared from the map. Along
Are young people in Spain interested in the past? Do you still visit
with five other towns, it was
high schools?
submerged in a huge artifi-
I used to, but much less often now. Kids read less and less.
cial lake. The Francoist state,
Literature doesnt interest them. For them, the events in Wolf
allied with the power companies, forcibly evacuated Llamazares
Moon are as long ago as the Carlist Wars or the French Revolu-
and his family. The displacement marked him for life. His work
tion. They dont see this history as something that might explain
as a poet, novelist, and essayist deals with memory and loss, em-
the present. But of course the Spanish present has a lot to do
bodied in beautiful but ruthless landscapes. All we can do is try
with that history.
to survive in the face of the river of oblivion.
How do you feel about this waning interest?
Like the British writer John Berger, Llamazares is preoccu-
I accept it with melancholy. The wind of life never stops blow-
pied with the fast destruction of rural cultures in Europe and
ing. Life is a river of oblivion. As writers, our job is to rescue
elsewhere, along with their millenarian customs, wisdom, and
what we can, so that the river doesnt take it all.
storytelling traditions. His best-known novel, The Yellow Rain
Unlike some other members of your literary generation, like Javier
(1988), is written in the voice of the very last inhabitant of a
Maras, Antonio Muoz Molina or Arturo Prez Reverte, youve
ghost town in the mountains of Aragn. His first novel, Wolf
kept to yourself. And unlike them, you dont occupy a seat at the
Moon (1985), tells the story of anti-Francoist guerrilla fighters
Royal Academy of Language. How come?
from the Civil War who survived for years in the mountains that
(Laughs.) I dont occupy a seat anywhere. Im an odd bird
separate Asturias from Len, hunted down mercilessly by the
in the literary world. Truth be told, I barely have contact with
Civil Guard. In Spain, Wolf Moon helped inaugurate what would
other writers. The public has appreciated my work more than
later become the grassroots call for the recovery of historical
the literary establishment. Maybe they think the Spain I write
memory. This movement has sought to rescue victims testi-
about is less modern and cosmopolitanless falsely modern and
mony from the war and the Franco years, exhume mass graves,
cosmopolitanthan the image of Spain theyd like to transmit
and hold those responsible accountable for their crimes.
to the outside world to strengthen the countrys brand, la marca
More than 30 years after it first appeared, the novel is now
Espaa. That said, in literary terms I am part of a very Spanish
available in English, translated by Simon Deefholts and Kath-
tradition: Machado, Quevedo, Cervantes, Bcquer.
ryn Phillips-Miles. In late September, I called Llamazares at his
As a writer, Im not interested in prizes or other forms of rec-
home in downtown Madrid.
ognition, nor am I willing to do what it takes to be considered
Is it strange to see Wolf Moon appear in English now? Spain and
for them. All I want is to move my readers the same way Im
the world have changed quite a bit since 1985.
moved when I write. For me, literature is a goal in itself, not
When I wrote it, I was completely unaware of the social and
a means to get to something else. A writer, for me, is someone
political impact it would have. I just wanted to tell the stories I
whod write even if she couldnt publish ever. In Spain, there
heard as a kid in the 60s from the people in my fathers town,
are many people who publish books who are not writers in this
where there were several people whod fled to the mountains. I
sense. For them, writing is a means to achieve success or fame or
didnt mean to settle any accounts with the past. Of course read-
money. Not that I judge them for it. To each their own.
ing it now is a different thing altogether. For one, the events that
You actually publish relatively little.
the book narrates have receded much farther into the distance.
I dont publish much but I write a lot. I write slowly. Telling
When I wrote it, it was a testimonial novel. For high school or
stories is easybut to do so with a maximum emotional inten-
college students today, who havent lived Francoism or the years
sity takes a lot of work. I once met a reader in Italy who gave me
immediately following it, its simply a historical novel.
the highest compliment Ive ever received as a writer. He said
The novel is set in Len. Is it a coincidence that the historical
that reading my poetry felt like being shockedas if hed stuck
memory movement, too, started in Len, when in the year 2000,
his fingers in an electrical outlet. Thats my goal.
Emilio Silva went in search of his grandfathers remains?
In reality, the desire to look at the past with different eyes was
Sebastiaan Faber teaches at Oberlin College.
emerging all over Spain. Still, Len was almost immediately oc-

The Porma reservoir in Len, under which Llamazares home town lies submerged
Wolf Moon: A Novel

about the Anti-Francoist
Guerrilla
By Julio Llamazares
In the autumn of 1937, after the Re- Well, he says. It looks like its over. He fog stretches and drags down the hill. Gildo
publican front had collapsed in Asturias glances towards the corner where his broth- takes his submachine-gun off his shoulder
and with any possibility of retreat being er Juan, Gildo and I are huddled up next to without making a sound. At this time of
the fire, burning bitter green wood, trying year there are no shepherds still up in the
prevented by the sea, hundreds of fugi-
unsuccessfully to avoid the rain leaking in passes, he says.
tives took refuge on the steep, leafy slopes through the roof. As soon as night falls The four of us now have our weapons in
of the Cantabrian Mountains, their only well cross the mountain pass, says Ramiro, our hands, and, motionless, we listen out
objective being to escape the repression lighting his cigarette. Well be on the other for the sudden crack of a branch or an
inflicted by the winning side and to wait side by dawn. isolated word in the cierzo, scanning the
for the right moment to regroup and take Gildo smiles behind his balaclava, his mountain for a still shadow waiting in
up arms again, or to escape to one of the grey eyes shining. He throws a bundle of ambush in the fog.
branches on to the fire. The flames spring We hear the barking again, more clearly
areas of the country that were still under
up, warm and cheerful, in the spiral of now, in front of us. There is no doubt about
government control. Cut down by bul- smoke that rises to meet the rain soaking it. A dog is chewing the frozen entrails of
lets, many of the fugitives would remain through the thatched roof. the night up in the pass.
somewhere in those once-peaceful moun- * *
tains forever. Others, fewer in number, The moon has not come out tonight either. The barking has guided us through the
managed, after many hardships, to cross The night is like a cold black stain on the darkness, along the path that crosses
the border into exile. But all of them outline of the beech groves, which climb up through fields of heather and broom, to-
the mountain and into the fog like ghostly wards the grey line of the horizon.
without exception left the best years of
armies of ice. It smells of rosemary and We are close now. Ramiro signals. Juan,
their lives behind them in that struggle shredded ferns. Gildo and I deploy quickly to either side.
as well as an indelible and legendary Our boots slosh through the mud searching The climb is now much slower and more
mark on the collective folk memory. for the elusive surface of the ground with difficult, without the dark outline of the
each step. Our submachine-guns shine in path to guide us and with thick under-
Chapter 1 the darkness like iron moons. growth gripping our feet like animals claws
As evening falls, the wood grouse is singing We carry on climbing towards the Amarza buried in the mud.
in the nearby beech groves. The cold cierzo Pass, towards the roof of the world and Ramiros shadow on the path has stopped
wind suddenly stops, wraps itself around solitude. again. Now the dog is barking just a few
the trees sore branches and tears off the * meters away from us.
last few autumn leaves. Then the black Suddenly, Ramiro stops in the middle of On the grey line of the horizon, behind
rain, which has been lashing the mountains the heather. He sniffs the night like an a line of oak trees, we can make out the
violently for several days, finally stops. injured wolf. With his one and only hand, shadow of a rooftop, imprecise and frozen,
* he points into the distance. floating in the fog.
Ramiro is sitting by the door of the shep- Whats up? asks Gildo, his voice barely a The shelter and sheepfold at the top of the
herds hut where we took refuge the night murmur in the fogs frozen lament. pass are a mass of crumbling dry-stone
before last, fleeing from the rain and from Up there. Cant you hear it? walls. A strong smell of excrement and ne-
death. As he squeezes the cigarette I have The northerly cierzo wind blows down the glect assaults our noses. A smell of solitude.
just rolled for him between his fingers, mountain, whipping through the heather The barking threatens to blow apart the
morosely and ritualistically, he stares in- and the silence. It fills the night with its nights swollen belly.
tently at the trail of rocks and mud that the howl. Is anyone there? Gildos voice rumbles in
downpour has washed down the side of the Its the cierzo, I tell him. the silence like damp gunpowder. It forces
mountain. His silhouette is outlined in the No, its not the cierzo, its a dog. Can you both the dog and the wind to be quiet, at
doorway against the milky-grey half-light of hear it now? the same time. Hey, is anyone there?
the evening sky, like the profile of an animal I can now. I can hear it clearly, a sad distant Again, silence. Dense and profound. Inde-
that is motionless, perhaps dead. barking, like a groan. A barking that the structible.

The door creaks bitterly as it turns on its violently against the heather and the oak But the dogs have already caught his scent,
hinges. Like its half-asleep. The beam of trees. It howls over the roof of the shelter and it is not long before the outline of a
Gildos torch slowly ruptures the heavy dark- and goes off down the mountain in search man, alerted by their barking, appears in the
ness inside the shelter. Nothing. There is no of the nights memory. window, which pours a torrent of crimson
one there. Only the terrified eyes of the dog Opposite the open door, hanging from a light on to the water.
in the corner. branch, the swollen black body of the dog Ramiro flattens himself against the wall of
Ramiro and Juan come out from behind the swings gently back and forth. the farmhouse. Whos there?
oak trees and approach the shelter. * The mans voice reaches us, muffled by the
Theres no one here, says Gildo. What Someone has lit a lamp in the farmhouse frost on the windows and the rivers roar.
about the dog? at the bottom of the valley, which nestles
I dont know. Its in here. On its own. peacefully in the foothills of the southern Ramiro does not reply.
Scared to death. slope of the pass. The babbling of the new- Now, a second figure, a woman, appears at
A barely perceptible moan comes from the born river greets us, together with the gentle the window. They seem to be arguing while,
corner, which is lit up again in the torch- sound of the breeze in the willow groves. fearfully, they scan the shadows of the night
light. It will soon be dawn. It will soon be dawn in front of the house. Then they both disap-
Juan goes up to the dog cautiously. OK, and, by then, we will have to be hidden pear, and a moment later the light goes out.
OK. Dont be afraid. away. Daylight is not good for dead men. Beside me, in the willow groves, Gildo and
Wheres your owner? Ill go down first, says Ramiro, getting up Juan are watching, restless and impatient.
The animal cowers in the straw, its eyes full from the stone wall he has been sitting on. A door. The creak of a door. And a voice
of panic. You three stay next to the river and cover shouting across the river, Dont move or Ill
Hes got a broken leg, says Juan. They the retreat. OK? shoot.
must have abandoned him. Gildo and Juan stamp their thick boots on The three of us charge across the bridge
Ramiro puts his pistol back in its holster. the wet grass, trying to shake off the cold. towards the house.
Kill it. Dont leave it to suffer any longer. Slowly, we begin to descend towards the The barking in the yard gets louder.
Juan looks at his brother incredulously. Its valley, its higher fields climbing uphill to When we get there Ramiros pistol is point-
what the owner should have done before he meet us. ing at the face of a man gripped by terror
left, says Ramiro, collapsing heavily on to a The river is swollen by the rains of the past and the cold.
pile of straw. few days. It roars lugubriously under the
* wooden bridge that Ramiro has just crossed Translated by Simon Deefholts and Kathryn
The straw is soaking wet, compacted by the in a low crouch, slowly, not making a sound. Phillips-Miles. Wolf Moon has been published
damp. It compresses under my body like Like a hunter who, over time, has come to by Peter Owen, ISBN 9780720619454
soft bread. Outside, the cierzo still beats imitate the animal movements of his quarry.
Mark Bray (courtesy of Dartmouth College)
Wayne State Hosts ALBA/Susman Lecture

By Mel Small
Dr. Mark Bray, controversial author of The Antifa Handbook, delivered the Bill Susman
lecture to a lively crowd of 100 at Wayne State University on October 17. His ap-
pearance served also as the annual event of the universitys Abraham Lincoln Brigade
Scholarship Fund, which was established in 1982 after a benefit concert donated by
Pete Seeger.
Bray, a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College, outlined the history of anti-fascist move-
ments beginning with Mussolinis Italy to present-day Charlottesville. He made the
case for direct action against fascists, white supremacists, and their ilk, celebrating the
successes of such tactics in several European countries.
Ron Aronson, Distinguished Professor of the History of Ideas Emeritus at Wayne State, took issue with the efficacy of some of Antifas tac-
tics and made the case for organizing mass political movements as the best way to combat the fascists in our midst. His Wayne colleague,
Brad Roth, a professor in the Law School as well as the Political Science Department, concentrated on the issue of free speech and how
and when, if ever, it is legitimate to try to stop opponents from marching or speaking.
In the discussion that followed, members of the audience asked questions and made speeches representing the points of view of Antifa,
Democratic Socialists, Trotskyists, libertarians, socialists, anarchists, and even Democrats and liberals.
Mel Small is Professor Emeritus of History at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Right, top and bottom: POUM offices in Barcelona
Bob Smillie and the Memory of the P.O.U.M.

By Mairad Hache
His association with the POUM cost a British volunteer his life. But how
did he die?
Dedicated to the memory of Robert Ramsay Bob Smillie ship was arrested, imprisoned and, in some cases, killed, trigger-
ing one of the darkest moments of the Spanish Civil War on the
T
he fate of the POUM, among the most controversial Republican side. Among those who died was Bob Smillie, an
episodes of the Spanish Civil War, is shrouded in ta- international volunteer from Scotland affiliated with the Inde-
boo. Founded by Andreu Nin and Joaqun Maurn, pendent Labour Party.
the Partido Obrero de Unificacin Marxista (Workers Party of
Marxist Unification) fought alongside the Republic, defending The ILP Contingent in Spain
the workers revolution as the road to societys emancipation.
After the so-called Barcelona May Days of 1937, however, the The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was one of several for-
POUM, along with other Anarchist groups, was persecuted and eign contingents that provided assistance to the militias of the
outlawed by the Republican government, which even banned POUM before the official creation of the International Brigades.
the circulation of its newspaper, La Batalla. The POUM leader- Founded in the UK in 1893 by Union Leaders of socialist af-
We carry on. Our tribute to Bob Smillie by Dan McArthur.
filiation, the ILPs relationship with the Labour Party was tense ments in support of this theory came from Ethel McDonald, a
from the outset. In 1931, the ILP refused to accept Labours Scottish anarchist who provided English-language coverage of
electoral program and ran for elections without Labours official the war through the CNTs radio station in Barcelona, and who
support. They won five seats, allowing them to create their own was herself arrested in the wake of the May Days.
parliamentary group.
Georges Kopp wrote an account of Smillies death in which
The ILP took part in the Spanish revolution alongside the he mentioned another witness: the German anarchist Gustav
POUM, sending a small group of volunteers of diverse back- Doster, member of the DAS (Deutsche AnarchoSyndikalisten), an
grounds that ended up including the writer George Orwell. This organization that had been operative in Barcelona since 1934.
initial contingent was forged around the figure of John McNair, Doster, too, was captured after the May Days, along with other
a delegate of the party in Barcelona and an important point of German anarchists, and transferred to Valencia. Sometime later,
reference for its members. It also included Irish volunteers such he assured Kopp that he had been imprisoned with Smillie. Cu-
as Paddy Donovan or Patrick OHara; volunteers from Wales riously, there is clear evidence that Doster was in fact held at
and the United States; and women: Sybil Wingate began as Mc- the checa of Santa rsula, one of the centers of the Soviet secret
Nairs secretary before becoming a nurse and a miliciana on the police (GPU) in the city of Valencia, located a few minutes from
Huesca front. Together, they made up a centuriaa formation the Provincial Hospital (which is now a Municipal Library). The
of approximately 100 menled by Georges Kopp. Valencia lawyer Francisco Prez Verd, who was in charge of
keeping the files of the foreign prisoners detained in those years,
Bob Smillie gives a good account of the situation.
A special figure in the ILP contingent was Robert Ramsay Bob Did Smillie die of natural causes while being transferred from the
Smillie. Born in Larkhall, Scotland, in 1916, Smillie belonged Valencia Model Prison to the hospital, or did he pass through
to a family with a long working-class tradition: his grandfather and possibly die atthe checa? Strangely, historians who have
was the famous mining unionist Robert Smillie, one of the ILPs tried to clear up the mystery surrounding Smillies death, such
founders. Bob became intensely involved in the workers strug- as John Newsinger and Tom Buchanan, have not consulted con-
gle, officially joining the ILP in 1935 and quickly becoming part temporary Spanish sources, including the testimony by Prez
of the Guild of Youth organization. In 1936, he arrived in Spain Verd. Similarly, Daniel Grays Homage to Caledonia: Scotland
as McNairs assistant, but soon after requested to go to the war and the Spanish Civil War doesnt cite Spanish sources on the
front. It was there that he met George Orwell, who bore witness May Days and their consequences, which include the arrest of
to Smillies courage in Homage to Catalonia. the POUMistas. (Gray does mention the dispute between Mur-
ray and Smillies father, who in 1938 accused Murray of hiding
Smillie died in Spain under mysterious circumstances. The fact crucial information about the death of his son.) Even those who
that the truth about his death still has not been established is accepted the official account that Smillie died of appendicitis
due in part to the lack of clarity of the Republics institutions. never inquired about the location of the Scotsmans grave. As we
We know that in the wake of the Barcelona May Days, at the know, Smillies death is not the only episode left unresolved; so
height of the POUMs persecution by Republican authorities, is the disappearance of Andreu Nin.
Smillie was arrested in Figueres, north of Barcelona, when he
was about to cross the French border. He was charged with Memory
traveling with war material, as he was apparently carrying some
empty grenades. He was transferred to Barcelona and from there Smillies memory lives on in books like We Carry On: Our Trib-
to Valencia, where he remained officially confined in the Model ute to Bob Smillie, by Dan McArthur, with a foreword by James
Prison awaiting trial, accused of rebellion. Maxton. Its one in several works that aim to recover the mem-
ory of the POUM and its allies, focused mainly on clarifying
While his comrades of the POUM and delegates of the ILP in the causes of their persecution. Further research on this period
Spain tried to visit him in jail and resolve the situation, the au- would be a good thing, helping to explain perhaps the develop-
thorities unexpectedly reported that Smillie had died of appen- ment of the Spanish left since 1978including its persistent
dicitis or peritonitis during his transfer from the Valencia prison divisions, which have surfaced in the recent conflict over self-
to the Provincial Hospital in the same city. Smillie was buried determination and independence in Catalonia. Unveiling the
hurriedly in Valencia, on June 12, 1937. His comrades and po- mysteries surrounding the disappearance and death of figures
litical representatives at the ILP were notified after the fact. Be- such as Andreu Nin or Bob Smillie may lay the foundation for
cause no one was allowed to see the body, rumors surrounding a fraternal gathering of the different forces that make up the
his death began spreading quickly. left. Only then will we be able to focus on fighting the common
enemyfascism. Antifascism, after all, is not just a political po-
Some members of the ILP, among them David Murray, accepted sition. First and foremost, it will always be a humanist position.
the authorities official conclusion that Smillie had died of natu- Mairad Hache is a writer and activist. She published in La Di-
ral causes. Other comrades and witnesses were convinced that recta and Nueva Cultura and is coordinator of the traveling exhibit
he had been another victim of the Stalinist purge. Strong state- Espacios de memoria: las Brigadas Internacionales.

Demonstrators in Madrid calling for dialogue. Oct. 7, 2017.
Understanding the Catalan Crisis:

Emilio Silva on Winners and Losers
The escalating conflict between Spain and Catalonia led to the countrys
deepest constitutional crisis since the transition to democracy. Journalist Emilio
Silva reflects on the short- and long-term impact. For someone on the left, the
confusion in terms of priorities and alliances is hard to understand.
O
n Friday October 27, a nar- standoff between Catalonia and the Span- ciaries of the crisis is the Partido Popu-
row majority of deputies in ish state. The conflict cuts across the polit- lar. The standoff between Madrid and
the autonomous parliament of ical spectrum. While the parties pushing Barcelona has reconciled the party with
Catalonia voted to make Catalonia an in- for independence include the center-right its electorate. The noise generated by this
dependent republic. The vote occurred 26 PDeCat, the center-progressive Catalan process allows the PP to hide the numer-
days after more than two million Cata- Left Republicans (ERC) and the radical- ous corruption cases for which its cur-
lans had cast a ballot for independence left, anticapitalist CUP, the pro-Spain rently on trial, and to pass several political
in a referendum that the Spanish courts parties calling for direct rule include the measures that arent very popular. The ref-
had declared illegaland despite the fact ruling PP, the neoliberal Ciudadanos, erendum of October 1 allowed Rajoy to
that Spain sent in thousands of police to and the Socialist Party, which has also return to the good graces of an electorate
prevent the Catalans from voting. Also on supported the imposition of direct rule. that was bothered by the PPs corruption
October 27, the Spanish senate in Madrid Podemos has opposed both direct rule or its management of the economic cri-
approved a set of measures to impose di- and unilateral independence, calling for a sis. Those voters have now come back to
rect rule on Catalonia, revoking the self- binding referendum on independence as the fold because they support Rajoy gov-
government that the region has enjoyed Scotland was allowed to celebrate. ernments defense of Spanish unity. You
since the adoption of Spains current con- could almost say Rajoy and his voters are
stitution in 1978. As the central govern- In late October, we spoke with Emilio living a kind of new romance.
ment in Madrid, headed up by Mariano Silva, founder of the Association for the
Rajoy of the conservative Partido Popular Recovery of Historical Memory, about Beneficiaries, too, are the Catalan right,
(PP), fired the Catalan President and his the short- and long-term impact of these which has its own corruption cases going
cabinet, they immediately called for re- events. back to the era that Jordi Pujol was presi-
gional elections on December 21. Mean- dent. Those cases, too, have ended up
while, the Catalan politicians who helped practically buried in the media and disap-
lead the way to independence face serious Who will come out winning from this crisis? peared from the map of public opinion.
criminal charges. Seen from Barcelona, the conflict with
Its hard to know who comes out win- Madrid has helped improve the image of
The dramatic developments of late Oc- ning, and even harder who will come out the Catalan right. President Puigdemont,
tober followed years of escalation in the losing. In fact, one of the biggest benefi- for example, is now seen by many as a cen-

Rajoy and his voters are living a kind of new romance.
trist, almost progressive politician. Even many things weve not been allowed to aloniaalthough its also made clear that
in the speech he gave after Rajoy fired decide on since the return of democracy it would prefer Catalonia not to become
him as President, Puigdemont spoke of 40 years ago. And this could have been independent. What Podemos aspires to is
a Catalan Republic whose citizens would a good opportunity to put those on the a new state structure in which Catalonia
live in equality, liberty, and fraternity. table. would find a better fit, have more com-
Well, thats the same Puigdemont who, petencies and enjoy more self-rule. On
as mayor of the city of Girona, had put What has the crisis revealed about the the other hand, there are many things on
padlocks on supermarket dumpsters to Partido Popular (PP), the Socialist Party which the Podemos leadership in Madrid
prevent those who had no other resources (PSOE), and Ciudadanos? and some representatives of Podemos in
from taking food from them. In this iden- Catalonia dont see eye to eye. This has
tity dance, the Catalan police force, the On the one hand, it has revealed that complicated the situation tremendously,
Mossos dEsquadra, have also benefited. we continue to live in the 19th century. and will continue to complicate it in the
In May 2011, they were terribly repres- Spain still hasnt solved the tensions from run-up to the Catalan elections in De-
sive of the protest movement, and dur- that time. Back then, the more conserva- cember. And even Podemos has not been
ing a protest on November 14, 2012, it tive liberales pushed for centralization, able to come up with specific proposals
was the Mossos who blinded a protester while the more progressively minded for a new, multi-national governance
with a rubber bullet. Major Trapero, who among them were willing to cede some structure. If it doesnt come up with them
until recently headed up the Mossos, was power to the peripheries. Those positions before the Catalan elections, it will pay in
among the staunchest defenders of those are now represented by the PP and the terms of votes.
actions. PSOE. That said, its also become clear
that PP, PSOE and Ciudadanos form a Podemos has done really well in the re-
Who comes out losing? front capable of blocking any real change. gions with historically strong nationalist
We cant forget that ten years ago, the movements. Its good results in Catalo-
Everyone who was already on the losing politician with best approval ratings was nia and the Basque Country have been
side before. They lost during the process then-Prime Minister Jos Luis Rodrguez perhaps most surprising. But the situa-
and theyll continue to after its over. Im Zapatero, because in those years he dared tion in Catalonia now may well weaken
talking about those who are occupying to defend a new Statute of Autonomy Podemos electorally. At the same time, we
the most socially fragile spaces of Span- for Catalonia. But it was the PSOE itself dont know what electoral price Podemos
ish society. What has this process done to that, through parliamentary procedure, will have to pay for its position on Cata-
change the actual, objective living condi- trimmed that same statute again. [Al- lonia in the rest of Spain, either. There are
tions of someone who has had to drop though the new statute was approved by many on the left, even among Podemoss
out of school at 16, who will be cheap la- Spanish parliament in 2006, the PP filed own constituency, who dont understand
bor his whole life, and will not be able to an appeal with the Constitutional Court why Podemos would allow a binding ref-
escape from that situation because those that, in 2010, declared it unconstitution- erendum on independence in Catalonia.
politically responsible have not bothered al.] When Carolina Bescansa, one of Podem-
to give him opportunities to get ahead? oss original founders and a great expert
The whole thing reminds me of the image The fact that PP and Ciudadanos are on in electoral sociology, pointed out that
of two elephants who destroy the grass the same page is natural, because they be- Podemos should be talking more about
theyre standing on when theyre fight- long to the same political right. But the Spain, Podemos removed her from her
ingbut also when theyre making love. Socialists could have applied pressure and seat on the Constitutional Commission
helped define different positions. Then in the Spanish parliament.
Among the losers, too, are the movements again, this is the PSOE that has allowed
fighting for social and political causes that Rajoy to return as Prime Minister. In fact, What do you make of the manifestations
the noise generated by the Catalan pro- when it comes to the vision of the Span- weve seen of extreme right-wing Spanish
cess are keeping from view. And perhaps ish state, the PSOE has been on the same nationalism?
there is a Spanish left thats lost the op- page as the PP for decades.
portunity to demand all the rights to de- The whole process has also encouraged a
cide we dont yet have: whether we want What has the crisis revealed about Podemos? much nastier, more conservative Spanish
to live in a monarchy or a republic, for right, which is much closer to Francoist
example; whether we want the rich to pay Podemos has seen itself in a very com- culture than it normally appears to be.
more or fewer taxes; or whether the state plicated bind. One the one hand, its the But the Spanish right is self-enclosed. The
should stop giving 11 billion euros to the largest national party to support a binding fact that international media like CNN or
Catholic Church every year. There are referendum on self-determination in Cat- the New York Times put the police repres-

The process has encouraged a much nastier, more conservative Spanish Right.
sion of the October 1 referendum on their Perhaps the volatility of symbols and and that help erode other public services,
front pages may irritate Rajoy, but doesnt their meaning. Just a couple of years ago, not just education but also healthcare.
really hurt him at all. Two critical lines in the Mossos dEsquadra, the autonomous This confusion in terms of priorities and
a low-quality, rabid-right newspaper like Catalan police, was hated among broad alliances is hard to understand for some-
La Razn would be much more harmful. sectors of the left whod suffered their one on the left. After all, if Catalonia had
brutal repression. Now for many theyve managed to become independent, what
Those of us in the rest of Spain have seen become a symbol of all thats good. we would have seen would have been the
Spanish flags appear hanging off balco- birth of another capitalist state.
nies, and the recovery of authoritarian Personally, as someone who considers
attitudes in day-to-day life. Were fearful himself an internationalist, I have been Emilio Silva is a journalist and founder of
that the hard right is busy rearming. This surprised to see how the Catalan left has the Association for the Recovery of Historical
would have serious consequences in many supported the pro-independence Catalan Memory, winner of the 2015 ALBA/Puffin
areas of society, including the defense of right. The fact that the Left Republicans Award for Human Rights Activism.Sebas-
historical memory. (ERC) or the CUP have voted in favor tiaan Faber teaches at Oberlin College.
of budgets that, for example, included a
What has surprised you most in the Catalan thirty-million dollar subsidy for private
conflict? schools that separate students by gender,
Saving Spanish Lives on she would cross paths later in the USSR, and whom she de-
scribed to me as a charming woman. After the brutal repression
the Volga, Summer 1942 of the Asturias miners revolt that year, Soler joined the Com-
munist Party. When the Civil War interrupted her doctoral work,
By Glennys Young she took to teaching history and geography.
After the Republics defeat, Soler and her husband, the com-
Alejandra Soler Gilabert, munist journalist Arnaldo Azzati Cutanda (1913-1986), were
forced into exile. They crossed the French border at separate
who died in Valencia, Spain times, not knowing if they would be reunited. Alejandra left
last March, was one of Spain at La Junquera in February 1939, a few hours before
the Spanish teachers who Francos army arrived at the border. The pain of leaving Spain
worked with the nearly and her life to that point was still vivid on the day we spoke. I
left everything behind, she told me. And I was alone.
3,000 children who were Alejandra, desperate to find her husband, sent letters to all the
evacuated to the Soviet refugee camps in France. It turned out he was interned at Ar-
Union during the Spanish gels-sur-Mer. The couple was set to accept exile in Mexico when
Arnaldo was told that they were needed in the USSR: Arnaldo as
Civil War. Soler is credited
a journalist, and she as a teacher. Alejandra arrived in Leningrad
with saving the lives of 14 in June 1939 and was soon reunited with her husband in Mos-
children during the battle at cow. At that point Alejandra knew no Russian. As she began to
Stalingradthe turning point of the Soviet Unions learn the language, she also started to teach Spanish language, lit-
erature, history, and geography in one of the 22 homes provided
military struggle against German fascism. But when by the Soviet government for Spanish children. HersCasa no.
the historian Glennys Young interviewed her a year 12, near Pushkin Squarehoused children 12 and older.
before her death, Soler refused to see herself as a war The Nazi invasion of the USSR on June 22, 1941 stunned
hero. Her adventurous life, marked by a strong politi- Soler, even though, as she put it in her autobiography, our
subconscious expected it and feared it. In Moscow, where the
cal commitment, illustrates the long-term impact of civilian population was tasked with military responsibilities, Ale-
the Civil War. jandra and Arnaldo assumed the mission of defusing incendiary
bombs that the Germans were dropping on a city they thought
B orn in Valencia, Alejandra Soler became a political activist

during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923-1930). As
one of the first women at a Spanish university, and a pioneering
comprised of wooden buildings. Contingent forces beyond
Alejandras control propelled her to Stalingrad in wartime. The
German army reached the outskirts of Moscow by the end of
female athlete, she joined the Federacin Universitaria Escolar October. Casa no. 12 had to leave the capital. Soon after Soler
(FUE), a progressive student organization. In 1934, she met the left with the children, Arnaldo was sent to Ufa, southwest of the
Communist leader Dolores Ibrruri (La Pasionaria), with whom Ural mountains, to continue his broadcasting work.
Alejandra Soler with Arnaldo Azzati (left)
Soler was responsible for between 40 and 50 children evacu- refused to see herself as a hero. As a modest person, she admired
ated to Stalingrad on a boat that included youngsters from both humility in others as well, including her husband Arnaldo. When
her Casa and that of Casa no. 2, home to younger Spaniards. I spoke with her, it was difficult to understand how she wanted
The boat made its way on tributaries before reaching the Volga. to be regarded. As she told the Stalingrad story, she often referred
After arriving in Stalingrad, the contingent was taken to the vil- to things happening at that moment, as if indicating that she
lage Leninsk, about 40 kilometers east of the city. Soler contin- merely did what the moment required of heras would any
ued to teach the Spanish children, acted as their second mother, human being with a conscience and a sense of solidarity. Soli-
and served as secretary of the Komsomol cell. darity, she emphasized to me in fact, was what impressed her
In the summer of 1942, following an order from the Soviet most about the USSR: They cared about each other. They were
Ministry of Education, she led 14 Spanish boys and the manager open. Very open.
of the Casa in Leninsk to renovate a new home for Spanish chil- The youths saved by Soler entered different walks of Soviet life
dren on the other side of the Volgathat is, closer to German after the war. ngel Lago, his brother Francisco Lago, and Daniel
forces.In her autobiography, Soler states that, from the outset, Monz worked in factories, contributing to the reconstruction
she thought this mission was madness: exactly [at this time] of the Soviet economy and infrastructure. Marcelino Galn be-
the Germans had begun an offensive towards the southwest, came an architect in Moscow. Gerardo Viana Gmez de Foncea
and in our movement we were going to run into this offensive, studied chorus and ballet at the Krupskaya Institute of Culture
which, very probably, the Russian army would not be able to in Leningrad, and would later become a dance master in Riga.
stop. Indeed, in mid-July, the German Sixth Army had launched The boy she called, in Russian, Navarro El Chornyi (Navarro
its advance into the Don Bend. Distressed by the Ministrys plan, the Black One)likely Vicente Navarrobecame an engineer.
Soler complained to Soviet authorities in Stalingrad. They called The nephew of Spanish Communist leader Jos Daz became an
her a defeatist. Deciding that wartime discipline required her to instructor at the M.V. Frunze Military Academy. Quite a few of
fulfill the order, she reluctantly carried out the mission. Soler and the 14 joined the Spanish Communist Party after the war.
her group reached the site for the new Casa, located in a Don Their lives reached beyond Soviet borders. At least two of the
Cossack village, probably near the town of Kalach, on the banks 14 youth were among the hundreds of Hispanosoviticos whom
of the Don River, likely by mid-July 1942. the USSR sent to Cuba in the early 1960s to aid Fidel Castros
After three or four days working on renovations, her worst revolution, working as military advisors, translators, teachers, or
fears materialized: the Germans launched a paratrooper attack technical specialists. Ramn Aldazbal Luri became a translator
not far from the new Casa. Retreating Soviet soldiers, almost in Cuba, where he likely met La Pasionarias nephew, Amelio
certainly of the 62nd or 64th Soviet Armies, occupied the home, Prez Ibrruri. Viana Gmez de Foncea was among the 1,900
protecting her and the Spanish youth. After a few days, the sol- Spaniards (former nios, political exiles, ex-officers and soldiers in
diers and the Spanish contingent retreated to Stalingrad by train, the Blue Division, pilots, and aviators) who returned to Francos
without incident, even though there were intermittent bombings Spain between 1956 and 1959. Back in Bilbao, Viana Gmez
on the railroad line. By the time they reached the city, Stalingrad brought his insider knowledge of Soviet socialism to a Spain
was an imperiled bunker, as Soler put it. Just after they arrived, where everyday encounters with those who had lived outside
a bomb fell on a trench in which another group of Spanish youth the country, let alone in the USSR, were rare. When Aldazbal
and their teacher, Flix Allende, had taken refuge. All were killed. Luri and others returned from Spain to the USSR, they in turn
Soler knew she needed to get her group back to Leninsk on the brought first-hand experience of everyday life on the other side
other side of the Volga. of the Iron Curtain.
Soler persuaded Red Army personnel to take her group to Alejandra Soler Gilabert survived the perilous journey across
safety. We had to convince the soldiers to extract us from the the Volga and the war. She never stopped being a political activ-
city, she later wrote, and take us to the other bank. It wasnt ist, even after she lost many of her closest compatriots, including
easy, but after much pleading I was able to convince them. Her her husband Arnaldo. After World War II, Soler returned to
idea was to use a military pontoon with a gigantic platform that teaching translation and was named head of the Department of
carried war materiel, tanks, cannons to transport her group. Romance Languages in 1958 at the USSRs Higher School of
With bombs raining over them, she ferried the boys across the Diplomacy. Many years later, in 2012, when she was 99, the for-
river in two groups of seven. At the outskirts is where the fronts mer student activist became a public figure in her native Valencia
of [the battle of ] Stalingrad were, she told me: We were in the when she championed the cause of students protesting cutbacks
middle . . . in the center of the battle. . . [A]ll the bridges had in higher education in what became known as the Valencian
been destroyed. In Stalingrad, the battle went house by house, Spring. The students in turn adopted her as the abuela of their
street by street. And it took a long time. movement. In 2015, when a left-wing coalition brought an end
In convincing Red Army officers to allow her to use the pon- to decades of conservative rule in the city of Valencia, the new
toon, and in ferrying the youth to safety, she was telescoping the mayor, Joan Rib, named Alejandra honorary citizen. She died
skills she had honed in Spain, France, and Moscow. Building on this past March, aged 103.
her innate tenacity and intelligence, she had learned to see herself Hasta siempre, Alejandra!
as a woman who, while small in stature, could stand up to men,
no matter their rank or profession. She had trained herself to Glennys Young is Jon Bridgman Endowed Professor in History and
find a solution to seemingly intractable problems, confident that, Professor of International Studies at the University of Washington
whatever the odds, she could find the way out.
By any definition, saving the boys lives was heroic. But Soler

Joan Sales
Book
reviews
Joan Sales, Uncertain Glory. Foreword by Juan
Goytisolo. Translated by Peter Bush. New York:
New York Review of Books. 2017. 457 pages.
By Joan Ramon Resina
What drives men to war?

J oan Sales Uncertain Glory is
one of the most distinguished
novels on the Spanish Civil War.
No other work on that legend-
ary struggle compares with it
in psychological profundity.
Reminiscent of 19th-century Rus-
sian literature in its large-canvas
format, this novel grew consider-
ably between its publication in
1956 and the fourth expanded
edition of 1971. Although a
French translation of an earlier
version was published in 1962,
and David Rosenthals unrevised ty announced in the title, an allusion to the verse The uncertain
English version appeared in a non-commercial edition shortly after glory of an April day from Shakespeares Two Gentlemen of Verona.
his death in 1992, the book had to wait for Peter Bushs translation The April day referred to is April 14, 1931, the date on which
to be available to English-language readers. Considerable obstacles Francesc Maci proclaimed the birth of the Catalan Republic in a
lay in the path of this novel. First, the Franco censorship. The Federation of Iberian republics hours before Madrid proclaimed a
regime could ill tolerate a Republican account of the Civil War, unified Spanish republic. But for a few days, the uncertain glory
let alone a Catalan one. It did not help either that its author was could also allude to the official end of the war, March 28, the day
a former Republican army officer or that, after exile in France, the Madrid fell to Francos army. Or then again, it could be a meta-
Dominican Republic and Mexico, he had become a cultural activ- phor for the false security of youth. In any case, the reference to the
ist through his publishing venture, El Club dels Novellistes. After precariousness of earthly glory casts a pall of skepticism over the
Francos death, it was, ironically, the leftist critical establishment hubris of military victory.
that dismissed Sales book for its Catholicism. It has taken decades The bulk of the novel takes place on the Aragn front and in
and the decline of the PSUCs influence among the Catalan intel- Barcelona. It is divided into three parts, each narrated by a differ-
ligentsia for the human dimension and indisputable value of this ent character. The first narrator, Llus, is serving in a militarized
novel to be recognized. battalion after having been posted, like Sales had, in an anarchist
Uncertain Glory does not peddle orthodox religion. The militia unit. His college friend Juli Solers is a disenchanted
Archbishop of Paris refused to grant it doctrinal approval when intellectual who has pierced through the absurdity of the war
asked by the French publisher. Sales faith, an expression of mans and understood its senseless, iterative character. Solers sees the
metaphysical search in the face of the absurd, has nothing to do meaning of existence expressed through a priori categories of the
with National Catholicism and much to do with the existential- macabre and the obscene, but like the absurd man of existential-
ist disquiet of French writers like Jacques Maritain, Simone Weil ism, he refuses any notion of transcendence. He fights the war
and Albert Camus. While he denounces religious persecution in senselessly, without hatred, according to his notion that people
rearguard Barcelona, a fateful episode that leftist historians have should kill each other like good brothers. His perception of the
downplayed or tried to justify, it does not give a clean bill of health absurdity allows him to switch sides without remorse, convinced
to the Bishops support of the coup dtat or liken it to a crusade. of the indignity of victory. At the end of the day, who is Solers?
Rather than in dogmatic certainties, Sales pries into the uncertain- asks Llus. A hypothesis perhaps? An enigma?

Sexuality and aggression are of course the primary drives in Uncertain Glory refuses a heroic vision of the war and avoids
Freuds psychoanalysis. The pairing of Eros and Thanatos is de- the Manichean representation of the conflict in most Civil War
picted in the episode of the maid who seduces Llus into forging a literature from the 1940s and 50s. It shows war as chaotic and
marriage certificate in articulo mortis, which allows her to claim the undignified. It can only be redeemed by confronting lifes deepest
title and property of her employer, an aristocrat who was killed by misery, its sheer transience, and finding release from it in the sense
the anarchists. While searching for the certificate in a monastery, of eternity that must be purchased with tragedy.
Llus finds the mummies of monks, which anarchists had taken Bushs translation skillfully conveys Sales simple, elegant Cata-
out of their niches and placed at the foot of the altar in a mock lan. It succeeds in rendering a classic into a language whose natural
wedding scene. Someone had inserted a candle into one of the rhythm and phrasing differ substantially from those of the original
mummies to mimic the male organ. What do we know of our version.
instincts? asks Llus. He will soon learn something about them on
discovering that he has been manipulated for the sake of a womans Joan Ramon Resina is Professor of Iberian and Latin American Cul-
ambition. Later, when he suspects that she may have induced her tures at Stanford University. His most recent book is Josep Pla: Seeing
employers execution, the image of a praying mantis eating the the World in the Form of Articles (Toronto).
head of the sexually engaged male comes to his mind.
In the meantime, Trini, Lluss girlfriend and narrator of part
II, has been attending clandestine masses in Barcelona attics, a
MORE WAYS TO
MAKE ALBA THRIVE!
modern variant of the Roman catacombs. In the midst of disaster,
she discovers her religious faith. Although the single parent of a
child by Llus, from whom she has become estranged, she declines
Solerss offer of marriage: I feel your suggestion is absurd because CONSIDER MEMBERSHIP IN THE JARAMA SOCIETY
of the very things I admire in you. You are too intelligent and love Remember ALBA in your will and help secure the long-term future
is a jungle. A couple of wild animals howling on the edge of a of ALBA for generations to come. There are many ways to give a
precipice. planned gift to ALBA.
The third part is narrated by Cruells, a soldier with a vocation
for the priesthood. He voices Sales grim view of life as a path to HONOR A FRIEND
the crucifixion and of war as the striving of blind masses of lonely Contributions may be made to ALBA in honor or in memory of a
men to achieve their particular crucifixions. The summons of loved one. An acknowledgment card is sent to the person or family in
crucifixion isnt that what war is all about? What drives men whose name the gift is made.
to seek death in such hecatombs? Not the causenobody knows
what that isbut glory, which is something everyone feels. But GIVE A MATCHING GIFT
what glory, O my God, what kind of glory, if nobody will ever Many corporations match charitable contributions making your gift
know the names of so many soldiers who have fallen in so many even more meaningful. Please send your matching gift form with your
contribution. When combined, your gift could advance you to the
battles?
next level.
STRETCH YOUR GIFT WITH THE

MONTHLY PLEDGE PROGRAM
Ensure more of your money goes to our mis-
sion by lowering costs and supporting our
cause without a big one-time hit to your wal-
let. How does it work? Simply decide on an
amount you would like to give monthly or
quarterly and mail the enclosed envelope
checking the recurring box donation. Your
donation will be transferred automatically
and will appear or your credit card state-
ment. Its easy and ensures your donation is
put to good work as efficiently as possible
and you can cancel any time.
If you have additional ques-

tions or would like to discuss
your choices, please contact
executive director Marina
Garde at 212 674 5398 or
email [email protected].
All inquires are kept in the
strictest confidence.

Poetry Feature Anonymous
The old Communist behind the bar is decanting
rot-gut red into green bottles, pours me a taste.
Hed fought in Spain with the Lincoln Brigade

and in the big war that followed. He has stories.
Oral history we call it: I want his past, he hopes

for my future. He pours, I drink. So we begin.
Depression days, hunger on the streets, he complains

to a priest who titles him a Communist: his calling.
He wont speak about battles, nothing of his Silver Star

at Anzio, liberating a Nazi camp. He blesses his luck.
Once he aimed his rifle at an American officer shooting

German POWs but had no qualms about killing the SS.
No poetry lost, he says. Later I find ten-dollar bills

saved in the pages of his favored poets, Blake and Yeats.
When we walk through the zoo admiring caged monkeys,

he talks about a Nuremberg Tribunal for Richard Nixon.
At the ball park, he refuses to stand for the flag.

Cheer up, he chirps, the worst is yet to come.
While sleuthed by the FBI, he persuades an agent

to give him free rides; he can live without a car.
At his job in a mayonnaise factory, he declines

promotions so immigrant workers get better pay.
One night he warns me his comrades are dying fast.

He says, Ill be seeing you soonas a ghost.
We scatter his ashes, as he wished, with the fish

outside the Golden Gate where no one could find him.
--Peter Neil Carroll
Anonymous was first published in the Chiron Review (Summer 2017).

CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM 8/1/2017 TO 10/31/2017
Benefactor ($5,000 and above)
Estate of Ethel Tobach Puffin Foundation, Ltd.
Sponsor ($1,000-$4,999)
Kate Doyle Estate of Norman Eisner NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Len & Nancy Tsou
Supporter ($250-$999)
Henry Allen Anonymous Ellen Bogolub Peter N. Carroll in memory of Jack Lucid, VALB 1915-1977 Sherna
Gluck Fraser Ottanelli Edith Oxfeld Catherine & Robert Roth Paul Schechter Nadrian Seeman Michael
Sennett in memory of Bill Sennett, vet Jeri Wellman & Nicholas Bryan in memory of Ed & Estelle Wellman
Contributor ($100-$249)
William Allison Grace B. Anderson Michael Apple Margarita Asencio-Lopez in memory of the unknown
volunteer from Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico Michael Batinski Pilar Vico Bhattacharya in memory of Irving & Freda
Weissman Steve Birnbaum Frederick Blanchard in honor of the Brigade Michael Blum in memory of Sam
Krieger Eric Botts David Cane in memory of Lawrence Cane, VALB Daniel J. Czitrom in honor of Marina
Garde Steve Dinnen in honor of Jack Shafran Hank Doherty Claire Feder Candi Gainesville Edward Garcia
Andrs A. Gonzales Richard Horvitz Steven Jonas, MD, in memory of Edward K. Barsky, MD Jack Levine
Gene Marchi Gerald Meyer James & Juliane Monroe in honor of Americo Castro Michael J. Organek Lewis
Pepper in memory of Abraham Pepper Ivette Perfecto Jacques Rieux Sue Rosenthal in honor of the last parade
Marc Shanker Irene & Eric Solomon in memory of Ben Leider Karen Sullivan Patricia Tanttila Thurman
Wenzl Susan Wolff Wallis in memory of Milton Wolff Chic Wolk David Wyckoff Jay Zukerman
Friend ($1-$99)
Jean Adelman Everett Aison in memory of Irving Fajans James Albers in memory of all volunteers who gave their
lives as premature anti-fascists Charles Allen Jenny Allen Mark Alper AmazonSmile Foundation Kendall
Anthony Mike Arnott in memory of the Scots who fought with the Lincolns John August Elaine Babian
Michael Bailey Joan E. Balter Charles Barrett, in memory of the District 65 UAW members who fought in
Spain Henry Barton Gordon Baxter Paul Beach Selma Benjamin Philip Bereano in memory of my parents,
Leon & Beatrice Judith & Cyrus Berlowitz in memory of Clara Philipsborn, 5th Regiment Juliet Bernstein in
honor of all those who went to fight in Spain John & Susan Boland Ellen Broms in memory of Harry Kleiman
Tibby Brooks Richard Brouillette Paul Bundy Marion Burns in memory of Harry Randall, ALB photographer
Ronald Calogeras Philip Carroll Darlene Ceremello William Chandler Nancy & Ira Cohen Martin
Comack in memory of the Irish volunteers Lawrence Craig Barbara Dane Alice Dekker S. Leonard DiDonato
Richard Dods Donald Donato Alvin & Rochelle Dorfman Daphne Douglas Alice Dubiel Joshua Dubin in
memory of Norman Nathan Berkowitz Jesse Ehrenberg in memory of Myron Ehrenberg Sebastiaan Faber Al &
Mary Fenske in honor of class fighters everywhere James Fernandez William Fisher Paul V. Fitzgerald Stanford
Forrester Jeffrey Frace Gene Friedlander Alex Gabriles Marina Garde Jonathan Garfield Cleo Gorman in
memory of Edie Muldoon Neal Gosman in memory of Pat Garafolo Geraldine S. Grant James Grant Andrew
Haimowitz Victor & Alexandra Halitsky John Hart Noel Hartman Kendra Heisler in memory of Robert
George Thompson Herbert Herman Gina Herrmann George Hutchinson Gabriel Jackson Robert Jackson
Zachary M. Jackson Gloria Joseph John L. Kailin David Karpe Marlin R. Keshishian Aloha Keylor in
honor of my father, Howard Keylor Sandy Kilpatrick Ethel & Keith Kirk in memory of Hilda Roberts Fran
Krieger-Lowitz in memory of David Wills Beatrice Krivetsky in honor of Corinne Thornton John Kyper Ted
Lahm Diane Laison in memory of Jules Splaver Thomas S. Larson P. Herbert & Gloria Leiderman Rob
Lerman Eric Lessinger Milton Lessner in honor of my cousin, Nate Abramovitz Eugene & Elizabeth Levenson
Nikolai Lieders Rob Liguori Paul Limm David Lyons Sylvia Manheim in honor of Jerome H. Manheim

CONTRIBUTIONS (CONT.)
& Samuel Nuchow Madeline Marina in memory of my husband, Miguel, a captain in the Republican army
Margaret & Arnold Matlin Marc Mauer Thomas Mayer Albert McDonald Andrew W. McKibben Timothy
Michel Nancy Mike-Johnson Nina Miller Ruth Misheloff James Moore Alfonso Morales Edward Morman
in memory of Mac Morman Sue Morris in honor of Joe Brandt Eva Moseley in memory of Max Kurz Rachel
Murdy Melvin Natinsky Martha Nencioli Ann M. Niederkorn Peter Nimkoff in honor of the Volunteers and
their comrades in Spain Mike Nussbaum Michael OConnor Pam ONeill Marilyn Oberg Nicholas Orchard
Ira Oser Ann & Vittorio Ottanelli Paypal Charitable Giving Fund Albert J. Penta Familia Humanes Perez
Clayton Peterson Richard Peterson Augusta Petroff in memory of William (Bill) Susman Jan Phillips
Raphael Podolsky David & Adele Politzer Louise Popkin Virginia Port Martha Pyle Steven Queener in
memory of Dr. Stern Michael Quigley Leonard Ramirez in memory of Kerry Slocum Marilyn Ekdahl Ravicz
Victoria Reiss Jules Rensch Jennifer Riley in memory of Edwin Rolfe Mona Roberts Hazel Rochman
Suzanne & Alan Jay Rom in memory of Samuel S. Schiff Constancia Romilly Miki Rosen John Roth Blas
Ruiz Aracelly A. Santana Dorothy Scheff Herman Schmidt Ruth Schultz David Schweickart Douglas &
Karen Seidman Edward Shanahan Ellen Shatter Daniel Shively Teresa Shtob Daniel J. Skinner Melvin
Small Gary Smith Marc Snir Jean Sommer Ida Sorscher Michael Sperber Janet Stecher Kenneth Stern
Merle Stern Naomi Stern Wes Stiner Tito Super Joel Swadesh Harvey Tanttila Margaret Tanttila Bahram
Tavakolian in memory of Faridoon Tavakolian James & Christine Walters Thomas Wineholt Kelsey Woods
THANK YOU
To our dear friends Ethel Tobach, Norman Eisner, Meyer S. Gunther, and
Mark Levinson, who extended their love and generosity to ALBA by being part of
The Jarama Society and leaving a gift in their will.
For more information on The Jarama Society, please contact ALBAs executive
director Marina Garde at 212 674 5398 or [email protected]
FROM THE ALBA OFFICE

Its been a year of challenges and setbacks but also of courage and important lessons. We are incredibly grateful
for your support throughout this year, which came in many forms.
Thank you for expanding our possiblitilies and making a difference in our work. Please know that we are here for
you and count on you. With all our gratitude and warmest wishes for the New Year!
Marina Garde, executive director

Michael McCanne, executive assistant
Andres F. Carrasco, educational coordinator

FOR THOSE WHO CAME AFTER: SONGS
OF RESISTANCE FROM THE SPANISH
CIVIL WAR
END OF THE
A new interpretation of ten iconic songs from YEAR BRUNCH
the Spanish Civil War for the ALBA Community
Recorded live at the Japan Society
in 2016 commemorating the Please join us for brunch
80th anniversary of the war, the and a conversation with activist and
album features a fragment of an
interview with Abe Osheroff and writer Leslie Cagan
the voice of Delmer Berg, with
liner notes by Adam Hochschild.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1O
From 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Now available at [email protected] [Doors open at noon. Program starts at 12:30 PM]
$20 (for domestic orders. Price includes shipping
& handling.) All proceeds from the record are
being generously donated to ALBA. Advance tickets: $45 / at the door: $60
Family packs: three tickets for $125
Information and tickets: www.alba-valb.org
or 212 674 5398
Paella &
Drinks
included!
The opening credits of the new PBS series on

the Vietnam War by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Spanish Benevolent Society
feature this photograph of the Veterans of the 239 West 14th Street, 2nd FL.
Abraham Lincoln Brigade protesting the war New York, NY 10011
(Washington, D.C., Oct. 1967; White House Photograph Office).

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TheVolunteer DECEMBER 2017 Final

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Vol. XXXIV, No.

PUBLISHED BY THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE ARCHIVES

2 THE VOLUNTEER December 2017

ALBA in the Classroom

December 2017 THE VOLUNTEER 3

Ill Be There: Film Festival Shows

December 2017 THE VOLUNTEER 5

Watt Prizes Recognize

J uliann Susas of Johns Hopkins University received the

December 2017 THE VOLUNTEER 7

The full text of the prize-winning submissions is available

8 THE VOLUNTEER December 2017

Last August, in the wake of

December 2017 THE VOLUNTEER 9

10 THE VOLUNTEER December 2017

December 2017 THE VOLUNTEER 11

Human Rights Column

12 THE VOLUNTEER December 2017

December 2017 THE VOLUNTEER 13

14 THE VOLUNTEER December 2017

Wolf Moon: A Novel

December 2017 THE VOLUNTEER 15

Mark Bray (courtesy of Dartmouth College)

Wayne State Hosts ALBA/Susman Lecture

Mel Small is Professor Emeritus of History at Wayne State University in Detroit.

16 THE VOLUNTEER December 2017

Bob Smillie and the Memory of the P.O.U.M.

18 THE VOLUNTEER December 2017

Understanding the Catalan Crisis:

December 2017 THE VOLUNTEER 19

20 THE VOLUNTEER December 2017

B orn in Valencia, Alejandra Soler became a political activist

22 THE VOLUNTEER December 2017

What drives men to war?

December 2017 THE VOLUNTEER 23

STRETCH YOUR GIFT WITH THE

If you have additional ques-

24 THE VOLUNTEER December 2017

Hed fought in Spain with the Lincoln Brigade

Oral history we call it: I want his past, he hopes

Depression days, hunger on the streets, he complains

He wont speak about battles, nothing of his Silver Star

Once he aimed his rifle at an American officer shooting

No poetry lost, he says. Later I find ten-dollar bills

When we walk through the zoo admiring caged monkeys,

At the ball park, he refuses to stand for the flag.

While sleuthed by the FBI, he persuades an agent

At his job in a mayonnaise factory, he declines

One night he warns me his comrades are dying fast.

We scatter his ashes, as he wished, with the fish

--Peter Neil Carroll

Anonymous was first published in the Chiron Review (Summer 2017).

December 2017 THE VOLUNTEER 25

26 THE VOLUNTEER December 2017

FROM THE ALBA OFFICE

Marina Garde, executive director

December 2017 THE VOLUNTEER 27

The opening credits of the new PBS series on

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