Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
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Volunteer
by the people, and for the people,
shall not perish from the earth.”
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
The
JOURNAL OF THE VETERANS OF THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE
Arlo Guthrie,
Pete Seeger,
Mime Troupe
and Garzón
Highlight NY
Reunion
By Trisha Renaud
A capacity crowd of 1,000
ERIC LEVENSON
M
oe Fishman’s article in the last issue of The
Volunteer acted as a catalyst for me to com-
plete this short report of our activities. For
many years the Bay Area VALB has planned and
produced most of its activities with the direct aid
of associates (relatives and friends of the vets).
Under Milt Wolff’s leadership, the organization
was formalized as VALB and Associates, with the
C
hicago Friends of the Lincoln Brigade opened a cam-
paign last May for a monument to honor and
by Moe Fishman
remember the 160 volunteers from the Chicago area.
The effort was launched at a New York area press covers ALBA-VALB event:
successful theater party fea- The Villager, published in Greenwich Village, carried a
turing Peter Glazer’s lengthy article featuring Al Koslow and Abe Smorodin.
theatrical production, Heart of The New York Times had a good piece in the city sec-
Spain: A Musical of the Spanish tion featuring a large photograph of Moe Fishman and
Civil War. Brochures announc- quoting Harry Fisher. The Hartford Courant, the largest
ing the new campaign were newspaper in Connecticut, ran a feature article on
distributed at all performances Sunday, May 28, with a picture of Milt Wolff. Jewish
at Northwestern University’s Currents ran a full-page description of the event by
Barber Theater. Morris Schappes. Finally, the Brooklyn Bridge
This new play by Glazer Magazine will soon run a feature article with pictures
skillfully combines the writ- and interviews with Abe Smorodin, Al Koslow, Moe
ings of some of the American Fishman, Matty Mattson, and Milt Wolff.
volunteers with dramatic
scenes that clarify the histori- A plaque in Provincetown:
cal context. It weaves together Playwright Peter Glazer, A plaque was placed in Provincetown, MA. It reads:
materials of the time—diaries, producer of Heart of Spain “Gene and Dick Fein: Fighters for Justice; Lovers of
letters, poetry and songs— and We Must Remember, Provincetown; Inspiring us still.” Dick was a long-time
with music by Eric Bain with his father, Tom Glazer member of our executive committee and his wife Gene
Peltoniemi. Heart of Spain worked for many years helping our organization.
smoothly takes the audience from the general world scene
in the 1930’s to the thoughts, feelings, and actions of a vari- News from Spain:
ety of Lincoln volunteers. That it is a riveting, exciting On April 30, 2000, El Periodico of Barcelona head-
piece of theater will not surprise the many who have seen lined: “Slaves of Franco.” The article described how a
Glazer’s works in recent years, including Woody Guthrie’s number of former Loyalist soldiers had filed a class-
American Song and the Spanish Civil War musical presenta- action suit demanding full payment for their work as
tion Pasiones. Glazer prefaced his recent success in Chicago forced laborers under Franco.
by writing and directing the highly regarded We Must
Remember, performed in San Francisco and New York. The bulletin of the organization of Loyalist Veterans
In other recent activity, CFLB co-sponsored an African reports “there has been slight increase for all veterans
American History Month program on Langston Hughes at in the 2000 budget. However, the Loyalist veterans are
International House at the University of Chicago, where campaigning for a retirement pension equal to those
Hughes resided while teaching at the Laboratory School. given to today’s other veterans upon retirement.”
Cranston Knight, poet and historian, spoke of Hughes’
writings and poetry in support of Republican Spain to an Mac-Paps continue quest for a national monument:
audience of students and community residents. The provinces of Ontario and British Columbia and the
In another collaboration in March, CFLB co-chair city of Winnipeg have monuments honoring the
Chuck Hall spoke to an audience at a “La Peña” evening at Canadian volunteers of the International Brigades.
the popular Old Town School of Folk Music. A multimedia However, the Canadian veterans will not rest easy until
presentation, The Spanish Civil War, written and directed by they achieve the dedication of a national monument in
Dr. Oscar Ballester, combined narration, text by Pablo the national capital of Ottawa.
Neruda, and poems by Federico Garcia Lorca, Miguel
Hernandes, Antonio Machado and Rafael Alberti with
music by Pablo Casals and Manuel de Falla and the art of spoke of his grandparents, Loyalist refugees who went to
Pablo Picasso. Local poets, actors and musicians participat- Mexico after the fall of the Republic: “Staunch anti-fascists,
ing in the program included Jose Bono, Juan Borja, they never gave up their hope for the restoration of democ-
Gonzalo Cordova, Hoy Son, Hal Ehrich, Kerry Sheehan, racy in Spain.”
Jamie O’Reilly, and Michael Smith. The program in English Those wishing to receive a copy of the brochure and to
and Spanish was part of a weekly showcase of Latin folk make contributions for Chicago recognition of the Lincoln
music and dance enthusiastically supported by Chicago’s volunteers are urged to write to CFLB, 211 Elgin Avenue,
large Latino community. Juan Dies, Director of La Peña, #3D, Forest Park, IL 60130.
THE VOLUNTEER, Summer 2000 3
Tampa Does Not Forget Elisa Moris
by William F. Garcia
I
n her farewell speech to the depart-
ing International Brigades, “La
Pasionaria” exhorted the mothers of
Spain not to let their children forget
the heroism of the brigadistas. Her
words sounded anew recently in
Tampa, Florida, at a ceremony honor-
ing the memory of Elisa Moris.
During the Spanish Civil War Moris, a
cigar maker by trade and a tireless
organizer, was a leader of the self-
defined “retroguardia de Tampa,” the
Tampa rearguard, in support of
Spanish democracy. Under her stew-
ardship a “ladies’ auxiliary” grew to
more than 1,000 dues-paying mem-
bers as it sent tons of clothing to Spain
and helped raise funds to purchase
Tampa’s “No Pasaran” group assembled in the cemetery of Centro Asturiano for
ambulances. On February 15, 1938,
the re-dedication of the grave of Elisa Moris.
Moris was presiding at a meeting at
the “Centro Obrero,” the Labor
Temple, in Tampa’s cigar workers’ in Tampa during the war, spoke on
community of Ybor City. As she rose Tampa’s Latinos’ support for democ-
to greet a delegation from West
Tampa, she suffered a cerebral hemor-
rhage. Four days later she died at the
racy in Spain. Elvira T. Garcia,
president of the Centro Asturiano,
extended words of welcome, and a let-
¡No Pasaran!
Centro Asturiano Hospital. ter from the New York office of the
Over the years Moris’s grave in VALB was read. The high point of the Original lyrics written by a
the Old Centro Asturiano Cemetery event was the playing of an original Tampa cigar maker in 1937
had fallen into disrepair. However, recording of the song “No pasaran,”
her example and life-long commit- written by a Tampa cigar maker in There march the militiamen
ment to the values of freedom and 1937. Many in the audience had sung With great valor to the front.
democracy have not been forgotten. this song as children and young They go singing to give their lives
On April 22, 2000, in the shadow of adults as they marched alongside Lest Franco, the traitor, triumph.
the large Republican flag that had neighbors and parents to demand the
once flown over the Asturian workers’ end of the arms embargo against the The fascists are in the skies.
mutual aid society (the Centro democratically elected Spanish gov- Their aerial bombs may destroy
Asturiano), four generations of ernment. When the singing was over Our beautiful capital city,
Moris’s descendants and a large num- there were few dry eyes in the crowd. But to Madrid . . . They Shall Not Pass!
ber of Tampeños gathered around her This event was sponsored by the
restored grave to celebrate her memo- same group of Tampeños who had They kill women, children, and the
ry and reaffirm their commitment to organized a series of community elderly
the ideals to which she dedicated her activities in conjunction with the visit Who are out and about on the streets.
life. With ALBA associate William F. of ALBA’s “Shouts from the Wall”
Garcia serving as master of cere- exhibit at the University of South This is the deed of the fascists
monies, two professors from the Florida in 1997. By restoring the grave Which will be inscribed in history.
University of Tampa, Martin Favata of Elisa Moris, they help keep alive Where heroes’ blood watered the fields
and Susan M. Taylor, read Cesar the memory of the over 20 volunteers Beautiful seedlings will flourish.
Vallejo’s poem “Masa,” Federico who left Ybor City to fight for Spanish
Garcia Lorca’s “Despedida” and “La democracy and of the enlightened The cannon roars, the earth trembles,
Pasionaria’s” speech Hasta Pronto community that supported them. But to Madrid . . . They Shall Not Pass!
Hermanos. Then Gus Jimenez, grand-
son of the Spanish Republican consul
4 THE VOLUNTEER, Summer 2000
Monument to Swiss IBers in Geneva
By Robert Coale
view of the Matterhorn, expen-
Bill Susman
BY
Lecture
PHOTO
NY Reunion
continued from page 1
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center. office. “Because of our guest,” MC
Spanish actor Antonio Banderas sent a Henry Foner told the New York audi-
message of support. ence, “no tyrant will be able to rest
A particularly poignant moment easy.”
was the introduction of Joyce Garzón's speech focused on the
Horman, widow of Charles Horman, a struggle for freedom and justice, a
U.S. freelance journalist who was fight he described as always having
RICHARD BERMACK
murdered in Chile in 1973. Charles been the task of “a few who put their
Horman died, along with thousands lives at the service of others.” The
of Chileans, in the aftermath of the brigadistas who fought in Spain are
bloody coup in which dictator part of “this new awakening of justice
General Augusto Pinochet seized today," he said. "The founding of the
BY
power from the democratically International Brigades moved the
PHOTO
elected government of President hearts and minds of the world.”
Salvador Allende. Following Garzón's remarks, the
While Pinochet no longer heads entertainment began as veteran singer
Chile's government, the fight to bring and activist Pete Seeger (who recently
the former dictator to justice, led by turned 81), folk artist Arlo Guthrie,
featured speaker Baltasar Garzón, and Seeger's grandson, Tao
recently made worldwide headlines. Rodriguez-Seeger, took center stage
Garzón is a 43-year-old Spanish mag- before an enthusiastic crowd.
istrate judge. In 1998, his criminal The musical set ranged from sing-
investigations of human rights abuses along standards like "Midnight
led him to issue an arrest warrant for Special" and "Guantanamera" to
Pinochet and order that the ex-dicta- Guthrie's moving rendition of "Victor
tor, then in England undergoing Jara," about poet-singer Victor Jara's
ERIC LEVENSON
continued on page 13
their crimes against humanity while in
THE VOLUNTEER, Summer 2000 7
Judge Baltasar Garzón
The International
Brigade
all of us who are here for these things.
today, together with other Evidently my answer didn’t satis-
kindred spirits, will lead fy him, and he said, “Give me an
the way into this extraor- example of solidarity.” In truth it
dinary new century, in wasn’t too difficult to find one to illus-
which the struggle for lib- trate the meaning of my words.
erty, solidarity and I said, “Remember yesterday” (it
human rights will be the was November 8, 1996), “when we
most intense and difficult were going into the Monastery of San
to win, but also the Pedro de Carde in Burgos, which had
RICHARD BERMACK
C
owardice, with the exception of ter how distant.” also been the most humiliating for
a small number of fighters, has One day my son asked me: “Dad, mankind, to the point of making us
always been the norm through- what is solidarity?” I thought it over question our idea of man as a rational
out the world. The struggle for the for a moment and answered him: being, in the face of so many disasters
freedom of the rest of humanity has Solidarity is not a concept, it is a and massacres of innocent beings.
always been the task of the few who system of life; it is the generous offer- But it is also true that, following
have put their lives at the service of ing of one’s life to others, to the each disaster, piece by piece we have
others, to assure their future. The spir- community and to the world to make assembled a universal structure of eth-
it of the pure man that Shakespeare it better, to create ever better and ical conscience that today opens the
referred to is incarnate in these men greater justice, greater equality and portal of hope for a better world, with
and women, a spirit that today and fewer differences between all citizens. greater solidarity and justice, at least
always they transmit to us and that This is a goal worth fighting for, and in the face of the great disasters.
gives us the strength to keep living, finally, it is the essence of the freedom Those who 63 years ago made the
confident that we will create a better of all men and women, and the way in decision to be volunteers for liberty,
world. which the most disadvantaged peo- and whose selfless solidarity with the
On Friday I said that life is a road ples can emerge from poverty. But our Spanish Republic, broken by the fas-
of hope that we make, as our beloved challenge is also to denounce injustice; cist coup, are also part of this new
Antonio Machado said, by walking, it is commitment, honesty; it is simul- awakening of justice today.
and when we look back we do so not taneously utopia and reality and, in The formation of the International
to stop, but to gather strength to keep the final analysis, it is the very breath Brigades was an act that moved the
moving forward. Just as in the past, of life that inspires us to keep fighting continued on page 10
8 THE VOLUNTEER, Summer 2000
ALBA-Susman Lecture
continued from page 6
RICHARD BERMACK
said. “I am simply doing my job.” guarded than in
When asked how he felt about los- his public
ing the Pinochet case, Garzón replied remarks. When
that as a judge he did not consider it a one of the guests
matter of winning and losing, but of at the Hormans’
BY
right and wrong. He expressed full home repeated a
PHOTO
confidence in the Chilean justice sys- question the
tem. Perhaps the most moving judge had skill-
comment from the floor was the testi- fully avoided
Joyce Horman, whose husband was killed during the coup
mony of a retired New York State after his lecture,
in Chile, thanks Judge Garzón for his attempt to bring
Supreme Court Judge, who rose to Garzón con-
Pinochet to justice.
thank Garzón for his efforts toward firmed that he
international justice. would indeed like to indict Henry College. Garzón was in the wings as
Kissinger, Nixon’s Secretary of State Moe Fishman introduced, one by one,
and architect of his Chile policy in the the vets in attendance and asked them
early 70s, except the United States will to stand. Garzón moved out on to the
not release the incriminating docu- stage to see the 28 elderly men who
ments. As we were leaving, Elizabeth had fought for his country nearly 20
Horman, Charlie’s 95-year-old moth- years before he was born. A smile of
RICHARD BERMACK
er, clasped the judge’s hand and pride and satisfaction creased his face
thanked him. The emotion that passed as he applauded them.
between them, borne on a few simple Garzón and the brigadistas both
words, filled the room. recognize that his fight in the arena of
The final moment that remains international law and human rights is
BY
with me took place at the VALB annu- the extension by other means of their
PHOTO
hearts and minds of the entire world and better world. your youth and you wagered all for
in 1936, a tragic year for all Spaniards. the freedom of mankind. Today we are
For many the IB were a sign of inspi- They all deserve the heartfelt proud of our Lincoln Battalion and
ration and hope that finally the world recognition that Rafael Alberti dedi- the fight for Madrid that it made. For
was reacting to the expansion of fas- cated to them in his poem “To the it was there that we fought like true
cism. From the first moment of their International Brigades”: sons of the people, as part of the XV
appearance, rivers of ink ran, from You come from far away... Yet that Brigade. We have left that valley of
both those who came to vilify them distance, sorrow, but its memory shall always
and those who sang the praises of what is it to your blood, which sings remain. Today we face other problems
their courage and their unshakable without borders? and other sorrows, but your example
love of freedom and democracy. A Necessary death names you day by gives us the strength to continue the
number of Americans attended the day, struggle to conquer the future.
European Conference for the Defense no matter whether in city, field or
of the Spanish Republic, organized by byway. Of the 2800 American volunteers
the World Committee Against War From this country and that, from big in the Lincoln Brigade, 750 died in
and Fascism and held in Paris on countries and small Spain, and neither Hemingway, nor
August 13, 1936. Its aim was to mobilize from one that scarcely is a blot on the Orwell, nor Koestler, three great writ-
public opinion on the side of the Popular map, ers and friends of the Republic, had
Front government, and it formed an with the same roots in the same time to praise their death in battle. The
informational coordinating committee in dream, survivors of that fratricidal horror,
support of the Spanish Republic. simple and anonymous, talking as which we know can never happen
you came. again, once more offered their lives for
In 1936, the International Brigades freedom and against fascism in the
were created, at the same time that You do not even know the color of the Resistance, when on June 22, 1941,
Alvarez del Vayo alerted the League walls Hitler invaded the former USSR.
of Nations to the danger of the inter- that your unbreachable commitment Today we pay homage to the
nationalization of the Spanish conflict. shores up. undying presence of those who went
In early January 1937, the XV You defend the earth that covers you, to fight not moved by fraud, or stu-
International Brigade was formed, confident, pidity, or glory, or vengeance, or pay:
while the United States declared an shooting it out with Death dressed for They went with their eyes wide open
embargo on the sale of arms to both battle. because solidarity was the only road
sides. Following terrible losses suf- they saw. There was no other way to
fered on July 12, 1937, the Washington
and Lincoln Battalions were merged
into a new Lincoln Battalion. Its mem- “The struggle for liberty, solidarity and human rights will be the
bers were American and Canadian, most intense and difficult to win, but also the greatest chal-
but also Chinese and Japanese. There
was also a significant percentage of
lenge for the survival of the human race....No matter how
Jews (at least one-third), and nearly little we may achieve, it will always be more than those who sit
100 African-Americans. back and wait for things to happen.”
Today we remember with deep-
felt pride those knights of liberty who
fought against the evils of internation- Stay here, so cry the trees, the plains, keep alive the unassailable truth of
al fascism, moved by loyalty to the tiniest particles of light that join humanity striving for its freedom and
Spanish constitutional democracy and one sentiment alone to shake the seas: dignity. This is the only thing that
the legitimacy of its republican gov- Brothers! was, is, and will always be worth
ernment. Today the unforgettable Madrid with your name swells and fighting for.
Robert Hale Merriman, Oliver Law, shines brighter. For this reason, here today, I am
Steve Nelson, Leonard Lamb, Al honored to pay the simple homage of
Kaufman, Stephen Daduk, and so The Lincoln brigade had its own words to these heroes of the 20th cen-
many others are with us, in the memo- poetry: tury who have taught us so much, and
ries of many; they are and will always There’s a valley in Spain called who have made the road to freedom
be unforgettable, for they gave their Jarama. It’s a place that we all know and the dawning of democracy for all
lives for an idea, to build a different too well, for it’s there that you gave wider and brighter.
10 THE VOLUNTEER, Spring 2000
The George Watt Memorial Awards
African-American Spain. It furthermore discusses the audience and subject matter, if not
support given to the Spanish Republic one’s language. To be exiled is to be
Volunteers by the African-American press. Spain displaced in both time and space; one
by Creighton Chandler III represented a chance to combat not could even say that, in a way, the
only European fascist forces but also exile is a living anachronism, exclud-
In Spain, white, black, between, we were similar fascist forces in America such ed from history itself.
all one.We shared tobacco, water, blankets, as racial oppression. African- Perhaps nobody embodies the
food. Lice drew no color line; so why American volunteer Walter Garland tragic dilemmas of exile like Max Aub
should we? noted that African Americans “can’t (1903-72), one of the many Spaniards
“Lice Drew No Color Line,” forget for one minute that the oppres- who traded their homeland for
By Lincoln Veteran Barney Baley, 1940 sion of blacks is nothing more than a Mexico. Everything in Aub’s life
very concrete form, the clearest seems to have been out of sync with
he Spanish Civil War represents expression, of fascism.” African his time. For one, he considered him-
ERIC LEVENSON
Europe fear of foreigners is breaking
out again, and the success of xeno-
phobic parties in elections shows us
how ephemeral the spirit of coopera-
tion can be.” Leon Zelman stated that
BY
“Mauthausen was built at a time
PHOTO
when many SS-owned companies and
concentration camps were built near
quarries and brickworks....Almost all The vets take the stage.
authorities, numerous corporations continued from page 7
and business people were involved in
the killing machine.” He added that February 27 at the West Coast veter- Weaving together dramatic readings,
“as a survivor” he had “a moral obli- ans’ reunion in San Francisco. poems, slides and music of the
gation for the future of this Spanish Civil
country...to build a world of humani- War, the pro-
ty, tolerance, and peace.” gram told the
The whole occasion was dignified
and moving. If Zelman and the chief An invitation story of the men
and women of
rabbi of Vienna found it appropriate
to participate, why should the world
democratic Left not join them? The
for posterity the Lincoln
Brigade, who
risked their lives
Nazis claimed Schiller and Beethoven
for themselves, but there were
T he Volunteer invites our readers to con- as fighters for
freedom and then
undoubtedly some involuntary mem-
sider making a bequest to the Abraham stood in the fore-
bers of the Hitler Youth who
Lincoln Brigade Archives. front of freedom
responded more to Schiller than to the ALBA is a non-profit tax-exempt organiza- struggles in their
Führer. Hitler should not be allowed tion. Contributions and bequests provide own homeland.
the posthumous victory of spoiling donors with significant advantages in plan- The production,
the noblest of Austro-German culture ning their estates and donations. led by musical
for the survivors and descendants of For more information, contact director Bruce
the Nazis’ victims. The creative work Diane Fraher Barthol and fea-
of recent decades should be more executive secretary turing members
widely heard than it is, but on this VALB/ALBA of the San
particular memorial occasion nothing 799 Broadway, Rm. 277 Francisco Mime
could have drawn wider public atten- New York, NY 10003 Troupe (some
tion and achieved greater spiritual of whom are
consensus than the performance of Telephone: relatives of
Beethoven’s Ninth in the presence of 212-598-0968 brigadistas), left
leading Austrian political figures who E-mail: the audience
were fully acknowledging Austria’s amerinda@spacelab.net enthused and
past and present responsibilities. inspired.
C
ome and tell what happened in almost photographic recreation of the important documents of British politi-
Spain: Foreign Women in the events they witnessed. Given the cal history. And from a literary
Spanish Civil War, An Anthology. highly visual quality of the testi- standpoint, the excerpts from
My English translation of the Spanish monies, then, the title takes on two Josephine Herbst’s memoirs, The
title of Aránzazu Usandizaga’s mar- meanings: “come and tell” and “show Starched Blue Sky of Spain, are some of
velous anthology of the writings of and tell.” the most intense and sensitively writ-
British and North American women Just what these women show and ten statements about the complexities
who witnessed or participated in the tell constitutes two simultaneous and of the Spanish war.
Spanish Civil War echoes another well- related milestones in the history of the Much continues to be made in
known title of collected memories, The West: the emancipation of women and Spain about whether or not that coun-
Blood of Spain, by Ronald Fraser. The the empowerment of the labor classes. try suffers from amnesia or an excess
Spanish translation of Fraser’s book The presence of so many foreign of memory about its civil war.
has an injunction for its title: women in the Spanish theater of war Usandizaga is clearly on the side of
“Recuérdalo tú, y recuérdalo a otros” was a unique event. It was the first those who hold that the war story
(“Remember it, and recall it to oth- time women were able to involve must continue to be told by as many
ers”). It is likely that Usandizaga had themselves, mentally, politically, and protagonists as possible. This text
the Fraser text in mind when she put bodily, in the action of war. Nurses reminds its Spanish readership about
together her selection of excerpts from Lini de Vries and Winifred Bates expe- the deep passion and international fer-
diaries, news correspondence, autobi- rienced the dangers of trench warfare. vor sparked by the Republic, the
ographies, memoirs, letters, short POUM sympathizer Mary Low joined confusion and disillusionment that set
stories and poems of primarily leftist or a women’s militia group. Martha in among warring antifascist forces,
left-radical women who were com- Gellhorn and Lillian Hellman relate and the selfless participation of non-
pelled or even obsessed by Spain and the bombings of Madrid. Well-known Spaniards. The book also has the
the promise of progressive government intellectuals and writers Sylvia capacity to teach Spaniards about the
when the rest of Europe moved steadily Townsend Warner and Valentine ideological and historical intersection
toward conservative extremism. Ackland drove ambulances on the between revolutionary politics and
This anthology accomplishes what Aragon front. One of the most incredi- feminism and the role that Spain
its title appears to promise: it presents ble stories of the anthology is that of played in the formation of many trail-
short, powerful, visually charged and Sheila Grant Duff, who went to Spain blazing feminist leftists.
easily remembered anecdotes and por- as a spy on behalf of the Chicago Daily The last two decades have seen a
traits of Spain from the first moments News. Her dual mission—to report on growing corpus of book-length studies
of Franco’s insurrection until the last the atrocities committed in rebel pris- of women in the Spanish Civil War,
heartbreaking days of exile, concentra- ons and to locate Arthur Koestler— most notably works by Mary Nash,
tion camps, imprisonments, and firing almost landed her in the very penal Giuliana di Febo, and Shirley
squads. In Spanish, the command system she was to investigate. Mangini. Ve y cuenta is a welcome
“ve” can mean both “come” and One of the strengths of this
continued on page 18
“see.” The ambiguity of the first word anthology is that it gathers together
16 THE VOLUNTEER, Spring 2000
Book Reviews
Civilization and Barbarity in admirers, wanted to know. Yet he
would not talk. And how was it that
20th-Century Europe French scholar and Nazi collaborator
Paul de Man could come to this coun-
by Gabriel Jackson realized how futile it was to await an try, erase that past, and bask in the
Humanity Books, New York, 1999 awakening of consciences in the inter- admiration of generations of students
national community. The picture of until the day he died? Such questions
Neville Chamberlain assuring the do not go away. Recent disclosures
By Michael Batinski world that peace had been secured have moved the Catholic Church to
M
oral courage and sadistic bar- finally “broke the morale of the reconsider the war years. Jackson’s
barism, peace keeping and Spanish Republic.” discussion of the papacy and Hitler
brute aggression, toleration The Spanish Republic does not provides a thoughtful introduction to
and bloody prejudice, democracy and disappear from the narrative with that thorny issue. He also argues that
totalitarianism—this is the stuff that Franco’s victory. Jackson believes that public memories of the Jewish resis-
centers Gabriel Jackson’s story of what happened in Spain must be tance have been distorting and
Europe’s struggles from the slaughters remembered as part of a continuing denigrating. His discussion of Jewish
of the Great War to the defense of the struggle for decency against barbarity. engagement in the resistance to Hitler,
Spanish Republic, the Holocaust, the Jackson wants to know how it is that from the International Brigades in
Cold War, and the collapse of the people take responsibility for doing Spain to the Eastern Front, is persua-
Soviet Union. Jackson writes out of a what is decent or how they fail to do sive, though too brief.
moral urgency that makes this book a so. Thus he chooses to move rapidly Jackson refuses to let the past
good book. How is it that when peo- over the campaigns of the Second alone. This historian teaches by exam-
ple look at evil, they can look away, World War so that he can discuss the ple that moral passion need not cloud
step to the other side of the street, or German occupation of Europe and the one’s abilities to reason. While admit-
even make their private peace with
the barbarian? The question pursues
Jackson as it pursues us all. The Jackson believes that what happened in Spain must be
answers he proposes are unsettling, remembered as part of a continuing struggle for decency
indeed for some of us discomfiting. Yet
Jackson refuses to descend into despair.
against barbarity.
Readers of The Volunteer will not
be surprised that the struggle to pre- ways Europeans addressed the ques- ting that fascists and republicans
serve Spanish republicanism figures tion of responsibility. The “obedient committed violent deeds in Spain, he
prominently in this book. Jackson, a armies” that served a “psychopathic does not lose sight of essential differ-
renowned historian of the Republic dictator,” the resistance movements ences between egalitarian ideals and
and the civil war, renders a succinct from Denmark and France to Eastern selfish traditionalism. While he readily
and clear discussion of the tangle of Europe, the collaborationist who recognizes the crimes of Joseph Stalin,
internal political divisions within the “opportunistically,” even “gleefully,” he steers clear of Cold War simplicities.
republican and the fascist camps and seized the “jackal’s portion of power,” His treatment of early Soviet social
of the international jockeying and bul- the Jews who fought the Nazis on all achievements, of Nikita Krushchev, of
lying. Before the end had come, fronts—these people and their stories Mikhail Gorbachev, and even of nov-
Winston Churchill and Franklin haunt this narrative. elist Boris Pasternak demonstrate that
Roosevelt realized the error of appease- Jackson is effective because he moral commitment and reason can
ment. The Munich Conference, chooses to focus carefully on individual work in partnership. And perhaps
according to Jackson, must not be cases of sadism, such as Auschwitz’s most important, Jackson looks unflinch-
remembered as that singular test and Dr. Mengele. In later sections of the ingly at the barbarities of this century,
failure of the democracies’ nerve, but history he returns to this frightfully still working to keep faith in our poten-
rather as “the last opportunity” in “an revealing era by way of personalities tial to be responsible for one another.
extended diplomatic crisis” that began perhaps less grotesque, but in their
Michael Batinski teaches U.S. history at
with Ethiopia and Spain. As the belea- own way equally troubling. How was
Southern Illinois University in
guered Spanish Republic watched the it that philosopher Martin Heidegger
Carbondale.
democracies allow Hitler to gobble up had served Hitler’s genocidal govern-
a fellow sovereign democracy, many ment? Good people, even his
THE VOLUNTEER, Summer 2000 17
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