Jewish volunteers in the Spanish Civil War

Memorial to Jewish members of the International Brigades at Montjuïc Cemetery, Barcelona

Jewish volunteers in the Spanish Civil War refers to Jews who joined International Brigades and fought in the Spanish Civil War, which erupted on July 17, 1936, and ended on April 1, 1939.

## History

[edit]

The fighting was between the Republicans, who were loyal to the Spanish Republic, and the Nationalists, a rebel group led by General Francisco Franco. The Nationalists prevailed and Franco would rule Spain for the next 36 years. The coup was supported by military units in Morocco, Pamplona, Burgos, Valladolid, Cádiz, Cordova, and Seville. However, barracks in important cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao and Málaga did not join in the rebellion. Spain was thus left militarily and politically divided. The rebels, led by General Franco, then embarked upon an almost three-year war against the government for the control of the country. The rebel forces received support from the Third Reich, the Kingdom of Italy, and neighboring Portugal, while the Soviet Union and Mexico intervened in support of the Republican side. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, operated an official policy of non-intervention.

A minority of the Jewish population, particularly that of Europe, were active in socialist and Communist organisations in the period between the two World Wars.[1][page needed]

They made up a considerable portion of the socialist volunteers, with estimates putting the figure at over ten per cent.[2] Many of them joined the International Brigades and the Popular Front to fight in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republicans. The leadership of the International Brigades considered forming an entirely Jewish brigade,[3] but the high casualties made this impossible. However, a Jewish company, the Naftali Botwin Company, was formed within the Palafox Battalion.

At least one Jewish volunteer is known to have served with the Nationalists. Emanual Rudolph Vischer was a former Oberleutnant of the Swiss Army who had lived in Spain prior to the Civil War. The official journal of the Swiss Armed Forces reported his death in September 1936.[4]

## National origin of volunteers

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The table below displays the origin of Jewish volunteers in the International Brigades.

Nationality | Number of volunteers

|

Poland  | 2,250
United States  | 1,250
France  | 1,043
Palestine  | 500
Germany  | 400
Britain  | 200–400
Belgium  | 200
Austria-Hungary  | 120–150
Romania  | 100–150
Canada  | 71
Soviet Union  | 53

According to some estimates, there were 7.758 Jews fighting in the International Brigades.[5] This figure would render them the second largest, or perhaps the largest (if Jewish and other non-French volunteers are deducted from the French contingent) national group in the IB.

## Notable figures

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* Seweryn Ajzner \- later academic and scientist in communist Poland
* Alfred Angiersztajn \- later high trade unions official in communist Poland
* Shimon Avidan – Palestinian Jew and future Israeli military officer
* Aleksander Bekier \- later high MFA official in communist Poland
* Alfred Brauner – French Austrian communist, scholar and author
* Michał Bron \- later high military and MFA official in communist Poland
* Mieczysław Broniatowski \- later high security official in communist Poland
* Robert Garland Colodny \- later professor and historian
* Julius Deutsch – politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria and co-founder and leader of the "Republikanischer Schutzbund"
* Robert Domany – Croatian Partisan and a People's Hero of Yugoslavia
* Gershon Dua-Bogen – later Polish communist party official
* Grzegorz Dzierzgowski \- later high military, MFA and economics official in communist Poland
* Fanny Edelman \- Argentine communist, later honorary president of the Communist Party of Argentina
* Józef Epstein \- Polish communist, later in French resistance
* Stanisław Flato \- later high military and MFA official in communist Poland
* Fernando Gerassi – Turkish artist
* Kurt Julius Goldstein – International Brigader, Holocaust survivor, and author
* Szlama Grzywacz \- Polish communist, later in French resistance
* David Guest – communist British mathematician and philosopher
* Juliusz Hibner \- later high security and interior official in communist Poland
* Salomon Jaszuński \- Polish communist
* Bolesław Jeleń \- later high military and MFA official in communist Poland
* Alfred Kantorowicz [de] – banned German writer (also known as Helmuth Campe)
* Pinkus Kartin \- later in Polish communist resistance
* Lou Kenton – British potter
* Artur Kerschner [sr] – Croatian student
* Wacław Komar \- later high security and military official in communist Poland
* Franciszek Kriegel \- Polish communist, later high health care official in communist Czechoslovakia
* Bert "Yank" Levy – a Canadian who famously used his experience to teach the British Home Guard and wrote a text on guerrilla warfare[6][7] His service in the Civil War was memorialized in a comic book.[8]
* Eugenia Łozińska \- later journalist and propagandist in communist Poland
* Vladimir Majder – Croatian Partisan and communist
* Stanisław Matuszczak \- later mid-range party and trade unions official in communist Poland
* Wiktor Mencel \- later high MFA official in communist Poland
* Mieczysław Mietkowski \- later high security and business official in communist Poland
* Emanuel Mink \- Botwin Company commander, later mid-range security official in communist Poland
* George Nathan – Chief of Staff of the XV International Brigade
* Roman Orłowski \- later high security official in communist Poland
* Abe Osheroff – American communist
* Valter Roman – Romanian politician
* Carlo Rosselli – headed the Matteotti Battalion
* Leon Rubinsztein \- Botwin Company commander, later high security and economics official in communist Poland
* Leon Samet \- later high military official in communist Poland
* Alfred Sherman – British journalist and adviser to Margaret Thatcher
* Jack Shulman – American communist
* Mieczysław Skorupiński \- later mid-range security and business official in communist Poland
* Manfred Stern alias General Emilio Kléber
* Henryk Sternhel \- later in Polish communist resistance
* Mieczysław Szleyen \- later high military official in communist Poland
* Zofia Szleyen \- later propagandist and translator in communist Poland
* Eugeniusz Szyr \- later deputy prime minister and high official in communist Poland
* Drago Štajnberger – Croatian Partisan and a People's Hero of Yugoslavia
* Henryk Toruńczyk \- later high security and economics official in communist Poland
* Saul Wellman – political commissar of the Lincoln Battalion and the Washington Battalion[9]
* Milton Wolff – commander of the Lincoln Battalion
* Máté Zalka – Hungarian communist

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Karin Hofmeester and Lee Mitzman, Jewish Workers and the Labour Movement, 2004
2. ^ Hugh Thomas The Spanish Civil War, 2001. p. 577n3
3. ^ Zaagsma, p 17
4. ^ Othen, Christopher. Franco's International Brigades (Reportage Press, 2008) p193
5. ^ Arno Lustiger, Schalom Libertad!, Frankfurt a/M 1989, ISBN 3610085290, p. 61
6. ^ Levine, Allan E. "Bert "Yank" Levy". American National Biography on line. Oxford University Press. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
7. ^ Levy, Bert "Yank"; Wintringham, Tom (Foreword) (1964) [1942]. Guerilla Warfare (PDF). Paladin Press. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 22, 2014. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
8. ^ "Jewish War Heroes" (Comic book). Canadian Jewish Congress. February 1944. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
9. ^ "Fare thee Wellman". Detroit Metro Times.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Thomas, Hugh (2001). The Spanish Civil War (4th (revised and updated) ed.). New York: Modern Library. ISBN 9780804152167.
* Jewish Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. (2008).
* Internationalism & the Spanish Civil War, Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. (2008).
* Baxell, Richard (September 6, 2012). Unlikely Warriors: The British in the Spanish Civil War and the Struggle Against Fascism (Hardcover). London: Aurum Press Limited. pp. 400. ISBN 978-1845136970.
* Lannon, Frances (2002). The Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 9781841763699.

## External links

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* 300 German and Austrian brigadists in French internment camp on jewishtraces.org
* Martin Sugarman, Jews in the Spanish Civil War
* Saul Wellman Archive
* Gerben Zaagsma, Jewish volunteers in the Spanish Civil War
* Mitch Abidor, The Naftali Botwin Company

* v
* t
* e

XV International Brigade – Abraham Lincoln

Commanders|

* János Gálicz (Jan–Feb 1937)
* Vladimir Ćopić (Feb–Jul 1937)
* Klaus Becker (Jul–Aug 1937)
* Vladimir Ćopić (Aug 1937–Mar 1938)
* Robert Hale Merriman (Mar–Apr 1938)
* Vladimir Ćopić (Apr–May 1938)
* José Antonio Valledor Álvarez (May–Sep 1938)

Battalions|

* British Battalion
* Lincoln Battalion (incl. American Medical Bureau & Connolly Column)
* Dimitrov Battalion
* Sixth of February Battalion
* 24 Battalion
* Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion
* Washington Battalion

People|

* William Aalto
* Bernard Ades
* Bill Alexander
* Edward K. Barsky
* James Walker Benét
* Alvah Bessie
* Delmer Berg
* Herman Bottcher
* Edward A. Carter Jr.
* Christopher Caudwell
* Lewis Clive
* Morris Cohen
* Robert Garland Colodny
* Fred Copeman
* John Cornford
* Jock Cunningham
* Peter Daly
* Peko Dapčević
* Carmelo Delgado Delgado
* Charles Donnelly
* Bob Doyle
* Petar Drapšin
* Frank Edwards
* Leo Eloesser
* Moe Fishman
* Hugh Garner
* John Gates
* David Guest
* Jason Gurney
* William Herrick
* Robert Hilliard
* Jack Jones
* Salaria Kea
* Robert Klonsky
* Oliver Law
* Laurie Lee
* Maurice Levitas
* Yank Levy
* Matti Mattson
* Alex McDade
* Paddy Roe McLaughlin
* Kosta Nađ
* Conlon Nancarrow
* George Nathan
* Steve Nelson
* Paddy O'Daire
* John O'Reilly
* Michael O'Riordan
* Thomas Patten
* Will Paynter
* Koča Popović
* Harry Wayland Randall
* Patrick Read
* Esmond Romilly
* Frank Ryan
* Alfred Sherman
* George Sossenko
* Stephen Spender
* Wally Tapsell
* Robert G. Thompson
* Tom Wintringham
* Milton Wolff

Political parties|

* Communist Party USA
* Communist Party of Great Britain
* Communist Party of Canada
* Communist Party of Ireland
* Republican Congress
* Communist Party of Yugoslavia
* Communist Party of Cuba

Related|

* International Brigades
* Communist International
* Yankee Squadron
* International Brigade Memorial Trust
* Jarama Valley
* Songs of the Lincoln Battalion
* Viva la Quinta Brigada
* Jewish volunteers
* Yugoslav volunteers
* Irish volunteers
* Yugoslav Partisans
* Atomic spies
* Smith Act

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