Alvah Bessie’s battle of words to save Spain from fascism

Abstract

Abstract This article discusses Alvah Bessie’s journey from a struggling but gifted writer to an outcast of popular culture. Bessie’s Communist Party affiliation was a consequence of his political tendency towards social justice and was fortified by his experience in the Spanish Civil War, but was less substantial than his radicalization or fixation on subsequent events in Spain throughout the twentieth century. Presented in a biographical context, this article uses several forgotten and unpublished writings by Bessie from his archives and private family collections, together with more accessible works. What he saw in Spain enhanced his radical politics, which became his principal preoccupation. This article deals more specifically with this than any previously written. His strong opposition to fascism took him to Hollywood where he worked on propaganda supporting the war effort. While the film industry quickly discarded him, Bessie never relinquished his fight to free Spain from fascism and maintain public awareness beyond its borders of corresponding forces of oppression outside of that country.