International Brigades Research Articles

Life on the Margins

Abstract This article examines a group of Polish, Jewish, and Polish Jewish women who volunteered in the auxiliary forces of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. They traveled to Spain from various west European states, such as Belgium and France, and from Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Palestine. Although only a small percentage of these women traveled directly from Poland, in official documents they were categorized as Polish regardless of what country they traveled from. The article compiles the available fragments of historical knowledge on these women, addressing the various routes, reasons, and circumstances that led them to Spain. Their participation in the war was not an obvious outcome, but the discrimination and poverty they experienced in Poland made them more open to global leftist movements that encouraged their service in the International Brigades. These women represented the margins of many communities, as women, as representatives of the Jewish minority in Poland who had a complicated relationship with the Polish state, and as members or sympathizers of various left-leaning groups. Their lives were marked by multiple borders and often open hostilities that they encountered on their way to and from Spain. Their stories – as stories of people from the margins who left behind only fragmentary sources – remain largely forgotten and unclaimed by historiographies of the Spanish Civil War. This article aims to piece together fragments of the existing documents to begin telling their story.

The Archive as a Battlefield for the Future: Anti-colonial Struggles and Insurgent Temporality

Anti-fascist, anti-colonial, and anti-imperial struggles of the twentieth century provide important intellectual and political resources as we collectively seek to forge alternative futures in the face of our depleted political present. Setting out with this analytical and political concern, this article is interested in the question of what it means to visit the archive of past struggles and past insurgencies. It argues for a critical historical method that foregrounds the agency of the insurgents themselves—the agency of women, slaves, foreigners, the poor and the peasants—as the subjects of an insurgent universality (Tomba 2019). The article explores the international brigades fighting the fascists during the Spanish Civil War, the peasants gathered to affirm the Second Havana Declaration, and the audience that comprised Thomas Sankara's speech in Harlem. The artifacts of insurgency, the authors suggest, are embodied expressions of collective struggles written not by one but by a multiplicity. They are the artifacts of a collective political subjectivity united in their insurgent claim to disrupt the temporal and spatial delimitations of politics in modernity—enacting an insurgent universality. The archive of insurgent universality is our future for it provides compelling ways to think, write, and act politically toward the present.

Антифашизъм и оксидентализъм в мемоарите на български интербригадисти през 60-те години на ХХ век: интердисциплинарни прочити

The paper interprets the narrative motifs for Occidentalism and anti-fascism in the memoirs published in the 1960s of the Bulgarian volunteers in the International Brigades formed during the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939). The memoirs of the brigaders are used as a tool in the ideological arsenal of the Bulgarian Communist Party and confirm their important role in the communist power hierarchy and active participation in the mass anti-fascist organisations in the People's Republic of Bulgaria. The party-state leader Todor Zhivkov attracts the brigaders among the privileged ‘anti-fascist fighters’. The memoirs noted how important the topic (and the ideological legacy) of the Spanish Civil War was for the Party. The paper uses archival materials and periodicals to emphasize the need for a new reading of the historical issues that memoirs raise. Emphasis is placed on interdisciplinary links between history, literary theory, socio-cultural anthropology and folklore studies.

Bilateral Relations Between Spain and the USSR During the Civil War Under Pressure From the International Brigades

Bilateral Relations Between Spain and the USSR During the Civil War Under Pressure From the International Brigades

Fanny Bré in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939): The meaning of nursing care in the international brigades.

Fanny Bré was a volunteer nurse in the International Brigades, who fought in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) on the side of the democratically elected Republican government. The objective of this study is to understand the relationship between Bré's antifascist ideas, her conception of care and the activities she carried out in the Spanish hospitals of Casa Roja (Murcia), Villa Paz (Selices, Cuenca) and Vic (Barcelona). We use narrative biography to describe Bré's personal, political and professional trajectory. To do so, we conducted a content analysis of primary sources archived in Spain, Russia and France and secondary sources that emerged from a thorough literature review. We identified three thematic axes: (1) a concept of nursing in the service of the antifascist struggle, (2) nursing activity for high-quality care and (3) political action for improving hospital organisation and care. The interest of Bré's texts transcends the war in Spain because, in them, Bré questions the neutrality of care by revealing that care can itself be a political act.

Historical revisionism: The International Brigades and the rewriting of anti-fascist history

The Marx Memorial Library holds one of the world’s most important archives on the men and women who fought fascism in Spain from 1936 to 1939 and on responses to the Spanish Civil War in general. The history of the war and its place in the lead-up to the Second World War have long been argued about. During the cold war, the communist-led International Brigades in particular were routinely denigrated. This century, an anti-left historical revisionist movement with roots in eastern Europe has sought to ignore the contribution of the communist left to the long war against fascism from 1936 to 1945, and to erase the memory of the International Brigades.

Robert Gildea and Ismee Tames, eds. Fighters across Frontiers: Transnational Resistance in Europe, 1936–48.

Resistance in Europe during the Second World War has long suffered from being studied through a predominantly national lens. The weight of postwar narratives of national reconstruction, the logics of funding bodies and of archives, as well as the wish of many historians to locate resistance within national triptychs of defeat, resistance, and liberation, have all deflected attention from the evident reality that resistance was a phenomenon that spilled beyond state borders in its structures and operations, its personnel, and its mentalities. Indeed, much resistance occurred in spaces outside the nation: within local communities and specific social milieux, and among those whose loyalties and experiences transcended state boundaries. It is this last group—the transnational resistance of those who by choice or circumstance found themselves outside the nation—who are the focus of Robert Gildea and Ismee Tames’s Fighters Across Frontiers: Transnational Resistance in Europe, 1936–48. Written collectively by a team of twenty-three historians of fourteen nationalities, it is the first Europe-wide attempt to explore the resistance against fascism, the Third Reich, and its allies by foreign fighters, political exiles, economic migrants, refugees from persecution, and the agents of external powers. This transnational resistance was almost infinitely diverse, and the editors very wisely eschew any attempt to impose a definition on their subject matter, preferring to allow the wealth of primary material to speak for itself. The series of loosely chronological chapters trace the emergence of the multiple forms and spaces of transnational resistance from the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War to the military campaigns of the early war years, the camps of political detainees and POWs, the escape lines created for downed airmen and Jewish civilians, and the armed resistance movements that emerged in German-occupied Europe during the latter war years. Transnational resistance flourished especially in the spaces in between—among the partisan groups that operated in the free zones of the western Balkans, and of Italy after the collapse of Fascist rule, or behind the fluid battle lines of the eastern front. These improvised military units received material and organizational support from the Soviet, British, and American forces. But the primary driving forces behind their development was the social chaos generated by the escalation of the war, the policies of repression imposed by the Nazi rulers and their local allies, and the effective collapse of government in large areas of German-occupied Europe. As national structures disappeared, they created opportunities for new armed groups, often highly local and personalized in character, that operated outside the boundaries of state authority. These drew on the large numbers of exiles and migrants displaced over the previous years by persecution and war, for whom resistance was the expression of their political and ideological beliefs as well as a response to their marginal and illegal status. But their ranks were greatly swelled during the final years of the war by former prisoners of war, Jewish refugees, and labor conscripts, as well as by the many civilians obliged to flee their homes to escape ethnic and military conflict. These formed highly heterogenous units, where the labels of national identity were more symbolic than real. Spanish Republicans featured prominently among the Free French units who marched into Paris with the Allied troops; former Italian soldiers fought in the partisan units that wrested Belgrade from German control; while the Slovak National Uprising in 1944 was carried out by a heterogenous coalition of local fighters, Soviet partisans, and British and American agents, supplemented by diverse groups of escaped POWs and displaced conscript workers.

The crisis of the thirties. The Poles: out!

The economic crisis began in France in the second half of 1930. It reached its peak in 1934 and 1935 and resulted in a very high unemployment rate. To cope with these difficulties, the French government decided to protect French workers by limiting the number of foreign workers. The Poles had to return to their country under increasingly restrictive conditions. Woe betide strikers, union members and communists. The number of Poles fell by 17% between 1931 and 1936. After the respite provided by the Front Populaire, which was more concerned about foreign workers, the Poles lived in fear of having to leave France. The most politically committed joined the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War.

The Meites sisters and the Spanish Civil War: women's support for Republican Spain from within and without

ABSTRACT Haya and Rurh Meites left Jewish Palestine in order to help Republican Spain in its struggle against the nationalist rebellion headed by General Francisco Franco and assisted by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Their life trajectories illustrate international women’s participation in the Spanish fratricide and its limits. According to different estimates, around 700 women volunteered in Spain during the Civil War. They constituted a tiny fraction of the 35,000 or more international volunteers who flocked to Spain to support the Republican forces. Not a few of the women who wanted to enlist were rejected for their presumed inability to contribute to the anti-Fascist struggle. Whereas men could be drafted to the Brigades without any previous military experience, many of the women of the Brigades had been trained nurses and doctors, and their professional skills served to justify their enlistment. While the historiography of the International Brigades is remarkably rich, the history of women volunteers has not been sufficiently researched. Even less scholarly attention has been paid to the enlistment of Jewish women, despite their relative prominence. This article, with its focus on the lives of two women from Jewish Palestine, hopes to partially fill this lacuna.

Республика Абхазия и СВО на Украине

The article examines the impact of the special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine on the foreign and domestic policies of the Republic of Abkhazia. The authors point to the factors that determine the positioning of Abkhazia in relation to SVO in a broad historical context. In particular, the Georgian-Ukrainian alliance is shown during the Georgian-Abkhaz war of 1992-1993, within the framework of post-Soviet supranational entities (GUUAM bloc), as well as during the “color revolutions” of 2003-2004. In addition, the issue of Abkhazia’s relationship to the people’s republics of Donbass before the SVO was considered. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the reaction of the Abkhaz leadership and society to the Russian-Georgian “warming” and the possibility of opening a “second front” against Abkhazia. The phenomenon of the Abkhaz volunteer movement (the international brigade “Pyatnashka”) and its influence on Abkhaz political life are examined separately.

Polish Physicians Held in the Miranda de Ebro “Campo de Concentración”

Abstract Spain played an ambiguous and pragmatic role during the Second World War and its policy evolved as the war progressed. While Francoist Spain was friendly towards Nazi Germany, it never declared war on the Allies, even if it contributed Division Azul to the Reich’s invasion of the Soviet Union. Spanish neutrality allowed its territory to become a temporary safe haven for refugees fleeing the Nazi terror in Europe. Miranda de Ebro concentration camp (1937–1947) saw the internment of soldiers from the International Brigades who had fought on the Republic’s side in the Spanish Civil War, and of European refugees escaping from the Nazis. After the French, Poles represented the second biggest national group at Miranda and it is the Polish doctors on whom I focus in this paper because of Poland’s situation during and after the war. Most of the Polish doctors held in Miranda were Jews who had come to France before the war, where they had studied while keeping Polish citizenship. After release from Miranda, many joined the Allied forces fighting against the German Reich. But when the war ended, Poland – though formally independent – became a satellite country of the Soviet Union. Only one of the physicians ever returned to Poland. The rest continued their careers in Great Britain or the USA despite all the difficulties this entailed.

‘Soldiers of Culture’ and their ‘Little Comrades’: The International Brigades and the Children of Civil War Spain, 1936–1939

The volunteers of the International Brigades are well known for their participation in the battles of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), yet their encounters with the people, places and politics of Spain are yet to receive substantial attention from historians. This is the first interpretive analysis of their wide-reaching work with children, which spanned from the holding of fiestas to the establishment of costly homes. By considering these cross-cultural encounters, it highlights how they understood themselves to be members of a unified anti-fascist community in which Spanish children themselves had a key role to play. While these children were invariably regarded as the principal victims of ‘fascism’, they were also encouraged to take an active interest in the violent struggle of the Brigades as well as the building of an anti-fascist ‘New Spain’. Their own letters and drawings show the surprising extent to which the volunteers succeeded in their efforts.

Physicians imprisoned in Franco Spain’s Miranda de Ebro “Campo de Concentración”

AbstractMiranda de Ebro was created in 1937 to imprison Republicans and foreigners who fought with the International Brigades in Spanish Civil War. From 1940, the camp was used only to concentrate detained foreign refugees with no proper documents. More than 15 000 people, most of them from France and Poland, were kept there until the camp was closed in January 1947. Playing both sides of the international divide, fascist Spain at various points in time allowed passage and was a country of refuge both for those escaping Nazism and for Nazis and collaborators who, at the end of World War II (WWII), sought to escape justice. Treatment of each of these groups passing through Miranda was very different: real repression was meted out to the members of the International Brigades (IB), tolerance shown towards those escaping Nazism, and protection and active cooperation given to former Nazis and their collaborators. For the first time, data about foreign physicians imprisoned in Miranda de Ebro were consulted in the Guadalajara Military Archive (Spain). From 1937 to 1947, 151 doctors were imprisoned, most of them in 1942 and 1943, which represents around 1% of the prisoners. Fifty-two of the doctors were released thanks to diplomatic efforts, thirty-two by the Red Cross, and ten were sent to other prisons, directly released or managed to escape. All of them survived. After consulting private and public archives, it was possible to reconstruct some biographies and fill the previous existing gap in the history of migration and exile of doctors during the Second World War.

“If That Be Treason, Let Them Make the Most of It!”: Olin Downes, the Spanish Civil War, and Civil Liberties in the United States

“If That Be Treason, Let Them Make the Most of It!”: Olin Downes, the Spanish Civil War, and Civil Liberties in the United States

‘V’ is for Valencia: International Brigades' Counter-Intelligence Service Reports about Eileen and Eric Blair (George Orwell) in Spain, 1937

This article deals with the documents of the counter-intelligence of the International Brigades (IB) relating to Eric (George Orwell) and Eileen Blair. The documents are divided into six groups: I – scheme of connections between different political groups from counterintelligence of IB point of view; II – a report on the structure of the ILP contingent; III – Eileen and Eric Blair tracking reports; IV – the search protocol of Eileen Blair's room at the Continental Hotel; V – Observation’s Reports; VI – protocol of the search of the room David Crook. The article does not include documents from the interrogations of Georges Kopp and David Crook. We present results of a graphological analysis of handwritten marks in the margins of some documents. The IB counter-intelligence officers were identified who monitored and analyzed intelligence data for the ILP contingent and authorized the search in Blair's room. These officers were Alfredo Hertz and Tebarth Wilhelm. Commander of counterintelligence of IB was Gustav Szinda.

ИНТЕРНАЦИОНАЛИСТЫ В ГРАЖДАНСКОЙ ВОЙНЕ В ИСПАНИИ (1936-1939)

The review examines the latest works of foreign historians on the issue of participation of internationalists in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. The creation of the republican government of the Popular Front and the organization of the International Brigades subordinate to it are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the activities of some leaders and participants in the international movement in the defense of the Spanish Republic from fascism.

„Potem przemówił komendant Brygady naszej tow. Hiszpan w języku niemieckim i tow. kapt. tłumaczył”

And Then the Commander of Our Brigade, Comrade Spanish, talked in German and Comrade Captain Interpreted. Interpretation in the International Brigades during the Civil War in Spain 1936-1939
 The aim of the present article is to describe multilingual interactions at the XIII Jarosław Dąbrowski International Brigade between volunteers of different nationalities, mainly Poles, and the Spanish population as narrated by Boruch Nysembaum, a communist from Warsaw and a participant of the Spanish Civil War. At the same time, it is the first presentation of onthe- spot memoirs written by a volunteer who did not return from this war. On the basis of his narrative, the article tries to answer the questions concerning the way volunteers, who lacked adequate foreign language skills, communicated with the Spanish population and with other volunteers, the forms of their communications, and finally, the specific characteristics of this multilingual communication.

Los polacos en la Guerra Civil española (1936-1939): durante el conflicto y después

Polish citizens and people of Polish descent played a considerably significant role in the Spanish Civil War. They fought on both sides of the conflict, however, most of them in the Republican Army (4,500-5,000 among ca. 35,000 soldiers of the International Brigades). Approximately 75% of them comprised of immigrants, mainly from France, who were predominantly either activists or supporters of the French Communist Party. Only 600-800, or according to some sources 1200 individuals, the majority of whom were communists (80% or more), were believed to come directly from Poland. The highest number of volunteers fought within the ranks of 13th Brigade “Jarosław Dąbrowski”, which took part in the major key operations and suffered huge losses amounting to 30-40%. A few dozens of Poles fought in the Gen. F. Franco’s National Army. Most of them were professional soldiers of the Spanish Foreign Legion, who had joined it before the war broke out, so their participation in the war was not dictated by ideological reasons. The author adopts synthesizing approach to portray the Polish soldiers fighting for each side of the conflict, including their background and involvement in the most important military operations. The article pays an attention to the fates of Polish veterans of the International Brigades referred to as “Dąbrowszczacy” during the World War II and, following this, an attempt to demonstrate the specific role and changes “Dąbrowszczacy” were undergoing within the political system of the Polish People’s Republic (PRL).

The International Brigades: Fascism, Freedom and the Spanish Civil War, Giles Tremlett (2020)

Review of: The International Brigades: Fascism, Freedom and the Spanish Civil War, Giles Tremlett (2020) London: Bloomsbury, 720 pp., ISBN 978-1-40885-398-6, h/bk, £30.00 ISBN 978-1-52664-454-1, e-book, £11.99

‘The Surest of All Morale Barometers’: Transnational Encounters in the XV International Brigade

Despite considerable scholarly and popular interest in the International Brigades, which fought on the side of the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–9, traditional approaches centred on ‘national’ contingents of foreign volunteers have left significant gaps in historical knowledge. In particular, relations between the foreign volunteers and their Spanish hosts have received little attention, even though these relationships were fundamental to the everyday experience of volunteering, as well as affecting the International Brigades’ cohesion during their time in Spain. This account introduces a range of new archival material relating to the English-speaking XV International Brigade, arguing that pervasive structural and cultural factors led to a complex and variable set of outcomes that defy binary categorisation. In doing so, this study contributes to an emerging new literature on transnational approaches to the Spanish Civil War and interwar anti-fascisms, as well as comparative approaches to foreign fighter mobilisations.