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“...and that government of the people,by the people, and for the people,shall not perish from the earth.”ABRAHAM LINCOLN
The
 V 
olunteer
JOURNAL OF THE VETERANS OF THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE
The
V
olunteer
Vol. XXIV, No. 3September 2002
P
HOTO BY
E
LOY
A
LONSO
G
ONZALEZ
 
Uncovering the Hidden PastUncovering the Hidden Past
SSearearching the Gching the Grraavveses, page 16, page 16
 
Dear Volunteer:
A SALUTE AND SOME UNSOLICITED SUGGESTIONSFOR ALBAOur readership is well aware of the great accomplish-ments of ALBA in mounting a number of travelingexhibitions, sponsoring annual events on both coasts, andmost importantly, enhancing and maintaining ourarchives.What troubles me is the lack of an aggressive responseto the steady stream of columns coming from the Radoshesand others of his ilk.I am not proposing that ALBA answer in kind. Thatwould be counterproductive and lead nowhere. A fitanswer is to publish, publish, and publish. Looking downthe ALBA board roster I see a wealth of academic resourcesthat can be tapped to undertake writing projects on manyas yet unexplored aspects of the Spanish Civil War.For example, what has been written on the FascistItalian intervention into Republican Spain? I assume thereis literature in Italy on this subject. But in the USA? Nada.In that regard I am skeptical about Hemmingway’s accountof the route of the Italian army by the Garibaldis atGuadalajara. Did it happen? Or was it Hemingway Hype?Another event irks me; I’m easily irked these days.Tom Brokaw, the voice of NBC, now writes “The GreatestGeneration.” The generation he is referring to is the onethat spans the period of the Great Depression throughWorld War II. That’s us. That’s ALBA. Yet not a line, not aword about the 2700 young Americans who left the safeshores of the United States to defend the Spanish Republic.The book was enormously popular. I think ALBA couldhave pointed out this glaring omission, maybe even pro-voked a dialogue with Brokaw. That’s a long shot but whoknows?Enough bitching.Salud, Comrades!Abe Smorodin
Dear Volunteer:
It’s been a very interesting few months for me, and I’manxious to tell readers of
The Volunteer
what’s been hap-pening. In late April and early May, Uli Kolbe—my goodfriend from Germany and translator of my book—arrivedfor a week’s stay with his daughter, Desiree, and twoGerman filmmakers, Frank Dittmeyer and Joerg Briese. Wehad a wonderful time as they worked on a documentaryabout the Lincolns called
The Other America
. Among theAmerican vets interviewed were Moe Fishman, JackShafran, Clarence Kailin, Lou Gordon, Abe Smorodin, LenLevenson, and me. They also plan to interview AbeOsheroff by mail.For me, the highlight of their visit came on May 1,when we went to the New York University archives withdocuments concerning a German named Fred Schofs.Schofs had lived in the U.S. from 1929 to 1937 and was inthe process of becoming an American citizen when he
2THE VOLUNTEER September 2002
The
V
olunteer
 Journal of the
Veterans of theAbraham Lincoln Brigade
an ALBA publication799 Broadway, Rm. 227New York, NY 10003(212) 674-5398
Editorial Board
Peter Carroll • Leonard LevensonGina Herrmann Fraser Ottanelli Abe Smorodin
Design Production
Richard Bermack
Editorial Assistance
Nancy Van Zwalenburg
Submission of Manuscripts
Please send manuscripts by E-mail or on disk.E-mail:
volunteer@rb68.com
Yes, I want to support ALBA’s important work inreaching out to the young people of this country.Here is my tax-deductible donation of $_________.I pledge to give $_____every quarter/six months.(circle one)Enroll me as an ALBA Associate. ($25 per year)Send me information about
The GuernicaSociety 
, ALBA’s Planned Giving Program.
Your nameYour addressCity, State, Zipe-mail addressMail to:ALBA, Room 227799 BroadwayNew York, NY 10003
Letters 
Continued on page 17
Letters 
 
T
he scope of ALBA’s autumn cal-endar reveals both our amazinggrowth and organizationalprogress that will carry the story ofthe Lincoln Brigade and the SpanishCivil War to new educational arenasfrom San Diego, California, toWashington Square, New York, fromTampa, Florida, to Chicago andAllentown, Pennsylvania. With twoexhibitions on tour, the unveiling of anew monument, and star speakers likeE.L. Doctorow on the agenda, thisfall’s programs anticipate larger audi-ences than ever before. Just after the anniversary ofSeptember 11, Muhlenberg College’sCenter for Ethics and Leadership inAllentown is sponsoring a week-longseries of programs on the theme“Patriotism in a Global Era: TheBoundaries of Home.” ALBA’s cele- brated photography show,
The Auraof the Cause
, will be the featured cul-tural event in the college’s Martin ArtGallery for the fall semester. OnSeptember 18, ALBA Chair PeterCarroll presents the keynote speech“Global Intervention and MoralChoice: The Legacy of the AbrahamLincoln Brigade.” For more informa-tion, contact Marjorie Hass, Directorof the Center for Ethics andLeadership, 484-664-3321.The same week, ALBA’s newesttraveling museum exhibition,
TheyStill Draw Pictures: Children’s Art inWartime from the Spanish Civil War to Kosovo
, will open its national tourat the Mandeville Special CollectionsLibrary at the University of California,San Diego. Consisting of 78 colordrawings by Spanish refugee childrenand 22 by children of later conflicts,the show also includes photographs by Robert Capa and posters thatdepict the youngest victims of war-fare. For more information, contact theUCSD library, 858-534-2533.The catalogue for
They Still DrawPictures
, which includes a foreword byHarvard psychologist Robert Colesand essays by ALBA’s Anthony Geist,is available at a discount at the ALBAwebsite bookshelf:www.alba-valb.org.After the premier in San Diego,the exhibition will tour the east coastand the midwest during 2003.Back on the east coast, the award-winning, best-selling novelist
E. L.Doctorow
, author of
Ragtime
,
World’sFair
,
Billy Bathgate
, and
The Book of Daniel,
highlights the 5thannual
ALBA-Bill Susman Lecture
on FridayOctober 18, 6:15 pm, at the TishmanAuditorium, New York UniversityLaw School, 40 Washington SquareSouth between MacDougal andThompson Streets. The program is co-sponsored by NYU’s King Juan CarlosI of Spain Center. Admission is freeand open to the public. For moreinformation, call 212-998-3650.Since its inception in 1998, theALBA-Susman Lecture has featured aroster of prominent speakers, includ-ing the classicist Bernard Knox,historian Gabriel Jackson, JudgeBaltasar Garzón, and poet PhilipLevine. The lecture honors ALBA’sfounder, the Lincoln veteran BillSusman.The next day, Saturday October19, 2 pm, ALBA and the Juan CarlosCenter are also co-sponsoring a publicprogram,
The Wound and the Dream
,featuring
Cary Nelson
’s newest book,an anthology of U.S. poetry about theSpanish Civil War. The site is theGreenberg Lounge, New YorkUniversity Law School, 40Washington Square South betweenMacDougal and Thompson Streets.This program is supported by the
New York Council for theHumanities.
Plans are also set to unveil
a newmonument
honoring the volunteerswho went to Spain from the regionaround
Tampa, Florida,
at a site infront of the Centro Asturiano in YborCityon November 2. The stone usedfor the memorial was shipped fromSpain. For more information, contactWilly Garcia at 813-224-9185.Meanwhile, on the 66thanniver-sary of the arrival of the InternationalBrigades in Spain, our
ChicagoFriends of the Lincoln Brigade
arelaunching a new organization,
CFLB/ALBA Associates,
with a fullcultural program including CaryNelson speaking about U.S. poetryand the Spanish Civil War at
Roosevelt University
on VeteransDay, November 11. For more detailsand information, contact MartaNicholas, 773-288-1538 or emailChuck and Bobby Hall atyfhall@mindspring.com.
 
THE VOLUNTEER September 2002 3
ALBALBA PA Prroogrgrams Cams Coast toast to Co Coastoast
Ed Balchowsky’s cenotaph stonewas placed last June at ForestHome Cemetery (west of Chicago),site of the Haymarket Martyrs’memorial, Emma Goldman’s grave,“Dissenters’ Row,” and many othernotable memorials. Ed, whosestone is well-situated near the pathto the Haymarket memorial, wasthe first known Lincoln Brigadeveteran buried at ForestHome.Participants in the three-year effort to fund and create Ed’sstone included the Chicago Friendsof the Lincoln Brigade, Ed’s manypals, his cousin Jeff Balch (right),cemetery guidebook co-authorMark Rogovin (left), and donorstoo numerous to name here.
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