Shortly after the publication of the blog post Seven American Volunteers Refused Permission to Land in France, Paul Hofmann the son of volunteer Albert Hofmann, sent an email correcting and clarifying some of the information in the article. The most important correction was to the...
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The Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History records on U.S. and Canadian volunteers deepens the available insight into the organization and employment of the International Brigades (IB) during the Spanish Civil War.  From these records, it is evident that the IB Command was interested in documenting the background of the volunteers. Two documents prepared...
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For the Cleveland workshop on October 10, register here. For the Bowling Green workshop on October 12, register here. A FREE professional development workshop for middle and high school teachers of social studies and/or Spanish Maltz Museum for Jewish Heritage, Cleveland October 10, 2017, 9am-4pm Bowling Green State University October 12, 2017, 9 am–4:30...
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                      On April 4, 1937, French authorities arrested American John William Tylus, along with thirteen volunteers of various nationalities, near Prats de Mollo, Pyrénées, Orientales.  The group was described as being “in poor shape” after being lost in the Pyrenees mountains for several days....
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A group from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands has created a website to share and exchange information about the maritime workers who supported the Spanish Republic and who continued the fight against fascism after the International Brigades were withdrawn. The organizers of the website emphasize that the SCW must not be seen as an...
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If you have ever attended VALB reunions or latest ALBA’s celebrations, you won’t forget Velina Brown, whose singing of Spanish Civil War songs has grabbed her audience’s hearts and brought tears to their eyes. Now she is starring in “Walls”, a new musical as the 58th-season production by the award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe....
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The flow of American volunteers to Spain during the first months of 1937, prompted the United States State Department (State Department) to request the assistance of the French government in dissuading American volunteers from crossing France and entering Spain.  French efforts were somewhat half-hearted with officials often turning a blind eye to American travelers...
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Zoul, George. (Zoule); b. November 27, 1908, NYC, Czechoslovakian American; Father Vincent Zoul, Mother Mary Zoul; Divorced; Received passport# 355923 on December 4, 1936,  address listed as 420 East 18th Street, NYC; Sailed December 26, 1936 aboard the Normandie; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN, Served at Jarama (May have transferred into the...
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Compiling a biographical entry for a volunteer often involves a complicated process of locating data points from a wide variety of sources and assembling them into a coherent structure.  George Zoul’s entry took several years to assemble.   In 2012, I ran an internet query on George Zoul a volunteer on whom I had very...
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