The Volunteer

New SCW film at Venice

Sebastiaan Faber — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:05:46 +0000

Balada triste de trompeta, Alex de la Iglesia´s new film, partly set during the Spanish Civil War, which premiered at Toronto a couple of weeks ago, is now competing for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Today’s El País features a positive review and an interview with the director.

Garzón loses appeal

Sebastiaan Faber — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:57:44 +0000

The Spanish Supreme Court announced yesterday that, at a session held in late July, it voted to reject the appeal filed by Judge Baltasar Garzón in his trial for prevaricación, or knowingly overstepping his judicial boundaries, and not to allow Garzón’s defense to call on other judges as expert witnesses on crimes without statute of limitations. When Garzón opened an investigation of crimes committed as part of Francoist repression, he argued that, as crimes against humanity, these were not covered by any statute of limitations or the 1977 Amnesty Laws. ”No trial date has been set. Garzon’s lawyer Gonzalo Martinez-Fresneda said four other procedural appeals are still pending,” the Associate Press reports.

Bachelet: Historical memory is essential

Sebastiaan Faber — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:48:04 +0000

EFE reports that former Chilean president Michele Bachelet, visiting in Spain last week, defended the need for historical memory and, in particular, the way in which Chile has dealt with its repressive past through judicial means–notably different from Spain. In response to a question about the controversy surrounding Judge Garzón’s attempt to open a judicial case against crimes against humanity committed by the Franco regime, Bachelet said: “For the wounds of any society to heal,” and “to learn its lesson never to put democracy in danger again,” it is necessary for “Justice to play its part.” “In Spain,” she added, “this has not apparently been the case.” More here.

El País covers “La Colonia” exhibit

Sebastiaan Faber — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:53:53 +0000

This morning’s issue of El País highlights the exhibit “La Colonia, Spanish Immigrants in New York, 1898-1945,” curated by ALBA’s James D. Fernández and co-sponsored by ALBA and the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU, opening September 17th at 6:15pm. Through some sixty family photographs and other objects, the show reconstructs the untold story of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century Spanish immigration to New York. Although changes in immigration law decreased the flow of Spanish migrants to the city, by 1930 between 25,000 and 30,000 New Yorkers belonged to the Spanish colonia, which spawned clubs, associations, shops, bookstores, and rural summer communities in the Catskills–the so-called villas. More here.

TNR remembers SCW vet Bernard Knox

Sebastiaan Faber — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:49:36 +0000

A lengthy obituary by G.W. Bowersock in The New Republic:

Not far from Madrid he received a serious wound to his neck and right shoulder that brought him close to death. He later recalled that as the blood drained out of him he had felt full of rage that he was about to die so young. The doctors removed him from the front, but one of his dearest friends lost his life at that time. Knox’s service in Spain strengthened his resolve to work against the spread of fascism—a resolve only tempered by his love for an American girl he had met in Cambridge.

More here.

Argentine court investigates Francoist killings

Sebastiaan Faber — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:46:08 +0000

EITB reports:

A court in Argentina has reopened an investigation into killings committed during the Spanish Civil War and the early years of the Franco dictatorship, such as human rights groups and families of victims requested, court officials reported this week. The court overturned a previous ruling that closed the investigations and requested the Spanish Government to provide information on whether it is investigation those crimes committed between July 17th, 1936 and June 15th, 1977. … The legal move is a turning of the tables. In the past, victims of the 1976-1983 Argentine “Dirty War” sought justice through European courts, which have passed sentences in absentia against South American human rights abusers.

More here. Coverage in Spanish (El País) here. BBC coverage here. See also Jurist.org and Radio Netherlands Worldwide.

Garzón to appear in Segovia

Sebastiaan Faber — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:39:36 +0000

On September 25th, as part of the Hay Festival in Segovia, judge Baltasar Garzón will be interviewed about developments in Universal Justice by Eduardo Martín de Pozuelos, who covers terrorism for La Vanguardia. More information here.

Gabriel Jackson Interview Video

Sebastiaan Faber — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:17:59 +0000

Gabriel Jackson spoke with ALBA Board Chair Sebastiaan Faber in April 2010. See here for the written interview.

Spanish Anarchism and historical memory

Sebastiaan Faber — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:10:56 +0000

At the Dublin Anarchist Bookfair, Kevin Doyle interviewed the young Spanish Anarchist Manuel García:

We are very involved with the movement to recover historical memory. But not only in the sense of identifying the victims and what happened in this and that situation. As anarchists we are also involved in order to bring awareness on the social structures created and fostered by the dictatorship. What we are talking about here is specifically the culture of fear, of terror that has survived the dictatorship and that is alive in Spain today.

More here.

Legendary journalist George Seldes on his career, SCW

Sebastiaan Faber — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:05:25 +0000

The Film Archive(d) has posted the full 1983 TV debut of George Selden, in which the legendary journalist recounts his decades-long career, including his coverage of the Spanish Civil War:

Although George Seldes was one of the giants in the history of American journalism, particularly in the field of press criticism, he was neglected and blacklisted by the mainstream press. … Seldes pointed out the pro-Nazi segments of the American press, particularly the “Readers’ Digest” and William Randolph Hearst, who accepted a “bribe” to print pro-Nazi stories. Next, he related his experiences as a reporter during the Spanish Civil War and exposed the gross censorship, distortions and lies in the press about the tragic struggle.

More here.