Lloyd Edward Johnson was 41-years old when he arrived in Spain in April 1937. He was the oldest of four sons born to Norwegian immigrants Seavert and Nesina Johnson. Johnson was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. He applied for a position as an apprentice electrician with the Northern Pacific Railway Company when...
Read more »
Alexander Sauermilch was one of more than seventy American volunteers who boarded the Ciudad de Barcelona (City of Barcelona) docked in port of Marseille, France on the night of May 30, 1937. The following afternoon as the Ciudad de Barcelona, hugged the coast approaching Malaga she was sighted by a Nationalist submarine. The General...
Read more »
Fred Williams in Spain Twenty-one-year old Fred Williams was living in St. Louis Missouri when he volunteered to serve in the International Brigades. He sailed for France on October 23, 1937 aboard the SS Champlain and crossed into Spain arriving in Figueres on November 5, 1937. Williams arrived in Tarazona the American training...
Read more »
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...
Read more »
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...
Read more »
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...
Read more »
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...
Read more »
Saul Friedberg’s short piece on Raleigh Frohman provides crucial information regarding his fate. It figures prominently in Charles Antin’s search to understand his cousin’s disappearance. Together the two articles shed light on Frohman’s service in Spain. Chris Brooks, Notes from the Biographical Dictionary Project, 2017. Raleigh Frohman, by Saul Friedberg April 22, 1996...
Read more »
Notes from the Biographical Dictionary Project. Saul Freidberg provided several short biographical sketches on fellow veterans. The sketches provide insight into Friedberg as well. Murra is mentioned several time in Rolfe’s book The Lincoln Battalion and I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the references. I would however like to supplement what...
Read more »
Notes from the Biographical Dictionary Project. Saul Freidberg provided several short biographical sketches on fellow veterans. The sketches provide insight into Friedberg as well. While over the years I have always felt that my relations with Bill Titus were very important to me, my memories of him lack any real specificity, so that...
Read more »
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) is an educational non-profit dedicated to promoting social activism and the defense of human rights. ALBA’s work is inspired by the American volunteers of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade who fought fascism in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Learn more at our website or
sign up to receive email updates from ALBA. Support ALBA through a tax-deductible gift! To inquire about a donation, please contact the ALBA office at info@alba-valb.org or 212-674-5398.
The Volunteer for Liberty, p. 10.v.2, no. 2, January 13, 1938. Cyprus, a small island in the Eastern Mediterranean, has a population of 340,000. Cyprus, now a British colony, has been under British imperialist domination since 1878. The foreign ruler subjects the people to a life of degradation and misery. ...
Read more »
Lloyd Edward Johnson was 41-years old when he arrived in Spain in April 1937. He was the oldest of four sons born to Norwegian immigrants Seavert and Nesina Johnson. Johnson was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. He applied for a position as an apprentice electrician with the Northern Pacific Railway Company when...
Read more »
Pursuit of Reason, Philadelphia: Adelante Press, 1971, p.19-20 “Wat’s dis, wat’s dis?” Colonel Jean LeBeau bounced along the line of fire like a bullet-proof ball. “Come ‘lone der, Yanks. Let’s go! Up de hill, up de hill!” The Colonel put his whole, squat body into his appeal to get the men moving. He waved...
Read more »
The Volunteer for Liberty, V.1, No. 24, November 17, 1937 After six months on the Cordoba front, the American Hospital Unit under Dr. A. I. Friedman (of Hackensack, N. J.) is now at Villa Paz for a short period of reorganization before, leaving for the Fifteenth Brigade. The American Hospital of the South and...
Read more »
The Volunteer for Liberty, V2, No. 31, August 5, 1938. The Army of the East is coming to the aid of the Levante! Like a bolt of lightning this sweeping thought penetrated every company, every unit, every soldier in the Army. How? Where? Again the smashing lightning idea. Along a front of more than...
Read more »
That morning when I heard that Manch was killed— Beneath the almond tree our company Was lined up for its bread and jam and coffee. I saw his sergeant, Aaron, passing by. I called to him; he told me...
Read more »
The Volunteer for Liberty, V. 2, No. 31, September 5, 1938. The cabo in the Spanish people’s army should realize that not only has he many responsibilities in connection with the whole life of the soldiers in his squad, but also that it is necessary to train himself in such a way as to...
Read more »
The Volunteer for Liberty, V2, No. 25, July 19, 1938 The cabo in the performance of his tasks plays a very important part in the functioning of a military machine. The squad, being the basic unit, must function properly in every way, if the peloton, section, company, etc. , are in turn to function...
Read more »
Edward Lewis, best known as the producer of Stanley Kubrik’s Spartacus (1960), passed away this week; he was 99. His life and work had several important connections to the Spanish Civil War. For Spartacus, Lewis hired screenwriter Dalton Trumbo who, along with Lincoln vet Alvah Bessie, was one of the “Hollywood Ten.” When Lewis demanded that Trumbo be credited publicly...
Read more »
The Volunteer for Liberty, V2, no. 25, July 19, 1938 The functions of a Cabo is to see that his men execute quickly and efficiently the order of his superior officers. To this end he must have, first, an extensive knowledge of military technique; secondly; the respect of his squad; third, a sense of...
Read more »
ALBA's project to provide a complete list of the more than 2,800 individuals who left from U.S. territory to fight with the Spanish Republic