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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Last month was the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the Ciudad de Barcelona. For those who don’t know about this event, or may have only a foggy recollection, here is a brief summary of what happened in May 1937. The ship Ciudad de Barcelona had been nationalized by the Republican government, and in...
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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...
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A brief article in the March 24, 1939 student paper, The Cornell Daily Sun, with the title “ASU Spring Dance Will Be Tonight” mentioned that the dance was “in honor of Cornell men who fought in the war in Spain.”  The American Student Union noted that volunteers Victor Tiship and John Shulman from the...
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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...
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Those who read Ed Lending’s Los Rompedores or Jim Persoff’s The Noblest Fruit of Them All may be interested in viewing Gustav Marten’s album of Spanish Civil War photographs.  Martens served in the 14th Battery “Dimitrov” DECA (anti-aircraft) along with Lending and Persoff.  There are several photographs of Persoff and thumbnail sketches of the...
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  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...
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                        The January 2, 1937 issue of the Socialist Call announced the formation of a 500-man volunteer military formation: The Eugene V. Debs Column (hereafter Debs).  The Debs would serve with the Republican armed forces in Spain.  The American Socialist party initiated an...
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