Rafid Amin

HONS 2011J

Hunter College-CUNY

Professor Hernández-Ojeda

Milton Wolff

Personal Statement

                Milton Wolff first caught my eye when I watched the documentary The Good Fight (1984) with classmates in our Spanish Civil War in Literature, Film and Art course, led by Professor Maria Hernandez-Ojeda. We watched the documentary fairly early into the semester and so, I did not know much about the Spanish Civil War yet. At first, I was interested and awed by the fact that we were watching a documentary involving veterans from a war that happened almost eighty years ago. Milton Wolff, as well as several other volunteers of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades, made an appearance and although I knew very little about the war at the time, there was something uplifting about the documentary. Wolff caught my attention as he had a way with words in the documentary and he fully expressed his need, a global need, in fact, to take on fascism during the Spanish Civil War. It was immediately clear to me that Milton Wolff had a perspective on life larger than his own, that he could see a much bigger picture.

                And so, when Professor Hernandez-Ojeda explained to us that we would be writing a paper on one of the volunteers from the Brigades, Milton Wolff immediately came to mind. He came to mind because of one particular moment from the documentary. He explained that he convinced his mother that he was going overseas to work in a factory. He would send letters back home about what he was supposedly doing in the factories but one day, a picture of him and author Ernest Hemingway had appeared in a newspaper back home, blowing his cover.

                Wolff wanted to do the right thing so badly that he lied to his family and maintained a cover, despite all the dangers he would be facing in the war. And that was the praiseworthy moment, despite being just a few couples of lines, that I knew I wanted to write about Milton Wolff and delve further into his life.

                I had the privilege to visit the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives in the NYU Tamiment Library numerous times. There, I was able to open boxes and look at well-reserved primary documents, be it letters, photographs, notebooks, pamphlets and countless other records, regarding volunteers of the Brigade. I found two boxes about Milton Wolff, one containing papers and another containing photographs. Sifting through the records, I was able to learn more about Milton Wolff and who he was.

Introduction of the Spanish Civil War

                The Spanish Civil War started in July 1936 and ended in April 1939. The war was fought between the Republicans, loyal to the democratically-elected government of the Second Spanish Republic, and the Nationalists, a more aristocratic and conservative group which was led by General Francisco Franco. It started with a coup by military forces, led by José Sanjurjo, while the country was led by President Manuel Azaña. Franco would take over after Sanjurjo’s death. The war was the culmination of Spanish long-time struggles with class issues, the clash between the rural and urban areas, and the nation’s complex political identity. The Second Spanish Republic was only formed in 1930 after the monarchy was overthrown. The Church played a major role in working with the upper class, supporting the Rebel faction, as it was opposed to social reform that generally removed its long-standing privileges. It was an explosive fight between democracy and fascism but can also be seen as a clash between leftist revolution and rightist counter-revolution. In the end, the Nationalists emerged victorious and General Franco established a dictatorship, known as the Franco regime. Franco ruled Spain, from the end of the war in April 1939 to his death in November 1975, for thirty six years. The United States, during the war, chose to stay neutral, a rather controversial stance, with the rise of fascism in Europe. Although the United States would pass laws to reinforce their neutrality, many Americans still volunteered and secretly went to Spain in order to fight for the Republicans.

Introduction of Milton Wolff

                Milton Wolff was born in Brooklyn on October 8, 1915. He describes his life rather vividly in his autobiography, Member of the Working Class (2005), as someone who grew up in the streets of Brooklyn, more specifically, Coney Island. He attended New Utrecht High School -a mere twenty- minute ride away from where I live-, but would drop out at the age of fifteen (Member of the Working Class, Wolff, X; “Obituary: Milton Wolff”, Jump). Wolff grew up in the time of the Depression and went on to join the Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal public work relief program meant for unemployed youths. However, Wolff was dropped from the program when he protested against the mistreatment of a friend, Peter N. Carroll, chairman of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades Archives said (“Milton Wolff, 92”, Martin). It seemed that Wolff was already displaying his charismatic and expressive personality early on, well before the war. Wolff also worked a job in the garment district of Manhattan and joined the Young Communist League as well. He was vocal about his political views even before the Spanish Civil War, known as a “soapbox speaker” for communist beliefs in New York City.

Life in the War

                When there was a call for volunteers from the Young Communist League to go to Spain, Wolff volunteered. He was 21 when he arrived in Spain in March 1937, originally going to serve as a medic and considering himself a pacifist. Wolff was one of nearly 3,000 volunteers. However, Wolff ended up transferring and joining a machine-gun company, the Washington Battalion, before entering the Battle of Brunete in July 1937 (Martin; Jump). After suffering mass casualties, the Washington Battalion then merged with the Lincoln Battalion, which would both become part of the International Brigades soon after.

                Soon enough, Wolff fought on the Aragon front and led a section of his machine gun company. By January of 1938, Wolff was promoted to captain during the battle of Teruel (Jump). Within a couple of months, in March 1938, Wolff became the commander of the merged battalions after artillery fire destroyed their headquarters and killed many ranking officers. By the time he had become commander, four of his predecessors had been killed and another four injured. During that battle, Wolff led soldiers through many dangerous retreats and they managed to avoid capture. At one point, Wolff was alone behind enemy lines and swam across the Ebro river (Alba-valb). He was behind enemy lines for six days and nights before he swam across to safety (Jump).

                After this, Wolff took the responsibility of training and rebuilding the battalion. It was this time when Wolff was photographed alongside Ernest Hemingway by Robert Capa, a moment that Wolff referred to in The Good Fight. The picture appeared on the cover of The Forward, a New York Yiddish paper, which was how Wolff’s mother would discover what her son was actually doing in Spain. A soldier-poet, Edwin Rolfe, described Wolff as a “leader of men here” as opposed to Wolff not being known back at “home” (Alba-valb).

                In the summer of 1938, Wolff led the brigade, holding together whatever remnants of the volunteers, back across the Ebro and they fought in Hill 666 in the Sierra Pandols. However, despite the gruesome fighting which took place for months, Wolff was order to turn the battalion over to Spanish officers when there was a call for the withdrawal of foreign troops. By the end, Wolff was promoted to the rank of Major.

Life after the Spanish Civil War

                Even after leaving Spain, Wolff stayed in the struggle to help the Spanish Republic, fighting at home against fascist ideology. He continued to campaign for the Republic, even in its last few months. Wolff was involved in street protests in New York, pushing for the United States to lift the embargo on shipments to Spain. One of his protests, in 1940, took place outside the French consulate in New York. He protested against the French government deporting Spanish refugees and victims of war back to the newly created Franco regime in Spain, where many would be executed. Wolff was arrested and spent fifteen days in jail, as a consequence. In the 1960s, Wolff also stayed active in the U.S. Committee for a Democratic Spain, an organization that helped families of Franco’s political prisoners. It fought against U.S. treaties with Franco’s Spain and supported political reform (Alba-valb).

                By spring of 1940, there was a rising anti-Communist crusade in the United States, and the American government was at the front of it. Wolff was called to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee, a government committee that was created in 1938 to investigate any suspected disloyalty or dissident activities of citizens (“In Memory of Milton Wolff”, Carroll). Despite Wolff’s affiliations with the Young Communist League before the war and his joining the Communist Party of Spain during the war, Wolff had not joined the U.S. Communist Party. The government, disregarding Wolff’s actions and disagreement, would have the FBI closely monitor Wolff’s movements, as well as others’, for decades to come. 

                A year after, in 1941, and before the United States entered World War II, Wolff met William Donovan, founder of the Office of Strategic Services (a predecessor of the CIA). Donovan asked Wolff, shortly after meeting, to recruit Lincoln veterans to work for British intelligence. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Wolff even offered President Roosevelt the services of the Lincoln Brigade to help in the war.  Once the United States had entered the war, Wolff was, unfortunately, not able to participate in combat because of his known leftist beliefs and politics. By 1942, Wolff carried the stigma of being a “premature anti-fascist”, a title that followed Spanish Civil War veterans and would render them “unacceptable” for any combat assignments (Carroll). As a result and to Wolff’s frustration, he was dropped from Officer Candidate School and given more non-combatant duties. Despite being denied active duty in WWII, he joined the fighting in Burma in 1943. Later on, Wolff, under the OSS, went to Italy. There, he, with other Lincoln veterans that he himself had recruited, helped create an intelligence network among communist and anti-fascist partisans in Italy. He met a Spanish resistance faction that was planning on invading Spain. Unfortunately, because he wanted to bring them OSS assistance, he was transferred back into the United States, attesting to Wolff’s internal calls to action and zealous personality. In the Archives, I also discovered a letter from Donovan to Wolff where Donovan thanks Wolff for all his work and that he apologizes for Wolff had to return to the United States. He tells Wolff that he was “[some] of the greatest service to our organization [the OSS]” and he goes on to compliment the veteran: “At all times you have not only shown the discipline and training of a soldier, but a special knowledge in demolition and other skills required in our kind of operation. In addition, you have displayed real ability as an instructor…you have always shown the highest conception of loyalty and devotion to your common country.”

                In 1947, amidst the full-blown anti-Communist ideology that the United States had adopted, the Veterans of the Lincoln Brigade was declared as a subversive organization by the Department of Justice. The McCarran Act of 1950 required that the veterans registered with the government and Wolff was seen to be the “public face” of the Veterans. Wolff would then appear in many hearings with the Subversive Activities Control Board, during 1954, and in many appeals to federal courts. Wolff also worked for the Civil Rights Congress, a defense organization that represented African Americans that were sentenced to death, at times on uncertain grounds, in response to enormous amounts of racial injustice in the United States (Carroll).

                In the 1960s, after anti-Communism had calmed down and the VALB were mostly clear of suspicions by the government, Wolff led the Veterans in protests against the Vietnam War. He personally wrote to Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader and later president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, offering him help from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Wolff also fought the trade embargo with Cuba and worked on providing medical aid to a children’s hospital in Havana. In the 1980s, Wolff with other veterans also campaigned to send ambulances to Nicaragua, personally delivering twenty ambulances.

Milton Wolff and Ernest Hemingway

                Milton Wolff met Ernest Hemingway in Madrid at Café Chicote. Apparently, he was not particularly impressed by the writer (Carroll). Writing back to a friend in Brooklyn, Wolff described him as “…childish in many respects…He wants very much to be a martyr…so much for writers…I’d much rather read their works than be with them.” Delving even more into an encounter, in a sort of comedic fashion, according to CNN and Martin’s obituary, Wolff’s first encounter with Hemingway also involved him stealing Hemingway’s girlfriend. Better yet, Wolff admitted that he had actually never heard of Hemingway until he met him. The writer apparently did not mind, and he never brought it up, according to Wolff himself. He also admitted that he felt a little prideful for stealing Hemingway’s girlfriend.

                Despite first impressions, the two of them became good friends (supposedly, Hemingway bought Wolff his first Scotch) and they forged a bond that would last for quite some time, even beyond the war. Hemingway would later invite Wolff to his room at the Hotel Florida and ask him to read over the rough draft of his play “The Fifth Column.”

                Hemingway described Wolff as “tall as Lincoln, gaunt as Lincoln, and as brave and as good a soldier as any that commanded battalions at Gettysburg. He is alive and unhit by the same hazard that leaves one tall palm tree standing where a hurricane has passed” (Carroll). Carroll also wrote that in the famous photograph with Hemingway and Wolff, the two appear as a visual contradiction. Hemingway faces the camera, unzipped jacket and an “adventurer” with a half-opened jacket whereas Wolff is looking downwards, away from the camera, in uniform and with a beret covering his hair, “impatient to get on with the war.”

                There is a folder in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives in one of Milton Wolff’s boxes that is purely meant for any correspondence between Wolff and Hemingway. By reading through these papers, I was able to learn little bits and pieces of the friendship that the two of them shared.

                At one point, on July 26, 1946, Hemingway writes back to Wolff about a Chairmanship job that Wolff had offered him in a previous conversation. Hemingway tells Wolff that he would be traveling for the next month and that he was in the middle of a novel with “plenty of work to be done” and that he would not be able to take on chairmanship of a political meeting. The two men even discuss Spain in the letter, and how the U.S. is investing money into Franco’s Spain (in an effort to combat rising communism at the time). Hemingway writes that “it is this money…that is going to be used as the excuse for keeping Franco in…how in hell the Allies can allow a man to stay in power who furnished a Division to fight on the Eastern front I don’t know. The answer is they can’t. He will have to go. But they will make an effort to put something phony in his place instead of the Republic” as he echoes Wolff’s sentiments and drive to support the Republic. Hemingway quickly bookends the topic by saying “this is probably old stuff to you but I have been thinking about it a lot.” He then wishes “Milt” good luck and tells him that he was glad that Wolff was able to “do his stuff” in the last war. Hemingway was speaking about Wolff’s fight to join World War II and how he ended up in Italy as well as working with the OSS. He also mentions how he was with a few divisions himself with Italy and tells Wolff that he “would have liked the 4th Division and especially the 22nd Infantry. No chickens—at all.” Finally, Hemingway ends the letter by telling Wolff that he’s anxious to hear about Wolff’s time in Italy and about his work with the OSS.

                Amusingly, I found one letter in which Hemingway writes to Wolff: “I’m sorry I wrote you such a tough letter and very ashamed of myself for calling you a prick. You are not a prick as you know damned well. We are going on a long trip and before I go I wanted [to] take that back and wish you luck in everything you do.” At the end, he also tells Wolff to thanks his wife for a “swell” letter that she had given him. After sifting through numerous documents, I was able to find the letter in which Hemingway called Wolff “a prick”, in the summer of 1941. Unfortunately, I could not find any writings by Wolff regarding the topic. I can only assume what happened. In the original letter, Hemingway writes an extremely sarcastic and scornful tone to Wolff. Hemingway writes:

“I won’t try to explain how conceited, confused and stupid your letter was…so I was just a rooter in Spain. O.K. Did it ever occur to you that there was 595,000 some troops in the Spanish army besides the 15th Brigade and that the entire action of my book took place and was over before you personally had ever been in the line…? …At the time the book deals with you did not know Marx from your ass…So you’re a scientist. O.K. scientist given what experience I have and what talents I may possess what would you like me to have done to add the cause of the Spanish Republic that I did not do? I was a rooter because I did not command a battalion of the 15th International Brigade. O.K. scientist. Have it as you want.”

                Hemingway continued stating that they would no longer be friends, which should be some sort of relief to Wolff. Hemingway added that Wolff had not been through much suffering yet in all of his wars, comparing Wolff to his character, Robert Jordan, who suffered greatly before dying. Wolff should not “talk too snotty about the things [he] hasn’t done yet.” Hemingway ended the letter with a statement of rivalry, telling Wolff that they’ll see “who does the most for the world in the end” and he then goes onto call him a “prick” multiple times.

                Wolff had criticized Hemingway’s book For Whom the Bell Tolls, whose protagonist, Robert Jordan, is an American in the International Brigades who fights in the Spanish Civil War. The letter is dated in 1941, which lines with the release of the book, October 1940. According to Martin’s obituary to Wolff in The New York Times, Wolff deeply resented Hemingway’s depiction of villagers loyal to the Republic and their murdering fascists in the book (Hemingway does admit later on that he fabricated the scene). Wolff explained that he saw Hemingway as a correspondent in Spain that knew more than the others about what was going on in the country and that he, along with other veterans, expected Hemingway “to write the definitive book on Spain, not a goddamn Hollywood production.” Despite not finding physical and primary source records of Wolff communicating with Hemingway, Wolff called him “a tourist in Spain” and Hemingway called him “a tool of the Communist Party” (“He Remembers Papa”, Rhine).

                It was fascinating to read through the letters, as well as other sources, and learn how these two renown men clashed with one another from time to time. They both were deeply invested in Spain yet still fought over depictions of the Civil War. Regardless of the name-calling and the fighting, the two made peace with one another, returning to their friendship.

                There are numerous other exchanges between the two of them at the Lincoln Brigade Archives. Hemingway wrote one note to Wolff in January,1961, informing Wolff and his wife about his health: how he was suffering with high blood pressure but controlling it by keeping his weight down. In another letter, there is proof of payment that Wolff sent Hemingway a sum of $425, with about a 2% interest rate per year, due on August of 1946 (unfortunately, there was not a date indicating when the money was sent). Hemingway replied in August 1946, thanking Wolff for the money and sending the money back. Hemingway’s response seems to imply that Wolff had sent him the money five years earlier.

                In another letter, dated May 7th, 1950, Hemingway begins: “I am sorry about everything in general.” I assume that Hemingway was referring to the communist witch hunt that had been brought upon the Veterans of the Lincoln Brigade. He tells Wolff that he “will do anything to help any members of the Lincoln Battalion that are in the can.” He explains that he’s willing to send money but he wants it to go directly to anyone who needs it and not to some “Causa”. Hemingway ends the letter writing: “I liked you very much when you were a kid in Spain and as you started to grow up. Now I haven’t seen you for a long time but I know you talk good on the telephone and write a good letter.”

                Despite minor hiccups in their bond, including their first encounter and their arguments over Hemingway’s novel, Milton Wolff and Ernest Hemingway had a friendship that lasted until Hemingway’s death in 1961. It was clear from their numerous letters about so many topics, including politics, health, money and each other’s well-beings, that the two of them were supportive of each other. I thoroughly enjoyed going through the correspondence between the two friends and reading their own words, their own crafted documents. The folder in Milton Wolff’s box holds multiple historic memories from their decades of friendship. Unfortunately, when Wolff was asked about Hemingway’s suicide, he said that “he wasn’t surprised at all…he’d done everything, he’d written everything…he grew away from everything before he died…I felt sorry for the guy. When you examine his whole life, the high point was Spain” (Rhine).

Milton Wolff, the Person

                Milton Wolff was a man of action, as Peter N. Carroll explained in Wolff’s obituary. Wolff spent much of his time involved in sociopolitical struggles. He was a man of complete tenacity, always determined in each one of his battles. In reading the papers at the archives, I was able to go through two of his notebooks, which were full of drawings. Wolff had a penchant for drawing the profiles of faces. I found an interesting drawing of a person sitting alone in what seems to be a gigantic safe, head in their hands. His sketches are detailed and fascinating to sift through. At times, he writes about life and death, and there are other times where he writes about calls to action: “what the hell are you going to do with what’s left of time—????”

                Interestingly enough, on June 21st, 1991, 5:30 AM, he writes in his notebook to Anne, his wife. He reflects on the idea that he is being “saved” for some great purpose, describing his narrow escapes from death and harm repeatedly over the years. Wolff laments, “given this, the question is, ‘saved for what???’” He discusses his need to know what the answer is.

                Other times, Wolff writes about political ideology, questioning whether Stalin is a beast or a savior or “a savior turned beast.” He also wrote about whether or not “the socialist/communist ideal [can] breach the wall of what is called ‘human nature’…self interest being paramount.” Throughout his writings, Wolff seems incredibly aware of human nature, the different clashes of political ideologies and outlines his own beliefs, his own views on many topics. He comes across as an extremely contemplative person, often lost in thought. His writings were not only confined to these notebooks I found. Milton Wolff also published two books, Another Hill: An Autobiographical Novel (1994) and A Member of the Working Class (2005). He had a rough draft of a third book but it was never published. In his books, he writes about his experiences in the war and how he moved through jobs his entire life, as a working-class citizen. In A Member of the Working Class, Wolff injects his own personal thoughts in between the lines of his life’s experiences. One quote stuck out to me: “Fighting. What was one to make of this reliance on violence as a way to settle disputes, assign territories, establish leadership? It was much milder then than now…bare fists were the weapon of choice—but still. Was it bred in our genes?” (Wolff 21). Wolff often reflected upon human nature’s condition. Despite the occasional jokes, Wolff never stopped asking himself questions about himself as well as about society.

                Milton Wolff was extremely active in politics throughout his life. His second box of the Archives contains photographs of him. In the photographs, he appears as a tall individual (living up to the stature that many others spoke about him) and someone who was deeply involved with others and politics. There are pictures of him in protests against Franco, one where he keeps a pipe in his mouth while smiling and holding a sign that says “Franco helped Hitler…Franco must go.” In another photo, he stands on a podium at a demonstration in New York City, giving a speech against Fascist Spain. He appears in a 1939 photograph, at a meeting in Mecca Temple in New York City with others and the photograph is titled “Lift the Embargo”. There are a few photographs of him speaking to a mass rally in Berlin, East Germany. There is another picture of him giving a speech at Madison Square Garden, presumably in 1947.  Several pictures show him speaking with a Polish general (the photograph says he was later assassinated) around 1945 to 1947. There are also photos of a 20th anniversary gathering of the Veterans of Abraham Lincoln Brigade where Wolff is reuniting with his comrades and giving a speech at a podium. From a simple soapbox speaker, Wolff became a prominent public-speaking figure.

                Although these were only photographs and writings, it was clear to me that Milton Wolff was an extraordinarily charismatic man. Throughout his adventures and work, he lived up to Hemingway’s words about him, that he was like “one tall palm tree standing where a hurricane has passed.” Despite all the struggles he went through, the label of being a “premature anti-fascist” and how his comrades, including his entire brigade, were treated, Wolff did not back down, and continued to voice his opinions and beliefs. He never stopped defying and refusing authority. His arrests and even his rejection to active duty in the World War did not deter him one bit from fighting for the people, which is evident from his global efforts, reaching other places beyond Spain. Many people saw him as someone who knew how to make decisions, how to get things done and that he was someone of keen intellect (Carroll). Looking at his life, I can understand why. He was able to lead army men at an astonishingly young age and by the time he was promoted to commander, he had been leading remnants, broken fractions of the International Brigades, yet he kept men alive.

                Wolff also maintained a level of humility that was undoubtedly admirable. After he had spent six days lost behind enemy lines and had crossed the Ebro river, he made an unexpected return to the shabbily built shelter that the army had made as their headquarters. His words were supposedly and amusingly: “you built this thing pretty low. I guess you guys didn’t think I was coming back.” After that he grabbed a plate of beans and long-delayed letters from his girlfriend, disappearing into silence and concentrating on his letters. Vincent Sheean, an American journalist and novelist who wrote about the Civil War, said “I think he knew how glad they all were to see him and he wanted to ignore it as much as possible” (Carroll). Wolff would also only admit later that he knew, although it embarrassed him, that he possessed a charisma that won him the love and respect by many people throughout his life.

                Milton Wolff was driven by the injustice he saw in the world. This is noticeable in the documentary The Good Fight. He wanted to make Spain “the tomb of fascism” and he realized that he needed to go there and fight. He clearly felt the need to fight for the people and for what he believed was right in the world. It is the passion that he displayed through his life, in the photographs and records in the archives, through all other sources and information about him, that is inspiring. While watching him in the documentary, I “fell victim” to his charismatic nature and that was what drew me to write my paper on him. Through his words, I subconsciously recognized what kind of person Milton Wolff was. Carroll, who was a good friend of Wolff’s, said that “he was famous for his personal courage. He was famous for his leadership and morality” (“Milton Wolff”, Fimrite).

                In the preface to Wolff’s Member of the Working Class, Cary Nelson writes an introduction to Milton Wolff’s character. He introduces Wolff as someone who “was fearless in battle, but not impulsive. He could be flippant and casual, but there was a ferocity beneath the surface that made it possible for men to put their faith in him. Men were willing to die for him. Ernest Hemingway, among others, would testify to Milt Wolff’s stature under fire” (ix). The question, as Nelson puts it, begs for the answer as to how or what in Wolff’s character prepared him for greatness in 1938, for his appearances and capabilities in the war. Wolff, as Nelson writes, “resolutely insists: nothing whatsoever. It was Spain itself, the cause, the men around him, that made his destiny” (x). Carroll mentions, in his visits later to Spain, that Wolff had become a beloved figure among Spaniards. When he told them that if he ever got into trouble in the future, “give me a call” and the line won cheers from the crowds (Carroll).

Conclusions and Final Statements

                When I began this paper, Professor Hernandez told us to keep in mind a few questions: Why did this person volunteer? Why did they travel to Spain and fight against fascism? What drove them to do what they did?

                I initially thought I would keep the topic small and attempt to hone in one or two instances of Wolff’s life. Milton Wolff was already one of the most popular and well-known figures from the Abraham Lincoln Brigades, and other students were digging into lesser known individuals. However, looking at the boxes and various other sources of information before choosing on Milton Wolff, I realized that there is not a culmination of Milton Wolff’s life anywhere. There are bits and pieces of his life scattered all over, and some of the records I found in the boxes are barely ever discussed. Despite the fact that Milton Wolff is such a prominent figure in the Spanish Civil War, in the United States, and in other places, Wolff is somehow stuck in some state of obscurity.

                I am well aware that countless other sources can be found about Wolff and his life. I also worried initially about writing a perfect paper about Milton Wolff. However, throughout the semester, I discovered that the Spanish Civil War is portrayed in multitudes of ways and these representations depend on the historian him/herself. With this paper, I took on the role of a historian myself, crafting a completely new narrative for Milton Wolff and for any reader, I strongly advise that this essay is read through a more meta-historical perspective.

                After exploring Milton Wolff’s life, I am proud to have taken on such a daunting task of representing a tremendous figure from the Abraham Lincoln Brigades. Milton Wolff was not only a writer, an artist, a soldier and a public speaker. He was a leader and a model activist, that should inspire many others. Although his political beliefs were challenged then and throughout his life, it is undeniable that Wolff lived his life fighting for the world in order to change it for the better. His fight in Spain and his role as a leader in the Spanish Civil War is just one example of how far his charismatic and powerful self took him. I end this essay with a quote from Milton Wolff himself, in Peter N. Carroll’s 1994 book The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Americans in the Spanish Civil War: “Struggle is the elixir of life, the tonic of life. I mean if you’re not struggling you are dead.” Wolff understood the meaning of human nature and the will that a person can carry. I can only hope that this paper managed to capture the essence of Wolff’s words.

Works Cited

Carroll, Peter N. “In Memory of Milton Wolff, 1915 – 2008.” Www.counterpunch.org. N.p., 01 Mar. 2016. Web. 23 May 2017. <http://www.counterpunch.org/2008/01/19/in-memory-of-milton-wolff-1915-2008/>.

Fimrite, Peter. “Milton Wolff – Fought Fascists in Spain.” SFGate. N.p., 19 Jan. 2008. Web. 23 May 2017.

Jump, Jim. “Obituary: Milton Wolff.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 04 Feb. 2008. Web. 23 May 2017.

Martin, Douglas. “Milton Wolff, 92, Dies; Anti-Franco Leader.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2008. Web. 23 May 2017.

“Milton Wolff.” Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Spanish Civil War History and Education: Milton Wolff. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2017. <http://www.alba-valb.org/volunteers/milton-wolff>.

Rhine, Jon B. “He Remembers Papa.” CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 23 May 2017. <http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9907/16/hemingway.salon/>.

Stewart, Jocelyn Y. “Leader of U.S. Unit in Spanish Civil War.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2008. Web. 23 May 2017. <http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/23/local/me-wolff23>.

Wolff, Milton, and Cary Nelson. Member of the Working Class. New York: IUniverse, 2005. Print.

Milton, Wolff, 1939–1960; Milton Wolff Photographs; ALBA.PHOTO.170; Box 1; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Milton, Wolff, 1938–2004; Milton Wolff Papers; ALBA.170; Box 1; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.