Vincent Londoño
HONS 2011J
Final Essay
Professor Hernández-Ojeda
Hyman Wallach: The Strongest Man in San Pedro by Vincent Londoño
Personal Statement
I first found out about Hyman Wallace by chance while looking through the documents in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade’s digital archives. Looking through the letters he had written about his experiences I was amazed when I read about his experiences after his capture by the fascists, and how while imprisoned at the Concentration camp San Pedro de Cardenas, he kept spirits high by taking bets on which nationality of prisoners would be released next, offering to push a coin across the filthy floor of their quarters if he lost, which he never did. Between the betting and his contributions to the “Jaily News”, and his participation in Chess games with the other prisoners, his discussion of his experiences at the camp had a certain defiant positivity to it, as if refusing to succumb to the idea that imprisonment in obscene conditions had to crush one’s spirit. In every representation of life in a Concentration camp, whether in movies or books, they had always seemed to be places utterly devoid of hope, and yet Hyman Wallach seemed to carry it in there with him, and he kept that seed of hope watered and intact, and distributed its fruit out among his fellow prisoners for the duration of his imprisonment. I had never even considered such a thing to be possible, and yet knowing what I know now, it summarizes his attitudes so perfectly. I knew right then that I had to write about him.
Colin Casey
HONS 2011J – The Spanish Civil War in Literature and Film
Final Essay
Professor Hernandez-Ojeda
Better Red Than Dead: The Political Activism of William James Bailey
Personal Statement
I had no idea quite how impactful this class would be when I had first signed up for it. I knew about the Spanish Civil War only in passing, through works of art such as Pablo Picasso’s Guernica and films such as Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth. Therefore, I knew about it primarily as a precursor to WWII, and the rise of Francoism in the country.
However, I had not known a thing about the Abraham Lincoln Brigade before joining this class. I had no real knowledge of international aid at all, much less the aid of American volunteers. Another aspect of the Spanish Civil War that went over my head was the work done by outspoken Leftists at the time, including, but not limited to, various Communist and Anarchist parties, as well as individual Socialist and Communist volunteers.
It is exactly this reason why I chose to write about William James Bailey, or “Bill”, as he’s better known. His unabashed support of Communism and Socialism is what initially interested me in him, as well as his working-class charisma. Unfortunately, unlike most of my fellow classmates, I was unable to interview one of Bailey’s descendants. However, I was able to get a hold of Bailey’s autobiography, The Kid from Hoboken, which is where much of my research will come from.
In this essay, I fully intend to focus primarily on Bailey’s politics as his reason for volunteering with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Unfortunately, Bailey did not write all to much about the Spanish Civil War itself, so I will focus on the way his politics affected his entry into the conflict, and the backlash he received for his politics directly following the conflict.
Theadora Williams
HONS 2011J
Final Essay
Professor Hernández-Ojeda
The Spanish Civil War: The Popular Front, The Commissars, and George Watt
Even in hindsight, the policy of the COMINTERN under Stalin during the Spanish Civil War is contentious, to say the least. Some attribute the downfall of the Republic to their interference, others praise them for the support they lent it. What might have won the war is easy to speculate about in retrospect, but was a much more pressing and difficult issue during its actual course. The policy of the COMINTERN was admittedly at times misguided, as was often the case, but nothing exists in isolation. Their policies were applications of previous lessons to current problems, and should be understood in that light.
To understand the policy of Popular Frontism, we must look at the past experiences of the Communists with fighting fascism, as an overreaction to a disastrous failure. Nazi Germany stood as a towering monument to the fascist victory against the Communists in Germany, where a united right had triumphed against a divided left. The German Communists, Social Democrats, and other branches of the German left had failed to work together to fight the immediate threat, choosing instead to squabble amongst themselves, but they fell together. The popular front policy adopted in Spain was a direct result of the Comintern realization of Lincoln’s statement, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” based on its own huge mistake in assessing the Social Democrats as a threat equal to the Nazis.
Gabriella Perez-Hernandez
HONS 2011J
Prof. Hernandez-Odeja
16 December 2020
Louis “Lou” Gordon
At the start of this course, I knew very little about the Spanish Civil War. Over the course of this semester, I learned immensely about the complicated tensions in Spain and on the global stage the years prior to the breakout of the war. Viewing the struggles of the war through the perspective of a veteran, Louis Gordon, and learning about the dynamic life he continued to lead after his involvement in the conflict revealed to me not only the long-lasting impacts of this often overlooked conflict, but the potential a single person has to be an advocate for the rights of the common people. I started my research process for this project by searching the Digital Tamiment database, where I came across an interview with Lou Gordon about his experiences in the Spanish Civil War and his career in trade unions. Next, I conducted interviews with his wife Anne Gordon and his son Luke Gordon in order to gain a more detailed picture of Lou’s life and achievements. Embarking on this project and studying the course materials challenged my feelings of apathy towards the ongoings of the world around me. While researching Lou Gordon and learning about his early upbringing as a member of the Communist Party and his strong commitment to the protection of human liberties and worker’s rights throughout his lifetime, I found that there are countless ways to bring about change in the world. Before, I often thought the only way to make significant progress was through specific involvement in an organization or political party. However, now I see that in reality, every action I do in support of others is an exact expression of my own values. Lou’s dedication to his core belief of helping others is what drove him to Spain, and what shaped his actions in the decades that followed.
Fiona Weinstein
Maria Hernandez-Ojeda
The Spanish Civil War in Art, Literature and Film
18 December 2020
Volunteer Aaron Hilkevitch
Unwavering Commitment to Freedom: Aaron Hilkevitch
Personal Statement
As a student of political science and human rights, I was especially interested in the circumstances and psychology that encouraged the volunteers of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade to take up arms and fight against Fransisco Franco and his fascist army in the Spanish Civil War. While taking into consideration the affects and conditions produced by the Great Depression that preceded the Spanish Civil War, it is still valiantly impressive that Americans and other nationalities outside of Spain were willing to lay down their life to fight fascism. Additionally, many of my studies in this semester have overlapped which allowed me to examine fascism in places like Nazi Germany, which bears many similarities to the Spanish situation and helps me to contextualize these phenomenons. The Spanish Civil War happened within the interwar period in Europe, meaning between the first and second World Wars. The rise of fascism during this time was symptomatic of sentiments and anti-progressive reactions that were brewing long before World War I. The implementation of new governments, regimes and constitutions, such as those in Spain and Germany after World War I which promised minority rights and steps towards equality underlined everything the fascists resented. Aaron Hilkevitch was surely aware of these issues, as he committed his life to anti-fascism. I must also assume that Hilkevitch possessed a special insight into the psychological phenomenon of fascism with him being a psychiatrist, which was the first thing that compelled me to investigate his time in the Spanish Civil War, and his life devoted to anti-fascism both before and after the war.
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