Veterans of The Abraham Lincoln Brigade

VETERANS OF THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE. Heroes in Spain, once they re-crossed the Pyrenees and made it back to the United States, Lincoln volunteers confronted the harsh reality of the western democracies’ policy of appeasement. In December 1937, almost a year after the first group of organized US volunteers had left the United States to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War, a small group of recently returned veterans met in New York City to found what eventually would become the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB.) Until its dissolution in 2008, VALB was the heart and main promoter of the various activities carried out by the Lincoln veterans.

VALB represented the veterans close to the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA.) During the Popular Front period, returned veterans engaged in a variety of activities to mobilize both the US government and public opinion in support of the struggle against fascism in Spain. In 1939, after the fall of the Spanish Republic and the Nazi-Soviet pact, VALB set aside its Popular Front ideology, equated the Western democracies with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, branded the war as “imperialist,” and opposed US involvement in the conflict. Born of loyalty to the CPUSA and the USSR, VALBs position also reflected a sentiment shared by many volunteers who resented the unwillingness of the governments in London and Paris to support the Spanish Republic when it stood alone against fascism. As it formally opposed the war, VALB concentrated on the care of wounded veterans who had returned to the US and campaigned for the safe return of US volunteers still trapped in Europe, the release of members of the International Brigades held in French concentration camps, and in support of Spanish refugees and political prisoners.

VALB’s return to its antifascist origins following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union was met with relief by most veterans. Until the surrender of Japan, many Lincoln vets enlisted in the U.S. armed forces or in the merchant marine. They were present and fought in every theater and died on all fronts. Many earned decorations for valor.

Although VALB, along with many Lincoln veterans, rallied to the colors, they continued to be the target of a deliberate and systematic form of discrimination. As far back as the onset of fighting in Spain, supporters of the Spanish Republic in the US had been the target of government repression. This repression intensified during the Nazi-Soviet Pact period when VALB offices were the target of raids by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Individual vets were subpoenaed by the House Committee on Un-American Activities and many suffered arrest and persecution. The anti-fascist Grand Alliance did not put an end to the repression. After Pearl Harbor Lincoln veterans were branded as “premature antifascists” for having opposed Hitler and Mussolini before it was the official policy of the US and many of them were barred from combat assignments.

Red-baiting increased with the start of the Cold War. Under attack by the Subversive Activities Control Board, and targeted by the federal Smith Act, as well as state sedition laws, a number of Lincoln vets were harassed and jailed. Among those targeted was Steve Nelson, Brigade commissar in Spain and national commander of VALB, who was arrested and sentenced to 26 years in jail for violating both the Pennsylvania Sedition Act and the Smith Act. In 1947, VALB was placed on the Attorney General’s list of Subversive Organizations and ordered to register as a foreign agent. To avoid possible indictement VALB destroyed its record, disbanded its executive board and retained only two officers to run the organization. VALB would not be removed from the Attorney General’s list until 1972.

Despite being subjected to government attack and forced to curtail its activities, VALB endeavored to keep Spain in the national spotlight. Members continued to demonstrate against US support for fascist Spain, protest the imprisonement and execution anti-Franco activists, and provide financial support for Spanish refugees.

The 1960s saw a tapering off of repression by US authoriries. In this more favorable political climate, VALB was able to renew its activities and expand its reach. Its main focus continued to be support for the victims of the Franco regime along with advocating for democratic reforms in Spain. In addition, most veterans, including those who had broken with the CPUSA in the 1950s, linked their lifetime commitment to socialism, class struggle and antifascism to contemporary campaigns for civil rights and opposition to imperialism. Under the banner of VALB, Lincoln vets across the country marched and organized in support of the Civil Rights movement, and in opposition to the Vietnam War, the fascist coup in Chile, US involvement in Central America, and white-rule in South Africa.

Smeared and subjected to persection throughout their lives, aging Lincoln vets recognized the need to ensure their legacy and preserve their history for future generations. For this purpose, VALB supported the creation of the not-for-profit Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) in 1979. Almost three decades after VALB members destroyed files out of fear that they would be confiscated by the US government, ALBA’s first task was to collect and preserve the surviving records of the women and men who had fought in Spain. Initially housed at Brandeis University and then moved to New York University, the ALBA archives represent the most comprehensive repository of documents on the involvement of US volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. With the passing of the last Lincoln veterans, ALBA has replaced VALB as the major vehicle for the dissemination of the historical records of American participation in the Spanish Civil War. ALBA has been instrumental in the erection of monuments in honor of the Lincoln Brigade in New York, Seattle, Madison, Tampa and San Francisco. ALBA also has organized a variety of public programs, including poster and photograph exhibits, lectures, commemorative events and teaching institutes and awarded several annual prizes for the best student papers devoted to the history of the Spanish Civil War. In recent years the focus of ALBA’s activities has pivoted away from the labor and working-class politics that motivated the Lincoln volunteers towards an emphasis on human rights. Accordingly, since 2011 ALBA’s signature public event blends commemoration of the Lincoln volunteers and the Spanish Civil with the presentation of an award for Human Rights Activism.

Peter N. Carroll. The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Americans in the Spanish Civil War. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1994.

Peter Glazer. Radical Nostalgia: Spanish Civil War Commemoration in America. Rochester, NY: Rochester University Press, 2005.

American Lincoln Brigade Archives, https://alba-valb.org