The Abraham Lincoln Brigades’ Biggest Victory
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This week, over seventy years ago, American men and women formed the Abraham Lincoln Brigades to stand against the political ideology of fascism in Spain. On January 6, 1937 over 2,500 U.S. volunteers left behind their homes and friends to defend a fledgling Spanish democracy that was under attack.
With Nazi Germany under Hitler and Fascist Italy under Mussolini supporting the overthrow of Spain and other nations calling for “non-intervention”, the Abraham Lincoln Brigades served as a beacon during a time when the clouds of intolerance and extremism seem to cover Spain. For nearly two years the brigades fought advancing fascist troops on behalf of the democratically elected government of Spain.
The people who made up brigade were black and white, immigrant and non-immigrant, rich and poor, and Christian and Jew. While their backgrounds varied from individual to individual, what brought them together was the belief that humanity shared a destiny that was worth fighting for.
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade volunteers lost many battles. During reunions, veterans of the brigades sing of that time with pride but also with remorse as evidenced in the song Jarama Valley:
There’s a valley in Spain called Jarama
It’s a place that we all know so well
It was there that we gave of our manhood
And so many of our brave comrades fell.
We are proud of the Lincoln Battalion
And the fight for Madrid that it made
There we fought like true sons of the people
As part of the Fifteenth Brigade.
Now we’re far from that valley of sorrow
But its memory we ne’er will forget
So before we conclude this reunion
Let us stand to our glorious dead.
One can’t help but to wonder how the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, facing well armed and trained troops, found the strength not only to stand but to also move forward. What was their secret? As I read the accounts and archives this weekend of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades one thing becomes clear.
The real power of the brigades comes from the simple fact that they fought not because they believed they would win or lose—but rather it was simply the right thing to do. Or to steal from that famous poet Dylan Thomas they chose to “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”.
The members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades are true heroes and heroines because they refused to be paralyzed, refused to turn their backs and run from the approaching darkness. They tied their destiny to others confronting the specters of intolerance, anti-Semitism and racism.
May the day come when we choose to be so bold.
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2 Responses to “The Abraham Lincoln Brigades’ Biggest Victory”
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I have known and admired several of the “premature anti-fascists” of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. It troubles me that there is no similar contemporary left response to the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and the Israeli genocide in Gaza going on right now. In fact, I noted that most of the people who took your poll would not even attend a rally against the Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Incidentally, 1937 was 72 years ago, not nearly 60.
first off . . . thanks for doing the math. i’m a product of the california public school system and often times the numbers get away from me.
second . . . the number of emails that i have received from individuals with connections to the members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade is a sign of proof the the individuals and their deeds have not quite been forgotten.
i disagree about whether one should be troubled that there is no “contemporary left response to iraq, afghanistan, and the war between hamas and the israel but I suspect that is another blog by me all together.
finally, in regard to the poll. i don’t think we can take the response to mean that folks are not concerned about the humanitarian crisis in gaza or the right to self-governance.
rather, i read the poll as a sign that people have underlying concerns that is keeping them away from.
thanks for your comments!