Vets of the Lincoln Brigade
recall fight against fascism
By vincent todaro
Staff Writer
FARRAH MAFFAI Moe Fishman speaks about his experiences in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during a recent visit to Spotswood High School.
SPOTSWOOD — It took a world war to prove to everyone what Moe Fishman says he already knew: The fascist forces in Europe were not going away without a fight.
Fishman, who visited Spotswood High School Oct. 31 to speak to members of the History Club, was one of about 2,800 Americans who volunteered to fight in a war America had no official role in. To do so, for Fishman, was the natural thing to do, given his enmity to fascism and view that without resistance to Gen. Francisco Franco in Spain, the burgeoning fascist movement would continue to grow throughout the world.
In February 1937, what would eventually build up to 2,800 American men known collectively as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (ALB), began going to Spain to fight against Franco, whose troops had attacked the democratically elected Spanish government in 1936. While the revolt was initially small, it soon turned into a large civil war, eventually causing at least 300,000 deaths.
The United States had no official presence in the Spanish Civil War, but the men joined with about 35,000 others from 52 countries to protect the republican government.
FARRAH MAFFAI Spotswood High School teacher Frank Yusko shows a newspaper he picked up on eBay featuring some of the original members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
The men’s experience in the United States — the Depression, violence against unions, political radicalism — fomented their world and political views.
Harry Fisher, another ALB member, told the History Club that the Commission of Industrial Organization (CIO) was growing rapidly during that time, and there were tremendous strikes against the automobile industry.
According to Fishman, if the United States and others had fought against Franco harder, Hitler and Mussolini may have realized the rest of the world was ready to stop them.
However, there was some support for Franco on U.S. soil with the hope that his allies would one day defeat the Soviet Union.
"They (the Western powers) wanted Hitler to win the war and put an end to communism, socialism and trade unionism," Fisher said.
About 750 men from the ALB died in the war, and most of the others were injured. The brigade’s casualty rate was actually higher than that of American soldiers during World War II.
The ALB is often overlooked by history books, but nonetheless helped illustrate the best and worst of America, the men said.
Fisher, who is 91, said Hitler and Mussolini were already supporting Franco by the time the ALB joined the fight. The United States, however, along with many of its allies, remained neutral regarding the civil war in Spain. Fisher said the neutrality was the result of the hope that Hitler, who was virulently anti-communist and anti-union, would invade and destroy the Soviet Union.
Fisher also argued that many Western governments liked the fact that Hitler destroyed unionism in Germany.
After the lecture, Fishman said the Spanish Civil War gave outside nations the opportunity to see what fascism was like.
"One of the lessons of the Spanish Civil War was that it gave the world two-and-a-half years in which it could make up its mind whether the fight against fascism could be stopped or another world war would (have to) ensue," he said. "The world decided it wasn’t worth the effort (to intervene earlier), and we got World War II."
The brigade also featured Oliver Law, who commanded the brigade and was the first black man to ever lead an integrated America military force. He died in the effort.
The Americans who fought during those two years in the Spanish Civil War were greeted as traitors when they returned to America, Fisher said.
"We were treated when we came home from Spain like scoundrels," he said, noting that they were falsely accused of being members of the Communist Party and being controlled by the Soviet Union.
It was also "because we went there against orders of the U.S. government," he said.
In 1937, the State Department had banned travel to Spain.
Fishman, who calls Hitler the largest terrorist of the 20th century, said the committee that organized the men was likely run by the Communist Party. Fishman was also a trade unionist.
However, he said he did not go to Spain wrapped in any flag except one made of fear.
"I didn’t want to go," he said. "I was scared. But I hated Hitler so much."
Spotswood High School teacher Frank Yusko, who is also adviser to the History Club, asked the men what life was like for them during the McCarthy era.
Fishman said that Congress passed the McCarren Act, which stated that the Communist Party in America was controlled by the Soviet Union. That effectively made the men pariahs in their own country, and also caused other legal troubles for them. The act was passed despite President Harry Truman’s veto.
Fishman said it was not until 1968 that the U.S. Supreme Court threw the act out. The men said they fought it because it was anti-Constitutional and anti-democratic.
He said the fight against the act was for "the right for all Americans to join an organization of your choice."
Despite his willingness to fight, Fishman does not harbor any illusions about war.
"Don’t get into any kind of glamour," he said. "War is hell. War stinks. You have to be highly motivated to continue to fight under those conditions."
He denounced the prospect of a war against Iraq, saying the effort is not about fighting terrorism, but rather about protecting American oil interest in the region.
Despite the ALB’s effort, Spain fell to Franco’s forces in 1939 and remained a dictatorship until 1975.
"I’m proud, 65 years later, of the people who went to Spain (to fight)," Fisher said. "You’re really seeing the last of the Mohicans."

