By Ivan York In 2006 I began a regular series of visits to Catalonia, culminating with the purchase of a small house in El Perelló, Tarragona province, in 2011. My wife and I spend four to six months there every year and have made many friends. Since the beginning of our time there I […]
Charles Jepson urges IBMT supporters and groups to organise commemorations, however modest, at their local International Brigade memorial in February… In the preface of the International Brigade Association’s book “Memorials of the Spanish Civil War’, published in 1996, Bill Alexander wrote: “There are fifty-five memorials dedicated to the men and women who left their […]
By Justin Byrne In the wake of the Spanish general election on 20 December, Justin Byrne writes from Madrid about the prospects for progress on moves to recover Spanish Republican historical memory. Corruption, the ongoing economic crisis, austerity, rising inequality and moves towards independence in Catalonia were the big issues in the campaign […]
Message from the AABI Madrid-based International Brigades friendship group: Dear Friends, As we start a new year, we want to get in touch with you to let you know about our projects. First and foremost, we have to remember that this year 2016 marks the 80th anniversary of the formation of the International Brigades. The […]
6 January 2016 marks the 5th anniversary of the death of Penny Feiwel (Phelps), the last of the many British nurses who served in the International Brigades and other medical services duri9ng the Spanish Civil War. Here is her obituary, written by IBMT Secretary Jim Jump, from the 1-2011 issue of the IBMT Newsletter. […]
Reinhardt Silbermann of the KFSR International Brigade memorial group in Germany sets the scene for the annual commemoration in Hamburg in May. 2016 marks the 120th anniversary of the formation of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), the international trade union of seamen and transport workers and their struggle against exploitation, war and fascism. The […]
Among the 2015 books of the year chosen by the Morning Star were two that the IBMT played a hand in publishing. “No Other Way: Oxfordshire and the Spanish Civil War 1936-39”, by Chris Farman, Valery Rose and Liz Wooley, is described as “a wonderful example of what a group of local activists can achieve […]
How pleasing to see Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias invoking the memory of the International Brigades when he addressed supporters in Madrid following the party’s success in the Spanish general election on 20 December. Noting that the left-wing anti-austerity party had won 69 seats in the new Spanish parliament after being in existence for just two […]
Twenty medical doctors serving in the International Brigades went straight from Spain to China to help the country defend itself against Japanese aggression. The Chinese called them the “Spanish Doctors,” because of their earlier activities in Spain, even though none of them were Spaniards. In the summer of 2015, the Chinese government was able to […]
By David Bacon David Bacon is a California writer and documentary photographer. A former union organiser, today he documents labour, the global economy, war and migration, and the struggle for human rights. His latest book, ‘The Right to Stay Home’ (Beacon Press, 2013). discusses alternatives to forced migration and the criminalisation of migrants. See his […]
The following press statement has been issued by the KFSR, the IBMT's sister organisation in Germany: The members of the German association Fighters and Friends of the Spanish Republic 1936-1939 (KFSR) vigorously protest German government pension payments, 70 years after the end of World War Two, to Spanish collaborators with the Nazis and their family […]
Here are the thoughts of IBMT member Kit Prendergast about the speech by Hilary Benn in the House of Commons on 2 November in favour of Britain bombing Syria. The speech stirred controversy by referencing the International Brigades. IBMT members are invited to send any comments or alternative assessments of the issues raised by Hilary […]
