ENGLISH CORNER, CON LINDA JIMÉNEZ – This week’s trivia question: What role did women play in the International Brigades?
In July 1936, General Francisco Franco staged a military coup against the government of the Spanish Republic, which had come into being through democratic elections five years earlier. His allies in this endeavor were Hitler and Mussolini, which prompted anti-fascists from all over the world to come to the aid of the Spanish loyalists. They formed the International Brigades, and there was a disproportionately high number of Jews among the volunteers. The Centro Sefarad-Israel in Madrid recently opened an exhibition titled For Your Freedom and Ours. Jews in the International Brigades. The exhibit includes over 400 photos, documents, press articles, books posters and film clips, and will be open until May 31.
Three lectures have been scheduled to complement the exhibition. “Brigadistas: la vida después, de España al mundo”, which was given in Spanish; “Spanish Civil War in archival collections of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw”, in English; both of which can be seen at the above links on the Centro Sefarad-Israel YouTube channel, and “Las mujeres brigadistas”, which will be in person at the Center on March 6 and available on their YouTube channel later.
This week we’re speaking with Almudena Cruz, the curator of the exhibition. She is the Deputy Director of Democratic Memory within the Spanish Ministry of Regional Politics and Democratic Memory.
