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Echoes of the Spanish Civil War in Palestine

Raanan Rein and Inbal Ofer
Raanan Rein holds the Elias Sourasky Chair of Ibero and Latin-American Studies at Tel Aviv University. He is the author of numerous books and articles on 20th century Spain and Argentina. His In the Shadow of Peron was recently published by Stanford University Press. Inbal Ofer specializes in issues of gender and urban history in 20th century Spain. Her Señoritas in Blue: the Making of a Female Political Elite in Franco's Spain was recently published by SAP.

For those who lived through it – whether on the bloody battlefields of Spain, in its hungry and war-stricken cities, or through the lens of newsreels and solidarity campaigns – the Spanish Civil War was a life changing event. In a century rife with “total” wars, the events that took place in Spain between the years 1936–1939 still echo loudly. In its struggle for survival, the Second Republic succeeded in rallying to its support almost 40,000 volunteers from 53 different countries. But as the vast literature on the International Brigades testifies, for the majority of volunteers the definitions of “friend” and “foe” or of “right” and “wrong” in the Spanish context were inter-changeable with those constructed “back home”. For those who had already lost the struggle against Fascism in their native countries, as well as for those who were about to face it, Spain was a crucial juncture.
… This book examines the reactions of Jewish society in Palestine to the civil war, as well as the story of the volunteers who left Palestine in order to fight for the Republic. Despite much ideological sympathy, active support for the Spanish Republic was neither unequivocal nor unconditional. Rather, solidarity with Spain was manifested and perceived first and foremost through the prism of local political reality. After presenting the historical context of society and politics the volume analyzes the reactions of the Hebrew press and of the different political parties and civil associations to the Iberian War; examines the role played by Jewish volunteers in the International Brigades in general, and of those arriving from Palestine in particular; discusses the volunteers’ “Spanish experience” as reflected in personal interviews and memoirs; and lastly addresses issues of history and memory, both personal and collective, particularly the appropriation of the memory of the Jewish volunteers.

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