“Salud y Shalom: American Jews in the Spanish Civil War”
Tuesday, January 30 | 3:30 pm | Thomson 317
University of Washington Campus
They were the original antifascists. In 1937, 3,000 Americans traveled to Spain as volunteers in the war against Francisco Franco and fascism. Nearly 1,000 of them were Jews. Why did these Americans choose to risk their lives in a faraway conflict – and why did so many Jews make this choice?
The Stroum Center for Jewish Studies is pleased to announce a new online oral history project, “Salud y Shalom: American Jews in the Spanish Civil War,” that brings these volunteers’ voices to life. This multimedia exhibit collects the stories of five Jewish American volunteers – three soldiers and two nurses – who risked their lives to oppose Franco’s fascism in the 1930s.
Interviewed by University of Washington Professor Joe Butwin in the 1990s, five veterans of the war share their experiences and motivations and reflect on how their identities as Jews and as activists informed their action.
Visit the project online here.
Join us on January 30 for a discussion with Professor Joe Butwin, who will share more about the project and about the volunteers he interviewed.