The Spanish Civil War: Black and White in a Murky, Ambiguous World (Exhibt/NYC)
If there are any doubts about the deep longing we have to believe in heroes, to discover those with superior courage, vision and commitment, and then to celebrate their accomplishments, the new exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York should put those doubts to rest. “Facing Fascism: New York and the Spanish Civil War,” which opened yesterday, is in full celebration mode.
And why not? According to the show’s interpretation of that bloody conflict of the mid-1930s, which pitted political virtue against fascistic evil, the group of New Yorkers it focuses on — whose best-known members became famous as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade — were heroes indeed.
They were heroes first, the exhibition suggests, because they were among the 3,000 or so United States citizens (about a third from New York City) who defied the government’s prohibition and secretly went to Spain in 1937 to fight the forces of fascism. Some 800 lost their lives in an International Brigade formed to help defend Spain’s Republican government against Franco’s rebels aided by Germany and Italy.
They were also heroes, the show implies, because they saw what others did not. The Spanish Republic fell in April 1939, and World War II began soon after, partly because these prescient fighters and their political allies had not been heeded. Western democratic leaders instead maintained neutrality during the Spanish Civil War. The Soviet Union did not, becoming the main supplier of men and matériel for the Republic, seemingly trying to head off catastrophe....
Read entire article at NYT
And why not? According to the show’s interpretation of that bloody conflict of the mid-1930s, which pitted political virtue against fascistic evil, the group of New Yorkers it focuses on — whose best-known members became famous as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade — were heroes indeed.
They were heroes first, the exhibition suggests, because they were among the 3,000 or so United States citizens (about a third from New York City) who defied the government’s prohibition and secretly went to Spain in 1937 to fight the forces of fascism. Some 800 lost their lives in an International Brigade formed to help defend Spain’s Republican government against Franco’s rebels aided by Germany and Italy.
They were also heroes, the show implies, because they saw what others did not. The Spanish Republic fell in April 1939, and World War II began soon after, partly because these prescient fighters and their political allies had not been heeded. Western democratic leaders instead maintained neutrality during the Spanish Civil War. The Soviet Union did not, becoming the main supplier of men and matériel for the Republic, seemingly trying to head off catastrophe....
[HNN Editor: The article goes on to note the serious shortcomings of the exhibit, as noted by Ronald Radosh here.]