spartan
11th July 2008, 23:02
David Smith - Spanish Civil War vet
David Smith, one of the last survivors of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, the volunteer contingent of Americans who joined the unsuccessful battle to stop fascism from taking hold in Spain before World War II, died last week in Berkeley when his heart gave out at the age of 95.
Mr. Smith, who had stints as a volunteer soldier, machinist and biology teacher, was more than anything an activist - an avocation that began as a Depression-era student at the University of Michigan when he attended a demonstration in support of striking Ford Motor Co. workers and saw three of them shot.
"This deeply influenced his political direction," said one of his two daughters, Linda Lustig.
He had to quit college in his senior year when money for tuition ran out and spent a couple of years working odd jobs until he joined nearly 3,000 other volunteers from the United States to fight in the Spanish Civil War on the side of democracy, said Lustig.
He landed on the Jarama front in February 1937 and left Spain with a bullet wound to his shoulder at the end of 1938. Supporters of the Second Spanish Republic, including members of the brigade, were defeated in the war, giving rise to Gen. Francisco Franco, the dictator who ruled until his death in 1975.
Upon his return to the United States, Mr. Smith settled in New York and married Sophie Kaplan. She preceded him in death in 1999 after 59 years of marriage.
Mr. Smith was active in the Communist Party with his wife, starting in the late 1930s, and worked as a machinist and a labor organizer. His political activism eventually got him blacklisted during the McCarthy era.
Near the dawn of the 1960s, he and his wife became disillusioned with the Community Party and quit, Lustig said.
Mr. Smith returned to college to complete his bachelor's degree and earn a master's degree in education. That led to an 18-year career as a biology teacher. While teaching in New Rochelle, a suburb of New York City, he was a teachers' union organizer and worked to integrate the public schools, Lustig said.
He retired in 1977 and moved to Vermont, where he was active in the peace movement and the Democratic Party, according to a family biography.
Nearly two decades later, Mr. Smith moved to the Bay Area, feeling right at home in the well-known bastion of liberal activism. He attended anti-war demonstrations, helped raise money to buy ambulances for Nicaragua and reconnected with his brethren from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
He spent his latter years spearheading a campaign to create a monument honoring brigade veterans. His efforts were realized with the formal dedication of the monument March 30 in San Francisco; it stands near the Vaillancourt Fountain on the Embarcadero.
At the unveiling ceremony, Mr. Smith received a standing ovation and heard shouts of "Viva Dave!" as he pumped his fist in the air.
Not long after, his health deteriorated and he entered a nursing home in Berkeley, where he died July 2. Only about three dozen Lincoln Brigade vets are still alive.
On the 40-foot-long monument is a quote from Mr. Smith:
"Spain changed my whole life," he said. "I saw a country struggling - ordinary people, peasants, poor people. They couldn't even read or write, but when these young people came up to the front, we became an integrated army, the people struggling against the oppressing group of fascists.
"It left an indelible impression on my mind," he continued. "So when I got back, I decided that I was going to be committed to furthering the cause of the people, whatever I did."
Mr. Smith was born to Russian immigrants in Malden, Mass., on June 30, 1913. His two brothers and a sister predeceased him.
Mr. Smith is survived by Lustig and another daughter, Joanne Smith, both of Berkeley; his partner of nine years, June Spero of Oakland; three grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
No public memorial service is planned. The family requests that if people want to make a donation in his memory, the recipient be the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, 799 Broadway, Suite 341, New York City, NY 10003.
E-mail Rachel Gordon at [email protected]
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/11/BA4M11NE08.DTL
RIP comrade.
Thank you for giving up everything to stand up to Fascism in a foreign land.
David Smith, one of the last survivors of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, the volunteer contingent of Americans who joined the unsuccessful battle to stop fascism from taking hold in Spain before World War II, died last week in Berkeley when his heart gave out at the age of 95.
Mr. Smith, who had stints as a volunteer soldier, machinist and biology teacher, was more than anything an activist - an avocation that began as a Depression-era student at the University of Michigan when he attended a demonstration in support of striking Ford Motor Co. workers and saw three of them shot.
"This deeply influenced his political direction," said one of his two daughters, Linda Lustig.
He had to quit college in his senior year when money for tuition ran out and spent a couple of years working odd jobs until he joined nearly 3,000 other volunteers from the United States to fight in the Spanish Civil War on the side of democracy, said Lustig.
He landed on the Jarama front in February 1937 and left Spain with a bullet wound to his shoulder at the end of 1938. Supporters of the Second Spanish Republic, including members of the brigade, were defeated in the war, giving rise to Gen. Francisco Franco, the dictator who ruled until his death in 1975.
Upon his return to the United States, Mr. Smith settled in New York and married Sophie Kaplan. She preceded him in death in 1999 after 59 years of marriage.
Mr. Smith was active in the Communist Party with his wife, starting in the late 1930s, and worked as a machinist and a labor organizer. His political activism eventually got him blacklisted during the McCarthy era.
Near the dawn of the 1960s, he and his wife became disillusioned with the Community Party and quit, Lustig said.
Mr. Smith returned to college to complete his bachelor's degree and earn a master's degree in education. That led to an 18-year career as a biology teacher. While teaching in New Rochelle, a suburb of New York City, he was a teachers' union organizer and worked to integrate the public schools, Lustig said.
He retired in 1977 and moved to Vermont, where he was active in the peace movement and the Democratic Party, according to a family biography.
Nearly two decades later, Mr. Smith moved to the Bay Area, feeling right at home in the well-known bastion of liberal activism. He attended anti-war demonstrations, helped raise money to buy ambulances for Nicaragua and reconnected with his brethren from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
He spent his latter years spearheading a campaign to create a monument honoring brigade veterans. His efforts were realized with the formal dedication of the monument March 30 in San Francisco; it stands near the Vaillancourt Fountain on the Embarcadero.
At the unveiling ceremony, Mr. Smith received a standing ovation and heard shouts of "Viva Dave!" as he pumped his fist in the air.
Not long after, his health deteriorated and he entered a nursing home in Berkeley, where he died July 2. Only about three dozen Lincoln Brigade vets are still alive.
On the 40-foot-long monument is a quote from Mr. Smith:
"Spain changed my whole life," he said. "I saw a country struggling - ordinary people, peasants, poor people. They couldn't even read or write, but when these young people came up to the front, we became an integrated army, the people struggling against the oppressing group of fascists.
"It left an indelible impression on my mind," he continued. "So when I got back, I decided that I was going to be committed to furthering the cause of the people, whatever I did."
Mr. Smith was born to Russian immigrants in Malden, Mass., on June 30, 1913. His two brothers and a sister predeceased him.
Mr. Smith is survived by Lustig and another daughter, Joanne Smith, both of Berkeley; his partner of nine years, June Spero of Oakland; three grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
No public memorial service is planned. The family requests that if people want to make a donation in his memory, the recipient be the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, 799 Broadway, Suite 341, New York City, NY 10003.
E-mail Rachel Gordon at [email protected]
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/11/BA4M11NE08.DTL
RIP comrade.
Thank you for giving up everything to stand up to Fascism in a foreign land.