Great portraits of the International Brigade in Spain

[Fastuni]

Alanfgag,
thanks for sharing this. Sorry to read he was KIA.

The Randall Album has many hundreds upon hundreds of photos with the individuals names of the Mackenzie-Papineau Bat. I am confident that your Greatuncle is among them.

When I am further digging in this treasure trove of album, I'll sure let you know if I find a photo of him.

...

This is BTW also a great pic... sporting a fedora.

http://dlib.nyu.edu/randall-photo/node/312

Or this shirt:

http://dlib.nyu.edu/randall-photo/node/480

 

[alanfgag]

That's an incredible resource... thanks for sharing this. My father was deeply influenced by his uncle, who was a lawyer and a leftist who enlisted in the brigades shortly after his marriage. My understanding is that he was killed shortly after arrival in Spain. It would be a good time to hunt further into family recollections and photos. My dad is now 87 and Aaron's has one surviving sister of 6 siblings - she is 98.

 

[Metatron]

It would great to find out more about your great uncle.

Btw here is a description of extreme layering from George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia:

'One icy night I made a list in my diary of the clothes I was wearing. It is of some
interest as showing the amount of clothes the human body can carry. I was
wearing a thick vest and pants, a flannel shirt, two pull-overs, a woollen
jacket, a pigskin jacket, corduroy breeches, puttees, thick socks, boots, a
stout trench-coat, a muffler, lined leather gloves, and a woollen cap.
Nevertheless I was shivering like a jelly. But I admit I am unusually sensitive
to cold. '

 

[cookie]

My great uncle Aaron Ramer enlisted in the ALB and was killed in action. He was a great inspiration to my father who later served in the second world war. I wish I had a photo of him to share here.

Thanks Allan. Tragically - so little detail.

I saw this on the Abraham Lincoln Brigade website. Looks like a perfect night.


2012 End of Year Benefit Dinner

Monday, December 10, 2012 at the Spanish Benevolent Society of New York. 239 West 14th St, Second Floor (between 7th and 8th Ave), New York, NY 10011

Reception begins at 6:45 PM (includes open wine bar). Dinner and Program from 7:30 - 9:30 PM. Menu: tapas, paella, and chocolate con churros.

It would great to find out more about your great uncle.

Btw here is a description of extreme layering from George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia:

'One icy night I made a list in my diary of the clothes I was wearing. It is of some
interest as showing the amount of clothes the human body can carry. I was
wearing a thick vest and pants, a flannel shirt, two pull-overs, a woollen
jacket, a pigskin jacket, corduroy breeches, puttees, thick socks, boots, a
stout trench-coat, a muffler, lined leather gloves, and a woollen cap.
Nevertheless I was shivering like a jelly. But I admit I am unusually sensitive
to cold. '

The coldest I have ever felt in my life was at Uyuni in the Bolivian Andes just on the border with Chile overnighting before getting the train down to Chile. I was at like 4K metres altitude! I had two sets of clothes on and I remember being so cold that I jumped under the doona fully clothed to unchill myself. Then they say they is no colder day than a summer day in Sydney when the weather changes. But then I have never been to Montreal or Moscow which are the two coldest capital cities in the world from memory.

 

[HadleyH]

Hadley, thanks for the pics.
What caught my eye: three different berets on the last photo. On the right, wide crowned one-piece and "sloppy", on the left snug and sewn two-piece. Hemingway's seems to be a one-piece as well.

Here another great photo of Hemingway in Spain... this time lunching in 1937.
The jacket is quite interesting - worn over a herringbone suit with two layers of shirts (pic of the suit at link below).

http://www.circuitmag.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/14667_I_Hemingway-Capa_f-T25-3.jpg


(too large - thus just linked)

You are welcome Fastuni. When I think of the Spanish civil War he always comes to mind.


Another photo from Spain and the Civil War

 

[Fastuni]

Alanfgag,
In the 1800 or so images of the Randall Album there is unfortunately none which names your great-uncle. There are however numerous photos (group or portrait) without names... so he may be among them. Maybe your research in family albums and recollections will yield something. Good luck with that!

 

[alanfgag]

Thank you Fastuni. I think it is an interesting project to share with my dad... will do.