Visit 2

Last class we talked about our approach to each of our blogs. I think my approach is going to be very honest. I really like the subject that we're studying and I often feel emotionally moved by what I read. I don't think that emotions are inappropriate reactions to record. Therefore, I will record them.

I really have to get into the library for a more substantial amount of time. I realize it takes me about an hour to get through one folder of one collection, as was the case today. I went back to the Miriam Sigel Friedman papers because I hadn't read anything written by Harold Malofsky. I really enjoyed his letters because they were long and he wrote about his personal experiences on and off the front.

There were a couple strands of things I noticed that I wanted to write about. Malofsky personified the fascists as "the muddy, traitorous hands of a dictator, a banker, and a fat priest." I picked this out specifically because the description matches up remarkably with some of the Republican propaganda of the war. Particularly, the "Los Nacionales" and "El Generalísimo" posters come to mind. It made me wonder whether this identification of the enemy was a common one or whether the Spanish propaganda had significant influence in drawing this portrait and impressing it upon its viewers.

One thing I found that I was really happy about was a quote I had read before in one of the course books. Malofsky wrote: "And it's ironic. A communist for years, I now find myself fighting to make the world safe for democracy." It was just really exciting to have read that line before but then held in my hand the letter from which it came. I think it's also a brilliant line. One thing that's interesting about the letters I've read so far are that they are all pretty well written and come from intelligent, thoughtful people.

Something else concerning propaganda--Malofsky said that at one point on the battlefield, "Junker plans" began to drop leaflets from the sky. Comparing the leaflet to those he had handed out on street corners for years, he called it "a very stupid manifesto" quoting it: "'Bilbao finally belongs to Spain. Viva the dead Mola! Viva Franco! Viva Spain! Join our ranks and surrender.' This was supposed to convert us, the jerks." I just thought it was funny the way he seems so disgusted by the fascists' attempt to persuade and propagandize. Probably because, for one, to him it would be unthinkable to cross over, but perhaps he was also laughing at their ignorance of quality political propaganda, something in which the communists were very experienced.

Following up on an issue I addressed last post--the issue of the accuracy of strategic information and Republican standing in the war--Malofsky wrote that the "Daily Worker" published some statistics and that he read it regularly to inform himself of the war's progress. I thought perhaps this was one of the primary ways soldiers received information, which made me wonder whether the published statistics were accurate. I wondered in general how truthful was the information the battalions received and how far off was their conception of their side's standing in the war.

One last thing I noticed in Malofsky's letters that was the same for Sigel and Arion was the undeniable optimism and dedication to the cause of Spain and fighting fascism. As I read more, I think I will find this optimism is pervasive throughout soldiers' letters--which is really actually very sad. Malofsky wrote, "Nothing can stop the Spanish people from their important historic task. I only hope I live to come back and tell the story." He would be disappointed on both counts. As I was reading a letter written on August 29th, 1937, I reached for the finding guide because I knew that Harold did not come back from the war. Turns out, he would be dead a week after he penned the letter I held.