We Saw Spain Die (70 page)

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Authors: Preston Paul

81
  Cockburn,
A Discord,
pp. 307–9; Phillip Knightley,
The First Casualty
(London: André Deutsch, 1975), p. 196.

82
  Imperial War Museum,
The Spanish Civil War Collection. Sound Archive Oral History Recordings
(London: Imperial War Museum, 1996), p. 258; Kurzke and Mangan, ‘The Good Comrade’, pp. 63, 91, 112–13.

83
  Slater’s International Brigade files, 4A, 4160, Russian Centre for the Preservation and Study of Recent Historical Documents, Moscow, Fond. 545, Opus 6, 201 (copy held by International Brigades Memorial Trust, London) (henceforth RCPSRHD/IBMT). See also Richard Baxell,
British Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. The British Battalion in the International Brigades, 1936–1939
(London: Routledge/Cañada Blanch, 2004), p. 89; James K. Hopkins,
Into the Heart of the Fire: The British in the Spanish Civil War
(Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1998), pp. 226–7, 246, 406; Fred Thomas,
To Tilt at Windmills. A Memoir of the Spanish Civil War
(East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 1996), pp. 18, 23, 53, 105. Tony McLean’s remark can be found in his testimony to the Imperial War Museum Oral History Project, 838/5.

84
  Louis Fischer, ‘On Madrid’s Front Line’,
The Nation,
24 October 1936.

85
  Cockburn,
The Years of the Week,
pp. 208–11.

86
  Ehrenburg,
Eve of War,
p. 148.

87
  
Chicago Daily Tribune,
28, 29 July 1936. Slightly different versions of these articles were printed in the
News Chronicle,
29 July, 1 August 1936.

88
  
Chicago Daily Tribune,
30 August 1936; John T. Whitaker,
We Cannot Escape History
(New York: Macmillan, 1943), p. 113.

89
  M. L. Stein,
Under Fire: The Story of American War Correspondents
(New York: Julian Messner, 1968), p. 87.

90
  Minifie,
Expatriate,
p. 76.

91
  
New York Times,
7 December 1936.

92
  William P. Carney, ‘No democratic government in Spain’, ‘Russia’s part in Spain’s civil war’ and ‘Murder and anti-religion in Spain’ (New York: The America Press, 1937); Herbert Rutledge Southworth,
Guernica! Guernica!: A Study of Journalism, Propaganda and History
(Berkeley: CA: University of California Press, 1977), p. 431.

93
  William P. Carney, ‘Life in Madrid: A City of Stalking Death’,
New York Times,
24 January 1937.

94
  De la Mora,
In Place of Splendor,
pp. 258, 286.

95
  Josephine Herbst, unpublished diary, entry for 29 April 1937, ‘Journal Spain’, Za Herbst Collection, Beinecke Library, Yale University, pp.
51–2; Regler, diary entry for 29 April 1937, ‘Civil War Diary’, pp. 84–5.

96
  Ernest Hemingway,
By-Line. Ernest Hemingway: Selected Articles and Dispatches of Four Decades
(London: William Collins, 1968), pp. 308–11; Carl Rollyson,
Nothing Ever Happens to the Brave. The Story of Martha Gellhorn
(New York: St Martin’s Press, 1990), p. 103. On the Republic’s efforts to restore order, see Paul Preston,
The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, Revolution, Revenge
(London: HarperCollins, 2006), pp. 231–4, 259–63.

97
  Noel Monks, ‘I Hate War’, in Hanighen,
Nothing but Danger,
pp. 90–3.

98
  On Steer see Southworth,
Guernica! Guernica!, passim;
Paul Preston, ‘prólogo’, George L. Steer,
El árbol de Gernika. Un ensayo sobre la guerra moderna
(Tafalla: Txalaparta, 2002), pp. 7–18; Nick Rankin,
Telegram from Guernica. The Extraordinary Life of George Steer, War Correspondent
(London: Faber & Faber, 2003).

99
  Sheean,
Not Peace,
pp. 162–6; Brereton,
Inside Spain,
p. 37.

100
Allen to Southworth, 17 January 1964, 7 August 1967, Southworth Papers, Museo de Guernica.

101
Lester Ziffren, ‘I Lived in Madrid’,
Current History,
April 1937, p. 41.

102
Author’s interview with Geoffrey Cox, 2006.

103
O. D. Gallagher, ‘Five Waited for a City to Die’, in Hanighen,
Nothing but Danger,
pp. 228–40.

104
Daily Express,
27, 29 March 1939.

105
Knightly,
The First Casualty,
p. 214. Gallagher died many years later on the banks of Loch Ness, where he had been posted as correspondent.

Chapter 3: The Lost Generation Divided

1
   Josephine Herbst, unpublished diary, ‘Journal Spain’, Za Herbst Collection, Beinecke Library, Yale University, pp. 4–8; Josephine Herbst,
The Starched Blue Sky of Spain and Other Memoirs
(New York: HarperCollins, 1991), pp. 152–4; Caroline Moorehead,
Martha Gellhorn, A Life
(London: Chatto & Windus, 2003), p. 141; John Dos Passos,
Journeys Between Wars
(New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1938), pp. 364–5. Delmer’s remarks come, not from his memoirs, but from a letter to Carlos Baker,
Ernest Hemingway. A Life Story
(London: Collins, 1969), p. 371.

2
   Herbst, ‘Journal Spain’, pp. 11–12.

3
   The most extreme example is Stephen Koch,
The Breaking Point. Hemingway, Dos Passos and the Murder of José Robles
(New York: Counterpoint, 2005). See also the more measured version by Ignacio Martínez de Pisón,
Enterrar a los muertos
(Barcelona: Seix Barral, 2005).

4
   John Dos Passos,
The Theme is Freedom
(New York: Dodd & Mead, 1956), pp. 127–8; Townsend Ludington,
John Dos Passos. A Twentieth-Century Odyssey
(New York: E. P. Dutton, 1980), p. 102.

5
   John Dos Passos, letter to the editors of the
New Republic,
July 1939,
The Fourteenth Chronicle. Letters and Diaries
(Boston, MA: Gambit Incorporated, 1973), p. 527; Ludington,
John Dos Passos,
p. 366; Martínez de Pisón,
Enterrar a los muertos,
pp. 25–9.

6
   Louis Fischer,
Men and Politics
(London: Jonathan Cape, 1941), pp. 374, 406.

7
   Daniel Kowalsky,
La Unión Soviética y la guerra civil española. Una revisión crítica
(Barcelona: Editorial Crítica, 2003), pp. 28–9, 256–8, 284–9; Paulina y Adelina Abramson,
Mosaico roto
(Madrid: Compañía Literaria, 1994), pp. 63, 251.

8
   Francisco Ayala,
Recuerdos y olvidos (1906–2006)
(Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 2006), p. 230.

9
   Fischer,
Men and Politics,
p. 406.

10
  I am indebted to Ángel Viñas for this observation. Fuqua’s views, Bowers to Dos Passos, 27 August 1937, Papers of Claude Bowers, Lilly Library, Indiana University (henceforth Bowers Papers).

11
  Ministerio de la Guerra, Estado Mayor Central,
Anuario Militar de España 1936
(Madrid: Imprenta y Talleres del Ministerio de la Guerra, 1936), p. 181.

12
  Cf. Martínez de Pisón,
Enterrar a los muertos,
pp. 84–5, 101, 107–10, who speculates that the decision to kill Robles was taken by Alexander Orlov (Leiba Lazarevich Feldbin), the NKVD resident in Spain.

13
  On Grigulevich, see Germán Sánchez, ‘El misterio Grigulévich’,
Historia 16,
no. 233, September 1995; Boris Volardsky,
KGB: The West Side Story
(forthcoming), Chapter 16; Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin,
The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB
(New York: Basic Books, 1999), p. 300; Marjorie Ross,
El secreto encanto de la KGB. Las cinco vidas de Iósif Griguliévich
(Heredia, Costa Rica: Farben Grupo Editorial Norma, 2004); Ángel Viñas,
El escudo de la República
(Barcelona: Editorial Crítica, 2007), pp. 60–6, 74–8, 544–6, 609–19.

14
  
Hoja de Servicios del general Ramón Robles Pazos,
Archivo Militar General, Segovia. Ramon’s treatment at the hands of the Republicans contrasted dramatically with the immediate execution that awaited any officer who refused to serve the rebels.

15
  José Robles to Lancaster, 20 October 1936 and undated, Robles Papers, Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University, Ms 47.

16
  Bowers to Dos Passos, 27 August 1937, Bowers Papers; Francisco Ayala,
Recuerdos y olvidos (1906–2006)
(Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 2006), pp. 229–30; Martínez de Pisón,
Enterrar a los muertos,
p. 32.

17
  Francisco Robles to Lancaster, 6 January 1937, Robles Papers, Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University, Ms 47.

18
  Fischer,
Men and Politics,
p. 406.

19
  Dos Passos,
The Theme,
pp. 115–16, 128; Ludington,
John Dos Passos,
p. 366; Kurzke and Mangan, ‘The Good Comrade’, p. 419 (Jan Kurzke Papers, Archives of the International Institute for Social History, Amsterdam). On Barry, see Harriet Ward,
A Man of Small Importance. My Father Griffin Barry
(Debenham, Suffolk: Dormouse Books, 2003).

20
  Dos Passos, letter to
New Republic, The Fourteenth Chronicle,
pp. 527–9; Dos Passos,
The Theme,
p. 128.

21
  Dos Passos to Lancaster, undated 1938, Robles Papers, Ms 47.

22
  According to the Spanish novelist Ignacio Martínez de Pisón, this devastating revelation was made to Coco by Luis Rubio Hidalgo in late February or early March. According to Dos Passos himself, it was made by Liston Oak on the same day that Márgara Villegas asked him to investigate her husband’s disappearance, that is to say, on or about 9 April. Martínez de Pisón,
Enterrar a los muertos,
p. 35; Dos Passos to Lancaster, undated 1938, Robles Papers Ms 47; Dos Passos,
The Fourteenth Chronicle,
p. 528; Ludington,
Dos Passos,
pp. 367, 371.

23
  Kurzke and Mangan, ‘The Good Comrade’, pp. 419–20.

24
  Coco Robles to Lancaster, 20 April, 17 July; Coindreau to Lancaster, 14 May 1937, Robles Papers, Ms 47.

25
  He describes their meeting in his autobiographical novel, John Dos Passos,
Century’s Ebb: The Thirteenth Chronicle
(Boston, MA: Gambit, 1975), pp. 77–9; Kurzke and Mangan, ‘The Good Comrade’, p. 246.

26
  John Dos Passos,
Journeys Between Wars
(New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1938), pp. 359–60.

27
  Dos Passos,
New Republic, The Fourteenth Chronicle,
p. 528; Dos Passos,
Century’s Ebb,
pp. 73–7. See also Koch,
The Breaking Point,
pp. 106–10, 114–15. Koch takes Dos Passos’ later novel literally on this point and assumes that a fictional character, Alfredo Posada (in fact, based very loosely on Dos Passos’ friend Luis Quintanilla), was a real functionary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Valencia, something that Luis Quintanilla never was.

28
  Ludington,
Dos Passos,
pp. 365–9.

29
  Dos Passos,
Century’s Ebb,
p. 81.

30
  Herbst, ‘Notes on Spain’/‘Journal Spain’, p. 1.

31
  Herbst,
The Starched Blue Sky,
pp. 150–1.

32
  Dos Passos,
Century’s Ebb,
p. 82.

33
  Ilse Katz to Herbst, 20 March 1937; the text of the broadcast, both in Za Herbst Collection, Beinecke Library, Yale University; Stephen Koch,
Double Lives. Spies and Writers in the Secret Soviet War of Ideas against the West
(New York: The Free Press, 1994), pp. 231–4, 291–2. For a brilliant refutation of Koch’s speculation, see Elinor Langer, ‘The Secret Drawer’,
The Nation,
30 May 1994, pp. 752–60.

34
  Herbst,
The Starched Blue Sky,
p. 139.

35
  Koch,
The Breaking Point,
pp. 102–5, 292–3; Herbst,
The Starched Blue Sky,
pp. 139, 154; Herbst to Bliven, 30 June 1939, Za Herbst Collection, Beinecke Library, Yale University; Soledad Fox,
Constancia de la Mora in War and Exile. International Voice for the Spanish Republic
(Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2007), pp. 96–9.

36
  Elinor Langor,
Josephine Herbst
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1984), pp. 211–12. The safe-conduct is reproduced in Langor’s book among the photographs between pp. 182 and 183.

37
  Herbst,
The Starched Blue Sky,
pp. 154–5; Langor,
Josephine Herbst,
pp. 221–2. Koch’s novelized account of the conversation, Koch,
The Breaking Point,
pp. 141–6, 153–5.

38
  Coindreau to Lancaster, 1 June 1937, Robles Papers, Ms 47; Dos Passos to Bowers, 21 July 1937, Bowers Papers.

39
  Herbst to Bliven, 30 June 1939, Za Herbst Collection, Beinecke Library, Yale University.

40
  Dos Passos,
Century’s Ebb,
pp. 90–4; Ludington,
Dos Passos,
pp. 370–1; ‘The Fiesta at the Fifteenth Brigade’, Dos Passos,
Journeys,
pp. 375–81; Herbst,
The Starched Blue Sky,
p. 157.

41
  Dos Passos,
Century’s Ebb,
pp. 90–4; Dos Passos to
New Republic,
p. 528. Luis Quintanilla’s view reported by José Nieto.

42
  Ludington,
Dos Passos,
p. 371; Herbst,
The Starched Blue Sky,
pp. 156–7. The most florid, and largely invented account, Koch,
The Breaking Point,
pp. 147–59.

43
  Koch,
The Breaking Point,
p. 146.

44
  Herbst, ‘Journal Spain’, pp. 13–14.

45
  Cowles,
Looking for Trouble,
pp. 34–5; Herbst, ‘Journal Spain’, pp. 126–8; Herbst,
The Starched Blue Sky,
pp. 167–71.

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