This Is My Fight [antikvár]

In 1937 and 1938, 3,000 Americans volunteered to support the heroic struggle of the Spanish Republic against fascism. Among them was Alvah Bessie an outstanding progressive author of novels, stories and film scripts, born in New York in 1904, now living in San Francisco. 1,800 of the volunteers from the U.S.A. never returned, and most of the remaining 1,200 suffered wounds or illness. Their deeds in the Abraham Lincoln ^ Battalion of the International Brigades were a shining example of international working-class solidaritj'. The author's book " Men in Battle" (1939) is an excellent description of their role in Spain. In 1950, the Hollywood Ten, Alvah Bessie and nine other film writers and producers, were imprisoned because they, as American citizens, claimed their right to freedom of conscience and refused to report to the House ^ Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) on their political beliefs. Since then, many American patriots have been sentenced for the same reason as being " un-Americans ". In " Inquisition in Eden " (1965) Bessie revealed the background of this terror against leading representatives of the " other America ". " The un-Americans " (1957) is an important literary representation of the struggle of the Communists for a better America and an uncompromising denunciation of McCarthyism Besides it is a significant contribution to the literature about the Spanish people's fight for freedom. There is a good description of the personal development of two New York journalists, Francis Xa-vier Lang and Benjamin Blau, who met as war-correspondents at the Spanish front in 1938. ^ Alvah Bessie ['aelva 'besi] — ^ Abraham Lincoln (1809—1865; Präsident ^ der USA von 1860 — 1865) — ^ House = H. of Representatives Repräsentan- tenhaus (Unterhaus des US-Kongresses) — * McCarthjism [ma'karGi'izm] I (nach dem republikanischen Senator Joseph R. McCarthy benannter I faschistischer Gesinnungsterror in den USA; bes. gegen die KP und fort- , .schrittliche Künstler und Wissenschaftler gerichtet)