Steve Zak’s bio on the ALBA website, indicates how they knew each other: Zak was with the Mac-Paps for a while, and they both served in the Machine-Gun Battalion attached to the 15th Brigade. If you here (sic) from any of the boys, let me know, eh? Steve Zak I’m also trying to contact the English lads tonight. Oh, I forgot to say that many of the vets are working there. I’m getting the sack this week but just the same I’m going away for the weekend. I was at the Fair yesterday and visited the Mexicans ki Casa Del Pueblo. Zak’s postcard, featuring the USSR pavilion from the New York World’s Fair, reads: At that time, Jim was based in Saskatoon, having spent five months distributing aid to Mac-Pap vets across Canada’s three Prairie Provinces: Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. I knew about Lincoln veteran Steve Zak because, amongst Jim’s papers, is a postcard from him dated August 1939. Interestingly, Jim didn’t seem to remember any bravery citation when he wrote his memoir but his RGASPI personnel file contains a report from Helge Meyer, political commissar of the Mac-Paps, stating that he was “extraordinarily brave during the big retreats.” His detailed description of this heart-pounding action makes for a riveting read. So, apparently, did the enemy, and when he reached cover, Jim took full advantage of the opportunity. Jim stumbled twice and both times Brage thought he’d been hit. Brage was observing through field glasses from company headquarters when he saw Jim lugging ammo and a machine gun out to a strategic spot, while dodging hundreds of bullets in no man’s land. Captain Rafael Buch Brage is mentioned in Jim’s chapter about the Aragon Retreats of March 1938. The artist’s name is lost to time but there are several Americans with Spanish Civil War connections whose names are not. His book, Fighting for Democracy, will be published in June 2020. He wrote all that year.Īs Jim’s eldest daughter, I have been editing and preparing his manuscript, part of which, it turns out, was written in 1939 when he returned from the Spanish Civil War. He agreed, but had crumpled many a false start until he remembered that artist decades ago in New York, in turn opening the floodgates to the details of his story. Then, in early 1977, Jim’s children, who knew little about him before he met their mother, convinced him to write about his mysterious past. It must have been a trusting relationship because Jim was otherwise prone to secrecy. It was while he was in New York that Jim met a Greenwich Village artist who wanted to know more about him, and over the course of many weeks, in response to the artist’s probing questions, he related his story. In his soon-to-be-published book, he writes, “It rained like hell but I was very happy.” It does not store any personal data.On returning to Canada from the Spanish Civil War, Jim Higgins was branded a communist, hounded by the RCMP, and welcomed by his Lincoln Battalion comrades when he sought refuge in New York. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.
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