Jose Almudéver, the Last International Brigadier
By: Denis Rogatyuk
„Despite our coming from different places the camaraderie among all of us was stupendous.
We had passionate talks about everything,“ said Almudéver. | Photo: Denis Rogatyuk / EFE
Published 8 February 2017
Now 97, the anti-fascist veteran looks at the battles he fought during the Spanish Civil War and the global fight against the right wing today.
Born in France of parents from Spain’s Valencia region, José Almudéver, a 97-year-old veteran of the Spanish Republican Army and the International Brigades, has always been a staunch defender of the historic memory of the Spanish Republic that lasted from 1931 to 1939. He has also always been a harsh critic of the 1936 Non-Intervention Pact signed by all major Western European powers with the express goal of preventing military support reaching the contending sides in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).
From the beginning, the pact was cynically ignored by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, whose military assistance to the nationalist forces led by General Francisco Franco was largely responsible for the defeat of the Republic, which only received inadequate support from the Soviet Union.
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As a 17-year old youth, Almudéver joined a militia group formed by the Spanish Socialist Youth (JSU) in his family’s home town of Alcàsser. After the July 18, 1936, Francoist coup against the Republic, he spent the rest of the year fighting in the rearguard of the Republican Army around Teruel (southern Aragon). (At the same time the Francoist forces were steadily gaining ground throughout North West of the country.)
In May 1938, owing to his foreign birth and knowledge of French, Almudéver joined the 129th division of the International Brigades. At the end of the war in March 1939, he was captured and sent to a number of concentration camps and prisons around Alicante and Madrid, enduring starvation and abuse from the Francoist authorities. He was finally released in November 1942. Like many other former Republican fighters, he was forced into exile – in France in August 1947 – only returning to Spain in 1965.
Now living in the rural French town of Pamiers, just south of Toulouse, Almudéver remains just as passionate about the cause of the International Brigades and the fight against Fascism as he was more than 80 years ago. Despite his advanced age, he actively participates in events, forums and presentations concerning the historical memory of the Spanish Civil War. Most recently, he was an honored guest at the 80th-anniversary commemorations of the International Brigades in Madrid, where he unveiled the “Garden of the International Brigades” – one of the first public spaces in Madrid to formally honor the foreign volunteers.
Along with his 99-year-old brother Vicente, another veteran of the Republican Army, Almudéver is one of the last remaining veterans of the devastating conflict and one of the last three known surviving members of the International Brigades.
Denis Rogatyuk sat down with the old brigadista to talk about his experiences in the Civil War and its aftermath.
Rogatyuk: You were only 12 when the Republic was proclaimed on April 14th, 1931. What do you remember from the atmosphere of those days?
Almudéver: Being only 12 years old, I did not fully know or understand all the events that surrounded me, but I witnessed great changes in my hometown, Alcàsser. The majority of workers were peasants, Illiteracy there was over 60% and a single landowner controlled over 10% of the land. The bourgeoisie believed that they could constantly win elections because of the people’s ignorance.
April 14 was an event of incredible happiness for the Spanish people. I remember the first euphoric week and the explosion of freedom on the streets when people of all the political groups marched together holding the pictures of the revolutionary martyrs and leaders. Two of those were Fermín Galán and Angel García Hernandez, two army captains who attempted a military rebellion in December 1930, but were captured and shot in the last months of the monarchy.
My parents and I also had to ask ourselves: had we really achieved a workers’ republic that we hoped would be entrenched in the constitution, or did the Second Republic more serve the interests of the bourgeoisie?
The Republic did bring some important advances. For the first time, secular schools were created to educate children. The Republic was also the first government that gave equality to women. Women could now vote, women could now be elected and be educated.
At the same time, it was a form of a capitalist republic, not unlike the French Republic after the (French) Revolution. And, just like then, the bourgeoisie maintained power.
Neither repression nor the threat of the military coup, like that of General Sanjurjo (in August 1932), ever really went away. In November 1933, with the Republican government worn out, the conservative bourgeoisie won the elections. The workers could not understand how, with the Republican Manuel Azaña and the socialists in government, the left could suffer so much repression.
R: You spent the majority of your time defending Alcàsser and Valencia from the fascists. How did it feel for you to fight alongside your family against the Francoist forces?
Almudéver: After Franco’s coup in July 1936, apart from the regular army, every political party formed its own volunteer force. At first, I tried to enlist with the Column “Germanias” of Izquierda Republicana (Republican Left) but was sent away because I was only 17. My father and I then tried to go to the Communist Party, but they said they had no weapons or instructors to train new volunteers. Finally, they sent me off to join a Socialist column, which had its headquarters in a monastery in Alcàsser. I enlisted in the “Pablo Iglesias” column on Aug. 15, and on Sept. 13, we headed off to the front line.
There were 200 of us. Each of us had a rifle. The people of Valencia applauded us greatly, as we made our way to Teruel (then held by Franco’s forces). I spent some months in rearguard action around Valacloche and Cubla (in Teruel Province) until finally, we received our orders that on Dec. 26 we would attack Teruel to support the defense of Madrid.
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Our “Pablo Iglesias Battalion” had over 500 men at that time. I spent several weeks in the trenches alongside other militias until February 4, 1937, when I was allowed to return to Alcàsser.
R: How did you become involved in the International Brigades?
Almudéver: On Feb. 19, I returned to the front line with my comrades, in Utiel (Valencia province). In Utiel, we met with the 13th International Brigade and I heard some of them speaking French. One of them told me they were being directed to the front in Málaga, and I asked them if I could come with them and join the Brigades. But while I was waiting for him to confirm it, the 13th Brigade had to march off.
On June 26, the order came from the defense minister of the Republic that forbade 17-year old French-born youths like me from being in the Republican Army, so I had to leave the militia and return to Alcàsser. On September 1, they called up everyone born in 1919 for military service. But when I turned up, my name wasn’t on the list, and I had to explain that I was born in France. They forbade me from serving in the army as a foreigner, so I returned to the front line as a volunteer.
It was in May, 1938, that I finally presented myself to the Italian Rosselli Column in Alcàsser. This was when I was recovering from an arm injury and still needed to be assigned. I presented my birth certificate to the commissar of the Rosselli Column, showing that I had been born in Marseilles, and ended up joining them, under the command of the 129th International Brigade.
R: What do you remember of the men and women who came from all over the world to fight for the Republic?
Almudéver: In the Rosselli Column, while waiting for our artillery pieces to arrive, I got to know combatants from all across the world. We had a Canadian, three Cubans, our chief mechanic was an American, one was Dutch, another was German, another Swiss and another Chinese. For most of us, we did not get to know each other by name, but by nationality. With my Canadian comrade, David, we went everywhere together. Me being Franco-Spanish and him being Canadian, we hardly understood each other, but we became good friends. Despite our coming from different places the camaraderie among all of us was stupendous. We had passionate talks about everything, especially the war and the Republic, but never had any conflicts. I remained with the Rosselli Column until November 1938, when it was divided into different language-speaking columns and sent off to the front, while I remained in Alcàsser. In December 1938, the Non-Intervention Committee that was directed by Britain and France arrived in Spain, and in January 1939 the International Brigades were expelled under its pressure .
R: Do you think that the non-intervention by Britain and France was what destroyed the Republic in the end?
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Almudéver: Of course. The Republican government of Azaña decided to expel the International Brigades in the hopes that Franco had a similar attitude and would do the same with the foreign armies supporting him. He did not.
The Brigadistas were inferior in numbers and the foreign troops on the other side comprised more than 80,000, and with far better weapons. And we also endured the anti-Soviet and anti-Communist propaganda of the democratic capitalist countries.
The Republic was cruelly abandoned to the hands of Nazism since the British and French leaders believed that Hitler only wished to exterminate Communism. Britain and France refused to sell any weapons or give any help to the Republic, while the United States continued to trade with Franco.
When General Franco was flown from the Canary Islands to Tetuan in the German plane (on July 17, 1936), alongside him arrived the support and the foreign armies of all those who supported the fascist coup and his side in the war. Over 3000 Germans, 12,000 Portuguese, 15,000 Moors, 30,000 members of the “Foreign Legion” and 70,000 Italians all came to support the formation of Franco’s army.
How can you call that a civil war?!
I remember hearing the news of all Spaniards crossing into France after the Francoists began their invasion of Catalonia. Just 5 km south of here (Pamiers), there were concentration camps for them. In one of them – Bernedarieja – many died of malnutrition. Only the French-speaking and the foreigners who resided in France were taken care of.
R: Talking about our world situation today, we see a familiar picture – a civil war in Syria, the rise of far-right forces across Europe and USA and high social and economic inequality. What can you say about all of this?
Almudéver: All evil in this world comes from capitalism. Money must disappear in order for the world to become human again. Look at what is happening in Syria. Who sent the jihadists? How have they acquired their weapons? Who has been buying the oil from the oil sites that they occupied? And what will they do with the money that they got from them?”
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Fascism comes directly out of the decay of capitalism. Here in France with Madame Le Pen. I would not be surprised if she becomes the next president and the French ruling class backs her afterward. In our next elections, there will be five left-wing candidates standing for the candidacy of the Republic. Five! What kind of socialists are they? One of them, The prime minister Manuel Valls forced through the “El Khomri” labor law#!#
The only one who could possibly fix all of this in France is Jean Luc-Mélenchon, while all the others would be happy to serve the government of Le Pen. Unfortunately, the game is stacked against Mélenchon. Why wouldn’t the left put its forces together, instead of fighting amongst themselves?
However, the new (Spanish) leftist forces give me a lot of hope. I no longer understand the Socialist Party (PSOE), which has nothing to do with those who call themselves socialists. A socialist always looks for the best for the working class, but above all else he wants to be with them. You can expect things to go better with Podemos, like what we are seeing with the Mayor of Madrid (Manuela Carmena).
(People’s Party Prime Minister Mariano) Rajoy will be thrown out, but this will not be thanks to the PSOE.
Denis Rogatyuk is a Russian-Australian political and trade union activist based in Melbourne. He has been active in Latin America solidarity work, and was part of solidarity brigades to Cuba and Venezuela in 2012 and 2013. He also reported for Green Left Weekly from Ecuador and Bolivia.
A wonderful interview and well-merited tribute, but the caption is misleading because, as the article itself makes clear, Jose’s 99 year old brother, Vicente Almudever, is also a surviving veteran.
Quelle: Link: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Jose-Almudever-the-Last-International-Brigadier-20170208-0013.html
See www.albavolunteer.org/…/80th-anniversary-celebrations-in-p…/ for Len and Nancy Tsou’s report and slide show of International Brigade commemorations last October, with Vicente participating in Paris, and Jose participating in Benicassim.
See https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2tlwVJc0BLs for Vicente celebrating his 98th birthday in December 2015, in the company of Jose.
