Toby Jensky and Philip Schachter Papers

Toby Jensky (1911-1995) was a nurse at New York City's Beth Israel Hospital in 1930s. When the Spanish Civil War broke out, the hospital became a center for the Medical Bureau to Aid Spanish Democracy. In 1937, Jensky went to Spain as a volunteer nurse and administrator with the American Medical Bureau. Jensky was not a member of any political party nor did she subscribe to any particular political belief. It appears that she went to Spain because the opportunity arose to join friends and colleagues in the medical unit being organized by Dr. Edward Barsky out of Beth Israel Hospital. Jensky worked at the American hospital in Villa Paz from April to December 1937 and on the Teruel Front in January and February of 1938. She worked in Villa Paz again in March 1938 before returning to the United States in April of that year. Upon her return Jensky resumed work at Beth Israel Hospital.

Philip (a.k.a. Paul) Schachter (1915-1937) was a machinist in New York City before he volunteered to fight on behalf of the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War. He was a member of the Washington Battalion until it merged with the Abraham Lincoln Battalion. Schachter joined the Washington Battalion without his parents' knowledge or approval. While Schachter attempted to conceal his involvement in the war from his parents, letters to his brother Max include details of his military actions. After not hearing from Schachter for several months, his family became concerned and enlisted help, first from his sister-in-law Toby Jensky, then from various organizations and governmental officials in locating him. Although he was initially reported to have been taken prisoner by Franco's forces, it eventually became apparent that Schachter had been lost in action in the Battle of Brunete in July of 1937.