Paul Wendorf Papers
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Abstract
Paul Wendorf (1912?-1938) fought with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War and died during an aerial attack in the Sierra Pandols, one month prior to the withdrawal of the International Brigades. This collection consists chiefly of letters written by Wendorf to his wife during his 19 months in Spain. Also included are newspaper clippings and ephemera.
Historical/Biographical Note
Paul Wendorf graduated with a B.A. from Columbia University, where he majored in history and economics, in 1932. In 1933, while working as an organizer for the American League against War and Fascism, he joined the Communist Party. Over the course of the next three years, he worked as an activist and labor organizer in New York City, first for a white-collar municipal workers' union, and subsequently as a coordinator of welfare and relief for the unemployed. He married Leona Grossman and soon after enlisted in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade to fight on behalf of the Republican forces in Spain. He sailed on the S.S. Paris on February 6, 1937 and served in Spain from February 1937 until August 1938.
He fought in the battle at the Jarama front from March to June 1937, and in the Brunete offensive from July until August 1937. He was appointed in September 1937 to the Historical Commission in Albacete and, under the supervision of Sandor Voros, participated in writing the history of the 15th International Brigade and the American battalions. He also contributed articles to the Brigade's newspaper the Volunteer for Liberty. In January of 1938 he was charged, along with Carl Geiser, with organizing a school for political commissars. A bout of rheumatism and subsequent hospitalization prevented him from carrying out this assignment, and by March, he was returned to active service. He took part in the Ebro offensive, the Brigade's final conflict, and crossed the Ebro with the Lincoln Brigade late in July. On August 18, 1938, Wendorf was killed during an aerial attack in the Sierra Pandols, only one month prior to the withdrawal of the International Brigades. In 1939 Charles Nusser, a fellow Lincoln Brigade veteran and Wendorf's friend, married Leona Grossman Wendorf.
Arrangement
Series one is arranged chronologically. Series two is arranged alphabetically.
The files are grouped into 2 series:
Missing Title
- I. Correspondence
- II. Subject Files
Scope and Content Note
Series I, Correspondence, contains Wendorf's outgoing correspondence during his 19 months in Spain from February 1937 to September 1938. His letters are addressed chiefly to his wife Leona (referred to by the endearment "Mug") and chronicle his time in Spain beginning with his voyage to France, through to his final days of battle in the hills of the Sierra Pandols. Wendorf is a keen observer of life in the trenches as well as the towns and streets of Spain. His letters offer information on his military career and the activities of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade; the progress of the Fascist forces; the political climate in Spain; his hospitalization and convalescence; and his critical views on the press, both mainstream and radical. Most notable are his full descriptions of the Lincoln Brigade's crossing of the Ebro, which appear in his final two letters (8/2/1938 and 8/8/1938). This series also includes two letters written to union associate Sherry Schulman, and to his friend Charles Nusser, who returned to the United States in February 1938.
Series II, Subject Files, includes several unaddressed postcards including one with a political slogan, and a Republican Christmas greeting from the Red Cross. Also here are mementos including a peseta note and a dried flower; news clippings, including one from the Manchester Guardianthat appears to contain the text of a letter written by Wendorf; and a copy of the Volunteer for Libertywith an article that Wendorf wrote shortly before his death.
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Access Restrictions
Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives for more information and to schedule an appointment, tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu or 212-998-2630.
Use Restrictions
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA), were transferred to New York University in November 2000 by the ALBA Board of Governors. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. For more information, contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu or 212-998-2630.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Collection name; Collection number; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.
Provenance
The Paul Wendorf Papers was donated to Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives in October 1980 by Charles Nusser. This collection came to New York University in January 2001 as part of the original acquisition of ALBA collections, formerly housed at Brandeis University.
