| } | \ { } ] } | | | | f A salute to the Mac-Paps On the morning of November 7; 1936, as the fascist armies stood at the gates of Madrid, an im- passioned appeal echoed over the’ city’s radios: “Citizens of Madrid! Each of you has hereon this soil something that is ash; something that is soul. It cannot be! It shall not be that impious intruders trample the sacred tombs of our dead! The mercenaries shall not enter as heralds of dishonor in our homes! It cannot be! It shall not be that the sombre birds of intolerance beat their black wings over the human conscience! It cannot be!”’ Juan. Valera’s appeal found listeners all around the world. In the month before the legendary International Brigades had been formed and now, in this heroic month of November, beside the citizen-defenders of Madrid stood citizens of every country on earth. From 31 lands they came, from concentration camps in Germany and Italy, from relief camps and breadlines in Canada and the United States, stealing across the Pyrenees in darkness to defend the cause that official circles in their own countries had betrayed. That was 40 years ago; and though it is to Canada’s dishonor that it took so long, it is perhaps fitting that in the 40th anniversary year of the formation of the In- ternational Brigades, the National Film Board should complete a film which gives to the veterans of the Mac Kenzie-Papineau Battalion the honored place in history that they so richly deserve. ’ The film is Les Canadienses — the Canadians — and it will be worth the time to scan the television schedules to watch for its appearance on the CBC network some time in the new season. Following that it will be filed with the NFB library where it will be available free for showings. Beginning his work in the “summer of 1974, director Albert Kish faced a formidable task in making the film since much of the archival film of the Spanish Civil War is scattered throughout the world, while the veterans of the MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion with whom he conducted extensive interviews, are scattered throughout much of Canada. Footage of modern Spain, some of which is included, also presented a problem, as Kish and his crew Battalion. had to pose as tourists in order to avoid the ever-watchful fascist police. But the final product, edited to one hour from 49,000 feet of film, is a moving document that moves skilfully between Spain and Canada to merge the struggle in this country, in the relief camps and among the unemployed, with the larger — but connected — struggle against fascism in Spain. Interviews with such _In- ternational Brigade veterans as Len Norris, Misha Storgoff, John Johnson, Leonard Tellier and Red Walsh provide the living link between these two struggles. By intercutting historical footage with interviews, Kish has created a film that is at once drama and vital history. Still, no documentary on the Spanish war, however localized, would have lasting validity if it did not attempt to give coherence to the events of the epic struggle; to understand the interplay of political forces within Spain and the role of the world powers. Conscious of that, director Kish told the audience at the film’s premiere in Vancouver last Sun- -day that he realized that there might be: arguments about his interpretation but that he had sought to be objective. There are some arguments. Some of the historical footage tends to repeat the suggestion that there were atrocities on both-sides — Republican and Insurgent .— citing various incidents where churches were’ burned by Republican forces. Missing is the all-important fact that many churches had been turned into Insurgent arsenals. And there are some apparent contradictions. At one point in the film, for example, the narrator mentions the Non-Intervention Treaty ‘‘signed by Britain, France and Russia.’’ Only a few frames later we see the Soviet arms and ’ other goods arriving in a Spanish port. Between these two events is a- critical piece of history that is, unfortunately, missing from Les Canadienses. The Soviet Union, aware of the fact that thousands of democrats throughout the world saw the policy of non-intervention as a means of preventing German and Italian military aid from going to France, agreed to ratification of Glimpse of a new In a short pamphlet published last month by Canadian Aid for Vietnam Civilians (CAVC), the lives of four Vietnamese men during and shortly after the war are portrayed in brief, informative interviews. The interviews were conducted ~ by Canadian trade unionist Ray Stevenson, who holidayed in the > same Soviet sanitorium and rest home where 25 Vietnamese war veterans were recuperating from wounds and injuries. The four men chosen to repre- sent the group include both the oldest and youngest members of the group. Seventy-eight-year-old Le Van Khai is a victim of the Thieu regime’s infamous Tiger Cages. Khai’s history in the struggle for his country’s freedom began in 1935. Captured by the enemy, he spent 13 years, from 1960 to 1973, in South Vietnamese jails — 10 of these in Tiger Cages. This interview describes the brutal treatment of South Viet- namese politic&l prisoners, and their determined continuance in the liberation struggle when in jail. Thirty-two-year-old Thai Anh Kai is the youngest of the group. Now a member of the Medical Trade Union in ond city of Say Nhon, Kai was wounded nine times when he fought at the front. He describes the American war machine and the poor ability of American soldiers, even though they had the most modern weapons. Tran Ky, a member of the Executive Committee of the Liberated Trade Union Federation of Binh Dinh province was also a front-line fighter for many years. Stevenson questions Ky on the role PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 16, 1976—Page 10 , Vietnam of the trade union during and after the war, and on the role of women throughout the war and in reconstruction. The fourth interview is with a surgeon who worked underground (literally) at the front for 11 years, without once being discovered by the South Vietnamese or American soldiers. Dr. Vuong Tu _ Kien, originally from Hanoi, home to give his services to the liberation struggle in 1964. Dr. Kien describes the dif- ficulties he and his co-workers had to overcome in order to carry out their work, their close encounters with the enemy. He also discusses cirrhosis of the liver, one of the major medical problems caused by the war, and a disease he suffers from. The pamphlet, which contains a message from the Union of Viet- namese in Canada, and a foreword by the chairman of CAVC, is restricted in depth due to its size. Although it only begins to touch upon the experiences of the Vietnamese people during their heroic liberation struggle, it is a study which is at once an intimate and general insight into the character of the people of Vietnam. left his — Los Canadienses aiecibr. Albert Kish (left) talks with Len Norris, veteran of the MacKenzie- Papineau the treaty. As Arthur Landis puts it: “In the eyes of the world, the idea of non-intervention was a method whereby a world war could be averted and a wall erected to prevent military aid to the rebels by the great Fascist powers. ‘They had yet to be convinced of the lie.” The Soviet delegates to the London Committee of Non- Intervention, first S. Kagan and then Ivan Maisky, sought con- sistently to present proof that Italy and Germany were violating the non-intervention policy. Only after British and French refusal to accept that proof had become obvious to the world did the Soviet Union change course. On October 23, 1936, Ivan Maisky rose in the London Committee to announce that his country would no longer consider itself bound by the accords since they were being flagrantly violated with the complicity of both Britain and France. Five days later, he reiterated the Soviet stand and even as he spoke, Soviet planes and tanks were on their way to the port of Cartagena, the first shipment of the many that would be sent to Republican Spain. Yet these are sins of omission and considering the disparate sources from which Kish had to get his archival material, they are perhaps excusable sins. What is finally the greatest power of Les Canadienses is its simple message that these men who trekked half way across the world to defend a people most had never seen, were heroes, whose heroism needed no grand speeches or special medals to show its. worth. That Canadian governments have never recognized that fact is one of the many tragic postscripts to the Spanish Civil War. But just as the Spanish people will throw off the yoke of fascism, Canada will one day officially salute the Mac- Paps. Les Canadienses will do. much to speed that end. . —Sean Griffin School named after Robeson CHICAGO — A new elementary school in this city may carry the name of the great American artist: and freedom fighter Paul Robeson. The local parent’s group voted to propose the name which still must be approved by the Board of Education. Paul Robesor now in Sport Hall of Fame After being ignored as an athlel for nearly a half century, Pal Robeson was inducte posthumously into the Blaé Athletes Hall of Fame last month Robeson was informed of fh election to the Hall of Fame ju prior to his deathin January of year. Robeson was one of the fil blacks to take part in collegi sport in the United States and twice named to Walter Camp’s American football team as an él for Rutgers’ University. He als played professional football in th 1920’s to pay his way through 1a school and took part in the fils ever professional football chat pionship game. : Robeson’s award was accept on his behalf by his son Pa Robeson Jr. who said of his fath@™' that there ‘‘was a special, add@® significance with his election to t™ Hall of Fame. Because my fath@n refused to compromise his prili ciples, the establishment of country and the media they conti tried to make him a nol person. ? Robeson Jr. also made point@ references to the fact that ti father has not been included in ti} College Football. Hall of Fat despite his record as one of May finest football players of all time “T say that is so because those wi, run it are part of America reactionary and racist tradition. % Upon his retirement from acti¥ A participation in sport, the gre4p,. artist was one of the forem0® campaigners to break the color bé : in major league baseball, al fi continued to be a sports enthusia ti right up-to the time of his deatll : Emigre actor retums homé Soviet actor Vladimir shnipél has returned home to the Sovit Union after spending nearly tw years living in Brooklyn. Shnipar i one of the growing number ‘ Soviet Jews living in New Yor who were induced to emigrate 4) the United States on the basis % anti-Soviet propaganda beame into the Soviet Union organizations such as Radio FE. r Europe and the Voice of Ameri¢ only to find later that propaganda did not match reality. ! ys; Shnipar was unable to find a acting job in the U.S., and w@ fired from his job as a cab drive after publicly voicing a desire return to the USSR. He was. als0 a victim of numerous assaults right-wing Zionist thugs aft] making his wishes public. Upon his return to the soviet Union, Shnipar, in a letter to t progressive New York paper, Daily World, wrote: “I am oc oil because I am in my own country: q My government is giving me wh# | I want. I am an actor and hé! there is no problem in finding job.”’ He is currently working i? theatre in Kiev.