The Palafox Battalion was a volunteer unit of largely Polish and Spanish composition in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War . It was named after José de Palafox , a Spanish general who successfully fought French Napoleonic forces during the Peninsular War .
14-691: The Palafox Battalion was formed on 28 June 1937 as a unit of the CL International Brigade . On 4 August 1937, two of its companies were sent to reinforce the XIII International Brigade and the remaining companies followed on 12 October 1937. At that time the Palafox Battalion was merged with the Mickiewicz Battalion to form the 4th battalion of XIII International Brigade. It remained with
28-749: A Hungarian section. This relatively short-lived mixed brigade was established on 27 May 1937 as the Dabrowski Brigade (Brigada Dabrowski) , officially the 150th International Brigade of the loyalist army under the leadership of Fernando Gerassi . It was initially formed by the Dabrowski Battalion , the André Marty Battalion and the Rakosi Battalion which were sent to the Aragon Front as part of
42-566: A Jewish fighting unit was a powerful propaganda tool. CL International Brigade The CL International Brigade or 150th International Brigade , also known as "Dabrowski Brigade" ( Spanish : Brigada Dombrowski or Brigada Dabrowski ), was a military unit of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War . Its members were mostly Polish , but there was also a Spanish battalion, as well as
56-523: A Polish Jew who was executed in 1925 for killing a police informer. The idea of a separate Jewish unit was first put forward to Luigi Longo and André Marty in Albacete by "Albert Nahumi" ( Arieh Weits ), a French Communist Party leader in October 1936. The idea was well received and a call for volunteers went out. However, Nahumi died shortly afterwards and the idea was not progressed. A year later,
70-755: The Brigada Dombrowski . Also two pieces of postal stationery were issued, one in 1946 and another in 1986. In 1956 the government of the Polish People's Republic established the award 'Za wolność waszą i naszą' for the members of the Polish Brigade in Spain ( Dąbrowszczacy ). Some of the battalions of the CL International Brigade were transferred from other units, while others were established anew. The brigade included
84-738: The Hungarian People's Republic . It was initially part of the CL International Brigade which was disbanded on 4 August 1937, and thereafter the battalion became part of the XIII International Brigade. The Battalion's first action (with 288 men) was in the Huesca Offensive in June 1937. The battalion became trapped by machine-gun fire and lost a quarter of its men. Their commander, Ákos Hevesi, and political commissar, Imre Tarr, were both killed as they led from
98-679: The XIIIth Brigade until the International Brigades were demobilised on 23 September 1938. It was formed from Poles, Soviet citizens, with a nucleus of Spanish volunteers from the Pasionaria Battalion and had a larger Soviet component than most battalions. It was commanded by a Major Tkachev, and most of the four companies were led by Red Army lieutenants. It also contained Jews, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Lithuanians. It had five companies of which No. 2
112-559: The following battalions during the time of its existence: Rakosi Battalion The Rákosi Battalion was a volunteer unit founded in April 1937. It was formed predominantly of Hungarians , who fought in the CL International Brigade and the XIII International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). The battalion was named after Mátyás Rákosi , then a political prisoner in Miklós Horthy 's Hungary , later leader of
126-723: The idea was resurrected and pressure was put on Longo and Marty by a group of influential Paris communists. On 12 December 1937, the Naftali Botwin Company was established by renaming and reforming No. 2 Company of the Palafox Battalion into an officially Jewish unit. The new company had about 150 members from Poland, France, Belgium, Palestine and Spain. Its flag bore the Dabrowski motto ("For your freedom and ours") in Yiddish and Polish on one side, and in Spanish on
140-605: The new unit. Later, in order to make up for the heavy losses incurred during the Huesca Offensive in mid June, a new battalion was added, the José Palafox Battalion . The CL International Brigade took part in the Battle of Brunete in July as part of the 45th Division , also known as "45th International Division", led by Kléber . At that time the brigade had 1,910 men distributed in four battalions. Is performance
154-692: The other. It also had its own anthem, Der March der Botvin-soldaten ("March of the Botwin Soldiers"). The lyrics were by Olek Nuss, who survived wounds in Spain only to be executed in Nazi-occupied France. It was published in Botwin , the journal of Yiddish-speaking soldiers in Spain, in November 1938. By the end of 1937, the International Brigades were facing significant difficulties, both in Spain and abroad. Its supply of volunteers
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#1732798123837168-406: Was a specifically Jewish unit. It was common practice in the International Brigades to build new battalions around existing veteran companies and the Palafox Battalion's third company was used as the nucleus for the Mickiewicz Battalion . This company was formed of Jewish volunteers and was a sub-unit of the Palafox Battalion during the Spanish Civil War . It was named after Naftali Botwin ,
182-562: Was drying up, as a result of high casualties and stories circulated by returning volunteers about harsh discipline and appalling conditions. The blockade on arms and materiel, organised by the Non-Intervention Committee was also having its effect. As Zaagsma writes: The International Brigade was one of the Comintern's most powerful propaganda tools ... Given the high proportion of Jews in the various communist parties,
196-592: Was poor and it suffered heavy losses during the combats, ending up quite battered when the operations in the Brunete area came to an end. Thus, on 4 August the CL International Brigade was disbanded and its battalions were transferred to other units of the International Brigades. Most of the men of the defunct unit ended up in the XIII International Brigade . The postal service of the Polish People's Republic issued two stamps in 1946 and one in 1966 commemorating
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