Biography
Hofmann, Albert Clarence. (Birth certificate misspelled Hoffman, which was also on his passport family used Hofmann); b. August 15, 1914, Oakland, California; Never in Spain; Father George Hofmann, Mother Sophia Wacker, father lived at 1105 Oak Street, Alameda, California; Single; Unemployed Clerk; Received Passport# San Francisco series 24937 issued February 24, 1937; 25 years old; which listed his address as 2228 Encinal Avenue, Alameda, CA c/o Margarete Lafler, (his sister’s home where he lived along with his brother Frank); CP; Sailed March 17, 1937 aboard the President Roosevelt; Among a group of seven volunteers who were refused permission to disembark by French authorities due to a lack of funds, the group included Meyer Arnovitch, Abraham Bernard, Herbert Frank Hofmann, Willliam Lux, Oscar O’Neil, and Victor Samulis; All had their passports taken up after returning to the US; Returned to the US on April 10, 1937 aboard the President Roosevelt; Married Catherine Kravitz in 1940, three children; WWII Shipyard Worker in Alameda; After the war he worked as a salesman and businessman, but returned to the shipyards at the end of his career; d. June 24, 1978, Alameda, California; Brother of Herbert Frank Hofmann; Their older sister Margaret (Margarete) was active in the San Francisco waterfront strikes and likely influenced her younger brothers activism; Family oral history notes that Herb was allowed to disembark but Al was stopped. “When the authorities realized that Al and Herb were twins, they called Herb back and would not let either of them through.” During the 1940s or early 1950’s the FBI field office in Los Angeles sent an agent to “check up on him”.Siblings: Brothers Walter Julius Hofmann and Frank Herbert Hofmann; Sister Edna Marie Margarete.
Sources: Sail; Scope of Soviet Activity; USSDA/321/342/351/352/359; Emails from P. Hofmann to ALBA and Brooks; L-W Tree Ancestry. Code A
The Hofmann Twins, By Chris Brooks, The Volunteer Blog, posted September 27, 2017.
Seven American Volunteers Refused Permission to Land in France, By Chris Brooks, The Volunteer Blog, posted July 9, 2017.
Photograph: (l-r) Al and Herb Hofmann, undated Hofmann family photograph.