America and World Fascism: Human Rights from the Spanish Civil War to Nuremberg and Beyond

 

CONTENTS (quick links)

Introduction

Module 1: To Intervene or Not Intervene? Intro to the Spanish Civil War

Module 2: Fascism, Anti-Fascism, and Human Rights: Definitions

Module 3: Framing the Spanish Civil War: Narrative and The Power of the (Visual) Media

Module 4: Human Rights Lessons from the Spanish Civil War

Module 5: Human Rights lessons from World War II

Module 6: American Fascism and Human Rights: Lessons of the Home Front

Module 7: Personal Values and Human Rights

Module 8: Legacies from Spain: The Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement

Module 9: Did Refugees Have Rights after World War II? Do They Do Now?

Module 10: Historical Memory and Human Rights Today: Spain and the United States

 

Introduction to ALBA

 

Further Viewing:

More Resources:

 

Module 1: To Intervene or Not Intervene? Intro to the Spanish Civil War

 

Viewing:

  • The Good Fight, first 14 minutes (Vimeo Link, password: nopasaran)

 

Debate Questions:

  • Does anything surprise you in this video?
  • Would this work in your classroom? Would your students relate to Bill Bailey’s story?
  • How would you need to prep your students before viewing, and what activity would you do with them after?

 

Further Viewing:

 

Module 2: Fascism, Anti-Fascism, and Human Rights: Definitions

 

Readings:

  1. Frankson, Canute. “From Canute Frankson”. Madrid 1937: Letters of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade from the Spanish Civil War. Cary Nelson and Jefferson Hendricks. New York/London: Routledge, 2014. 33-35. Print.
  2. Katz, Hyman. “From Hyman Katz”. Madrid 1937: Letters of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade from the Spanish Civil War. Cary Nelson and Jefferson Hendricks. New York/London: Routledge, 2014. 31-33. Print.
  3. Excerpt from an Interview with Evelyn Hutchins. John Dollard Manuscript Collection, ALBA 122, Tamiment Library, NYU.

 

Questions for discussion:

  • For each of these three texts, how does the author define fascism?
  • How does the author translate this definition into a specific course of action?
  • How does this course of action relate to the author’s own identity or community?
  • Do these texts foresee the future (e.g., World War II)?
  • Does the author implicitly look at the world through the lens of human rights?
  • What is your working definition of fascism and its relation to human rights?

 

Relevant lesson plans:

 

Further reading:

  • The Spanish Civil War: A 10-Minute Primer for Students (ALBA)
  • Peter Carroll, The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Americans in the Spanish Civil War. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994).
  • Helen Graham: The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford UP: 2005).
  • Adam Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939. (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016)
  • Woyshner, (2010). Inquiry teaching with primary source documents: An iterative approach. Social Studies Research and Practice. 5(3), 36-45.

 

 

Module 3: Framing the Spanish Civil War: Narrative and The Power of the (Visual) Media

 

Debate Questions:

  • How was the visual media used to propose a narrative frame or plotline for the Spanish Civil?
  • What kind of activities can you imagine doing with your students based on visual sources?

 

Further Viewing:

 

Further Readings:

 

Relevant lesson plans:

 

Further reading and viewing:

 

 

Module 4: Human Rights Lessons from the Spanish Civil War

 

Readings:

 

Debate Questions:

  • How does Jay Allen try to convince his readers that the United States should be helping the Spanish refugees? What arguments or concepts does he mobilize to that effect? Does he (implicitly) talk about human rights?

 

Module 5: Human Rights lessons from World War II

 

Readings:

  1. Nuremberg Testimony. Edited transcript of testimony of William F. Walsh and Maria Claude Vaillant-Couturier, from The Nuremberg War Crimes Trial, 1945-46: A Documentary History, by Michael R. Marrus.
  2. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. United Nations Organization. Web.

 

Debate Questions:

  • How would you need to prepare your students for the Nuremberg testimony?
  • Would your students be surprised by any of the articles in the UN Declaration?

 

Further Viewing:

 

Relevant lesson plans:

 

Module 6: American Fascism and Human Rights: Lessons of the Home Front

 

Reading:

 

Debate Questions:

  • How does Wallace define American fascism and what remedies does he propose?
  • Do you see any connections with elements that, not much later, would be incorporated into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
  • Do you see any connections with the last 25 years of U.S. history?

 

Module 7: Personal Values and Human Rights

 

Viewings:

 

Debate Questions:

  • What themes come up in these clips and texts that connect with choices and dilemmas in your students’ lives?
  • How would you use these clips and texts in your classroom?

 

Relevant lesson plans:

 

 

Module 8: Legacies from Spain: The Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement

 

Readings:

Debate Questions:

  • Why were Dr. Barsky’s efforts to save Spanish refugees considered subversive to the U.S. government?
  • How does Crawford Morgan connect his volunteering for the Spanish Civil War to his experiences in the United States?
  • How does Ray Durem’s poem reflect the intersection between the Red Scare and the Civil Rights movement?

Further Viewing:

 

Module 9: Did Refugees Have Rights after World War II? Do They Do Now?

 

Reading:

 

Debate Questions:

  • What problem does Arendt call our attention to?
  • Does that problem still exist today and, if so, how can it be solved?

 

 

Module 10: History, the Far Right, and Human Rights Today: Spain and the United States

 

Readings:

 

Debate Questions:

  • What connections, if any, do you see between Spain and the United States?
  • Are the battles over historical memory and symbols from the past related to human rights? In both places?
  • Can you think of an activity to do with your students around these battles?

 

Further Reading and Viewing: