Category II R-Z
Citizens by birth who moved to other countries as children or nonresident aliens who lived in the US at one time but were living in another country when they went to Spain.
Raspor, Anton. (Antonio; Raspor, Sibirac-Siberian); b. May 13, 1899, Klana, Croatia, residing at Rjeka/Fiume, To the US 1920; Croatian; father Martino Raspor;; 3 years primary education; Miner and Blacksmith; He lived in Brownsville, Pennsylvania where he worked as a miner; Later he moved to Cleveland where he worked as a Blacksmith; He moved to the Soviet Union in 1931; CPUSA 1922; Domicile Soviet Union; He went to Spain from the Soviet Union; Arrived in Spain February 2, 1938; Served with the Stjepan Radic Battery; Left Spain in February 1939, and after crossing into France was detained in the French camps After several attempts he successfully reached Yugoslavia; He was among the first organizers of the Partizan Formations; In 1942 he became the commander of the 1st Istrian Company; He became one of the leaders of the Partisan uprising in Istria. After the end of WWII, he became the president of the popular Committee of Rijekaand held various government posts until 1952; Then he worked for two years in a Slovenia wood company in Rijeka, Croatia; d. November 8, 1961 in Rijeka, Croatia. Sources: Biographical Sketch John Peter Kraljic; From Appendix C Volunteers Who Emigrated From North America Prior to the Outbreak of the Spanish Civil War (ie. Prior to 1936), in John Peter Kraljic’s The Croatian Community In North America and the Spanish Civil War La Spagna Nel Nostro Cuore.Rose, Erle Bell. (Earl; Bill); b. November 22, 1886, Niagara (Grand Forks), South Dakota, naturalized Canadian citizen; Prior service WWI likely as RCMP stationed at Cold Lake, Alberta from September 3, 1914 to September 2, 1915; Married with 2 children; Machinist and Agricultural worker; CPC 1930, CPS; Domicile Vancouver or Cold Lake, Alberta; To Spain August 13, 1937; Served with a Medical Unit, WIA February 20, 1938 and again at the Ebro; Returned to the US on August 31, 1937 aboard the Aquitannia; d. July 1950, Alberta, Canada; Suspended from CP in Spain. Sources: Canadian; L-W Tree Ancestry.
Roses Bermejo, Lorenzo. b. 1895, Arecibo, Puerto Rico; Puerto Rican; To Spain 1900; Businessman and Politician; Domicile Mallorca, Spain; Sentenced to death by a military court and executed by Nationalist Firing Squad; d. November 19, 1936, Malorca, Spain. my, remained in and retired from the Army; d. November 21, 2005, Coronado, California. Sources: Sail; Scope of Soviet Activities; Lincoln; (obituary) San Francisco Union online
Terrando, Silvio. b. March 13, 1904, Savona, Italy, To the US 1929; Italian American; father Lorenzo Terrando, mother Giuseppina (Ciocca) Terrando; Mason; To Spain 1935; Member of the POUM; Served in the POUM’s 29th Division; In June 1939 he crossed into France and was held in the camp of Gurs. Sources: La Spagna Nel Nostro Cuore
Tofoni, Ennio. b. September 22, 1904, Fermo, Province of Ascoli Piceno, Italy; Italian; father Giuseppe Tofoni; Lyric Artist (Musician/Lyrisist); Communist; Son of the Secretary of the Socialist section of Fermo, he along with his father and brother were severely beaten by Fascists in 1922; In 1925, after another attack; He moved to the US; He returned to Fermo in 1927 and in 1929 moved to Rome; Worked various trades including at the opera; He was dismissed from the later because he refused to join the Fascist party; In 1933 he moved to France; During the Spanish Civil War he enlisted in the 27th Division, Artillery, Rank Alfarez; Wounded in action at Huesca and at Teruel where he fractured his left arm; He returned to France and was confined at Argelès-Sur-Mer and Gurs; During WW II he participated in the French Resistance; Postwar he returned to Italy where he remained politically active. Sources: La Spagna Nel Nostro Cuore
Urgen, Charles. b. US, moved to the Soviet Union while still a child, to Spain from the USSR. Sources: Ross -Hy Tabb. [if birth confirmed move to CAT I]
Vascon, Niccolo. b. August 20, 1910, Koper/Capodistria, Slovenia, To the US 1929 jumped ship from Vulcania, To the Soviet Union in 1935 (1934); father Giovanni Vascon, mother Maria (Padovan) Vascon; Domicile NYC 1929-1934 or 1935; Waiter and Seaman; Domicile Moscow 1935-37; Worked in a factory which produced film stock; To Spain in September 1937; Served with the Garibaldi Brigade, 1st BN; WIA at Caspe and declared incapable of further front line service; Returned to the USSR in 1939; He later settled in Capodistria. . Sources: CPC, South Slav - Appendix A; Biographical Sketch by John Peter Kraljic; La Spagna Nel Nostro Cuore.
Zustovich, Francesco. b. July 13, 1903, Pula, Croatia; Italian American; Lived in the United States in the early 1930s before going to the USSR. Sources:
Source
Alejandro Ortiz Carrion and Teresita Torres Rivera, Voluntarios de la Libertad, Puertorriqueños en Defensa de la República Española 1936-1939.
k-Rossi, Giovanni. b. March 7, 1898, Attina, Providence of Frosinone, Italy, To the US as a child with family, went to Italy to complete his military service then briefly returned to the US before moving to France; Italian; father Francesco Rossi; mother Carolina (Pesce) Rossi; Worker; Communist; To Spain September 1936; Served with the Garibaldi BN; for a few months serves in the Intendencia of the IB at Albacete; Later returns to the Garibaldi BN on the staff and is killed in action on July 10, 1937 at Villanueva del Pardillo, during the Brunete Campaign. Sources: La Spagna Nel Nostro Cuore
k-Ruzic, Jerolim Franjo. b. September 28, 1894, Hreljin, Croatia; Croatian; 4 years primary school education; He lived in South America for prior to WWI; He returned to Yugoslavia in 1919. Ruzic moved to Canada in 1924 and on to Chicago in 1927; He was deported to Yugoslavia in 1928; He subsequently emigrated to Argentina where he worked as a stoker on ships; He went to Spain from Argentina; Killed in action on the Aragon Front. Sources: Biographical Sketch John Peter Kraljic.
Samson, Joseph. b. July 20, 1906, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania; English; Laborer; CP 1926; Served in the British Army, Royal Artillery 1929-31; Worker; CP 1926; Domicile: Scotland; Arrived in Spain March 10, 1938, Served with the XV BDE, Fortifications, Sources: RGASPI.
Segala, Domenico. (Fortuna); Italian American parents Croatian; Lived in the US before the Spanish Civil War. Source: Kraljic?
Sereni, Bruno. b. July 4, 1905, Milano, Italy, To the US 1927; Italian American; father Umberto Sereni; A vocal opponent of Italian Fascism he was targeted by Fascist gangs in Barga; Joined the Italian Navy and deserted while the ship was in port in New York; Journalist and publicist for Giustizia é Liberta and correspondent for La Stampa Libera in NYC; In 1933 returned to Europe and in July went to Spain; Volunteered at the outbreak of the war in July 1936; Served in the POUM militia’s Lenin Column in Barcelona; Wounded on August 1, 1937 and was hospitalized in Barcelona; Returned to France in April 1938 and in Barga in 1939; Arrested by Nazi-fascists at the end of 1943 and imprisoned until September 1944; After the liberation he founded Il Giornale di Barga and was the author of the book Ricordi della Guerra di Spagna (Memories of the War of Spain) as well as several additional volumes of his memoir. Sources: La Spagna Nel Nostro Cuore
Sicardó Jiménez, José. b. 1877, Puerto Rico; Puerto Rican; To Spain 1900; Educated in the Spanish Army; In 1936 he was the Military Commander of Alicante; Returned May 24, 1939 aboard the Catharina; d. 1965, Madrid, Spain. Alejandro Ortiz Carrion and Teresita Torres Rivera, Voluntarios de la Libertad, Puertorriqueños en Defensa de la República Española 1936-1939.
Tannenhaus, Joseph. b. October 15, 1915, Montreal, Canada; Jewish; Gear Cutter; YCL; Received Passport# 362324 on January 18, 1937 which listed his address as 302 Owen Street, Detroit, Michigan; Sailed January 23, 1937 aboard the Champlain; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN; WWII US Ar