Biography
Foruria Arrizabalaga, John. Spanish; lived in the town of Ereno in the Province of Bizkaia, Spain; Served with the Battalion Aristimunoi; To the US after WWII worked as a laborer and shepherd; d. 2002. Sources: Obituary note published 8/7/02 Los Altos Town Crier, CaliforniaFernando Gerrassi, from Gerassi His Life and Work; and János Gal, Máté Zalka, Fernando Gerrassi (Gereszi) and Kozovski; Magyar önkéntesek a spanyol nép szabadságharcában' - 'Hungarian volunteers in the struggle for freedom of the Spanish people, Debrecen, 1987, Federation of Hungarian Antifascists. Gerassi, Fernando. b. October 4, 1899, Constantinople, Turkey; Spanish; father Nissim; Studied Philosophy at the University of Freiburg, Art History at University of Munich; Married Stepha Awkykowich 1929, son Juan Tito Stepha July 12, 1931; Painter, Sales for the Tungsram Company; Returned to Spain shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War joined the Republican Army, served as an aide to Czech General Lukacz; Rank Comandante (Major); At the end of the war Gerrssi moved to Paris at the outbreak of World War II Gerassi was drafted into the French Army, placed in command of a regiment and promoted to Colonel; When the French surrendered Gerrassi took his regiment to Paris and with the assistance of the Dominican Embassy he arranged passports and visas for all of his Jewish troops and many Spaniard refugees; He also secured papers for his wife and child; They emigrated to the US arriving September 3, 1941 as political refugees; General Donovan recruited Gerassi for the OSS and he worked in Spain; After WWII he left the OSS and returned to painting and in 1949 moved to Vermont and worked at the Putney School; In 1964 he received American citizenship; later he joined the faculty of Curtis Institute in Philadelphia; Gerassi died in 1974. Sources: Gerassi His Art and Life, http://www.fernandogerassi.com/resume.html
Grujic, Stanko.
Grundblatt, Jaques.