Rudolf de Jong interviewed Gaston Leval (1895-1978) about the Spanish Civil War, Spanish anarchism, collectivizations and Leval’s trip to the Soviet Union in 1921. Leval (also pseudonym Pierre Piller) was the son of a communard and proofreader by profession. In 1915, as a French conscientious objector, he went to Spain, where he joined the anarcho-syndicalist trade union movement, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT).

After spending several months in the Soviet Union as a delegate of the CNT in 1921, he settled in Argentina in 1924. In 1934 he returned to Spain where he experienced the Spanish Civil War as an active member of the CNT. Back in France in 1938, he was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for conscientious objection. He escaped in 1940 and fled to the countryside. Throughout the rest of his life he remained committed to the anarchist cause in word and writing. He published a large number of articles, brochures and books in French, Spanish and Italian.

The interviewer wrote an academic paper on the subject called “Triomf en tragiek in Spanje over de CNT en het anarchosyndicalisme” See page 55 of this document

Djoeke Veeninga, later known for her various interviews, interviewed three well-known intellectuals in the context of the Spanish Civil War in 1979. Two of these men fought on the side of the Republicans and all of them were important public intellectuals after the Civil War. These interviews thus deepen our knowledge not only of the Spanish Civil War but also of the intellectual climate of the twentieth century.

They include the following three individuals:

• The communist fighter Arie van Poelgeest (1913-2000), one of the few who didn’t lose their Dutch citizenship upon returning from the Spanish Civil War. Van Poelgeest helped capture the Karl Marx barracks, where George Orwell trained. In a later battle, Van Poelgeest was wounded and met Ernest Hemingway in the hospital. Then, in 1938, he arrived in the Netherlands.
• The Spanish man of letters Francisco Carrasquer (1915-2012), who since 1953 lived in the Netherlands. He was part of the Durruti colony during the Spanish Civil War. His brothers were also part of the anarchist movement within the Spanish Civil War. In 1949, Carrasquer went into exile, first in France and then in the Netherlands. As a university lecturer, he occupied a central place in intellectual life.
• The anarchist Anton Constandse (1899-1985), a journalist, author and publicist. He saw the Spanish Civil War as the last opportunity in history for an anarchist revolution. As an intellectual, he possessed extensive knowledge of Spanish literature and anarchism. In the last years of his life, he could be heard weekly on various radio broadcasts in the Netherlands.

During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), around 800 Dutch fighters were part of the International Brigades.

The collection includes 63 digitised audio cassettes with interviews conducted by Jaap-Jan Flinterman , Rik Vuurmans , Frans Groot , Hans Dankaart and Henk Otjens with former Spanish fighters.

The interviews were used for the doctoral thesis In het geweer tegen het fascisme, Nederlandse Interbrigadisten in de Spaanse burgeroorlog (Signature: 1990/531 fol) and the book by Hans Dankaart, Jaap-Jan Flinterman, Frans Groot and Rik Vuurmans De oorlog begon in Spanje, Nederlanders in de Spaanse Burgeroorlog 1936-1939. (Signature: 2008/3503).

The typescripts are in the archives “Collection of Dutch participants in the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War”, (ARCH 020806 inv. nos. 33-48; 57-68).

The experiences of the approximately 600 Dutch who went to Spain to fight fascism, based on interviews with former Spanish fighters.

Prior to Publication The war began in Spain, Frans Groot and Rik Vuurmans completed a 1985 thesis at the UvA In het geweer tegen het fascisme: Dutch interbrigadists in the Spanish Civil War

Interviews were conducted with about 20 former Spanish fighters.

A researcher at CegeSoma from 1975 to 1984, Luk Kongs devoted the majority of his research to the question of fascism. He began a doctoral thesis on the Verdinaso but died of illness before he could complete his work. Between 1976 and 1983, he conducted a series of interviews on fascism in Spain and Belgium.