Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee (JAFRC) was a nonprofit organization to provide humanitarian aid to refugees of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

History

In 1941, the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee was formed by

Lincoln Battalion The Lincoln Battalion (), the major component of what came to be known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, was the 17th (later the 58th) battalion of the XV International Brigade that fought in the Spanish Civil War. Named after United States Presid ...

veterans of the

to provide aid to refugees Who were Spanish Loyalists from

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

. It superseded previous groups, including the North American Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy and the American Medical Bureau, the latter of which Barsky had founded in 1936. Specifically, the JAFRC was "dedicated to the rescue and relief of thousands of anti-fascist fighters trapped in

Vichy, France Vichy (, ; ) is a city in the central French department of Allier. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789. Known fo ...

, and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

' so that they might "return to the active fight against the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

." The JAFRC established a fundraising organization, the Spanish Refugee Appeal of the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee.

Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet and writer of fiction, plays and screenplays based in New York; she was known for her caustic wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. Parker ros ...

took charge of the fundraising of the committee, which soon attracted the support of

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

Lillian Hellman Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, Prose, prose writer, Memoir, memoirist, and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway as well as her communist views and political activism. She was black ...

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...

, and

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

. In 1942, the committee was licensed to do so in

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

by President

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

's wartime administration and was then granted tax-exempt status. In 1946, the committee began to face relentless criticism and scrutiny from federal government organizations. In 1948, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (now known as the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

) revoked the JAFRC's tax-exempt status. Following this, the

Subversive Activities Control Board The Subversive Activities Control Board (SACB) was a United States federal committee. It was the subject of a landmark United States Supreme Court decision of the Warren Court, '' Communist Party v. Subversive Activities Control Board'', 351 U.S ...

(SACB) attempted to compel the JAFRC to register as a communist front organization.n. In April 1951, Allan Rosenberg successfully argued for the committee in '' Anti-Fascist Committee v. McGrath'' before the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

. In 1955, the committee's board voted to disband.

People

Leaders

According to letterhead dated March 17, 1944, leaders included: *

Walter Rautenstrauch Walter Rautenstrauch (1880–1951) was an American mechanical and consulting engineer, and Professor at Columbia University's Department of Industrial Engineering in the 1930s. He coined the term break-even point, and developing the break-even ch ...

, National Honorary Chairman * Edward K. Barsky, National Chairman * Lyman R. Bradley, National Treasurer * Helen R. Bryan, National Secretary National Sponsors included: * Dr. Comfort A. Adams * Rabbi Michael Aper * Dr. Hery Lambert Bibby * James L. Brewer * Dr. Walter B. Cannon * Prof. Richard T. Cox *

Martha Dodd Martha Eccles Dodd (October 8, 1908 – August 10, 1990) was an American journalist and novelist. The daughter of William Edward Dodd, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first Ambassador to Germany, Dodd lived in Berlin from 1933–1937 an ...

Julien Duvivier Julien Duvivier (; 8 October 1896 – 29 October 1967) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930–1960. Amongst his most original films, chiefly notable are ''La Bandera (film), La Bandera'', ...

* Dr. Frederick May Eliot * Dr. Henry Pratt Fairchild *

Lion Feuchtwanger Lion Feuchtwanger (; 7 July 1884 – 21 December 1958) was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Republic, Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht. ...

* Prof. Irving Fisher * Prof. Mitchell Franklin * Rev. Stephen H. Fritchman * Prof. Marion Hathaway *

Kenneth Leslie Kenneth Leslie (1892–1974) was a Canadian poet and songwriter, and an influential political activist in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. He was the founder and editor of ''The Protestant Digest'' (later ''The Protestant''), which ...

* Princess Helga zu Loewenstein * Dr. Robert Morss Lovett * Prof. Kirtley F. Mather *

Philip Merivale Philip Merivale (2 November 1886 – 12 March 1946) was an English film and stage actor and screenwriter. Life and career Merivale was born in Rehutia, Manickpur, India, to railway engineer Walter Merivale (1855–1902) and Emma Mag ...

* Rt. Rev. Edward L. Parsons * Prof. Renato Poggioli * Dr. Francis M. Pottenger *

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for h ...

* Prof. Harlow Shapley *

Dalton Trumbo James Dalton Trumbo (December 9, 1905 – September 10, 1976) was an American screenwriter who scripted many award-winning films, including ''Roman Holiday'' (1953), '' Exodus'', ''Spartacus'' (both 1960), and '' Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (194 ...

Dame May Whitty Dame Mary Louise Webster, (née Whitty; 19 June 1865 – 29 May 1948), known professionally as May Whitty and later, for her charity work, Dame May Whitty, was an English stage and film actress. She was one of the first two women entertainers t ...

* Dr. Max Yergan

Members

* Moses Fishman * Mark Straus MD *

Arthur Szyk Arthur Szyk ( ; see Polish phonology); June 3, 1894 – September 13, 1951) was a Polish-born Jewish artist who worked primarily as a book illustrator and political artist throughout his career. Arthur Szyk was born into a prosperous middle- ...

(alleged)

Spanish Refugee Appeal supporters

Appeal Officers: *

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

, Honorary Chair *

, Chairman National Sponsors included: * Rev. Dr. Charles B. Ackley *

Lemuel Ayers Lemuel Ayers (January 22, 1915, New York City, New York - August 14, 1955, New York City) was an American costume designer, scenic designer, lighting designer, and producer who had a prolific career on Broadway from 1939 until his death from can ...

Aline Bernstein Aline Bernstein (December 22, 1880 – September 7, 1955) was an American set designer and costume designer. She and Irene Lewisohn founded the Museum of Costume Art. Bernstein was the lover, patron, and muse of novelist Thomas Wolfe. Early l ...

Alvah Bessie Alvah Cecil Bessie (June 4, 1904 – July 21, 1985) was an American novelist, screenwriter and journalist. He was one of nearly 3,000 American volunteers who joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and fought in the Spanish Civil War. He is perhaps ...

* Lyman R. Bradley * Dorothy Brewster *

Arthur G. Brodeur Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (September 18, 1888 – September 9, 1971) was a scholar of early English, German, and Old Norse literature at the University of California, Berkeley. He is known primarily for his scholarly work on ''Beowulf'' and his ...

Henrietta Buckmaster Henrietta Delancey Henkle (March 10, 1909 – April 26, 1983), better known by her pen name Henrietta Buckmaster, was an activist, journalist, and author best known for writing historical studies and novels. She was also active in the civil right ...

* Rabbi Elliott Burstein * Allan Chase *

Edward Chodorov Edward Chodorov (April 17, 1904 – October 9, 1988), was a Broadway playwright, and the writer or producer of over 50 motion pictures. Filmography * '' Kind Lady'' (1951, writer) * '' Road House'' (1948, writer/producer) * ''The Hucksters'' (19 ...

* John M. Coffee * Rabbi J. X. Coeh * Charles A. Collins * Eugene P. Connolly * Kyle Crichton * Bartley C. Crum * Bernard Davidoff * Agnes George De Mille * Mrs. George Adams Dewey *

Earl B. Dickerson Earl Burrus Dickerson (June 22, 1891 – September 1, 1986) was an American attorney, activist, military officer and businessman who successfully argued before the United States Supreme Court in '' Hansberry v. Lee'', and was a member of the Chi ...

* Dean Dixon *

Olin Downes Edwin Olin Downes, better known as Olin Downes (January 27, 1886 – August 22, 1955), was an American music critic, known as "Sibelius's Apostle" for his championship of the music of Jean Sibelius. As critic of ''The New York Times'', he ex ...

Muriel Draper Muriel Draper (November 13, 1886 – August 26, 1952) was an American writer, artist and social activist. Biography Moving in English and American art circles, she participated in the Harlem Renaissance. A follower of Russian mystic G. I. Gurdji ...

* Rabbi Mitchel S. Eskolsky *

Philip Evergood Philip Howard Francis Dixon Evergood (born Howard Blashki; 1901–1973) was an American Social Realist painter, etcher, lithographer, sculptor, illustrator and writer. He was particularly active during the Depression and World War II era. Life ...

Henry Pratt Fairchild Henry Pratt Fairchild (August 18, 1880 – October 2, 1956) was an United States, American sociology, sociologist who was Professor of Sociology at New York University and actively involved in many of the controversial issues of his time. He wrote ...

* L.S. Fanning *

Howard Fast Howard Melvin Fast (November 11, 1914 – March 12, 2003) was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E.V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson. Biography Early life Fast was born in New York City. His mother, ...

* Louis Finger * Elizabeth P. Frazier * Rve. Stephen Fritchman *

Betty Garrett Betty Garrett (May 23, 1919 – February 12, 2011) was an American actress, comedian, singer and dancer. She originally performed on Broadway, and was then signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She appeared in several musical film ...

Frank Gervasi Frank Gervasi (1908 – January 21, 1990) was an American foreign correspondent and writer. Biography Gervasi was born in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated with a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. After school, he worked as rep ...

* Elinor S. Gimbel * Rabbi Solomon Goldman * Robert Gordis *

William Gropper William Gropper (December 3, 1897January 3, 1977) was an American cartoonist, painter, lithographer, and muralist. A committed radical, Gropper is best known for the political work which he contributed to such left wing publications as '' Th ...

Chaim Gross Chaim Gross (; March 17, 1902 – May 5, 1991) was an American sculptor and educator of Hungarian Jewish origin. Gross studied and taught at the Educational Alliance Art School in New York City’s Lower Manhattan. Childhood Gross was born t ...

* Ralph H. Grundlach * Richard Gump * Ralph Gundlach * Marion Hathaway *

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer, and Pin-up model, pin-up girl. She achieved fame in the 1940s as one of the top stars of the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of ...

Libby Holman Elizabeth Lloyd Holman (née Holzman; May 23, 1904 – June 18, 1971) was an American socialite, actress, singer, and activist. Early life Elizabeth Lloyd Holman was born on May 23, 1904, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the daughter of a lawyer and stockbr ...

Walter Huston Walter Thomas Huston ( ; April 6, 1883 or 1884 – April 7, 1950) was a Canadian actor and singer. Huston won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'', directed by his son John Huston. He ...

Stanley M. Isaacs Stanley Myer Isaacs (1882–1962) was a Republican politician from New York City who served as Manhattan Borough President from 1938 to 1941 and later as a member of the New York City Council from 1942 to 1962. He was Minority Leader of the co ...

* Mrs. Sydney Joseph * Barney Josephson * Rober W. Kenny * Rockwell Kent * Fiske Kimball * Arthur Kober * Alfred Kreymborg * Canada Lee * M.V. Leof *

* Ray Lev * Walter H. Leibman * Daniel A. Longbaker * Louis Lozowick * Florence J. Luscomb * Richard Lyndon * Louis F. McCabe * John T. McManus * Rev. Dr. John D. Mackay * Manuel Magana * Albert Maltz * Alfred T. Manacher * Richard Maney * Heinrich Mann * Thomas Mann * Alicia Markova * George Marshall * Kirtley F. Mather * F.O. Matthiesen * William Howard Melish, Rev. William Howard Melesh * Yehudi Menuhin * Saul Mills * James K. Moffitt * Pierre Monteux * Karen Morley * William Morris Jr. * Zero Mostel * Jarmila Novotná * Michael J. Obermeier * Harvey O'Connor * Eugene O'Neill * Isabel Oyarzábal Smith, Isabel de Palencia * Aubrey Pankey * Beryl Parker * Bishop Edward L. Parsons, Edward L. Parsons * J. Gilbert Peirce * Gerry Pelles * Gregor Piatigorsky * David de Sola Pool * Adam Clayton Powell Jr. *

* Anton Refregier * John Reiner * Quentin Reynolds *

* William M. Rubin * Mrs. Maurice Bower Saul * Jimmy Savo * Geoges Schreiber * Hazel Scott * Anna Seghers * Lisa Sergio * Harlow Shapley * Sol Silverman * Hilda Simms * Edgar Snow * Moses Soyer * Johannes Steel * Vilhjalmur Stefansson * Mark Straus * Jack Strauss *

* Genevieve Tabouis *

* M.S. Vidaver * Harry F. Ward * Morris Watson * Margaret Webster *

* Mrs. Philip E. Wilcox * Mitchell Wilson * Carl Zigrosser * Leane Zugsmith

References

External sources

Yale University Archives

Digital Commonwealth
{{XV International Brigade Legal organizations based in the United States Organizations established in 1941 Progressivism in the United States Political organizations based in the United States 1941 establishments in the United States Organizations disestablished in 1955 Humanitarian aid organizations Organisations of the Spanish Civil War Spain–United States relations Anti-fascist organizations in the United States