After the Civil War was eventually won by the Nationalists, the brigaders were initially on the "wrong side" of history, especially as most of their home countries had right-wing governments (in France, for instance, the
Popular Front was not in power anymore). However, since most of these countries soon found themselves at war with the very powers which had been supporting the Nationalists, the brigadistas gained some prestige as the first guard of the democracies, as having foreseen the danger of fascism and gone to fight it. Some glory therefore accrued to the volunteers (a great many of the survivors also fought during World War II), but this soon faded in the fear that it would promote
communism by association. The highest-ranking post-war IB combatant was
Koča Popović, who briefly served as the vice-president of Yugoslavia (1966–1967). Two became prime ministers:
Mehmet Shehu (Albania, 1954–1981) and
Ferenc Münnich (Hungary, 1958–1961), while
Heinrich Rau was the chairman of
DWK, sort of government of what would become East Germany (1948–1949). There were three deputy prime ministers:
Petre Borilă (Romania, 1954–1965),
Eugeniusz Szyr (Poland, 1959–1972), and
Pietro Nenni (Italy, 1963–1968);
Rodoljub Čolaković served as prime minister of Bosnia and Hercegovina, the federative component of Yugoslavia (1945-1948). In communist countries tens of ex-combatants served as ministers (e.g.
Karlo Lukanov in Bulgaria,
Josef Pavel in Czechoslovakia,
Gheorghe Vasilichi in Romania,
Ernő Gerő in Hungary,
Maks Baće in Yugoslavia), or held other key state jobs, especially in the army and security (e.g.
Erich Mielke in East Germany). In the West the only person holding a ministerial job identified was Nenni, though
Lou Lichtveld was minister in the Dutch-dependent Surinam. In the West few became senators, like
Armando Fedeli (Italy, 1948–1958) and
Raymond Guyeot (France, 1959–1977), and a handful served as members of lower houses in their national parliaments, especially in France (e.g.
Auguste Lecœur in 1945-1955) and Italy (e.g.
Aristodemo Maniera in 1948-1958); however, the highest-ranking combatant in national legislative was
Ferdinand Kozovski, the longtime chairman of the National Assembly of Bulgaria (1949–1965). Beyond the official state structures single individuals grew to high political positions: in the mid-1970s
Jack Jones as General Secretary of General Workers Union was considered the most powerful person in Britain.
Canada Survivors of the
Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion were often investigated by the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and denied employment when they returned to Canada. Many "Mac-Pap" veterans volunteered to fight in
World War II, but some were rejected as "politically unreliable" due to their communist backgrounds. In 1995, a monument to Canadian soldiers in the Spanish Civil War was built near
Ontario's provincial parliament. On 12 February 2000, a bronze statue, "The Spirit of the Republic" by sculptor
Jack Harman, based on a poster from the Spanish Republic, was placed on the grounds of the
British Columbia Legislature. In 2001, the few surviving Canadian veterans of the Spanish Civil War dedicated a monument in Ottawa's
Green Island Park to their country's International Brigaders.
East Germany , most powerful
DDR combatant Probably in no country of the world did the International Brigades combatants enjoy the prestige comparable to that bestowed on them in
East Germany. Though after 1945, they were celebrated in all communist states as freedom fighters against fascism, their position was secondary and the official narrative centred upon other threads, e.g. the
USSR-raised army in
Poland, the
Slovak National Uprising in
Czechoslovakia, or the
partisan quasi-state in
Yugoslavia. No such narrative was available in the case of East Germany, whose “communist government found itself without historical roots beyond the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe and turned the heroism of the Spanish Civil War fighters into the myth that became a central focus of the German Democratic Republic”. Factional purges of the early 1950s affected German veterans (e.g. the cases of
Franz Dahlem or
Wilhelm Zaisser) far less than e.g. in Czechoslovakia, though some “Brigaders faced an uncertain existence as they navigated the tortuous political hairpin curves of life under Stalinism and the continual and often critical need for political realignment”. No deviation from official line was allowed; the portrait of IB as in
For Whom the Bell Tolls was considered unacceptable and the novel remained black-listed until the late 1960. Like in other communist countries, the IB veterans – usually referred to as
Spanienkämpfer – were overrepresented in power structures. They took three of the most important military posts:
Heinz Hoffmann as commander of
Nationale Volksarmee,
Erich Mielke as head of Ministry for Security, and
Friedrich Dickel as Minister of Interior. Many held other key posts in army and security, e.g.
Herbert Grünstein was Deputy Minister of the Interior while
Ewald Munschke became chief of administration in NVA. There were 10 former interbrigadistas who entered the Political Bureau of
Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, some briefly (e.g.
Anton Ackermann, Dahlem or Zaisser) and some for decades (e.g.
Paul Verner,
Kurt Hager and
Alfred Neumann). Numerous ex-combatants assumed high positions in media. The
list of veterans who “rose to the highest ranks in the East German government runs into hundreds”. German participation in the International Brigades remained the ideological historiographic backbone of DDR until its collapse. East Germany itself officially acknowledged that “the German-speaking units of the International Brigades represented the nucleus of the armed forces of the future GDR”. Books by
Ludwig Renn became standard works and at times obligatory reading. Numerous streets, schools, bridges, factories and troop units were named after the
Spanienkämpfer; in 1968 they were dedicated a monument, unveiled in East Berlin. Attempts to challenge the propagandistic use of German IB history, like the 1979 novel
Collin by
Stefan Heym, remained isolated episodes with no major impact. The 1986 fiftieth anniversary of the outbreak of the war saw another outpouring of adulation, even though over time the volunteers “became cardboard figures which mirrored the ossification of the State itself”. However, only a few days before the
fall of the Berlin Wall, on November 5, 1989,
Walter Janka appeared at a public reading of his memoirs to an overflow crowd at the
Deutsches Theater. The event was broadcast live on radio and shown later on television.
Czechoslovakia , highest-ranking IB combatant Most Czechoslovak volunteers remained in France, either in internment camps or where they had been recruited earlier; in 1939-40 many got enlisted in troops, raised by the exile Czechoslovak government. Later their fate differed: some served in Czechoslovak units raised in Britain, some were members of
French resistance, some returned home, and some ended up in concentration camps. In re-born
Czechoslovakia, the Interbrigadistas, known as
španěláci, were granted ex-combatant rights. They were overrepresented in
KSČ-controlled power structures (army, public order, security, intelligence). Some of them – like
Pavel – were instrumental when carrying out the
coup of February 1948. The
Security Five, key men controlling security institutions – was composed of former IB volunteers: Pavel,
Hofman,
Hromádko, Valeš and
Závodský. Some rose to deputy ministers (
London and
Dufek in foreign affairs,
Hušek in information and
Kriegel in health). , possibly tortured to death At the turn of the decades a drastic wave of political purges heavily affected the former Interbrigadistas. Almost all lost their posts and many underwent brutal interrogation;
Veselá died in prison. In the early 1950s there was a show-trial planned, intended to denounce “International Brigades as a Trotskyist-Titoist gang”, though eventually most prison sentences were delivered during small-scale trials. In 1952
Otto Šling was executed as an enemy spy. Following another political change in 1956 those still behind bars were set free and gradually re-admitted to public administration. The 1960s was the golden era for Czechoslovak IB combatants, hailed as the first ones who confronted Fascism. Some (Holdoš, Kriegel, Falbra) took advantage of their linguistic skills and were despatched as advisors to
Castro's Cuba. Politically the Czechoslovak Interbrigadistas tended to support the reformist wing of KSČ. Few rose to top positions, e.g. in 1968 Kriegel became chairman of the National Front, and Pavel assumed the ministry of interior. The
invasion of 1968 marked another downturn; most of these at high positions were dismissed, though there was no wave of heavy repression. Some resigned (Pavel, Holdoš), few left for exile (Hromádko) and some were involved in dissident movement (Kriegel). After 1989 there was some confusion in both Czechia and Slovakia as to how the IB veterans should be approached, though the controversy was not comparable to the similar one in Poland; eventually the image which seems to prevail is this of anti-fascist combatants. In 2016 the Czech minister of defense
Kühnl awarded commemorative medals to last living Interbrigadistas. A 2021 monograph presents the
španěláci in balanced, but somewhat sympathetic terms.
Poland , highest-ranking IB combatant In line with the 1920 legislation, Polish citizens who volunteered to the IB were automatically stripped of citizenship as individuals who without formal approval served in foreign armed forces. Following republican defeat the combatants recruited in France and Belgium returned there. Among the others some served in pro-Communist partisan units in the German-occupied Poland, while some made it to the USSR and served in the pro-Communist Polish army raised there. In the Communist Poland the IB combatants – referred to as
Dąbrowszczacy - were granted veteran rights and formed an own ex-combatant organisation, later to be amalgamanted into a general one. There were some 750-800 of them registered. In the early post-war period they enjoyed some official exaltation; the group was supported by Karol Świerczewski, in Spain a career Soviet commander who during few strings commanded IB units. Some assumed high positions in administration, but they were heavily overrepresented in power structures (army, security); some departments became their fiefdoms, like counter-intelligence branch of the army. During purges of the early 1950s there were also cases of deposition, arrest and prison on trumped-up charges of political conspiracy; these were released in the mid-1950s. Though from the onset Polish engagement in IB was hailed as "working class taking to arms against Fascism", the most intense idolization took place between the mid-1950s and the mid-1960s, with a spate of publications, schools and streets named after
Dąbrowszczacy. However, an antisemitic turn in the late 1960s again produced de-emphasizing of IB volunteers, many of whom left Poland. Until the end of Communist rule the IB episode was duly acknowledged, but propaganda related was a far cry from veneration reserved for wartime Communist partisans or the USSR-raised Polish army. Despite some efforts on part of IB combatants, no monument has been erected. Unlike in East Germany, except
Szyr no-one made it to the very top strata of the Communist elite (member of
Political Bureau of PZPR, minister). Unlike in Czechoslovakia or Yugoslavia, no IB combatant became a recognizable figure of political opposition, though some deviated somewhat from the official party line and numerous potential dissidents left the country during anti-semitic purges in 1968-1969. After 1989 it was unclear whether
Dąbrowszczacy were furtherly entitled to veteran privileges; the issue generated political debates until they became pointless, as almost all IB combatants had died. Another question was about homage references, existent in public space. A state-run institution
IPN declared Polish IB combatants in service of the Stalinist regime and related homage references subject to de-communisation legislation. However, efficiency of purges of public space differs depending upon local political configuration and occasionally there is heated public debate ensuing; in some cases there was conflict between regional and municipal authorities, one trying to overrule another. Until today the role of Polish IB combatants remains a highly divisive topic; for some they are traitors and for some they are heroes. In post-Communist Poland they gained few scientific articles, yet no larger scientific monograph on
Dąbrowszczacy has been published.
Romania Some 300 Romanian volunteers, mostly stripped of citizenship, survived the Spanish war, and around 110 made it to the post-1944 Romania. Many were key to stabilisation of the regime. Some (
Burcă,
Borilă,
Stoica) manned key positions in
Tudor Vladimirescu Division, key to Communist takeover; others (Coloman,
Patriciu, Câmpeanu) headed 3 regional branches of
DGSP, while
Roman served as the Chief of Staff. The wave of purges starting the late 1940s was relatively mild; by default interbrigadistas appeared before party investigative commissions; some were posted to second-rate positions, yet cases of arrest were few. The most dramatic was this of Stelian Mircea; until 1954 he spent years in labor camps. Most returned to positions of power, though not at the previous level. At the turn of the 50/60s factionalist struggle in
PMR produced new purges (
Botnar,
Doncea,
Tismăneanu). In the mid-1960s most highly-positioned interbrigadistas adopted well to emergence of
Ceaușescu, even though some (Borilă) – were increasingly at odds with his new, "national" line, and few remained monitored by Securitate. In the 1970s most IB men retired, and few retained ceremonial positions in the 1980s. The two interbrigadistas who made it to Politbureau were
Vasilichi and Borilă, though around 10 more entered the party Central Committee. In the government, Borilă served as deputy PM and ministerial posts were held by Vasilichi (education, mines and oil), Roman (telecoms),
Florescu (chemical industry, oil industry), and Doncea (harvest). Roman was Chief of Staff while Burcă headed key departments in Interior. Stoica served as secretary to praesidium of
Great National Assembly and held other apparently technical jobs, yet in the late 40s he was feared as „viceregele României”. Two more individuals were notorious otherwise: Tismăneanu emerged as key ideologue, dubbed "apostle of Stalin", while
Gheza Vida was famous as a sculptor, author of monumental constructions. IB combatants have not been much celebrated in propaganda, though the episode of Romanian volunteers was duly acknowledged, usually in anniversary press articles or when receiving honors and nominations. The veteran’s organisation AFVRdARS published a short-lived bulletin. The collective name "spanioli" was barely in circulation and until the end of the
Gheorghiu-Dej era no related works have been published. In 1966 a monographic issue of a historiographic periodical went out, 1971 saw appearance of a book with articles and documents and in 1972 Roman was permitted to print his memoirs. Some fallen individuals (Călin, Roşu, Făclie) got streets named after them. Almost all interbrigadistas received generous pensions, though few remained beyond the privildged circle. After 1989 the issue of "spanioli" barely generated public interest. If lambasted in the media, it is because of their role after 1944 rather than because of their Spanish engagements, which even in virulenty hostile press articles are referred to as "fighting Fascism". Streets have not been re-named. In 2008 the memoirs of Iancu went to print, and the 2011 scientific work on Romania and the Spanish Civil War by Paşcalău contained a chapter on the interbrigadistas. In 2013 Mihai Burcea, at the time a PhD researcher, started publishing first articles. His monographic 2017 dissertation was commercially released as a 700-page book in 2024; it is formatted as an academic study and mostly refrains from advancing a partisan perpective. Few other scientific articles have been published.
Yugoslavia , highest-ranking IB combatant Though the law passed in 1937 stripped volunteers of citizenship, some 350 ex-combatants made it to
Yugoslavia; most engaged in Communist-led resistance. Unlike in anti-Nazi movements of other East European countries, Yugoslav interbrigadiers played a major role, e.g. in Croatian general staff of the
National Liberation Army 3 key positions were held by ex-combatants: commander (
Ivan Rukavina), political commissar (
Marko Orešković) and operations officer (
Franjo Ogulinac).
Tito specifically issued orders for so-called
Španci to assume command or otherwise important roles. Three individuals (
Peko Dapčević,
Kosta Nađ and
Petar Drapšin) were commanding army-size groupings. Around 30 were later promoted to the rank of a general, 59 became
People's Heroes, and 130 were killed. In the post-war Yugoslavia IB combatants were overrepresented in power structures;
Ivan Krajačić and
Maks Baće were instrumental in setting up
OZNA, while
Koča Popović and Dapčević were chiefs of general staff. Like elsewhere in the communist bloc, some fell victim to the Tito-Stalin split, but here it was the Stalinists who were repressed; some 35 got imprisoned, though no-one was executed. Later a few (less than in East Germany, but more than in Poland) entered executive of the state party, and 20 entered the Central Committee. Popović briefly served as vice-president of Yugoslavia (1966-67) and a handful were ministers (Popović at foreign affairs,
Ivan Gošnjak at defence,
Rodoljub Čolaković in education). The dictator himself was related to the IB, as in 1936-37 Tito was heavily involved in organising recruitment to the Brigades. with
Španci, 1972 There were at least 400 members in the Yugoslav IB ex-combatant organization. It remained a highly prestigious group and in 1972 the parliament granted them extra rights. Some scholars claim that the organisation enjoyed limited political power.
Španci remained celebrated, though usually combined with their role in resistance. First numerous biographies have been published and then broader massive works followed. No Spain-dedicated film has been made, but a
Španac, battle-hardened combatant in partisan units, was frequent in movies about the resistance. Apart from monuments to partisan commanders with earlier IB record, a monument dedicated specifically to IB combatants was unveiled in 1976 in
Rijeka. Numerous schools, streets and institutions were named after
naši Španci. Despite some controversy in 1984, in 1986 massive commemorative events were organized across the country. Few brigadiers became political dissidents, though most remained faithful to the party line. In all successor states the same pattern is at work as to heritage of IB volunteers. The memory debate has largely bypassed them due to the predominance of the Second World War on the mnemonic battlefield. However, for the Left they remain anti-fascist freedom fighters, while the Right relates brigadiers to post-war crimes such as the
Bleiburg massacre. The Rijeka monument has been dismantled; monuments to other IB combatants (and resistance figures) suffered different fate, some removed, some re-located to less prestigious spots, and some renovated, yet the purges are interpreted as "part of the general nationalization of public space in the successor states" rather than a specific anti-IB or de-communisation project. Author of recent mononograph refers to "forgotten history of Yugoslav volunteers"; his perspective is that memory of the combatants is equal to cultivating "antifascist values necessary to foster an open and tolerant society in the twenty-first century".
Switzerland . In Switzerland, public sympathy was high for the Republican cause, but the federal government banned all fundraising and recruiting activities a month after the start of the war as part of the country's long-standing policy of
neutrality. Around 800 Swiss volunteers joined the International Brigades, among them a small number of women. The courts pronounced 420 sentences which ranged from around 2 weeks to 4 years in prison, and often also stripped the convicts of their
political rights for the period of up to 5 years. In the Swiss society, traditionally highly appreciative of civic virtues, this translated to longtime stigmatization also after the penalty period expired. In the judgment of Swiss historian
Mauro Cerutti, volunteers were punished more harshly in Switzerland than in any other democratic country. In March 2009, Parliament adopted the third bill of pardon, retroactively rehabilitating Swiss brigades, only a handful of whom were still alive. In 2000, there was a monument honoring Swiss IB combatants unveiled in
Geneva; there are also numerous plaques mounted elsewhere, e.g., at the Volkshaus in
Zürich. Since 2003 there is "Place des Brigades-internationales" in
La Chaux-de-Fonds. No Swiss IB ex-combatants became widely known personalities, though in the late 20th century some acquired certain public recognition; these were the cases of Ernst Stauffer (local civil servant and author of memoirs) and
Hans Hutter (author and activist for rehabilitation). IG Spanienfreiwillige, an organisation set up to cultivate the memory of Swiss volunteers, built up a database of around 800 individuals, more than a half of them listed with some biographical details.
United Kingdom On disbandment, 305 British volunteers left Spain to return home. They arrived at
Victoria Station in central London on 7 December and were met warmly as returning heroes by a crowd of supporters including
Clement Attlee,
Stafford Cripps,
Willie Gallacher,
Ellen Wilkinson and
Will Lawther. The last surviving British member of the International Brigades, Geoffrey Servante, died in April 2019 aged 99.
IBMT The
International Brigade Memorial Trust is a registered charity that handles activities around the memory of volunteers from Britain and Ireland. The group maintains a map of memorials to volunteers in the Spanish Civil War and organises yearly events to commemorate the war.
United States In the United States, the returned volunteers were labeled "premature anti-fascists" by the
FBI, denied promotion during service in the
U.S. military during World War II, and pursued by
Congressional committees during the
Red Scare of 1947–1957. However, threats of loss of citizenship were not carried out. == Recognition ==