Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives
Volunteers
Al Tanz
ALB Archival Materials
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| Last Name | Tanz |
| First/Middle Name | Al |
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| POW | |
| AKA Last Name 1 | |
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| DOB | |
| City | New York City |
| State | New York |
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| Education HS | |
| Education College / Univ 1 | City College |
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| Graduate or Doctoral Work | New York Law School |
| Graduate or Doctoral Work Notes | |
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| Arrival (in Spain) Date | |
| Units served with | Lincoln Battalion |
| Battle action | Ebro Offensive, Sierra Caballes |
| Rank | Lieutenant, Quartermaster |
| Returned Date | 1938-12 |
| Returned other | |
| WWII Service | Office of Strategic Services, Battle of the Bulge |
| DOD | 2000-11-29 |
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| Place Died City | |
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Biography
Tanz was one of seven volunteers who were repatriated to the U.S. in 1938 and then returned to Spain for a second tour of duty.
Al was born in New York City to Austrian parents, attended City College, and graduated from New York Law School. As a member of the International Labor Defense, he was one of the lawyers who assisted Bill Bailey and others charged with tearing down the Nazi swastika from the Bremen in New York harbor in 1935.
In December 1936, Al sailed aboard the SS Normandie from New York with 95 other volunteers, the first Americans to form the Lincoln Battalion. With the rank of lieutenant, he served as quartermaster on the Jarama and Brunete fronts, then as a representative to the International Brigades headquarters in Barcelona. In the spring of 1938, he returned to the U.S. to participate in activities to gain public support of the Spanish Republic. But in the summer of 1938, as the Lincolns prepared for the Ebro offensive, Al volunteered to return to Spain. He served with the machine gun company and was wounded twice in the Sierra Caballes. He returned home in December 1938.
When the U.S. entered World War II, Al enlisted in the army and was recruited by Wild Bill Donovan for service in the Office of Strategic Services. He parachuted into France prior to D-Day, preparing for the U.S. invasion. He served with the army all the way to Berlin, participating with the Corps of Engineers during the Battle of the Bulge, and earning promotion to captain. He also took part in the liberation of the Nordhausen concentration camp and witnessed the arrival of the first Russian troops into Berlin.
Al Tanz, one of the original volunteers in the Lincoln Battalion, died November 29, 2000, at the age of 94.
- Excerpted from The Volunteer Vol. XXIII, No. 5 (Winter 2001)