Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives
Volunteers
Joseph Brandt
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| Last Name | Brandt |
| First/Middle Name | Joseph |
| Ethnicity | Polish American |
| Ethnicity Note | |
| Immigration Status | |
| Religion | Jewish |
| POW | |
| AKA Last Name 1 | Brustein |
| AKA First / Middle 1 | Sam |
| AKA Last Name 2 | |
| AKA First / Middle 2 | |
| DOB | 1909 |
| City | |
| State | |
| Foreign Nation | Poland |
| Foreign Nation City | Zambrow |
| Alt Pob State, City | |
| Family: Name | |
| Family: Relationship | |
| Family: Begin Date | |
| Family: End Date | |
| Family: Comments | |
| Education HS | Apprentice |
| Education College / Univ 1 | |
| Education College/Univ Notes | |
| Education College/Univ 2 | |
| Graduate or Doctoral Work | |
| Graduate or Doctoral Work Notes | |
| Prior Military Service | None |
| Passport # | |
| Passport Series | |
| Passport Reported Lost in Spain | |
| Passport Age | |
| Passport Date | |
| PP or Known Address Street | |
| PP or Known Address City | |
| PP or Known Address State | |
| ALT City | |
| Alt State | |
| Sail Date | |
| Ship | Queen Mary |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Marital Notes | |
| Vocation 1 | CP Functionary |
| Vocation 2 | |
| Vocation 3 | |
| Party Affiliation | CP |
| Date Affiliation | 1927 |
| ALT Affiliation | YCL |
| ALT date | 1925 |
| ALT affiliation 2 | |
| Arrival (in Spain) Date | |
| Units served with | XV BDE, 58th BN, Estado Mayor |
| Battle action | |
| Rank | |
| Returned Date | 1938 |
| Returned other | |
| WWII Service | US Army, 1st Special Service Force |
| DOD | 1997-07 |
| Cause | |
| Place Died City | |
| KIA/MIA/Died other | |
| KIA/MIA/Died other Date | |
| KIA/MIA/Died other Location | |
| KIA/MIA/Died other Battle | |
| Additional Notes | To US at age 15. |
Biography
Born Sam Brustein in Poland in 1909, Joseph Brandt immigrated to New York City at the age of fifteen and joined the Young Communist League two or three years later. He was working in Ohio as an organizer for the Communist Party in 1937, but soon joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in response to the Communist International's appeal for volunteers. Brandt took part in several well-known engagements during the Spanish Civil War, including the attempt to warn Loyalist troops of the Gandesa-Batea fascist offensive in March of 1938 and the late-night covert operation in which Robert Merriman and David Doran lost their lives. Brandt himself was wounded by enemy fire twice, during the retreat from Gandesa and then in an offensive around the area of Quatro Camisos. He returned to the United States in December of 1938.
On his return, Brandt married Sylvia Opper, whom he had met during a Works Progress Administration (WPA) strike in Cleveland. He continued to organize for the Communist Party's District 6 in Ohio. During World War II, he served as a paratrooper in the joint U.S.-Canadian special forces unit known as the "Devils Brigade," carrying out commando missions behind Nazi lines in France. After the war, he remained active in the Communist Party and was forced to go underground to avoid prosecution under the Smith Act, but was eventually arrested by the FBI and served six months in jail. Brandt served on the national committee of the CPUSA for many years and remained an active member until his death in July 1997 at the age of 87.
Brandt was especially concerned with documenting and publicizing the contributions of the African-Americans who fought in the International Brigades. In 1979, with the help of a group of Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB) members and New Outlook Publishers, he produced a pamphlet titled Black Americans in the Spanish People's War against Fascism, 1936-1939.
- Biography courtsey of Tamiment Library, NYU. View Brandt's finding aid at NYU here.