Remembering Milt Wolff, Anti-Fascist Fighter, 1915–2008

By Richard Bermack
Friday January 25, 2008

“Activism is the elixir of life” was his motto. And Milt Wolff was an icon of activism, as were his fellow veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. He could be seen at demonstrations and political events well into his 80s and even 90s. 

Wolff was sharp tongued and vibrant until the end. He could dominate a conversation, using history and politics to cast his spell. To have lunch with him was  

to take a journey through history. And it wasn’t so much his retelling of Spanish Civil War adventures, but his tales of a time when actions had meaning and taking a stand against injustice was clear-cut. Wolff radiated a sense of purpose that was contagious. He was an active participant in the Civil Rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, and opposition to American intervention in Latin America. 

To have fought in the Spanish Civil War has become synonymous with idealism, and it was the defining experience of Wolff’s life. He took over the command of the American volunteers when he was 22 years old. The previous commanders had all been killed or wounded. Ernest Hemingway compared Wolff to Abraham Lincoln in stature and praised his military prowess. The two became drinking buddies and friends. 

After the war, Wolff became the commander of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, an organization dedicated to aiding Spanish Civil War refugees and vets, and to continuing the fight against fascism in its many forms. He had a sense of how to get publicity and an uncanny ability to raise money for progressive causes. During its heyday, nearly 1,000 people attended the annual VALB reunions. At one point they raised over $100,000 to send ambulances to Nicaragua to support the Sandinista government against the U.S.-backed Contras. 

Preserving the legacy of the struggle became Wolff’s raison d’être. Given any opportunity, he would talk about the Spanish Civil War and the activism of the Lincoln vets, from making speeches at political meetings to chatting up the person next to him in the supermarket line. 

I remember picking Wolff up at the hospital when he was nearly 80. He had been injured bicycling to a gym at five in the morning. As he was leaving, one of the Kaiser nurses who had attended him walked up and, clenching her fist, chanted, “¡Viva Communista! No pasaran!” A week later Wolff was on his way to Cuba to challenge the U.S. blockade. 

In contrast to his military exploits, Wolff was a self-made intellectual and artist, having dropped out of high school during the Great Depression. He attempted a career as a commercial artist and painter but was blacklisted by the FBI. He wrote two autobiographical novels, “Another Hill” and “Member of the Working Class.” 

On Jan. 14, Milt Wolff died in hospice care. He was 92. “No pep talks,” he warned those who visited him in his final days, some from as far away as Spain. He quickly turned the conversation to who would win the primaries. 

There will be a memorial to Milt Wolff on March 29, the time and place to be announced. For more information on the memorial go to www.MiltWolff.rb68.com. 

On March 30, in San Francisco, there will be an unveiling of a monument to all of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. For more information go to www.alba-valb.org.  

Richard Bermack is the author of “The Front Lines of Social Change: Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.” 


Photograph by Richard Bermack. 

Milt Wolff in September 2007 in El Cerrito.