Abraham Osheroff

Abraham Osheroff
Abraham Osheroff
Born	October 24, 1915; Abraham Lincoln Brigade
Spouses	Sylvia Podolsky; ; Claire Rosenbaum (m. 1949⁠–⁠1958) ; Noel Carrawan (m. 1962⁠–⁠1972)
Children	Carl (with Podolsky) ; Pete (born 1954) (with Rosenbaum) ; Jo (born 1958) (with Rosenbaum) ; Nick (born 1959) (with Carrawan) ; Dov (born 1962) (with Carrawan) ; Sara (born 1964) (with Carrawan)
Parent(s)	Louis Osheroff ; Sarah Osheroff

Abraham Osheroff (October 24, 1915 – April 6, 2008)^[1]^[2] was an American social activist, carpenter, war veteran, documentary filmmaker, and lecturer.

Biography

Born into a family of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Sarah and Louis Osheroff, in the

Brooklyn, New York, he spoke Yiddish and "a good smattering of Russian" before English and graduated from the City College of New York.^[1]^[3]

In the early 1930s, he began political work. In 1931, during the

Bund, beat up Osheroff while he was incarcerated and called him a "Goddamn Jew." Around this time, he joined the Communist Party

. In 1935, aged 20, he was organizing miners' unions on behalf of the party and raising aid for striking workers.

When the

Abraham Lincoln Brigade and was wounded at the Battle Of Belchite (1937)

.

Back home in 1938 after a severe injury to his knee, Osheroff ran for the New York Legislature as a Communist.

Third Reich

in Europe. The Army did not allow him to go overseas because they were concerned about his political views. Instead, he served as an instructor, rank Sgt..based primarily in the South.

At the beginning of World War II, he married his first wife, Sylvia, and had a son Carl. After the war, he taught at the

House Committee on Un-American Activities

.

He left the Communist Party in response to the revelation of

Venice, California

until they divorced in 1972. Abe was key in the struggle to save the Venice Canals from development and to stop authorities from driving out the poor families, like his, that dominated the area. Abe worked as a carpenter and taught his two sons, Nick and Dov, the trade.

After splitting from many of his best friends in the Communist Party, he threw his efforts into the

Civil Rights Movement building a community center in 1965, in Holmes County, Mississippi, where he was threatened by the police because he was working with African Americans. (The police were allied with Ku Klux Klan elements.) Osheroff had initially thought to make a contribution to the civil rights movement in the American South by rebuilding the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee, however, after discussing the matter with Myles Horton, Highlander's founder, a plan was developed to build a community center in Mississippi instead.^[4] While building the Mileston Community Center, Abe stayed with Hartman Turnbow

, a leader of the movement in Holmes County.

In

Socialist East Germany. Permission to return to Spain in 1971 in order to create the documentary was obtained because Osheroff, despite his lack of experience, succeeded in duping the authorities of Francoist Spain.^[2]

In 1985, he organized a village building brigade in America to travel to

Sandinistas. Later, he was highly active in movements opposing the Gulf War and Iraq War

, and he drove the Peace Mobile.

In March 2008, Osheroff traveled with his wife, Gunnel Clark, and friends from his Seattle home to San Francisco for the unveiling of the United States's first monument to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. He was determined to go, and it took great effort to get him there. But Osheroff was the guest of honor, one of the 20 or so last survivors of the Brigade. Osheroff used to say, "I have one foot in the grave but the other keeps dancing."

After more than seven decades of deep involvement with what he called "radical humanism," Osheroff died on April 6, 2008, a few days after returning to Seattle.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Martin, Douglas. "Abe Osheroff, Veteran of Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Dies at 92", The New York Times, April 11, 2008. Accessed October 31, 2022. "Abraham Osheroff was born in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn in October 1915."
^ ^a ^b ^c "Abraham Osheroff: Inveterate activist who fought in the Spanish Civil War and went on to espouse a series of left-wing causes in the US during the Cold War". The Times. 29 April 2008. Times Online. Retrieved 11 March 2009. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3834632.ece
^ A Conversation with Abe Osheroff Archived August 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Interview by Rita Fritz Amer, Raven Chronicles, Vol 11, No. 1-3
^ "Letter From Jim Boebel" (PDF). crmvet.org. Retrieved 21 March 2023.

External links

AbeOsheroff.org Archived 2008-04-20 at the Wayback Machine, official site, now a memorial site.
New York Times: Abe Osheroff, Veteran of Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Dies at 92
From Spanish Civil War to Iraq, activist Abe Osheroff looks back
Abe Osheroff: International Brigades, US Army (Archived 2009-10-24)
Abe Osheroff: On the joys and risks of living in the empire
Article with proof of date of birth

[Martin-1] Martin, Douglas. "Abe Osheroff, Veteran of Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Dies at 92", The New York Times, April 11, 2008. Accessed October 31, 2022. "Abraham Osheroff was born in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn in October 1915."

[The_Times_Obituary-2] "Abraham Osheroff: Inveterate activist who fought in the Spanish Civil War and went on to espouse a series of left-wing causes in the US during the Cold War". The Times. 29 April 2008. Times Online. Retrieved 11 March 2009. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3834632.ece

[raven-3] A Conversation with Abe Osheroff Archived August 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Interview by Rita Fritz Amer, Raven Chronicles, Vol 11, No. 1-3

[4] "Letter From Jim Boebel" (PDF). crmvet.org. Retrieved 21 March 2023.

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