Rose Freed

Before going to work in Spain, Rose Freed, unlike many women during the Spanish Civil War, worked as a laboratory technician in none other than New York City, simultaneously taking classes at dare I say it, Columbia University. She remarks that her pay and her job was going very well when she decided to join the American Medical Bureau to Aid Spanish Democracy.

She claims that she is not a member of any political organization, but rather she understands "the suffering and misery of the oppressed and have always been with them." Yet, Freed admits that she went to Spain an anti-fascist, and that a year later, her beliefs were even stronger.

Because of her background in laboratories, Freed was put in charge of building a laboratory in order to give the doctors and nurses a place to do blood transfusions etc. Yet, like many other nurses, Freed argues that due to the lack of supplies, their work was always somewhat handicapped.

What was most interesting about Rose Freed's folder was the following phrase: "Every member of our groups has participated, not only in the duties of their professions, but in others as well. Doctors have assisted with road building and carpentry, and have acted as chauffeurs and stretcher-bearers when necessity demanded. Nurses have scrubbed the floors of the wards have done cooking dish washing, serving, yes, and road building too."

I fin that last statement absolutely astounding, because all of the other accounts of medical professionals do not give way to the fact that these men and women were more than what they appeared to be. Not only did they help aid the Spanish soldiers, but they also tried to help build back and give to Spanish society. It is incredible that these people had so much compassion for people that they barely, if even, knew.

**The picture attached is of Rose Frees and Langston Hughes. **