Today, I watched the video Facing Facism: New Yorkers Remember the Spanish Civil War and learned a lot about the impact of the war on the people in New York, both family of soldiers and activists.

From watching interviews with two women who grew up during the Spanish Civil War, Luz Castaños and Vara B. Williams, I got a better sense of how young people were affected by the communities in which they grew up. Liberalism and activism was very prominent in New York City at this time and it's prominence seemed to have created a circular affect in which those growing up in such a highly liberal community became impassioned by the same concerns and beliefs themselves. Thus, support for the Spanish Civil War was spread not only through political activism but through community solidarity as well. Vara B. Williams recalls that her active support for the Spanish Civil War was "wreathed in a certain romanticism"- she believed she was "supporting heroes" and fighting "bad guys" and never really understood the larger political situation and ideological conflicts involved. The community created a simple romanticism which youth in particular could stand behind. Luz Costaños's first childhood memory, in fact, is a Republican song that she sang at the age of one and a half that has the words "salieron por la calle gritando: Liberta! Liberta! Liberta!" This shows how children were shaped by their families and communities. However, Luz also recalls how families and communites were split by political beliefs. Her father was a Republican and second cousin, whom she loved very much, was "the most right wing person in all of New York City".

Other stories in the video seem to demonstrate this idea that the people of New York City were shaped by their communities, not just their personal political beliefs. Milton Wolff says that he was in the Youth Communist League because "I was an activist" and "there were very nice girls there too." Abe Osheroff admits that it was "easy to get politicized" in his hometown of Williamsburg because he was "living it all the time" and "reading left press all of the time." He admits that one of the main forces that led to his departure for Spain was shame. All of his friends were going, and he knew that if he didn't go he would be ashamed for the rest of his life. For many of these people, being politically left and activist was a way of life, not just an ideology; their ideological beliefs and actions were fostered and nourished by a community of people who could share and live together. Could New York City activism have been as strong if this community did not exist? How essential is a community to the formation of political and personal identities?