Just in over the transom: An eye-catching collection of wartime tales of armed resistance to fascism edited by the comics writer and activist Raymond Tyler and the radical historian Paul Buhle. It’s a great teaching tool for students and for anyone else who could use a gripping introduction to the subject.
In their introduction, the editors write that “‘partisans’ is a term loosely applied to the armed resistance of the 1940s, [which] stands close but is not identical to what is known as ‘the Resistance.’ The more inclusive term generally suggests resistance in all its forms, including aid of all kinds to those escaping the fascist-controlled zones.”
Recalling that “anti-fascism crystallized into a military force with the Spanish Civil War,” they point out that the defeated anti-fascist heroes of that war, continued their struggle “country to country to gain traction and fight back.” They note further that “the example offered of the partisans’ courage must not, cannot, be forgotten in our own time.”
To that end, the collection recounts many instances of bravery and self-sacrifice in Hungary, France, Yugoslavia, Greece, Holland, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union. Not incidentally, the style of each of the tales is distinctive throughout.
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