World · Europe · 16 hrs ago
Remembering Canadians who fought fascism in Spain
In 1937, about 1,500 Canadians went to Spain to fight fascist forces and support the country’s elected Republican government.
They formed the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, known as the Mac-Paps, during the Spanish Civil War.
Jacob Okonski, a Polish-Ukrainian miner from Alberta, survived two serious wounds but returned to Canada deeply affected by the fighting.
Canadian authorities treated the veterans as outcasts because they had enlisted in a foreign war, and some were watched or blacklisted.
Okonski later struggled with alcoholism and died in Vancouver in 1976, where he was buried in an unmarked grave.
A small group now honours the veterans with roses at his grave on Remembrance Day, helping keep their story alive.
About 1,500 Canadians travelled to Spain in 1937 to fight for the elected Republican government against Generalissimo Franco’s forces.
They formed the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, known as the Mac-Paps, and hundreds died in Spain.
Canadian authorities later hounded and ostracized returning volunteers because they had enlisted in a foreign war.
Jacob Okonski, an Alberta miner who fought with the battalion, was wounded twice and returned to Canada traumatized.
Okonski died in Vancouver in 1976 and was buried in an unmarked grave at Mountain View Cemetery.
- Who
- About 1,500 Canadians, including Jacob Okonski, fought in the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion.
- What
- The article remembers Canadians who fought against fascist forces in Spain and describes the treatment of veterans after they returned.
- When
- The Canadians travelled to Spain in 1937. Okonski died in 1976.
- Where
- The fighting took place in Spain; Okonski was buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver.
- Why
- They went to support Spain’s democratically elected Republican government against Franco’s invading fascist forces.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
About 1,500 Canadians travelled to Spain to fight for the Republican government.
Okonski was wounded during the Ebro Offensive, the Republic’s unsuccessful effort to halt Franco’s advancing armies.
Okonski died at age 64 and was buried in an unmarked grave in Vancouver.
Okonski’s daughter Melanie died.
- Canadian volunteers
- About 1,500
- Battalion
- Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, known as the Mac-Paps
- Okonski’s age
- 25 when he went to Spain
- Battles
- Teruel and the 1938 Ebro Offensive
- Death
- 1976, age 64
- Burial place
- Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver
What people are saying
Remember that man? Somebody loves him. He has a family out there that cares for him still.
premature anti-fascists