Postek, Stanley, 1912-1991.

Stanley Postek was born Ladislaus J. Szeliga on February 5, 1912, in Lowell, Massachusetts. Mr. Postek was a visible unionist throughout his life. He left school in the mid-thirties and went to the sea. He was a union organizer for the International Seamen's Union of America at the age of twenty-five, and as the rank and file broke away to form the National Maritime Union, so did he. Shortly thereafter, he volunteered for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade serving in Spain. In World War Two, he served as a merchant seaman, most notably on the Murmansk Run. After the War, he joined the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union. He was one of 2000 men "screened" off the waterfront-- barred from employment by the Coast Guard during the Korean War for his association with the Communist Party. After his retirement, Mr. Postek was involved with the Maritime Worker's Historical Association, as well as teaching college courses and running a macrame and yarn shop in Greenwich Village.

Postek was, for a time, a light heavyweight boxing champion for which he won brief notoriety after he knocked out the favored champion in the P.A.U. Tournament in 1937. Postek also enjoyed brief fame as an extra in the entertainment business; chief among these is being on the cast of "On the Waterfront".

From the description of Papers, 1933-1986. (New York University). WorldCat record id: 477249022

Born Ladislaus Ferdinand Szeliga in 1912 in Lowell, Massachusetts, Stanley Postek adopted his cousin's name when he ran away from home as a teenager. He left school in the mid-thirties to become a sailor and union organizer for the International Seamen's Union of America, and a founding member of the breakaway National Maritime Union. In 1937 Postek became a light heavyweight boxing champion. In May 1938, he sailed to Europe to join the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War.

In Spain Postek was initially assigned to the Canadian Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, and subsequently transferred to a machine-gun company of the Abraham Lincoln Battalion. He was seriously injured in August 1938. When the International Brigades were evacuated that November, Postek, who was in a hospital, was left behind. In January 1939, he walked over the border into France and was immediately detained in the Argeles-sur-Mer concentration camp, where he almost died of septicemia. A week later, Postek managed to escape from the camp with the help of a journalist from the Paris Herald Tribune. Without a passport or any identification, Postek spent a period of rehabilitation in a Paris hospital, and finally returned to New York as a stowaway in May 1939.

Postek served in World War II as a merchant seaman, most notably on the Murmansk Run. After the war, he joined the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union. He was one of 2,000 seamen barred from employment by the Coast Guard during the Korean War for his association with the Communist Party. Postek later worked as an extra in the entertainment business, notably as a longshoreman in the Elia Kazan film, "On the Waterfront." After he retired, Postek worked with the Marine Worker's Historical Association, as well as teaching several college courses. In the 1960s he ran a successful macramé shop in Greenwich Village, the Rope Gallery, adapting his sailor's knot-tying expertise to a new craft.

Postek died in 1991 at his home in San Diego, California.

From the guide to the Stanley Postek Spanish Civil War Papers, Bulk, 1937-1939, 1934-1989, (Bulk 1937-1939), (Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive)

Ladislaus F. Szeliga, better known as Stanley Postek, was born on February 5, 1912, in Lowell, Massachusetts. He left school in the mid-1930s and went to sea. At the age of twenty-five, he was a union organizer for the International Seamen's Union of America. When the rank and file broke away to form the National Maritime Union, so did he. Shortly thereafter, he joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade as a volunteer, fighting on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War.

In World War II, he served as a merchant seaman, most notably on the Murmansk run. After the war, he joined the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union. Because of his association with the Communist Party, he was one of 2,000 men "screened" off waterfront employment by the United States Coast Guard during the Korean War. Once he regained his papers, he continued sailing until 1966.

Postek was also a Golden Gloves light-heavyweight boxing champion, and he won brief notoriety after he knocked out the favored champion in the 1937 P.A.U. Tournament. Postek also served as an extra in the film On the Waterfront.

After retirement, Postek was involved with the Marine Workers Historical Association, an organization which sought to bring together those who had been engaged in the organizing efforts on the waterfront and on shipboard in the 1930s, and preserve their history through documents and written and oral accounts. He also taught college courses, and ran a macrame and yarn shop in Greenwich Village, New York City. Postek died at the age of seventy-eight in his San Diego home. His ashes were scattered at sea.

From the guide to the Stanley Postek Papers, 1933-1986, (Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive)