Robert Klonsky was born March 12, 1918 and grew up in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, NY, in a garment worker's family of Russian Jewish descent. He sailed for Europe, traveling under the name Max Klonsky, on February 5, 1937 and arrived in Spain in time to fight with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Battle of Jarama in the same month. He later took part in the Battle of Brunete and, suffering ill health, left Spain in October 1937.
Klonsky served in World War II, where he saw action in Saipan and Okinawa, and after the War settled in Los Angeles, where he was active in the Communist Party of California and in many campaigns for peace, civil rights and human rights (especially in Latin America). For some years he ran a bookstore near the UCLA campus; the store was destroyed by arsonists, who painted swastikas on its wall. He worked closely with the Hollywood Ten and others who were subject to government investigation for "subversive" activity. In the 1950s he was tried under the Smith Act, was convicted of "conspiring to advocate Marxist views," and served time in prison. The case was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court. After forty years in California he moved to Santa Fe, NM. An article describing his experiences in Spain and his later political activity, "Alma sin Fronteras" (Soul without Frontiers) by Floyce Alexander, appeared in the Albuquerque (NM) Journal on May 12, 1987. The article includes a dramatic account of the death in Spain of his friend, Boston volunteer John Lenthier. Robert Klonsky died in Chicago on September 7, 2002.
From the guide to the Robert Klonsky Papers, 1937-1999, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)
