Levinson Semen (1906)

Levinson (Lewinsohn) Semen (born 1906, Dvinsk — died ?, Krasnoyarsk Krai) — veterinarian, participant in the Spanish Civil War.

Semen Levinson worked as a labourer and shop assistant. From 1929 to 1936 he studied at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Higher Veterinary School in Brno (Czechoslovakia). From 1933 he was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and took part in the work of the Brno party organisation.

In 1937 he joined the Czech Battalion of the 15th International Brigade and fought in the Spanish Civil War, in Albacete and in the battles on the River Jarama on the Madrid front. He was wounded in an accident. After hospitalisation he served as a veterinary doctor in a Spanish cavalry regiment. He suffered a concussion on the Aragon front.

After the demobilisation of the International Brigades, he was arrested while crossing the Spanish–French border and interned in the Gurs camp. After an unsuccessful attempt to recruit him into the French army, he was transferred to the Vernet camp. At the beginning of the Second World War he was transported to the French colony of Algeria. After the defeat of the Italo-German forces in Africa in the spring of 1943, he was able to leave for the USSR and join the Red Army. After the war he worked as a veterinarian in Krasnoyarsk Krai.

Literature:

Vater, E. Jews of Latvia in the Struggle Against Nazism. Tel Aviv, 2004.

Fighters of Latvia in Spain. 1936–1939. Memoirs and Documents (Борцы Латвии в Испании. 1936―1939. Воспоминания и документы.). Riga: Liesma, 1970.