Eduards Upesleja. Spain, 1937 / Latvijas Cīnītāji Spānijā (1966)
- Date and city of birth: 1914, Liepaja.
- Profession: Actor and labour worker
- Residence place: He lived in Jelgava (Address: Vidvuda iela 10, dzvivokli num. 20)
- Military experience: Latvian National Army– Artillery
- Political affiliation: LKP – Literature and Drama section,
- He joined the PCE (the Spanish CP) on November, 1938.
- Police records: Arrested in 1938
- Arrival in Spain: August 13, 1938
- Military unit: XIIIth International Brigade– 51st Battalion
- Fronts: Ebro
- Departure: He crossed the French border on 9th February 1939
- Imprisonment: Gurs concentration camp
- Repatriated to Moscow (July 1939) through Soviet diplomacy
- WW2: Red Army, killed in action in September,1941
Eduards Uspeleja was a 24-years old political activist when he volunteered for Spain. He was born in Liepaja but grew up in Jelgava. There he carried out his most intense political life, very related to the Arts field. When he began, by 1936, the military service, he had already written more than 10 articles on the Latvian left-wing newspapers ”Brivais Jaunatne” (Free Youth) and ”Cīnas” (The Fight). He was assigned to the artillery battalion of the Latvian National Army placed in Kurzeme. From his fragmented memoirs* we can infer that he felt isolated and afraid in the army. However he concluded his military service by fall 1937 and returned to Jelgava. Continue reading
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