Researcher: Ada Lin, Stuyvesant '20

Aaron Lopoff was born on January 25th, 1914 in NYC. He attended Texas A&M University for one year and NYU for an unspecified amount of time. In Lopoff’s early teens, he “hoboed” all around the States, worked his way part way through college and “Then I sort of got bored” as he would say in which he then made a living by writing fiction stories for magazines. On August 11, 1937 when Lopoff was a young man 23 years of age, he sailed on Queen Mary to Spain for the Spanish Civil war. At this time, according to Lopoff’s passport that he received on August 3rd, 1937 his address was listed as 219 East 12th Street, NYC (Spring Valley, New York). He ultimately arrived in Spain on August 22, 1937.Aaron Lopoff served with the XV BDE, Lincoln-Washington BN, Co.2 as Lieutenant, company commander and adjutant. Lopoff was a respected man, his anti-fascist understanding along with his desire to lead his company better made the Command of the Lincoln to consider Aaron Lopoff as one of its most experienced and responsible leaders. As Lopoff used to say: “When you have a lot of other guys to worry about, you can’t be afraid for yourself” Lopoff was the type of leader that wanted to spare as much of his comrades as he possibly can. These characteristics made the people around Lopoff respect him as they can feel the sense of responsibility that this man has. On the night of August 17th, 1938 during the Ebro Offensive on Hill 666, Lopoff was wounded in action- receiving 3 m.g bullets to the head, and destroyed one eye which may have resulted in the loss of the other. Aaron Lopoff later died in the hospital due to his wounds. Lopoff was single prior to his death, there were no records of him being married and he does not have any known offspring. Aaron Lopoff was a brother figure to Alvah Bessie, another famous veteran that served in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Lopoff served as Bessie’s company commander and most of what we’ve learned of Lopoff comes from Bessie's notebook that later on was published.

Sources

Aaron Lopoff - Abraham Lincoln Brigade, http://www.alba-valb.org/volunteers/aaron-lopoff.

“Aaron Lopoff by A. C. B. [Alvah Bessie].” The Volunteer, 16 Sept. 2018, http://www.albavolunteer.org/2018/08/aaron-lopoff-by-a-c-b-alvah-bessie/.

Libraries. “Texas A & M University Yearbook Collection.” Texas A & M University Yearbook Collection, 21 Aug. 2019, http://www.library.tamu.edu/yearbooks/.