Researcher: Benny Wong, Stuyvesant '25

Max Parker was born on April 25, 1912 in the Lower East Side. He came from Lithuanian-Jewish descent and grew up in a Jewish neighborhood as such. His parents were both Jewish and most likely migrated during the massive Jewish immigration wave between 1880 and 1914. During this time, the Lower East Side became one of the biggest Jewish communities in Manhattan. Max grew up with five brothers in extreme poverty. He and his father, Louis, had a troubled relationship as Louis was not around much. This left the two eldest brothers to become his father figures. They both unfortunately passed some time during the 1920s within 6 months of each other. One was 18 and the other was 16. Their deaths heavily affected Parker.


He was heavily involved in activism, joining the Young Hebrew Alliance and Educational Alliance (EA). The Education Alliance was a settlement house founded in 1889. Parker became a club leader for the EA. Parker got his education from his community rather than school. He had an affinity for language, and learned Italian from the people surrounding him. Little Italy is adjacent to the Lower East Side and he most likely learned from the people living there. At home he also learned to speak Russian, Hebrew and Yiddish from his parents, and taught himself English in his own free time.


Parker was an incredibly smart child and attended Seward Park High School in the Lower East Side. Before he could start the eleventh grade the Great Depression hit the United States and he was forced to drop out and find work to help support his family. Parker did anything he could for money, such as delivering fur, bellhopping, selling ice cream, and much more. He managed to find a job as a timekeeper for the WPA Project some time between 1935 and 1936.


Around 1936, Parker officially declared himself a member of the Communist Party. And in early January of 1937, Parker was laid off from the WPA. Coincidentally, Parker had caught word of the rise of Adolf Hitler and his attacks on the Jewish people in Germany, along with Hitler aiding the fascists rebel against the Republic of Spain. To Parker and many more of the Jewish community, allowing Hitler to go unchecked would eventually bring him to the doors of the United States. Encouraged by his recent unemployment, Parker hoped to create a legacy through volunteering to join the war.


In February, 1937, Parker and 300 other volunteers sailed to France aboard the Ile de France with one bag and 5 dollars. He was 24 years old. They had their passports stamped as not valid to travel to Spain and were met with an American consul in France who urged them to turn back. Parker claims to have laughed and said the consul was straining his tonsils. This was his duty.


Parker remained in France until they were called, where he then had to cross through the Pyrenees mountains, a dangerous and aching journey which took all night. Immediately he began training. Parker arrived in Spain on March 17th, 1938 and joined the Transport Regiment. The Transport Regiment heavily favored Americans due to the assumption that they were the best drivers. The Regiment was the backbone of Republic transportation, moving soldiers to and from designated locations. The Republic grew desperate as lines thinned and supplies dwindled. Heavily short on men, Parker was assigned to transport men and supplies immediately after his training. He drove all around the country from Brunette, Belchite, Teruel, and Gandesa. For 6 days he persevered, speeding through gunfire and explosions.


In Gandesa, during the Aragon Offensive, chaos erupted amongst the Republic. Parker was assigned to fill in for a driver who could no longer work. He had to transport Spanish telephone lineman, whose job was to maintain frontline communications. Amidst the chaos, Parker and his men were told to keep advancing, despite not knowing which direction they were going. Republic forces were scattered. They eventually stopped in front of an outpost and were ordered to stop and exit their vehicle. Parker then came to realize the soldiers at the outpost were facists. Outgunned and outnumbered, they were captured by the fascist forces on April 1st, 1938. He was spared by an Italian who had lived in New York and the two bonded over the mutual homeland. Parker watched as fascist forces lined up his Spanish allies and executed every tenth man. He was then sent to the San Pedro de Cardena concentration camp.


In this concentration camp, Parker became an interpreter for the fascist guards and prisoners. Since he knew a jaw dropping five languages, he became valuable enough not to kill and spent the rest of the war captured until 1939 acting as an interpreter for both the guards and prisoners. There he helped mediate conversations, translating demands of prisoners and guards alike. Though he did much more in the concentration camp. To keep morale high, Parker often sang. He sang with his fellow prisoners in low enough voices that they were not heard by the guards, but the songs helped keep the flame of fight in the prisoners. For Christmas in 1938, Parker and many other prisoners organized an elaborate Christmas choral concert for the guards. It was a smashing success. So much so that the guards asked for a repeat. For just a brief moment, they were equal.


He was released on April 22, 1939. He returned to the US on May 6, 1939, most likely New York. Though the Republic lost the war, the fight against facism never stopped for Parker. In New York he continued to openly fight against facism and supported the labor movement. Parker was interviewed by the New York Times about his stay in the concentration camp. When World War II kicked off, Max was present. He joined the US Army and served with the 3rd Armored Division as a Radio Operator. Once Max returned from the war, it is unknown what he did. But with the collaboration of Carl Geiser, Parker released his own musical album: Al Tocar Diana: At Break of Time: Songs from a Franco Prison in 1982. Parker passed away on November 5th, 1983.

Sources

Bennett-Parker, Max. Online Interview. Conducted by Benny Wong, 13 May. 2025.


Parker, Tim. Online Interview. Conducted by Benny Wong, 13 May. 2025.


Max Parker, 29. May. 2025; ALBA 104; Robert Steck Papers: Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University, https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/alba_104/


Max Parker, 29. May. 2025; ALBA.VF.002; Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives Vertical Files: Individuals: Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University,
https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/alba_vf_002/


Max Parker, 29. May. 2025;ALBA.VIDEO.048; Manny Herriman Video Oral History Collection: Individuals: Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University,
https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/alba_video_048/


Parker, Max “Narrative: Feb 1937” uploaded by Max Parker https://youtu.be/lJYm-vVEm48?si=r3tBl4gKhh5kRKHB


Parker, Max “Narrative: The First Transport” uploaded by Max Parker
https://youtu.be/mlKYVMPT9Xo?si=xr_o2TVnXDghPg8z


Parker, Max “Songs of the American Consul” uploaded by Max Parker
https://youtu.be/iKSWHa6tay8?si=TQsyQMb4sY-_Kt4f


Parker, Max “1982” uploaded by Max Parker
https://youtu.be/srDAkObCljQ?si=zLCjcYC4gJI4rY72