Researcher: Madeline Chin, Stuyvesant '26

Morris Brier, whose nickname was Moishe, was born on October 4, 1911, in New York City, New York. He was a graduate of Commerce High School located in New York City and worked as an accountant. There is little documentation about Brier’s childhood or parents, but he identified himself as Jewish. He was involved in the Brownsville, Brooklyn, community, which was largely a Jewish neighborhood at the time.


Before traveling to Spain, in the early-to-mid-1930s, Brier was very politically active in Brownsville. His earliest affiliation with the Communist Party was reported to be in 1932, but there are indications that he reaffirmed or formally affirmed his affiliation in 1934 or 1935; he joined the Young Communist League in May of 1934. He organized workers and political campaigns, helping to elect a state assemblyman and a state senator. Additionally, Brier was greatly inspired by world events and public figures. Through newsreels, which included the work of Dimitroff and similar figures, he witnessed oppression. Global events such as fascism, attacks on Jews, and undoubtedly the invasion of Spain, further encouraged his activism. Brier took part in street speeches (his first one being around the time Mussolini invaded Ethiopia in 1934), protests, rent strikes, and demonstrations. He also fought against racism in his community.


In this same decade, Brier was a section organizer for the Communist Party, living at 277 Grafton Street in Brooklyn around January 1937. After he heard about the conflict in Spain and Mussolini’s invasion of the Republic, he asked himself, as a communist and anti-facist activist, “Would my feet follow my mouth?” Then, on January 26, 1937, Morris Brier was issued a passport, and he soon departed for Spain on the ship Aquitania on January 28, 1937. He was one of the first volunteers from Brownsville to arrive in Spain on February 6, 1937—although he himself stated that he arrived in January 1937—serving as a soldado (private) in the XV Brigade of the International Brigades within the Abraham Lincoln Battalion. Some sources say he specifically served in Company 2, Section 1, Group 2, but unit organization was unsteady at this time and many just filled in where they were needed.


Brier faced intense combat during his time as a soldier, although he had minimal training. During the Battle of Jarama, on February 27, 1937, he was WIA, suffering severe injuries on his foot including several broken bones. He was hospitalized until August 1937 and used a cane. After he recovered, Brier returned to the battlefield, choosing to join the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, Machine Gun Company. He had befriended the commander, Bob Thompson, whom he met during his stay in the hospital. Brier became a machine gun squad leader and met two of his close friends: Otto Reeves and Marc Haldan.


True to his nature, Brier participated in several more battles. During the Battle of Fuentes de Ebro, he spent a night venturing into no man’s land to retrieve the wounded and the bodies of the dead. During the Battle of Teruel, Brier bore the bitter cold with no equipment—not even a tent. They had no artillery on the White Hill, so they set up four machine guns and dug sideways into the hard mountain, where they put together telephone poles to create barriers to protect themselves. They were able to hold strong against the fascists without any fatalities, and prevented the fascists from breaking through to the valley. After Teruel, Brier developed a fistula. Rather than undergo surgery that would have sidelined him for months, he received relief for the pain and was only operated on when he returned to America. Brier also participated in the Battle of Segura de los Baños in February 1938, but there are few recorded details of his actions there. During The Great Retreats, he and his unit were positioned on a hill to defend against fascist breakthroughs, and Brier’s friend Reeves disappeared while getting more ammunition. His unit joined and fought alongside a Belgian artillery group before being ordered to continue retreating. Brier returned to the front for the Ebro Offensive and was again WIA at the Battle of Gandesa April 1938. He was hit by shrapnel in the arm, leg, and back, which temporarily paralyzed him from the waist down. He was treated and evacuated by a young Soviet tank officer, spending months recovering in the hospital. He returned to the US on October 25, 1938, via the ship Ile de France.


Brier also served in the Pacific Theater during WWII in the US Army Infantry Division, attending educational and training programs during his enlistment. During this time, he utilized the survival tips he learned in Spain from his friend Haldan to face the hot and wet conditions, remembering to keep his feet dry and stay protected from the weather. In 1943, when he returned to Camp Croft, located in South Carolina, he served in the Sales Commissary as a Bookkeeper, where he enjoyed studying American History and military books. He was WIA while serving in the Philippines and received a battle commission to First Lieutenant; his commendation is recorded in a speech by Carl T. Curtis in the Congressional Record on August 11, 1944.


After WWII, Brier became an office manager of the Fur and Leather Workers Union Joint Board. He was also the treasurer of ALBA (Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives) from 1978 until his death in 1997 (the exact date of his death in 1997 is disputed, and it is most commonly believed to be either January 2 or November 6). Morris Brier never wavered on his beliefs, never wavered on fighting back against fascism. In the end, “We won our selves.”

Sources

Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. “Morris Brier Was Born OTD in NYC 1911...” Facebook post. Accessed April 24, 2026. https://www.facebook.com/AbrahamLincolnBrigadeArchives/posts/morris-brier-was-born-otd-in-nyc-1911-he-worked-as-an-accountant-and-joined-the-/722146199957725/.


Brier, Morris. “Letter to Jack, April 12, 1943.” In Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Complaints of Discrimination during World War II. Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University. Accessed April 23, 2026.


Brier, Morris. “Letter to Jack, January 12, 1943.” In Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Complaints of Discrimination during World War II. Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University. Accessed April 23, 2026.


Brooks, Chris. “Of Comradeship and Courage: Three Friends, Three Volunteers.” The Volunteer, November 29, 2016. Accessed April 8, 2026. https://albavolunteer.org/2016/11/of-comradeship-and-courage-three-friends-three-volunteers/.


Carroll, Peter N., Michael Nash, and Melvin Small, eds. The Good Fight Continues: World War II Letters from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Accessed April 11, 2026. https://muse.jhu.edu/book/7622/pdf.


Dayton in Manhattan. “The Lost High School of Commerce (155 Hester Street).” Dayton in Manhattan, May 30, 2022. Accessed June 2, 2026. https://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-lost-high-school-of-commerce-155.html.


Gonzalez, David. “About New York; An Anti-Fascist’s Feet Still Follow His Mouth.” The New York Times, December 18, 1993. Accessed April 11, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/18/nyregion/about-new-york-an-anti-fascist-s-feet-still-follow-his-mouth.html.


“Volunteer: Morris Brier.” Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. Accessed March 31, 2026. https://alba-valb.org/volunteers/morris-brier/.