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In letters to his friends, Jospeh Kleiman, encourages them to protest the stance of the American government, asking them to work towards amending the Neutrality Act. His efforts to involve his friends in the fight against the fascists lend to the idea mentioned in Eric Smith’s, “New York’s Aid to the Spanish Republic”: the Spanish Civil War brought about a, “culture of resistance.” This idea of resistance was possibly further fueled by volunteers such as Kleiman, who wrote to friends about the strength of Franco’s forces, requesting that their help. Those who didn’t fight in Spain, fought at home: protesting, fundraising, and creating awareness.

Other volunteers wrote home about monotonous days and tedious tasks. In letters to family, violence was rarely mentioned. Rather, there was talk of the weather, a recent haircut, and the lack of interesting activity on the front. This causes one to wonder what the perception of the war was at home. Very few people knew the plight of the soldiers who fought against the fascist forces. Although people knew the horrors of war, the letters presented a skewed view of what was happening on the ground in Spain.

Going through the letters of some of the volunteers provided an interesting perspective on the information the average American was receiving about the war. The idea of resistance was getting stronger, and many volunteers thought it an important aspect of the war: fighting against the neutrality of the American government would lend to a stronger stance against Franco.