I stood outside where I was staying and watched the people on the street. There was the now familiar sounds of shelling in the distance but people were trying to go about life.
The Spanish
My escort asked if I wanted to meet the Spanish volunteers that were forming their own battalion. I said of course. I walked up and started to introduce myself and the volunteer went in and got 6 more of them to talk to. At first it was a little rough, honestly. "Marco" asked if I was an accredited reporter and when I said no- he said "conversation's over." His comrade added that I was American and he glared at me and said "well that settles that, doubly -no!"
I don't recommend laughing at a time like that but couldn't help myself. He glared at me and I asked him point blank if talking to the accredited reporters had gotten his story out? He said no, so I suggested we do that then.
I went through the list of accredited questions- Who are you? Where are you from? Are you a Russian in disguise? Were you a soldier? What kind of work did you do before? Why are you here?
He answered tersely, and then the rehearsed for publication answers- We are against nazis, against NATO, against junta, against American imperialism etc..
I said "well we know what you are against, but what are you for?" No one ever seems to ask this question. For instance Maidan was about freedom, but what for? It was freedom for nationalists to take over Ukraine.
Once they understood what I was driving at they opened up a lot. They came from all walks of life to come and help. They bought everything on their own from weapons to boots. The gist is that nationalism/nazism has a strong undercurrent in Europe now. If the nazis win in Donbass they are afraid all of Europe will fall. Because Ukraine's example ultra-nationalism is becoming mainstream with Poroshenko himself going as far as saying the Ukrainian brand is becoming very popular around the world.
Some of them are married. All left Spain knowing that their government would soon declare them terrorists. Politically they told me they go across the entire spectrum from Communists to nationalists. They are sure none of them will be able to return home but in their own words they are defending the free people of Europe from the resurgence of what was called pure evil 70 years ago. They have given up everything.
None of them are military men. The one thing they are sure about is that they would rather fight nazism here than wait for it to come home. "Marco" stated plainly he thought the men and women of Donbas were made of steel. They won't break and will never give up. They will win. That's why they all came. They sorted through the news carefully through the internet. For most the decision was individual and they met after they arrived here.
After I spoke with them the officer I was with stated his concerns about them. They come from every walk of life except military. They had to be trained from day one and having no Russian language skills made that difficult. It's the reasons they came that are important. They see what is happening and care enough about the lives and futures of their own families to care about ours in Donbass.
Spain had a long history with Bandera nationalism when Franco was in power and these men understand what that will mean.
If that sounds like a stretch, a stark example is Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people in 2011. Why did he do this? Has that ever been answered? Breivik has always come across as calculating, not crazy. In Norwegian politics the next generation of politicians are the children of the current political class. They were at the camp together for this reason. Its how they are brought up. Breivik killed all of the next generation of moderate politicians in Norway in one act.
This opens the entire political spectrum up to the ultra nationalists who are raising their children to fill that void through nationalist youth groups- just like in Ukraine (SYM, PLAST) since 1991. Breivik will get out of prison as a young man and is confident he will be regarded as a hero to the next generation.
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