Alternate name(s):
Donek, Kendall
Nickname:
Tom
Date of Birth:
11 December 1915 or 1917
Marital status:
single
Ethnicity/Nationality:
Canadian; Ukrainian
Profession:
electrician
Hometown(s):
Winnipeg, Manitoba; Windsor, Ontario
Political affiliation:
Communist Party of Canada, 1935
Approximate date arrived in Spain:
1937-04-02
Unit:
Washington Battalion, Plana Mayor, telephonist; Lincoln-Washington Battalion; Mackenzie Papineau Battalion; Served at Jarama, Brunete, and Aragon
Final status:
WIA; Survived; Returned to Canada 17 December 1938; World War II, Canadian Army, Essex Scottish Regiment of Canada from 10 September 1939; WIA and POW during raid at Dieppe; Imprisoned at Stalag 344 until 1944, transferred to Stalag IID and liberated by the Red Army in February 1945; Returned to Canada; Killed by police during an armed robbery in 1951, as detailed in Thomas Danek: Life and Death, written in the 1980s by Abraham Lincoln Battalion veteran Benjamin Goldring. The text was also been published by the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archive, first appearing in The Volunteer, Vol. 7, No. 1, March 1985.
Sources:
RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 2, Delo 51, ll. 105-108 Order du Jour No. 56 (Order of the Day) June 4, 1937; Opis 6, Delo, 546, ll. 10-11; “Americans in 19th Battalion – 16.VI.37,” Opis 6, Delo 47, ll 15; NAC, M-P Collection, Dent, V. 2, F. 21, Subject Files, Danek, Thomas: Biographical Information, no date; Momryk; Petrou; Ancestry; Hoff; "Tattooed for Dieppe Raid Slain Bandit Identified Escaped from Nazi Camp." Toronto Daily Star 6 Dec. 1951: 2.
