Alternate name(s):
Jack Steele; Matthew; Kowalski; Kozowatsky
Nickname:
Thomas
Date of Birth:
circa 1906
Ethnicity/Nationality:
Jewish
Profession:
metal worker; farm worker
Hometown(s):
Montreal, Quebec; Toronto, Ontario
Political affiliation:
Communist Party of Canada, 1933
Prior military experience:
cadets
Approximate date arrived in Spain:
1937-02-09 arrived; returned 1938-06-00
Unit:
Abraham Lincoln Battalion; Mackenzie Papineau Battalion; Officers' Training School
Final status:
KIA July 1938 in an air attack after crossing the Ebro; Note that a Finnish-American used the alias Jack Steele as well
Other:
After arriving in Spain on 9 February 1937, Kosowatski returned to Canada in October to serve as the Director of Rehabilitation for returning veterans. He returned to Spain in June 1938 and died in July.; His brother, Moses Kosowatski, known as Richard "Dick" Steele, was a union and Communist organizer who was secretary of the Friends of the Mac-Paps Trade Union Committee in Toronto. He died while fighting with the Canadian Army in France in 1944.
Sources:
Figueres List; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 570; ll. 40-42 (includes a letter from Steele to Abe Lewis); RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 556, ll. 83 (under Kozowatsky, ver ar gen can); Liversedge; Momryk; Petrou; Ontario Jewish Archives
