Injustice bothered George Sossenko to his core.
He would be near tears when others generalized the plight of the homeless, in particular, said Bernice Bass, his wife of 36 years.
“It upset him to hear people calling them lazy,” she said. “He would talk to the homeless person, find out why they were out there. He knew there was a reason, and it wasn’t because they were lazy.”
Sossenko came to Atlanta in the early 1970s, a veteran of the Spanish Civil War. In 1999 he was thought to be the last surviving Spanish Civil War veteran living in Georgia. Sossenko, who grew up in Paris, left home at 16 with the intention of fighting in the war.
“They were vacationing near the Spanish border and he heard all of this noise, and guns,” his wife said. “He got home and found out what it was all about, and wrote a note to his parents that he was going to fight for democracy in Spain.”
That spirit of fighting for democracy never left Sossenko, friends said.
“Though he was advanced in age, he never gave up the ideals he had as a young man,” said Jim Skillman, a friend of 30 years. “You know how some people get old and cynical? That didn’t happen to George. He still believed he could make a difference.”
Sossenko died Thursday from complications of pneumonia and cardiac problems. He was 94. Plans for a memorial service are incomplete. SouthCare Cremation and Funeral Society, Marietta, was in charge of the final arrangements.
It was in 1936 that Sossenko left home, headed for the Spanish border. In 1997 he told an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter that he enlisted under an alias to prevent his parents from finding him, but he made the mistake of writing letters home under his assumed name. In August 1937, he was sent to French Brigade headquarters in Barcelona and found his father waiting for him. Though he returned home to Paris, he was determined to find other ways to fight for democracy, his wife said.
The family moved to Argentina in 1938 and Sossenko stayed there long enough to fight with the Free French Army in World War II. But he left Argentina because he “had a problem” with then-dictator Juan Peron, he said during the 1997 interview.
When Sossenko, who was fluent in six languages, came to Atlanta, there was still plenty of injustice to fight against, his wife said. He had a career in the tire retread business in Latin America and the U.S. for more than 20 years, but when he retired he spent all of his time making his voice heard.
“He was very unhappy with the way the United States was conducting itself in these wars,” said Reid Jenkins, a friend of several years. “He didn’t mind sharing those thoughts with people.”
Bass said her husband believed if he shared his thoughts, his opposition to certain events, that things could change.
“I truly believe that every day of the year, George wanted to make the world a better place,” she said. “He was fighting for all of humanity.”
In addition to his wife, Sossenko is survived by a sister and two grandchildren.
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