Biographies/Alexander Finkel

Tags: Hebrew Orphan Asylum Battle of Belchite KIA Jewish Lincoln-Washington Battalion Young Communist League Brunete Offensive Washington Battalion Orphan

Researcher: Ethan Lee, Stuyvesant '25

Alexander Finkel was born in April 1915 in Brooklyn to Russian Jewish parents fleeing Russian pogroms for better opportunities in America. He was transferred to the Hebrew Orphan Asylum (HOA) in 1923 or 1924 (the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives and Center for Jewish History records disagree on date of admittance) alongside his brother Sam and sister Tessie, where he grew up. Located in West Harlem, HOA was the oldest Jewish orphanage in New York City, established to raise orphans in a Jewish environment and protect their heritage. Alongside housing orphans it also supported half-orphans, children whose parents could not house or raise them. At HOA, Finkel was probably put into foster care and rotated amongst different households, as research at that time showed children prospered better in small family environments rather than large institutional ones. In this manner he assimilated into American culture and learned the ideas of Reform Judaism. A core idea of Judaism is Tikkun Olam, which emphasizes doing concrete action to improve the world, and in Reform Judaism, improving the larger society instead of focusing solely on the welfare and spirituality of the Jewish community. He carried this idea with him when he turned 18 and left the asylum to move to Mapleton, Brooklyn. His struggle to find sustainable employment alongside the societal problems caused by the Great Depression moved him to join the Young Communist League, where in 1937 he was recruited for Spain. After obtaining his passport on February 17, 1937, he told his brother Sam that he was going, so Sam decided to join him and got his passport on February 20. Later that day, they and Harry Fisher, a friend of Sam, boarded the Ile de France to sail across the Atlantic.


They arrived at Le Havre, France, then traveled south and snuck across the Pyrenees into Spain. They made their way to Albacete, then Tarazona, where the Washington Battalion was formed. Sam and Fisher were assigned separately to the Lincoln Battalion. Finkel started training on May 10, 1937 under the command of Mirko Markovics. He was assigned to company 3, but was eventually transferred to the machine gun company commanded by Hans Amelie. After a month of training, considerably much more than most other American Battalions had, the Washington Battalion was considered ready for action, and sent to hold the line at Jarama Valley. Finkel along with the rest of the battalion piled excitedly into oversized trucks that drove them to Talimer, where they were fed and armed before being sent to relieve the Dimitrov Battalion at the second defensive line. There, the unit organized itself and selected soldiers for roles such as cooks and stretcher bearers. Alexander Finkel was probably selected to join the Plana Mayor, or battalion general staff, for the machine gun company. As part of the Plana Mayor, Finkel was to communicate issues to the battalion commander and inform his unit on orders from the commander, alongside his other duties as a soldier. He saw no action while camping at Jarama Valley, yet remained enthusiastic.


The Washington Battalion began moving to the Aulencia river on July 30th in preparation for the Brunete Offensive. The battalion first helped capture Villanueva de la Cañada with small losses, then crossed the Guadarrama river towards Mosquito Ridge, where they ran into Nationalist forces that retreated from Cañada and pushed them to the ridge. The battalion suffered heavy casualties, so it was merged with the Abraham Lincoln Battalion so that both were under the command of Markovics. Due to this reorganization, Finkel was demoted from the Plana Mayor. As the offensive ground to a halt, the Lincoln-Washington battalion became in danger of being isolated and subject to intense bombardments and bombings, causing heavy casualties, and killing many of Finkel’s fellow soldiers, though he avoided major injuries. Exhausted and embittered by Brunete, Finkel and his battalion finally retreated along with the rest of the Republicans.


The battalion was reorganized, with Hans Amlie as its new commander and Finkel was transferred from the machine gun company to the first company, composed mainly of infantry. In late August the Lincoln battalion was sent to participate in the Zaragoza Offensive. Following the failure to quickly capture Zaragoza, the republicans shifted their focus on Belchite, so the Lincoln battalion was tasked with capturing the town of Quinto to secure a passage to Belchite. Finkel survived the first day of brutal combat and house-to-house fighting, but was killed in action on the second day, August 26 1937.


Sources

Ink, Social. “Finkel, Alexander.” The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, July 28, 2022. https://alba-valb.org/volunteers/alexander-finkel/.


“Collection: Hebrew Orphan Asylum of the City of New York Records | the Center for Jewish History Archivesspace.” Center for Jewish History. Accessed June 13, 2025. https://archives.cjh.org/repositories/3/resources/18297.


“The Making of the the Washington Battalion.” The Volunteer, April 10, 2014. https://albavolunteer.org/2014/03/the-making-of-the-the-washington-lincoln-battalion/.


“Hebrew Orphan Asylum, Former (Now Schiff Playground).” Clio. Accessed June 13, 2025. https://theclio.com/entry/140918.


Brooks, Chris. “Jarama Series the Regiments.” The Volunteer, July 13, 2016. https://albavolunteer.org/2016/07/jarama-series-16-the-regiments/.


Ackman & Ziff Genealogy Institute at the center for jewish history. Accessed June 13, 2025. https://genealogy.cjh.org/fcresults.php?keyfilter=any&inputtext=Alexander%2BFinkel&inputtext2=&searchtype=words&dbselect=all&Search=Search.


Durgan, Andy. “Freedom Fighters or Comintern Army? The International Brigades in Spain.” Andy Durgan: Freedom fighters or Comintern army? The International Brigades in Spain (Autumn 1999). Accessed June 13, 2025. https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/durgan/1999/xx/intbrigades.htm.


“Brunete the Good and the Bad - by Leo Rosenberg.” The Volunteer, September 16, 2018. https://albavolunteer.org/2018/02/brunete-the-good-and-the-bad-by-leo-rosenberg/.


Ink, Social. “Walters, Sam.” The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, December 28, 2022. https://alba-valb.org/volunteers/sam-walters/.


(john@spartacus-educational.com), John Simkin. “Abraham Lincoln Battalion.” Spartacus Educational. Accessed June 13, 2025. https://spartacus-educational.com/SPlincoln.htm.


“Hebrew Orphan Asylum 1935 T-Shirt - Black.” Stuarts London. Accessed June 14, 2025. https://us.stuartslondon.com/mens-clothing-c780/t-shirts-c30/hebrew-orphan-asylum-1935-t-shirt-black-p47337.


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