Harry Kleiman was born either December 8, 1912 in Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire, or June 15, 1915 in New York City, according to different records. If Kleiman was born in the Russian Empire, he was part of the great wave of immigration from Eastern Europe during the early 1900s. In New York City, he grew up on the Lower East Side, where he discovered his rich Jewish culture, learning to read and write in Hebrew, despite being non-religious. As one of 5 children, Kleiman grew up in a very crowded lower middle class environment, influencing him to help his community. While not directly poor, he grew up around poverty and so he decided to join the Civilian Conservation Corps and was involved in several projects in his neighborhood. During this time, he also attended Seward Park High School, which would be his last years as a student. After graduating high school, he got a job as glazier, earning a modest salary working with glass. As a frugal middle class worker, he was drawn to the Communist Party like many other young men, which would influence his future decision to fight in the Spanish Civil War.
With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Kleiman felt sympathy and a strong urge to fight for the Republican side through his ties to the Communist Party. Identifying under the code name Cohn Haber, he sailed aboard the President Roosevelt and arrived on July 24, 1937 in Spain. He was immediately thrust into action as part of the XV BDE Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, a Canadian military unit fighting with the XV International Brigade. While a Canadian unit, the brigade contained many Americans, and Kleiman found himself fighting alongside people with very diverse backgrounds, against strong fascist forces. While no source confirms, he was likely involved in the Battalion’s offensive on Fuentes de Ebro on October 13, 1937, and the defense of Teruel in December 1938 and January 1939. With the Republicans' war efforts proving unsuccessful, Kleiman and other volunteers grew increasingly fearful of Nationalist capture, and the horrors that awaited. At an uncertain date most likely in 1939, Kleiman’s worst fears came true as he was captured by Nationalist forces. He was imprisoned in the prison of Valdoneceda with fellow Abraham Lincoln Brigadier John Clarence Blair. He was charged with unspecified crimes. Kleiman noted the unsanitary and frankly dangerous conditions of the jail, as he noted the small rooms without enough space to fit the over 5000 prisoners. He and Blair were scared for their lives, as he said, “...they were alarmed for their safety, (Haber and Blair) waged a campaign to save their lives…”. He later moved to the Provincial Prison in Seville, where he found the conditions much more favorable. Not only was it more sanitable and friendly towards prisoners of war, Kleiman met several other American volunteers from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade(Kehrlicker, Opara, and Doran). While he naturally didn’t enjoy being imprisoned, he appreciated the company of other American volunteers, many of whom he was meeting for the first time, having initially fought in an international brigade. He was finally released in March of 1940 and returned back to New York City on March 17 aboard Exiria.
Throughout his time in imprisonment, Kleiman developed a hobby of writing, or was perhaps already a hobby he had. He took several notes in diaries in which he mentioned important people such as the other Abraham Lincoln volunteers, and Roberto Vega, an important Mexican volunteer. He chronicled his journey in a Communist newspaper after he returned in 1941.
Kleiman lived his later life in New York City with his wife Tina. Unlike many of his fellow Abraham Lincoln volunteers, he did not serve in World War 2. Instead, he resumed his work as a glazier, as well as becoming a clerk. In his pastime, he picked up the hobby of playing chess, playing it “fanatically”. He passed away due to a heart attack on March 4, 1974.
Ink, Social. “Kleiman, Harry.” The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, September 15, 2022. https://alba-valb.org/volunteers/harry-kleiman/.
“Escape from Death Row: Three Lincoln Pows on Trial.” The Volunteer, December 19, 2013. https://albavolunteer.org/2013/12/special-feature-escape-from-death-row-three-lincoln-pows-on-trial/.
Jews in the Spanish Civil War. Accessed May 6, 2025. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jews-who-served-in-the-international-brigade-in-the-spanish-civil-war.
“NYU Special Collections,” n.d.