Researcher: Renata Firestone, Stuyvesant '26

Harry Rubin was born on June 10th, 1913, in New York City. The details of his early life are unclear, but given the fact that he was a young Jewish man living in the city, certain things can be inferred. Rubin likely was part of a family of recent Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants who had arrived at Ellis Island in the early 1900s. It’s also highly probable that the fight against fascism held special significance to him, as the rise of Nazis abroad and fascist movements in New York City itself threatened Jewish lives.


As a young adult, Rubin lived at 649 Argyle Road, in Brooklyn’s historic Ditmas Park. He left this home on May 1st, 1937, aboard the Statendam, arriving in Spain on the 23rd of that same month. He was 24 years old. In Spain, Rubin served as a seaman for the XV Brigade, which had initially formed in January 1937 to encompass international soldiers. Within the XV Brigade, Rubin fought in the Abraham Lincoln battalion, which was primarily composed of Americans. This battalion, along with the rest of the XV Brigade, crudely prepared their young soldiers to be thrust into battle, usually for their first time.


It was during this period that Rubin became a charter member of the NMU, or National Maritime Union. Rubin was also a charter member of the MWHA (I was unable to determine what ‘MWHA’ stands for, but I assume it begins with ‘maritime workers’.) Rubin fought in the July 1937 Battle of Brunete, a Republican offensive which led to devastating casualties for the XV Brigade. He also served in Barcelona, although there were multiple battles in that area so it is unclear which one he fought in and when. This is also the case with the Battle of Quintus, of which there is no record available online–it could be surmised that ‘Quintus’ is a misspelling and Rubin actually fought in the August 1937 Battle of Quinto.


After he was wounded in action in Quinto street fighting, Rubin was treated at Benicassim hospital, where supplies were scarce and volunteer doctors and nurses were forced to improvise in their treatments. Rubin was discharged from Spain, returning to the US on July 31st of 1938 aboard the Britannic. He continued to reside in Brooklyn. In 1968 Rubin married the Argentinian-born Dr. Angelica Beatriz Miotti, with whom he had a son, Mark. Rubin died 1992, and Dr. Miotti died in 1996.

Sources

Ink, Social. “Rubin, Harry.” The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. Accessed June 12, 2025.
https://alba-valb.org/volunteers/henry-rubin/

Martin Sugarman. “Jews in the Spanish Civil War.” Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed June 12 2025.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jews-who-served-in-the-international-brigade-in-the-spanish-civil-war

spanishcivilwarfan.org. “John Palu: Medical Care in the Spanish Civil War.” The Martin Springer Institute. Accessed June 12, 2025.
https://spanishcivilwarfan.org/home/narratives/john-palu/#:~:text=During%20the%20Civil%20War%2C%20the,in%20the%20villas%20of%20Benicassim.

“Battle of Brunete.” Wikipedia. Accessed June 12, 2025.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brunete

“The Book of the XV Brigade.” Internet Archive. Accessed June 12, 2025.
https://archive.org/details/xv-international/page/23/mode/1up

“Harry Rubin.” Ancestry. Accessed June 12, 2025.
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61406/records/3814671?tid=&pid=&queryId=f66abdd3-27a1-47e1-b2dc-a2cdc081c4db&usePUBJs=true

“Angelica Miotti Rubin.” Ancestry. Accessed June 12, 2025.
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/70037/records/1358710