Biographies/Joseph Auerbach

Tags: Died in Spain Jewish Battle of Brunete Member of Communist Party Brooklyn Ile de France

Researcher: Molly Rosenfeld, Stuyvesant '25

Joseph Auerbach was born in 1913 in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Jewish and likely Eastern European immigrants. He grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, which at the time was a poor immigrant neighborhood. The address as listed on his passport is 272 Kosciuszko Street. His profession was listed as laborer. As of 1936, there is record of Auerbach being a member of the Communist Party. This ideology was fairly common for working class Jews at the time, many of whom were drawn to leftist politics in response to rising fascism, antisemitism, and economic injustice. Up to 25% of the people in the International Brigades were Jewish, and of American volunteers, Jews made up 38%.

On February 12th, 1937, Auerbach was issued a passport. A mere twelve days later, on February 20th, 1937, he boarded the ship Ile de France, upon which he sailed to Europe. Considering the short time between him joining the Communist Party in 1936, receiving a passport a few months later, and leaving almost immediately for Spain, one might infer that Auerbach was quickly motivated to participate in what he saw as an urgent and righteous cause.

Auerbach arrived in Spain on March 17, 1937 after first landing most likely at Le Havre in France, the home port of the ship. He joined the Lincoln Battalion, a part of the XV International Brigade, formed originally in January of 1937. The Battalion was often used in dangerous, highly risky operations. On February 27th, 1937 the Brigade lost two-thirds of its forces, including its commander. Auerbach and his fellow international volunteers joined what would have been a decimated unit.

However, Auerbach’s time serving in the Lincoln Battalion was short-lived. Not long after arriving in Spain, he was injured in the Battle of Brunete. On July 30th, 1937 he died in a hospital in Madrid at the age of 24. His death is listed as KIA (killed in action).

While there's very little information available about Joseph Auerbach in particular, the broader context in which a working-class Jew from Brooklyn may have volunteered is more well known. Joe Butwin’s compilation of oral histories draws attention to how, for many Jewish volunteers, participation was connected not only to leftist politics or to religious tradition, but also to Jews’ sense of cosmopolitan identity. This sense of affiliation with global struggle rooted in their Jewish experience led to a sense of obligation. Auerbach, like many of his fellow soldiers, may have been influenced by the idea that Spain’s Fascist nationalists were not just a threat to the Spanish Republic, but to the global proletariat.


Sources

Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. “Joseph Auerbach.” Accessed May 17, 2025. https://alba-valb.org/volunteers/joseph-auerbach/.


“Americans in the Spanish Civil War: A Biographical Dictionary of Americans Serving in the Republican Ranks.” Accessed June 15, 2025. https://brooksarp.wordpress.com/honor-roll/.



Butwin, Joe. “George Watt.” Quoted in “Salud E Shalom: American Jews in the Spanish Civil War.” Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington. Accessed June 16, 2025. https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/american-jews-spanish-civil-war/#watt.



Butwin, Joe. “Abe Osheroff.” Quoted in “Salud E Shalom: American Jews in the Spanish Civil War.” Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington. Accessed June 16, 2025. https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/american-jews-spanish-civil-war/#osheroff.



SIDBRINT, Memoria Historica Brigades Internacionals, Universitat de Barcelona. “Auerbach, Joseph.” Accessed June. 16, 2025. https://sidbrint.ub.edu/brigadista/auerbach-joseph.



Sugerman, Martin. “Jews in the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939.” Jewish Virtual Library. November 24, 2024. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jews-who-served-in-the-international-brigade-in-the-spanish-civil-war#google_vignette.


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