Herbert Molin (1925-2017)
Herb Molin. Photo Stephanie Berger
We are sad to report the passing of a Herbert Molin, a longtime ALBA friend. Herb was also a member of The Jarama Society, generously leaving ALBA in his plans to help continue our commitment to social activism.
Herbert Molin was born to immigrant parents. Rooted in Yiddishkeit, he was raised in Queens, where his father owned a candy store and his mother was a seamstress. He attended Camp Kinderland and was a proud graduate of Stuyvesant High school. Although he had lost an eye as result of childhood meningitis, his commitment to fighting fascism during WWII led him to enlist in the US Army and serve as a military police officer. At Queens College he was involved in unionizing and the American Communist Party. He also met his future wife and the mother of his children, the late Muriel Mandel. He studied at New York Law School and worked his entire career in many capacities for the NYC Department of Social Services. Herb and Muriel lived in upper Manhattan and the Bronx where they raised their three children to understand the importance of justice, academic pursuit, Jewish identity, participation as a global citizen and the vibrancy and necessity of the arts. Throughout his life until the day he died he attended all ALBA celebrations and supported those who believed in “the revolution.”
He leaves behind to fight the good fight his children, sister, grandchildren, and his favorite Lincoln Brigade lifelong comrade, Herbie Freeman.
Herb’s signature motto was: “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.”
An oral history interview with Herb can be accessed here at the Yiddish Book Center.
