Tibor Rubin - from Concentration Camp to Korean POW

By age 13, Hungarian born Tibor Rubin understood despair, hopelessness, and the horrors of war in a very personal way. In 1942 he and his family were rounded up by the Nazis and taken to the concentration camps, where his mother, father and sister were all executed.

But, for 14 months, young Tibor survived all the odds. After being liberated in 1945 from the Maulthausen Camp in Austria by General Patton’s 3rd Army, he made a solemn promise to himself that, if he ever made it to America, he would show his undying appreciation to this great land by enlisting in the very Army that liberated him.

Soon after the war, Tibor made good on his pledge and, even though he was not a U.S. citizen, he joined the American Army. When the Korean War broke out, Corporal Rubin’s regiment was mobilized and, because he wasn’t an American citizen, he was to be left behind. But, after Rubin vehemently refused insisting that “America was his country”, he was finally allowed to deploy with his men.

In Korea the conditions were brutal, the fighting intense, and the bitter cold unrelenting. Near the end of October 1950, Rubin and his men were overwhelmed by thousands of Chinese troops. Their firepower had dwindled down to one exposed machine gun, which 3 soldiers had already died manning. But Corporal Rubin stepped in. For 24 hours this lone rifleman would defend against a massive number of North Korean forces inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy and saving the lives of countless American soldiers.

He fought alone until his ammunition was gone, and badly wounded, he was captured and sent to a POW camp. Rubin and his men spent the next 30 months as prisoners of war living in the harshest, most inhumane conditions. But living through the unspeakable horrors of the Nazi concentration camps had taught Rubin ways to survive and help his fellow comrades survive. He made soup from grass, medicine from weeds – he stole vegetables from his captors and nursed countless dying men back to life. His refusal to give up and the hope that sprang eternal within him inspired all around him and gave courage to his men to fight on. As one of his fellow soldiers echoed the sentiments of so many others, Tibor was one of the best ever to wear our nation’s uniform.

Fifty-Five years later, on September 24, 2005, the President of the United States presented the Congressional Medal of Honor to 76-year-old Tibor Rubin. In presenting the award the President said,

“Corporal Tibor Rubin’s many acts of courage during the Korean War saved the lives of hundreds of his fellow soldiers. In the heat of battle, he inspired his comrades with his fearlessness, and amid the inhumanity of a Chinese prisoner of war camp, he gave them hope. Many heroes are remembered in monuments of stone. The monuments to Corporal Rubin are a legacy of life. We see his legacy in the many American families whose husbands, fathers, and sons returned home safely because of his efforts. We see his legacy in the free and democratic South Korea that grew on the soil of his sacrifice. And we see his legacy in a new generation of American men and women in uniform who were inspired in their own acts of courage and compassion.”