Ivin was born and raised in Karlovac to a Jewish family with older brother Slavko. His father Ivo (Izchak) Goldstein was reputable book dealer in Karlovac. In 1941, during World World War II, his father was killed by Ustaše at the Jadovno concentration camp.
As a boy he joined the Partisans and served as a courier. At the end of 1942 Ivin watched over the captive Jure Francetić and informed the Partisan headquarters about his health condition. From 1949 to 1952 Ivin lived in Israel and served in Israel Defense Forces.
Upon his return to Croatia he worked as a journalist.
Later he worked under Franjo Tuđman at the "Institute for history of the labor movement" in Zagreb. In 1966, for his attempt to start the non-Communist newspaper "Slobodna riječ" (Free word), he was sentenced to several months in prison under charges of organizing the assassination on Josip Broz Tito.
After release for short perriod of time Ivin lived in Switzerland and Great Britain. In 1993 he co-founded the Croatian Helsinki Committee which he presided in 2007.
In 2012 he was elected as a new president of the "Council of the Croatian anti-fascists".
