Roman Werfel, born 1906, Lwów, still alive (he lives in Warsaw), was a Polish communist apparatchik

Apparatchik

Apparatchik is a Russian colloquial term for a full-time, professional functionary of the Communist Party or government; i.e., an agent of the governmental or party "apparat" that held any position of bureaucratic or political responsibility, with the exception of the higher ranks of management...

, active during the reign of Stalinism

Stalinism

Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...

 in the People's Republic of Poland

People's Republic of Poland

The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...

. He was an editor-in-chief of "Nowe Drogi", the leading organ of the Central Committee of the communist United Workers' Party

Polish United Workers' Party

The Polish United Workers' Party was the Communist party which governed the People's Republic of Poland from 1948 to 1989. Ideologically it was based on the theories of Marxism-Leninism.- The Party's Program and Goals :...

 (1952-1959), and from 1948 director of party publishing house Książka i Wiedza.

Roman Werfel took part in preparing the acts of indictment in practically all major political trials (Rzepecki, Mierzwa & Niepokolczycki, Puzak, Tatar, Kaczmarek) and had this to say about the much-hated Communist secret police, the UB or Bezpieka: "There's one principle you have to stick to, in beating: Johnny has to be beaten by Johnny, and not by Moshe." (Torańska, p. 109).

Werfel was one of the older members of the Polish Communist Party. Following the onset of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 he escaped to the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, and actively connected with Nowe Widnokręgi, a Communists periodical published in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

. In the post-war period Werfel was twice chief editor of Głos Ludu (up to 1949 official party daily before the Trybuna Ludu was started). In spring 1955 he was appointed chief editor of Trybuna Ludu, and removed from that position on 11 May 1956. From the first Party congress, deputy member of the party's Politbiuro. At the second congress in March 1954 re-elected to that position.