Victor Alter
Encyclopedia
Victor Alter (born February 7, 1890 in Mława, died February 17, 1943 in the Soviet Union
) was a Jewish socialist activist and publicist of the Bund, and a member of the executive committee of the Second International
.
, at the University of Ghent where he received a degree in mechanical engineering
in 1912. Afterward he returned to Warsaw
. In April 1913 he was arrested by Tsarist authorities for his activism for the Bund and was exiled to Siberia. He managed to escape and soon made his way to Great Britain
where he joined the Labour Party
. During World War I
he took part in the campaign of conscientious objector
and refused military service. After the February Revolution he moved to Russia. In December 1917 he became a member of the Central Committee of the Bund.
From 1918 on he resided in newly independent Poland
. He was one of the leaders of the Polish Bund in the interwar period, associated with the organization’s left wing. He was in favor of closer cooperation with the Polish Socialist Party
, and opposed the Comintern
and the Polish Communist Party. During this time he was also a member of Warsaw City Council
.
In September 1939 after the German invasion of Poland, and the subsequent Soviet invasion of Poland
he found himself in the Soviet occupied zone. On the 29th of September he was arrested by the NKVD
. In July 1941 he was sentenced to death by the Soviet authorities, although the sentence was later commuted to ten years in the Gulag
. After the Nazi invasion of Soviet Union
, and the signing of the Sikorski–Mayski Agreement between the Polish Government in Exile
and the Soviet Union he was released from the gulag.
. During this time he established contacts with Stanisław Kot, the Polish ambassador in Moscow, and called for Polish Jews in the Soviet Union to join the Polish Anders Army
. In October 1941, Alter, together with Henrik Erlich were placed by the Soviet authorities in a hotel in Kuibishev (Samar). During private conversations, which were taped and reported to Stalin, the two discussed the rumors about the murder of Polish officers, including many Polish Jews, at Katyn
. On 4 December 1941, he was again arrested by the NKVD, together with Erlich and murdered, although the precise details about his death are unknown. According to some reports, he was sentenced to death on 23 December 1941, and immediately executed. Other sources state that his execution did not take place until February 1943. The death sentence was signed by Vyacheslav Molotov
in a note to Lavrentiy Beria
, stating that Stalin had personally approved the order.
In 1943, Soviet authorities issued a communique which announced that Victor Alter had been executed for “spying for Hitler”. His execution, on Stalin's orders, provoked an international outcry.
, Victor Alter, together with Erlich had been "rehabilitated" and the repressions against them had been declared unlawful.
While the exact place where he was buried is unknown, a symbolic monument was erected at the Jewish cemetery on Okopowa street
in Warsaw on April 17, 1988. The inscription reads "Leaders of the Bund, Henryk Erlich, b. 1882, and Wiktor Alter, b. 1890. Executed in the Soviet Union". The establishment of the monument (as well as the publication of the full story of Alter and Erlich) was opposed by Poland's post-war communist government
and was only made possible due to the efforts of Marek Edelman
(sole surviving participant of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
and a Bundist) and members of the Polish Solidarity Union. The commemoration ceremony was attended by over three thousand people.
He also published numerous articles in the socialist press.
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....
) was a Jewish socialist activist and publicist of the Bund, and a member of the executive committee of the Second International
Second International
The Second International , the original Socialist International, was an organization of socialist and labour parties formed in Paris on July 14, 1889. At the Paris meeting delegations from 20 countries participated...
.
Life
Alter studied in BelgiumBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, at the University of Ghent where he received a degree in mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
in 1912. Afterward he returned to Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. In April 1913 he was arrested by Tsarist authorities for his activism for the Bund and was exiled to Siberia. He managed to escape and soon made his way to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
where he joined the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he took part in the campaign of conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
and refused military service. After the February Revolution he moved to Russia. In December 1917 he became a member of the Central Committee of the Bund.
From 1918 on he resided in newly independent Poland
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
. He was one of the leaders of the Polish Bund in the interwar period, associated with the organization’s left wing. He was in favor of closer cooperation with the Polish Socialist Party
Polish Socialist Party
The Polish Socialist Party was one of the most important Polish left-wing political parties from its inception in 1892 until 1948...
, and opposed the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
and the Polish Communist Party. During this time he was also a member of Warsaw City Council
Warsaw City Council
Warsaw City Council is a unicameral governing body of the city of Warsaw, the capital of Poland.The council was first created following the location of Warsaw under the terms of the Magdeburg Law in the Middle Ages. The modern council is regulated by the Warsaw Act of 2002. It consists of 60...
.
In September 1939 after the German invasion of Poland, and the subsequent Soviet invasion of Poland
Soviet invasion of Poland
Soviet invasion of Poland can refer to:* the second phase of the Polish-Soviet War of 1920 when Soviet armies marched on Warsaw, Poland* Soviet invasion of Poland of 1939 when Soviet Union allied with Nazi Germany attacked Second Polish Republic...
he found himself in the Soviet occupied zone. On the 29th of September he was arrested by the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
. In July 1941 he was sentenced to death by the Soviet authorities, although the sentence was later commuted to ten years in the Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
. After the Nazi invasion of Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, and the signing of the Sikorski–Mayski Agreement between the Polish Government in Exile
Polish government in Exile
The Polish government-in-exile, formally known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in Exile , was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, which...
and the Soviet Union he was released from the gulag.
Execution
He began to organize the International Jewish Anti-Fascist CommitteeJewish Anti-Fascist Committee
The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee was formed on Joseph Stalin's order in Kuibyshev in April 1942 with the official support of the Soviet authorities...
. During this time he established contacts with Stanisław Kot, the Polish ambassador in Moscow, and called for Polish Jews in the Soviet Union to join the Polish Anders Army
Anders Army
The Anders Army was the informal yet common name of the Polish Armed Forces in the East in the period 1941-1942, in recognition of its commander Władysław Anders...
. In October 1941, Alter, together with Henrik Erlich were placed by the Soviet authorities in a hotel in Kuibishev (Samar). During private conversations, which were taped and reported to Stalin, the two discussed the rumors about the murder of Polish officers, including many Polish Jews, at Katyn
Katyn massacre
The Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass execution of Polish nationals carried out by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs , the Soviet secret police, in April and May 1940. The massacre was prompted by Lavrentiy Beria's proposal to execute all members of...
. On 4 December 1941, he was again arrested by the NKVD, together with Erlich and murdered, although the precise details about his death are unknown. According to some reports, he was sentenced to death on 23 December 1941, and immediately executed. Other sources state that his execution did not take place until February 1943. The death sentence was signed by Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
in a note to Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was a Georgian Soviet politician and state security administrator, chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus under Joseph Stalin during World War II, and Deputy Premier in the postwar years ....
, stating that Stalin had personally approved the order.
In 1943, Soviet authorities issued a communique which announced that Victor Alter had been executed for “spying for Hitler”. His execution, on Stalin's orders, provoked an international outcry.
"Rehabilitation"
On February 8, 1991, Victor Erlich, the grand-son of Henryk Erlich was informed that according to a decree passed under Russian president Boris YeltsinBoris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
, Victor Alter, together with Erlich had been "rehabilitated" and the repressions against them had been declared unlawful.
While the exact place where he was buried is unknown, a symbolic monument was erected at the Jewish cemetery on Okopowa street
Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery
The Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. Located on Warsaw's Okopowa street and abutting the Powązki Cemetery at , the Jewish Cemetery was established in 1806 and occupies 33 hectares of land. The cemetery contains over 200,000 marked graves, as well...
in Warsaw on April 17, 1988. The inscription reads "Leaders of the Bund, Henryk Erlich, b. 1882, and Wiktor Alter, b. 1890. Executed in the Soviet Union". The establishment of the monument (as well as the publication of the full story of Alter and Erlich) was opposed by Poland's post-war communist government
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...
and was only made possible due to the efforts of Marek Edelman
Marek Edelman
Marek Edelman was a Jewish-Polish political and social activist and cardiologist.Before World War II, he was a General Jewish Labour Bund activist. During the war he co-founded the Jewish Combat Organization. He took part in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, becoming its leader after the death of...
(sole surviving participant of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....
and a Bundist) and members of the Polish Solidarity Union. The commemoration ceremony was attended by over three thousand people.
Publications
Victor Alter published several books, including:- Antysemityzm gospodarczy w świetle cyfr (Economic Antisemitism in numbers) (1937)
- Gdy socjaliści dojdą do władzy ...! (When Socialists come to power…!) (1934)
- Socjalizm walczący (Fighting Socialism) (1926)
He also published numerous articles in the socialist press.