Victor Alter (also Wiktor Alter; 7 February 1890 – 17 February 1943) was a Polish

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

activist and

Bund Bund, BUND, or the Bund may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Der Bund'', a German-language newspaper published in Bern, Switzerland * Shanghai Bund (TV series), ''Shanghai Bund'' (TV series), a 2007 Chinese television remake of the 19 ...

publicist, and a member of the executive committee of the

Second International The Second International, also called the Socialist International, was a political international of Labour movement, socialist and labour parties and Trade union, trade unions which existed from 1889 to 1916. It included representatives from mo ...

Life

Alter studied in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, at the

University of Ghent Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

where he received a degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

in 1912. Afterward he returned to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. In April 1913 he was arrested by

Tsarist Tsarist autocracy (), also called Tsarism, was an autocracy, a form of absolute monarchy in the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire. In it, the Tsar possessed in principle authority and ...

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 is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

where he joined the Labour Party. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he took part in the campaign of

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 conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

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 The Polish Socialist Party (, PPS) is a democratic socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most significant parties in Poland from its founding in 1892 until its forced merger with the communist Polish Workers' Party to form ...

, and opposed the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

and the Polish Communist Party. During this time he was also a member of

Warsaw City Council Warsaw City Council, officially the Council of the Capital City of Warsaw () 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 Magdebu ...

. In September 1939 after the

German invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, and the subsequent

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...

he found himself in the Soviet occupied zone. On 29 September he was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

. In July 1941 he was sentenced to death by the Soviet authorities, although the sentence was later commuted to ten years in the

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

. After the Nazi invasion of Soviet Union, and the signing of the

Sikorski–Mayski Agreement The Sikorski–Mayski agreement was a treaty between the Soviet Union and Poland that was signed in London on 30 July 1941.Stanislaw Mikolajczyk ''The Pattern of Soviet Domination'', Sampson Low, Marston & Co 1948, Page 17Jozef Garlinski ''Poland i ...

between the

Polish Government in Exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovere ...

and the Soviet Union he was released from the gulag.

Execution

He began to organize the International

Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, abbreviated as JAC, was an organization that was created in the Soviet Union during World War II to influence international public opinion and organize political and material support for the Soviet fight against ...

. During this time he established contacts with

Stanisław Kot Stanisław Kot (22 October 188526 December 1975) was a Polish historian and politician. A native of the Austrian partition of Poland, early in life he was attracted to the cause of Polish independence. As a professor of the Jagiellonian Unive ...

, the Polish ambassador in Moscow, and called for Polish Jews in the Soviet Union to join the Polish

Anders Army Anders' Army was the informal yet common name of the Polish Armed Forces in the East in the 1941–42 period, in recognition of its commander Władysław Anders. The army was created in the Soviet Union but, in March 1942, based on an understand ...

. 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

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, 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 Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (; – 8 November 1986) was a Soviet politician, diplomat, and revolutionary who was a leading figure in the government of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s, as one of Joseph Stalin's closest allies. ...

in a note to

Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria ka, ლავრენტი პავლეს ძე ბერია} ''Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria'' ( – 23 December 1953) was a Soviet politician and one of the longest-serving and most influential of Joseph ...

, 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"

Grob symboliczny Wiktora Altera i Henryka Ehrlicha-Symbolic grave of Wiktor Alter and Henryk Ehrlich

On 8 February 1991 Victor Erlich, the son of Henryk Erlich was informed that according to a decree passed under

Russian president The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

, 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 17 April 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 A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

and was only made possible due to the efforts of

Marek Edelman Marek Edelman (; 1919/1922 – October 2, 2009) was a Polish Jewish political and social activist and cardiologist. Edelman was the last surviving leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Long before his death, he was the last one to stay in the ...

(surviving participant of the

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany's final effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to the gas chambers of the ...

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.

Life

Execution

"Rehabilitation"

Publications

See also