Izaak Naftali Botwin (

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

: יצחק נפתלי באָטווין) (19 February 1905,

Kamianka-Buzka Kamianka-Buzka (, ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Lviv Raion, Lviv Oblast, of western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Kamianka-Buzka urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The city was previously known as Kamianka St ...

, – 6 August 1925,

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

) was a Polish

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

and labour activist who was executed for the murder of a police informant. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

the Naftali Botwin Company was named after Botwin.

Early life

Botwin was born as the eighth child of a poor Jewish family in Kamianka-Buzka, Poland (now

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). His father died early, so Botwin was sent to work in a factory at the age of 13. Two years later, he became an apprentice to a shoemaker, and worked as a leather cutter in a shoe shop, until he was sacked in April 1925, for political activism. In 1922, Botwin joined the Tsukunft, the youth organization of the

General Jewish Labor Bund The General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia (), generally called The Bund (, cognate to , ) or the Jewish Labour Bund (), was a secular Jewish socialist party initially formed in the Russian Empire and active between 1897 and 1 ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. A year later, he joined the labour union and became a member of the Communist Youth Union of Western Ukraine. In 1925, he became a member of the Communist Party of Western Ukraine, which were active in eastern interbellum Poland.Melamed, Vladimir. "Steiger Affair and Ukrainian-Jewish Relations in Eastern Galicia in the 1920s"
Jewish Lviv, #51/2008. Retrieved 14 January 2015.

Shooting of Josef Cechnowski

On 29 July 1925 Botwin shot dead Josef Cechnowski in Lwów. Cechnowski was an agent of the Polish secret police Defensywa. He had infiltrated the Communist Party in

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 ...

, and worked as an informer. In 1925, the communists discovered his double role and resolved to kill him. One assassination plot in Warsaw was exposed, and three communist party members were arrested and subsequently executed, after which Cechnowski moved to Lwów, where he believed there was less risk that he would be recognized. Botwin was arrested at the crime scene with no resistance. His trial was short as Botwin pleaded guilty and accepted all the consequences. The verdict was announced a day later, and he was sentenced to death by the drumhead court in Lwów. Botwin's defense made a petition for the presidential pardon but it was rejected by the president

Stanisław Wojciechowski Stanisław Wojciechowski (; 15 March 1869 – 9 April 1953) was a Polish people, Polish politician and scholar who served as President of Poland between 1922 and 1926, during the Second Polish Republic. He was elected president in 1922, followi ...

. Naftali Botwin was executed by a firing squad on 6 August 1925 at the Brygidki prison in Lwów. Botwin did not want his eyes to be covered. In his last words Botwin exclaimed: ″Down with bourgeoisie! Long live the social revolution!″ He was buried at Yaniv Cemetery, Lwów (now Lviv). In the years after his death, Botwin's legacy continued, especially in Jewish communist circles in Poland. He was the subject of several Yiddish plays, children were named after him and the day of his death was part of the Yiddish Communist calendar.

Naftali Botwin Company

In December 1937 the Jewish volunteers of the

formed the Naftali Botwin Company. It was a sub-unit of the

Palafox Battalion The Palafox Battalion was a volunteer unit of largely Polish and Spanish composition in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. It was named after José de Palafox, a Spanish general who successfully fought French Napoleonic for ...

of the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

and of Jews who had completed the short training course but had not yet been placed in a combat force. The company also published a

newspaper called ''Botwin''. 150 Jews from Poland, France, Belgium and the Yishuv region served in the Botwin Company. Among them were two Palestinian Arabs, one of whom spoke Yiddish. The members of the unit spoke Polish, Spanish and Ladino. They designed a flag with the writing "The Naftali Botwin Company", the name of their brigade "Palafox Brigade" and the motto " For our Freedom and your Freedom" in Spanish, Polish and Yiddish on it.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botwin, Naftali 20th-century Polish criminals 1905 births 1925 deaths Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Polish communists Polish assassins Communist assassins Executed assassins Executed communists Executed Polish people Polish people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Poland People executed by the Second Polish Republic People executed by Poland by firing squad Communist Party of Western Ukraine members Bundists Jewish trade unionists Burials at Yaniv Cemetery Executed trade unionists