Naftali Botwin

Drawing of Naftali Botwin in the newspaper "Chwila" a day after his execution

Izaak Naftali Botwin, born 1907 in Kamianka-Buzka, Austrian Empire, died 6 August 1925 in Lviv, Poland, was a Polish Jewish communist and labor activist who was executed for the murder of police informant. In the Spanish Civil War the Naftali Botwin Company was named after him.

Early life

Botwin was born as the eighth child of poor Jewish family in Kamianka-Buzka, modern-day Ukraine. His father died early, so Botwin worked from an early age supporting himself with any job available. His last worked as a tailor assistant. In 1922 Botwin joined the Tsukunft, the youth organization of the General Jewish Labor Union of Russian Empire. A year later he joined the labor union and became a member of the Communist Youth Union of Western Ukraine and in 1925 a member of the Communist Party of Western Ukraine, which were active in the eastern interbellum Poland.^[1]

Shooting of Josef Cechnowski

On 29 July 1925 Botwin shot dead Josef Cechnowski in Lviv. Cechnowski was an agent of the Polish secret police Defensywa. He had infiltraded the Communist Party and worked as an informer. Botwin was arrested at the crime scene with no resistance. His trial was short as Botwin plead guilty and accepted all the consequences. The verdict was announced a day later and he was sentenced to death. Botwin's defense made a petition for the presidential pardon but it was rejected by the president Stanisław Wojciechowski. Naftali Botwin was executed by a firing squad on 6 August 1925 at the Brygidki prison in Lviv. 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 the Yaniv cemetery in Lviv.^[1]

Naftali Botwin Company

In December 1937 the Jewish volunteers of the Spanish Civil War formed the Naftali Botwin Company. It was a sub-unit of the Palafox Battalion of the International Brigades. The Company also published a Yiddish newspaper called Botwin.^[2]

References

1. Melamed, Vladimir: "Steiger Affair and Ukrainian-Jewish Relations in Eastern Galicia in the 1920s" Jewish Lviv, #51/2008. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
2. The Naftali Botwin Company Jews in the Spanish Civil War. Retrieved 14 January 2015.