in 1905-the underground youlh movement. Because of his pari in a strike of Potish school youth against the policy of ·· Russianisation •· by the 0:ar, on Polish soil, he was cxpcllcd from school in Warsaw. Alter went 10 Belgiumwherc he studicd engineering a1 the Polytechnic lnstitutc. Upon his graduation he joincd the ·· Bund;· wherc he was soon electcd a member ofthe Centrai Executi\·eCommittcc. Victor Alter was a giftcd Socialistjournalist and writer. His numerous contributions to Socialist thoughl in 1hc Polish. French and Jewish languages include such well-known works as ·· Labour Co-opcration, •• ·· The Mili1ant Socialism," ·· The Man in the Community, .. and others. He belongcd lo the most talcntcd economis1s in the lnternational Labour Movement and contributcd greatly to thc dcvelopment of Socialist ideas on planncd cconomy. I-lewas also elected in 1919by the working masses to thc Warsaw City Council. In 1927 be became onc of Warsaw·s aldermen. He was an expcrt on locai government in Poland"s capitai. In December, 1938. during clcctions 10 the Warsaw City Council, he led the electoral campaign, in the working-class district, which won for the ;, Bund ., ali five seatswhich 1ha1district held. As leader of the Jcwish workers Alter approachcd nearcst thai ideai of ·• conquering the heart of the country for its people and the hcarts of its pcoplc for the country." Through his vers.itile activities he bridged many of the gulfs scparating bis pcople from 1he Polish people and the pcoples ofthe world. In bis private life,just as in his public life, he did noi stand for nationalistic limitations. Alter w11sIIgenuine citizen of 1he world. l·le believcd decply in the ins1inc1of frecdom inherent in every human being. Ali bis life he educated lhc Jcwish workers IO be men and himself set an cxample IO them. His favourite saying was: .. lt is better IOdie standing up, than IO live on one•s knees.'' And be did not flinch in spite of the suongest attacks from the rcactionaries, which werc directcd against bis movement or bis own pcrson, just as he did not bend in thecell ofthc Soviet prison. He was a speaker and writer. He was a politician, 11norganiser of the trade unions and the co-opcratives. He belonged to the most important institutions at bome and abroad. He had views of his own on sociology and politica\ economy, on physics and acsthetics. Both Erlich and Alter were always the chnmpions of truth and progress. And only their hangmen-the men who murdercd lhem-dare 10 throw mudattheirundefendedgraves. MASS ARRESTS IN SOVIET-OCCUPIEO EASTERN POLAND Erlich and Alter werc arrested by thc Soviet authorilies late September. 1939, a few days after the Rcd Army entercd Eastern Poland-Erlich at the railway station of Brzesc (Brest Litovsk), Alter at Kowcl. Mr. Litvinov·s letter IOMr. Green, quotcd here, was meant 10create the impression that both Alter and Erlich had been arrestcd on a definite Biblioteca Gino B\anco
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