Roman Karol Werfel (24 May 1906 in

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

– 2003,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

), was a Polish Communist politician, active during the reign of

Stalinism Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

. He was an editor-in-chief of "Nowe Drogi", the leading organ of the Central Committee of the communist United Workers' Party (1952-1959), and from 1948 director of party publishing house ''Książka i Wiedza''. Roman Werfel took part in preparing the acts of indictment in practically all major political trials (Rzepecki, Mierzwa & Niepokolczycki, Puzak, Tatar, bishop Kaczmarek) and had this to say about the much-hated Communist secret police, the UB or Bezpieka: "There's one principle you have to stick to, in beating: Johnny has to be beaten by Johnny, and not by Moshe." (''Torańska, p. 109''). Werfel was one of the older members of the Polish Communist Party. Following the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he escaped to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, and actively connected with ''Nowe Widnokręgi'', a Communists periodical published in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. In the post-war period Werfel was twice chief editor of ''Głos Ludu'' (up to 1949 official party daily before the ''Trybuna Ludu'' was started). In spring 1955 he was appointed chief editor of ''Trybuna Ludu'', and removed from that position on 11 May 1956. From the first Party congress, deputy member of the party's

Politbiuro A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

. At the second congress in March 1954 re-elected to that position.

References

Teresa Torańska Teresa Sławomira Torańska (January 1, 1944 – January 2, 2013) was a Polish journalist and writer. She was perhaps best known for her award winning monograph, ''Oni'' ( en, Them: Stalin's Polish Puppets). Biography Teresa Torańska was born o ...

, ''Them: Stalin's Polish Puppets'',

HarperCollins Publishers HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...

(May 1988), 384 pages, translated by Agnieszka Kolakowska, (paperback, hardcover

About Roman Werfel
at the

Blinken Open Society Archives Blinken Open Society Archives (abbreviated as Blinken OSA) is an archival repository and laboratory that aims to explore new ways of assessing, contextualizing, presenting, and making use of archival documents both in a professional and a conscio ...

1906 births 2003 deaths Politicians from Lviv People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Polish communists Polish United Workers' Party members {{Poland-politician-stub