Dawid Moryc Apfelbaum (some sources give Mieczysław or Mordechaj as his second name, and Appelbaum as his surname), ''

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

'' "Kowal" ("

Blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

") (?-4/28/1943) was allegedly an officer in the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

and a commander of the

Jewish Military Union Żydowski Związek Wojskowy (ŻZW, Polish for ''Jewish Military Union,'' yi, יידישע מיליטערישע פֿאראייניקונג) was an underground resistance organization operating during World War II in the area of the Warsaw Gh ...

(''Żydowski Związek Wojskowy'', ŻZW), during the

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; pl, powstanie w getcie warszawskim; german: link=no, Aufstand im Warschauer Ghetto was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany' ...

. His very existence has been questioned by some historians, who argue that there is no credible evidence to suggest that there was a person by that name involved in the ŻZW in any capacity.

Biography

In 1939 Apfelbaum was a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the Polish Army. During the

German invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week afte ...

he fought in

the defence ''The Defense'' is the third novel written by Vladimir Nabokov after he had emigrated to Berlin. It was published in 1930. Publication The novel appeared first under Nabokov's pen name V. Sirin in the Russian emigre quarterly ''Sovremennye zapis ...

of the Polish capital

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

. After Poland's defeat together with many other Jews in Polish Army as well as Polish-Jewish political leaders he founded the ŻZW. In structures of the organization, Apfelbaum purportedly was the chief of the department of communication with Korpus Bezpieczeństwa and

Armia Krajowa The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) e ...

on "Aryan" site of Warsaw. Together with Paweł Frenkiel he was also said to be a leader of the war department in ŻZW. In the meantime,

secured his promotion to

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

from the

Polish government in exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...

. It is stated in many secondary accounts that during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Captain Apfelbaum was commander of a squad who took part in the heavy fighting in defense of the Muranowski Square. He was supposedly killed in the first days of uprising. After his death he was promoted to the rank of

Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

in the Polish Army by the AK command. In 2004, the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of Warsaw

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he pre ...

had a square named for Apfelbaum in the city's

Wola Wola (, ) is a district in western Warsaw, Poland, formerly the village of Wielka Wola, incorporated into Warsaw in 1916. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it underwent a transformation into an office (co ...

district.

Moshe Arens Moshe Arens (27 December 1925 – 7 January 2019) was an Israeli aeronautical engineer, researcher, diplomat and Likud politician. A member of the Knesset between 1973 and 1992 and again from 1999 until 2003, he served as Minister of Defense thre ...

, the author of numerous works on the Revisionist underground in the

maintains that the "ZZW was led by Pawel Frenkel, a member of the Revisionist Youth Movement, Betar; Leon Rodal, a member of the Revisionist movement, and David Apfelbaum, a former officer in the Polish Army who was an adherent of

Zeev Jabotinsky Ze'ev Jabotinsky ( he, זְאֵב זַ׳בּוֹטִינְסְקִי, ''Ze'ev Zhabotinski'';, ''Wolf Zhabotinski'' 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940), born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky, was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leade ...

Doubts about the existence of Apfelbaum

According to the historians

Dariusz Libionka Dariusz Marian Libionka (born on 25 June 1963 in Bielsko-Biała) is a Polish historian affiliated with the Institute of National Remembrance in Lublin. Libionka graduated from the Catholic University of Lublin (KUL) and the School for Social Scienc ...

and Laurence Weinbaum, authors of an extensive study of the ŻZW, Apfelbaum was in all likelihood an entirely mythical figure. In an article published in 2007 in the Israeli newspaper

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

, and the Polish journal Więź they maintain that there is no credible evidence to suggest that there was a person by that name involved in the ZZW in any capacity. They reject the writings of Arens and others (including most notably Paris author Marian Apfelbaum) who ascribe to Apfelbaum a leadership role in the ŻZW. Libionka and Weinbaum demonstrate that Apfelbaum's name does not appear in any reliable eyewitness testimony and that contrary to claims to the contrary, Dawid Wdowiński did not refer to him in his memoirs. Libionka and Weinbaum examine the provenance of the Apfelbaum story and trace it to the accounts of

Henryk Iwański Henryk Iwański (1902-1978), nom de guerre Bystry, was a member of the Polish resistance during World War II. He is known for leading one of the most daring actions of the Armia Krajowa (Home Army) in support of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, howev ...

and his cohorts. In their book, published in 2011, that testimony is deconstructed and relegated to the category of "apocrypha."69 years of manipulations
/ref>

References

External links

*
A legendary commander Apfelbaum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apfelbaum, Dawid Moryc 1943 deaths Jewish Military Union members Jewish resistance members during the Holocaust People who died in the Warsaw Ghetto People whose existence is disputed Polish Army officers Polish military personnel killed in World War II Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Year of birth unknown

Biography

Doubts about the existence of Apfelbaum

See also

References

Further reading

External links