Șmil Marcovici (1893 – November 10, 1940) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n communist activist. He was born in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

. A member of the local

Jewish community Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

, he fought in the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Forc ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

until 1917, when he deserted. He fled to

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

, where, together with

Christian Rakovsky Christian Georgiyevich Rakovsky ( – September 11, 1941), Bulgarian name Krastyo Georgiev Rakovski, born Krastyo Georgiev Stanchov, was a Bulgarian-born socialist Professional revolutionaries, revolutionary, a Bolshevik politician and Soviet Un ...

and Mihail Gheorghiu Bujor, he took part in a revolutionary battalion for Romanian troops. Later, as a courier employed by Soviet Russia, Marcovici entered Romania a number of times, bringing in printing presses and important sums of money in order to finance the communist factions within the Socialist Party of Romania, as well as Bolshevik-inspired terrorist groups. Arrested as a spy in May 1920, he was sentenced to twenty years' hard labor. He escaped from Jilava Prison and took refuge in Russia. There, he graduated from the cadres school of the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, becoming an instructor at that institution.Tănase, p.262 The Romanian authorities amnestied him in 1929, and, upon orders from the Comintern and the

GRU Gru is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Despicable Me'' film series. Gru or GRU may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Gru (rapper), Serbian rapper * Gru, an antagonist in '' The Kine Saga'' Organizations Georgia (c ...

, he returned to his native country.Tănase, p.262-3 Becoming involved with the banned

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...

(PCdR), Marcovici joined its secretariat and was chief of the central committee's technical operations, organizing networks and clandestine links. He also took care of the printing presses and distribution of materials. He headed the central committee's internal police, verifying arrests, monitoring those suspected of being informers for the

Siguranța ''Siguranța'' was the generic name for the successive secret police services in the Kingdom of Romania. The official title of the organization changed throughout its history, with names including Directorate of the Police and General Safety () ...

secret police, disbursed funds and checked on the clandestine operations of paid activists. He played a similar role within the International Red Aid, supervising assistance in the form of money, food, clothing and newspapers sent to prisons. He also managed ties with various

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

front organizations A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy gro ...

financed by the PCdR.Tănase, p.263 He was one of nineteen communists arrested in July 1935, tried the following June in

Craiova Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It i ...

, and sent to prison. While at Doftana Prison, he befriended

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

, a fellow inmate at the time. Marcovici died at Doftana Prison in 1940, when an earthquake caused the structure to collapse.

Notes

References

Stelian Tănase Stelian Tănase (born February 17, 1952) is a Romanian writer, journalist, political analyst, and talk show host. Tănase was from November 2013 to October 2015 the president of TVR. Having briefly engaged in politics during the early 1990s, aft ...

, ''Clienții lu' tanti varvara: istorii clandestine''.

Humanitas (from the Latin , "human") is a Latin noun meaning human nature, civilization, and kindness. It has uses in the Enlightenment, which are discussed below. Classical origins of term The Latin word corresponded to the Greek concepts of (loving ...

, Bucharest, 2005, {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcovici, Smil 1893 births 1940 deaths Politicians from Iași Romanian Jews Romanian Communist Party politicians Romanian military personnel of World War I Deserters People convicted of spying for the Soviet Union Romanian expatriates in the Soviet Union Escapees from Romanian detention Romanian Comintern people Collaborators with the Soviet Union Romanian spies for the Soviet Union Inmates of Jilava Prison Inmates of Doftana prison Romanian people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Romanian detention Natural disaster deaths in Romania Deaths in earthquakes