Prisoners Nos. 41 and 42. The Fates of Victor Alter and Henrik Erlich in Soviet Prison
The article about the leaders of the Bund in Poland - Viktor Alter and Henrik Erlich, based mainly on materials collected by Erlich’s son, Viktor Erlich, describes their fate in the USSR. Arrested and sentenced to death in 1941, they were released after signing the Sikorsky - Maisky Pact. They negotiated with representatives of the Soviet government to create a Jewish anti-fascist committee; December 3, 1941 they were again arrested in Kuibyshev. The article on the basis of the NKVD documents describes their stay in prison and the actions of state security agencies. Henrik Erlich committed suicide, and Victor Alter was executed without a sentence. Only after their death did the Soviet authorities publish a false argument for their arrest and second death penalty.