On December 12, 1937, the XIIIth Polish Dombrowski Brigade’s leadership renamed the Palafox Battalion’s second company the “Naftali Botwin Company”. It was designated as a Jewish company (although membership was not limited to Jews) and was under Jewish military and political command. The Botwin Company reached out to worldwide Jewry with this prescient message.
We, the Jewish soldiers and officers of the Botwin Company, send you heartfelt and fraternal greetings from the Spanish front lines and battlefield trenches where we are fighting for freedom.
Two years ago, Spain’s traitorous generals, with the aid of foreign fascist dictators, rebelled against the Spanish people and their legitimately elected Spanish government. How many innocent Spanish lives have these thugs destroyed? How much ruin, devastation, and death have they brought to Spain’s once beautiful cities? How many horrific tragedies have they caused thousands of peace-loving Spanish families?
These generals have created hundreds of thousands of homeless people, turned tens of thousands of wives and children into widows and orphans, or simply murdered them. Such is the devastation they have wrought on the Spanish people.
This latest iteration of the Inquisition uses fire and bombs to re-impose their backward regime ruled by the wealthy. Hitler and Mussolini want Spain as their European colony. They want to capture and steal its natural resources and turn the land into a strategic military base as they prepare for a new and bloody worldwide slaughter. The conflict in Spain is only a military exercise for them, allowing these fascist dictators to test their modern killing machines and teach their armies how to commit murder.
Humanity’s freedom is being decided on both the Spanish and Chinese front lines. That is the reason the masses have such sympathy for the brave Spaniards, who are defending all people from the death and destruction wrought by these barbaric fascists.
The Spanish struggle has special meaning for the Jewish masses. The Jews know that if European fascism is victorious, it will mean their enslavement. They will be politically, materially, and spiritually ruined. It will end with the destruction and physical eradication of millions. What is happening to Jews in Germany and Austria is an ominous warning to every Jew, and they have understood the truth of that warning from the first day of the Spanish insurrection.
Together with all other freedom-loving people, the Jewish people have given the Spanish People’s Republic its dearest and best: its sons. For the past two years, these Jewish boys and men have streamed into Spain. They have climbed over mountains, smuggled themselves across borders, and sailed across oceans, coming from every corner of the world to fight for freedom.
With their blood and self-sacrifice, the Jewish volunteers in Spain have written a glorious page in heroism’s history books. The bravery of the Jewish volunteers refutes the slanderous epithets of cowardice directed at us by our enemies. Our Jewish militiamen are fighting bravely on every front. The fascists are suffering and will continue to suffer under the Jewish fist. These Jews have cornered and beaten these fascists, proving to the entire world that the Jewish masses are no longer helpless. They, together with all other antifascists, can and will defend against reactionary regimes.
The Jewish volunteer, conscious of his obligation and historical responsibility, is a devoted, bold, and fearless freedom fighter. Khaim Elkin, Leon Inzelshteyn, Albert Weitz-Nkhumi, Yuzhek Rubenstein, Eisenberg, Babrush, Ikutiel Gutman, and dozens of other Jewish fighters who died for Spain are famous among thousands of non-Jewish fighters for their bravery, and the Spanish People’s Army has shown these Jewish fighters the love and respect they have earned.
On December 12, 1937, the Dombrowski Brigade’s leaders created the “Naftali Botwin Company,” a Jewish company honoring the heroism and self-sacrifice of Jewish volunteers. The Botwin Company symbolizes the Jewish people’s role in the Spanish Civil War and unites every Jewish fighter, regardless of political adherence or ideology. The Botwin Company has distinguished itself in every battle in which it has taken part within the past twelve months. It has become an example of discipline, self-sacrifice, and heroism. Its glory belongs to the entire Jewish nation.
The Extremadura, Aragon, and Catalonia front lines forged an antifascist People’s Front. Jewish workers, craftsmen, artisans, and intellectuals, members of the Botwin Company, shed their blood fighting for this same goal, and the Botwin Company has elicited enthusiasm throughout the Jewish world.
In Paris, Jewish Communists, Bundists, and Paoli-Zionists have united into a general, coordinated committee to help Jewish Volunteers. The Company’s example in Spain has strengthened unification among the Jewish masses, speeding the establishment of similar, democratic Peoples’ Fronts on the Jewish street. We, members of the Botwin Company, appreciate every attempt at such unification.
Tied by a hundred threads to our brothers in our homelands, we are concerned with their struggle for bread, peace, and equal rights. We are completely like you, dear friends. We are certain we must have unity and a fraternal bond with all people. The Jewish masses cannot be alone in creating a strong resistance to this new, untamed wave of antisemitism, racial hatred, and pogroms threatening Jewish communities in most European countries.
The Jewish masses in Germany, Austria, Poland, Romania, and Hungary are now in an exceptionally dangerous and desperate situation; similar dangers are encroaching on Jews in other European countries. New laws enacted against foreigners threaten our nascent Jewish communities in France and Belgium. Unity among all antifascists and democratic powers is paramount, and such unification cannot and must not be delayed.
You have entrusted us to carry the battle flag with honor, heroism, and resolve, and we promise to do so. We will shed our blood and deplete our strength to fight fascism, the enemy of Jews and all humanity.
We are certain the heroism of our fallen comrades and our unified front acts as an example to the entire Jewish nation. Our Jewish fighters call out to you: “Do not wait until it is too late. Unite! Join the world’s democratic powers to defeat and end the fascist beast. Save the lives of our women and children!” The greatest hour of our need is here. We call to the millions of Jews in the world to ignore every obstacle on the way to unity—we must stand against our mutual enemies as one.
Jewish unity stands against reactionaries, fascists, and antisemitism!
Long live solidarity between the Jewish people and the Spanish Republic!
Long live the Spanish People’s Army, the heroic defenders of progressive mankind!
Eastern Front, July 1938,
The Botwin Company
(Originally published in the Naye Prese, July 17, 1938)
Translated from David Diamant’s Yidn in Shpanishn Krig, 1936–1939 [Jews in the Spanish War, 1936–1939]