Leon Narwicz (), also Leon Narvich,in Spanish and Catalan transcriptions his surname appears – also in official juridical documents related to the trial after his death – in various spelling versions, compare Agustín Guillamón, El terror estalinista en Barcelona, Valencia 2018, pp. 20, 69-73, 84 and passim. On the cover of the court file, reproduced below, the surname is spelled "Narrvirtsch". Also in western-European historiography and broad public discourse the surname might appear as Narvitch, Narvitsch, Narwitsch, Narwich etc., though the version which prevails is Narvich León Druan (1911–1938) was a radical left-wing political militant and revolutionary of mixed Polish, Jewish and Russian background. He was related to the Communist movement in Russia, Poland, Belgium and France. He took part in the Spanish Civil War as member of the International Brigades, serving in French or/and Polish units as a political commissar. He was acting as agent of the Soviet intelligence NKVD and the Republican military counter-intelligence Servicio de Información Militar. His primary task was penetration into and subversion of POUM groups in Catalonia; Narwicz was possibly related to detention of Andreu Nin. He was shot by a Trotskyist hit squad in Barcelona. He is known mostly in relation to internal conflicts within the Republican coalition during the war, and especially in relation to Soviet Communist attempt to dominate other political currents.
Family, childhood, youth
There are few details available as to Narwicz's family; his parents are not known by name.in Russian sources Narwicz appears as Леон or Лев, but never with his отчество, a patronymic which would help to identify his father In the early 1910s they lived in the Russian Empire, in Ukraine. According to some sources they formed part of the Russian Jewry,„из эмигрировавших из России евреев”, Игорь Симбирцев, Спецслужбы первых лет СССР, 1923-1939, Москва 2010, ISBN 9785952438385, p. 225 though in historiography Narwicz might be referred to also as a Russian„militar ruso, el capitán León Narvitch” Ramón Tamames, España 1931-1975. Una antología histórica, Madrid 1980, ISBN 9788432056598, p. 221 or a Pole.“le Polonais Léon Narwicz”, Agustin Guillamón, Portraits de militants révolutionnaires, s. l. 2014, p. 23 His father was involved in revolutionary work and following the Bolshevik takeover in Russia he was posted to Belarus, where he served as a commissar responsible for ensuring foodstuff delivery quotas. In 1921 he was killed, according to his son by the kulaks; perhaps the crime was related to land collectivisation in the USSR.Daniel Grason, Narvitch Léon, [in:] Le Maitron. Le Dictionnaire Biographique Mouvement Ouvrier. Mouvement Social service 2011 [last modyfication 2021]
It is not clear who was bringing up Leon following the death of his father; according to unclear sources he led a nomadic life, perhaps as an adolescent vagrant. In the mid-1920s as a teenager he happened to be in Odessa. In unclear circumstances he boarded a ship and sailed to Danzig, from where he moved to Poland; he settled in Grodno. This is where he got engaged in workers’ movement, taking part in rallies of the unemployed and getting in touch with the illegal Communist Party of Poland. Arrested in 1926, he spent at least 3 months behind bars. In the late 1920s he moved to Germany, where he reached the age of majority.Grason 2011
Revolutionary
Until 1931 Narwicz was employed in the International Yachting Club in Bremen. He quit to join crew of merchant ships, operating from Germany on long-distance routes, e.g. to Africa. In 1932 he moved to Belgium and was soon noted as engaged in strike movement of miners in the coal-basin of Borinage. Detained by the police and having unclear sanctions administered against him, Narwicz left for Antwerp; he was secretary to an illegal workers organisation, grouping mostly Russian and Ukrainian migrants. He was detained again, it is not known whether sentenced. He spent 8 months in jail and was released thanks to amnesty.
Unable to find work in Belgium, Narwicz moved to France. None of the sources consulted provides information on his early employment and residence, some time later he settled in Paris. He joined th French Communist Party and in the mid-1930s remained its very active member, mostly in a section grouping Russian migrants. He was active also in Homebound Union (Союз возвращения).there are some wartime recollections about his „earlier activity” in Homebound Union, Дмитрий И. Рублев, Русские анархисты в Испанской гражданской войне 1936 - 1939, [in:] Radosław Skrycki (ed.), Studia z dziejów anarchizmu. Wojna domowa w Hiszpanii (1936–1939), Chojna 2018, ISBN 9788394063696, p. 192 It was an organization, set up in the mid-1920s, which catered to pro-Soviet Paris Russians; financed and controlled by the USSR, de facto it was a platform enabling operations of Soviet secret services, especially foreign intelligence.А. Ю Вовк, Союз Друзей Советской Родины, Париж, улица де Бюси, 12, [in:] Диалог со временем 74 (2021), pp. 363-367 At the time Narwicz lived with a Russian woman, whom he used to introduce as his wife Emma.Побережник Семен Яковлевич, Крутые перевалы, Москва 1975, p. 87
IB volunteer: frontline service
In early August 1936 PCF sent Narwicz to Spain. His initial role is unclear; it is known that he fought on the Aragon front, near Huesca. He was assigned to a machine-gun company, in support of a Republican artillery unit. In the autumn of 1936, following launch of the International Brigades scheme, he was assigned to their structures as a political commissar. In November 1936 he took part in fightings in Casa de Campo, at the ouskirts of Madrid.
Narwicz's exact service assignement is subject to doubt. Some sources claim he was member of the "Paris Commune Battalion" in the francophone XIV Brigade. Other maintain that he rather formed part of "Mickiewicz Company"Marcin Michcik, Polacy w Hiszpanii podczas wojny domowej, [in:] Wiadomości 14/5 (1950), p. 7 in the early XIII Brigade, before it was re-formatted as a Polish-Slavic unit. There are also notes about his membership in Mickiewicz Battalion in the XIII Brigade.Dariusz Zalega, Obrońcy Republiki. Ochotnicy z Górnego Śląska w wojnie domowej w Hiszpanii [PhD thesis accepted at Uniwersytet Śląski], Katowice 2022, p. 112 Some recollections present him as a political commissar of an unidentified "trotskyist battalion".Рублев 2018, p. 192 According to one historian he was not a political commissar, but a commander of the Mickiewicz Company and as such took part in the battle of Brunete in the summer of 1937.Lech Wyszczelski, Dąbrowszczacy, Warszawa 1986, p. 36 At some point he was wounded in the lungs, not clear whether during this battle or during some other engagement.
IB volunteer: spy and agent
In the spring of 1937 – most likely during a break between two periods of frontline service – Narwicz spent time in Barcelona. British volunteers later suspected him of spying on the Independent Labour Party centre, which included copying confidential and personal documents.Giles Tremlett, The International Brigades, Fascism and the Spanish Civil War, London/New York 2021, ISBN 9781526644541, p. 299 Before the so-called May Days Narwicz supposedly got in touch with POUM leaders, including Andreú Nin,Двадцать два 59-62 (1988), p. 136 posing as a Russian communist opposed to the Stalinist dictatorship.Fernando Hernández Sánchez, Guerra o revolución el Partido Comunista de España en la Guerra Civil, Barcelona 2010, ISBN 9788498921519, p. 225 According to some historians Narwicz was operating either as an agent or as functionary of NKVD.at times he is referred to as "Orlov's agent", see В. Н. Степанков, Александр В. Киселев, Эдуард Шарапов, Чекисты Сталина, Москва 2006, ISBN 9785765446065, p. 520 He was later suspected of having been involved in setting a trap for Nin, detained in the summer of 1937.А.И., Прохоров, Д.П. Колпакиди, Д. П. Прохоров, КГБ спецоперации советской разведки, Санкт-Петербург 2000, ISBN 9785739009906, p. 135 In October 1937 Narwicz obtained sick leave from International Brigades and travelled to Paris. In the French capital he renewed his links to Alliance of Friends of the Soviet Fatherland, successor to the Homebound Union.
In late 1937 or in early 1938 Narwicz returned to Spain. He was not returned to the front lines, but instead received orders to stay in Barcelona. Formally he was still member of the 4th Battalion of the XIII Brigade, with the rank of captain.Tremlett 2021, p. 299, Wyszczelski 1986, p. 36 At the turn of 1937- 1938 Narwicz's key task was to penetrate into and subvert supposed Trotskyist conspiracy, especially in the XII. and XIV. Brigades. As "León Druan" he infiltrated Sección Bolchevique-Leninista de España (SBLE), a Trotskyist organisation active in Barcelona; he reported directly to one of International Brigades leader, Luigi Longo. Thanks to his intelligence information, the republican security arrested some 40 members of SBLE and POUM.Alberto Laguna, El crimen de la calle Legalidad: muerte de un infiltrado, [in:] Guerra en Madrid service, 2019
IB volunteer: death
Narwicz was identified by the Barcelona Trotskyists as an undercover operative thanks to a photograph, published in the official Republican press. With his actual surname in the caption, he featured alongside the Communist commander Enrique Lister.it is not clear which newspaper was in question. In Spanish hemerotecas, which enable access to digitalised versions of Spanish press from the war period, Narwicz is not mentioned, let alone photographed, see Hemeroteca Digital and Prensa Historica POUM and SBLE leaders who still remained at liberty learned that they were most likely being infiltrated by Soviet and republican special services. They also started to speculate that there was a link between Narwicz's earlier frequent visits in the headquarters and the disappearance of Nin. Claiming that he was to pass some important documents, one of the militants asked Narwicz for a meeting.
On the evening of February 10, 1938, Narwicz was found dead at Calle Legalidad in Barcelona. He has been shot several times, including in the head, while his personal belongings, including documents, money, and a pistol, remained on him.he was buried in a common grave, still unidentified to this day International Brigades services, along the Republican services, commenced investigation, which soon detained three individuals.Adolfo Carlini alias Doménico Sedran, Manuel Fernández Grandizo, Jaime Fernández Rodríguez. According to other sources Narwicz was executed by Lluis Puig and Alberto Masó; among the others arrested were Adolfo Carnini, Jaime Fernández and Teodoro Sanz, see Laguna 2019 Tribunal d'Espionatge i Alta Traició de Catalunya, one of revolutionary courts set up during the war, condemned all of them to death following a brief trial.Enric Juliana, Aquí no hemos venido a estudiar, Barcelona 2020, ISBN 9788417623609, p. 188 They were not ultimately executed and the following year they left Spain. Though there were some further arrests,F. Javier Puerto Sarmiento, Ciencia y política. José Giral Pereira (Santiago de Cuba, 1879-México D.F., 1962), Madrid 2015, ISBN 9788434022676, p. 463 neither the case of presumed spying nor the case of assassination have been fully clarified. However, many historians claim unequivocally that Narwicz has been shot in revenge for Nin.“Narwicz, an officer in the International Brigades, had infiltrated the POUM posing as a Russian dissident; he was executed by a POUM action squad in revenge for death of Nin”, Andy Durgan, With the POUM. International volunteers on the Aragon Front (1936-1937), [in:] Revista Internacional de la Guerra Civil 8 (2018), p. 158
In historiography