Valter or Walter Roman (October 9, 1913 – November 11, 1983), born Ernst or Ernő Neuländer, was a Romanian communist activist and soldier. During his lifetime, Roman was active inside the Romanian, Czechoslovakian, French, and Spanish Communist parties as well as being a Comintern cadre. He started his military career as a volunteer in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War, and rose to prominence in Communist Romania, as a high-level politician and military official. Valter was the father of Petre Roman, a post-1989 politician, who served as Prime Minister. Biography Early life Born in Nagyvárad, Austria-Hungary Empire (today Oradea, Romania), he was the child of Jewish parents whose first language was Hungarian. In later testimonies, he indicated that his ethnic background was not entirely relevant to him: "Germans said I was a Hungarian, Hungarians that I was Romanian, Romanians said that I was Jewish, but Jews said I was a communist, although I was not yet one at the time". Roman obtained a degree in electrical engineering in Brno, Czechoslovakia. Military career Initially active inside the PCR's agitprop section, he was a volunteer in a Romanian artillery unit of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War (see also Jewish volunteers in the Spanish Civil War) — according to one source, it was then that he first adopted the name Valter Roman, while also using the pseudonym G. Katowski. Wounded twice during combat, Roman eventually left for the Soviet Union. In 1938–1941, Roman worked at a plane factory in Kalinin, later for one of the Comintern sections, and, during World War II, for an Institute for Scientific Research (1941–1945). During the period, he married Hortensia Vallejo, who was originally from Santander, Spain. At the time, Roman also headed the Romanian-language radio station of the Comintern (România Liberă), broadcasting propaganda against the regime of Ion Antonescu and Romania's actions on the Eastern Front as an ally of Nazi Germany (see Romania during World War II). He returned to Soviet-occupied Romania in July 1945, as the political commissar for the Soviet-organized Horea, Cloșca și Crișan Division, commanded by General Mihail Lascăr. Under the communist regime, Roman became a general in the Romanian Army (Major General after May 1, 1948) with political responsibilities (Chief of the Army Directorate for Education, Culture, and Propaganda, 1946; Chief of the Superior Political Direction of the Romanian Army and Chief of Staff, 1947–1951), and Minister