Juliet Stuart
Poyntz was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), and a
founding member of the Communist Party of the United States. After resigning
from active work with the Party, she disappeared in 1937, and was never to be seen
again. It is believed by some that she may have been abducted and murdered by a Soviet NKVD
assassination squad. She disappeared after leaving the a club in New
York City on the evening of June 3, 1937. A police investigation turned up no
clues to her fate, and her belongings and all of her clothing, and hand luggage
in her room appeared to be untouched. Before his own mysterious death, a man by
the name of Walter Krivitsky suggested a motive for the NKVD kidnapping of
Poyntz. During one of her trips to Moscow, Juliet had become a mistress and
lover of the Red Army Corps Commander Vitovt Putna. In August 1936, Putna was
arrested by the NKVD and accused of maintaining contacts with Leon Trotsky.
Trotsky, who was seen as an enemy of the Russian government and was
later assassinated later in Mexico.
