The trial of 1938

Compiled by Dennis McKinsey

[KEY STATEMENTS ARE IN ALL CAPS]



THE 1938 TRIAL

REPORT OF COURT PROCEEDINGS

IN THE CASE OF THE ANTI-SOVIET "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES "

(Heard Before the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR)

(Moscow, March 2-13, 1938)



THE DEFENDANTS

BUKHARIN, RYKOV, YAGODA, KRESTINSKY, RAKOVSKY, ROSENGOLTZ, IVANOV, CHERNOV, GRINKO, ZELENSKY, BESSONOV, IKRAMOV, KHODJAYEV, SHARANGOVICH, ZUBAREV, BULANOV, LEVIN, PLETNEV, KAZAKOV, MAXIMOV-DIKOVSKY, KRYUCHKOV



The following are Defending Counsel: for accused Levin--Member of the Collegium of Defense Braude; for accused Pletnev and Kazakov--Member of the Collegium of Defense Kommodov; the other accused, were asked, when the investigation was concluded, whether they needed Counsel for Defense, declined and said that they would defend themselves.

When Ivanov was asked if he desired counsel he stated, "No, I do not need counsel, I do not intend to defend myself. I am here to bear full responsibility for my crimes."



THE PRESIDENT: I must explain to the accused who have declined Counsel for Defense that, in addition to their last pleas, they have the right to make speeches in defense.

I must explain to all the accused that they have the right to put questions to each other and to give explanations on any point in the court investigation.

THE 1938 INDICTMENT

The defendants are accused of having on the instructions of the intelligence services of foreign states hostile to the Soviet Union formed a conspiratorial group named the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites; with the object of espionage on behalf of foreign states, wrecking, diversionist and terrorist activities, undermining the military power of the USSR, provoking a military attack by these states on the USSR, dismembering the USSR and severing from it the Ukraine, Byelorussia, the Central Asiatic Republics, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Maritime Region of the Far East for the benefit of the aforementioned foreign States, and lastly, with the object of overthrowing the Socialist social and state system existing in the USSR and of restoring capitalism, of restoring the power of the bourgeoisie.

Lacking all support within the USSR, the members of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" in their struggle against the Socialist social and state system existing in the USSR and for seizing power placed all their hopes exclusively upon the armed assistance of foreign aggressors, who promised the conspirators this assistance on the condition that the USSR was to be dismembered and that the Ukraine, the Maritime Region, Byelorussia, the Central Asiatic Republics, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan were to be severed from the USSR.

This agreement between the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" and the representatives of the aforementioned foreign states was facilitated by the fact that many of the leading participants of this conspiracy had long been agents of foreign intelligence services and had for many years carried on espionage activities on behalf of these intelligence services.

This applies first of all to one of the inspirers of the conspiracy, enemy of the people TROTSKY. His connection with the Gestapo was exhaustively proved at the trials of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite Terrorist Center in August 1936 and of the Anti-Soviet Trotskyite Center in January 1937.

However, the materials in the possession of the investigating authorities in the present case establish that the connections between enemy of the people TROTSKY and the German political police and the intelligence services of other countries were established at a much earlier date. The investigation has definitely established that TROTSKY has been connected with the German intelligence service since 1921, and with the British Intelligence Service since 1926.

As far as the accused in the present case are concerned, a considerable number of them, on their own confession, have been espionage agents of foreign intelligence services for a long period of time.

Thus, the accused KRESTINSKY, on the direct instructions of enemy of the people TROTSKY, entered into treasonable connections with the German intelligence service in 1921.

The accused ROSENGOLTZ, one of the leaders of the Trotskyite underground organization, began his espionage work for the German General staff in 1923, and for the British Intelligence Service in 1926.

The accused RAKOVSKY, one of L. Trotsky's most intimate and particularly trusted men, has been an agent of the British Intelligence Service since 1924, and of the Japanese intelligence service since 1934.

The accused CHERNOV began his espionage work on behalf of Germany in 1928, when he established connections with the German intelligence service on the initiative and with the assistance of the notorious emigre Menshevik DAN.

The accused SHARANGOVICH was enlisted by the Polish intelligence service and was sent on espionage work to the USSR in 1921.

The accused GRINKO became a spy of the German and Polish intelligence services in 1932.

The leaders of the "bloc of rights and Trotskyites," including RYKOV, BUKHARIN and others accused in the present case, were fully informed of the espionage connections of their accomplices and did everything to encourage the expansion of these espionage connections.

All this sufficiently explains why these gentlemen, being in the service of foreign intelligence services, so readily agreed to the dismemberment of the USSR and to the severance of whole regions and republics from it for the benefit of foreign states.

Agreement between the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" and foreign intelligence services was also facilitated by the fact that several of the conspirators accused in the present case had been provocateurs and agents of the Tsarist secret police.

Having wormed their way into responsible posts in the Soviet state, these provocateurs, however, never ceased to fear the exposure of the crimes they had committed against the working-class, against the cause of Socialism. Constantly in fear of exposure, these participants in the conspiracy saw their only hope of safety in the overthrow of the Soviet power, in the destruction of the Soviet system and in the restoration of the power of the landlords and capitalists, in whose interests they had sold themselves to the tsarist secret police, and under whose rule alone they could feel safe.

Thus, the accused ZELENSKY had been an agent of the Samara Gendarme Administration since 1911. From that time onwards ZELENSKY, under the pseudonyms of "Ochkasty" and "Salaf," systematically informed the Gendarme Administration about the activities of the Samara Bolshevik organization, for which he received a regular monthly monetary remuneration.

The accused IVANOV began his provocateur activities in 1911, when he was enlisted for this purpose by the Tula Secret Police and became an agent of the secret police under the pseudonym of "Samarin."

The accused ZUBAREV was enlisted by the tsarist police in 1908 and worked for them under the pseudonyms of "Vasily," "Palin," and "Prokhor."

As the investigation has established, for the purpose of achieving their criminal object of overthrowing the Soviet government, of seizing power and restoring capitalism in the USSR, the conspirators, on the direct instructions of the foreign intelligence services, carried on extensive espionage work on behalf of these intelligence services, organized and carried on wrecking and diversion activities with the object of bringing about the defeat of the USSR in the forthcoming attack upon the USSR by the fascist aggressors, did their utmost to provoke the acceleration of this attack of the fascist aggressors, and also organized and carried out a number of terrorist acts against the leaders of the party and the government and prominent Soviet public men.

The investigation has established that the majority of the leaders of the "bloc of rights and Trotskyites" accused in the present case carried on their criminal activities on the direct instructions of TROTSKY and in accordance with plans which were widely conceived and elaborated by the General Staffs of certain foreign states.

Agent of the German intelligence service, prominent Trotskyite, the accused KRESTINSKY, while under examination at the office of the Procurator of the USSR on December 2, 1937, stated,

"I established espionage connections with the Germans on the direct instructions of TROTSKY, who instructed me to start negotiations on this matter with General SEECKT...." (Vol. 3, page 102).

As regards the circumstances under which connections between the Trotskyite organization and the German intelligence service were established, the accused KRESTINSKY testified that in the winter of 1921 he carried on negotiations with General SEECKT, Commander-in-Chief of the German Reichswehr, with a view to receiving from the Reichswehr funds for the purpose of carrying on Trotskyite underground work in exchange for espionage materials which the Trotskyites were to supply the German intelligence service.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 3-8

BRIEF SUMMARY OF KRESTINSKY’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF ROSENGOLTZ’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF BESSONOV’S TESTIMONY

THE ACCUSED ALLIED WITH JAPAN

BRIEF SUMMARY OF RAKOVSKY’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF GRINKO’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF IKRAMOV’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF SHARANGOVICH’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF RYKOV’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF BUKHARIN’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF KHODJAYEV’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF DEFENDANTS’ TREASONOUS ACTS

BRIEF SUMMARY OF CHERNOV’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF ZELENSKY’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF IVANOV’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF YAGODA’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF BULANOV’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF PLETNEV’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF LEVIN’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF MAXIMOV’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF KAZAKOV’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF KRYUCHKOV’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF WITNESS KARELIN’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF WITNESS KAMKOV’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF WITNESS YAKOVLEVA’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF WITNESS OSSINSKY’S TESTIMONY

BRIEF SUMMARY OF WITNESS MANTSEV’S TESTIMONY

PLEADINGS OF THE DEFENDANTS

KEY PARTS OF BESSONOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS PYATAKOV STOLE MONEY FOR THE TROTS & KRESTINSKY WAS A TROT

 KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS KRESTINSKY WAS A TROT

KEY PARTS OF GRINKO’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY 

BESSONOV & ROSENGOLTZ SAY KRESTINSKY WAS A TROT & GRINKO SAYS HE WAS ALSO WORKING WITH FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE

 KEY PARTS OF BESSONOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS PYATAKOV WAS WORKING WITH TUKHASHEVSKY, MET TROTSKY IN OSLO;

TROTSKY ADVOCATED KILLING OF STALIN, GORKY & OTHERS

KEY PARTS OF GRINKO’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

WORKED WITH THE TROTS AND GENERALS IN A NATIONAL-FASCIST GROUP TO BREAK UKRAINE AWAY

KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS KRESTINSKY WAS A TROT WITH WHOM HE DISCUSSED ILLEGAL MATTERS

KEY PARTS OF GRINKO’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN, ROSENGOLTZ, ZELENSKY, YAGODA ARE IN ILLEGAL ORGANIZATION & TROTSKY WAS LEADER OF PLANNED KILLINGS ON YEZHOV STALIN & DESTROYING FINANCES AND FARMING

KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HE PLANNED WRECKING AND KNOWING ABOUT TUKHASCHEVSKY’S PLANNED A COUP

KEY PARTS OF GRINKO’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

RYKOV & BUKHARIN WANT TO ANNUL FRANCO-SOVIET TREATY & START A WAR;

BUKHARIN, RYKOV & ROSENGOLTZ KNEW ABOUT MILITARY PLOT

KEY PARTS OF CHERNOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS RYKOV WANTED A SECRET GROUP & HE WAS TO MAKE PEASANTS MAD;

WAS TO WORK WITH DAN TO ENLIST HOSTILE STATES;

ADMITS BEING A GERMAN SPY, DESTROYING CROPS & LIVESTOCK & TAKING NAZI MONEY;

PLANNED PALACE COUP WITH RYKOV

KEY PARTS OF IVANOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

IVANOV ADMITS HE COMMITTED TREASON & SERVED FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE;

SAYS BUKHARIN PLANNED TERRORISM & ORGANIZED WRECKING & DIVERSIONARY ACTS & WAS INDUCING THE AXIS TO ATTACK THE SU

KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

BUKHARIN ADMITS TELLING IVANOV TO FORM AN ILLEGAL, SECRET ORGANIZATION TO AID KULAK REVOLTS & WORK WITH FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE TO SEEK WAR, THEIR AID, & SOVIET DEFEAT

KEY PARTS OF ZUBAREV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS RYKOV TOLD HIM TO WRECK, DISORGANIZE SUPPLIES, UNITE ANTI-SOVIET ELEMENTS

KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS TELLING ZUBAREV TO SABOTAGE

KEY PARTS OF ZUBAREV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS ORGANIZING REVOLTS, WRECKING, TERRORIST ACTS;

IVANOV GOT HIM TO SPY FOR GERMANY & WAS AN AGENT FOR THE CZAR

KEY PARTS OF RAKOVSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

RAKOVSKY SAYS KRESTINSKY WAS ALWAYS A TROTSKYITE

KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HE IS A TROTSKYITE & GUILTY OF TREASON

KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

RYKOV CONVICTS YAGODA OF ILLEGALLY HIDING SUBVERSIVES

KEY PARTS OF YAGODA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

YAGODA ADMITS COMMITTING TREASON BY HIDING SUBVERSIVES

KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

RYKOV ADMITS THE RIGHTS DECEIVED & ABANDONED LEGAL ACTS & BUKHARIN TOLD SLEPKOV TO ORGANIZE KULAK REVOLTS

KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

BUKHARIN ADMITS ORGANIZING KULAK REVOLTS, COMMITTING TREASON

KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

RYKOV SAYS HE FORMED TERRORIST GROUPS & ACCUSES BUKHARIN OF PLANNING TO KILL STALIN

KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

BUKHARIN ADMITS HE WAS PLANNING TO KILL STALIN AND OTHERS ON THE POLITBURO

KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS PLANNING TERRORIST ACTS TO KILL STALIN

KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

BUKHARIN ADMITS HE PLANNED TO USE SR’S TO KILL STALIN AND OTHERS ON THE POLITBURO

KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

RYKOV ADMITS COMMITTING TREASON BY PLANNING A PALACE COUP, AIDED BY YAGODA & TUKHACHEVSKY, ALSO GRANTING CONCESSIONS & DISMEMBERING THE SU FOR THE FASCISTS

KEY PARTS OF GRINKO’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

GRINKO WAS CONNECTED TO RYKOV AND BUKHARIN VIA A NATIONAL- FASCIST ORGANIZATION WORKING WITH FOREIGN FASCISTS

KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS THE BLOC PLANNING A MILITARY COUP INCLUDED, RYKOV, BUKHARIN, RUDZUTAK, YAGODA, TUKHACHEVSKY & PYATAKOV

KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TUKHASHEVSKY WAS WORKING WITH FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE TO OVERTHROW THE GOVT

KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

WANTED TO PREVENT A MILITARY TAKEOVER OF THE COUP & SAYS TOMSKY, TROTSKYITES, & TUKHACHESKY TALKED ABOUT OPENING THE FRONT

KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN WAS AFRAID OF A NAPOLEON & WANTED TO OPEN THE FRONT TO GERMANY FOR A SOVIET DEFEAT

KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HIS ORGANIZATION DID TREASONOUS WORK FOR GERMAN- POLISH FASCISM & THEIR INTELLIGENCE IN WRECKING AND DIVERSION

KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TUKHASHEVSKY AND TROTSKY WERE PLANNING A COUP TOGETHER AND BOTH GAVE THE OK FOR THE TAKEOVER

KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

BACKS UP KRESTINSKY & SAYS HE DISCUSSED WITH KRESTINSKY THE HASTENING OF A COUP

KEY PARTS OF SHARANGOVICH’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE WAS A TRAITOR WHO LED A NATAIONAL-FASCIST GROUP FOR POLISH INTELLIGENCE TO SEVER BEYELORUSSIA & MAKE IT A CAPITALIST STATE;

RYKOV AND BUKHARIN TOLD HIM TO ENGAGE IN WRECKING TO PAVE THE WAY FOR DEFEAT & FASCIST VICTORY;

CREATED DISCONTENT AMONG FARMERS AND KILLED LIVESTOCK, USED TERRORISM

KEY PARTS OF KHODJAYEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

WAS AN ANTI-SOVIET NATIONALIST. WEAKENING THE SU & EXPELLING GENUINE MARXISTS

KEY PARTS OF IKRAMOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

LED A BOURGEOIS-NATIONALIST FASCIST ORGANIZATION;

KHODJAYEV SAYS HE’S A CRIMINAL AND HE AGREES

KEY PARTS OF KHODJAYEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

DESTROYED CROP ROTATION CAUSING LOW YIELDS IN COTTON, WHEAT, BARLEY, RICE, SILK, CLOVER & CATTLE & CAUSED PEASANT DISCONTENT

KEY PARTS OF IKRAMOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

HE & KHODJAYEV WERE AIDED BY TROTSKYITES IN CROP DESTRUCTION

KEY PARTS OF ZELENSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

WORKED TO DISRUPT COLLECTIVIZATION & COTTON PLANS AND RUIN FARMS

KEY PARTS OF KHODJAYEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

HE WRECKED UNDER RYKOV & BUKHARIN’S ORDERS;

BUKHARIN IS MAD BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO INSURRECTIONARY CADRES, NO TERRORIST GROUPS, & NO TIES WITH ENGLAND; BUKHARIN WANTS TO GIVE ENGLAND UZBEKISTAN AS PAYMENT FOR HELP & CONTENDS THE SU WOULD LOSE A WAR AGAINST THE FASCISTS;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED CRIMES;

ADMITS HE WRECKED CROP ROTATIONS, CONSTRUCTION & DAM BUILDING;

TRIED TO CAUSE PEASANT DISCONTENT & DAMAGED LIVESTOCK RAISING;

STOLE CATTLE AND SHEEP FROM THE PEASANTS;

INTENTIONALLY KILLED TOO MANY MULBERRY TREES FOR SILKWORMS; DESTROYED LUCERNE CROPS, PYATAKOV SENT TROT TO DESTROY SULPHUR MINES;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED BIG CRIMES, ORGANIZED TERRORIST GROUPS AND BETRAYED PARTY LEADERS LIKE STALIN

KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS ENGAGING IN CRIME;

SEDOV TALKED ABOUT WORKING CLOSELY WITH TUKHASHEVSKY; TROTSKY WAS AFRAID OF TUKHASHEVSKY’S BONAPARTIST TENDENCIES;

TROTSKY WANTED HIS PEOPLE IN KEY POSITIONS PRIOR TO THE COUP & SENT DIRECTIONS ON TERRORISM & WRECKING FOR GERMANY & WORKING FOR DEFEAT OF SU;

WERE RELYING TUKHASCHEVSKY COUP IN 1936;

RYKOV & KRESTINSKY SAID TUKHASHEVSKY PROMISED TO ACT;



KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

TOLD ROSENGOLTZ THAT TUKHASHEVSKY WAS STALLING ON THE COUP;

TROTSKY & TUKHASHEVSKY AGREE THE COUP WOULD BE TIMED WITH THE WAR;

AT END OF 1936 TUKHASHEVSKY NO LONGER WANTS TO WAIT FOR THE WAR TO STAR THE COUP



KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HE WAS CONNECTED WITH A CONSPIRACY & TUKHASHEVSKY’S PLANNED COUP



KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TROTSKY DEMANDED THE COUP BE EXPEDITED & TERRORIST ACTS BE COMMITTED AFTER THE TRIAL OF PYATAKOV



KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TROTSKY DEMANDED DEFENDANTS NOT ADMIT GUILT;

ADMITS HE WORKED FOR GERMAN INTELLIGENCE



KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS MEETING WAS HELD WITH TUKHASHEVSKY WHO SAID THE COUP WOULD BE IN MAY;

MILITARY LEADERS WOULD SEIZE THE KREMLIN & KILL THE PARTY LEADERS;

HE WAS TOLD OF THE PLAN BECAUSE HE ADVANCED THIS PLOT



KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SUPPORTS WHAT ROSENGOLTZ SAYS;

SAYS HE HEARD YAGODA WAS INVOLVED IN THE COUP PLOT



KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S & ROSENGOLTZ’S JOINT ACTUAL TESTIMONY

KRESTINSKY SUPPORTS WHAT ROSENGOLTZ SAYS;

KRESTINSKY SAYS HE HEARD YAGODA WAS INVOLVED IN THE COUP PLOT;

BOTH ADMIT A PLOT TO KILL MOLOTOV, STALIN, & KAGANOVICH; ROSENGOLTZ SAYS KRESTINSKY WANTS THE COUP EXPEDITED & KRESTINSKY NEGOTIATED WITH & HURRIED TUKHASHEVSKY; TUKHASHEVSKY SAID HE INTENDED TO START THE COUP IN MAY; ROSENGOLTZ SAID GAMARNIK PLANNED TO SEIZE THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS BUILDING WITH THE HELP OF GORBACHOV;

TROTSKY WROTE THAT TERRORIST ACTS WERE NEEDED



KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS FOREIGN TRADE MONEY WAS STOLEN & GIVEN TO TROTSKY; TROTSKY TOLD HIM TO SUPPLY GENERAL SEECKT ESPIONAGE INFO ABOUT SOVIET AIRFORCE



KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TROTSKY TOLD HIM TO MAKE A DEAL WITH SEECKT TO BE PAID $60,000 PER YEAR BY THE GERMANS FOR GETTING GERMAN SPIES VISAS &PROVIDING MILITARY INFO



KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS GIVING ESPIONAGE INFO TO FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE;

DID WRECKING FOR GERMANY AND JAPAN;

NEGOTIATED BAD TRADE AGREEMENTS



KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS CONCLUDING AGREEMENT WITH GERMAN MIIITARY ON TROTSKY’S ORDERS;

ADMITS HE IS COMMITING TREASON & ESPIONAGE & RECEIVING MONEY FROM FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE;

SAYS TROTS WERE RECEIVING MONEY FOR ESPIONAGE;

TROTSKY ORDERED SOME GERMAN MONEY BE GIVEN TO FOREIGN ALLIES;

SAYS TROTSKY TOLD HIS FOLLOWERS TO LIE & REJOIN THE PARTY; SUPPLIED SECRET INFO TO GERMAN AGENTS;

SAYS BESSONOV TOLD THE TRUTH & ADMITS HE LIED;

SAYS TROTSKY SAID THEY COULD ONLY COME TO POWER BY FORCE WITH THE HELP OF THE GERMAN ARMY;

TROTSKY ARGUED THAT THE RIGHTS, THE TROTS, & THE INTERNAL MILITARY MUST UNITE WITH FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS;

TROTSKY SPOKE OF UNITING WITH TUKHASHEVSKY;

SAYS TROTSKY PUSHED TERRORISM, WRECKING & DIVERSION TO WEAKEN THE RED ARMY, DISORGANIZE THE GOVT WHEN A COUP OCCURRED, & IMPROVE HIS NEGOTIATING STRENGTH; TUKHASHEVSKY AGREED WITH TROTSKY’S PLAN;

AS PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED TUKHASHEVSKY PUSHED FOR QUICK ACTION;

SAYS THEY WERE WORKING TO BRING BACK CAPITALISM & MAKE CONCESSIONS;

TROTSKY PUSHED TO HASTEN THE COUP;

TROTS WERE INSERTING TROTS INTO RESPONSIBLE GOVT POSITIONS; TROTSKY SCOLDS PEOPLE FOR NOT DOING A GOOD JOB DEVELOPING TERRORIST AND DIVERSIVE ACTIONS; TUKHASHEVSKY INSISTED MOLOTOV & VOROSHILOV MUST BE KILLED & GAMARNIK SAID HE HAD THE MEN TO DO IT;

KRESTINSKY PLEADS GUILTY, ADMITS BEING A STRONG TROT SINCE 1921, A GERMAN SPY. & AN ORGANIZER OF THE BLOC OF RIGHTS & TROTS, HELPED DRAW UP PLANS FOR AN ARMED COUP WITH TERRORISM, WORKED FOR A SOVIET DEFEAT IN WAR, & HELPED PLAN TO KILL STALIN, MOLOTOV, AND KAGANOVICH



KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HE PLANNED TO KILL STALIN



KEY PARTS OF RAKOVSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HE COMMITTED HIGH TREASON;

TROTSKY IS THE MAIN FORCE IN ALL THE ANTI-SOVIET ACTS;

SAYS MURALOV SAID HE GOT INSTRUCTIONS FROM TROTSKY TO CHANGE TO TERRORIST METHODS;

LIED WHEN HE REENTERED THE PARTY TO HIDE HIS & TROTSKY’S WORK WITH FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES;

ADMITS HE WORKED WITH BRITISH & JAPANESE INTELLIGENCE



KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HE WORKED FOR GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE



KEY PARTS OF RAKOVSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TROTSKYISM BECAME A SCHOOL FOR WRECKING, ESPIONAGE, TERRORISM,TREASON & THE VANGUARD OF FOREIGN AGGRESSION;

ADMITS TRANMITTING JAPANESE INTELLIGENCE REPORTS;

RADEK TOLD HIM OF PYATAKOV’S TRIP TO OSLO & TROTSKY NEGOTIATING WITH THE GERMANS;

ADMITS COMMITTING TREASON & WORKING FOR BRITISH INTELLIGENCE;

HELPED GERMANS ENLIST RUMANIANS;

ADMITS WORKING FOR BRITISH INTELLIGENCE SINCE 1924 & RECRUITING FOR ESPIONAGE;

TROTSKY APPROVED ME WORKING FOR BRITISH INTELLIGENCE & ADMITTED HE HAD CRIMINAL CONTACT WITH BRITISH INTELLIGENCE SINCE 1926;

SAID TROTSKY ADMITTED TROTS PLANTED THE FAKE DOCUMENTS AT ARCOS TO CAUSE DIPLOMATIC BREAK;

SOSNOVSKY TOLD HIM IN 1935 THAT THE RIGHTS & TROTS ALLIED & AGREED ON ESPIONAGE, DIVERSION, & WRECKING;

SAYS KRESTINSKY TOLD HIM HE WAS DOING UNDERGROUND WORK AS A TROT;

ADMITS THAT IN 1924 HE BECAME A TRAITOR TO THE SU;

ADMITS COMMITTING CRIMES, WORKING TO DESTROY SOCIALISM AND BRING BACK CAPITALISM, & SEEKING FASCIST HELP;

ADMITS COMMITTING TREASON & WORKING FOR THE FASCISTS



KEY PARTS OF ZELENSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS BEING TREACHEROUS WITH CRIMINAL ACTS TO RESTORE CAPITALISM & BEING PAID BY CZARIST POLICE;

ADMITS CRIMINAL ACTIONS & WRECKING;

SMIRNOV DIRECTED ME TO DISRUPT COLLECTIVIZATION & SAID THE NEW RIGHT TACTICS INVOLVED DOUBLE-DEALING, CONSPIRACY, WRECKING, DIVERSION, TERRORISM;

PURPOSE OF WRECKING WAS TO CREATE MASS DISCONTENT;

RIGHTS FURTHERED SHORT-MEASURING, SHORT WEIGHING & OVERCHARGING;

HIS ALLIES THREW GLASS AND NAILS INTO BUTTER & HE ADMITS BEING RESPONSIBLE;

ALLOWED 50 CARLOADS OF EGGS TO SPOIL THROUGH WRECKING; ADMITS HE AIDED EMBEZZLEMENT & THEFT & HAMPERED AUDITING, FOR WRECKING HE PLACED MANY IN KEY POSITIONS;

ADMITS DOING SECRET COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY WORK



KEY PARTS OF IKRAMOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS COMMITING A CRIME & LEADING A COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY FASCIST ORGANIZATION FIGHTING FOR BOURGEOIS INDEPENDENCE & UNITING WITH THE RIGHTS;

WRECKED THE ORDER OF CROP ROTATION;

UNITED WITH BUKHARIN WHO PROPOSED TO RESTORE CAPITALISM; WORKED TO BREAK UZBEKISTAN AWAY FROM THE SU;

SAYS BUKHARIN WAS FOSTERING WRECKING, ARMED STRUGGLE, KULAK REVOLTS & RELIGIOUS FANATICISM;

SAYS BUKHARIN SAID THEY SHOULD BLAME IT ALL ON GOVT POLICY & USE TERRORISM ACCORDING TO THE RYUTIN PLATFORM



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS IKRAMOV IS TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT FIGHTING THE SOVIET GOVT;

IKRAMOV SAYS BUKHARIN IS LYING WHEN HE SAYS HE DID NOT DISCUSS POLITICS IN 1935



KEY PARTS OF IKRAMOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS UNITING WITH KHODJAYEV TO FIGHT SU GOVT;

AGREES WITH KHODJAYEV THAT BUKHARIN PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN COMBINING COUNTER-REV FORCES;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED CRIMES



KEY PARTS OF ZELENSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS IKRAMOV WAS CARRYING ON NATIONALIST COUNTER-REV WORK; ADMITS HE WAS A TRAITOR



KEY PARTS OF IKRAMOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN TOLD HIM TO STEP UP WRECKING WHICH HE ADMITS DOING WITH CARACUL SKINS, DRAINAGE, & CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS;

SAYS KARIMOV AND KHODJAYEV WASTEFULLY DISTRIBUTED MONEY; IGNORED WRECKING AT SILK & COTTON MILLS;

ADMITS COMMITTING CRIMES & TREASON



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE BELONGED TO THE COUNTER-REV BLOC OF RIGHTS & TROTS & AS A LEADER IS GUILTY OF ALL CRIMES COMMITTED BY IT; ADMITS THE GROUP’S AIM WAS TO RESTORE CAPITALISM BY A FORCIBLE OVERTHROW WITH THE HELP OF A WAR; GERMANY, JAPAN & ENGLAND TO GET THE CONCESSION OF THE UKRAINE, BYELORUSSIA & THE MARITIME REGION;

SAYS THE INTENT WAS TO WEAKEN THE SU’S DEFENSIVE POWER; ADMITS SENDING PEOPLE TO ORGANIZE INSURRECTIONS & WRECKING; ADMITS THE BLOC STOOD FOR KILLING LEADERS



KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS ORGANIZING TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST GOVT LEADERS;

SAYS YENUKIDZE WAS IN THE RIGHT PART OF THE BLOC



KEY PARTS OF YAGODA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE, RYKOV, AND BUKHARIN HAD A DIRECT RELATION TO THE KIROV KILLING;

ADMITS ORDERING ZAPOROZHETZ NOT TO PLACE ANY OBSTACLES TO THE KILLING OF KIROV



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TROTSKY WAS INSISTING ON TERRORIST TACTICS;

ADMITS HE WAS IN FAVOR OF KILLING GOVT LEADERS;

SAYS THERE WERE TALKS TO ARREST, LENIN, STALIN & SVERDLOV; SAYS HE WAS NOT A COG OF COUNTER-REV BUT A LEADER;

SAYS HIS GROUP TURNED INTO RABID COUNTER-REV, SPIES, TRAITORS, TERRORISTS & RESTORERS OF CAPITALISM & WERE GUILTY OF TREACHERY, CRIME & TREASON;

SAYS HE LED AN INSURRECTIONARY BAND ENGAGED IN WRECKING & OVERTHROWING THE GOVT;

ADMITS HIS PROGRAM MEANT THE RESTORATION OF CAPITALISM;

HIS PROGNOSIS WAS A HEAVY LIST TOWARD CAPITALISM BUT SOCIALISM ACTUALLY WON;

ADMITS HIS SUPPORT FOR THE KULAKS, A PALACE COUP, & A MILITARY CONSPIRACY WAS A LAPSE INTO RABID FASCISM



KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS THE BYELORUSSIAN BOURGEOIS NATIONAL-FASCIST ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE BLOC LED BY SHARANGOVICH CONDUCTED ESPIONAGE;

RYKOV KNEW IT WAS CONNECTED WITH POLISH INTELLIGENCE



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HIS COUNTER-REV ACTS BEGAN BACK IN 1919;

STARTED A STUDENT GROUP & LATER TOLD HIS STUDENT SLEPKOV TO ORGANIZE A REVOLT IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS;

THEY ADOPTED FORCIBLE OVERTHROW TACTICS IN LATE 1932;

THE RYUTIN PLATFORM WAS ACTUALLY A RIGHT PROGRAM IN DISGUISE;

TROTSKY ADOPTED THE RIGHT PLATFORM & WANTED MORE DRASTIC METHODS;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED NUMEROUS CRIMES;

CONSIDERS HIS ILLEGAL ORGANIZATION & THE RYUTIN PLATFORMS TO BE CRIMES WHEN THE COURT DOES NOT



KEY PARTS OF YAGODA & RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ASKED THE BLOC THROUGH RYKOV TO BE PUT IN A SPECIALLY SECRET POSITION & RYKOV CONFIRMS IT



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HAVING ILLEGAL CONFERENCE TO DO ILLEGAL WORK & ISSUE ILLEGAL REPORTS;

SAYS THE RIGHTS ADOPTED THE RYUTIN PLATFORM LEADING TO UNITY WITH THE TROTS;

THE PLATFORM CALLED FOR A PALACE COUP;

TOMSKY RECRUITED YENUKIDZE TO BE IN THE COUP;

SAYS THE RIGHTS PUT THEIR HOPES ON MASS INSURRRECTION WHILE THE TROTS RELIED ON TERRORISM;

ADMITS USING LEGAL OPPORTUNITIES TO DO ILLEGAL ACTS;

TOMSKY AND YENUKIDZE TOLD HIM TUKHASHEVSKY & OTHER GENERALS HAD UNITED THE RIGHTS, ZINOVIEVITES, AND TROTS IN THE ARMY & WERE PREPARING A COUP BY FORCE;

SAYS HE LED THE RIGHTS IN CAUSEING KULAK REVOLTS & HE SENT SLEPKOV TO THE KUBAN & NORTH CAUCASUS TO CAUSE A REVOLT & YAKOVENKO TO SIBERIA TO DO THE SAME;

ADMITS HE BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR CRIMINAL ACTS OF HIS ORGANIZATION & THEIR CONTACT WITH GERMAN FASCISTS; ADMITS SENDING SLEPKOV TO WORK WITH WHITEGUARD COSSACKS & CREATE KULAK REVOLTS;

ADMITS HE KNEW KARAKHAN WAS IN THE CONSPIRATORIAL GROUP OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES



KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS KARAKHAN WAS ENGAGED IN TREASONABLE NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE GERMAN FASCISTS FOR SU DEFEAT INVOLVING CONCESSIONS AND DISMEMBERMENT OF THE SU & TUKHASHEVSKY WAS WORKING FOR SU DEFEAT



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN AND RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS RADEK TOLD HIM TROTSKY HAD NEGOTIATED THE SURRENDER OF THE UKRAINE WITH THE FASCISTS TO RECEIVE HELP;

SAYS TROTSKY IS RELYING ON SU DEFEAT & CONCESSIONS TO GET THE BLOC IN POWER;

ADMITS HE WAS IN A PLOTTING ORGANIZATION & THAT HE ENDORSED KARAKHAN’S NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE FASCISTS;

RYKOV SAYS HE ALSO ENDORSED THEM;

SAYS HELP WAS TO BE GAINED BY CONCESSIONS & ADMITS HIS TREACHERY DID NOT BEGIN WITH THE RISE OF HITLER



KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS THEY DID EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO CAUSE WAR IN ORDER TO COME TO POWER;

SAYS BUKHARIN WAS A SPY, ADMITS BEING A SPY, & SAYS HIS ORGANIZATION WORKED WITH POLISH INTELLIGENCE IN ESPIONAGE



KEY PARTS OF SHARANGOVICH’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS BEING A SPY & SAYS BUKHARIN & RYKOV TOLD HIM TO MAKE CONNECTIONS WITH POLISH INTELLIGENCE, ENGAGE IN ESPIONAGE & BECOME SPIES;



KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS ALL THE IMPORTANT GOVT APPOINTMENTS IN BYELORUSSIA ARE OK’D BY POLISH INTELLIGENCE;

ADMITS BEING AWARE OF THE TREASONABLE ACTIVITIES OF THE POLISH SPY BENEK



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS THAT IN 1933 HIS GROUP GAVE UP ON GETTING MASS SUPPORT & FOCUSED ON A COUP BY FORCE AIDED BY YENUKIDZE IN THE KREMLIN, YAGODA IN THE NKVD, & TUKHASHEVSKY’S GENERALS



KEY PARTS OF KHODJAYEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN SAID THEY HAD AN AGREEMENT WITH FASCIST GERMANY & WERE CONCLUDING ONE WITH JAPAN TO BRING ABOUT SU DEFEAT



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS TELLING KHODJAYEV THAT IS WAS NECESSARY TO BE READY TO OVERTHROW THE SOVIET GOVT BY FORCE



KEY PARTS OF KHODJAYEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN WAS WORKING FOR AN AGREEMENT WITH ENGLAND



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

TALKS BACK TO VYSHINSKY & IS REPRIMANDED BY THE PRESIDENT; ADMITS SAYING THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO LINK UP WITH FOREIGN STATES & USE INTERNAL CONTRADICTIONS FOR HIS GROUP OPPOSING THE SOVIET GOVT;

ADMITS THERE WAS A COUNTER-REV ORGANIZATION COMPOSED OF YENUKIDZE, YAGODA, THE MILITARY AS WELL AS TROTS & ZINOVIEVITES;

SAYS TOMSKY WANTED THE ARMED COUP TO OCCUR WITH THE 17TH PARTY CONGRESS INVOLVING THE ARREST OF EVERYONE;

SAYS THE VERY IDEA THAT THIS WAS CONSIDERED PROVES THE MONSTROSITY & CRIMINALITY INVOLVED;

SAYS HE IS MORE RESPONSIBLE THAN ANYONE BY TELLING SEMYONOV TO ORGANIZE TERRORIST GROUPS;

ADMITS HE IS DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM ALLYING WITH COUNTER-REV SR’S & MENSHEVIKS;

ADMITS TRYING TO ALLY WITH SR’S ABROAD THROUGH CHLENOV;

SAYS THERE WAS DEFINITELY AN ALLIANCE NOT ONLY BETWEEN THE TROTS, ZINOVIEVITES, & BOURGEOIS-NATIONALISTS BUT ALSO INCLUDING THE SR’S & MENSHEVIKS WHO DEMANDED THEY BE LEGALIZED IN A COALITION GOVT AFTER VICTORY;

SAYS WHEN THE NAZIS CAME TO POWER THE TROTS WERE FOR TERRITORIAL CONCESSIONS WHILE THE RIGHT WERE FOR ECONOMIC CONCESSIONS;

SAYS THE TROTS WERE MORE RESPONSIBLE THAN THE RIGHTS; REGRETS TROTSKY NOT BEING ON TRIAL;

IN SUMMER OF 1934 RADEK TOLD HIM TROTSKY HAD ALREADY PROMISED THE GERMANS CONCESSIONS LIKE THE UKRAINE; ALWAYS CONSIDERED TUKHASHEVSKY A POTENTIAL DANGEROUS NAPOLEON;

SAYS THE RIGHTS WERE PARTNERS WITH TROTSKY’S NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE GERMANS



KEY PARTS OF WITNESS YAKOVLEVA’S’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN WAS A LEADER OF THE LEFT COMMUNISTS;

SAYS BUKHARIN FIRMLY OPPOSED BREST-LITOVSK & THAT STUKOV TOLD HIM IT WAS DECIDED AT A MEETING TO KILL LENIN, STALIN, & SVERDLOV IF NEEDED;

STUKOV SUBMITTED A DRAFT RESOLUTION TO THIS EFFECT WHICH BUKHARIN ADMITS WRITING;

SAYS BUKHARIN TOLD HIM TROTSKY AGREED THAT KILLINGS MAY BE NECESSARY TO OVERTURN BREST-LITOVSK &BUKHARIN AGREED KILLINGS MAY BE NECESSARY;

SAYS THERE WAS A CONSPIRACY OF LEFT COMMUNISTS, TROTSKY & LEFT SR’S IN 1918 & BUKHARIN WAS A LEADER;

SAYS BUKHARIN SPOKE TO HIM DIRECTLY IN LESS THAN PRECISE TERMS ABOUT THE POSSIBLE NEED FOR KILLINGS



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS THERE WAS TALK BEFORE & AFTER BREST-LITOVSK OF ARRESTING LENIN, STALIN & SVERDLOV & USING FORCE IF NECESSARY



KEY PARTS OF WITNESS YAKOVLEVA’S’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN WAS SUPPRESSING THE FACT THAT THERE WAS A PLOT BETWEEN THE LEFT COMMUNISTS & THE LEFT SOCIALIST- REVOLUTIONARIES



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS TO PARTICIPATING IN TWO CRIMINAL CONVERSATIONS TO OVERTHROW SOVIET POWER



KEY PARTS OF WITNESS OSSINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS YAKOLEVA TOLD HIM AN ILLEGAL MEETING OF BUKHARIN, YAKOVLEVA, LOMOV, MANTSEV, STUKOV AND OTHERS HAD OCCURRED TO OVERTHROW SOVIET POWER & BUKHARIN TOLD HIM IT WOULD PROBABLY BE NECESSARY TO KILL LENIN, STALIN & SVERDLOV;

IS ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THESE PROPOSALS WERE MADE BY BUKHARIN AS TOLD TO HIM BY YAKOVLEVA;

LEFT COMMUNISTS DREW UP THE PLANS THE LEFT SR’S CARRIED OUT; BUKHARIN WAS NOT TRYING TO CRUSH THE LEFT SR REVOLT BUT TO HELP IT IN DISGUISE;

BUKHARIN TOLD HIM HE WAS PLANNING THE ACTS OF THE LEFT SR’S; BUKHARIN TOLD HIM THEY INTENDED TO KILL LENIN, STALIN, & SVERDLOV;

SAYS HE AGREED WITH BUKHARIN



KEY PARTS OF WITNESS MANTSEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE HEARD BUKHARIN ADVOCATE A COUP WITH THE ARREST & IF NECESSARY KILLING OF STALIN, LENIN, & SVERDLOV



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS MANTSEV IS TELLING THE TRUTH WHEN HE SAYS THEY CONSIDERED A FORCIBLE OVERTHROW;

SAYS IT WAS NOT A PLAN BUT AN INTENTION INITIATED BY TROTSKY TO PUT LENIN, STALIN & SVERDLOV UNDER ARREST BY FORCE IF NECESSARY & HE AGREED WITH IT



KEY PARTS OF WITNESS YAKOVLEVA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS STUKOV TOLD HIM THAT BUKHARIN ORDERED HIM TO CREATE A REPORT ON TAKING OVER & KILLING LEADERS IF NECESSARY & BUKHARIN LATER TOLD YAKOVLEVA IT WAS TRUE



KEY PARTS OF WITNESS MANTSEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS THERE WAS TALK ABOUT THE PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION OF LENIN, STALIN, & SVERDLOV



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE APPROVED OF THE OVERTHROW & POSSIBLE KILLING BUT THE INITIATIVE WAS TROTSKY’S IDEA NOT HIS;

REFUSES TO EXPLAIN WHY YAKOVLEVA, OSSINSKY, & MANTSEV ARE TESTIFYING AGAINST HIM



KEY PARTS OF WITNESS OSSINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS YAKOVLEVA TOLD HIM AND LATER BUKHARIN TOLD HIM OF THE POSSIBLE KILLINGS & BUKHARIN IS LYING WHEN HE SAYS OTHERWISE



KEY PARTS OF WITNESS YAKOVLEVA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN IS LYING WHEN HE SAYS HE DID NOT INITIATE THE IDEA OF ARRESTING & POSSIBLY KILLING LENIN, STALIN & SVERDLOV



KEY PARTS OF WITNESS MANTSEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE LEARNED FROM YAKOVLEVA & TROTSKY HIMSELF THAT TROTSKY & BUKHARIN PROPOSED THE KILLINGS;

SAYS THE DECISION TO KILL THE 3 WAS TAKEN ON THE INITIATIVE OF BUKHARIN



KEY PARTS OF WITNESS KAMKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN NOT HIMSELF DEFINITELY PROPOSED ARRESTING LENIN;

SAYS AN AGREEMENT WAS REACHED BETWEEN THE LEFT COMMUNISTS AND LEFT SR’S TO OVERTHROW THE GOVT;

ADMITS TAKING PART IN THE SR PLOT TO KILL MIRBACH;

SAYS THE LEFT COMMUNISTS WERE FULLY AWARE OF THE JULY REVOLT PLAN TO KILL MIRBACH & KARELIN TOLD HIM BUKHARIN WAS FULLY AWARE;

SAYS THEY DECIDED TO KILL MIRBACH & FRUSTRATE THE BREST- LITOVSK PEACE



KEY PARTS OF WITNESS KARELIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS PROSHYAN TOLD HIM THAT BUKHARIN DID NOT SHRINK FROM KILLING GOVT LEADERS;

BUKHARIN TOLD HIM PERSONALLY THAT IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO RESORT TO KILLING LENIN, STALIN, & SVERDLOV;

SAID PROSHYAN TOLD HIM THAT BUKHARIN FELT THE PLAN TO KILL MIRBACH TO DISRUPT BREST-LITOVSK WAS EFFECTIVE; PROSHYAN TOLD HIM BUKHARIN WANTED THE KILLINGS EXPEDITED



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS PREPARING TO ARREST LENIN, STALIN, & SVERDLOV



KEY PARTS OF LEVIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS YAGODA WANTED GORKY’S SON KILLED;

YAGODA TOLD ME IT WAS NECESSARY TO KILL MENSHINSKY & GET KAZAKOV TO PROVIDE THE POISON



KEY PARTS OF KAZAKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS LEVIN IS BEING TRUTHFUL;

LEVIN TOLD ME YAGODA WOULD BE VERY IRRITATED IF I IMPROVED MENSHINSKY’S HEALTH;

SAYS LEVIN SAID YAGODA WANTED MENSHINSKY DEAD & WOULD MAKE SHORT SHIRIFT OF HIM IF HE KEPT MENSHINSKY ALIVE



KEY PARTS OF YAGODA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE GAVES ORDER TO KILL GORKY & KUIBYSHEV BUT NOT MENZHINSKY OR PESHKOV





KEY PARTS OF KAZAKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS YAGODA ORDERED HIM TO FINISH OFF MENZHINSKY & THREATENED TO KILL HIM IF HE DIDN’T ACT



KEY PARTS OF YAGODA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS TELLING LEVIN TO GET MAX PESHKOV OUT OF THE WAY; ADMITS PREPARTING CRIMES IN THE CASE OF KUIBYSHEV AND MAXIM GORKY



KEY PARTS OF KRYUCHKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS YAGODA TOLD HIM TO KILL MAXIM PESHKOV & A COUNTER-REV COUP WAS PLANNED



KEY PARTS OF LEVIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS AS A RESULT OF HIS WRECKING ACTS MENSHINSKY & PESHKOV DIED;

SAYS HE, A DOCTOR, COMMITTED ABOMINABLE CRIMES;

SAYS YAGODA TOLD HIM THAT HE WAS NOW IN YAGODA’S HANDS BECAUSE HE COMMITTED THESE TWO MURDERS;

YAGODA TOLD HIM A CHANGE IN GOVT WAS COMING LED BY BUKHARING, RYKOV, AND YENUKIDZE;

SAYS YAGODA WANTED HIM TO KILL GORKY;

ADMITS ORGANIZING THE MURDER OF GORKY WITH HIS ACCOMPLICE KRYUCHKOV & PLETNEV’S HELP & OPERATING UNDER YAGODA’S ORDERS



KEY PARTS OF YAGODA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS GIVING LEVIN SUCH AN ORDER



KEY PARTS OF LEVIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE KILLED KUIBYSHEV ON YAGODA’S ORDERS



KEY PARTS OF KRYUCHKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS LEVIN IS CORRECT WHEN HE SAYS YAGODA GAVE HIM ORDERS TO KILL GORKY



KEY PARTS OF PLETNEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS LEVIN IS CORRECT BY SAYING HE, PLETNEV, IS INVOLVED IN CRIMES



KEY PARTS OF LEVIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS GIVING GORKY MUCH TOO STRONG DOSES OF MEDICINES FOR CRIMINAL ENDS



KEY PARTS OF BULANOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

[Private Secretary to Yagoda & Secretary of the People's Commissariat]

SAYS YAGODA TOLD HIM THE RIGHTS HAD UNITED WITH THE TROTS AND ZINOVIEVITES AND THE ONLY WAY TO GET POWER WAS BY A VIOLENT ARMED COUP;

SAYS YAGODA WAS REALLY FASCINATED WITH HITLER & MEIN KAMPF; SAYS YAGODA SAID THE COUP MUST OCCUR AT THE SAME TIME AS A WAR;

SAYS YAGODA WOULD NOT ATTEMPT A COUP UNTIL AGREEMENTS HAD BEEN REACHED WITH GERMANY AND JAPAN;

AFTER THE COUP THE FIGHTING WOULD STOP & CONCESSIONS AND CESSIONS WOULD BEGIN;

HEARD KRESTINSKY AND KARAKHAN WERE INVOLVED AND TUKHACHEVSKY WAS TO BE PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR OF DEFENSE; ADMITS HE WAS INVOLVED IN CRIMES & POISONING;

SAID YAGODA DELIBERATELY HAD CASES AGAINST TROTS, RIGHTS, & ZINOVIEVITES DISMISSED & SHIELDED THEM;

SAYS YAGODA DEFINITELY KNEW OF DREITZER’S CONSPIRATORIAL ACTS & SHIELDED HIM;

SAID PAUKER, CHIEF OF THE OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT, WAS A GERMAN SPY;

YAGODA ADMITS HE KNEW PAUKER & VOLOVICH WERE GERMAN SPIES; SAYS MOLCHANOV, CHIEF OF THE SECRET POLITICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS WAS A MEMBER OF THE RIGHTS;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED CRIMES;

YAGODA TOLD HIM A DECISION HAD BEEN MADE TO KILL YEZHOV;

SAYS YAGODA DID EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO HAMPER YEZHOV;

SAYS YAGODA TOLD HIM ZAPOROZHETZ, ASSISTANT CHIEF OF THE LENINGRAD REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, HAD ARRANGED FOR NIKOLAYEV TO KILL KIROV;

SAYS THAT A GUARD ARRESTED NIKOLAYEV A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE THE KILLING BUT ZAPOROZHETZ HAD HIM RELEASED; YAGODA TOLD HIM BORSOV HAD A HAND IN THE KILLING & ZAPOROZHETZ HAD HIM KILLED BECAUSE HE MIGHT TELL ALL;

ON YAGODA’S INSTRUCTIONS ZAPOROZHETZ HAD BORISOV KILLED IN A CAR WRECK;

YAGODA WAS DETERMINED TO KILL YEZHOV BY POISONING HIS OFFICE; ADMITS PREPARING THE POISON THAT WAS SPREAD AROUND YEZHOV’S FUTURE OFFICE IN THE PRESENCE OF YAGODA & HIMSELF;

SAYS YAGODA WAS VERY INTERESTED IN POISONS CONNECTED WITH THE CONSPIRACY;

ADMITS BEING PRESENT AT 4 POISON SPRAYINGS;

SAYS YAGODA HELPED KILL GORKY;

SAYS HE LEARNED FROM YAGODA THAT DR. LEVIN, PROF. PLETNEV, AND KRYUCHKOV, GORKY'S SECRETARY, TOOK PART IN THIS CRIME.;

SAYS HE PERSONALLY HEARD YAGODA SEVERAL TIMES TELLING KRYUCHKOV THAT HE MUST TRY TO GIVE GORKY A CHILL TO KILL HIM;

SAYS MENSHINSKY WAS KILLED ON THE DIRECT ORDERS OF YAGODA; SAYS YAGODO TOLD HIM HE HAD DECIDED TO KILL MENZHINSKY;

SAYS THAT YAGODA ASSIGNED DR. KAZAKOV TO DO THE KILLING WHEN LEVIN FAILED;

SAYS YAGODA IS LYING ABOUT HIS ROLE



KEY PARTS OF YAGODA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BULANOV IS TELLING THE TRUTH WHEN HE SAYS YAGODA POISONED MENZHINSKY AND WHEN HE SAYS YAGODA HELPED TO KILL PESHKOV;

YAGODA WANTS TO TESTIFY IN SECRET



KEY PARTS OF BULANOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS YAGODA TOLD HIM PLAINLY THAT THE DECISION TO POISON YEZHOV AND TO KILL GORKY WAS ADOPTED BY RYKOV, BUKHARIN & YENUKIDZE



KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS THE RIGHTS & TROTS WERE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT GORKY’S INFLUENCE ABROAD SO THEY DECIDED TO KILL HIM;

SAYS YENUKIDZE SPOKE ABOUT THE NECESSITY OF KILLING GORKY



KEY PARTS OF BULANOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE KNOWS YAGODA WAS SENDING MONEY TO TROTSKY;

HE PERSONALLY GAVE MONEY TO A MAN WHO WAS TAKING IT TO TROTSKY ACCORDING TO YAGODA’S ORDERS



KEY PARTS OF YAGODA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS SUPPLYING CONFIDENTIAL OGPU INFORMATION TO BUKHARIN & RYKOV;

ADMITS HE COVERED FOR THE RIGHTS & TROTS UP TO 1937 WHICH IS THE KEY STATEMENT ABOVE ALL OTHERS;

FULLY CONFESSES HIS GUILT;

ADMITS PUTTING RIGHTS LIKE PROKOFIEV, MOLCHANOV, MURALOV, BULANOV, & SHANIN IN KEY OGPU POSITIONS;

ADMITS ESTABLISHING CONNECTIONS WITH YENUKIDZE ON TOMSKY'S INSTRUCTIONS;

ADMITS THAT BY 1932 THE COLLECTIVE SYSTEM WAS SUCCEEDING, THERE WAS NO HOPE OF A KULAK REVOLT & THE ONLY OPTION LEFT WAS A PALACE COUP;

ADMITS THE PURPOSE OF THE COUP WAS TO OVERTHROW THE GOVT & SET UP CAPITALIST RELATIONS;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED CRIMES;

SAYS IN 1933 A BLOC OF RIGHTS, TROTS, & ZINOVIEVITES WAS SET UP CONNECTED TO THE MENSHEVIKS THROUGH RYKOV & TO THE SR’S THROUGH BUKHARIN;

SAYS YENUKIDZE TOLD HIM THE COUP WAS TO OCCUR AT THE 17TH CONGRESS;

SAYS HE COVERED FOR A GROUP OF SPIES THAT WERE IN THE OGPU; SAYS HE KNEW ABOUT THE SPYING BY KNEW ABOUT THE SPYING OF ZAPOROZHETZ, GAI, VOLOVICH, PAUKER, VINETSKY, AND OTHERS;

SAYS THE SPIES LET FOREIGNERS KNOW YAGODA WAS INVOLVED; SAYS KARAKHAN TOLD HIM THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES," WERE CARRYING ON NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE GERMAN FASCIST CIRCLES;

SAYS KARAKHAN TOLD HIM TROTSKY HAD BEEN CONDUCTING NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE GERMANS FOR A LONG TIME AND PROMISED TOO MUCH SUCH AS THE UKRAINE & MARITIME REGION;

SAYS KARAKHAN DEMANDED INFORMATION ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" ALL OVER THE UNION FOR HIS FORTHCOMING CONVERSATION WITH THE FASCIST GERMAN CIRCLES & I GAVE HIM THIS INFORMATION; SAYS HE KNOWS THE MEETING WITH LEADING FASCISTS TOOK PLACE, AND THAT AN AGREEMENT WAS REACHED ABOUT ASSISTANCE TO BE GIVEN BY THE GERMANS TO THE ANTI-SOVIET BLOC;

SAYS EVERY TERRORIST ACT CARRIED OUT BY HIM WAS DONE ON THE ORDERS OF THE BLOC;

IN 1934, IN THE SUMMER, YENUKIDZE INFORMED ME THAT THE CENTER OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" HAD ADOPTED A DECISION TO KILL KIROV;

RYKOV TOOK A DIRECT ROLE;

YENUKIDZE INSISTED THAT I WAS NOT TO PLACE ANY OBSTACLES IN THE WAY & THE TERRORIST ACT WOULD BE CARRIED OUT BY THE TROTSKYITE-ZINOVIEVITE GROUP;

THUS I DECLARE CATEGORICALLY THAT THE MURDER OF KIROV & TERRORIST ACTS COMMITTED AGAINST KUIBYSHEV, MENZHINSKY, AND GORKY. WERE CARRIED OUT ON THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES; SAYS RYKOV, BUKHARIN, AND THE OTHERS BEAR FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR TERRORIST ACTS & DECLARES THEY WERE COMMITTED ON THEIR DECISION; ADMITS HE SENT MONEY TO TROTSKY;

SAID AN ARMED REVOLT WAS SILLY & WAS RELYING ONLY ON A PALACE COUP OF A SMALL GROUP;

DENIES BEING A SPY BUT ADMITS SHIELDING SPIES;

ADMITS GIVING STATE FUNDS TO TROTSKY;

ADMITS HAVING HELPED KILL KIROV, MENSHINSKY, KUIBYSHEV, GORKY; ADMITS PROTECTING MENSHEVIKS



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS GORKY AND TROTSKY STRONGLY DISLIKED ONE ANOTHER



KEY PARTS OF BESSONOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TROTSKY TOLD HIM HE STRONGLY DISLIKED GORKY;

SAYS TROTSKY TOLD HIM TO TELL PYATAKOV TO KILL GORKY;

ADMITS HE WAS CONNECTED TO PYATAKOV IN UNDERGROUND CONSPIRATORIAL WORK



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE KNEW TROTSKY & THE TROTS HATED GORKY;

SAYS TROTSKY LINKED UP THE KILLING OF GORKY WITH THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOVIET GOVT



KEY PARTS OF KRYUCHKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE TREACHEROUSLY MURDERED GORKY AND HIS SON, PESHKOV, ON YAGODA'S INSTRUCTIONS AND UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF HIS THREATS;

SAYS HE EMBEZZLED A LOT OF GORKY’S MONEY;

SAYS YAGODA ORDERED HIM TO KILL GORKY BECAUSE GORKY WAS IN THE WAY OF ZINOVIEV, KAMENEV, BUKHARIN AND RYKOV;

SAYS YAGODA TOLD HIM TO KILL PESHKOV BY GIVING HIM TOO MUCH LIQUOR;

SAYS HE KILLED PESHKOV ON YAGODA’S ORDERS;

SAYS YAGODA TOLD HIM TO UNDERMINE GORKY’S HEALTH



KEY PARTS OF PLETNEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS LEVIN TOLD HIM THAT, BESIDES YENUKIDZE, RYKOV WAS ALSO INVOLVED IN THE ANTI-SOVIET CONSPIRACY;

SAYS THAT AT THE TIME YAGODA INVOLVED HIM IN THE MURDER OF GORKY AND KUIBYSHEV HE HAD ANTI-SOVIET TENDENCIES WHICH HE HID;

ADMITS HE CAMOFLAGED HIMSELF, LIED, DECEIVED, & ENGAGED IN DOUBLE DEALING;

ADMITS HE DECIDED TO KILL GORKY BY TIRING HIM OUT;

ADMITS DRAWING UP A PLAN TO KILL KUIBYSHEV WITH LEVIN’S HELP



KEY PARTS OF KAZAKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HIS CRIMES ARE CONNECTED WITH THE MURDER OF MENSHINSKY;

YAGODA TOLD ME TO WORK WITH LEVIN TO KILL MENSHINSKY;

SAYS IT WAS NOT DONE FROM IGNORANCE BUT WAS A CRIME PURE AND SIMPLE;

SAID HE USED LYSATES FOR MURDER;

SAID YAGODA WANTED MENZHINSKY DEAD ASAP AND HE AGREE TO ACT IN THAT DIRECTION;

SAYS HE GAVE MENSHINSKY LYSATES AND HEART STIMULANTS TO CAUSE DEATH



KEY PARTS OF MAXIMOV-DIKOVSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HE WAS IN THE RIGHTS FOR YEARS;

YENUKIDZE TOLD HIM THE RIGHTS WANTED TO OVERTHROW THE GOVT AND RESTORE CAPITALISM;

YENUKIDZE TOLD HIM THE RIGHTS HAD UNITED WITH THE TROTS AND CHANGED TACTICS TO TERRORISM AND ENLISTED SOME KREMLIN DOCTORS BECAUSE IT COULD BE HIDDEN MORE EASILY; YENUKIDZE TOLD HIM A TERRORIST ACT AGAINST KUIBYSHEV WAS PLANNED AND HE AGREED TO IT;

SAYS THE KILLING OF KUIBYSHEV WAS ORGANIZED BY YENUKIDZE AND YAGODA ON THE INSTRUCTION OF THE CENTER & HE TOOK A CRIMINAL PART;

SAYS YENUKIDZE TOLD HIM THE RIGHT CENTER, BUKHARIN AND RYKOV, TOOK PART



ANSWERS OF THE COMMISSION OF MEDICAL EXPERTS TO THE QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY THE STATE PROSECUTOR



Professor Burmin, Scientist of Merit

Professor Shereshevsky, Scientist of Merit

Professor Vinogradov

Professor Rossisky

Zipalov, Dr. of Medicine

March 9, 1938

SPEECH FOR THE PROSECUTION

by Vyshinsky



SUMMARY OF BUKHARIN'S CAREER

by Vyshinsky



SUMMARY OF RYKOV'S CAREER

by Vyshinsky



LAST PLEA OF BESSONOV

ADMITS COMMITTING GHASTLY ULCERS OF TREASON AND TREACHERY & NEGOTIATING WITH FASCIST GERMANY;

ADMITS BEING A GO-BETWEEEN FOR RIGHT & TROTS & WHITEGUARDS; SAYS TROTS AND RIGHTS HAD NOT NATIONAL SUPPORT SO THEY TRIED TO BRING ALL THE FASCISTS TOGETHER UNDER ONE WING; ADMITS BEING IN ON THE KILLING OF GORKY;

BLAMES BEING 6 YEARS IN CAPITALIST COUNTRIES FOR HIS ATTITUDE



LAST PLEA OF GRINKO

SAYS HE HAS NO DEFENSE;

SAYS HE DESERVES HIS SENTENCE FULLY;

SAYS HE WAS A TRAITOR IN THE TROT-RIGHT PLOT AGAINST THE SU & SOCIALISM & FOR CAPITALISM;

ADMITS WORKING FOR WAR & THE FASCISTS TO DISMEMBER THE SU; ADMITS WORKING TO KILL KEY FIGURES AND OVERTHROW THE GOVT; SAYS HE ONLY LEARNED ABOUT SOME OF THE TROT-RIGHT CRIMES IN COURT;

ADMITS BEING A SPY AND FASCIST ALLY;

SAYS DOUBLEDEALING LED THEM ALL TO FASCISM;

SAYS HE WORKED TO UNDERMINE THE WESTERN BORDER OF THE SU; SAYS HE KNEW FOR 2 YEARS THAT TOP MILITARY MEN WERE PREPARING DEFEAT;

SAYS HE KNEW FOR SEVERAL MONTHS OF THE TERRORIST LINE OF THE TROT-RIGHTS AND THAT 2 GROUPS WERE FOLLOWING STALIN AND YEZHOV TO KILL THEM;

ADMITS HE ALLOWED STATE FUNDS TO BE USED BY CONSPIRATORS AGAINST THE STATE;

ADMITS THE PARTY PARDONED HIM WHEN HE WAS GUILTY AND HE BETRAYED THEM;

SAYS HE WAS A TRAITOR LIKE THE WORLD HAS NEVER SEEN;

ACCEPTS HIS EXECUTION AS DESERVED;

HE WANTS TO REPENT BY CONFESSING



LAST PLEA OF CHERNOV

ADMITS COMMITTING HEINOUS AND INDEFENSIBLE CRIMES & BEING A TRAITOR & BEING A SPY FOR FASCISM AND WORKING FOR GERMAN INTELLIGENCE;

ADMITS WORKING TO OVERTHROW THE SOCIALISM AND SETTING UP CAPITALISM;

SAYS HE COMMITTED CRIMES THAT CAN’T BE DEFENDED OR EXCULPATED & MERIT SUPREME PUNISHMENT;

ADMITS BEING A MENSHEVIK & IN THE COUNTER-REV BLOC OF RIGHTS & TROTS;

TWICE SAYS HIS CRIMES ARE BOUNDLESS & MONSTROUS;

ADMITS HE DRINKS EXCESSIVELY;

SAYS HE CARRIED OUT MONSTROUS WRECKING & DIVERSION FOR THE FASCISTS;

SAYS RYKOV AND GERMAN INTELLIGENCE GAVE HIM WRECKING ORDERS;

SAYS THE COUNTER-REV ORGANIZATION WAS A GANG OF BUREAUCRATS WITH NO SUPPORT FROM THE PEOPLE & ITS ONLY BASE WAS WITH THE FASCISTS;

SAYS ANY PUNISHMENT HE GOT WOULD BE INADEQUATE



LAST PLEA OF IVANOV

ADMITS COMMITTING TREASONABLE ACTS & BEING IN THE BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTS;

FULLY ADMITS HIS GUILT AND HAS NOTHING TO SAY IN DEFENSE; ADMITS BEING A CRIMINAL & COMMITTING TREACHERY;

SOUGHT OUT ALL FORCES TRYING TO RESTORE CAPITALISM;

SAYS BUKHARIN LED HIM DOWN THE LADDER OF CRIME;

ON BUKHARIN’S INSTRUCTIONS HE TRIED TO CREATE KULAK REVOLTS, OVERTHROW SOVIET POWER IN NORTH CAUCASUS, BUKHARIN TOLD HIM OF THE NEED FOR A SOVIET DEFEAT IN WAY & THE NECESSITY TO RELY ON THE FASCISTS;

SAID HE LED A GROUP OF RIGHTS USING TERROR, EXPIONAGE & WRECKING;

SAYS BUKHARIN IS LYING WHEN HE SAYS ALL HE DID WAS ENGAGE IN THEORY;

SAYS HE COMMITTED MONSTROUS CRIMES & HE DID IT WITH BUKHARIN; BUKHARIN WAS NOT AN IDEOLOGIST BUT THE KEY LEADER OF THE RIGHTS;

HE ORGANIZED THE RIGHTS, SELECTED PEOPLE, GAVE INSTRUCTIONS, DEMANDED ACCOUNTING, INITIATED TERRORISM, WRECKING, DIVERSION, & DEFEATIST MENTALITY;

BUKHARIN WAS THE PRINCIPAL ORGANIZER OF ESPIONAGE & WAS THE COORDINATOR WITH THE FASCISTS;

ADMITS COMMITTING CRIMES MORE HEINOUS THAN THOSE BEFORE; SAYS THE ONLY HOPE THEY HAD WAS THE DEFEAT OF THE SU IN WAR AFTER THE KULAK DEFEAT;

I WANTED WAR, I LONGED FOR IT;

HIS ALLIES WERE RELYING ON DEFEAT & THE CREATION OF A FASCIST DICTATORSHIP;

SAYS HE WAS A DEFEATIST AND A SPY AND SO WAS BUKHARIN;

SAYS IT IS PAINFUL TO STAND BEFORE THE MASSES AS A BETRAYER ANDTRAITOR;

CAN’T FIND ANYTHING TO MITIGATE HIS DASTARDLY CRIMES;

SAYS HE FEELS BETTER AFTER REVEALING HIS CRIMES;

SAYS IT IS HARD TO GO ON LIVING WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN THROUGH A BLACK AND STINKING CESSPOOL







LAST PLEA OF KRESTINSKY

ADMITS HE AND TROTSKY WORKED WITH THE REICHSWEHR DOING ESPIONAGE AND GRANTING CONCESSIONS FOR MONEY;

SAYS TROTSKY GAVE DOUBLE-DEALING INSTRUCTIONS FOR TROTS TO REJOIN THE PARTY WHILE LYING;

TROTSKY ALSO FORMED AN ILLEGAL ORGANIZATION THAT WAS TO COME TO POWER THROUGH WRECKING, DIVERSION, AND TERRORISM;

TROTSKY TOLD HIM IN 1933 OF HIS PLANS TO OVERTHROW THE SOVIET GOVT AND SEVERANCE OF THE UKRAINE AND MARITIME REGION; SAYS HE BEARS COMPLETE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE GROUPS CRIMINAL ACTS;

IN 1935 PYATAKOV TOLD HIM OF THE JOINT AGREEMENT FOR A COUP ARRIVED AT BY THE RIGHT, THE TROTS, AND TUKHASHEVSKY; ADMITS HE WORKED WITH GERMAN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE;

REALIZED HE DID CRIMINAL ACTS;

SAYS HIS CRIMES ARE IMMENSE AND HE ACCEPTS WHATEVER VERDICT IS PASSED REGARDLESS OF SEVERITY



LAST PLEA OF ZUBAREV

FULLY AND COMPLETELY ADMITS THE CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST HIM OF CRIMES AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER;

ADMITS HE DIRECTED WRECKING WORK IN AGRICULTURE;

ADMITS BEING ONE OF THE LEADERS OF A TERRORIST GROUP AND CARRYING ON ESPIONAGE AND PROVOCATEUR ACTIVITIES; ADMITS THE DEPTHS OF THE GRAVITY OF THE CRIMES HE COMMITTED; FULLY AGREES WITH THE PROSECUTOR AND HIS DEMAND FOR THE DEATH PENALTY AND FEELS HIS CRIMES MERIT CAPITAL PUNISHMENT;

DOES NOT WISH TO DEFEND OR ACQUIT HIMSELF



LAST PLEA OF RYKOV

ADMITS HE COMMITTED MONSTROUS CRIMES AND BETRAYED HIS COUNTRY;

ADMITS HE WAS NOT A SECONDARY FIGURE IN THIS COUNTER- REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION;

ADMITS PREPARING FOR A COUP D'ETAT AND ORGANIZING KULAK INSURRECTIONS AND TERRORISM;

ADMITS HE WORKED FOR THE KILLING OF GORKY, PESHKOV, MENSHINSKY AND KUIBYSHEV;

COMPLETELY ADMITS HIS GUILTY FOR WRECKING;

SAYS CHERNOV WAS A FULL-FLEDGED COUNTER-REV. ON HIS OWN; ADMITS BEING A CLOSE PAL OF BUKHARIN;

BUKHARIN'S REFERENCE TO SOME SORT OF DIVISION OF LABOR IS OF COURSE WRONG BECAUSE HE WAS AS ACTIVE AS WE WERE; SAYS BUKHARIN WAS THE MOST ACTIVE IN THE COUNTER-REV. BLOC; SAYS HE MUST ANSWER FOR THE MONSTROUS BLOC’S ACTS;

HE CALLS UPON THOSE NOT YET CAUGHT TO SURRENDER AND EXPOSE THE REMAINDER OF THE COUNTER-REV. DREGS



LAST PLEA OF SHARANGOVICH

SAYS HE WILL NOT DEFEND HIMSELF AND ADMITS COMMITTING HEINOUS AND LOATHSOME CRIMES AGAINST THE SU;

ADMITS HE IS A TRAITOR WHO BETRAYED HIS COUNTRY AND DESERVES NO MERCY;

ADMITS HE WAS A SPY CARRYING ON TREASONABLE ESPIONAGE ACTS FOR THE POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE WORKING FOR THE DEFEAT OF THE SU IN A WAR AGAINST THE FASCISTS;

ADMITS LEADING A NATIONAL-FASCIST ORGANIZATION WORKING FOR THE OVERTHROW OF THE SU;

OPERATED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE RIGHTS, TROTS, AND POLES AND RYKOV AND BUKHARIN PERSONALLY;

SOUGHT TO SET UP CAPITALISM;

SOUGHT TO BREAK OFF BYELORUSSIA AND GIVE IT TO POLISH LANDLORDS AND CAPITALISTS;

SOUGHT THE DEFEAT OF THE SU IN A WAR WITH THE FASCIST STATES; WORKED TO BRING ABOUT THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOVIET GOVT; ADMITS HE IS GUILTY AND SHOULD BE HELD FULLY RESPONSIBLE; ADMITS THAT HE PERSONALLY DIRECTED WRECKING AND DIVERSION; ADMITS THAT WHICH HIS ACCOMPLICES HE UNDERMINED AGRICULTURE, DESTROYED HORSES, DEPRIVED COLLECTIVE FARMERS OF HOUSEHOLD LAND, MUDDLED THE PLANNING OF CROP AREAS AND ENDEAVORED, FROM PROVOCATEUR MOTIVES, TO INCENSE THE COLLECTIVE FARMERS AGAINST THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT;

ADMITS THAT IN BYELORUSSIAN INDUSTRY HE UNDERMINED THE FUEL BASE, THE POWER INDUSTRY, RETARDED THE SPEED OF NEW CONSTRUCTION WORK AND COMMITTED A NUMBER OF WRECKING AND DIVERSIVE ACTS;

ADMITS HE DEVELOPED EXTENSIVE WRECKING ACTIVITIES ON THE PRINCIPAL SECTORS OF THE CULTURAL FRONT--IN THE SCHOOLS, THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS, AND SO FORTH;

ADMITS HE TOOK THE PATH OF THE PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION OF THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT;

ADMITS BEING FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CREATION OF A TERRORIST GROUP AND FOR THE PREPARATION OF TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST THE LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT;

ADMITS THAT IN THE CHAIN OF CRIMES COMMITTED BY HIM AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER HE IS, OF COURSE, MANY TIMES GUILTY; ADMITS COMMITTING CRIMES AND TREASON;

SAYS HE DESERVES THE MOST DRASTIC PUNISHMENT;

ADMITS COMMITING VILE AND TREACHEROUS ACTS WHICH HIS LEADERS REFUSE TO ADMIT;

REFUSES TO PLEAD FOR CLEMENCY BECAUSE HE DOES NOT DESERVE IT



LAST PLEA OF KHODJAYEV

ADMITS HE COMMITTED GRAVE CRIMES AS A BOURGEOIS-NATIONALIST LEADER;

DECIDED TO CONFESS TO BRING TO LIGHT ALL THE BLACK, PUTRIFYING FORCES THAT MIGHT CONSTITUTE A DANGER OF INFECTION; WAIVED HIS DEFENSE SPEECH BECAUSE HE CAN’T THINK OF A SINGLE ARGUMENT AND HIS CRIMES ARE TOO SERIOUS;

REALIZES THE UTTER CRIMINALITY OF HIS DEEDS AND THE DEPTHS TO WHICH HE HAS FALLEN, THE FULL HORROR OF HIS DISGRACE AND THE FULL GRAVITY OF HIS MISDEEDS;

SAYS THE SUPREME PUNISHMENT IS JUSTIFIED;

SAYS HE AND THE OTHERS ARE HARDENED CRIMINALS, HEROES OF BANDIT DEEDS, PEOPLE WHO HAVE SOLD THEIR HONOR AND CONSCIENCE



LAST PLEA OF ZELENSKY

SAYS HE HAS NO DEFENSE OR EXCUSE FOR HIS CRIMES AND DESERVES NO EXONERATION;

SAYS HE IS GUILTY OF TREACHERY AND TREASON;

ADMITS WORMING HIS WAY INTO THE PARTY, DOUBLE-DEALING, AND USING CAMOFLAGE;

ADMITS HE DECEIVED THE PARTY, CARRIED ON UNDERMINING, WRECKING, COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES, STIRRING UP DISCONTENT AMONG THE POPULATION;

ADMITS BEING A PROVOCATEUR AND SERVING THE OKHRANA;

SAYS HIS VILE AND TREACHEROUS CRIMES ARE HORRIFYING;

SAYS THE ONLY HONEST THING TO DO WAS EXPOSE HIS MONSTROUS UNDERMINING WORK;

SAYS HE CONFESSED IMMEDIATELY BECAUSE IT WAS THE ONLY THING THAT COULD REINSTATE HIM IN THE RANKS OF THE SOVIET PEOPLE, IF NOT TO LIVE, THEN AT LEAST TO DIE AS A SOVIET MAN;

SAYS HE BECAME A FASCIST AGENT AND A WRECKER SEEKING A COUP; ADMITS DOING MONSTROUS DEEDS AND MONSTROUS CRIMES;

SAYS BUKHARIN WAS GUILTY OF CRIMES AND TREACHERY AND THE OTHERS WERE PUPPIES BESIDE HIM;

SAYS THAT TROTSKY’S ATTACK IN 1921 WAS NOT SOME SORT OF LEGAL DISCUSSION THAT CONFRONTED THE PARTY BUT A CONSPIRACY; AFFIRMED THAT IT CAN BE SAID WITH CERTAINTY THAT TROTSKY WHILE FORMALLY ADHERING TO THE PLATFORM OF THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION, MUSTERED HIS FOLLOWERS WITHIN THE PARTY FOR THE PURPOSE OF BLOWING UP THE PARTY FROM WITHIN; SAYS HE BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE BLOC’S VILE, TREACHEROUS, AND BRIGAND ACTIVITIES AND BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CRIMES WHICH HE COMMITTED;

SAYS HE DECEIVED THE PARTY AND WORMED HIS WAY INTO HIGH AND RESPONSIBLE POSTS AND CAN FIND NO REASONS, NO GROUNDS TO SEEK MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES FOR HIS CRIMES AND GUILT



LAST PLEA OF IKRAMOV

SAYS HE CAN’T FIND WORDS OR ARGUMENTS TO DEFEND HIS CRIMES; WAIVES HIS DEFENSE;

SAYS HE BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS CRIMES SUCH AS ESPIONAGE, WRECKING, AND THE MURDER OF PEOPLE LIKE GORKY, KUIBYSHEV, MENZHINSKY AND KIROV;

SAYS HE BETRAYED HIS NATION;

SAYS HIS GROUP HINDERED THE PARTY GETTING RID OF MALARIA AND FAMINE;

SAYS HE COMMITTED TOO MANY SHAMEFUL CRIMES AND CAN’T FIND GROUNDS TO ASK FOR CLEMENCY;

SAYS HE AND HIS ALLIES ARE RIGHTLY CALLED ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE, TRAITORS. SPIES, AND ASSASSINS;

SAYS HE WILL ACCEPT THE COURTS SENTENCE AS RIGHT AND JUST



LAST PLEA OF RAKOVSKY

CONFESSES TO ALL HIS CRIMES;

ADMITS TO BEING IN THE BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES;

ADMITS TO COMMITTING CRIMES AND BEING A FIFTH COLUMN SPY;

IS MAD THAT THE ATAMAN OF THE GROUP, TROTSKY, IS NOT PRESENT; SAYS TROTSKY WILL CONTINUE TO BE A THREAT TO THE WORLD LABOR MOVEMENT;

REJECTS THE IDEA THAT THE REVOLUTION IS EATING ITS CHILDREN AS DO BOURGEOIS REVOLUTIONS;

ADMITS HE BECAME A CRIMINAL;

SAYS TROTSKY’S IDEOLOGY TOOK SHAPE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST BOLSHEVISM;

SAYS THAT THE MAJOR TROTS ALL MADE SERIOUS DEVIATIONS BEFORE AND AFTER THE REVOLUTION;

SAYS TROTSKY SET UP CONNECTIONS WITH GERMAN INTELLIGENCE IN 1921



LAST PLEA OF ROSENGOLTZ

SAYS THAT BECAUSE OF HIS MONSTROUS CRIMES HE HAS NO INCENTIVE TO MITIGATE HIS SENTENCE;

SAYS THE BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTS WAS A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE BECAUSE THE TROTS CONTRIBUTED THEIR CONNECTIONS WITH FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES AND THE RIGHTS CONTRIBUTED THEIR CADRES, THEIR CONNECTIONS WITH THE NATIONALISTS, MENSHEVIKS, SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES AND THE KULAKS;

HIS GROUP COMMITTED DECEIT, TREASON, BRIBERY, MURDER BY MEANS OF POISON OR THE REVOLVER;

SAYS HIS GROUP WAS WORKING FOR THE COMPLETE VICTORY OF CAPITALISM;

SAYS THEY STUPIDLY RELIED ON FOREIGN ASSISTANCE WHICH WOULD THROW THEM OVERBOARD AFTER VICTORY;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED CRIMINAL DEEDS AND TREASON;

SAYS THERE IS NOT A SINGLE MAN IN THE WORLD WHO BROUGHT SO MUCH SORROW AND MISFORTUNE TO PEOPLE AS TROTSKY, THE VILEST AGENT OF FASCISM;

REGRETS THAT TROTSKY IS NOT ON TRIAL;

SAYS TROTSKYISM IS NOT A POLITICAL CURRENT BUT AN UNSCRUPULOUS DIRTY GANG OF MURDERERS, SPIES, PROVOCATEURS, AND POISONERS AND A DIRTY GANG OF HENCHMAN OF CAPITALISM;

TROTSKYISM IS PERFORMING THIS FUNCTION IN ALL COUNTRIES



LAST PLEA OF BUKHARIN

ADMITS HE WAS A LEADER OF THE RIGHTS AND TROTS WHO COMMITTED DASTARDLY CRIMES;

SAYS THE TRIALS EXPOSED ALL HIS CRIMES AND TREASONABLE ACTS; ADMITS HE WAS A TRAITOR WORKING TO VIOLENTLY OVERTHROW THE GOVT;

ADMITS HIS GROUPS ENGAGED IN TERRORIST ACTS & ORGANIZED KULAK REVOLTS;

ADMITS ENGAGING IN CONSPIRACY FOR A COUP;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED TREASON;

ADMITS BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THE ACTS COMMITTED BY THE RIGHTS AND TROTS;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED HEINOUS CRIMES, WAS A LEADER AND NOT A COG, ORGANIZED A PALACE COUP AND DESERVED THE MOST SEVERE PUNISHMENT;

ADMITS LEADING THE DEFEATIST MOOD;

SAYS HE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WRECKING ACTS;

ADMITS WORKING WITH THE TROTS FOR TERRITORIAL CONCESSIONS; SAYS TOMSKY TOLD HIM THE TROTS WERE PLANNING TO KILL GORKY; ADMITS HE WORKED WITH THE SR’S TO ARREST LENIN;

ADMITS HIS CRIMES WERE GRAVE AND IMMENSE JUSTIFYING THE SEVEREST PUNISHMENT;

WITHOUT HESITATION ADMITS HIS CRIMES DESERVE TO BE SHOT 10 TIMES OVER;

ADMITS HIS VIEWS RESEMBLE KULAK PRAETORIAN FASCISM;

REJECTS THE EXCUSES THE BOURGEOIS GIVE FOR THE CONFESSIONS SUCH AS BEING CAUSED BY TIBETAN RITUALS;

REJECTS THE HYPNOTISM ARGUMENT;

SAYS THE FATE OF TROTSKY IS COUNTER-REV. POLITICS;

SAYS HE REPENTS FOR HIS CRIMES;

SAYS TROTSKY WAS THE PRINCIPAL MOTIVE FORCE OF THE MOST ACUTE METHODS OF STRUGGLE, SUCH AS TERRORISM, ESPIONAGE, DISMEMBERMENT OF THE USSR AND WRECKING; SAYS THAT HE WILL REJECT THE DEFENSES OF TROTSKY AND HIS OTHER ALLIES IN CRIME;

SAYS THE MONSTROUSNESS OF HIS CRIMES IS IMMEASURABLE



LAST PLEA OF LEVIN

ADMITS HIS GUILT IS VERY GREAT AND THE GRAVITY OF HIS CRIMES MERIT VERY SEVERE PUNISHMENT;

PAINFULLY REPENTS FOR ALL THE CRIMES HE COMMITTED



LAST PLEA OF BULANOV

SAYS HIS CRIMES ARE STARK FACT AND DON’T NEED TO BE PROVEN; SAYS THERE ARE NO EXCUSES OR MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES FOR HIS CRIMES WHICH ARE TOO GREAT;

SAYS YAGODA MADE HIM A TROT AND A RIGHT AND AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE;

SAYS YAGODA WAS THE ORGANIZER OF THE MURDERS HE KNEW OF; THE RIGHTS, TROTSKYITES, SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES, AND MENSHEVIKS, ALL HAD THE SAME METHODS WHICH WERE ESPIONAGE, ACTS OF DIVERSION, AND TREACHERY;

YAGODA CONSIDERS HITLER HIS MODEL;

YAGODA TOLD HIM BUKHARIN WOULD BE YAGODA'S MINISTER OF PROPAGANDA



LAST PLEA OF YAGODA

SAYS HE WAS A CONSPIRATOR AND A TRAITOR;

SAYS RYKOV WAS A MEMBER OF THE CENTER OF THE BLOC AND MADE DECISIONS;

ADMITS COMMITTING HEINOUS CRIMES



LAST PLEA OF KRYUCHKOV

SAYS HE CAN’T EXTENUATE HIS TREACHEROUS CRIME;

SAYS HIS CRIME IS GREAT;

SAYS YAGODA UTILIZED HIM FOR THE CRIME;

ADMITS HE MURDERED GORKY;

SAYS GORKY HATED THE SELF SATISFIED ANIMAL TROTSKY AND ALL OF HIS ILK--THE BUKHARINITES, ZINOVIEVITES, KAMENEVITES, AND RYKOVITES;

REPENTS FOR BEING A HIRED ASSASSIN



LAST PLEA OF PLETNEV

ADMITS COMMITTING CRIMINAL ACTS AND REPENTS FOR HAVING DONE THEM



LAST PLEA OF KAZAKOV

ADMITS HE IS THE WORST OF CRIMINALS AND MURDERED MENZHINSKY WITH LEVIN’S HELP IN A DESPICABLE CRIME;

DOES NOT DISCLAIM BLAME AND WANTS TO REPENT;

CALLS YAGODA A MONSTER AND TYRANT WHO DRAGGED HIM INTO A NIGHTMARE;

SAYS HE DESERVES THE SEVEREST PUNISHMENT AND WILL ACCEPT THE DECISION AS DESERVED



LAST PLEA OF MAXIMOV

ADMITS ENTERING THE PATH OF CRIME AND BETRAYING THE PARTY AND THE COUNTRY;

ADMITS BEING AN ACCOMPLICE IN THE COMMISSION OF A TERRORIST ACT;

SAYS HE IMMEDIATELY CONFESSED WHEN ARRESTED AND DID NOT DENY ANYTHING;

REFERS TO THE CASUISTIC SOMERSAULTS OF BUKHARIN DURING THE TRIAL;

ADMITS COMMITTING A GRAVE CRIME;

SAYS THE TRIAL SHOWED HIM QUITE CLEARLY THAT HITLER, TROTSKY, AND BUKHARIN WERE AS ONE IN THEIR FRENZIED STRUGGLE AGAINST THE SU;

AGREES WITH THE PROSECUTOR WHO CALLS HIS ALLIES A GANG OF TRAITORS, SPIES, DIVERSIONISTS, BETRAYERS, PROVOCATEURS AND MURDERERS



VERDICT



=============================================================



BRIEF SUMMARY OF KRESTINSKY’S TESTIMONY



On this matter the accused KRESTINSKY testified as follows:

"...TROTSKY instructed me on my arrival in Berlin to start negotiations on this matter with General Seeckt. This instruction of TROTSKY'S I carried out...." (Vol. 3, page 14 reverse.)

Dealing with his own treasonable activities and with those of his accomplices, the accused KRESTINSKY testified as follows:

"We came to an agreement with Gen. SEECKT and Hasse to the effect that we would help the Reichswehr to create a number of espionage bases on the territory of the USSR by permitting the unhindered entry of spies sent by the Reichswehr, and that we would supply the Reichswehr with espionage materials, i.e., to put plainly, that we would be German spies. In return for this the Reichswehr undertook to pay us 250,000 marks per annum as a subsidy for counter-revolutionary Trotskyite work...." (Vol. 3, page 102.)

"The monetary subsidy was paid in regular installments several times a year, mostly in Moscow, but sometimes in Berlin....

If for some reason the money was not paid in Moscow, I received it in Berlin myself directly from SEECKT; and I used to take it to Moscow myself and handed it to TROTSKY." (Vol. 3, page 15)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 8-9



The accused KRESTINSKY, a leading participant in the conspiracy, testified that in 1933, in Meran, L. TROTSKY told him personally that,

"... it would be easier for him, TROTSKY, to negotiate with the Germans if he could tell them that really serious work was being carried on in the way of diversionist and wrecking activities and preparation for terrorism." (Vol. 3, pp. 54-55)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 15





BRIEF SUMMARY OF ROSENGOLTZ’S TESTIMONY

(People's Commissar of Foreign Trade of the USSR)



Another prominent Trotskyite, one of the leaders of the anti-Soviet Trotskyite underground organization and an active participant in the conspiracy, the accused ROSENGOLTZ, who is charged with espionage, during the investigation corroborated the fact that TROTSKY had entered into an agreement with the Reichswehr and testified as follows:

"My espionage activities began as far back as 1923, when, on TROTSKY'S instructions, I handed various secret information to the Commander-in-Chief of the Reichswehr, SEECKT, and to the Chief of the German General Staff, Hasse. Subsequently, direct connections with me were established by the-------- Ambassador in the USSR, Mr. N, to whom I periodically gave information of an espionage character. After Mr. N's departure I continued my espionage connections with the new Ambassador, Mr. N." (Vol. 6, p. 131 reverse.)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 9



Detailed testimony on similar instructions emanating from L. TROTSKY has been given by the accused ROSENGOLTZ, who stated the following:

"In addition to instructions I received from TROTSKY through KRESTINSKY and SEDOV to carry on wrecking activities in the sphere of foreign trade with the object of rendering direct assistance to Germany and Japan, the character of my wrecking activities was also determined by instructions I received from the----- Ambassadors in the USSR, Mr. N and Mr. N, connections with whom played an important part in this matter, as I had to be guided in my work by their definite instructions.

After I had established contact with TUKHACHEVSKY and RYKOV, I informed the former through KRESTINSKY, and the latter I myself informed, of TROTSKY'S instructions regarding wrecking activities, and both approved of the work I had done.

As the result of all this, wrecking activities in foreign trade proceeded mainly along the following three lines: first--economic assistance to Germany and Japan at the expense of the USSR; second--causing economic loss and damage to the USSR; third--causing political damage to the USSR." (Vol. 6,page 49)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 15



Treasonable wrecking activities on a considerable scale were also carried on by the now exposed agent of foreign intelligence services, the accused ROSENGOLTZ.

Concerning his treasonable activities in this fear, the accused ROSENGOLTZ testified as follows:

"In so far as TROTSKY had an agreement with Germany and Japan, of which I had been informed (both during the negotiations--at my meeting with Sedov in 1933: and of the agreement that had been reached--at my meeting with him in 1934), I received corresponding instructions from TROTSKY, and my wrecking activities in the sphere of foreign trade served the same purpose." (Vol. 6, page 48)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 18





BRIEF SUMMARY OF BESSONOV’S TESTIMONY



The accused, BESSONOV, who on his own confession took an active part in the secret negotiations between the Trotskyites and the German fascist, mainly military, circles, on the matter of jointly fighting the USSR, not only personally negotiated for support for the anti-Soviet conspiracy with DAITZ, Rosenberg's closest colleague in the foreign affairs department of the fascist party, but was kept informed of the meetings and negotiations between L. TROTSKY and HESS, NIEDERMEIER and Professor HAUSHOFER, with whom L. TROTSKY reached an agreement on the terms mentioned by PYATAKOV at the trial of the anti-Soviet Trotskyite center.



The accused BESSONOV testified:

"... As is evident from these terms...the main emphasis in the underground work of the Trotskyites was placed on undermining, espionage, diversion, and terrorist acts in the USSR." (Vol. 11, page 106).

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 9-10



The accused BESSONOV testified at this meeting L. TROTSKY, having declared that

"'...it would be unpardonable squeamishness if we did not at once proceed to the systematic physical removal of STALIN and of all his immediate colleagues,' said:

"' GORKY is very intimate with STALIN. He plays an exceptional role in winning sympathy for the USSR among the democratic opinion of the world and especially of Western Europe. GORKY is very popular as a close friend of STALIN'S and as a vehicle of the general line of the Party. Our former supporters among the intelligentsia are leaving us very largely under the influence of GORKY. From this I draw the conclusion that GORKY must be put out of the way. Convey this instruction to PYATAKOV in the most categorical form: GORKY must be physically exterminated at all costs.'" (Vol. 11, pp. 74-75)

It was in accordance with this instruction of enemy of the people L. TROTSKY that the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" adopted its monstrous decision to murder GORKY.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 24





THE ACCUSED ALLIED WITH JAPAN



...However, the defeatist activities of the Trotskyite hirelings were not limited merely to connections with German fascism. In conjunction with other participants in the anti-Soviet conspiracy, in conformity with L. TROTSKY'S line, they orientated themselves also on another fascist aggressor-- Japan.

... As was testified by the accused KRESTINSKY, at a meeting he had with L. TROTSKY in Meran in October 1933 TROTSKY urged the necessity of establishing closer connections with the Japanese intelligence service.

...the accused RAKOVSKY and other participants in the conspiracy entered into treasonable connections with representatives of Japan, the latter undertaking to render the conspiracy armed assistance in overthrowing the Soviet government, in exchange for which the conspirators promised to surrender the Soviet Maritime Region to Japan.

As has been established by the investigation, the accused RAKOVSKY, in view of his departure for Japan in the summer of 1934, received from PYATAKOV instructions....

The accused RAKOVSKY carried out this instruction, and while in Tokyo did indeed enter into criminal connections with--------circles.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 10-11





BRIEF SUMMARY OF RAKOVSKY’S TESTIMONY



On this matter the accused RAKOVSKY testified as follows:

"All these circumstances had as their logical and practical consequences the fact that I...when I was in Tokyo became a direct spy-agent of----------, being enlisted for this purpose, on the instructions of-------, by Mr. N, a most influential political figure in capitalist-feudal Japan, and one of her biggest plutocrats." (Vol. 4, page 186)



The aforementioned accused RAKOVSKY, speaking of the connections of enemy of the people L. TROTSKY with the British Intelligence Service, testified as follows:

"I knew that TROTSKY had been an agent of the Intelligence Service since the end of 1926. TROTSKY himself informed me of it. (Vol. 4, p. 363)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 11





BRIEF SUMMARY OF GRINKO’S TESTIMONY

[People's Commissar of Finance of the USSR]



Thus, the accused GRINKO, who was an agent of the German and Polish intelligence services, in dealing with the anti-Soviet activities of the Ukrainian national-fascist organization of which he was one of the leaders, testified as follows:

"... In 1930, we in our organization discussed the necessity of coming to an agreement with Poland about obtaining military assistance for an insurrection in the Ukraine against the Soviet government. As a result of these negotiations with Poland an agreement was reached and the Polish General Staff increased the quantity of arms and the number of diversionists and PETLIURA emissaries sent to the Ukraine." (Vol. 9, page 18)



And he further said:

"At the end of 1932 I., in connection with my nationalist activities, entered into treasonable connections with Mr. N. we met in my office, where Mr. N used to come to see me on business concerning a German concession.

In the latter half of 1933 Mr. N told me plainly that the German fascists wanted to cooperate with the Ukrainian nationalists on the Ukrainian question. I expressed to Mr. N my readiness to cooperate. Subsequently, during 1933 and 1934, I met Mr. N several times, and before his departure from the USSR he put me in touch with Mr. N with whom I continued my treasonable connections." (Vol. 9, p. 286 reverse)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 11



Thus, the accused GRINKO pursued wrecking activities in the sphere of finance.

The accused GRINKO testified as follows:

"The main object of undermining work in the People's Commissariat of Finance was the following: to weaken the Soviet ruble, to weaken the financial power of the USSR, to dislocate the economy and thus rouse among the population discontent with the financial policy of the Soviet power, discontent over taxes, discontent with the bad savings banks service, delays in paying wages, and so forth, which were to result in wide, organized discontent with the Soviet power and were to help the conspirators to recruit adherents and to develop insurrectionary activities." (Vol. 9,page 79)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 18





BRIEF SUMMARY OF IKRAMOV’S TESTIMONY

(Secretary of the Central Asiatic Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPSU)



Another participant in the anti-Soviet conspiracy, and one of the leaders of the nationalist organization in Uzbekistan, the accused IKRAMOV, testified as follows:

"The question constantly arose before us of orientating ourselves upon one of the strong European states, which would render us direct assistance at the outbreak of the armed struggle against the Soviet power...." (Vol. 12, pp. 59-60)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 12



The extensive application of wrecking measures in Uzbekistan was also fully corroborated by the accused IKRAMOV, who testified that the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" had set him the following tasks:

"... a) to make extensive preparations in Uzbekistan for armed insurrection, to be started simultaneously with the beginning of intervention:

"b) vigorously to carry on wrecking and diversionist operations in all branches of the national economy with a view to their consequences rousing among the toilers discontent with the Soviet power and thus creating favorable ground for the organization of armed insurrection at the proper moment."

"In addition to this," the accused IKRAMOV stated, "the object of our wrecking activities was to hinder the strengthening of the defense of USSR." (Vol. 12, pp. 95-96)

Wrecking activities in agriculture as well as in a number of other branches of the national economy and Socialist construction were also carried on by other accused in the present case.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 17



The organizers of insurrectionary bandit cadres relied only on the remnants of the old counter-revolutionary elements, expecting to reinforce their insurrectionary reserves with the remnants of the Basmachis and White Guards, who were to be smuggled into the Soviet Union from abroad, and with criminal bandits, inmates of prison camps, and so forth.

Speaking of the insurrectionary bandit activities of the bourgeois nationalist organization headed by him in Uzbekistan, the accused IKRAMOV testified:

"We preserved the necessary cadres, which in the future were to be utilized for an armed struggle against the Soviet power. These cadres consisted chiefly of remnants of the kulaks, priests, and former Basmachis. We instructed the members of our organization holding leading district posts to preserve these cadres. Furthermore, we assumed that in case of armed action the remnants of the Basmachi bands which at one time had had to retreat across the frontier would return to Soviet territory." (Vol. 12, p. 56)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 19





BRIEF SUMMARY OF SHARANGOVICH’S TESTIMONY



The accused SHARANGOVICH, agent of the Polish intelligence service and one of the leaders of the anti-Soviet organization of Byelorussian national-fascists, has admitted that this organization pursued its undermining activities not only on the instructions of the Rights and the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," but also on the instructions of the Polish intelligence service.

On this matter the accused SHARANGOVICH testified as follows:

"By this time (1933) all differences between the Rights, the Trotskyites, and the national-fascists had been ironed out. We all set ourselves the same task, the task of fighting the Soviet government by every possible method, including terrorism, diversion, and wrecking. The ultimate object of all three organizations operating in the territory of the national republic was to sever Byelorussia from the Soviet Union and to create an 'independent' buffer state, which undoubtedly would have been entirely in the hands of Poland and Germany...."



And he said further:

"Notwithstanding the fact that the instructions we received came from Moscow, from the center of the Rights and Trotskyites, on the one hand, and from Warsaw, from Polish----- circles, on the other, there was no difference between them, they were exactly the same, and we were carrying them out." (Vol. 14, p. 31)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 12



On the instructions of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" the accused SHARANGOVICH carried on extensive wrecking activities in agriculture and industry in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.

On this matter the accused SHARANGOVICH testified as follows:

"For the purpose of putting our wrecking designs into effect we created in the local districts a network of wrecking and diversionist groups.... All of us, from the leaders of the organization down to the rank-and-file members, were national-fascists and carried on activities against the Soviet government for severing Byelorussia from the USSR, sticking at nothing in our efforts...." (Vol. 14, p. 40)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 16





BRIEF SUMMARY OF RYKOV’S TESTIMONY



The accused RYKOV fully corroborated the existence of treasonable connections between the Rights and fascist Poland in the following testimony:

"... A group of members of the Right organization, in conformity with the instructions of the center of the Rights and my personal instructions with the object of achieving our conspiratorial, treasonable plans, established connection with fascist Poland, and with the Polish intelligence service in particular." (Vol. 1,page 118)



Speaking further of the plans to sever Byelorussia from the USSR, the accused RYKOV testified as follows:

"The general formula on which we then agreed was that in the negotiations with the Poles... we would agree to the severance of the Byelorussian Soviet Republic from the USSR and to the formation of an 'independent' Byelorussia as a Polish protectorate...." (Vol. 1, page 119)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 13



Thus, on this point the accused RYKOV testified as follows:

"As for our defeatist position, BUKHARIN fully agreed with it and expressed himself in its favor even more strongly than we did. In particular, it was he who proposed and formulated the idea of opening the front to the Germans in the event of war." (Vol. 1, p. 152)

Characterizing his own attitude toward this question, the accused RYKOV testified as follows:

"Like the other numbers of the Rights' center, I was aware of the treasonable negotiations that were being carried on between the representatives of our counter-revolutionary organization and the German fascists, whose assistance we sought. Naturally, this assistance was dependent upon our making concessions to the German fascists, and to this we agreed." (Vol. upon, page 151 reverse)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 14



The accused RYKOV testified as follows:

"We took the course of the violent overthrow of the leadership of the Party and the Soviet power, and we decided to secure this overthrow by organizing kulak risings ." (Vol. 1, page 150 reverse)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 19



Entertaining no hope of the overthrow of the Soviet system by means of espionage, wrecking, diversion, and kulak risings, the Right and Trotskyite conspirators,... proceeded to make preparations for and to commit terrorist acts against leaders of the government and the CPSU.

... The accused RYKOV explained the motives for the adoption of terrorist methods by the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" as follows:

"In view of the illegal and conspiratorial character of the counter-revolutionary organization of the Rights, the absence of any kind of mass basis for its counter-revolutionary activities, and the absence of all hope of arriving at power in any other way, the adoption of terrorist methods and a palace coup d'etat,' in the opinion of the Center, held out some prospects." (Vol. 1, page 50)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 20-21



In pursuant of the decisions taken in this connection, the conspiratorial bloc widely developed the organization of terrorist groups and the practical preparations for the perpetration of terrorist acts against the leaders of the CPSU and the Soviet government.

This is what the accused RYKOV testified in this connection:

"By that time we had already adopted the path of terrorism as one of the methods of combating the Soviet government.... This position of ours took the form of quite definite activity on our part, and in particular on my part, in preparing terrorist acts against members of the Political Bureau, leaders of the Party and government, and, first and foremost, against STALIN, MOLOTOV, KAGANOVICH, and VOROSHILOV. In 1934 I had already given instructions to have the automobiles of leaders of the Party and the government watched by the ARTEMENKO terrorist group I had formed." (Vol. 1, pp. 150 reverse, 151)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 21



The testimony of the accused Yagoda was fully corroborated by the accused RYKOV, who, when interrogated by the Procurator of the USSR on January 10, 1938, testified:

"I know that TROTSKY, through his representatives in the contact center, did his utmost to fan animosity against GORKY. This is naturally to be explained by the fact that TROTSKY was well aware that GORKY considered him a scoundrel and adventurer. On the other hand, the close friendship of GORKY for STALIN was generally known, and the fact that he was an inflexible political supporter of STALIN aroused the animosity of our organization against him." (Vol. 1, page 166 reverse)

To this the accused RYKOV added:

"In 1935 I had a conversation with YENUKIDZE, who bluntly told me that the Trotskyite-Zinovievite part of the bloc insisted on eliminating the political activities of GORKY and would stop that nothing to attain this end. This conversation made it clear to me that the question of doing away with GORKY by terrorist methods might also arise." (Vol. 1, pp. 166 reverse, 167)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 23





BRIEF SUMMARY OF BUKHARIN’S TESTIMONY



The accused BUKHARIN was aware of the negotiations carried on between L. TROTSKY and the German fascists and, like L. TROTSKY, made preparations for the defeat of the USSR and for the severance of the Ukraine, Byelorussia, the Maritime Region, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Central Asiatic Republics from the USSR.

This has been fully admitted by the accused BUKHARIN, who testified as follows:

"At the time TROTSKY was negotiating with the German fascists and promising them territorial concessions, we Rights were already in a bloc with the Trotskyites. RADEK told me that TROTSKY considered that the main chance of the bloc coming into power depended upon the defeat of the USSR in a war with Germany and Japan and that he proposed after this defeat to surrender the Ukraine to Germany and the Far East to Japan. RADEK told me this in 1934...."

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 13





The materials of the investigation and the personal testimony of the accused BUKHARIN, ZUBAREV, ZELENSKY and others establish the fact that they had engaged in the active training of insurrectionary cadres, attempting to cover as many districts of the Soviet Union as possible, and that, with the purpose of enlarging the insurrectionary base to the maximum, the leaders of the conspiracy had established contact with an illegal Socialist-Revolutionary organization.

Thus, the accused BUKHARIN testified:

"The establishment of connections with the Socialist-Revolutionaries dates back to the period when the organization of the Rights placed its stakes on kulak risings. In view of the fact that the Rights had embarked on the organization of such risings, the necessity arose of establishing connections with the Socialist-Revolutionaries, who had their roots in the kulak strata in the countryside.

"... I personally established connections through SEMYONOV with the underground Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionaries within the Soviet Union, and through CHLENOV with the foreign Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionaries in Paris." (Vol. 5,page is 90-91)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 20



The accused BUKHARIN, who in the course of the investigation admitted that the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" had already adopted terrorist methods in 1932, testified as follows:

"In 1932, too, during a meeting and conversation I had with PYATAKOV, I learnt from him of his meeting with L. SEDOV and his receipt through SEDOV of direct instructions from TROTSKY to adopt terrorist methods against leaders of the Party and the Soviet government. I must also confess that it was then that we virtually consented to an agreement with terrorists, and my conversation with PYATAKOV was an agreement to coordinate with TROTSKY our actions directed towards the forcible overthrow of the leadership of the Party and the Soviet government." (Vol. 5, page 105 reverse)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 21



Speaking of the proposal of a Socialist-Revolutionary SEMYONOV to organize a terrorist group, the accused BUKHARIN testified:

"I want to tell the truth and declare that this proposal was reported by me to a meeting of the center, and we decided to charge SEMYONOV with the organization of terrorist groups." (Vol. 5, page 106 reverse)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 22



This was also corroborated by the accused BUKHARIN, who testified that in the beginning of 1935 TOMSKY had told him that:

"... The Trotskyite part of the Joint Center of the bloc had proposed to organize a hostile act against GORKY because he was a supporter of STALIN'S policy." (Vol. 5, page 119 reverse)

In this connection the accused BUKHARIN explained that he does not preclude the possibility that it was the physical removal of GORKY that was then contemplated. That preparations for the physical removal of GORKY were contemplated is shown by the testimony of the accused BESSONOV, who was personally given a "line" to this effect directly by L. TROTSKY when he met the latter at the end of July 1934.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 23



Speaking of the role of L. TROTSKY in the plot against LENIN in 1918, the accused BUKHARIN testified:

"At that time the idea again arose of a coup and the arrest of LENIN, STALIN, and SVERDLOV as the dominant figures in the Party and Soviet leadership. This time it arose on the initiative of TROTSKY, to whom the proposal of the 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries apparently became known--through PYATAKOV, I presume." (Vol. 5, p. 124)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 31



At confrontations in the Office of the Procurator of USSR of the accused BUKHARIN with the witnesses OSSINSKY, YAKOVLEVA, MANTSEV, KARELIN, and KAMKOV, these witnesses fully confirmed their testimony as set forth above.

Under the weight of the evidence, the accused BUKHARIN admitted a number of criminal facts and testified:

"I must admit that we had direct contact with the 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries, whose platform was the forcible overthrow of the Soviet government, headed by LENIN, STALIN, and SVERDLOV, to be followed by the arrest of LENIN, STALIN, and SVERDLOV and the setting up of a new government consisting of 'Left Communists' and 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries...." (Vol. 5, p. 122 reverse)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 33





BRIEF SUMMARY OF KHODJAYEV’S TESTIMONY



On this matter the accused KHODJAYEV testified as follows during the investigation:

"BUKHARIN urged that Uzbekistan and Turkmenia should be severed from the USSR and should exist as protectorates of Japan and Germany; but it would be impossible to ignore England, and it was therefore necessary to establish connection with the English. The most feasible proposal was a British protectorate, and that is why stress was laid on England." (Vol. 13, pp. 89 -- 89 reverse)



The testimony of the accused KHODJAYEV is fully corroborated by other materials of the investigation, which fully expose the defeatist line of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites."

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 14



The accused KHODJAYEV, one of the leaders of this nationalist organization, testified as follows:

"We did not confine ourselves only to preparing cadres for our armed struggle against the Soviet power; we were already actively working with the object of undermining the power of the USSR." (Vol. 13, page 66)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 17



The investigation has established that the kulak insurrectionary armed risings that were being organized to take place in the rear of the Red Army were part and parcel of the plans and calculations of the fascist states which were preparing to attack the USSR; and that the Right and Trotskyites conspirators were preparing to rise at the signal of the General Staffs of the fascist countries.

Pursuing the instructions of the fascist intelligence services, the participants in the conspiracy collected insurrectionary bandit cadres, preparing them for an active armed rising in the Far East, the North Caucasus, and other places in the Soviet Union, particularly in Uzbekistan.

On this matter the accused KHODJAYEV testified as follows:

"The main object of the practical work of our organizations was to prepare active anti-Soviet cadres and to train them in the spirit of struggle against the USSR. We accustomed the members of the organization to the idea that the fight against the Soviet power would assume acute forms and would lead to armed conflicts. That is why we devoted attention to the preparation of the fighting forces of our organization." (Vol. 13, page 66)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938, p. 19





BRIEF SUMMARY OF DEFENDANTS’ TREASONOUS ACTS



Such were the espionage and defeatist activities of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" of these traitors who sold Soviet state secrets to foreign intelligence services,...

In pursuit of their criminal designs, the anti-Soviet conspirators, on the direct instructions of foreign fascist intelligence services, organized a wide network of diversionist and wrecking nests in a number of industrial, transport, agricultural, and distributing enterprises in various republics, territories, and regions of the Soviet Union.

Entering into an agreement with the fascist circles treacherously to open our fronts to the armies of these fascist states in the event of war, the participants in the Right and Trotskyite conspiracy prepared to undermine the material and technical base of the Red Army--the defense industry.

By preparing for a number of destructive and diversionist activities, the conspirators counted in the event of war on blowing up and destroying the decisive defense enterprises in our Socialist fatherland. They also made preparations to wreck troop trains, causing great loss of life.

They set themselves the task of paralyzing the whole economic life of the country, of paralyzing the food and munition supplies of the army.

The investigation has established that the conspirators actually carried out a number of diversionist and wrecking acts of this kind in various branches of the national economy.

As has been established by the investigation, that hireling of foreign intelligence services, enemy of the people TROTSKY, in a number of his letters and personal instructions to the leading participants in the anti-Soviet conspiracy in the USSR, demanded the intensification of wrecking and diversionist activities in the Soviet Union.



The investigation has established that a number of diversionist acts committed in the far eastern territory were planned and carried out by the participants in this anti-Soviet conspiracy on the direct instructions of the Japanese intelligence service and the enemy of the people L. TROTSKY. Thus, on the instructions of the Japanese intelligence service they organized the wreck of a military freight train at Volochayevka Station, and the wreck of train No. 501 on the Khor-Dormidontovka section, in which 21 persons were killed and 45 injured. In conformity with the same Japanese instructions, acts of diversion were committed in pits No. 10 and 20 in Suchan. (Vol. 45, pp. 1-14)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 14-15



The investigation has revealed considerable undermining wrecking activities in the sphere of agriculture also in Uzbekistan, where the nationalist organizations, which, through their leaders, the accused IKRAMOV and KHODJAYEV, were in alliance with the center of the anti-Soviet conspiracy, operated.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 17



Simultaneously with the organization of active diversionists and wrecking activities, the conspirators, on the orders of the fascist intelligence services, set themselves the task of rousing an insurrectionary bandit movement in our country with the object of organizing an armed rising of their insurrectionary anti-Soviet gangs in the rear of the Red Army on the outbreak of intervention against the USSR.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 18



Thus the investigating authorities consider it established beyond all doubt that the leading members of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," against whom criminal proceedings are being brought in this case, committed terrorist acts against KIROV, MENZHINSKY, KUIBYSHEV, GORKY and PESHKOV and made preparations for a number of other terrorist acts which they had no time to carry out.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 28



The facts now established regarding the crimes committed by the accused BUKHARIN and enemy of the people TROTSKY in 1918 against the Soviet state and its leaders, LENIN, STALIN, and SVERDLOV, throw a vivid light on the whole subsequent criminal counter-revolutionary activity of the gang of BUKHARIN and TROTSKY, which is now charged with the gravest state crimes committed on the direct instructions of fascist intelligence services during the period 1921-1937.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 33





BRIEF SUMMARY OF CHERNOV’S TESTIMONY

(Head of the Peoples Commissariat of Agriculture.)



The accused CHERNOV, who for a number of years has been connected with the German intelligence service as one of its secret agents in the USSR, also took active advantage of the high official position he occupied in the USSR to organize, on the instructions of the German intelligence service, a number of diversionist and wrecking acts in the sphere of agriculture.

The accused CHERNOV, a German spy, giving testimony on his criminal connections with the German spy SCHEFFER, the correspondent of the "Berliner Tageblatt," and on his wrecking activities in the sphere of agriculture, stated the following:

"When I went to work at the Committee of Agricultural Stocks SCHEFFER conveyed to me the instructions of the Germans to carry on wrecking activities in the sphere of operations of the Committee of Agricultural Stocks, particularly in regard to mobilization reserves.

The wrecking instructions I received from the intelligence service coincided with those which I, as a member of the Right organization, had received from RYKOV. All the more ready was I, therefore, to carry them out." (Vol. 8, page 98 reverse, 25)



In respect to this, CHERNOV testified as follows:

"In 1934 I met RYKOV at his country house and he gave me instructions to carry on wrecking activities on a wide scale in the sphere of agriculture. I carried out these instructions and pursued wrecking and undermining activities fairly actively." (Vol. 8, page 93)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 16-17





BRIEF SUMMARY OF ZELENSKY’S TESTIMONY

(Former Chairman of the Centrosoyuz}



The accused ZELENSKY and the group of wreckers he organized in the Centrosoyuz and the co-operative societies caused confusion in the planning of such goods as sugar, butter, eggs, makhorka, and so forth, deliberately held up the shipment of goods to the rural districts, utterly confused accounts, which facilitated the robbery and squandering of state funds with impunity, and encouraged the cheating and robbery of consumers.

Speaking of the wrecking system of accounting of goods and money he introduced in the Centrosoyuz, the accused ZELENSKY testified as follows:

"Under these circumstances the thief remained unpunished, while, owing to the complicated system of accounting, the honest worker got muddled up and was immediately accused of embezzlement." (Vol. 10, page 56)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 18



BRIEF SUMMARY OF IVANOV’S TESTIMONY



The terrorist activities of the conspirators were closely connected with the whole of their defeatist work, which is borne out, for example, by the following testimony of the accused IVANOV:

"Speaking of terrorism, BUKHARIN said that the 'liquidation,' as he expressed it, of the leaders of the Party and the Soviet government... would be very important for our accession to power and would facilitate the defeat of the USSR in war." (Vol. 7, page 81)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 21



BRIEF SUMMARY OF YAGODA’S TESTIMONY

(Assistant Chairman of the 0GPU)



The investigation has established that the vile assassination of KIROV committed by the Leningrad Trotskyite-Zinovievite terrorist center on December 1, 1934, was also committed in pursuance of a decision of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," members of which are being charged in the present case.

The investigation has established that one of the participants in this vile murder was the accused YAGODA, who testified as follows:

"That preparations for the assassination of KIROV were being made in accordance with a decision of the conspiratorial center, I had previously learnt from YENUKIDZE. YENUKIDZE told me not to hinder the organization of this terrorist act, and I agreed. With this purpose I summoned ZAPOROZHETZ from Leningrad and instructed him not to hinder the terrorist act that was being prepared against KIROV." (Vol. 2, p. 209)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 22



This was confirmed by ZAPOROZHETZ and YENUKIDZE during the investigation.

The villainous terrorist activities of the Right and Trotskyite traitors and conspirators were not confined to the assassination of KIROV.

As the investigation of the present case has established, GORKY, MENZHINSKY, and KUIBYSHEV fell victims to terrorist acts committed on the instructions of the Joint Center of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites."

As to the reasons which induced the Right and Trotskyite conspirators to commit the unparalleled and monstrous murder of GORKY, the accused YAGODA testified:

"For a long time the Joint Center of the Right and Trotskyite organization had endeavored to influence GORKY and make him sever his close connections with STALIN. For this purpose KAMENEV, TOMSKY and a number of others were attached to GORKY. But no real results were achieved. GORKY remained faithful to STALIN and was an ardent supporter and advocate of his line. As the overthrow of the STALIN leadership and the seizure of power by the Rights and Trotskyites was being considered seriously, the center could not ignore the exceptional influence of GORKY within the country and his prestige abroad. If GORKY remained alive he would raise his voice in protest against us. That we could not allow. Having become convinced that GORKY could not be severed from STALIN, the Joint Center, therefore, had to decide to do away with GORKY." (Vol. 2, p. 200)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 22



"The execution of this decision [TO KILL GORKY] was entrusted to me," the accused YAGODA testified.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 24



The accused YAGODA, confirming that PESHKOV was murdered on his instructions, testified:

"In May 1934 with the help of KRYUCHKOV, Max (Maxim PESHKOV) contracted double pneumonia, and the physicians LEVIN, VINOGRADOV and PLETNEV treated him in such a way as to bring about his death." (Vol. 2, p. 193)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 27



After being removed from his post as People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR, the accused YAGODA also took measures to murder Comrade YEZHOV, People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR.

In his testimony, the accused YAGODA explained the motives which induced him to hasten a terrorist act against YEZHOV as follows:

"My removal from my post in the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs and the appointment of YEZHOV in my place meant the complete collapse of our conspiracy, because it would be impossible to prevent the routing of the cadres of the anti-Soviet organization. YEZHOV would dig up everything. Yezhov had to be put out of the way. This was the only decision I could come to and I began to make energetic preparations to put it into effect...." (Vol. 2, pp. 141-142)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 27-28



Describing in detail the methods by which the accused YAGODA tried to murder Comrade YEZHOV, the accused BULANOV testified that he (BULANOV) himself prepared the mixture of drugs intended for the poisoning of Comrade YEZHOV.

Interrogated in the office of the Procurator of the USSR the accused YAGODA fully admitted having committed this crime, testifying:

"Yes, I must admit that I made preparations for the perpetration of this crime. I made preparations for the murder of YEZHOV as a man who was dangerous to the counter-revolutionary plot and who might expose our counter-revolutionary organization." (Vol. 2, p. 209)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 28

BRIEF SUMMARY OF BULANOV’S TESTIMONY



The accused YAGODA enlisted the accused in this case Dr. LEVIN, former family doctor of GORKY, Professor PLETNEV, KRYUCHKOV, GORKY'S secretary, and BULANOV, YAGODA'S own secretary, as the immediate perpetrators of this villainous plan.

The accused BULANOV, one of the organizers of this crime, testified:

"Professor PLETNEV, DR. LEVIN and GORKY'S secretary, KRYUCHKOV, took a direct part in the killing of GORKY. I, for instance, personally witnessed how YAGODA frequently summoned KRYUCHKOV and advised him to cause GORKY to catch a chill, to make him fall ill in one way or another. YAGODA stressed the point that the condition of GORKY'S lungs was such that any illness caused by a cold would increase the chances of his death. The rest would be done by PLETNEV and LEVIN, who had suitable instructions on this score." (Vol. 16, p. 72)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 24



On the subject of the murder of MENZHINSKY, the accused BULANOV testified:

"YAGODA had long ago conceived the idea of physically removing MENZHINSKY. He several times in my presence expressed dissatisfaction that MENZHINSKY continued to live and to occupy the post of head of the 0GPU. Then he said outright that MENZHINSKY must be put out of the way. It was difficult to arrange the job through Dr. LEVIN, because MENZHINSKY did not like LEVIN and refused to be treated by him. I then suggested to YAGODA to 'fix up' some other doctor for MENZHINSKY. This was done. With the assistance of Dr. LEVIN, MENZHINSKY was 'fixed up' with Dr. KAZAKOV, who did the job, or, to put plainly, hastened MENZHINSKY'S death by deliberately employing a wrong method of treatment." (Vol. 16, p. 75)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 27



YAGODA attempted to carry out his plan [to kill Yezhov] through his accomplices, a prominent part being played by the accused BULANOV.

The accused YAGODA and the accused BULANOV confessed that it was proposed to accomplish the murder of Comrade YEZHOV by means of a poison specially compared for the purpose:

"When YAGODA was removed from the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs," the accused BULANOV testified, "he gave me and his personal agent, SAVOLAINEN, direct instructions to poison YEZHOV." (Vol. 16, p. 27)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 28





BRIEF SUMMARY OF PLETNEV’S TESTIMONY



The accused PLETNEV, who took a direct part in the murder of GORKY and KUIBYSHEV, testified:

"YAGODA told me that I must help him to secure the physical removal of certain political leaders of the country. He bluntly proposed that I should take advantage of my position as physician to KUIBYSHEV and GORKY to hasten their death by wrong methods of treatment. I attempted to refuse, but in the end was forced to consent. After this, YAGODA informed me that my accomplice would be DR. LEVIN, and, in the case of GORKY, the latter's secretary, KRYUCHKOV, as well.

"Having accepted this gruesome commission from YAGODA, I, in conjunction with DR. LEVIN, drew up a plan for the killing of GORKY and KUIBYSHEV.

"I must confess that my anti-Soviet sentiments played a part in my consent to this crime. Until my arrest I concealed these anti-Soviet sentiments in every way, playing a game of duplicity and claiming to be a Soviet supporter." (Vol. 18, pp. 72-73)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 25



BRIEF SUMMARY OF LEVIN’S TESTIMONY

[Former Family Doctor of GORKY]



This was corroborated by the accused LEVIN, who testified:

"I confess that by deliberately adopting a wrong method of treatment and prescribing medicines unsuited to the given illness, I, together with my accomplices, and in agreement with YAGODA, was responsible for the untimely death of GORKY and KUIBYSHEV." (Vol. 17, p. 10)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 25



This [YAGODA enlisted LEVIN and KAZAKOV to kill MENZHINSKY] was fully corroborated by the accused LEVIN and BULANOV.

The accused LEVIN confirmed that, having received instructions from the accused YAGODA to hasten the death of MENZHINSKY, he, LEVIN, decided to enlist Dr. KAZAKOV in this crime.

The accused LEVIN testified:

"I said that this could be done best of all by KAZAKOV, as he used medicines which he himself prepared without control in his own laboratory, and what he injected he alone knew.

After preliminary and preparatory talks with KAZAKOV, I conveyed to him the instructions I had received from YAGODA. He hesitated very much at first, fearing that the crime might be discovered, but in the end he consented. I did not ask what he used, all the more since he usually kept his medicines secret, but I knew that he had wide opportunities in this respect.

MENZHINSKY'S death occurred suddenly during sleep from paralysis of the heart, on the eve of the death of MAXIM PESHKOV ( GORKY'S son), if I am not mistaken. I had no doubt that this was KAZAKOV'S work." (Vol. 17, pp. 54-55)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 26



Apart from the murder of GORKY and KUIBYSHEV, the accused LEVIN and KRYUCHKOV, on direct instructions of the accused YAGODA, in 1934 killed PESHKOV, the son of GORKY, in a similar way.

In this connection, the accused LEVIN testified:

"I confess my guilt in the murder of Maxim [PESHKOV] and want to say here that I did it on the direct demand of YAGODA, I did not have the courage to refuse, and I became a murderer." (Vol. 17, p. 138 reverse)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 27







BRIEF SUMMARY OF MAXIMOV’S TESTIMONY



The investigation has established that the accused MAXIMOV, KUIBYSHEV'S secretary, took an active part in bringing about the death of KUIBYSHEV. MAXIMOV testified as follows:

"I consented to this crime as a member of the counter-revolutionary organization of the Rights, which I had joined in 1928.

"YAGODA also knew that I belonged to the counter-revolutionary organization and was present during one of my conversations with YENUKIDZE, when we drew up the plan for doing away with KUIBYSHEV." (Vol. 20, page 45 reverse)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 25



BRIEF SUMMARY OF KAZAKOV’S TESTIMONY



MENZHINSKY, Chairman of the 0GPU was also murdered by the accused DR. LEVIN and Dr. KAZAKOV on the direct instructions of YAGODA.

Interrogated by the Procurator of the USSR on February 4, 1938, the accused KAZAKOV testified:

"YAGODA told me that MENZHINSKY liked and trusted me and that therefore Dr. LEVIN and I could succeed in doing away with MENZHINSKY. YAGODA gave me the following instructions: I was to work out with Dr. LEVIN a method of treatment for MENZHINSKY that would hasten his death and end his life as soon as possible...." (Vol. 19, p. 51 reverse)

Continuing to relate his conversation with the accused YAGODA in which the latter spoke of the necessity of hastening the death of MENZHINSKY, the accused KAZAKOV testified:

"After this conversation with YAGODA, LEVIN and I drew up a method of treatment for MENZHINSKY which in reality totally undermined his strength and determined the rapid onset of death. Thus LEVIN and I actually murdered MENZHINSKY in this way.

I gave Dr. LEVIN a mixture of lysates I had composed, which, in conjunction with alkaloids, led to the desired result, namely, the virtual murder of MENZHINSKY." (Vol. 19, p. 51 reverse)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 25-26



BRIEF SUMMARY OF KRYUCHKOV’S TESTIMONY



The accused KRYUCHKOV, who took an active part in the crimes organized by YAGODA, testified:

"In these crimes I was guided by the directions of certain members of the anti-Soviet organization of the Rights, in particular by the directions of YAGODA. It was from YAGODA that I received instructions forcibly to do away with Maxim PESHKOV, and then GORKY.

In addition to myself, YAGODA enlisted for the commission of these crimes the physicians LEVIN and VINOGRADOV and Professor PLETNEV." (Vol. 21, p. 16)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 27



BRIEF SUMMARY OF WITNESS KARELIN’S TESTIMONY



The investigation has established that as far back as 1918, directly after the October Revolution, at the time of the conclusion of the Peace of Brest-Litovsk, BUKHARIN and his group of so-called "Left Communists," and TROTSKY and his group, together with the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries, hatched a plot against Lenin, the head of the Soviet government.

As the materials of the investigation show, BUKHARIN and other conspirators aimed at frustrating the Brest-Litovsk Peace, overthrowing the Soviet government, arresting and murdering LENIN, STALIN and SVERDLOV, and forming a new government consisting of Bukharinites--who as a blind at that time called themselves "Left Communists"--of Trotskyites and of "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries.

Questioned in the Office of the Procurator of the USSR on February 19 and 20, 1938, KARELIN, former member of the Central Committee of the Party of "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries, gave the following testimony regarding the conspiratorial activities of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Bukharinites in 1918:

"Final agreement with the 'Left Communists' in the struggle against the Soviet government headed by LENIN, STALIN and SVERDLOV was reached by us after the Seventh Congress of the Communist Party.

On the instructions of the Central Committee of the 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries, the negotiations with the 'Left Communists' were conducted by KAMKOV, PROSHYAN, and myself." (Vol. 44, p. 86)

Speaking of the character of these negotiations and the part played by the accused BUKHARIN, KARELIN further testified as follows:

"BUKHARIN proposed that we should not stop at the arrest of the government but bring about the physical extermination of the leaders of the Soviet power, and in the first place of LENIN and STALIN." (Vol. 44, p. 38)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 29



The investigating authorities now possess irrefutable evidence proving that the villainous attempt on the life of LENIN committed on August 30, 1918, by the Socialist-Revolutionary terrorist KAPLAN was a direct result of the realization of the criminal plans of the "Left Communists," headed by BUKHARIN and of their accomplices, the "Left" and Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, and was initiated by the accused BUKHARIN.

Questioned in the Office of the Procurator of the USSR on February 19, 1938, KARELIN testified:

"I must also confess to the gravest crime, namely, the participation of the 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries and the 'Left Communists' in the organization of the attempt on the life of LENIN. This fact has been concealed from the Soviet people for 20 years. The fact was concealed that we, in conjunction with the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, on the insistence of BUKHARIN, attempted to murder LENIN. The [1922] trial of the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries did not disclose the real circumstances of this crime and did not reveal the part played in it by the 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries and the "Left Communists.'

"After the July [1918] revolt, the Central Committee of the 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries decided to adopt terrorist methods in the struggle against the Soviet government.

It should be mentioned that even after the revolt PROSHYAN had meetings with BUKHARIN, who bluntly put before him the question of the physical extermination of LENIN. More precisely, the question of committing a terrorist act against LENIN was raised by BUKHARIN in the second half of July 1918. PROSHYAN reported this to us members of the Central committee of the 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries.

Such a demand by the 'Left Communists' played a great part in hastening the terrorist act against LENIN committed by the Central Committee of the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries." (Vol. 44, pp. 86-87)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 32-33





BRIEF SUMMARY OF WITNESS KAMKOV’S TESTIMONY



This [KARELIN’S TESTIMONY] was corroborated by other persons who were examined as witnesses in the present case.

KAMKOV, one of the former leaders of the Central Committee of the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionary Party, testified:

"I personally had a conversation with BUKHARIN in which he said roughly the following: 'The struggle within our Party against LENIN'S position on the Brest-Litovsk Peace is assuming acute forms. Within our ranks the question is being discussed of creating a new government consisting of “Left’ socialist-revolutionaries and Left Communists.” BUKHARIN mentioned PYATAKOV as a possible candidate for leader of the new government, and stated that the idea was to bring about the change of government by arresting its members, headed by LENIN.

Furthered negotiations with BUKHARIN were conducted by KARELIN and PROSHYAN. By the end of March a final agreement was reached between the 'Left Communists' and the 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries on the following points: 1) that in the struggle against the Bolsheviks and the Soviet government the 'Left Communists' were to render organizational and political assistance to the 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries; 2) that by joint action of the 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries and 'Left Communists,' LENIN'S government was to be overthrown and a new government formed, consisting of 'Left Communists' and 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries.

After this, the 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries organized the assassination of MIRBACH and for the July revolt." (Vol. 44, p. 92 reverse)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 30



BRIEF SUMMARY OF YAKOVLEVA’S TESTIMONY



Questioned in the capacity of witnesses in the Office of the Procurator of the USSR on February 19, 1938, YAKOVLEVA, OSSINSKY and MANTSEV, former leaders and active members of the group of "Left Communists," fully corroborated that in 1918 a plot was hatched, on the initiative of the accused BUKHARIN, by the bloc of "Left Communists" and "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries against LENIN as head of the Soviet government:

Thus, YAKOVLEVA testified:

"BUKHARIN expressed to me the idea that the political struggle was assuming ever more acute forms and that matters could not be confined to the mere political formulation of lack of confidence in the Central Committee of the Party. BUKHARIN declared that a change of leadership was inevitable, and that in this connection the question was being discussed of arresting LENIN, STALIN, and SVERDLOV, and even of their physical extermination...." (Vol. 44, p. 77)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 30



Interrogated during the preliminary investigation, YAKOVLEVA testified:

"TROTSKY considered that the political struggle had only just begun, that it might assume the most aggressive forms, that against LENIN'S position on the question of peace the 'Left Communists' would have the support of the 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries and other parties, that preparations must be made for a change of government and the arrest of its leaders, headed by LENIN and STALIN. TROTSKY considered that in so acute a period of the revolution, if the struggle were to develop, matters might not be confined only to the arrest of the leaders, and that the arrests would logically and inevitably lead to the question of their physical removal." (Vol. 44, p. 78)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 32





BRIEF SUMMARY OF OSSINSKY’S TESTIMONY



In this connection [the plot against Lenin and others in 1918] OSSINSKY testified as follows:

"It was with BUKHARIN that I principally talked about our measures for the overthrow of LENIN'S government.... Approximately in May (or at the end of April) 1918 I had a talk with BUKHARIN when I asked him to what extent the information I had about his designs to arrest the LENIN government was correct.

BUKHARIN did not deny that he had such designs." (Vol. 44, p. 54)

Speaking further about these "measures," OSSINSKY testified:

"I learned about the bloc of the 'Left Communists" with the 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries from YAKOVLEVA and then from BUKHARIN. I also learned from them that in March or April 1918 BUKHARIN proposed at the bureau (of the Moscow region) that LENIN, STALIN, and SVERDLOV should be arrested. BUKHARIN further stressed the point that he was of the opinion that after the arrest of the government, LENIN, STALIN, and SVERDLOV should be physically exterminated." (Vol. 44, p. 88 reverse)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 31



This [Bukharin working with the Left Social-Revolutionaries to kill Lenin] was also corroborated by OSSINSKY, who, when interrogated on February 19, 1938, testified as follows:

"At the end of 1918 STUKOV, who together with BUKHARIN was connected with the Socialist-Revolutionaries, told me that the shot fired at LENIN by the Right Socialist-Revolutionary KAPLAN was the result not only of the instructions of the leadership of the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, but also of measures that had been outlined by the bloc of 'Left Communists' [led by Bukharin] with the Socialist Revolutionaries aiming at the physical extermination of LENIN, STALIN, and SVERDLOV." (Vol. 44, p. 89)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 33



BRIEF SUMMARY OF MANTSEV’S TESTIMONY



Similar testimony was given by MANTSEV when questioned in the Office of the Procurator of USSR on February 20, 1938:

"I confirm that a bloc was formed between the 'Left Communists' and 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries.

I confirm that roughly in March or April, at a closed meeting of the bureau, BUKHARIN made a report in which he uttered a number of slanderous statements against the Soviet government and proposed to organize the overthrow of the Soviet power and the arrest of LENIN, STALIN, and SVERDLOV, with the purpose of physically exterminating them." (Vol. 44, p. 82)

Interrogated in the preliminary investigation, MANTSEV, one of the leaders of the group of "Left Communists," testified:

"Several days after my conversation with YAKOVLEVA, TROTSKY asked me to come and see him. I had a long talk with him at his home, during which TROTSKY developed at length the idea that LENIN and STALIN must be assassinated." (Vol. 44, p. 84)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 31-32





PLEADINGS OF THE DEFENDANTS



BUKHARIN, RYKOV, YAGODA, RAKOVSKY, ROSENGOLTZ, IVANOV, CHERNOV, GRINKO, BESSONOV, IKRAMOV, KHODJAYEV, SHARANGOVICH, ZUBAREV, BULANOV, LEVIN, PLETNEV, KAZAKOV, MAXIMOV, and KRYUCHKOV, all pled guilty.

KRESTINSKY pled not guilty.



ZELENSKY pled guilty by stating, "I plead guilty to the charge of belonging to the organization of the Rights, I plead guilty to the charge of having participated in wrecking activities, which I carried out on the instructions of the RIghts' center, I plead guilty to having put on the staff of the Centrosoyuz alien and rebel cadres, I plead guilty to the charge of having served in the Tsarist secret police.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 36-37





KEY PARTS OF BESSONOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS PYATAKOV STOLE MONEY FOR THE TROTS & KRESTINSKY WAS A TROT



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Bessonov, do you corroborate the testimony you made during the preliminary investigation?

BESSONOV: Yes, I do.



My Trotskyite activities began in 1931, in Berlin.... I was working in the Berlin trade representation of the USSR.... This brought me into close contact with Pyatakov, who drew me into the Trotskyite organization.

VYSHINSKY: What was the nature of your underground Trotskyite activities at this time?

BESSONOV: The main task that Pyatakov set before me was to establish constant and regular connections with Trotsky.



But circumstances demanded of Pyatakov and of the whole Trotskyite organization the establishment of regular constant connections that would enable the receipt of Trotsky's instructions and information about the activities of the Trotskyites in the USSR to be constant.



I began to listen to Pyatakov.... First of all he mentioned the fact that the Trotskyites and Zinovievites had united on a common platform.



Pyatakov did not in the least conceal the fact that the organization was entirely guided by Trotsky's instructions.



VYSHINSKY: YOU--ACCUSED BUKHARIN, AND ALSO RYKOV AND TOMSKY--WERE CARRYING ON NEGOTIATIONS WITH PYATAKOV AND OTHER TROTSKYITES CONCERNING UNITED OPERATIONS AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER?

BUKHARIN: YES

VYSHINSKY: YOU CORROBORATE THIS?

BUKHARIN: YES, I DO.



VYSHINSKY: It follows then that Pyatakov stole government money? He stole this money and sent it for the purpose of helping the Trotskyite organization?

BESSONOV: Yes, that is quite true.

VYSHINSKY: And you helped him to do this?

BESSONOV: Yes.

But what took place was the utilization of the situation in Germany at the time and of a Soviet official position for the purpose of receiving considerable funds for illegal Trotskyite work. There can be no doubt about that.

VYSHINSKY: The financing of the Trotskyite organization at the expense of the interests of the Soviet state continued?

BESSONOV: Certainly.



VYSHINSKY: And he [Krestinsky] says the that he was never a Trotskyite. Perhaps he censured the Trotskyites? You heard him say here that he was not a Trotskyite. Is that right or wrong?

BESSONOV: (Smiles)

VYSHINSKY: Why are you smiling?

BESSONOV: I am smiling because the reason why I am standing here is that Krestinsky named me the liaison man with Trotsky. Besides him and Pyatakov nobody knew about this. And if Krestinsky had not spoken to me about this in December 1933 I would not be in the dock now.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Bessonov, is what Krestinsky saying true?

BESSONOV: Absolutely untrue.



KRESTINSKY: During the investigation I gave false testimony several times.



VYSHINSKY: We are just now conducting the Court investigation and you yourself said that during the preliminary investigation you did not always tell the truth....

That means that you testified falsely?

KRESTINSKY: I have already stated that this testimony of mine does not conform to the facts.

VYSHINSKY: When I interrogated you during the preliminary investigation, were you telling me the truth?

KRESTINSKY: No.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 38-54



KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS KRESTINSKY WAS A TROT



VYSHINSKY: Do you take it that Krestinsky was a Trotskyite?

ROSENGOLTZ: He is a Trotskyite.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Rosengoltz, what grounds have you for testifying that Krestinsky is a Trotskyite, and that consequently he is not telling the truth here?

ROSENGOLTZ: It is borne out by the conversations I had with him as a Trotskyite.

VYSHINSKY: When did these conversations take place?

ROSENGOLTZ: They took place from 1929 onwards.

VYSHINSKY: Until what year?

ROSENGOLTZ: Until quite recently.

VYSHINSKY: That is?

ROSENGOLTZ: Until 1937.

VYSHINSKY: And so you say that these conversations went on from 1929 to 1937? For eight years you "conversed" with him as a Trotskyite? Do I understand you rightly?

ROSENGOLTZ: Yes.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 55-56





KEY PARTS OF GRINKO’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

BESSONOV & ROSENGOLTZ SAY KRESTINSKY WAS A TROT & GRINKO SAYS HE WAS ALSO WORKING WITH FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE



VYSHINSKY: Accused Grinko, what do you know about Krestinsky as a Trotskyite?

GRINKO: I know.

VYSHINSKY: What do you know?

GRINKO: In my conspiratorial work I had connections with Krestinsky as a conspirator, as a Trotskyite, as a member of the Right-Trotskyite, conspiratorial center, on very important questions about which I shall have to give testimony.

VYSHINSKY: Can you tell us briefly what questions? Questions of supporting the Soviet power or of combating it?

GRINKO: Questions of combating the Soviet power, of establishing connections with foreign States hostile to the Soviet power.

VYSHINSKY: And do you know whether Krestinsky was connected with other foreign intelligence services?

GRINKO: He helped me to establish connections with one of the foreign intelligence services.

VYSHINSKY: So Krestinsky helped you to establish connections with a foreign intelligence service. Do you hear that, accused Krestinsky? Is it true?

KRESTINSKY: No.

VYSHINSKY: Yet you testified that it was true.

KRESTINSKY: That I helped Grinko to establish connections?

VYSHINSKY: More than that, that you yourself were the agent of a foreign intelligence service.



VYSHINSKY: I have a question to ask Bessonov. Accused Bessonov, why do you mention facts which Krestinsky denies and contradicts?

BESSONOV: I do not know any other facts.



VYSHINSKY: Tell us, were your relations with Krestinsky at that period good, friendly, or bad?

BESSONOV: I would not say that my relations with Krestinsky were very good, but all the same I would say that they were just good.



VYSHINSKY: Allow me to ask Rosengoltz. Accused Rosengoltz, what were your relations with Krestinsky like? Good?

ROSENGOLTZ: I never had any differences with him.

VYSHINSKY: In what sphere?

ROSENGOLTZ: Not in any sphere. There was complete agreement in all spheres.



VYSHINSKY: Allow me to ask the accused Grinko. Accused Grinko, what were your relations with Krestinsky like?

GRINKO: I consider that they were good.



VYSHINSKY: Accused Krestinsky, here are three men on good terms with you [BESSONOV, ROSENGOLTZ, GRINKO] who say what is not true?

KRESTINSKY: Yes.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 56-59



KEY PARTS OF BESSONOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS PYATAKOV WAS WORKING WITH TUKHASHEVSKY, MET TROTSKY IN OSLO;

TROTSKY ADVOCATED KILLING OF STALIN, GORKY & OTHERS





BESSONOV: And in addition to all the points about which I have already spoken, and which I learned from Pyatakov, there was also the point that he [Pyatakov], Krestinsky, and some other, whom he [Pyatakov] referred to as "we," were sounding the ground and establishing definite contact with military circles in the Soviet Union. And in this connection he [Pyatakov] mentioned the names of Tukhachevsky and Uborevich, which later, as he [Pyatakov] himself informed me, was confirmed in Meran.



BESSONOV: Johannson was the man who made the trip to Oslo with Pyatakov, and whose name he refrained from mentioning when he testified before the Military Collegium in January 1937.

VYSHINSKY: From whom did you learn that Johannson organized Pyatakov's trip and meeting with Trotsky in Oslo?

BESSONOV: From Pyatakov and Johannson themselves.

VYSHINSKY: From Pyatakov and Johannson themselves. Go on. Tell us about the meeting with Trotsky in Paris in 1934. What exactly did Trotsky instruct you to do, and what exactly did you do in fulfillment of these instructions?

BESSONOV: At the end of July 1934 I arrived in Paris by the day train and also left by the day train.... The whole talk took place in a hotel at which Johannson always stayed. Trotsky said that he knew me very well from Pyatakov's letters and from Krestinsky's accounts.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT DID YOU AND TROTSKY SAY ABOUT YOUR UNDERGROUND TROTSKYITE TASKS?

BESSONOV: HE IMPOSED ON HIS FOLLOWERS WORKING IN THE DIPLOMATIC FIELD THE TASK OF ADOPTING THE LINE OF SABOTAGING OFFICIAL AGREEMENTS IN ORDER TO STIMULATE THE INTEREST OF THE GERMANS IN UNOFFICIAL AGREEMENTS WITH OPPOSITION GROUPS. "They will come to us yet," said Trotsky, referring to Hess & Rosenberg. He said that we must not be squeamish in this matter, and that we might be ensured real and important help from Hess & Rosenberg. HE SAID WE MUST NOT STOP SHORT OF CONSENTING TO BIG CESSIONS OF TERRITORY.

VYSHINSKY: WHICH EXACTLY?

BESSONOV: “WE SHALL CONSENT TO THE CESSION OF THE UKRAINE,” TROTSKY SAID. “Bear that in mind in your work and in your negotiations with the Germans, and I shall also write about it to Pyatakov and Krestinsky.” HE [TROTSKY] THEN DEALT WITH QUESTIONS CONNECTED WITH THE WORK OF THE TROTSKYITE ORGANIZATIONS IN THE SOVIET UNION AND PARTICULARLY STRESSED THE FACT THAT UNDER CONDITIONS WHEN AN INEVITABLE WAR WAS BREWING THE ONLY POSSIBLE WAY IN WHICH THE TROTSKYITES COULD COME TO POWER WAS BY THE DEFEAT OF THE SOVIET UNION IN THAT WAR.

HE THEN DWELT ON THE METHODS OF WORK OF THE TROTSKYITE ORGANIZATIONS IN THE SOVIET UNION, PARTICULARLY EMPHASIZING THE NECESSITY OF RESORTING TO THE MOST EXTREME TERRORIST METHODS OF STRUGGLE. AT THIS POINT HE MENTIONED THE WORDS WHICH ARE CONTAINED IN THE INDICTMENT AND WHICH WERE READ OUT HERE TODAY, NAMELY, THAT IT WOULD BE UNPARDONABLE SQUEAMISHNESS WERE WE, HIS FOLLOWERS IN THE SOVIET UNION, NOT TO PROCEED NOW TO THE DIRECT EXTERMINATION AND REMOVAL OF STALIN AND ALL HIS IMMEDIATE FOLLOWERS.



Quite unexpectedly, he [Trotsky] dwelt in this connection on Gorky, saying that the part played by Gorky was extremely exceptional in view of his influence not only in the Soviet Union, but above all abroad. He referred to Gorky's extremely close friendship with Stalin and said that Gorky's utterances were most definitely driving away from Trotsky many of his followers among the European intelligentsia and bringing them closer to the position of the leadership of the Party. AND IN THIS CONNECTION HE HAD ARRIVED AT THE CONCLUSION, WHICH HE OPENLY EXPRESSED IN ME, THAT GORKY MUST BE REMOVED, MENTIONING THOSE WORDS WHICH WERE QUOTED HERE ABOUT THE NECESSITY OF PHYSICALLY EXTERMINATING GORKY AT ALL COSTS. SUCH WERE HIS INSTRUCTIONS.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU TRANSMIT THEM?

BESSONOV: YES. Shortly after this, in the autumn of 1934, I was in Moscow and gave a detailed account of this conversation to Pyatakov.



VYSHINSKY: After 1934 did you had any meetings or conversations with leaders of the underground Trotskyite organization?

BESSONOV: Yes, I met Pyatakov every year until the year of his arrest.... Every time I came to Moscow I met Krestinsky, and in particular I met him in the autumn of 1936 after Pyatakov's arrest.

VYSHINSKY: What did you talk about after Pyatakov's arrest?

BESSONOV: At the very end of September, or in the early part of October 1936, I met Krestinsky in Moscow. Krestinsky in a state of great agitation told me that the affairs of the Trotskyite center were in a very bad way, that there had been a number of exposures, that Pyatakov, Radek and a number of others had been arrested, that his own arrest was not out of the question and that he asked me, on my return to Berlin, immediately to send written information on the subject to Trotsky. He said that, in the event of his arrest, all the organizational contacts would have to be transferred to Karakhan, although he had no idea how exactly this was to be done. HE [KRESTINSKY] ASKED ME EVEN TO REPEAT IT TWICE TO SHOW WHETHER I UNDERSTOOD HIM WHEN HE SAID THAT THE SITUATION OF THE TROTSKYITES IN THE SOVIET UNION IN THE AUTUMN OF 1936 MUST BE REGARDED AS EXTREMELY SERIOUS AND THAT THE AGREEMENT REACHED BY THE TROTSKYITES WITH THE GERMAN NATIONAL-SOCIALIST PARTY ON THE POSSIBILITY OF HASTENING WAR, WHICH WOULD FACILITATE THE COMING TO POWER OF THE TROTSKYITES, MUST BE EXPEDITED AT ALL COSTS.



VYSHINSKY: What more would you like to add to your testimony, or have you completed your explanations?

BESSONOV: In reply to the last question asked, namely, who took the greatest part and with whom were the most systematic connections maintained, I must say that it was with Pyatakov, whom I regarded as my immediate chief along Trotskyite lines, and with whom I had meetings until the last time in December 1935 when he told me about his visit to Trotsky.

VYSHINSKY: Who were your immediate chiefs along Trotskyite lines?

BESSONOV: Only three men, with whom I communicated and who knew about my work--Pyatakov, Krestinsky, and Trotsky.



VYSHINSKY: Accused Krestinsky, did you hear this testimony?

KRESTINSKY: I deny it.

VYSHINSKY: You deny it?

KRESTINSKY: I do.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 61-66





KEY PARTS OF GRINKO’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

WORKED WITH THE TROTS AND GENERALS IN A NATIONAL-FASCIST GROUP TO BREAK UKRAINE AWAY



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Grinko, do you corroborate the testimony you gave at the preliminary investigation?

GRINKO: I corroborate it wholly and entirely.



VYSHINSKY: Accused Grinko, tell the court about your criminal activities.

GRINKO: In order that the path by which I arrived at committing the enormous chain of crimes against the Soviet power and the country, may be clear, I must recall that I joined the Communist Party as one of the Borotbists--the Ukrainian nationalist organization.

VYSHINSKY: Did you have connections with Rykov at that time?

GRINKO: In that period I had no political connections with him.... In this struggle we already had connections with certain circles in a certain state which is hostile to the Soviet Union. These allies of ours helped us. To assist the partisan struggle they intensified the smuggling of diversionists and Petliura emissaries, and arms and so forth into the Ukraine.

VYSHINSKY: Did you personally take part in organizing the smuggling of arms, etc.?

GRINKO: I was kept informed about the negotiations and gave my consent to them.

VYSHINSKY: Did you direct this business?

GRINKO: I did.

VYSHINSKY: Continue.

GRINKO: This period came to an end at the beginning of 1933 owing to the arrest of nearly the whole of this group. I was the only one not arrested. But I did not lay down my nationalist arms in my fight against the Soviet power. IN THIS PERIOD MY PERSONAL CONNECTIONS BEGAN WITH THE FASCIST ORGANIZATIONS ABROAD, WITH INFLUENTIAL ELEMENTS IN THE FASCIST ORGANIZATIONS, AND WITH CERTAIN GOVERNMENT CIRCLES. THE OBJECT OF THESE CONNECTIONS WAS TO ESTABLISH CONTACT FOR THE PURPOSE OF PREPARING FOR THE SEVERANCE OF THE UKRAINE FROM THE USSR AND TO ORGANIZE THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER....

At the beginning of 1935 I heard from Lyubchenko about the creation in the Ukraine of a national-fascist organization, the object of which was to sever the Ukraine from the USSR, and which counted on receiving assistance in the shape of military intervention on the part of those forces and elements with whom I had already established personal contact at that time. The national-fascist organization also set itself the aim of uniting with the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," which had established contact with the military conspirators. In the event of success the organization intended to set up a bourgeois Ukrainian state after the type of the fascist state.

About this character of the organization I told a prominent member of the Right and Trotskyite conspiracy, Yakovlev. In the Right and Trotskyite circles with whom I had occasion to speak, this tendency to transform our organization into a fascist type of organization undoubtedly existed.

How did I carry out the tasks that were entrusted to me by this national-fascist organization?

Firstly, connections with the Right and Trotskyite center. I maintained these connections with Gamarnik, Pyatakov, and Rykov. I established these connections with Gamarnik through Lyubchenko, who had connections with Yakir and Gamarnik. Through Gamarnik I established connections with Pyatakov, and then with Rykov. Simultaneously I carried out tasks in foreign politics, insofar as Pyatakov and Gamarnik had told me that Trotsky had agreed to paying compensation at the expense of the Ukraine for the military assistance that we were to receive in our fight against the Soviet power.



VYSHINSKY: With whom did you establish connections through Krestinsky?

GRINKO: With the fascist circles of a state hostile to the Soviet Union.



VYSHINSKY: Have you exposed Krestinsky now?

GRINKO: Yes.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 67-72



KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS KRESTINSKY WAS A TROT WITH WHOM HE DISCUSSED ILLEGAL MATTERS



VYSHINSKY (to Rykov): Do you corroborate the part of the evidence in which Grinko refers to you?

RYKOV: Yes, I had two meetings with him. One at the end of 1935 and the other at the beginning of 1936.

VYSHINSKY: What was the nature of these meetings?

RYKOV: They were meetings of members of an illegal organization who were fighting the Party and the Soviet government.

VYSHINSKY: Did you have occasion to speak to Grinko about Krestinsky?

RYKOV: Not about Krestinsky. There was no need for me to speak about him because I knew without Grinko's telling me that Krestinsky was a Trotskyite. SIMILARLY, KRESTINSKY KNEW THAT I WAS A MEMBER OF THE ILLEGAL ORGANIZATION.

VYSHINSKY: It follows then that Krestinsky is not telling the truth here and is trying to wriggle out of his connection with the Trotskyites?

RYKOV: Not only is he not telling the truth, but he wants to confuse the truth that has come out here.



VYSHINSKY: Accused Rykov, do you corroborate that you knew that Krestinsky was a Trotskyite and a member of the bloc of Rights and Trotskyites?

RYKOV: That is, at that period such a complete bloc did not exist, but that he was a member of the Trotskyite organization I knew.



VYSHINSKY: And he had conversations with you?

RYKOV: He conversed with me as a member of the illegal organization in the party.

VYSHINSKY: YOU DISCUSSED MATTERS OF AN ILLEGAL NATURE?

RYKOV: WE DISCUSSED MATTERS OF AN ILLEGAL NATURE.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 74-75





KEY PARTS OF GRINKO’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN, ROSENGOLTZ, ZELENSKY, YAGODA ARE IN ILLEGAL ORGANIZATION & TROTSKY WAS LEADER OF PLANNED KILLINGS ON YEZHOV STALIN & DESTROYING FINANCES AND FARMING



VYSHINSKY: PROCEED NOW, ACCUSED GRINKO, AND TELL US PLEASE WHETHER YOU KNEW THAT SOME OF THE OTHERS NOW IN THE DOCK WERE AT THAT TIME MEMBERS OF YOUR UNDERGROUND ORGANIZATION. ENUMERATE THEM.

GRINKO: I KNEW THAT BUKHARIN BELONGED TO IT.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED BUKHARIN, DO YOU CORROBORATE THIS?

BUKHARIN: YES, I DO. I EMPHASIZE THIS BECAUSE ONCE I HAD A CONVERSATION WITH GRINKO HIMSELF.

GRINKO: YES, THAT IS SO.

VYSHINSKY: SO GRINKO IS TELLING THE TRUTH?

BUKHARIN: YES.

GRINKO: THEN I LEARNED FROM GAMARNIK ABOUT ROSENGOLTZ'S MEMBERSHIP, AND ABOUT HIS DIRECT CONNECTIONS.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED ROSENGOLTZ, DO YOU CORROBORATE THIS?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES.

VYSHINSKY: Proceed.

GRINKO: I KNEW ABOUT ZELENSKY'S MEMBERSHIP, AND ABOUT HIS DIRECT CONNECTIONS.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED ZELENSKY, IS THE ACCUSED GRINKO TELLING THE TRUTH?

ZELENSKY: THE TRUTH.



GRINKO: From Rykov I learned that Yagoda belonged to this organization, but I had no direct connections with Yagoda.

VYSHINSKY: ...Accused Rykov, did you tell Grinko about this?

RYKOV: I do not remember exactly, but I cannot exclude such a fact.

VYSHINSKY: HENCE, YOU TOLD HIM ABOUT YAGODA'S MEMBERSHIP?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: ...ACCUSED YAGODA, DO YOU CORROBORATE THIS?

YAGODA: YES, AS REGARDS MYSELF IT IS TRUE, but that Grinko was a member I did not know.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Grinko, continue your evidence.

GRINKO: Gradually extending my connections with the Right and Trotskyite center, and having ascertained who belonged to it, I at the beginning of 1934 formed an opinion of what the "Right and Trotskyite center" was.

From a number of conversations and connections, and the tasks I received from Rykov, Bukharin, Gamarnik, Rosengoltz, Yakovlev, Antipov, Rudzutak, Yagoda, Vareikis, and a number of other persons, it became clear to me that at that time the "Right and Trotskyite center" based itself mainly on the military aid of aggressors. This was the common position of the Trotskyites, the Rights, and the nationalist organizations, in particular of the Ukrainian nationalist organization. This meant undermining the power of defense of the Soviet Union, undermining activities in the army and in the defense industry, opening the front in the event of war and provoking this war; it meant extending connections with aggressive anti-Soviet elements abroad; it meant consenting to the dismemberment of the USSR and compensating the aggressors at the expense of the border territories of the USSR.

In addition to this, the Right and Trotskyite center had a plan to seize the Kremlin.

VYSHINSKY: What year was that?

GRINKO: This was discussed throughout the period of 1935-36. It was being discussed all the time. Perhaps even earlier. Terrorist inclinations, and not only terrorist inclinations but terrorist activities undoubtedly existed in the Right and Trotskyite center.



I know of two attempts to prepare terrorist acts which are not mentioned in the indictment, and which I must tell the court.

VYSHINSKY: Tell us about the terrorist activities.

GRINKO: At that period terrorist activities were one of the main weapons in the common arsenal of struggle against the Soviet power.

VYSHINSKY: From whom did you learn this?

GRINKO: From Rykov, Yakovlev, Gamarnik, and Pyatakov.

VYSHINSKY: And from the accused in the present case?

GRINKO: FROM RYKOV I LEARNED THAT IT WAS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION; WHEN RYKOV INFORMED ME OF THE CHARACTER OF THIS ORGANIZATION HE SAID THAT TERRORISM WAS INCLUDED IN THE PROGRAM.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED RYKOV, DO YOU CORROBORATE GRINKO'S EVIDENCE?

RYKOV: I DO.

VYSHINSKY: WHERE DID THIS TERRORIST LINE EMANATE FROM?

GRINKO: FROM TROTSKY. I LEARNED THIS FROM GAMARNIK.

VYSHINSKY: Tell us the concrete facts about preparations of terrorist acts that you personally know of.

GRINKO: I want to tell of two terrorist acts that were prepared but not carried out....

After the February plenum of the Central Committee a campaign was raised in the conspirators' circles against Yezhov, In the Right and Trotskyite center this campaign was waged along two lines: on the one hand, an attempt was made to discredit Yezhov and the work he was doing in the Party, to slander him. ALSO THE QUESTION WAS BLUNTLY RAISED OF REMOVING YEZHOV AS THE MAN WHO WAS MOST DANGEROUS TO THE CONSPIRATORS.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT DOES "REMOVING" MEAN?

GRINKO: TO REMOVE MEANS TO KILL.

I HAD LEARNT FROM GAMARNIK THAT YAKIR AND GAMARNIK HAD INSTRUCTED THE TROTSKYITE OZERYANSKY, WHO WAS THEN WORKING IN THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF FINANCE, TO PREPARE A TERRORIST ACT AGAINST YEZHOV.... I had no direct connections with him in preparing the terrorist act.

VYSHINSKY: But in other counter-revolutionary matters?

GRINKO: I had connections with him in undermining activities in the People's Commissariat of Finance.

VYSHINSKY: Ozeryansky is a suitable man for this sort of crime, is he not?

GRINKO: He is a fighter, a former anarchist....

VYSHINSKY: And a cut-throat?

GRINKO: He is capable of such things.

The second fact that I know, and which occurred in the same period, is the preparation by Bergavinov...of a terrorist act against Stalin. This I also learnt from Gamarnik. Antipov and Yakovlev knew about this, and I heard it from Bergavinov himself, who told me that he had accepted Gamarnik's commission and that he was trying to carry it out....

This task of the Right and Trotskyite center was conveyed to me by Rykov, and in doing so he emphasized that the leadership of the center, he and Bukharin, attached great importance to the development of undermining activities in the People's Commissariat of Finance in view of the special importance and political significance of money. At the same time he gave me Bukharin's formula: strike at the Soviet government with the Soviet ruble. This was conveyed to me by Rykov, and I also discussed it with Bukharin....

Wrecking activities were to be carried on in connection with those financial measures that are connected with the broad masses of the population: taxes, savings banks, loans, etc. The program was drawn up by Rykov and myself. The wrecking activities were developed through my Assistant Commissar, Levin, through Ozeryansky, through Chetverikov and several others....

In regard to savings banks, two measures were adopted: the reduction in the number of savings banks;... as this operation was connected with a service affecting tens of millions of people, it caused irritation among broad masses of the population.

Considerable undermining work was carried out in the sphere of the state budget. This work was directed towards undermining budget finance discipline, loosening financial control and thereby creating possibilities for utilizing state funds at the center and in the periphery, for the purposes of the conspiracy. All this work on the instructions given me by the Right and Trotskyite center I carried out through a number of people working on the staff of the People's Commissariat of Finance.

The undermining activities were not limited to this, however. From the Right and Trotskyite Center I received instructions to utilize the finances for the purpose of assisting undermining activities in a number of other branches of the national economy. For example, the Right and Trotskyite center drew up a rather big program of undermining activities in capital construction. Pyatakov, I think Bukharin, and I took part in drawing up this program. The object of this program was to slowdown capital construction, to reduce the scale of capital construction and fully to apply Bukharin's "bottleneck" theory in capital construction, the more so that capital construction is important not only as a most important branch of the national economy but also is of enormous defense importance.



I also participated in undermining activities in the sphere of agriculture by carrying out wrecking financial measures. Undermining activities in the sphere of agriculture were regarded by the Right and Trotskyite center as a very important task.... In particular, Rykov put the question in the following way: things must be so arranged that the collective farmer shall receive as little as possible for his workday....

In carrying out the wrecking measures and wrecking instructions in the financing of agriculture, no little assistance was rendered by Rudzutak, who was in charge of financial affairs in the Council of People's Commissars, and by Yakovlev.

...Thus, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY HERE, BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT OF THE SOVIET UNION, I MUST ANSWER AND DO ANSWER FOR A LONG CHAIN OF HEINOUS CRIMES AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER, and for a most acute struggle against the Soviet power, firstly as one of the participants in the nationalist counter-revolutionary struggle in the Ukraine, which, after passing through a number of stages, degenerated into a national-fascist organization, of which I was one of the leaders, and as one of the members of the bloc of Rights and Trotskyites, who did not confine himself only to working in the national-fascist organization in the Ukraine...; AT THE SAME TIME I ANSWER FOR TREASON TO THE COUNTRY and for those direct connections with influential circles in certain fascist states which were established for the purpose of fulfilling the tasks of the bloc of Rights and Trotskyites, of overthrowing the Soviet power and of severing from the USSR a number of regions.

I PLEAD GUILTY WHOLLY AN ENTIRELY, AND I NEED NOT ADD THAT I DO NOT IN THE LEAST INTEND IN MY TESTIMONY TO MINIMIZE MY GUILT



VYSHINSKY: What crimes were committed in this sphere?

GRINKO: In the sphere of trade turnover Zelensky and other wreckers in this sphere, for example Bolotin in the People's Commissariat of Internal Trade, carried on undermining activities, created a shortage of goods.... Zelensky, on the instructions of the bloc of Rights and Trotskyites, sent huge quantities of goods to the districts where there was a poor harvest and smaller quantities of goods to the districts where there were good harvests, and this caused goods to remain on the shelves in some districts and a shortage of goods in others.

VYSHINSKY: HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT ZELENSKY DID THESE THINGS?

GRINKO: I KNOW IT FROM ZELENSKY HIMSELF; AND WITH RYKOV TOO WE SPOKE OF SUCH MEASURES....

VYSHINSKY: HENCE, YOU PERSONALLY KNEW IT FROM ZELENSKY AS WELL AS FROM...

GRINKO: AS WELL AS FROM RYKOV AND BOLOTIN.

VYSHINSKY: SO YOU ASSERT THIS NOT GROUNDLESSLY BUT YOU BASE IT ON HARD FACTS.

GRINKO: OF COURSE.



VYSHINSKY: ZELENSKY, DID YOU HEAR THIS PART OF GRINKO'S EVIDENCE? WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT IT?

ZELENSKY: GRINKO IS TELLING THE TRUTH

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 75-82





KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HE PLANNED WRECKING AND KNOWING ABOUT TUKHASCHEVSKY’S PLANNED A COUP



VYSHINSKY: Accused Rykov, what you say?

RYKOV: I must deny part of it. If it is about Zelensky, I did not say it.

VYSHINSKY: Not about Zelensky, but about the fact, about wrecking activities in trade turnover.

RYKOV: I did not speak to him [Grinko] about this in such detail. We spoke about wrecking in general; as for my drawing up a definite plan of wrecking in the People's Commissariat of Finance, that is not the case.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER?

RYKOV: I REMEMBER THAT THERE WAS TALK ABOUT OVERTHROWING THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT.

VYSHINSKY: THAT WAS A THEORETICAL CONVERSATION?

RYKOV: NO, WE TALKED LIKE TWO MEN WHO RECOGNIZED WRECKING AS ONE OF THE METHODS OF COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS, YOU TALKED AS TWO MEMBERS OF A WRECKERS' ORGANIZATION?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: ABOUT WRECKING WHICH OUGHT TO BE DONE IN SUCH-AND-SUCH A MANNER.

RYKOV: YES, YES, THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT.

VYSHINSKY: AND YOU REMEMBER THAT?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: And you, Grinko, do you remember?

GRINKO: I will remind him. Rykov, you came to me in the People's Commissariat Of Finance.... You then said that wrecking in the sphere of finance was lagging.

VYSHINSKY: You say that the accused Rykov spoke about the People's Commissariat of Finance lagging, but in what?

GRINKO: In wrecking activities.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Rykov, do you corroborate this conversation with Grinko about wrecking?

RYKOV: I don't accept that. I deny it, but not because I want to minimize my guilt. I have done much worse things than this.

VYSHINSKY: BUT DO YOU REMEMBER THE CONVERSATION ABOUT WRECKING?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: DO YOU PLEAD GUILTY TO THE CHARGE OF WRECKING?

RYKOV: YES.



VYSHINSKY: Grinko spoke here about the military group of traitors--Tukhachevsky and others, who some time ago were convicted by the Supreme Court. Do you corroborate the part of this evidence that concerns you?

RYKOV: I knew about Tukhachevsky's military group.

VYSHINSKY: What did you know?

RYKOV: This military group was organized independently of the bloc, independently of shades--Trotskyite or Bukharinite. THE MILITARY GROUP SET ITSELF THE OBJECT OF VIOLENTLY REMOVING THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION AND, IN PARTICULAR, IT TOOK PART IN PREPARATIONS FOR A KREMLIN COUP.

VYSHINSKY: YOU WERE AWARE OF THAT?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: WHEN DID YOU LEARN OF IT?

RYKOV: I LEARNED OF IT FROM TOMSKY IN 1934.

VYSHINSKY: In 1934?

RYKOV: Probably.

VYSHINSKY: Does this part of Grinko's evidence correspond with the truth?

RYKOV: Yes.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 82-84





KEY PARTS OF GRINKO’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

RYKOV & BUKHARIN WANT TO ANNUL FRANCO-SOVIET TREATY & START A WAR;

BUKHARIN, RYKOV & ROSENGOLTZ KNEW ABOUT MILITARY PLOT



VYSHINSKY: Did not Bukharin explain to you [Grinko] why he was dissatisfied with the Franco-Soviet Treaty?

GRINKO: I will speak about that later. Then, as we [Grinko and Rykov] were walking in the corridor we talked generally about whether wrecking was permissible as a method of political struggle, because it caused enormous economic loss; but he said that insofar as politics dominated in this case wrecking was permissible; on the other hand, the establishment of wider economic connections with the capitalist world would create possibilities for making good the loss caused by wrecking.

As for the Franco-Soviet Treaty, in the Right and Trotskyite center (I had a talk with Rykov and with Bukharin about this) there was fairly widespread hostility to the Franco-Soviet Treaty because the Franco-Soviet Treaty was one of the stages in the peace policy of the Soviet power which removed or postponed the clash with the aggressor, the clash on which the bloc of Rights and Trotskyites had put their stake; the annulment of the Franco-Soviet Treaty for the purpose of unleashing opportunities for the aggressor was part of the program of the bloc of Rights and Trotskyites.



The first talks I had with a number of the leading members of the bloc of Rights and Trotskyites showed me that the principal political stake--if we are to speak concretely and not in general--was put on the defeat of the Soviet Union in a war with an aggressor, on compensating the aggressor at the expense of the border territories of the Soviet Union, and on the overthrow of the Soviet government in the course of this.

VYSHINSKY: HENCE, THE BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES ORIENTATED THEMSELVES TOWARDS WAR.

GRINKO: YES, TOWARDS WAR, TOWARDS THE MILITARY DEFEAT OF THE SOVIET UNION, AND THE ASSISTANCE OF THE AGGRESSOR IN SEIZING POWER.

VYSHINSKY: ORIENTATION TOWARDS MILITARY DEFEAT AND THE ASSISTANCE OF THE AGGRESSOR IN SEIZING POWER.

GRINKO: YES

VYSHINSKY: Apart from Rykov, did you work out the plans for these crimes with anyone else?

GRINKO: From among those participating in the present trial?

VYSHINSKY: Yes. From among those now in the dock.

GRINKO: From among the accused in the present case--I do not remember....

With Rosengoltz I discussed mainly the measures, the undermining activities, which he was carrying out in the sphere of foreign trade.



VYSHINSKY: In short, in Rosengoltz's criminal activities there were the same defeatist motives as in your activities?

GRINKO: They lay at the base of everything.

VYSHINSKY:... I HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION. DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THE TUKHACHEVSKY PLOT, AND IF SO, FROM WHOM?

GRINKO: FROM GAMARNIK.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHO OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN THIS TRIAL, OF THE ACCUSED IN THE DOCK, BESIDES RYKOV, KNEW ABOUT THIS PLOT?

GRINKO: ROSENGOLTZ KNEW.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHO ELSE?

GRINKO: FROM WHAT RYKOV SAID, BUKHARIN KNEW.

VYSHINSKY: And who else?

GRINKO: No one else. I did not have connections with them all. I think Yagoda knew....

I would like to say two words in conclusion.... I WOULD LIKE TO EMPHASIZE IN CONCLUDING MY EVIDENCE THAT I ANSWER HERE AS ONE WHO IS EXPOSED, BUT AT THE SAME TIME I ANSWER AS A TRAITOR TO HIS COUNTRY WHO HAS REPENTED OF HIS CRIMES.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 85-87





KEY PARTS OF CHERNOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS RYKOV WANTED A SECRET GROUP & HE WAS TO MAKE PEASANTS MAD;

WAS TO WORK WITH DAN TO ENLIST HOSTILE STATES;

ADMITS BEING A GERMAN SPY, DESTROYING CROPS & LIVESTOCK & TAKING NAZI MONEY;

PLANNED PALACE COUP WITH RYKOV



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Chernov, do you corroborate the testimony you gave during examination in the course of the preliminary investigation?

CHERNOV: I corroborate it wholly and entirely.... In 1916 I joined the Menshevik Party and remained a Menshevik until January 1920 when I joined the Communist Party.... But I frankly confess that I undoubtedly preserved my old Menshevik nature....



CHERNOV: I thereupon said to Rykov that if I understood him rightly we must create a secret underground organization. This he confirmed, adding moreover that I Chernov, was People's Commissar Trade of the Ukraine and occupied a very important post. My task, he said, was to conduct my work in such a way as to incense the middle peasants by extending to them the repressive measures which the government had laid down for the kulaks. I was to accentuate the distortions of policy, to incense the middle peasants, to take special account of the national feelings of the Ukrainian population and to explain everywhere that these distortions were the result of the policy of Moscow; and in this way we would both create our cadres and at the same time rouse the peasants against the Soviet government and the Central Committee....

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED RYKOV, TELL US, DOES THIS PART OF WHAT CHERNOV SAYS CORRESPOND WITH THE FACTS?

RYKOV: I MET CHERNOV AND TRIED TO CONVINCE HIM OF THE CORRECTNESS OF MY COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES AT THAT TIME. I intended to make him my follower, but I found a ready-made follower in Chernov.

VYSHINSKY: You did not have to try very hard?

RYKOV: On the contrary, I did not have to try at all.

I cannot relate things with the detail he does. All that he says is essentially and fundamentally true, but as to the part in which he said that I was in favor of distortions, it seems to me he is wrong. In everything else he is right.



CHERNOV: I once more affirm--Rykov has forgotten it apparently, but I remember it very well, and I remember how it was expressed. I cannot vouch for every word, but only for the contents and construction of Rykov's phrases: it was to the effect that I must organize my work in such a way as to accentuate the distortions of policy and thus incense the middle peasants, and that in my work as a member of the Right organization I was to take account of the national sentiments of the Ukrainian population. That I remember very well.



... I told him [Rykov] that I was leaving for Germany, and asked him if he had any commissions to give me. Knowing that I was an old Menshevik, Rykov asked me whether I could not get to see Dan while I was in Germany, establish connections with him and transmit a message from the Right center....

VYSHINSKY: What message?

CHERNOV: I forgot to say that Tomsky was present during my conversation with Rykov. The message was as follows: through the parties of the Second International to rouse the public opinion of capitalist countries against the Soviet government; through the leaders of the Second International to get the bourgeois governments to intensify the hostile attitude towards the Soviet Union; to secure from the Second International and, through its leaders, from bourgeois governments, a pledge of support in the event of the seizure of power by the Rights in the country. I told Rykov that it would not be enough to convey only these messages to Dan. Dan would undoubtedly raise a number of questions about the strength of the Right organization and about what the Right organization would do after it came to power. TO THIS RYKOV REPLIED: "YOU MAY ASSURE DAN THAT WE POSSESS ENOUGH FORCES IN THIS COUNTRY TO OVERTHROW THE EXISTING GOVERNMENT AND TO SEIZE THE POWER." HE PARTICULARLY STRESSED THE POINT THAT WE POSSESSED THESE FORCES ALSO AMONG PROMINENT AND RESPONSIBLE MILITARY MEN.... I distinctly remember that Tomsky, who was present during this conversation, stated that the anti-Soviet parties did not exist formally, but were actually working in striving for the overthrow of the Soviet power. He said that we must not only utilize them but also give them a share in the government of the state.



VYSHINSKY: And in 1930 you had a special conversation with Chernov in which you raised the question of overthrowing the Soviet power?

RYKOV: I do not remember having such a conversation with Chernov, but of course the possibility of such a conversation is not precluded.



VYSHINSKY: Accused Chernov, do you consider that what the accused Rykov has said here is true?

CHERNOV: I confirm it, but I consider that Rykov is telling only half the truth. He has not told the Court that he gave me a commission for Dan to speak not only about the assistance of the socialist parties belonging to the Second International, but also that Dan, through the leaders of the second international, should get the bourgeois governments to intensify the hostile attitude to the Soviet Union.

VYSHINSKY: Is that how you understood Rykov's commission?

CHERNOV: Yes, that is how I understood it and that is how it really was....

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY, YOU, ACCUSED CHERNOV, AFFIRM THAT THE CHIEF TASK AND THE CHIEF COMMISSION WHICH THE ACCUSED RYKOV GAVE YOU CONSISTED NOT SO MUCH IN GIVING INFORMATION AS IN ARRANGING FOR ASSISTANCE BY IMPERIALIST STATES HOSTILE TO THE USSR--IS THAT WHAT YOU AFFIRM?

CHERNOV: YES, YES, I DO.



CHERNOV: AFTER THIS I CONSENTED, AND BECAME A GERMAN SPY.

VYSHINSKY: That is, you got caught [German intelligence intended to blackmail Chernov because they could reveal he was speaking with Dan, a German agent] yourself?

CHERNOV: Yes. This was followed by various formalities, questionnaires, and a signed pledge. Oberhaus instructed me about the work I was to perform in the Soviet Union on Germany's behalf. Seeing how upset I was, he said: "There is no need to get upset. You are fighting the Soviet power, and so are we, and even our methods of fighting will very likely coincide in the near future."



... Shortly after Scheffer did come to see me and said that he had been sent by Oberhaus. He gave the password "Reinhold." That was my pseudonym as a German spy. I asked Scheffer what Oberhaus wanted. On that occasion he demanded information on the internal affairs of the party, on the state of work among the Rights and Trotskyites, and on conditions in the rural districts. He moreover demanded special information about stocks of industrial goods. He was particularly interested in the stocks of industrial goods in the towns. He demanded information about the progress of the grain collections and about the grain mobilization stocks. Part of the information demanded--about the situation within the party and about the work among the Rights--I gave him verbally on the spot; the figures I gave him a few days later.



...The chief task assigned to me by the German intelligence service at that time was to arrange to spoil grain within the country. This involved delaying the construction of storehouses and elevators, so as to create a discrepancy between the growing size of the grain collections and the available storage space. In this way, Scheffer said, two things would be achieved: firstly, the grain itself would be spoilt; and, secondly, the indignation of the peasants would be aroused, which was inevitable when they saw the grain was perishing. I was also asked to arrange for the wholesale contamination of storehouses by pests, and especially by corn beetles. Scheffer especially demanded that arrangements be made to contaminate the mobilization stocks with storehouse pests and corn beetles. THESE COMMISSIONS THAT SCHEFFER GAVE ME I CARRIED OUT....

My connections with representatives of the German intelligence service were resumed when I had already gone to work in the Committee of Agricultural Stocks. Espionage and wrecking activities became particularly intense after I was appointed People's Commissar of Agriculture. Several months after I had been appointed People's Commissar of Agriculture of the USSR, I was visited at the commissariat by a certain Raivid, a former comrade of mine in the Menshevik organization.... It transpired that Raivid was a residential agent of the German intelligence service in the Soviet Union,.... RAIVID AND I MET SEVERAL TIMES. ...OUR MEETINGS WERE DEVOTED TO WORKING OUT A DETAILED PROGRAM OF WRECKING AND DIVERSIVE ACTIVITIES IN THE SPHERE OF AGRICULTURE ON FUNDAMENTAL AND CRUCIAL QUESTIONS. THIS PROGRAM, WHICH WAS DRAWN UP IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DEMANDS OF THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, INCLUDED WRECKING ACTIVITIES IN SUCH FIELDS AS SEED, CROP ROTATION, MACHINE AND TRACTOR STATIONS, AND STOCK-BREEDING.

The German intelligence service made a special point of the organization of wrecking activities in the sphere of horse-breeding in order, as Raivid said, not to provide horses for the Red Army. As regards seed, we included in our program muddling up seed affairs, mixing up sorted seed and thus lowering the harvest yield in the country. As regards crop rotation, the idea was to plan the crop area incorrectly and thus place the collective farm peasants in such a position that they would be virtually unable to practice proper crop rotation and would be obliged to plow up meadows and pastures for crop growing. This would reduce the size of harvests in the country and at the same time rouse the indignation of the peasants, who would be unable to understand why they were being forced to plow up meadows and pastures when the collective farms wanted to develop stock-breeding and required fodder for the purpose.

As regards the machine and tractor stations, the aim was to put tractors, harvester combines, and agricultural machines out of commission, to muddle the financial affairs of the machine and tractor stations, and for this purpose to place at the head of the machine and tractor stations useless people, people with bad records, and above all members of our Right organization.

As regards stock-breeding, the aim was to kill off pedigree breed-stock and to strive for a high cattle mortality...to prevent the development of fodder resources and especially to infect cattle artificially with various kinds of bacteria in order to increase their mortality.

VYSHINSKY: Tell us in greater detail about the cattle mortality, where you got the bacteria from, what kind of bacteria, and so on.

CHERNOV: I MUST TELL YOU WHAT I TOLD RYKOV DURING MY MEETINGS WITH HIM IN 1935. I TOLD HIM THAT I HAD MADE PREPARATIONS FOR CERTAIN ACTS OF DIVERSION, AND RYKOV GAVE HIS APPROVAL.

I performed the following acts of diversion. In order to cause heavy cattle mortality in Eastern Siberia, I instructed Ginsburg, Chief of the Veterinary Department, who belonged to the organization of the Rights, and through him the Chief of the Veterinary Supply Department, who also belonged to the organization of the Rights, not to supply anti-anthrax serum to Eastern Siberia, knowing that Eastern Siberia was particularly liable to anthrax. The serum was not supplied to Eastern Siberia. The preparations for this were made in 1935, and when there was an outbreak of anthrax there in 1936 it turned out that no serum was available, with a result that I cannot say how many exactly, but at any rate over 25,000 horses perished.

Secondly, I instructed Ginsburg and Boyarshinov, Chief of the Bacteriological Department, to artificially infect pigs with erysipelas in the Leningrad region and with plague in the Voronezh Region and the Azov-Black Sea Territory. I chose these two bacteria because the pigs are inoculated not with dead microbes, but with live ones, only of reduced virulence. It was therefore quite simple from the technical standpoint to organize artificial infection. Secondly, in the case of these two diseases there is a rule that when plague breaks out in any particular district, all the pigs in that district have to be inoculated. This made it possible at once to spread the disease on a large scale.

For this purpose, three factories were selected at my suggestion: Kashintsevo, Orel, and Stavropol. In these factories serums were made with virulent bacteria and given special serial numbers. Boyarshinov was informed of the serial numbers and he transmitted them to the chiefs of veterinary departments in the localities who could be relied upon in this matter, and they in turn transmitted them to veterinary surgeons who had anti-Soviet feelings and who in case of a heavy cattle mortality would not raise a big fuss.

... In this way these serums were distributed and artificial infection was carried out in these three regions.

It is difficult to estimate the results, but at any rate it may be taken for granted that several tens of thousands of pigs perished owing to this diversive act.

VYSHINSKY: ONE MORE QUESTION WITH REGARD TO YOUR CONNECTIONS WITH THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE. DID YOU RECEIVE ANY MONEY FROM THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICE?

CHERNOV: YES, I QUITE FORGOT ABOUT THAT.

VYSHINSKY: WHY, OF COURSE, IT IS SUCH A TRIFLING MATTER THAT YOU FORGOT ABOUT IT.

CHERNOV: IT IS NOT A TRIFLING MATTER, OF COURSE, BUT I FORGOT ABOUT IT. IN BERLIN I RECEIVED 2000 MARKS...

VYSHINSKY: HOW MUCH DID YOU RECEIVE ALL?

CHERNOV: ROUGHLY ABOUT 30,000 GERMAN MARKS AND ABOUT 150,000 RUBLES IN SOVIET MONEY. A CONSIDERABLE PART OF THESE SUMS WAS SPENT ON MY PERSONAL NEEDS, BUT A CERTAIN PART WAS SPENT IN BRIBING MEMBERS OF THE RIGHT ORGANIZATION WHOM I THOUGHT IT NECESSARY TO BRIBE.

VYSHINSKY: AND SO PART OF THE MONEY RECEIVED WAS USED FOR BRIBERY, BUT THE GREATER PART FOR YOUR PERSONAL NEEDS.

CHERNOV: ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

VYSHINSKY: THUS IT MAY BE SAID THAT YOU NOT ONLY FELL INTO THE NET SKILLFULLY SPREAD BY THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE BUT THAT YOU DELIBERATELY SOLD YOURSELF FOR MONEY TO THE ENEMY

CHERNOV: ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

VYSHINSKY: Tell us about your subsequent connections with Rykov.

CHERNOV:... Tomsky said among other things that the Right center had taken measures to secure certain prominent posts for representatives of the Right organization. This, he claimed was very necessary in order to accomplish a "palace coup" in the country. I there received instructions from Rykov also to organize wrecking activities. The task set me by Rykov was to arouse the anger of the peasants against the policy of the Party and against the Soviet government by extending to the middle peasants the repressive measures established for the kulaks, and to rouse discontent among the workers by disorganizing the supply of bread.

The next time I met Rykov, again on his invitation, was in October, it seems to me, but at any rate in the autumn of 1932.... In his conversation with me he told me that we must go still more deeply underground and orientate ourselves for the seizure of power on the carrying out of a "palace coup." I said: "In 1930, too, you spoke to me about a 'palace coup.' What then is the difference between the line of 1930 and line of 1932?" He answered that the difference was that in 1930 it was one of the possible variants, but that now it was the most incisive and most important variant for the seizure of power. AS HE PUT IT, WE MUST SEIZE POWER IN THE COUNTRY BY MEANS OF A "PALACE COUP," THAT IS, THE ARREST AND ASSASSINATION OF THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT.

VYSHINSKY: When was the next meeting?

CHERNOV: The next meeting was in 1934, a few months after I was appointed People's Commissar of Agriculture of the USSR.... The task Rykov set me was to organize my work in such a way as to undermine the collective farm system....

AND HE PARTICULARLY STRESSED THE POINT THAT THERE WERE ONLY TWO WAYS BY WHICH THE RIGHTS COULD SEIZE POWER IN THE COUNTRY, NAMELY, THE FORCIBLE REMOVAL OF THE LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY AND THE LEADERSHIP OF THE GOVERNMENT, THAT IS, THEIR ARREST OR ASSASSINATION, OR BOTH. AND HE LAID PARTICULAR STRESS ON THE NECESSITY FOR THE DEFEAT OF THE SOVIET UNION IN A WAR WITH CAPITALIST COUNTRIES, SHOULD THE LATTER ATTACK US. AND IN THIS CONNECTION HE PARTICULARLY REFERRED TO THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZING WRECKING AND DIVERSIVE WORK, SAYING THAT SINCE WE NEEDED THE DEFEAT OF THE SOVIET UNION FOR THE CONQUEST OF POWER IN THE COUNTRY, WE SHOULD EXPEDITE THIS DEFEAT, AND SHOULD LIKEWISE EXPEDITE THE OUTBREAK OF WAR ITSELF BY DIMINISHING THE ECONOMIC AND DEFENSIVE POWER OF THE SOVIET UNION. SUCH WAS THE GIST OF OUR CONVERSATION IN 1935. I repeat, at this meeting I informed Rykov about the diversive acts I have mentioned, particularly about the artificial infection of cattle, just as I informed him at every meeting about the wrecking work I had organized both in the sphere of grain collections in the Committee of Agricultural Stocks and in the sphere of agriculture in the People's Commissariat of Agriculture.



VYSHINSKY: YOU, WHILE PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR OF AGRICULTURE OF THE USSR, WENT TO A MAN WHO HELD THE POST OF PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR OF POST AND TELEGRAPH AND RECEIVED CERTAIN INSTRUCTIONS FROM HIM? THAT IS, THE CONNECTIONS WERE EXCLUSIVELY CRIMINAL?

CHERNOV: EXCLUSIVELY CRIMINAL.

VYSHINSKY: Exclusively criminal connections in the sphere of the organization of crimes against the Soviet power and against the Party. ACCUSED RYKOV, DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS ESTIMATE OF YOUR CONNECTIONS WITH CHERNOV?

RYKOV:... WHEN MY TURN COMES I SHALL SPEAK OF THE FORMULATIONS OF WHICH CHERNOV SPOKE. I SHALL TELL OF MY COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY AND TREASONABLE ACTIVITIES.

VYSHINSKY: SO WHAT HE SAYS IS ESSENTIALLY CORRECT?

RYKOV: YES, BUT AS TO THE LAST MEETING, I KNOW NOTHING.

CHERNOV: How could Rykov have forgotten about these three meetings?

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED RYKOV, DURING THE PERIOD 1930-36, DID YOU HAVE MEETINGS WITH OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES?

RYKOV: OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: NUMEROUS MEETINGS?

RYKOV: OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: HERE, FOR EXAMPLE, ARE THE PRISONERS IN THE DOCK; THERE ARE QUITE A NUMBER OF YOUR ACCOMPLICES. WAS CHERNOV ONE OF THEM?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND DID YOU, ACCUSED CHERNOV, HAVE MANY LEADERS LIKE RYKOV?

CHERNOV: NONE EXCEPT RYKOV AND THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE. I have a question to ask Rykov. Please forgive me for my rudeness, but either you were a bad leader of the Right organization, which I do not think, or you do not want to confess.... How you could have forgotten a meeting with the People's Commissar of Agriculture on the subject of wrecking work is hard to understand.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 88-107

KEY PARTS OF IVANOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

IVANOV ADMITS HE COMMITTED TREASON & SERVED FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE;

SAYS BUKHARIN PLANNED TERRORISM & ORGANIZED WRECKING & DIVERSIONARY ACTS & WAS INDUCING THE AXIS TO ATTACK THE SU



THE PRESIDENT: ACCUSED IVANOV, DO YOU CONFIRM THE TESTIMONY YOU GAVE DURING THE PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION REGARDING YOUR ANTI-SOVIET ACTIVITIES?

IVANOV: FULLY AND ENTIRELY. I CONSIDER MYSELF RESPONSIBLE AND GUILTY OF THE GRAVEST CRIMES. I WAS ONE OF THE ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE GROUP OF THE RIGHTS, THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES." FOR THESE GRAVEST CRIMES I AM PREPARED TO BEAR ANY PENALTIES THAT THE SOVIET COURT MAY DEEM NECESSARY TO IMPOSE UPON ME, AND TO DO EVERYTHING WITHIN MY POWER TO EXPOSE ALL MY TREACHEROUS ACTIVITIES AND TO DIVULGE ALL THE VILENESS, DESPICABLENESS AND TREASON TO THE WHOLE SOVIET UNION, TO THE PARTY AND TO THE PEOPLE, AND THE TREASONABLE AND TREACHEROUS ACTIVITIES OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" AND OF THE GROUP OF THE RIGHTS.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Ivanov, do you admit that you were a member of the underground right-Trotskyite anti--Soviet organization?

IVANOV: I admit that I was an active member.... My first fall dates back to 1911, when I was a student at the Tula gymnasium, in the eighth class. The tsarist Okhrana managed to recruit me as one of its agents.



VYSHINSKY: Did you have a secret pseudonym?

IVANOV: I did: "Samarin."

VYSHINSKY: Did you have a spy number?

IVANOV: I did: No. 163.

VYSHINSKY: Did you receive any remuneration for your services?

IVANOV: I received remuneration both in Moscow and in Tula.

VYSHINSKY: That means you were a paid...?

IVANOV: A paid agent of the tsarist Okhrana....

I gave information about the revolutionary movement in the student organizations, and information about individual comrades who were carrying on revolutionary work. For instance, I betrayed the revolutionaries Severny and Pomorov of the Tula fellowship. In 1916 I betrayed Kaplun, one of the most active spirits in revolutionary work in the medical faculty....



IVANOV: I then met Bukharin at the Tenth Party Congress, where we had the following conversation. He said that he differed with Lenin on fundamental questions; that he was engaged in mustering cadres, so that they might be ready at his, Bukharin's, first call to go into action against Lenin. This, in my opinion, was the prelude to the formation of the Bukharin "school."

VYSHINSKY: HOW DID BUKHARIN EXPECT TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST LENIN? IN WHAT WAYS WAS HE PREPARING TO ACT?

IVANOV: HE WAS IN A FAIRLY TRUCULENT MOOD. HE WAS JUST WAITING FOR A SUITABLE MOMENT. HE WANTED TO HAVE HIS OWN CADRES.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT FOR?

IVANOV: TO REMOVE LENIN.

VYSHINSKY: HOW TO REMOVE HIM?

IVANOV: EVEN BY PHYSICAL METHODS.

VYSHINSKY: And you talk about a school. A fine "school"!

IVANOV: It is known in the Party as the "school" of the "Left Communists."

VYSHINSKY: And in reality is not a "school," but a gang, which Bukharin formed.

IVANOV: In 1928 I was sent to the North Caucasus as the Second Secretary. Bukharin suggested to me that I should form a group of Rights in the North Caucasus.... Capitalism, he said, is revealing new and fresh strength, expressing itself in the progress of technique, which actually amounts to a technical revolution and the rejuvenation of capitalism, as it were. And that, correspondingly, we must revise our view of the contradictions, of the classes, of the class struggle, and so on. Fundamental amendments must be introduced to Marx. Marx's treatment of the question of proletarian revolutions was no longer suitable. The doctrine of Lenin and Stalin that the epoch of imperialism is an epoch of proletarian revolutions was, he said, a most harmful utopia. THIS, IN FACT, WAS THE POSITION FROM WHICH WE PROCEEDED, AND WHICH LED US TO FASCISM....

WE ARRIVED DIRECTLY AT FASCISM.



VYSHINSKY: In 1934 Bukharin gave instructions to prepare the way for the defeat of the Soviet power under favorable conditions, in case of an attack by interventionists?

IVANOV: Yes, and he recommended the following series of measures: firstly, to proceed to organize insurrectionary groups in such a way, so that they might in time of war cut the lines of communication in the northern territory,...to develop the insurrectionary bands, to develop diversive and wrecking activities and to form terrorist groups.

VYSHINSKY: What instructions did Bukharin give with regard to espionage?

IVANOV: He said that Lobov was specially engaged in organizing this, and that he was to inform me how this was to be carried on. He said: "You must, with the help of the Party organization, give every assistance to the residential agent who will be sent there, so as to fulfill the requirements of the British Intelligence Service."

VYSHINSKY: SO BUKHARIN GAVE YOU INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO SERVE THE BRITISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE?

IVANOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND DID YOU CARRY OUT THESE INSTRUCTIONS?

IVANOV: I DID, I PERFORMED SERVICES FOR, I SENT MATERIAL TO AND RECEIVED INSTRUCTIONS THROUGH THIS RESIDENTIAL AGENT. AND THE DIRECTIONS RECEIVED FROM THE BRITISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE FULLY COINCIDED WITH THE DIRECTIONS I RECEIVED FROM THE RIGHT CENTER.

VYSHINSKY: THEY FULLY COINCIDED? SO THAT SOMETIMES YOU COULD NOT DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE ACTIVITIES OF THE RIGHT CENTER AND THOSE OF THE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE.

IVANOV: YES, THEY FULLY COINCIDED.

VYSHINSKY: ...And what arguments did Bukharin give in support of his directions to you to get into connection with the British Intelligence Service?

IVANOV: He said that that country had very great interests in the Northern Territory.

VYSHINSKY: In which territory?

IVANOV: In the Northern Territory. He said that the Right center had an agreement with that country about helping the Rights to overthrow the Soviet power and about helping the Rights to maintain the power seized, and that this agreement provided for securing the interests of British timber firms with timber of the Northern Territory. Bukharin proposed that the sawmills should be handed over as a concession to the British, while the new sawmills that had been built under the Soviet power would have to be surrendered in payment of the tsarist debts. Then, in 1934, he suggested that we must already begin to make real payments in real values. He said that we must give advances to the British bourgeoisie so as, on the one hand, not to lose support, and, on the other, not to forfeit confidence. In accordance with these instructions, the following measures were carried out through Rosengoltz and Lobov.

The most valuable timber was sold at reduced prices. This involved a loss to the Soviet state of several million rubles in foreign currency. Bukharin explained this measure as being an advance to the British bourgeoisie in return for the support it had promised. Otherwise, he said, we would not be taken seriously, and we would forfeit confidence.

VYSHINSKY: NOW TELL US ABOUT TERRORIST ACTIVITIES AND TERRORIST PLANS.

IVANOV: OUR ORGANIZATION IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY WAS SET THE TASK OF FORMING A TERRORIST GROUP.

VYSHINSKY: WHO SET THIS TASK?

IVANOV: BUKHARIN. BUKHARIN REVERTED TO THIS SUBJECT SEVERAL TIMES, PARTICULARLY AFTER THE ASSASSINATION OF KIROV. HE SAID THAT THE SHOT FIRED AT KIROV HAD SHOWN THAT ISOLATED TERRORIST ACTS COULD YIELD NO RESULTS, THAT MASS TERRORIST ACTS MUST BE ORGANIZED, AND ONLY THEN WOULD WE HAVE RESULTS. HIS LINE WAS TO DO AWAY WITH THE LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY,... BUKHARIN ASKED US TO NAME THE PERSONS WHOM WE HAD ENLISTED AS TERRORISTS. WE GAVE BUKHARIN THE NAMES OF THESE PEOPLE.

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY, THE ORGANIZING OF TERRORIST ACTS ALSO OCCUPIED A CERTAIN PLACE IN YOUR CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES?

IVANOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND THIS, YOU AFFIRM, WAS DONE UPON THE DIRECT INSTRUCTIONS...

IVANOV: OF BUKHARIN.

VYSHINSKY: ONLY OF BUKHARIN, OR OF OTHERS TOO?

IVANOV: BUKHARIN AND LOBOV.

VYSHINSKY: What else have you to say about your wrecking activities?

IVANOV: We assembled insurrectionary groups, chiefly around Archangel, so as, at the moment of intervention, to cut off communication between Archangel and the central arteries of our country, and thus make it easier for the British to seize this timber region and most valuable port.

...These activities aimed at preventing the technical re-equipment of the timber industry, filling it with unreliable elements, wrecking the machinery centers and hampering timber floating. In 1936, owing to the wrecking activities of our Right organization, the Northern Territory failed to supply considerable quantities of timber to the sawmills. This forced a number of the sawmills to stop work and increased the shortage of timber material in our country, thus severely affecting capital construction work in the country.

When I was in the People's Commissariat of Timber Industry I continued these wrecking activities and the preparations for terrorist acts. Attention was chiefly devoted to hindering the technical re-equipment of lumbering, preventing the fulfillment of the plans of capital construction, especially in the cellulose and paper industry, in this way placing the country on a short paper ration and aiming a blow at the cultural revolution, interrupting the supply of exercise books and thus rousing discontent among the masses. We did everything we could to prevent the building of new plants and to hamper the work of the existing plants.



VYSHINSKY: And what circumstance terminated your criminal activities?

IVANOV: My arrest.... Right up to my arrest I continued to belong to the bloc of Rights and Trotskyites and to carry on active undermining, espionage, terrorist, diversive, and wrecking activities on the instructions of the center of the Rights.



VYSHINSKY: (to Bukharin): Do you deny that you had meetings with Ivanov until the moment of your arrest?

BUKHARIN: No, I do not deny it,...

IVANOV: We met several times during the course of 1936, and in particular in December or in November 1936. I put it to Bukharin that the organization was falling to pieces, that the victories of the party and the successes of socialist construction, and the enthusiasm of the masses for this construction, were having such an effect that vacillations were growing at an extraordinary pace, particularly in the peripheral part, that OUR ASSASSINATION OF KIROV had aroused the fury of the masses to an unprecedented degree, and that this was extremely hampering the treacherous and vile work of the Rights, and that here and there the masses themselves were exposing our followers....

VYSHINSKY: This is what you said to Bukharin?

IVANOV: Yes. And never did I see Bukharin as angry and furious as he was then.

VYSHINSKY: When was that?

IVANOV: AT THE END OF 1936. HE ATTACKED ME VIOLENTLY, SAID THAT I WAS A COWARD, A PANIC-MONGER THAT I WAS ALWAYS BRINGING UP THE "MASSES," THAT WE MUST NOT PANDER TO THE MASSES, THAT I SHOULD KNOW THAT THE RIGHT ORGANIZATION WILL WAGE WAR ON THE MASSES, YET I WANTED TO PANDER TO THEM.

VYSHINSKY: HE WANTED TO WAGE WAR ON THE MASSES?

IVANOV: YES. AND HE FURTHER PUT THE QUESTION IN THIS WAY: IF THERE ARE DESERTERS, WE MUST ADOPT MUCH MORE EXTENSIVE MEASURES TO EXTERMINATE THOSE WHO DECIDE TO REPENT PUBLICLY BEFORE THE SOVIET POWER, AND THUS EXPOSE OUR RIGHT ORGANIZATION. THE FACT IS THAT THERE WERE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE RIGHT ORGANIZATION TO THE EFFECT THAT THOSE WHO DESERTED THE RIGHTS AND DIVULGED THEIR ACTIVITIES SHOULD BE PUT OUT OF THE WAY. THIS WAS DONE TO ONE OF OUR PEOPLE WHO WAS ABOUT TO WRITE TO THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS EXPOSING THE ACTIVITIES OF THE RIGHTS IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS. LOBOV TOLD ME THAT ONE OF THESE MEN HAD BEEN PUT OUT OF THE WAY. AND BUKHARIN PLAINLY HINTED THAT I MUST BEAR IN MIND THAT THEY WOULD NOT STAND ON CEREMONY WITH ANYBODY WHO FUNKED OR FALTERED, AND THAT THEY HAD SPECIAL PEOPLE TO CARRY OUT THE NECESSARY MEASURES, MEANING ASSASSINATION.... During this conversation in particular, I asked: where is the intervention, where is the attack on the Soviet Union? Bukharin told me that measures were being taken to induce the fascist countries-- Japan and Germany--to take action without fail in 1937, and the chances of this were good.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 110-126





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

BUKHARIN ADMITS TELLING IVANOV TO FORM AN ILLEGAL, SECRET ORGANIZATION TO AID KULAK REVOLTS & WORK WITH FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE TO SEEK WAR, THEIR AID, & SOVIET DEFEAT



VYSHINSKY: ...I ONCE MORE REPEAT THAT WHAT INTERESTS ME IS 1928. CONSEQUENTLY, DO YOU CONFIRM THIS PART OF THE TESTIMONY OF THE ACCUSED IVANOV?

BUKHARIN: I CONFIRM THAT I HAD MEETINGS WITH HIM AT THAT TIME.

VYSHINSKY: AND THAT YOU CARRIED ON THOSE CONVERSATIONS WITH HIM, AS HE INFORMED THE COURT, ABOUT ANTI-PARTY AND ANTI-SOVIET ACTIVITIES.

BUKHARIN: WE DID.

VYSHINSKY: THE ACCUSED IVANOV TESTIFIED THAT YOU PROPOSED THAT HE SHOULD FORM AN ORGANIZATION OF RIGHTS IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS WITH CERTAIN DEFINITE AIMS. DO YOU CONFIRM THAT TOO?

BUKHARIN: I CONFIRM THE FACT ITSELF THAT I INSTRUCTED HIM TO FORM AN ORGANIZATION.

VYSHINSKY: A SECRET ONE?

BUKHARIN: A SECRET, ILLEGAL, COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ONE....

VYSHINSKY: I AM JUST NOW INTERESTED IN THE TESTIMONY OF THE ACCUSED IVANOV, WHICH THE COURT HAS HEARD. HE SAYS THAT BUKHARIN GAVE ME, I.E., IVANOV, INSTRUCTIONS TO PROCEED TO FORM A SECRET ORGANIZATION OF RIGHTS IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS. DO YOU CONFIRM THIS?

BUKHARIN: THAT PART I DO CONFIRM.

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY, IN 1928 YOU HAD ADOPTED THE METHOD OF ILLEGAL, UNDERGROUND ACTIVITIES?... IS THIS A FACT, OR NOT A FACT?

BUKHARIN: THAT I CONFIRM.



VYSHINSKY: Then in 1927 Ivanov went to the North Caucasus, and you gave him instructions. Do you confirm that? I ask the question to check this. You gave him instructions to organize an illegal Right group. Is that true?

BUKHARIN: It is.

VYSHINSKY: An illegal group?

BUKHARIN: An illegal one.



BUKHARIN (to the Court): I assert that in 1928 there was no talk at all about an insurrectionary orientation, as is evidenced by numerous documents and facts, including....



I SAID THAT A PERIOD HAD SET IN WHEN IT WAS NECESSARY TO ADOPT MASS TACTICS, TO SUPPORT INSURRECTIONARY KULAK MOVEMENTS, ETC.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS WHAT I WANTED TO ESTABLISH. YOU ADMIT THAT YOU TOLD IVANOV THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO SUPPORT INSURRECTIONARY MOVEMENTS, EVERY SORT OF KULAK MOVEMENT?

BUKHARIN: I ADMIT IT.



IVANOV: The instructions were conveyed to me in sufficiently clear terms to enable me to understand their simple meaning. The point was raised that the kulaks were in an angry mood. These were the social forces on which we were to rely. Our task was to head the insurrection....

VYSHINSKY: Bukharin, do you corroborate this?

BUKHARIN: This is correct, but not in relation to Ivanov. I said this to another person.+++



VYSHINSKY: PERMIT ME TO SUM UP. JUDGING BY THE EVIDENCE OF IVANOV AND YOURS (TO BUKHARIN), WHAT CAN WE REGARD AS HAVING BEEN DEFINITELY ESTABLISHED? FIRSTLY, THAT YOU AND IVANOV TALKED ABOUT AN INSURRECTIONARY LINE. IS THAT RIGHT?

BUKHARIN: THAT IS RIGHT.

VYSHINSKY: THAT YOU ORIENTATED IVANOV TOWARDS THE NECESSITY OF UTILIZING KULAK INSURRECTIONS IN THE INTERESTS OF THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: THAT YOU HAD IN MIND ALSO THE ORGANIZATION OF THESE KULAK INSURRECTIONS?

BUKHARIN: ALTHOUGH I DID NOT SPEAK ABOUT THEM DIRECTLY.

VYSHINSKY: ALTHOUGH YOU DID NOT SPEAK ABOUT THEM DIRECTLY, NEVERTHELESS YOU ORIENTATED HIM TOWARDS THEM?

BUKHARIN: QUITE RIGHT.

VYSHINSKY: You deny the conversation and about an insurrectionary orientation in 1928?

BUKHARIN: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: But such a conversation took place in 1932?

BUKHARIN: Quite right. I corroborate this.... But I categorically deny that I spoke about insurrection in 1928.



VYSHINSKY: IVANOV STATES THAT HE LEARNED FROM YOU OF THE EXISTENCE OF A BLOC BETWEEN THE TROTSKYITES, THE RIGHT GROUPS, AND THE NATIONALIST GROUPS. DO YOU CORROBORATE THIS?

BUKHARIN: I DO.

VYSHINSKY: And did you know about the negotiations which Ivanov and others carried on with capitalist countries?

BUKHARIN: Yes, this was at a much later period.

VYSHINSKY: Hence, Ivanov's statements about connections with the British Intelligence Service...

BUKHARIN: I was totally uninformed about the intelligence service and about plans.

VYSHINSKY: What were you informed about?

BUKHARIN: I informed Ivanov of the foreign-political orientation of the Right center, I told him that in the fight against the Soviet power it was permissible to take advantage of a war situation, and a number of other things.

In short, as one of the leaders of the Right center, it was my duty to communicate our line to one of the leaders of the periphery center. What was this line? Briefly, this line was that in the fight against the Soviet power it was permissible to utilize a war situation and to make certain concessions to capitalist states for the purpose of neutralizing them, and sometimes for the purpose of attaining their assistance.

VYSHINSKY: In other words, orientation towards assistance from certain foreign states.

BUKHARIN: Yes, it can be put that way.

VYSHINSKY: In other words, orientation towards the defeat of the USSR.

BUKHARIN: In general, summarized, I repeat, yes.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 128-137





KEY PARTS OF ZUBAREV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS RYKOV TOLD HIM TO WRECK, DISORGANIZE SUPPLIES, UNITE ANTI-SOVIET ELEMENTS



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Zubarev, do you corroborate the testimony you gave during the investigation in the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs and in the organs of the Procuratorship?

ZUBAREV: Yes, I do.

THE PRESIDENT: Fully?

ZUBAREV: I fully corroborate it.... I WAS ENLISTED IN THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION OF THE RIGHTS IN 1929. I WAS ENLISTED...BY SMIRNOV,....



ZUBAREV: Rykov said that it would be ridiculous on our part if we did not wage our struggle to bring about this kulak insurrection, if we ourselves took absolutely no measures to organize such a kulak movement and did not take the lead of it. Rykov said that first of all we should take advantage of these factors to fan discontent in the rural districts. THE TASKS WHICH RYKOV THEN PUT BEFORE ME DURING THIS CONVERSATION CAN BE REDUCED TO THREE MAIN POINTS.

THE FIRST WAS WRECKING WORK in the rural districts: disruption of the sowing campaign by delaying the issue and supply of seeds, reducing their quality, which would naturally rouse anger among the population. On the other hand, measures that hindered the strengthening of the collective farms were adopted in order to rouse discontent among the peasant population....

THE SECOND POINT. THIS WAS TO EXCITE THE POPULATION BY VARIOUS PROVOCATIVE MEASURES, BY DISORGANIZING THE SUPPLY OF STAPLE FOOD PRODUCTS, and particularly disorganizing public catering. This was done in a number of places in 1932, particularly in Perm, Lisva, and,...

THE THIRD POINT. THE CONSOLIDATION OF ALL THE ELEMENTS HOSTILE TO THE SOVIET POWER and the formation of a bloc with the other organizations in the Urals. In particular, in respect to the Trotskyites, Zinovievites, Socialist-Revolutionaries, it was impressed upon us that we were to get in touch with them and organize connections....

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 138-140





KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS TELLING ZUBAREV TO SABOTAGE



VYSHINSKY: Accused Rykov, what do you have to say about this part of the accused Zubarev's evidence? Do you corroborate the statement about the meeting?

RYKOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Do you want to clear up any points on subsequent instructions that you gave Zubarev in respect to his criminal activities?

RYKOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: In the main, what he said is right?

RYKOV: In the main it can be said he is right. In respect to the rural districts, I spoke about...sabotaging the policy of the party in the rural districts in respect to collectivization and supporting individual farming in the rural districts.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU GIVE ANY LINE ON SABOTAGING THE PARTY'S POLICY?

RYKOV: WELL, OF COURSE, AND THE PARTY'S POLICY IN THE RURAL DISTRICTS IN GENERAL.

VYSHINSKY: YOU CORROBORATE THIS?

RYKOV: YES.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 140-141





KEY PARTS OF ZUBAREV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS ORGANIZING REVOLTS, WRECKING, TERRORIST ACTS;

IVANOV GOT HIM TO SPY FOR GERMANY & WAS AN AGENT FOR THE CZAR



ZUBAREV: I GAVE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE SPHERE OF AGRICULTURE TO DISRUPT GRAIN COLLECTIONS, TO ENCOURAGE HOSTILE MOODS IN CONNECTION WITH GRAIN DELIVERIES, TO RESIST COLLECTIVIZATION, TO RESIST THE MEASURES THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT WERE CARRYING OUT TO STRENGTHEN THE COLLECTIVE FARMS.

VYSHINSKY: This was in what year?

ZUBAREV: I gave these instructions when I was in the Urals in 1931.

VYSHINSKY: AND DID YOU GIVE ANY INSTRUCTIONS TO ORGANIZE KULAK INSURRECTIONS?

ZUBAREV: I DID. They were direct corollaries of these measures.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT WRECKING ACTS WERE COMMITTED AS A RESULT OF YOUR ACTIVITIES?

ZUBAREV: I GAVE WRECKING INSTRUCTIONS WHICH CAUSED DAMAGE TO THE SOVIET STATE IN THE SPHERE OF AGRICULTURE IN THE URALS.

VYSHINSKY: Tell us the nature of your wrecking activities.

ZUBAREV: When I was working in the seed cultivation department of the People's Commissariat of Agriculture of the USSR, they were of the nature that the accused Chernov spoke about yesterday: causing confusion in seed cultivation, lowering the quality of the seeds, employing bad quality materials, bad sifting, careless storing, and the result of all this was not only a reduction in yield, but also a hostile mood of the peasantry, dissatisfaction with these so-called selected seeds.

VYSHINSKY: During what period did you commit these crimes?

ZUBAREV: They were committed at the end of 1933 and the beginning of 1934.



VYSHINSKY: What was the nature of your criminal activities in the People's Commissariat of Agriculture of the RSFSR?

ZUBAREV: Here my criminal activities consisted first of all in wrongly planning the sowing of vegetables; in particular, little attention was paid to the development of vegetable growing in our eastern districts, where the development of vegetable growing was of enormous importance, especially in view of the development of industry, in particular in the Far Eastern Territory and in the West Siberian Territory. The shipping of vegetables from the principal vegetable-growing districts in Central Russia was economically extremely difficult and loaded the railways with a very unprofitable freight---this was the first point. Secondly, exactly the same kind of work was carried on in respect to retarding the development of fruit-tree nurseries. Fruit growing had recently begun to develop very rapidly and the collective farm population was beginning to present a growing demand owing to their increased prosperity, but we were unable to meet this demand. The development of nurseries was also retarded as one of the wrecking measures.

In respect to state farms, the main wrecking activities were that up to the last moment no proper rotation of crops was established, and in a number of state farms there was no rotation of crops of all. All this naturally reduced the yields. A large number of state farms which possessed large herds of cattle were left without fodder owing to the wrong crop rotation, and as a result we had the dying off of cattle and slow development of the livestock farming....



VYSHINSKY: DID YOU KNOW THAT THE PROGRAM OF THIS CENTER AND OF THE WHOLE GROUP OF THE BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES INCLUDED TERRORIST ACTS?

ZUBAREV: YES, I DID KNOW.

VYSHINSKY: SO YOU KNEW. WERE YOU PERSONALLY ENGAGED IN ORGANIZING TERRORIST ACTS?

ZUBAREV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AGAINST WHOM DID YOU INTEND TO COMMIT YOUR DASTARDLY TERRORIST ACTS?

ZUBAREV: AT FIRST WE HAD NO DEFINITE PERSONS IN MIND, BUT GENERALLY WE INTENDED TO COMMIT TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST THE LEADING MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE CPSU (BOLSHEVIKS), IN PARTICULAR, AGAINST THE MEMBERS OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU.

VYSHINSKY: ON MOLOTOV--THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF PEOPLE'S COMMISSARS OF THE USSR?

ZUBAREV: YES, ON MOLOTOV.... AT FIRST THE QUESTION WAS RAISED ABOUT STALIN, KAGANOVICH, VOROSHILOV, AND MOLOTOV, BUT WE LIMITED OURSELVES TO MOLOTOV FOR THE REASONS I HAVE JUST STATED.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS, FOR TECHNICAL REASONS?

ZUBAREV: FOR TECHNICAL REASONS, AND ACCORDING TO OUR POSSIBILITIES.



VYSHINSKY: Tell us under what circumstances you became an agent of the Tsarist Okhrana.

ZUBAREV: Not the Okhrana, but the tsarist police.

VYSHINSKY: Is there any difference?

ZUBAREV: There is a slight difference, but in substance they are the same.



VYSHINSKY: So you find it hard to remember all those you betrayed?

ZUBAREV: At all events, since I do not deny the fact itself....



VYSHINSKY: Did you receive any remuneration for this work?

ZUBAREV: On two occasions inspector Vasilyev gave me 30 rubles.

VYSHINSKY: Thirty pieces of silver on each occasion?

ZUBAREV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Twice as much as Judas received?



THE PRESIDENT: TELL US ABOUT YOUR ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES.

ZUBAREV: MY ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES BEGAN AT THE END OF 1935. I was drawn into this organization for supplying secret information by Sulimov's secretary, Ivanov. I supplied secret information about agriculture on two occasions--in January and December 1936. I gave details about the state of the rural districts, grain reserves, seed and food stocks, particularly fodder, and reported on the condition of the cattle. I learned from Ivanov that this information was given for the benefit of fascist Germany.



THE PRESIDENT (to Vasilyev): From what year and until what year were you inspector?

VASILYEV: From 1906 to 1917.

THE PRESIDENT: During the period you were inspector did you enlist anyone as an agent-provocateur?

VASILYEV: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: In particular, did you enlist Zubarev?

VASILYEV: Zubarev, yes sir.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 142-147





KEY PARTS OF RAKOVSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

RAKOVSKY SAYS KRESTINSKY WAS ALWAYS A TROTSKYITE



VYSHINSKY: Before interrogating Krestinsky, may I put a few questions to the accused Rakovsky?

THE PRESIDENT: You may.

VYSHINSKY: You also heard Krestinsky's reply, when, in answer to the question of the Court, he declared that he was not a Trotskyite and had not committed the crimes to which he had confessed in the preliminary investigation.

I would like to ask you, as one of the most prominent representatives and leaders of the Trotskyite underground organization in the USSR, what you know about the Trotskyite activities of Krestinsky in this recent period.

RAKOVSKY: In order to prove that he had parted with Trotskyism, Krestinsky declared that at the end of 1927 he had sent a letter to Trotsky in which he disassociated himself from the Trotskyite positions....



VYSHINSKY: He cited this letter to Trotsky as proof of his rupture with Trotskyism?

RAKOVSKY: Yes, he cited this letter as proof that he had withdrawn....

I, too, stand here as an accused man. I have no right to burden any of my accomplices with new charges. I think it will be enough if I describe the impression which was produced then, and which has remained now. I do not think that this document testifies to Krestinsky's withdrawal from the Trotskyite opposition. This was not a temporary infatuation. It was a struggle that had lasted seven or eight years, a struggle between the Trotskyites and the Party. And how can it be expected that it was enough to compel oneself to sit down for a half-hour or an hour and write a document, for the whole past, the whole ideology, all the habits and connections to disappear?

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY, THE LETTER TO WHICH THE ACCUSED KRESTINSKY REFERRED HERE AS A PROOF OF HIS RUPTURE WITH TROTSKY AND THE TROTSKYITES, YOU CONSIDER TO BE NOTHING BUT A MANEUVER, A DOCUMENT WHICH WAS TO SERVE AS HIS "ALIBI," IF NECESSARY?

RAKOVSKY: THAT IS TRUE.

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY, IF I WERE TO ASK WHETHER KRESTINSKY WAS A TROTSKYITE IN NOVEMBER 1927 AND LATER, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ANSWER?

RAKOVSKY: YES, KRESTINSKY WAS A TROTSKYITE AND NEVER BROKE WITH TROTSKYISM.

VYSHINSKY: Consequently, how do you evaluate the statement made here yesterday by the accused Krestinsky to the effect that he was not a Trotskyite, or, at least, that he has not been a Trotskyite since November 1927?

RAKOVSKY: That it does not correspond with the facts.

VYSHINSKY: Do you know that the accused Krestinsky was a Trotskyite later too?

RAKOVSKY: I do.

VYSHINSKY: Can you cite any facts to prove it?

RAKOVSKY: I can.

VYSHINSKY: I would ask you, accused Rakovsky, to tell us what the accused Krestinsky wrote to you in 1929 while you were living in exile in Saratov.

RAKOVSKY: Krestinsky wrote in that letter that I should return to the Party, naturally with the object of continuing Trotskyite activities.

VYSHINSKY: And so you are now establishing the fact that he maintained connections with you, although you were an exiled Trotskyite?

RAKOVSKY: Yes, as well as his desire, as that of other Trotskyites, to preserve the Trotskyite cadres, as far as possible, by penetrating into the Party.

VYSHINSKY: That is, he tried to persuade you, from tactical motives, and in the Trotskyite interests, to return to the Party?

RAKOVSKY: That is how I understood it.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 152-155





KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HE IS A TROTSKYITE & GUILTY OF TREASON



VYSHINSKY: Accused Krestinsky, did the accused Rakovsky understand the contents of your letter properly?

KRESTINSKY: He did.



RAKOVSKY: Krestinsky is arguing like a man who belongs to the Trotskyite organization. He proceeds from Trotskyite premises. He speaks in the interests of the Trotskyite organization and the Trotskyite aims.



VYSHINSKY: (to Krestinsky): YOU HAVE HEARD THE DETAILED EXPLANATION RAKOVSKY HAS GIVEN OF YOUR SO-CALLED DEPARTURE FROM TROTSKYISM. DO YOU CONSIDER RAKOVSKY'S EXPLANATION CORRECT?

KRESTINSKY: WHAT HE SAYS IS RIGHT.

THE PRESIDENT: YOU CONFIRM WHAT RAKOVSKY SAID?

KRESTINSKY: YES, I DO.

VYSHINSKY: If what Rakovsky said is true, will you continue to deceive the Court and to deny that the testimony you gave in the preliminary investigation was true?

KRESTINSKY: I fully confirm the testimony I gave in the preliminary investigation.

VYSHINSKY: I have one question to ask Krestinsky: What, then, is the meaning of the statement you made yesterday, which cannot be regarded otherwise than as a piece of Trotskyite provocation in court?

KRESTINSKY: Yesterday, under the influence of a momentary keen feeling of false shame, evoked by the atmosphere of the dock and the painful impression created by the public reading of the indictment, which was aggravated by my poor health, I could not bring myself to tell the truth, I could not bring myself to say that I was guilty. And instead of saying, "Yes, I am guilty," I almost mechanically answered, "No, I am not guilty."

VYSHINSKY: Mechanically?

KRESTINSKY: IN THE FACE OF WORLD PUBLIC OPINION, I HAD NOT THE STRENGTH TO ADMIT THE TRUTH THAT I HAD BEEN CONDUCTING A TROTSKYITE STRUGGLE ALL ALONG. I REQUEST THE COURT TO REGISTER MY STATEMENT THAT I FULLY AND COMPLETELY ADMIT THAT I AM GUILTY OF ALL THE GRAVEST CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST ME PERSONALLY, AND THAT I ADMIT MY COMPLETE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TREASON AND TREACHERY I HAVE COMMITTED.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 155-158





KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

RYKOV CONVICTS YAGODA OF ILLEGALLY HIDING SUBVERSIVES



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Rykov, do you confirm the testimony you gave in the preliminary investigation?

RYKOV: I do.

VYSHINSKY: What were your relations in 1928-29 with Yagoda?

RYKOV: EVERYTHING IN MY RELATIONS WITH YAGODA WAS ILLEGAL.... He [Yagoda] after a while performed a double-dealing maneuver and proclaimed himself to be a supporter of the Party, while actually remaining a member of our counter-revolutionary organization. Moreover, this was done not only with my knowledge, but, as far as I can remember, on my advice.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING WITH YAGODA THAT NO REPRESSIVE MEASURES WERE TO BE ADOPTED AGAINST THE MEMBERS OF YOUR UNDERGROUND ORGANIZATION?

RYKOV: OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: WAS THERE AN UNDERSTANDING WITH YAGODA THAT HE WAS TO USE HIS OFFICIAL POSITION TO PROTECT THE UNDERGROUND ORGANIZATION OF THE RIGHTS?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: And what official position did he hold at that time?

RYKOV: He was Vice-Chairman, under the Chairman of the 0GPU, Menzhinsky.... That is chiefly why we endeavored to keep him on a secret footing.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 158-159



KEY PARTS OF YAGODA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

YAGODA ADMITS COMMITTING TREASON BY HIDING SUBVERSIVES



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED YAGODA, DO YOU CONFIRM HIS PART OF RYKOV'S TESTIMONY?

YAGODA: I CONFIRM THE FACT, BUT NOT ITS FORMULATION.+++

VYSHINSKY: AT ANY RATE, IT WAS WHEN YOU, ACCUSED YAGODA WERE VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE OGPU AND WHEN IT WAS YOUR DUTY TO COMBAT UNDERGROUND GROUPS?

YAGODA: YES.

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY, YOU COMMITTED DIRECT HIGH TREASON?

YAGODA: YES.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Rykov, continue.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 159-160





KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

RYKOV ADMITS THE RIGHTS DECEIVED & ABANDONED LEGAL ACTS & BUKHARIN TOLD SLEPKOV TO ORGANIZE KULAK REVOLTS



RYKOV:...When at plenums, conferences, and congresses of the Party the position of the Rights was systematically exposed, it became perfectly clear that it would be impossible to maintain a legal position. Thereupon began a series of declarations of abandonment of Right views. The purpose of all these declarations was to deceive the Party. The center, to which I also belonged, gave direct instructions that such declarations should be submitted.

Somewhat later, among the last, Bukharin, Tomsky and I submitted a statement renouncing the advocacy of the Right platform. It was designed to deceive the Party. After the Party Congress had passed a resolution declaring that the views of the Rights were incompatible with membership of the Party, we decided to adopt an illegal footing completely....

THUS FROM 1930 ONWARDS THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION WAS 100 PERCENT ILLEGAL; IT'S WORK WAS BASED ON DECEIVING THE PARTY.

APART FROM THE DECLARATION I HAD SUBMITTED, WE, AND I IN PARTICULAR, PUBLISHED IN THE NEWSPAPER SEVERAL ARTICLES CRITICIZING OUR OWN STATEMENTS AND VIEWS. THIS WAS DESIGNED FOR THE SAME PURPOSE--DECEPTION.

VYSHINSKY: SO DECEIT OF THE PARTY WAS A SYSTEM YOU PRACTICED VERY WIDELY?

RYKOV: YES, OF COURSE, IT WAS A SYSTEM THAT WAS PRACTICED VERY WIDELY.



VYSHINSKY: Did your directing center function in the period 1928-29?

RYKOV: Yes, the trio functioned from the outset.

VYSHINSKY: Of whom did it consist?

RYKOV: Bukharin, Tomsky and myself.

VYSHINSKY: Consequently, it may be directly affirmed that as far back as 1928 the illegal group of Rights already had their directing center in the persons of this trio?

RYKOV: Of course.



VYSHINSKY: With what concrete instructions did Slepkov go there?

RYKOV: The detailed instructions were given by Bukharin, but the principal instructions, as I have already said, were to sharpen the dissatisfaction of the kulaks in every way, including every kind of open action.

VYSHINSKY: In other words, to organize kulak actions, kulak insurrections?

RYKOV: Of course. That is what I said. Only, in those cases there were no prospects for armed action, to organize unarmed actions.

VYSHINSKY: THAT WAS SLEPKOV'S TASK?... BUKHARIN GAVE IT?

RYKOV: BUKHARIN GAVE IT WITH OUR KNOWLEDGE, so that I regard myself as being fully responsible for it.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 161-165





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

BUKHARIN ADMITS ORGANIZING KULAK REVOLTS, COMMITTING TREASON



VYSHINSKY: WHAT DO YOU SAY, ACCUSED BUKHARIN?

BUKHARIN: I CORROBORATE ALL THAT RYKOV HAS SAID HERE UP TO NOW. SLEPKOV WAS SENT TO THE NORTH CAUCASUS PRECISELY FOR THIS PURPOSE.

VYSHINSKY: So that, in the spring of 1932, on the direct instructions of the center, and in particular of Rykov & Bukharin, Slepkov, one of your closest colleagues in the underground organization, is sent to the North Caucasus for the purpose of doing everything, as Rykov said, to organize kulak risings. Is that right?

BUKHARIN: But I have said that I corroborate everything that Rykov has said here from the first word to the last.

VYSHINSKY: HENCE, YOU SENT SLEPKOV TO ORGANIZE KULAK INSURRECTIONS IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS?

BUKHARIN: HENCE, I SENT HIM FOR THE PURPOSE OF RAISING INSURRECTIONS.... The task then was to sharpen kulak discontent with the Soviet power in every way, to fan this discontent, to organize cadres and to organize actions, including armed kulak insurrections.

VYSHINSKY: That is exactly what I wanted to know.

BUKHARIN: And that is exactly what I say.



VYSHINSKY: DID THE ACCUSED RYKOV CORRECTLY RELATE THE FACT ABOUT YOUR SENDING YAKOVENKO TO SIBERIA FOR THE PURPOSE OF ORGANIZING KULAK INSURRECTIONS?

BUKHARIN: HE DID.

VYSHINSKY: WELL, AND WERE THERE KULAK RISINGS IN SIBERIA?

BUKHARIN: YES, THERE WERE.

VYSHINSKY: Tell us, what official work did you do apart from organizing kulak insurrections?

BUKHARIN: I was a member of the Central Committee, a member of the Central Executive Committee.



VYSHINSKY: And simultaneously, as a joint occupation, you directed the organization of kulak insurrections?

BUKHARIN: Ironically it can be called a joint occupation, but, as I have already said, I don't intend to be witty here.

VYSHINSKY: IN 1932 YOU TOOK THE PATH OF OPEN TREASON. IS THAT RIGHT OR NOT?

BUKHARIN: QUITE RIGHT. I HAVE SAID THAT I DATE THIS WITH THE RIUTIN PLATFORM.

VYSHINSKY: THAT DATE MARKS THE BEGINNING OF YOUR HIGH TREASON?

BUKHARIN: YES, THAT DATE....

I AM SPEAKING, CITIZEN PROCURATOR, FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE RIGHT DEVIATION WHICH GREW INTO A COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY, TERRORIST, TREASONABLE GROUP.

VYSHINSKY: THIS PROCESS OF EVOLUTION WAS CONSUMMATED IN 1932?

BUKHARIN: YES, it was consummated and assumed definite ideological shape.

VYSHINSKY: I am interested now not in ideology, but in criminology.

BUKHARIN: But ideology may also be criminal; actions are performed by thinking people.

VYSHINSKY: That may be so, but what interests us is action, practice....

AND SO, YOU YOURSELF DATE YOUR ACTIVITIES AS A CONSPIRATOR AND TRAITOR FROM 1932 IN CONNECTION WITH THE EVOLUTION OF THE RIGHT DEVIATION INTO A COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION. IS THAT RIGHT?

BUKHARIN: THAT IS RIGHT.

VYSHINSKY: AND SO, YOU HAVE TO YOUR ACCOUNT PREPARATION FOR AND ORGANIZATION OF KULAK INSURRECTIONS IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS, AND PREPARATION FOR AND ORGANIZATION OF KULAK INSURRECTIONS IN WESTERN SIBERIA. IS THAT SO?

BUKHARIN: THAT IS SO.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 165-169





KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

RYKOV SAYS HE FORMED TERRORIST GROUPS & ACCUSES BUKHARIN OF PLANNING TO KILL STALIN



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED RYKOV, WAS THIS KNOWN TO YOU TO? WAS THIS DONE WITH YOUR KNOWLEDGE?

RYKOV: OF COURSE.... Connected with the North Caucasus there is still another criminal factor, and that is the connection with the Socialist-Revolutionaries, which we had discussed previously to this especially in connection with the kulak insurrections.... Although these movements were in fact kulak, that is to say anti-Soviet movements, on the other hand, we nevertheless regarded them as a mass movement in the country which served as a support for the Right deviation.

I remember a discussion we had on this subject in the trio and also among the followers of the Right deviation. Here many argued and quoted the example of the Kronstadt uprising and urged that with the aid of kulak risings it would be possible to create not one, but several Kronstadts, and achieve corresponding political success.

This is a first thing that is characteristic of the crimes we committed in the period of 1930-33.

In this period also the views of the Rights on the question of terrorism took shape.

VYSHINSKY: On terrorism?

RYKOV:...A NUMBER OF TERRORIST GROUPS WERE FORMED. I MYSELF GAVE A NUMBER OF TERRORIST INSTRUCTIONS TO A NUMBER OF PERSONS, APART FROM THOSE WHO STOOD CLOSE TO ME, LIKE NESTEROV AND RADIN. I conveyed these instructions also to the nationalist organizations.... Nesterov later reported that on my instructions an organization had been formed in Sverdlovsk in the Urals....

IN THIS PERIOD ALSO TERRORIST CONNECTIONS WERE ESTABLISHED WITH THE SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARY SEMYONOV THROUGH BUKHARIN. I DID NOT KNOW SEMYONOV PERSONALLY. BUKHARIN TOLD ME THAT THROUGH SEMYONOV HE WAS PREPARING FOR AN ATTEMPT ON THE LIFE OF STALIN.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Rykov, how do you know about Bukharin's connection with this Socialist-Revolutionary terrorist Semyonov?

RYKOV: I heard about it from Bukharin, who told me that he had had connections with Semyonov ever since the trial of the Socialist-Revolutionaries in connection with the attempt on the life of Lenin; as is well-known, at this trial Bukharin defended Semyonov.

VYSHINSKY: Bukharin defended Semyonov?

RYKOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: DURING THE PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION YOU SAID,

"IN 1932 OR IN THE BEGINNING OF 1933, ON VISITING BUKHARIN, I found there a stranger in his apartment who left soon after. After his departure Bukharin told me that this was the Semyonov whom he had known since the trial of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, at which he defended him and HE WENT ON TO SAY THAT THE SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES WERE PREPARING AN ATTEMPT ON THE THE LIVES OF STALIN AND KAGANOVICH. Bukharin and I accepted this communication with satisfaction, as its execution would have facilitated the counter-revolutionary activities of the Rights."

DO YOU CORROBORATE THIS EPISODE?

RYKOV: YES.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 169-171





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

BUKHARIN ADMITS HE WAS PLANNING TO KILL STALIN AND OTHERS ON THE POLITBURO



VYSHINSKY: Accused Bukharin, do you corroborate this?

BUKHARIN: In the main I corroborate it, but there are a number....

VYSHINSKY: Accused Bukharin, I want to explain to you that you will have time to clear things up and explain when you are examined.... Is the accused Rykov telling the truth when he says that in 1932-33 he found a man in your apartment whom you called Semyonov?

BUKHARIN: It is possible, I do not remember definitely whether he saw Semyonov and whether that scene took place....

VYSHINSKY: But you were connected with Semyonov?

BUKHARIN: Yes, I was connected with him.

VYSHINSKY: THE IMPORTANT THING FOR ME NOW IS TO ESTABLISH WHETHER YOU WERE CONNECTED WITH THE SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARY TERRORIST SEMYONOV.

BUKHARIN: THAT IS TRUE, BUT SEMYONOV WAS A MEMBER OF THE PARTY.

VYSHINSKY: YOU, TOO, WERE A MEMBER OF THE PARTY... YOU WHILE BEING A MEMBER NOT ONLY OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY BUT OF ITS CENTRAL COMMITTEE, ORGANIZED TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST LEADERS OF THE PARTY?

BUKHARIN: QUITE TRUE.

VYSHINSKY: Therefore, the fact that Semyonov was formally a member of the Communist Party makes no difference. Were you connected with him as with a Communist or a Socialist-Revolutionary?

BUKHARIN: I DO NOT THINK I WAS CONNECTED WITH HIM AS WITH A SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARY BUT AS WITH A TERRORIST WHO SYMPATHIZED WITH THE RIGHTS.

VYSHINSKY: That is why it is no use harping on the fact that he was a member of the Communist Party.

BUKHARIN: I DID NOT WANT TO MINIMIZE MY GUILT, I WANTED TO AGGRAVATE IT.

VYSHINSKY: I DO NOT WANT TO AGGRAVATE YOUR GUILT, I AM TALKING ABOUT FACTS. WERE YOU CONNECTED WITH SEMYONOV, THE SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARY TERRORIST; WERE THEY TERRORIST CONNECTIONS?

BUKHARIN: THEY DID NOT START AS TERRORIST CONNECTIONS.

VYSHINSKY: I'M NOT ASKING HOW THEY STARTED, I'M ASKING WHAT THEY WERE AT THAT TIME.

BUKHARIN: AT THAT TIME THEY WERE TERRORIST CONNECTIONS.

VYSHINSKY: YOU HAD THEN LEARNED FROM SEMYONOV THAT PREPARATIONS WERE BEING MADE FOR AN ATTEMPT ON THE LIVES OF COMRADES STALIN AND KAGANOVICH?

BUKHARIN: FOR TERRORIST ACTIVITIES AGAINST THE LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS?

BUKHARIN: A NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU WERE MENTIONED.

VYSHINSKY: INCLUDING WHOM?

BUKHARIN: INCLUDING STALIN AND KAGANOVICH.

VYSHINSKY: AND SO, IN 1932 YOU AND SEMYONOV TALKED ABOUT THIS, THAT AN ATTEMPT SHOULD BE ORGANIZED ON THE LIVES OF COMRADE STALIN AND OF COMRADE KAGANOVICH.

BUKHARIN: I did not say that it should; I am saying what happened.+++

VYSHINSKY: I SAY THAT IN 1932 YOU HAD A A TALK ON THIS, THAT AN ATTEMPT WAS BEING PREPARED ON THE LIVES OF COMRADES STALIN AND KAGANOVICH.

BUKHARIN: IF YOU FORMULATE IT LIKE THAT, IT GIVES IT AN ABSOLUTELY CONCRETE CHARACTER.

VYSHINSKY: VERY CONCRETE.

BUKHARIN: AT THAT TIME WE TALKED ABOUT TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST THE LEADING MAN OF THE PARTY.

VYSHINSKY: WAS IT A THEORETICAL TALK?

BUKHARIN: NO. ORGANIZING GROUPS IS NOT A THEORETICAL TALK.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT DID YOU TALK ABOUT?

BUKHARIN: WE TALKED ABOUT TERRORIST PLANS ON THE ORGANIZATION OF PREPARATIONS TO CARRY OUT THIS PLAN AGAINST MEMBERS OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU.

VYSHINSKY: INCLUDING WHOM?

BUKHARIN: INCLUDING STALIN AND KAGANOVICH.

VYSHINSKY: THAT, THEN, IS CONCRETE.

BUKHARIN: QUITE CONCRETE.

VYSHINSKY: THUS, IN 1932, YOU ON THE DECISION OF THE CENTER OF THE RIGHT ORGANIZATION INSTRUCTED SEMYONOV TO ORGANIZE A TERRORIST GROUP. IS THAT SO, OR NOT?

BUKHARIN: IT IS SO.

VYSHINSKY: WHY DID YOU INSTRUCT HIM TO ORGANIZE A TERRORIST GROUP?

BUKHARIN: IN ORDER TO COMMIT TERRORIST ACTS.

VYSHINSKY: AGAINST WHOM?

BUKHARIN: AGAINST MEMBERS OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU.

VYSHINSKY: INCLUDING WHOM?

BUKHARIN: INCLUDING STALIN.

VYSHINSKY: HENCE, WE MAY SAY THAT THE RIGHT CENTER DECIDED IN 1932 TO COMMIT TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST THE MEMBERS OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU, INCLUDING COMRADE STALIN AND COMRADE KAGANOVICH, AND INSTRUCTED SEMYONOV TO CARRY THEM OUT. IS THIS SO?

BUKHARIN: IN THE SENSE OF A LINE, IT IS SO.

VYSHINSKY: Yes or no?

BUKHARIN: But this does not mean that the whole machine had been set and the signal had been given.

VYSHINSKY: We know how machines are set and how they operate.

BUKHARIN: I say this for the sake of exactitude.

VYSHINSKY: Well, we have achieved exactitude. Please be seated. Continue, accused Rykov.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 171-174









KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS PLANNING TERRORIST ACTS TO KILL STALIN



RYKOV: THIS MEANS THAT CONSIDERED FROM A POLITICAL POINT OF VIEW THE MOST ODIOUS THING ABOUT THE WHOLE MATTER IS THAT WE WANTED TO USE OTHERS TO...

VYSHINSKY: TO DO WHAT?

RYKOV: COMMIT TERRORIST ACTS.

VYSHINSKY: WAS THAT PUT CONCRETELY, OR ONLY THEORETICALLY?

RYKOV: I HAVE ALREADY SAID THAT THEORETICAL TERRORISM DOES NOT EXIST FOR ME.

VYSHINSKY: I UNDERSTAND IT THAT WAY TOO.

RYKOV: But the center did not adopt a decision in such-and-such a year to kill such-and-such a member of the Political Bureau or of the government. The center took measures that would enable such a decision to be put into effect if one were adopted....



VYSHINSKY: IN EITHER CASE IT WAS A MATTER OF UTILIZING THE SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARY TERRORISTS FOR AN ATTEMPT ON THE LIVES OF COMRADE STALIN AND COMRADE KAGANOVICH.

RYKOV: YES, THAT IS HOW I UNDERSTOOD IT. And here it appears a disagreement arises between me and Bukharin. I thought that Semyonov was organizing this as a member of another organization. The version that Bukharin outlined to the effect that I instructed Semyonov to create some kind of special terrorist organization I hear for the first time.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 174-175





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

BUKHARIN ADMITS HE PLANNED TO USE SR’S TO KILL STALIN AND OTHERS ON THE POLITBURO



BUKHARIN: I DO NOT REFUTE RYKOV WHEN HE SAYS THAT HE MET SEMYONOV IN MY APARTMENT. HE MIGHT HAVE MET HIM.... THE FACT IS THAT SEMYONOV MADE A PROPOSAL; THIS PROPOSAL BECAME KNOWN NOT ONLY TO ME, BUT ALSO TO MY ACCOMPLICES IN CRIME AT THAT TIME, AND THEY AGREED. I quite agree with Rykov that there is an even more odious element in this; using the Socialist-Revolutionaries as cat's-paws--this is quite understandable. BUT I SAY THAT THERE WAS, OF COURSE, AN UNDOUBTED ATTEMPT TO UTILIZE SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARY TERRORIST FORCES FOR THE PURPOSE OF WAGING A CRIMINALLY TREACHEROUS FIGHT AGAINST THE LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY. SINCE I WAS CONNECTED WITH SEMYONOV, THEN UNDOUBTEDLY, IN THIS CASE, THE INITIATIVE BELONGED TO ME.

I CANNOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES MINIMIZE, WHITEWASH IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER, OR BELITTLE MY INITIATIVE IN THIS CASE.

VYSHINSKY: SO, ACCUSED BUKHARIN, MAYBE IN THIS IT WAS YOUR INITIATIVE IN ORGANIZING THE TERRORIST ACT AGAINST COMRADE STALIN?

BUKHARIN: THIS I HAVE ADMITTED. But the whole point is, and I want to emphasize this, that my initiative does not exclude the fact that in this case Semyonov received the consent of my two colleagues. I again emphasize that this does not exclude my initiative in this matter, on the contrary....

VYSHINSKY: PERMIT ME TO ESTABLISH THAT YOU, BUKHARIN, AS A MEMBER OF THE CENTER OF THE RIGHT UNDERGROUND ORGANIZATION, HAD UNDERGROUND CONSPIRATORIAL CONNECTIONS WITH THE SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARY TERRORIST WHO, TOGETHER WITH YOU, WAS PREPARING THE ORGANIZATION OF AN ATTEMPT ON THE LIVES OF COMRADE STALIN AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU, AND THAT THESE PREPARATIONS OF TERRORIST ACTS WERE BEING MADE WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND APPROVAL OF THE RIGHT CENTER, INCLUDING TOMSKY AND RYKOV.

BUKHARIN: NO, I THINK, NOT INCLUDING, BECAUSE THEY WERE THE ONLY ONES WHO KNEW ABOUT IT.+++

VYSHINSKY: WELL, YOU, TOMSKY, AND RYKOV?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY (TO RYKOV): DOES RYKOV AGREE WITH THIS?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: SO THERE ARE NO DISAGREEMENTS ON THIS POINT?

BUKHARIN: I WANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT THE INITIATIVE IN THIS MATTER LIES ON MY SHOULDERS.

VYSHINSKY: YOUR INITIATIVE IN RELATION TO RYKOV AND TOMSKY?

BUKHARIN: QUITE TRUE.

VYSHINSKY: SO THAT HERE THE SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARY LINE AND THE BUKHARIN LINE CONVERGED? I have no more questions for the time being.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 175





KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

RYKOV ADMITS COMMITTING TREASON BY PLANNING A PALACE COUP, AIDED BY YAGODA & TUKHACHEVSKY, ALSO GRANTING CONCESSIONS & DISMEMBERING THE SU FOR THE FASCISTS



VYSHINSKY (to Rykov): We have analyzed part of your crimes. We stopped approximately at 1933.

RYKOV: The end of this period coincided with the liquidation of the kulaks. In connection with this the Rights lost their last social base--the kulaks. The next period is characterized by the creation of an exclusively conspiratorial type of organization and the employment of the sharpest methods of struggle against the Party and the government. THIS PARTICULARLY INCLUDES ONE OF THE ATTEMPTS THAT WAS MADE TO PREPARE FOR A "PALACE COUP."

VYSHINSKY: To when does this refer?

RYKOV: This plan aimed to arrest the members of the government in connection with a violent coup carried out by the conspiratorial organization.... But, as in the case of terrorism, when utterances in favor of terrorism were heard before terrorism had been adopted by the center of the Right organization, so on the question of the "palace coup," individual members of the Right organization expressed themselves in favor of this method of conspiratorial activity before the Right center definitely shaped this idea and tried to carry it out.... The mainstay of this counter-revolutionary plan was Yenukidze, who had become an active member of the Right organization in 1933. AN IMPORTANT ROLE WAS PLAYED BY YAGODA, WHO WAS AT THE HEAD OF THE GPU. THESE WERE THE STARTING POINTS THAT ENABLED US TO PROCEED WITH THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COUP. To be more precise, subsequently the Right center together with Yenukidze and Tomsky from time to time informed me about the progress of the preparations and execution of this plan.... I remember that the first piece of information I received was about the group of Kremlin officials, and the principal figures here were Yagoda, Peterson, Gorbachev, and Yegorov; I have in mind not the chief of the General Staff--I don't know what he is doing now--but Yegorov, the chief of the Kremlin military school. These three names played a great role in the life of the Kremlin and were in command of the school and of the entire administrative routine in the Kremlin. SEVERAL TIMES TOMSKY INFORMED ME ABOUT THE ENLISTMENT THROUGH THESE PERSONS--YENUKIDZE AND YEGOROV--OF A GROUP OF MILITARY OFFICIALS, HEADED BY TUKHACHEVSKY, WHO ALSO PREPARED TO ACCEPT THIS PLAN AND WERE WORKING IN THIS DIRECTION. HE MENTIONED THE NAMES OF UBOREVICH AND KORK. This is the basis of the relationships which afforded the possibility of carrying out, or at all events of attempting to carry out, the plan from the point of view of inflicting real damage, internal damage, apart from connections with abroad. We did not succeed in making a real attempt, but it might have inflicted a very serious wound upon Socialist liberty.

I cannot speak of the details of this work because it was kept very secret. A GROUP WAS FORMED INCLUDING VERY INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE--A MILITARY GROUP. THIS GROUP, FROM THE UNDERGROUND VIEWPOINT, WORKED INDEPENDENTLY OF THE OTHER UNDERGROUND GROUPS AND IT WAS THE ONLY ONE.

THE QUESTION AROSE OF HOW TO COORDINATE THE FORCES OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION FOR THE PURPOSE OF CARRYING OUT THE "PALACE COUP." FOR THIS PURPOSE A CENTER WAS FORMED INCLUDING THE TROTSKYITES AND ZINOVIEVITES: KAMENEV, PYATAKOV, YENUKIDZE, AND ALSO MYSELF, BUKHARIN AND TOMSKY. OUR TASK WAS TO WELD ALL THE FORCES AROUND THE CENTER. WITH THIS CENTER WERE CONNECTED TUKHACHEVSKY'S MILITARY GROUP AND YAGODA'S GROUP.

In 1934 we already discussed the possibility of a tactical utilization of this organization in connection with the Seventeenth Party Congress that was about to be held. I do not remember exactly whether it was on the advice of Tomsky or perhaps of Yenukidze, but the question was raised of bringing about the coup during the Seventeenth Party Congress when all responsible workers would gather, and it would be possible to arrest simultaneously with most prominent members of the government, also those workers from the republics and regions who could offer resistance to the coup. But this plan was rejected. I think that apart from Tomsky hardly anyone supported it. What prompted its rejection? Clearly, the principal reason was that the conditions in the country precluded all likelihood of success. The compact unity of the Party, the popularity of the government and the absence of any discontent in the country, of course, made such an attempt a sheer adventure, absolutely futile, and this was the reason why it was rejected. The organization remained in existence. This proposal was discussed at a certain time, although I repeat, it was rejected by everybody, including myself. Tomsky was only one in favor of it. This corroborates the indictment, particularly those points which refer to this as one of the biggest counter-revolutionary undertakings.... Those who persist in their counter-revolutionary struggle resort to the measures, methods, and allies that we resorted to in the period after 1933. This refers to the "center's" connections with the German fascists. Naturally, we, and I personally, tried to tone down our testimony on this question because this is a very bad thing. We depicted the situation so as to make it appear that we had not discussed these connections in the center beforehand. Actually the situation was that Tomsky had taken the initiative. Bukharin and I heard about it afterwards. But all these are formal points, because all of us, I and Bukharin, never hesitated for a moment in deciding that Tomsky was right, and had he asked us, we would have said it was the proper thing to do.



AT ALL EVENTS, WITHOUT REPROACHING HIM IN THE LEAST, WE PROCEEDED TO DISCUSS THE RESULTS OF THE SOUNDINGS, AS WE CALLED THEM, BUT IN REALITY TREASONABLE NEGOTIATIONS THAT HAD BEEN GOING ON. WHAT IS CHARACTERISTIC OF THESE NEGOTIATIONS? THE CHARACTERISTIC THING IS THAT KARAKHAN REPORTED THAT THE GERMAN FASCISTS WERE, OF COURSE, VERY WELL DISPOSED TOWARDS THE PROSPECT OF THE RIGHTS COMING INTO POWER AND WOULD WELCOME IT VERY MUCH.... And in respect to their military operations against the Soviet Union, they would agree to cooperation, peaceful cohabitation, on the condition that definite economic privileges were given, made in the form of concessions, privileges in foreign trade, and so forth--that is to say, what Bukharin had proposed at one time, namely, that we would come to an arrangement with the Germans by means of concessions of this kind without territorial concessions. He said that the Germans insisted on the national republics receiving the right freely to secede from the union.

VYSHINSKY: What did it mean in essence?

RYKOV: It meant that the largest national republics were to be wrested from the USSR, that they would attempt to turn them into territories adjacent to their own states, convert them into their vassals and thus obtain an opportunity for an attack on the rest of the Union. They would thus come close to the heart of the USSR. The possibility of waging a successful war against the USSR would thus be facilitated for them.

VYSHINSKY: They would use this as a cover?

RYKOV: They would conceal their designs behind this.

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY, THIS MEANT DISMEMBERMENT OF THE USSR, WRESTING A NUMBER OF REPUBLICS FROM IT?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: PREPARING A BASE FOR THE FASCISTS, FOR THEIR ATTACK IN VICTORY?

RYKOV: YES, THAT IS UNQUESTIONABLY SO.

VYSHINSKY: NOT ONLY TOOLS, BUT ALSO CONSCIOUS ACCOMPLICES?

RYKOV: I DO NOT KNOW WHETHER IT IS BETTER TO BE A CONSCIOUS OR UNCONSCIOUS TOOL. ONE IS AS BAD AS THE OTHER.

VYSHINSKY: You picture it as if you just became the victims of the fascist designs.

RYKOV: No. But in all our aspirations we were not people going to the very end with regard to fascism; after all, we did confine our understanding to definite concessions....

VYSHINSKY: YOU PURSUED YOUR CRIMINAL OBJECTS AT THE COST OF TREASON?

RYKOV: OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: AND YOU DID IT CONSCIOUSLY?

RYKOV: OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: And in this sense you were no tools?

RYKOV: Of course, there were negotiations....

VYSHINSKY: That the fascists wanted to use you--that is a separate matter. You wanted to use them too, for your aims.... BUT YOUR PLANS REDUCED THEMSELVES TO SEIZING POWER AT THE COST OF TREASON?

RYKOV: WELL, YOU KNOW, THERE IS TREASON AND TREASON.

VYSHINSKY: WILL IT BE RIGHT OR WRONG TO SAY THAT IN THE PERIOD OF THE YEARS 1932-33 A GROUP WAS ORGANIZED WHICH WE MAY CALL THE ANTI-SOVIET BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES?

RYKOV: IT WAS SO IN FACT....

VYSHINSKY: AND THAT BLOC SET ITSELF THE AIM OF--HOW DO YOU FORMULATE IT?

RYKOV: IT SET ITSELF THE AIM OF OVERTHROWING THE SOVIET SYSTEM BY FORCIBLE MEANS, BY MEANS OF TREASON AND BY MEANS OF AN AGREEMENT WITH THE FASCIST FORCES ABROAD.

VYSHINSKY: On what conditions?

RYKOV: On the conditions of dismembering the USSR, of severing the national republics....

VYSHINSKY: THIS BLOC, YOU SAID, INCLUDED THE RIGHTS. WHO ELSE WAS INCLUDED IN THIS BLOC?

RYKOV: THE RIGHTS, THE TROTSKYITES, AND THE ZINOVIEVITES.

VYSHINSKY: THE ZINOVIEVITES, AND THEN CERTAIN NATIONALS GROUPS IN THE UNION REPUBLICS, SAY IN BYELORUSSIA?

RYKOV: YES....

VYSHINSKY: WERE THE SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES INCLUDED?

RYKOV: IN SOME OF THE REPUBLICS.

VYSHINSKY: The Mensheviks were included. Through them you were connected with Nikolayevsky and Dan abroad. And finally, there were separate bourgeois-nationalist groups in the national republics. For instance, in Byelorussia. Who was there of the accused?

RYKOV: Of the accused--Sharangovich.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED SHARANGOVICH, WERE YOU A MEMBER OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES"?

SHARANGOVICH: I WAS DIRECTLY CONNECTED WITH ANTIPOV AND I KNEW OF GOLODED'S CONNECTIONS WITH RYKOV.

VYSHINSKY (to Rykov): And in Central Asia?

RYKOV: With the Pan-Tyurkic organizations.

VYSHINSKY: With whom?

RYKOV: With Ryskulov and Khodjayev.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED KHODJAYEV, DO YOU CORROBORATE THIS?

KHODJAYEV: I DO.

VYSHINSKY: THAT YOU WERE A MEMBER OF THIS BLOC?

KHODJAYEV: I MAINTAINED DIRECT RELATIONS WITH RYKOV, LATER I WAS CONNECTED WITH BUKHARIN.

VYSHINSKY: DIRECTLY IN MATTERS CONCERNING THE CONSPIRACY?

KHODJAYEV: IN MATTERS CONCERNING THE CONSPIRACY.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED BUKHARIN, IS KHODJAYEV'S EVIDENCE CORRECT?

BUKHARIN: IT IS.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED IKRAMOV, WERE YOU A MEMBER OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES"?

IKRAMOV: I WAS CONNECTED WITH THE GROUP OF RIGHTS THROUGH BUKHARIN. I MAY SAY THAT I WAS ENLISTED BY BUKHARIN. After he began to slander the Party and Lenin in connection with the national question with regard to the thesis that the backward countries can attain socialism with the assistance of the proletariat without passing through the stage of capitalism; he said that this was a lie, that it was wrong....

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED BUKHARIN, DO YOU CORROBORATE IKRAMOV'S EVIDENCE?

BUKHARIN: I DO.

VYSHINSKY: HENCE, THE BLOC INCLUDED TROTSKYITES, ZINOVIEVITES, RIGHTS, BOURGEOIS NATIONALISTS, CENTRAL ASIATIC GROUPS, BYELORUSSIAN GROUPS, AND, THROUGH GRINKO, UKRAINIAN GROUPS.

RYKOV: WE JUST BEGAN TO MAKE CONNECTIONS WITH GRINKO.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 175-182





KEY PARTS OF GRINKO’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

GRINKO WAS CONNECTED TO RYKOV AND BUKHARIN VIA A NATIONAL- FASCIST ORGANIZATION WORKING WITH FOREIGN FASCISTS



VYSHINSKY: Accused Grinko, were you a member of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites"?

GRINKO: Yes, but I became a member somewhat later, in 1935. I JOINED AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL-FASCIST ORGANIZATION.

VYSHINSKY: Whom were you connected with?

GRINKO: With Rykov and Bukharin.

VYSHINSKY: As you have stated in your evidence?

GRINKO: Yes.

RYKOV: I must say that with regard to Grinko I knew that he was a Right, I had talks with him, I knew that he represented the Ukraine, but I did not know that he was an official representative.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Grinko, was it a case where he [Rykov] could only suspect your role as leader of the nationalist organization in the Ukraine, or was the case different?

GRINKO: Rykov is not telling the truth, because my connection with the center of Rights and Trotskyites through Rykov began with my telling him, in one of our conversations, about the national-fascist organization in the Ukraine, about its desire to co-operate with the central conspiratorial organizations, and about the connections of the nationalist fascist organization with the German and Polish fascists.

VYSHINSKY: And besides Rykov, with whom else were you connected?

GRINKO: With Bukharin. Also with Antipov. But my connections with Bukharin did not refer to the work in the Ukraine, but to the undermining activities which I, as a member of the center of the bloc, representing the Ukrainian organization, carried on on an all-Union scale.

VYSHINSKY: IS THE PROSECUTION JUSTIFIED IN FORMULATING THIS POINT IN THE FOLLOWING WAY: THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" IN THE BROAD SENSE OF THE WORD, AS WE HAVE JUST SPOKEN OF IT, WHICH IS ACCUSED OF HAVING COMMITTED A WHOLE SERIES OF CRIMES, AS STATED IN THE INDICTMENT, INCLUDED TROTSKYITES, ZINOVIEVITES, RIGHTS, BOURGEOIS NATIONALISTS IN THE PERSONS OF IKRAMOV, KHODJAYEV, GRINKO, SHARANGOVICH AND THE NATIONALIST GROUPS STANDING BEHIND THEM?

BUKHARIN: IF YOU ARE REFERRING TO THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" IN ITS ENTIRETY, AND NOT TO THE GROUP ON TOP, I THINK IT IS QUITE RIGHT TO POSE THE QUESTION THE WAY YOU DO IT.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 183-184





KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS THE BLOC PLANNING A MILITARY COUP INCLUDED, RYKOV, BUKHARIN, RUDZUTAK, YAGODA,TUKHACHEVSKY & PYATAKOV



VYSHINSKY: Accused Krestinsky, do you know that the Trotskyites belonged to the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" of which we are speaking here?

KRESTINSKY: I LEARNED FROM PYATAKOV, WHEN HE SPOKE TO ME ABOUT THIS IN FEBRUARY 1935, THAT AN ORGANIZATION HAD BEEN FORMED, WHICH UNITED THE RIGHTS, TROTSKYITES, AND MILITARY MEN, AND WHICH SET ITSELF THE AIM OF PREPARING FOR A MILITARY COUP. I also knew that the leading center included Rykov, Bukharin, Rudzutak, and Yagoda from the Rights, Tukhachevsky and Gamarnik from the military, and Pyatakov from the Trotskyites....

VYSHINSKY: Hence, you confirm that the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," as an organization of anti-Soviet forces, included those groups of which the accused Bukharin spoke here, such as the Rights, Zinovievites, Trotskyites, bourgeois-nationalist groups, etc.

KRESTINSKY: With regard to the bourgeois-nationalist groups I am not certain that I would say that they were included on the basis of equality.

VYSHINSKY: Nor do I say that they were included on a basis of equality. What has the basis of equality got to do with it? It was not the League of Nations!

KRESTINSKY: In 1937, after a number of arrests, this center comprised Rosengoltz and myself from the Trotskyites, Rudzutak and Yagoda from the Rights, and Tukhachevsky and Gamarnik from the military group.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 184





KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TUKHASHEVSKY WAS WORKING WITH FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE TO OVERTHROW THE GOVT



VYSHINSKY: Accused Rykov, proceed.

RYKOV: The indictment speaks of active and passive methods. IT WILL BE SUFFICIENT TO ENUMERATE HERE A NUMBER OF FACTS: THE EXISTENCE OF A MILITARY GROUP, HEADED BY TUKHACHEVSKY, WHICH WAS CONNECTED WITH OUR CENTER AND WHICH AIMED AT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A WAR TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT. THIS MEANT PREPARING FOR INTERVENTION PURE AND SIMPLE. OUR DEALINGS WITH THE GERMANS, WHICH WE INTENSIFIED IN EVERY WAY, WERE MEANT TO STIMULATE IN EVERY WAY AN ARMED ATTACK, INASMUCH AS IN THIS SPHERE THE CONSPIRATORIAL ORGANIZATION HAD ENTERED INTO TREASONABLE RELATIONS WITH THEM....

VYSHINSKY: Was there a connection with the Polish intelligence service?

RYKOV: This connection was maintained through the Byelorussian Polish organization and through Ulyanov. The relations were very close.... The Byelorussian organization gave assistance to the Pilsudskyites, the Polish fascists, in their work within the Communist Party of Western Byelorussia, and they in their turn gave their assistance in the work here....

VYSHINSKY: A PLAN OF TREASONABLE ACTIVITIES?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AT THE PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION YOU SAID THAT IN THE NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE POLES YOU AGREED TO THE SEVERING OF BYELORUSSIA FROM THE USSR.... YOU BLUNTLY AGREED TO SUCH A TREASONABLE ACT AS THE SEVERANCE OF BYELORUSSIA FROM THE USSR FOR POLAND?

RYKOV: TO ITS INDEPENDENCE. BYELORUSSIA WAS SUPPOSED TO COME UNDER THE PROTECTORATE OF POLAND.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 186





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

WANTED TO PREVENT MILITARY. TAKEOVER OF THE COUP & SAYS TOMSKY, TROTSKYITES, & TUKHACHESKY TALKED ABOUT OPENING THE FRONT



VYSHINSKY: AS A VASSAL. ACCUSED BUKHARIN, DO YOU AGREE WITH RYKOV ON THIS QUESTION? ...DID YOU DISCUSS WITH RYKOV AND TOMSKY THE QUESTION OF OPENING THE FRONT?

BUKHARIN: I DID, NOT WITH RYKOV, BUT WITH TOMSKY.... +++ I had a conversation with Tomsky; he spoke about the idea of opening the front.

VYSHINSKY: There was a conversation with Tomsky about opening the front. Opening the front to whom?

BUKHARIN: Against the USSR.

VYSHINSKY: OPENING THE FRONT TO WHOM?

BUKHARIN: TO GERMANY.

VYSHINSKY: Hence, there was talk of opening the front to Germany.... You confirm that you discussed it with Tomsky, that in case of necessity the front was to be opened.

BUKHARIN: I do not recall that.

VYSHINSKY: AND DO YOU, ACCUSED RYKOV RECALL IT?

RYKOV: OF COURSE, TO OPEN THE FRONT IN CASE OF WAR.

VYSHINSKY: ...SO TOMSKY TOLD YOU THAT IT WOULD BE NECESSARY OR EXPEDIENT TO OPEN THE FRONT?

BUKHARIN: YES, HE INCLINED TO THIS OPINION.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IT WOULD BE EXPEDIENT TO OPEN THE FRONT TO THE GERMANS IN CASE OF WAR?

BUKHARIN: YES, IN CASE OF WAR.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

BUKHARIN: IT MEANS HIGH TREASON.

VYSHINSKY: And as to how to open the front, who spoke to you about that?

BUKHARIN: TOMSKY SPOKE ABOUT IT, THAT THERE WAS SUCH AN OPINION AMONG THE MILITARY MEN.

VYSHINSKY: WHICH MILITARY MEN?

BUKHARIN: HE NAMED TUKHACHEVSKY, AND KORK, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN; THEN THE TROTSKYITES.

VYSHINSKY: THAT MEANS THAT KORK, TUKHACHEVSKY, AND THE TROTSKYITES GENERALLY INTENDED TO OPEN THE FRONT IN CASE OF WAR WITH GERMANY, AND IT WAS OF THIS THAT TOMSKY SPOKE TO YOU?

BUKHARIN: YES, THAT THERE WAS SUCH AN OPINION AMONG THEM.

VYSHINSKY: An opinion or plan?

BUKHARIN: I would not say a plan. Perhaps it was a plan, but in a very cursory conversation....

VYSHINSKY: And was Tukhachevsky a member of this group?

BUKHARIN: I have already explained....

VYSHINSKY: I AM ASKING: WERE TUKHACHEVSKY AND THE MILITARY GROUP OF CONSPIRATORS MEMBERS OF YOUR BLOC?

BUKHARIN: THEY WERE.

VYSHINSKY: When members of a bloc discuss such things, it may be said that it is a plan.

BUKHARIN: It becomes a plan when all the i's are dotted.

VYSHINSKY: Can it be said that Tomsky dotted the i's?

BUKHARIN: It can.

VYSHINSKY: So that is established. And you were opposed to this?

BUKHARIN: Yes, I was opposed.

VYSHINSKY: And your opinion, accused Rykov? Can't it be said that Bukharin accepted the standpoint of defeat of the USSR?

RYKOV: I ONLY WANT TO TELL OF WHAT ACTUALLY OCCURRED IN MY PRESENCE. (TO BUKHARIN) IT IS FROM YOU I FIRST HEARD THE TERM "OPENING THE FRONT."

VYSHINSKY: AND WHAT EXACTLY WAS IT THAT YOU HEARD?

RYKOV:...WE WERE THERE, THE THREE OF US--YOU, TOMSKY, AND MYSELF--AND THEN YOU EXPRESSED THE IDEA THAT IN CASE THE FRONT IS OPENED IT WILL BE NECESSARY, IN ORDER TO FORESTALL SEIZURE OF POWER BY THE MILITARY GROUP, TO ADOPT DEFINITE MEASURES AGAINST A MILITARY DICTATORSHIP.

VYSHINSKY (TO BUKHARIN): IS THAT TRUE?

BUKHARIN: THAT IT IS TRUE.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 186-189

KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN WAS AFRAID OF A NAPOLEON & WANTED TO OPEN THE FRONT TO GERMANY FOR A SOVIET DEFEAT



VYSHINSKY: With whom did he [Bukharin] discuss it?

RYKOV: I say there were Tomsky, Bukharin, and myself. There was nobody else. HE DISCUSSED THE QUESTION OF HOW TO AVOID THE DANGER OF NAPOLEONISM, OF A MILITARY DICTATORSHIP, IN CASE OF THE FRONT BEING OPENED.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHOM DID YOU SUSPECT OF THIS NAPOLEONISM?

RYKOV: I DO NOT REMEMBER. THE QUESTION WAS DISCUSSED IN GENERAL TERMS. THE LEADER OF THE MILITARY GROUP WAS TUKHACHEVSKY....

VYSHINSKY: IN A WORD, YOU WERE APPREHENSIVE LEST TUKHACHEVSKY IMAGINE HIMSELF A NAPOLEON?

RYKOV:... I FIRST HEARD THE WORDS "OPENING THE FRONT" FROM BUKHARIN, AND EXACTLY IN THE SENSE WHICH I HAVE HERE EXPLAINED.

VYSHINSKY: MAY I ASK YOU THIS: DID BUKHARIN PURSUE A DEFEATIST LINE IN THIS QUESTION?

RYKOV: THIS IS TOO ELEMENTARY.

VYSHINSKY: THERE ARE ELEMENTARY THINGS WHICH IT WILL DO NO HARM TO REPEAT. YES OR NO?

RYKOV: OF COURSE, YES.

VYSHINSKY: May we say that Bukharin's standpoint was that of defeat for the USSR?

RYKOV: Knowing Bukharin as I do, I should say that perhaps he did not consider it the only thing, but he considered it as something that could be discussed, something that could be realized under definite conditions.

VYSHINSKY: I do not say the only thing possible, but one of the means--to open the gates to the enemy. Is that correct?

RYKOV: Yes, but as something possible, not indispensable.

VYSHINSKY: Of course, as something possible, not indispensable; THAT IS TO SAY, THIS WAS NOT THE ONLY ROAD ALONG WHICH HE WAS PURSUING HIS AIM. ISN'T THAT TREASON?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: DO YOU CONSIDER BUKHARIN THE TRAITOR?

RYKOV: A TRAITOR, LIKE MYSELF.

VYSHINSKY: Do you corroborate the evidence you gave before the Procurator of the USSR (Reads) "... as for our defeatist position, Bukharin shared it fully.... He assumed an extremely favorable attitude towards the information concerning the negotiations with the German fascist circles." Do you corroborate this?

RYKOV: Yes, yes.... Permit me to introduce more exactitude. The favorable attitude consisted in the fact that when we discussed the question of a rapprochement with the Germans, of avoiding war with them, Bukharin proposed that we make a number of concessions.

VYSHINSKY (CONTINUES READING): "AS FOR OUR DEFEATIST POSITION, BUKHARIN SHARED IT FULLY." DO YOU CORROBORATE THIS?

RYKOV: YES....

VYSHINSKY:...DID BUKHARIN SPEAK IN FAVOR OF THIS POSITION, OF THE DEFEATIST POSITION, AS YOU SAY, IN SUFFICIENTLY SHARP TERMS, IN JUST AS SHARP TERMS AS YOU?

RYKOV: YES.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 189-192





KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HIS ORGANIZATION DID TREASONOUS WORK FOR GERMAN- POLISH FASCISM & THEIR INTELLIGENCE IN WRECKING AND DIVERSION



THE PRESIDENT: ACCUSED RYKOV, IN YOUR DEPOSITIONS DEALING WITH THE WORK OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE RIGHTS IN BYELORUSSIA YOU NOTED THAT IN FACT YOUR ORGANIZATION OF THE RIGHTS IN BYELORUSSIA TURNED INTO AN ESPIONAGE AGENCY OF THE POLISH GENERAL STAFF. IS THAT RIGHT?

RYKOV: YES.

THE PRESIDENT: Did your center give instructions with regard to wrecking in the sphere of agriculture, in the sphere of livestock grazing?

RYKOV: No. No instructions were given in the sphere.

THE PRESIDENT: BUT IF ORGANIZATIONS WHICH ARE SUBORDINATE TO YOU RECEIVE INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE TO ENGAGE IN WRECKING ACTIVITIES IN THE SPHERE OF LIVESTOCK RAISING, AND, PARTICULARLY, WITH REGARD TO BRINGING ABOUT A DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF HORSES, AND TO PERPETRATE OTHER ACTS OF DIVERSION, AND IF YOU KNOW ABOUT IT, HOW IS IT TO BE UNDERSTOOD?

RYKOV: HOW IS IT TO BE UNDERSTOOD? IT IS ONE OF THE ELEMENTS OF TREASON. I used to receive information after the damage had been done. I am guilty of covering up these acts.

THE PRESIDENT: In the same deposition you say that "In Byelorussia the organizations of the Rights had set the task to turn Byelorussia into a base for an offensive by the Poles for the purpose of severing Byelorussia from the USSR in the interest of Poland. These instructions of ours coincided with identical instructions which the Byelorussian organizations received from the Polish General Staff."

RYKOV: This is an unfortunate expression.

THE PRESIDENT: Why unfortunate? IT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS IN THE RECORD OF YOUR DEPOSITION: "OUR INSTRUCTIONS COINCIDED WITH THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE POLISH GENERAL STAFF." DURING YOUR DEPOSITION YOU SAID IN REPLY TO A QUESTION: "AS A RESULT THE ORGANIZATION OF THE RIGHTS IN BYELORUSSIA ACTUALLY TURNED INTO AN ESPIONAGE AGENCY OF THE POLISH GENERAL STAFF."

RYKOV: THIS IS CORRECT.

THE PRESIDENT: The result was that your organizations in Byelorussia turned into an espionage agency of the Polish General staff.... Did your organizations of the Rights in Byelorussia engage in wrecking work in agriculture and in road-building on the instructions of the Polish General staff?

RYKOV: I learned of two cases from Goloded: one referred to horses, the other referred to cows.

THE PRESIDENT: WHY WAS IT NECESSARY FOR THE POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE TO GIVE INSTRUCTIONS TO CARRY OUT WRECKING ACTIVITIES IN ROAD-BUILDING?

RYKOV: APPARENTLY, THIS WAS DONE IN ORDER TO IMPEDE THE MOVEMENT OF OUR TROOPS TO DEFEND THE BORDERS OF THE SOVIET STATE.... I said that there was an exchange of services between our Byelorussian organization and the fascists....



THE PRESIDENT: IS IT OR IS IT NOT A FACT THAT THE ORGANIZATION OF THE RIGHTS PLANTED AGENTS-PROVOCATEURS IN THE COMMUNIST ORGANIZATIONS ABROAD, IN WESTERN BYELORUSSIA?

RYKOV: THAT IS TRUE.

THE PRESIDENT:... YOUR ORGANIZATION ON THE TERRITORY OF THE UKRAINE WAS IN ACTUAL FACT AN ORGANIZATION OF GERMAN-POLISH FASCISM?

RYKOV: YES.

THE PRESIDENT: YOUR ORGANIZATION IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY WAS ALSO AN AGENCY OF THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICE OF A FOREIGN STATE?

RYKOV: (NO REPLY)

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 193-195





KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TUKHASHEVSKY AND TROTSKY WERE PLANNING A COUP TOGETHER AND BOTH GAVE THE OK FOR THE TAKEOVER



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED KRESTINSKY, TELL US, PLEASE, WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THE PARTICIPATION OF THE TUKHACHEVSKY GROUP IN THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES"?

KRESTINSKY: I KNOW THE FOLLOWING ABOUT TUKHACHEVSKY'S PARTICIPATION. WHEN I MET TROTSKY IN MERAN IN OCTOBER 1933, HE POINTED OUT TO ME THAT IN ORIENTATING OURSELVES ON A COUP D'ETAT, WE SHOULD UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES RELY FOR SUPPORT SOLELY ON OUR TROTSKYITE FORCES, BECAUSE THEIR NUMBERS WERE NOT SUFFICIENT FOR THIS PURPOSE, BUT THAT WE MUST COME TO AN AGREEMENT BOTH WITH THE RIGHTS AND WITH THE MILITARY GROUP. HE PAID PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO TUKHACHEVSKY, A MAN WITH AN ADVENTUROUS BENT WHO LAYS CLAIM TO THE FIRST PLACE IN THE ARMY AND WOULD PROBABLY BE READY TO TAKE MANY CHANCES. HE ASKED ME TO CONVEY THIS OPINION OF HIS TO PYATAKOV AND TO TALK WITH TUKHACHEVSKY PERSONALLY.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU TALK TO TUKHACHEVSKY?

KRESTINSKY: I HAD A TALK WITH HIM IN THE BEGINNING OF 1934, AFTER PYATAKOV HAD SPOKEN TO HIM, AND I TOLD HIM OF MY TALK WITH TROTSKY. TUKHACHEVSKY SAID THAT IN PRINCIPLE HE IS FAVORABLY DISPOSED NOT ONLY TO THE JOINING OF FORCES BUT ALSO TO THE FACT THAT SUCH A TASK WAS BEING POSED. But the question, he said, requires deliberation, the possibilities have to be established, and after that he would come to an understanding with Pyatakov on the subject. I found out from Pyatakov in February 1935 that an understanding had been reached,... SUBSEQUENTLY I SPOKE TO TUKHACHEVSKY SEVERAL TIMES ON THE SUBJECT.... DURING ONE OF THE CONVERSATIONS IN 1935 HE MENTIONED SEVERAL PEOPLE, ON WHOSE SUPPORT HE RELIED. HE MENTIONED, AMONG OTHERS, YAKIR, UBOREVICH, KORK, AND EIDEMANN . DURING ANOTHER CONVERSATION LATER ON, A VERY IMPORTANT CONVERSATION WHICH TOOK PLACE AT THE EXTRAORDINARY EIGHTH CONGRESS OF SOVIETS, TUKHACHEVSKY URGED THE NECESSITY OF HASTENING THE COUP. The point was that we had linked up the coup with our defeatist orientation and timed it for the beginning of war, when Germany would attack the Soviet Union. But as this attack was being delayed, so was the practical consummation of the coup being delayed. AT THAT PERIOD THE GRADUAL SMASHING UP OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY FORCES HAD BEGUN. PYATAKOV AND RADEK HAD BEEN ARRESTED, ARRESTS OF TROTSKYITES HAD BEGUN, AND TUKHACHEVSKY BEGAN TO FEAR THAT IF THIS BUSINESS WERE FURTHER DELAYED IT WOULD SPELL RUIN FOR THE ENTIRE UNDERTAKING. THEREFORE HE RAISED THE QUESTION OF HASTENING THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ACTION. WE DISCUSSED THE MATTER WITH GAMARNIK AND RUDZUTAK, AND CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT TUKHACHEVSKY WAS RIGHT. AFTER THAT I ASKED IN WRITING THROUGH BESSONOV FOR TROTSKY'S OPINION AND RECEIVED FROM HIM AN ANSWER IN THE AFFIRMATIVE.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 196-197





KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

BACKS UP KRESTINSKY & SAYS HE DISCUSSED WITH KRESTINSKY THE HASTENING OF A COUP



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED ROSENGOLTZ, DO YOU CORROBORATE THIS PART OF KRESTINSKY'S EVIDENCE?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES, I DO.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU HAVE OCCASION TO SPEAK TO TUKHACHEVSKY AND KRESTINSKY?

ROSENGOLTZ: IN THE END OF MARCH 1937 I DISCUSSED WITH KRESTINSKY THE QUESTION OF HASTENING THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COUP.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 197-198





KEY PARTS OF SHARANGOVICH’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE WAS A TRAITOR WHO LED A NATAIONAL-FASCIST GROUP FOR POLISH INTELLIGENCE TO SEVER BEYELORUSSIA & MAKE IT A CAPITALIST STATE;

RYKOV AND BUKHARIN TOLD HIM TO ENGAGE IN WRECKING TO PAVE THE WAY FOR DEFEAT & FASCIST VICTORY;

CREATED DISCONTENT AMONG FARMERS AND KILLED LIVESTOCK, USED TERRORISM



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Sharangovich, do you confirm the testimony you gave at the preliminary investigation?

SHARANGOVICH: I confirm it fully. I WOULD LIKE TO TELL THE COURT FULLY AND SINCERELY OF MY TREASONABLE AND TREACHEROUS CRIMES. I BECAME A TRAITOR TO MY COUNTRY IN AUGUST 1921, AND REMAINED A TRAITOR UNTIL MY ARREST. In August 1921, after peace was concluded with Poland, I was returning from a Polish prison under an exchange agreement.... Vnorovsky told me that the Poles did not want to let me out of the country, and that they could do so only if I consented to work for the Polish intelligence service. I gave my consent, and after that I was sent to the Soviet Union by the Polish intelligence service.

I of course remained an agent of the Polish intelligence service, but I received no definite commissions.

This connection was resumed at the end of 1932 or at the beginning of 1933...after I had joined the national-fascist anti-Soviet organization in Byelorussia.



...our national-fascist organization, one of whose leaders I was, was actually very closely connected with the Polish General Staff.... When I joined the national-fascist organization, it was, it seems, in March or at the end of February, I...

VYSHINSKY: What year?

SHARANGOVICH: 1932. Goloded informed me in detail of the composition of this organization and of the fact that this national-fascist organization was connected with the Moscow center of the Rights and was receiving instructions from it, from Rykov and Bukharin personally. Goloded briefly formulated the principal aims of the national-fascist organization in Byelorussia as follows: the overthrow of the Soviet power and the restoration of capitalism, and the severance of Byelorussia from the Soviet Union, in the event of war with fascist states.

As to the ways and means, they included wrecking, diversion, and terrorism.

I must stress the point that already at that time Goloded informed me of these instructions of the Moscow center of the Rights, which were being received from Rykov and Bukharin.

Goloded emphasized in particular the necessity, for the purpose of achieving these aims, of establishing close connections with the Polish General Staff. And, as a matter of fact, this quite clearly followed from the aims which were set.

I do not want to say that in accepting these instructions, carrying them out, and guiding ourselves by them, we, including myself, were infants and did not understand their significance, and, so the speak, did not realize the full seriousness of the treacherous and criminal aims, ways and means of which I am speaking....

I must therefore say that, essentially, the nationalists formed the main group, which was gathering around itself all the cadres and forces for a fight against the Soviet power and for the overthrow of the Soviet power....

They [Goloded and Chervyakov] said in substance that both Rykov and Bukharin had confirmed all the earlier lines for our organization, but had expressed dissatisfaction with its feeble activities....

...Goloded had told me that Antipov was the leader of the parallel group of the Rights. During this conversation I asked Antipov what his opinion was of the outspoken and sharply defined line to establish connections with the Polish General Staff. To this Antipov replied as follows: "Don't you see, if we are setting out to overthrow the Soviet power, if we are setting out to achieve the defeat of the Soviet Union in the event of a war with fascist states, if we're setting out to secure the severance of Byelorussia, what else can we do but utilize and come to an agreement with such a real force as fascist Poland?"

The second question I put the Antipov was the severance of Byelorussia and the creation of a Byelorussian bourgeois state under the protectorate, so the speak, of Poland. We, of course, all realized what this protectorate would mean, because we did not in any way regard it as a theoretical formula. It would mean placing Soviet Byelorussia under the yoke of the Polish landlords and capitalists,... I should say that in 1933 Antipov visited Byelorussia fairly often, because he was the chairman of the commission for purging the Party organization of Byelorussia.

At the second meeting with Antipov Goloded, Chervyakov, Gikalo and myself are present. The meeting took place in a country house near Minsk. Having heard our reports on the criminal and subversive activities of our organization, Antipov again demanded greater activity from us, especially in wrecking and diversion, in the organization of terrorist groups, and in the matter of connections with the Polish General Staff.



WE SET OURSELVES THE TASK OF DEVELOPING MOST WIDESPREAD WRECKING ACTIVITIES IN ALL SPHERES OF ECONOMIC LIFE.

VYSHINSKY: WITH WHAT PURPOSE?

SHARANGOVICH: WITH THE PURPOSE OF PAVING THE WAY FOR THE DEFEAT OF THE USSR AND OF ROUSING DISCONTENT AMONG THE POPULATION OF THE COUNTRY.

VYSHINSKY: WITH THE PURPOSE OF PROVOCATION?

SHARANGOVICH: OF COURSE. THERE WAS THE PURPOSE OF UNDERMINING DEFENSE CAPACITY. ACCORDING TO THE DIVISION OF TASKS AMONG US, I SPECIFICALLY ENGAGED IN WRECKING ACTIVITIES IN THE SPHERE OF AGRICULTURE.... THESE TASK WERE SET AND FORMULATED IN THE GENERAL PLAN OF WRECKING ACTIVITIES, BUT THEY WERE ALSO SPECIFICALLY SET BY THE MOSCOW CENTER OF THE RIGHTS, BY RYKOV AND BUKHARIN.

VYSHINSKY: AND WERE THEY SET BY ANYBODY ELSE?

SHARANGOVICH: BY THE POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE.

VYSHINSKY: AND SO YOU WORKED SIMULTANEOUSLY UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE RIGHT CENTER AND UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE?

SHARANGOVICH: CORRECT.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT SPECIFIC FORM DID YOUR CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES TAKE?

SHARANGOVICH: I ENGAGED IN WRECKING ACTIVITIES CHIEFLY IN THE SPHERE OF AGRICULTURE. IN 1932 WE, AND I PERSONALLY, DEVELOPED EXTENSIVE WRECKING WORK IN THIS SPHERE. Firstly, by slowing down the pace of collectivization.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT POST DID YOU OCCUPY AT THE TIME?

SHARANGOVICH: I WAS SECOND SECRETARY OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF BYELORUSSIA.

VYSHINSKY: SO THAT YOUR OPPORTUNITIES WERE EXTENSIVE?

SHARANGOVICH: OF COURSE. I PERSONALLY GAVE WRECKING INSTRUCTIONS TO A NUMBER OF PEOPLE....

VYSHINSKY: YOUR ACCOMPLICES?

SHARANGOVICH: YES, MY ACCOMPLICES. We organized withdrawals of members from collective farms. Then we muddled up the sowing areas. In essence it was setting a district a sowing area it could not possibly cope with, while, on the contrary, other districts, with large areas of land, would be set reduced plans. Furthermore, we arranged for the undermining of the grain collection plans. IN 1932 THIS WAS DONE AS FOLLOWS. AT FIRST OUR NATIONAL-FASCIST ORGANIZATION DID EVERYTHING IN ITS POWER TO HAMPER THE GRAIN COLLECTIONS, THAT IS, WE FRUSTRATED THEM. Then, when the Central Committee of the CPSU adopted a special decision on the progress of the grain collections in Byelorussia, our organization, fearing failure and possible exposure, adopted urgent measures to improve the grain collections somewhat.

I MUST ALSO SAY THAT IN 1932 WE TOOK MEASURES TO SPREAD PLAGUE AMONG PIGS, WHICH RESULTED IN A HIGH PIG MORTALITY; THIS WAS DONE BY INOCULATING PIGS AGAINST PLAGUE IN A WRECKING FASHION.

VYSHINSKY: ON YOUR PERSONAL INSTRUCTIONS?

SHARANGOVICH: YES, there were my personal instructions also.... IN ADDITION TO THIS, WE FORMED STATE FARMS IN THE REPUBLIC AT THE EXPENSE OF THE LAND OF THE COLLECTIVE FARMERS AND INDIVIDUAL PEASANTS.

VYSHINSKY: IN DETRIMENT TO THE INTERESTS OF THE COLLECTIVE FARMERS AND INDIVIDUAL PEASANTS?

SHARANGOVICH: YES, OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: WITH WHAT PURPOSES?

SHARANGOVICH: WRECKING PURPOSES, CRIMINAL PURPOSES, IN ORDER TO CREATE DISCONTENT.

VYSHINSKY: Provocative purposes?

SHARANGOVICH: Somewhat later we carried on wrecking activities in the sphere of agriculture in connection with the assignment of household land to the collective farmers.

I must particularly deal with the question of the individual peasants, because this was connected with the plans of our national-fascist organization. At that period there were still about 100,000 individual peasants in Byelorussia. We gave it out that an individual peasant who failed to join the collective farm was an enemy of the Soviet power. This was done for provocative purposes; in accordance with our provocative stand, we applied to the individual peasants who resisted collectivization such taxation measures which caused discontent and an insurrectionary spirit among the individual peasants.



VYSHINSKY: Do you remember the Lepel affair?

SHARANGOVICH:... the Lepel affair, if I may so express it, was simply a link in the chain of our undermining work.

VYSHINSKY: So the Lepel affair was the consequence of your deliberate criminal and provocational activity?

SHARANGOVICH: Quite so.

VYSHINSKY: What form did it take specifically?

SHARANGOVICH: The form the wrecking activities took in the Lepel affair was that the pressure brought to bear on the individual peasants was particularly strong. Later the Central Committee of the CPSU took measures to correct what we had done, and the situation changed. The spirit among the individual peasants, among those whom we had provoked, took a distinct turn for the better. But, I repeat, the Lepel affair was only one of the episodes, because such facts manifested themselves in a much more marked form in other districts.

VYSHINSKY: AND ALL THIS WAS DONE ON YOUR DIRECT INSTRUCTIONS?

SHARANGOVICH: QUITE SO.

Further, as regards rural economy, I should like to say something about our diversionist activities in horse-breeding. IN 1936 WE CAUSED A WIDE OUTBREAK OF ANEMIA IN BYELORUSSIA. THIS WAS DONE INTENTIONALLY, BECAUSE IN BYELORUSSIA HORSES ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR DEFENSE PURPOSES. WE ENDEAVORED TO UNDERMINE THIS POWERFUL BASE IN CASE IT SHOULD BE NEEDED IN CONNECTION WITH WAR.

AS FAR AS I CAN NOW RECALL, ABOUT 30,000 HORSES PERISHED OWING TO THIS MEASURE. I SHOULD MENTION THAT THIS MEASURE WITH REGARD TO HORSES WAS NOT CARRIED OUT ON OUR INITIATIVE ONLY.

VYSHINSKY: ON WHOSE ELSE?

SHARANGOVICH: WE RECEIVED DIRECT INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE MOSCOW CENTER OF THE RIGHTS. Further we carried out wrecking work in the sphere of agriculture, the result of which was that the economic showings in the border districts were worse than in the interior districts.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHAT ABOUT INDUSTRY?

SHARANGOVICH: IN INDUSTRY OUR WRECKING ACTIVITIES AFFECTED SUCH OBJECTS AS PEAT. PEAT IS OF THE HIGHEST IMPORTANCE IN BYELORUSSIA AS A SOURCE OF POWER, AND THE UNDERMINING OF THIS FUEL BASE THEREFORE TENDED TO UNDERMINE ALL BRANCHES OF INDUSTRY.

As to power development, here attention was mainly concentrated on the Byelorussian Regional Power Station, which feeds the industries of Vitebsk, Orsha, and Moghilev. Fuel was supplied irregularly. Construction work was interfered with. Specifically, I can mention the Krichevsk Cement Works, the 0rsha Flax Mills, the Moghilev Pipe Foundry....

VYSHINSKY: And so on.

SHARANGOVICH: YES, AND A WHOLE SERIES A WRECKING ACTIVITIES IN THE SPHERE OF INDUSTRY. Further, speaking of wrecking activities, I must mention the cultural front, because our national-fascist organization attributed particular importance to this sphere,.... This wrecking work was performed with the object of discrediting the national policy of the Party and the Soviet government. The wrecking work here was performed in connection with the schools and in connection with the writers' organizations and the theater.

VYSHINSKY: In a word, along the entire line of the cultural front, wherever damage could be done.

SHARANGOVICH: Quite so.

VYSHINSKY: AND SO, SUMMING UP YOUR CRIMINAL WRECKING ACTIVITIES, IT MAY BE SAID THAT THERE WAS NOT A SINGLE BRANCH OF SOCIALIST CONSTRUCTION WHICH WAS NOT THE OBJECT OF YOUR WRECKING ACTIVITIES.

SHARANGOVICH: QUITE SO.

VYSHINSKY: In agriculture, it was a struggle against collectivization; lawlessness towards the individual peasants with the provocative purpose of causing discontent among the population; muddling sowing areas for the same purpose....

SHARANGOVICH: True.

VYSHINSKY: Frustrating the development of state farms by means of irrational, inefficient, and unlawful measures against the state farms and the individual peasants?

SHARANGOVICH: True.

VYSHINSKY: Frustrating grain collections, again by unlawful measures of all sorts?

SHARANGOVICH: True.

VYSHINSKY: A veritable system of such measures. Then the extermination of livestock, is that so?

SHARANGOVICH: True.

VYSHINSKY: Deliberate infection of cattle with plague and epizootic diseases, and damage to horse-breeding?

SHARANGOVICH: True.

VYSHINSKY: Damage to horse-breeding with the object both of ruining agriculture and of undermining the defensive power of the country?

SHARANGOVICH: True.

VYSHINSKY: Finally, the peat industry, frustrating the development of power resources and the power industry?

SHARANGOVICH: True, true.

VYSHINSKY: ON THE WHOLE CULTURAL FRONT, HOWEVER, AND WHEREVER YOU COULD, DISSEMINATING NATIONAL ENMITY, FANNING CHAUVINISTIC SENTIMENTS, AND THUS DISRUPTING THE CARRYING OUT OF THE NATIONAL POLICY OF LENIN AND STALIN?

SHARANGOVICH: TRUE.

VYSHINSKY: AND THIS WAS ALL DONE BY YOU, AS HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION, ON THE DIRECT INSTRUCTIONS OF THE RIGHT CENTER, AS PART OF THE BLOC, AND OF THE POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE....

SHARANGOVICH: QUITE SO.

VYSHINSKY:... whose agent you have been since 1920?

SHARANGOVICH: Since 1921.

VYSHINSKY: The records of the investigations show that it was since 1920, but that is of no great importance. CONSEQUENTLY, WHEN YOU APPEARED IN THE USSR YOU WERE ALREADY A POLISH SPY?

SHARANGOVICH: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND YOU CONTINUED TO REMAIN A POLISH SPY FOR MANY YEARS?

SHARANGOVICH: UNTIL MY ARREST.... MAY I CONTINUE? NOW AS REGARDS TERRORISM. WE HAD INSTRUCTIONS ON TERRORISM.

VYSHINSKY: FROM WHOM?

SHARANGOVICH: FROM THE MOSCOW CENTER OF THE RIGHTS.

VYSHINSKY: FROM WHOM DIRECTLY?

SHARANGOVICH: FROM RYKOV.



VYSHINSKY: GENERALLY, WERE YOU INTERESTED IN THEORY, OR RATHER IN PRACTICE?

SHARANGOVICH:... IN THE ORGANIZATION I HEADED NO THEORY WAS NEEDED. WHAT THEORY WAS NEEDED BY SUCH CUTTHROATS, FORGIVE THE TERM, AS WE? FANCY HOW MUCH THEORY YOU NEED TO.... WE FORMED TERRORIST GROUPS AND MADE PREPARATIONS FOR TERRORIST ACTS. IN THE FIRST PLACE, WE WERE PREPARING A TERRORIST ACT IN 1936 AGAINST VOROSHILOV, WHEN HE CAME TO BYELORUSSIA FOR THE MANEUVERS.... IN ADDITION, WE MADE PREPARATIONS FOR TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST OTHER LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT. Alongside of this, here in Moscow we formed a group which was connected with the Byelorussian national-fascist organization, in case it might be necessary to commit a terrorist act in Moscow....





VYSHINSKY: AND YOU DIRECTED THIS ILLEGAL, ANTI-SOVIET WORK OF A PROVOCATEUR?

SHARANGOVICH: QUITE SO....

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY, THIS GROUP ACTED WITH YOUR KNOWLEDGE?

SHARANGOVICH: QUITE SO.

VYSHINSKY: AND SINCE YOU WERE THE LEADER, IT MIGHT BE SAID THAT IT WAS UNDER YOUR DIRECTION?

SHARANGOVICH: QUITE SO.... Apart from the two terrorist acts of which I have spoken, wide activities were developed in this sphere and a number of terrorist groups were formed.

VYSHINSKY: LET US SUMMARIZE BRIEFLY WHAT YOU PLEAD GUILTY TO IN THIS CASE.

SHARANGOVICH: FIRSTLY, THAT I AM A TRAITOR TO THE COUNTRY.

VYSHINSKY: AN OLD POLISH SPY.

SHARANGOVICH: SECONDLY, I'M A CONSPIRATOR.... THIRDLY, THAT I DIRECTLY CARRIED ON WRECKING ACTIVITIES.

VYSHINSKY: NO, THIRDLY, THAT YOU DIRECTLY ARE ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL LEADERS OF A NATIONAL-FASCIST GROUP IN BYELORUSSIA AND ONE OF THE ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE ANTI-SOVIET "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES."

SHARANGOVICH: TRUE. NEXT, THAT I PERSONALLY CARRIED ON WRECKING ACTIVITIES.

VYSHINSKY: DIVERSIVE ACTS.

SHARANGOVICH: TRUE.



THE PRESIDENT: AN ORGANIZER OF TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND GOVERNMENT.

SHARANGOVICH: TRUE....

THE PRESIDENT: AND YOU DID ALL THIS WITH THE PURPOSE....

SHARANGOVICH: AND I DID ALL THIS WITH THE PURPOSE OF OVERTHROWING THE SOVIET POWER, WITH THE PURPOSE OF BRINGING ABOUT THE VICTORY OF FASCISM AND THE DEFEAT OF THE SOVIET UNION IN THE EVENT OF WAR WITH FASCIST STATES.

THE PRESIDENT: READY TO DISMEMBER THE USSR, TO SEPARATE BYELORUSSIA AND TRANSFORM IT INTO....

SHARANGOVICH: INTO A CAPITALIST STATE UNDER THE YOKE OF THE POLISH LANDLORDS AND CAPITALISTS.

THE PRESIDENT: OF THIS YOU FULLY ADMIT YOURSELF TO BE GUILTY?

SHARANGOVICH: YES, I DO.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 200-212



KEY PARTS OF KHODJAYEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

WAS AN ANTI-SOVIET NATIONALIST. WEAKENING THE SU & EXPELLING GENUINE MARXISTS



THE PRESIDENT: DO YOU CONFIRM THE TESTIMONY YOU GAVE REGARDING YOUR ANTI-SOVIET ACTIVITIES IN THE COURSE OF MANY YEARS?

KHODJAYEV: I DO. I CARRIED ON ANTI-SOVIET ACTIVITIES IN UZBEKISTAN.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED KHODJAYEV, TELL US, TO WHAT DO YOU PLEAD GUILTY?

KHODJAYEV: I HAVE ALREADY IN THE PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION GIVEN SINCERE AND HONEST TESTIMONY REGARDING THE CRIMES I HAVE COMMITTED, AND, WITHOUT CONCEALING ANYTHING, I INTEND TO TELL THE COURT, EVEN IF BRIEFLY, THE PRINCIPAL STAGES IN THESE CRIMES I HAVE COMMITTED. MY CRIMES AGAINST THE REVOLUTION, AGAINST THE WORKERS AND PEASANTS STATE AND AGAINST THE PARTY, BEGAN IN 1920.... I WANT TO SPEAK ABOUT MY CRIMES.... In one of the leaders of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan, Ikramov, I found an ally and together we formed the nucleus which carried on nationalist anti-Soviet activities in Uzbekistan. So this is the second stage of my active anti-Soviet nationalist work.

FINALLY, THERE IS THE THIRD STAGE... A MEETING ON BUSINESS WITH RYKOV...WE CAME TO AN UNDERSTANDING ABOUT JOINT ANTI-SOVIET WORK.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT WORK?

KHODJAYEV: That is, joint work of the Uzbek nationalist organization under the direction of the Rights... would guarantee the independence of the Uzbek Republic.... In order that the Rights might gain their ends and that we might gain our ends, we would have to smash this leadership. For this purpose we concluded an alliance. That is, the aim was the same, namely, TO OVERTHROW THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT AND THE LEADERSHIP OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE CPSU.

VYSHINSKY: TO WEAKEN THE USSR?

KHODJAYEV: TO WEAKEN THE USSR, UNDOUBTEDLY.... WE SYSTEMATICALLY OUSTED FROM THE SOVIET AND PARTY APPARATUSES SINCERE MEMBERS OF THE PARTY, GENUINE SOVIET PEOPLE, AND APPOINTED OUR OWN PEOPLE IN THEIR PLACE.

I have already referred to the foreign policy orientation, which was in every way to weaken the influence of Soviet Russia in Bokhara and to strengthen the connections and relations with neighboring capitalist states, and through them to form real connections with England, which at that time was the most outspoken opponent of Soviet Russia. I am referring to 1920-21.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 212-217



KEY PARTS OF IKRAMOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

LED A BOURGEOIS-NATIONALIST FASCIST ORGANIZATION;

KHODJAYEV SAYS HE’S A CRIMINAL AND HE AGREES



VYSHINSKY: (to the President): Permit me to question Ikramov. Ikramov, have you heard Khodjayev's testimony?

IKRAMOV: Yes, I have.

VYSHINSKY: Do you agree with his testimony?

IKRAMOV: No

VYSHINSKY: Accused Ikramov, were you a member of a secret nationalist organization in 1928?

IKRAMOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Was this organization called "Milli-Istiklal"

IKRAMOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: So this part of Khodjayev's testimony is true?

IKRAMOV: It is.

VYSHINSKY: Was Khodjayev a member of the secret nationalist fascist organization "Milli-Istiklal"?

IKRAMOV: No. Khodjayev had his own organization.

KHODJAYEV: That is what I said.

VYSHINSKY: SO KHODJAYEV BELONGED TO ONE ORGANIZATION AND YOU TO ANOTHER. BOTH ORGANIZATIONS WERE BOURGEOIS-NATIONALIST, OF THE FASCIST TYPE.

IKRAMOV: THAT IS SO.... UNDER THE PRESSURE OF BUKHARIN AND THE DIRECT GUIDANCE OF ANTIPOV, THE TWO NATIONALIST ORGANIZATION'S COORDINATED THEIR WORK.



VYSHINSKY: AT ANY RATE THE FACT MENTIONED BY THE ACCUSED KHODJAYEV, TESTIFYING TO YOUR DEFINITE CRIMINAL POLITICAL LINE, IS TRUE?

IKRAMOV: IT IS.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 217-218





KEY PARTS OF KHODJAYEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

DESTROYED CROP ROTATION CAUSING LOW YIELDS IN COTTON, WHEAT, BARLEY, RICE, SILK, CLOVER & CATTLE & CAUSED PEASANT DISCONTENT



KHODJAYEV: And so we realized that if the government's instructions were carried out, not a damn thing would be left of the Five-Year Plan that we had drawn up. And so in order to disrupt these new instructions of the Central Committee of the CPSU (Bolsheviks) and the government, in order not to provide the cotton, we drew up another plan, an inflated one, considerably exaggerated. It was like this. The government called for 36 million poods of cotton fiber for the whole Union, but according to our plan, if all the other republics kept pace with Uzbekistan as we had planned it, the total would be approximately 45 million-48 million poods for the Union. But in order to fulfil a plan of 45 million-48 million poods of cotton, what was required? WE BEGAN TO APPLY THE MONOCULTURE THEORY, THAT IS TO SAY, THE THEORY OF HAVING ONE PREDOMINANT CROP IN AGRICULTURE--COTTON. TO ACHIEVE THIS WE WOULD HAVE TO SMASH UP THE CROP ROTATION, PLOW UP THE GRASSLANDS--THAT IS, CLOVER, FODDER CROPS--ELIMINATE FROM THE IRRIGATED LANDS NOT ONLY WHEAT AND BARLEY, BUT A CROP LIKE RICE, WHICH CANNOT GROW OTHERWISE. THIS WOULD HAVE MEANT CAUSING ENORMOUS DISCONTENT AMONG THE PEOPLE, because we put it to them in this way: "This is the Moscow plan, we are merely the servants of Moscow, we are carrying out Moscow's instructions. Don't you like it? Then complain against Moscow." This is the task we set ourselves.

VYSHINSKY: A PROVOCATIVE TASK?

KHODJAYEV: A PROVOCATIVE TASK, SET DELIBERATELY, AND PURSUED FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS.

WHAT DID IT LEAD TO? IT ACTUALLY LED TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ROTATION OF CROPS SYSTEM, IT LEAD TO A DIMINUTION IN THE NUMBER OF CATTLE, IT LED TO A DIMINUTION IN SILK CULTIVATION, BECAUSE EVEN HERE WE PURSUED OUR WRECKING ACTIVITIES, AND IN THE LONG RUN IT LED TO A DIMINUTION EVEN OF THE COTTON YIELD. And that is why for years Uzbekistan failed to fulfill its cotton plans.



...I WANT TO SAY HERE THAT THIS WAS NOT A FORTUITOUS THING, THAT IT WAS NOT MERE BLOCKHEADEDNESS, OR THE RESULT OF INABILITY. IT WAS DONE QUITE DELIBERATELY BY OUR ORGANIZATION, UNDER MY LEADERSHIP AND UNDER IKRAMOV'S LEADERSHIP. WE TWO--HE AS THE CHIEF IN THE PARTY, AND I IN THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT--DIRECTED THIS BUSINESS.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 224-225





KEY PARTS OF IKRAMOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

HE & KHODJAYEV WERE AIDED BY TROTSKYITES IN CROP DESTRUCTION



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED IKRAMOV, WHAT HAVE YOU TO SAY ABOUT THIS EXPLANATION?

IKRAMOV: I FULLY CORROBORATE IT. BUT I WANT TO ADD SOMETHING. IN THIS BUSINESS OUR ALLIES (THERE WAS NO AGREEMENT, BUT THERE WAS TACIT CONSENT), OUR ALLIES WERE THE TROTSKYITES.

VYSHINSKY: But you acted under the leadership of the bloc?

IKRAMOV: Each acted in his own line. There was no verbal agreement, but the Trotskyites, headed by the Cotton Committee, which was directed by Reingold, and under Zelensky's direction, encouraged this policy.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 225



KEY PARTS OF ZELENSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

WORKED TO DISRUPT COLLECTIVIZATION & COTTON PLANS AND RUIN FARMS



VYSHINSKY: Accused Zelensky, do you corroborate the statement that this policy was carried out under your direction?... ACCUSED ZELENSKY, DID YOU CHOOSE THE FORMULA--CENTRAL ASIA MUST OVERTAKE AND SURPASS THE FOREMOST DISTRICTS OF THE SOVIET UNION?

ZELENSKY: YES, I DID.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHAT DID THIS FORMULA SIGNIFY?

ZELENSKY: THE DISRUPTION OF COLLECTIVIZATION.

VYSHINSKY: NOT ONLY THAT, BUT ALSO THE DISRUPTION OF THE COTTON PLANS, AND THE RUIN OF THE DEKHKAN FARMS. DO YOU CORROBORATE THIS?

ZELENSKY: YES, I DO.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 225





KEY PARTS OF KHODJAYEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

HE WRECKED UNDER RYKOV & BUKHARIN’S ORDERS;

BUKHARIN IS MAD BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO INSURRECTIONARY CADRES, NO TERRORIST GROUPS, & NO TIES WITH ENGLAND; BUKHARIN WANTS TO GIVE ENGLAND UZBEKISTAN AS PAYMENT FOR HELP & CONTENDS THE SU WOULD LOSE A WAR AGAINST THE FASCISTS;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED CRIMES;
ADMITS HE WRECKED CROP ROTATIONS, CONSTRUCTION & DAM BUILDING;

TRIED TO CAUSE PEASANT DISCONTENT & DAMAGED LIVESTOCK RAISING;

STOLE CATTLE AND SHEEP FROM THE PEASANTS;

INTENTIONALLY KILLED TOO MANY MULBERRY TREES FOR SILKWORMS; DESTROYED LUCERNE CROPS, PYATAKOV SENT TROT TO DESTROY SULPHUR MINES;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED BIG CRIMES, ORGANIZED TERRORIST GROUPS AND BETRAYED PARTY LEADERS LIKE STALIN



KHODJAYEV: Rykov described the position in the Soviet country at that period as critical owing to collectivization, owing to the discontent, as he put it, of the peasantry with THIS MAD, AS HE PUT IT, LINE, WHICH THE STALIN LEADERSHIP WAS PURSUING. He said that if things continued in this way they would lead to inevitable disaster. WE RIGHTS, HE SAID, ARE FIGHTING TO CHANGE THIS LINE, BUT THE LINE COULD BE CHANGED ONLY IF WE CAME INTO POWER. CONSEQUENTLY OUR TASK IS TO OVERTHROW THE SOVIET POWER....



And so we arrived at an agreement about our method of operations. For the beginning Rykov gave me the following line: firstly, wrecking, mainly in the sphere of agriculture;...

Secondly, we were to unite all the opposition groups and forces that could possibly be found and direct these forces against the leadership of the CPSU against the government--stimulate wrecking, provocative methods of work, anti-Soviet activities.... WE BEGAN TO CARRY OUT THIS WRECKING WORK.



In 1934 Antipov arrived in Uzbekistan. Until then I had not known that Antipov also belonged to the Rights.

Antipov gave me direct instructions to stimulate wrecking and diversionist activity. More than that, he said, we must increase provocative work so as to cause considerable discontent among the masses, and we must proceed more actively to form insurrectionary groups; in Uzbekistan we must form a couple of terrorist groups--they might be needed, he said. And lastly, we must establish direct connections with England, the country that was most of all interested in deciding the fate of Central Asia.

In 1936 Bukharin arrived in Tashkent.... BUKHARIN ASKED ME HOW WE WERE CARRYING OUT THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE CENTER OF THE RIGHTS. I TOLD HIM OF THE EXTENSIVE PLANS FOR WRECKING, THAT WE HAD PLANNED A COUPLE OF DIVERSIONISTS ACTS IN THE SPHERE OF IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT, AND THAT IN GENERAL THE WORK WAS GOING ON FAIRLY WELL, but in agriculture we were encountering difficulties owing to the party's policy-- the rectification of distortions, the transfer of household land to the collective farmers and the bonuses for overfulfilling the plan were all hindering our work, disrupting our plans, and creating difficulties; but nevertheless we were doing our best and were fulfilling our instructions is far is possible.... BUT BUKHARIN WAS DISSATISFIED WITH THE INFORMATION I GAVE HIM. HE WAS DISSATISFIED NOT BECAUSE WE WERE CARRYING OUT OUR WRECKING AND ANTI-SOVIET PROVOCATIVE ACTIVITIES BADLY, BUT BECAUSE, FIRSTLY, WE HAD NO INSURRECTIONARY CADRES, SECONDLY, WE HAD NO DEFINITELY FORMED TERRORIST GROUPS, AND, THIRDLY, WE HAD NOT ESTABLISHED CONNECTIONS WITH ENGLAND. These three things were the cause of Bukharin's dissatisfaction.



KHODJAYEV: He said that we were working badly, that this was not the way to work....

VYSHINSKY: He urged you to display more activity?

KHODJAYEV: Yes, to work better and more actively....

VYSHINSKY: Meaning by that?

KHODJAYEV: Organizing insurrectionary cadres.

VYSHINSKY: That is one.

KHODJAYEV: Organizing terrorist groups.

VYSHINSKY: That is two.

KHODJAYEV: And establishing connections with England.

VYSHINSKY: What did Bukharin want of you when he spoke about connections with England?

KHODJAYEV: BUKHARIN SAID THAT AN AGREEMENT HAD BEEN REACHED WITH FASCIST GERMANY, AND THAT ONE WAS IMPENDING WITH JAPAN. But in regard to the Central Asiatic republics, the nearest powerful country was England. We ought to reach an agreement with her.... Bukharin said that when it is a matter of the capitalist countries assisting us Rights to seize power, and you to obtain your independence, we have to promise something, to give something.

VYSHINSKY: Give what? Promise what?

KHODJAYEV: To give means accepting a British protectorate, that is, as a minimum.

VYSHINSKY: And so, secession from the Soviet Union, the independence of Uzbekistan, an agreement with England mean that Uzbekistan reaches another shore?

KHODJAYEV: That is what I understood.... I HAVE COMMITTED CRIMES, I WANT TO ANSWER FOR THEM AS THEY WERE COMMITTED....

BUKHARIN HAD JUST RETURNED FROM A VISIT TO EUROPE.

VYSHINSKY: FROM ABROAD?

KHODJAYEV: FROM ABROAD. HE SPOKE ABOUT THE STABILIZATION OF CAPITALISM AND SAID THAT FASCISM, PARTICULARLY GERMAN FASCISM, HAD PLAYED A GREAT ROLE IN THIS.

VYSHINSKY: HE PRAISED FASCISM?

KHODJAYEV: I UNDERSTAND IT AS PRAISE FOR FASCISM.... From this he drew the conclusion that a bloc of these two fascist states [Germany and Japan], the alliance of these two states, THE FASCIZATION OF EUROPE, WOULD MAKE IT DIFFICULT FOR THE USSR TO HOLD OUT IN A WAR, AND THAT THE USSR WAS DOOMED TO DEFEAT IN SUCH A WAR. Then he reviewed the internal situation in the USSR--the difficulties encountered in the rural districts. He said collectivization had triumphed,...



I now come to my concrete wrecking activities.... In agriculture our wrecking task was to mix up the rotation of crops.... Our task was to mix up the cultivation of seeds. This task we carried out, but thanks to the measures taken by the Central Committee of the CPSU and the government of the Union, the cotton seed situation has been straightened out, but as far as the other crops are concerned, they are still in the position that we put them in. OUR TASK WAS TO CAUSE DISCONTENT AMONG THE PEASANT POPULATION BY MEANS OF HARSH ADMINISTRATION AND BY OVER DOING THINGS. WE ACHIEVED OUR OBJECT TO SOME EXTENT. I have already told you about the inflated cotton plans, about sending wrong plans to the districts,... We succeeded in rousing a number of provocative actions, a number of actions due to our provocation. THEN WE SUCCEEDED IN CAUSING CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE IN LIVESTOCK RAISING.... According to the decision of the Party and the government, we should in 1936 have provided the collective farmers with about 130,000 calves, sheep, and other cattle. We did it during the whole course of the year. In taking stock of the cattle for the second half of 1936 and the first half of 1937 we found that of these 130,000 animals only 30,000-40,000 had remained. I have in mind young cattle. What had become of the rest? IN THE FIRST PLACE, PART OF THESE CATTLE NEVER REACHED THE PEASANTS AT ALL. OUR PEOPLE WHO WERE IN CHARGE OF THE DISTRICT AND AREA ADMINISTRATIONS TOOK THESE CALVES AND SHEEP FOR THEMSELVES AND THEN KILLED THEM AND SOLD THEM. Secondly, no arrangements were made in the collective farms for saving the young cattle. As you know, this requires an enormous amount of work. I shall not speak about the disruption of the measures to breed thoroughbred livestock, veterinary measures, etc....

IN THE SPHERE OF SILK CULTIVATION, WE CARRIED OUT THE FOLLOWING WRECKING MEASURE. In 1928 we had 7000-8,000 tons of raw silk; now, however, we have 10,000-12,000 tons. But proper calculation of the possibilities of Uzbekistan in this field showed approximately 22,000-23,000 tons. This could had been achieved had we not carried out a certain measure.... There is not a canal in Uzbekistan that is not lined with mulberry trees. This tree provides the food for the silk worms. There is a plan which permits 1 or 2 percent of the old trees to be cut down annually and to be replaced with new ones in a different place. We, on the pretext that agriculture could not be mechanized, that tractors could not be employed where there were no large fields, that it was not economical, that it would cause loss, on the plea of mechanization, ordered 10 percent of the mulberry trees to be cut down and by that destroyed the food base for silk cultivation. If this had not been exposed by people who had done this themselves, if this had not been spoken of by the specialist collective farmers, who are better specialists than anybody in this business, IF THEY HAD NOT SPOKE ABOUT IT, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ALTOGETHER DIFFICULT TO GUESS THAT THERE WAS WRECKING HERE. BUT IT IS A FACT. THE FACT IS THAT WE CARRIED OUT THIS WRECKING UNDER A GOOD TRADEMARK.

I WILL NOT DEAL WITH LUCERNE, WHICH ALTERNATES WITH COTTON AND IS ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL CROPS IN THE ROTATION, LUCERNE, WHICH WAS ALMOST COMPLETELY DESTROYED FOR WRECKING PURPOSES. Only during the past two years is it being restored as a result of the direct pressure of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Towards the end we received telegrams every week signed by Stalin: "Why is lucerne lagging? Why are you not sowing?" It is only as a result of this pressure that we began to improve the situation as regards lucerne.

Nor will I speak of a number of other wrecking activities in the sphere of agriculture.

I have forgotten to mention two diversionist acts that were committed in the sphere of irrigation. The first was in connection with the Ravatkhadja dam, built by the Soviet government... In the beginning of 1936, Khalbatyrov, a member of our organization, was preparing a diversionist act --the destruction or damaging of this dam. He failed because he and his accomplices were arrested in time by the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs.

A similar attempt was also made in Ferghana upon a large water distributor dam.... The perpetrators of this act also failed to carry it out in its entirety, although it was partly carried out by Rakhmanov, chief of the Uzbek Water Conservancy, who was also a member of our organization....

As I understood it, the wrecking consisted of three things. First, in increasing the cost of construction. Secondly, in using materials of which there was a shortage, for buildings of secondary importance. For example, everybody knows that in Tashkent the best buildings are built of brick, while ordinary houses are built of clay. But on this construction job one-story houses were built of reinforced concrete, when there was a shortage of cement and iron for the power stations.

Thirdly and lastly, this wrecking consisted in the driving out of Chirchik people who were loyal to the Soviet government. Some time ago the Soviet press reported the case of Silberstein. This has direct bearing on the matter in hand.

VYSHINSKY: What was this case, and what bearing has it on the matter in hand?

KHODJAYEV: Silberstein was a very efficient and loyal engineer. She was in charge of the erection of the dam at Chirchik. She belonged to the group of specialists who were actively and honestly doing Soviet work. But Rozit got rid of her on various pretexts.

VYSHINSKY: With your knowledge?

KHODJAYEV: Certainly. We raised no objections.

VYSHINSKY: On your instructions?

KHODJAYEV: No, not on my instructions, because I had no direct connections with Rozit. But we certainly raised no objections.

VYSHINSKY: AND DID YOU KNOW THAT ROZIT WAS ENGAGED IN WRECKING ACTIVITIES?

KHODJAYEV: OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: FROM OBJECTIVE FACTS?

KHODJAYEV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND YOU SHIELDED HIM?

KHODJAYEV: YES, I DID. Had I really wanted to bring this matter to light, what could have prevented me two years ago from writing a letter demanding Rozit's dismissal and prosecution? But I did not want to do this.

The second case was the Cobol site state district par station... The work of construction was dragged on for a very long time. And this was not fortuitous.

Here, simultaneously with my evidence about wrecking in Uzbekistan, I want to say what happened in Moscow. The ramp for the delivery of coal was planned for a capacity of 75,000 kilowatts, whereas the powerhouse was built for 48,000, and the planned capacity of the station is 70,000. You see, therefore, that the elements of wrecking were present in the very planning of the station.

And lastly, what was caused in Moscow was the systematic failure to supply machines, and that is why the station, work on which was started practically in 1929-30, has been under construction for seven years and is not completed yet.

A NUMBER OF SIMILAR WRECKING ACTS WERE COMMITTED IN BOKHARA, SAMARKAND, AND A NUMBER OF OTHER PLACES.

VYSHINSKY: At the Khilkovo Cement Works?

KHODJAYEV: The works were stopped, ostensibly for repairs, for re-equipment, and modernization, although this could have been done two or three years later, after the Kuvasai Cement Works were started at full capacity; and there was no need to do that, it could have been done later and another plant started first; nevertheless it was done without waiting. In this way the Chirchik Irrigation Project was left without cement....

...AND I SAY NOW, THAT THE SULFUR MINES DID NOT GO OUT OF ACTION THEMSELVES, BUT BECAUSE OF A FIRE, BECAUSE NEVSKY, AN OLD TROTSKYITE, WHO HAD BEEN SENT THERE BY PYATAKOV, BROUGHT ABOUT THE FIRE AND EXPLOSION IN THE MINE....

The slow tempo of construction in Uzbekistan was ascribed to the shortage of building materials--cement, iron, and timber --but construction was deliberately disrupted. Take the building of schools, for example. What is needed mostly are bricks. In Uzbekistan billions of bricks can be made on the spot. And yet, as a rule, no bricks were available in the building season.

VYSHINSKY: Why?

KHODJAYEV: Because brick-making was in the charge of Rakhman, a member of the Trotskyite organization, directed by Tsekher, who was connected with us. I think the reason is clear.

VYSHINSKY: Of course.

KHODJAYEV: The same thing applies to hospitals and a number of other cultural and educational institutions.



...BUT HAPPILY FOR ME I NEED NOT ADD THIS CRIME TO THE ENORMOUS CRIMES I HAVE COMMITTED AGAINST THE SOVIET PEOPLE AND AGAINST THE PARTY.... I would like to finish my evidence by stating that, of course, I am not an infant, I began my anti-Soviet activities consciously, as a nationalist, for before I came over to the revolution and took part in it, I was a nationalist....



VYSHINSKY: I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU COULD NOT DO EVERYTHING WITH YOUR OWN HANDS. WAS THERE ANY WRECKING DONE?

KHODJAYEV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU ORGANIZE IT?

KHODJAYEV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: What organization did you belong to before the revolution?

KHODJAYEV: The organization I belonged to was the party of the Bokhara liberals, a constitutional-monarchist party.

VYSHINSKY: A Cadet Party?

KHODJAYEV: Yes.



...I have been in many a fray, but that is not important; what is important, what is particularly painful and humiliating to me--and I am myself to blame for it--is that, thanks to my own actions, I find myself in the dock, side-by-side with people who set themselves the aim of striking at the revolution, with people who shrank from no methods to achieve their goal. And I myself, having carried out a number of measures, in no way differ from them. I HAVE BETRAYED NOT ONLY THE PEOPLE OF BOKHARA, OF UZBEKISTAN, BUT ALSO THE SOVIET UNION AS A WHOLE; I have repaid with black ingratitude those who in 1917 and in 1918, when I was outlawed and had nowhere to lay my head, threw wide open the gates of hospitality to me, gave me a refuge, and tried to educate me so that I might develop. I HAVE BETRAYED THE PEOPLE WHO HELPED THE NATIONS OF BOKHARA TO OVERTHROW THE DETESTED DESPOTISM OF THE EMIR, TO OVERTHROW MEDIEVAL TYRANNY. I HAVE BETRAYED THE PARTY THANKS TO WHOSE POLICY THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC INEQUALITY THAT EXISTED FOR OVER HALF A CENTURY WAS ABOLISHED. I HAVE BETRAYED THE PEOPLE AND THE PARTY WHICH GAVE BOKHARA ITS INDEPENDENCE, NOT INDEPENDENCE IN THE BOURGEOIS SENSE, BUT SOVIET INDEPENDENCE. I feel my position to be particularly grave because I am thrice a criminal--as a nationalist, is a member of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," and as one who has betrayed the confidence of Stalin, of the leaders of the Party and of the government.... But in spite of all this I have betrayed all these people, betrayed Stalin on the instructions of the Right center. I took part in organizing terrorist groups. That is why I bear full responsibility before the Soviet Court, before the Soviet people. I know that my belated repentance will not help matters, but I am saying this in order that it may perhaps warn at least somebody not to follow in my footsteps.



VYSHINSKY: Had Abid Saidov also exposed criminals?

KHODJAYEV: Of course.

VYSHINSKY: Why was he killed?

KHODJAYEV: He was an active witness at the trial. He was killed by his brother by order of the nationalist organization "Milli-Istiklal." ... Of which Ikramov was a member.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 226-241





KEY PARTS OF IKRAMOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS ABID SAIDOV WAS MURDERED ON HIS ORDERS FOR SQUEALING



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED IKRAMOV, WAS THERE SUCH A FACT AS THE MURDER OF ABID SAIDOV?

IKRAMOV: THERE WAS SUCH A FACT.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT GROUP KILLED HIM?

IKRAMOV: THE "MILLI-ISTIKLAL" GROUP.

VYSHINSKY: WERE YOU A MEMBER OF THIS GROUP?

IKRAMOV: I WAS.

VYSHINSKY: WAS BATU ONE OF THE MURDERERS OF ABID SAIDOV?

IKRAMOV: FOR HAVING EXPOSED THE BOURGEOIS NATIONALISTS, BATU WAS ONE OF THE MURDERERS.

VYSHINSKY: WAS THIS THE BATU WHO, LIKE RAMZI, WAS YOUR MAN?

IKRAMOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: SO ABID SAIDOV WAS MURDERED BY BATU, YOUR MAN?

IKRAMOV: YES.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 242





KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS ENGAGING IN CRIME;

SEDOV TALKED ABOUT WORKING CLOSELY WITH TUKHASHEVSKY; TROTSKY WAS AFRAID OF TUKHASHEVSKY’S BONAPARTIST TENDENCIES;

TROTSKY WANTED HIS PEOPLE IN KEY POSITIONS PRIOR TO THE COUP & SENT DIRECTIONS ON TERRORISM & WRECKING FOR GERMANY & WORKING FOR DEFEAT OF SU;

WERE RELYING TUKHASCHEVSKY COUP IN 1936;

RYKOV & KRESTINSKY SAID TUKHASHEVSKY PROMISED TO ACT



THE PRESIDENT: Do you [Rosengoltz] confirm the testimony you gave at the preliminary investigation?

ROSENGOLTZ: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Rosengoltz, tell us briefly about your criminal activities,....

ROSENGOLTZ: As you know, I was a member of the Trotskyite trade union opposition during the trade union discussion in 1920-21. Then, in 1923, I signed what was known as the "Platform of the Forty-Six,"...

At the beginning of 1925 I began to entertain certain differences with Trotsky in connection with the demand I made of him that he should admit the erroneousness of the theory of so-called "permanent revolution." He categorically refused to do this and the result was a certain cooling off of relations and certain divergences.

My relations with Trotsky were restored, although not directly. In 1929 Krestinsky brought me Trotsky's instructions that I and Krestinsky should conceal our real attitude and as far as possible occupy responsible posts, maintaining a waiting attitude until the necessary forces in the country should, as Trotsky thought, gain the upper hand and we should take part in the organization of a new power.

This was the situation roughly until 1933. IN 1933, IN CONNECTION WITH THE NEW DIRECTIONS AND WITH OUR OWN DECISIONS, WE ENTERED UPON THE PATH OF GREATER OR, TO SPEAK FRANKLY, OF INTENSIVE CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES.

VYSHINSKY: And so in 1929 Krestinsky brought you instructions from Trotsky?

ROSENGOLTZ: Yes....

Sedov transmitted the following basic instructions and Trotsky.... It was recommended to form connections with the Rights and to carry on the work in contact with them.

VYSHINSKY: With whom specifically?

ROSENGOLTZ: That I was not told. Krestinsky told me about it, but mentioned no names, except Tukhachevsky's.

VYSHINSKY: But it was understood?



ROSENGOLTZ: Krestinsky said that he had instructions with regard to Rykov and Rudzutak. SEDOV SPOKE A LOT ABOUT THE NECESSITY OF THE MAXIMUM, THE CLOSEST POSSIBLE CONNECTIONS WITH TUKHACHEVSKY, INASMUCH AS, IN TROTSKY'S OPINION, TUKHACHEVSKY AND THE MILITARY GROUP WERE TO BE THE DECISIVE FORCE OF THE COUNTERREVOLUTIONARY ACTION. DURING THE CONVERSATION IT WAS ALSO REVEALED THAT TROTSKY ENTERTAINED FEARS REGARDING TUKHACHEVSKY'S BONAPARTIST TENDENCIES. In the course of one conversation Sedov said that Trotsky in this respect even expressed the fear that if Tukhachevsky successfully accomplished a military coup, it was possible that he would not allow Trotsky into Moscow, and in this connection he referred to the necessity for the greatest vigilance on our part.

VYSHINSKY: In what was this vigilance to consist?

ROSENGOLTZ: TROTSKY THEREFORE PROPOSED THAT DURING THE COUP D'ETAT WE SHOULD EVERYWHERE PLACE OUR OWN PEOPLE, PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE FAITHFUL TO TROTSKYISM AND WHO COULD BE CALLED UPON AS REGARDS VIGILANCE....

In fulfillment of these instructions, Krestinsky formed connections with Tukhachevsky....

VYSHINSKY:...For the present tell us about the substance of your criminal activities.

ROSENGOLTZ: I shall enumerate the main points. SEDOV ALSO CONVEYED DIRECTIONS FROM TROTSKY ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION OF TERRORISM.... IN 1933 DIRECTIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS WERE RECEIVED WITH REGARD TO WRECKING IN THE SPHERE OF FOREIGN TRADE. As Sedov had told me that Trotsky had an agreement with certain German circles, from this standpoint wrecking was of very essential importance to Trotsky for the maintenance of his prestige and the preservation of the agreement. The principal line in wrecking was to further the interests of Germany and Japan in the sphere of foreign trade. The question was then raised--and it was put several times and very persistently on the part of Trotsky and Sedov --of financing the Trotskyite movement through the channels of foreign trade.



ROSENGOLTZ: IN REGARD TO WAR, TROTSKY'S LINE WAS FOR DEFEAT.

VYSHINSKY: Was it expected that there would be a war? When?

ROSENGOLTZ: In 1935 or 1936.

VYSHINSKY: So Trotsky expected that a war would break out in 1935-36,... And so in 1934, during your conversations with Sedov, reference was made to a war in 1935-36 and it was said that the stake should be on defeat.

ROSENGOLTZ: Yes, yes.

VYSHINSKY:... BUT WHAT WAS THE CHIEF STAKE IN 1936?

ROSENGOLTZ: ON A MILITARY COUP, ON TUKHACHEVSKY'S GROUP.

VYSHINSKY: do you not recall what Rykov's attitude was generally towards the delay of the counter-revolutionary action?

ROSENGOLTZ: He regarded the delay of action very unfavorably.

VYSHINSKY: He was nervous?

ROSENGOLTZ: He was very nervous, of course. Rykov and others feared that the delay might result in a number of exposures

VYSHINSKY: DID RYKOV TELL YOU THAT TUKHACHEVSKY WAS PROMISING TO ACT, BUT DID NOT ACT?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHO ELSE SAID THIS?

ROSENGOLTZ: THIS WAS ALSO SAID BY KRESTINSKY, and Sedov transmitted Trotsky's opinion. So that this was a constant and basic subject in the conversations.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 244-248





KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

TOLD ROSENGOLTZ THAT TUKHASHEVSKY WAS STALLING ON THE COUP;

TROTSKY & TUKHASHEVSKY AGREE THE COUP WOULD BE TIMED WITH THE WAR;

AT END OF 1936 TUKHASHEVSKY NO LONGER WANTS TO WAIT FOR THE WAR TO STAR THE COUP



VYSHINSKY: Accused Krestinsky, do you confirm the testimony of accused Rosengoltz?

KRESTINSKY: Yes, but there is some, relatively insignificant, inaccuracy.

VYSHINSKY: But in the main?

KRESTINSKY: In the main, yes.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED KRESTINSKY, TELL US, DID YOU TELL ROSENGOLTZ IN 1936 THAT TUKHACHEVSKY WAS PROCRASTINATING WITH THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ACTION?

KRESTINSKY: I DID, but in my opinion it was in a different way.

VYSHINSKY: Did you speak on this subject, or not?

KRESTINSKY: Yes. THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT IN 1933 TROTSKY SPOKE TO ME IN MERAN AND DEVELOPED THE DEFEATIST THEORY IN DETAIL.

VYSHINSKY:... in connection with the testimony which the Court has heard from the accused Rosengoltz, who stated that in 1936 Rykov was nervous and said that Tukhachevsky kept on appointing dates for the execution of his criminal plan---an uprising---and postponing them. Rosengoltz said that Krestinsky also spoke of this. I ask, is that true?

KRESTINSKY: That is not so, because ON TROTSKY'S INSTRUCTIONS, IT WAS AGREED WITH TUKHACHEVSKY FROM THE VERY BEGINNING THAT THE ACTION SHOULD BE TIMED WITH WAR. AT THE END OF 1936 THE QUESTION WAS RAISED SIMULTANEOUSLY BOTH BY TROTSKY ABROAD, IN THE LETTER TO RADEK, AND BY TUKHACHEVSKY HIMSELF, THAT THE COUP SHOULD BE EXPEDITED AND NOT BE TIMED TO THE OUTBREAK OF WAR.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS, TO ACT WITHOUT WAITING FOR WAR?

KRESTINSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS, TO EXPEDITE WAR, TO HURRY?

KRESTINSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND SO TUKHACHEVSKY WAS IN A HURRY?

KRESTINSKY: AT THE END OF 1936 TUKHACHEVSKY BEGAN TO BE IN A HURRY.

VYSHINSKY: AND DID YOU HURRY HIM AT THAT TIME?

KRESTINSKY: I AGREED WITH HIM.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU HURRY HIM, OR NOT?

KRESTINSKY: I DID NOT HURRY HIM, BUT I AGREED WITH HIM.+++

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 248





KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HE WAS CONNECTED WITH A CONSPIRACY & TUKHASHEVSKY’S PLANNED COUP



VYSHINSKY: ... WERE YOU AWARE OF THE ACTIONS WHICH TUKHACHEVSKY WAS PLANNING?

RYKOV: I STATED YESTERDAY THAT THERE WAS A MILITARY GROUP, CONNECTED WITH A COUP AND A CONSPIRACY.

VYSHINSKY: AND DO YOU CONFIRM IT TODAY?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY:... WERE YOU CONNECTED WITH THE CONSPIRATORIAL GROUP?

RYKOV: I WAS CONNECTED WITH IT THROUGH TOMSKY AND YENUKIDZE.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 250





KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TROTSKY DEMANDED THE COUP BE EXPEDITED & TERRORIST ACTS BE COMMITTED AFTER THE TRIAL OF PYATAKOV



VYSHINSKY (to Rosengoltz): How did you react to the arrest of Pyatakov in this connection?

ROSENGOLTZ: ALREADY AFTER THE TRIAL OF PYATAKOV A LETTER WAS RECEIVED FROM TROTSKY IN WHICH HE PUT IT THAT TUKHACHEVSKY'S MILITARY COUP MUST BE EXPEDITED TO THE MAXIMUM. THERE WAS A MEETING IN MY APARTMENT IN THIS CONNECTION.

VYSHINSKY: What sort of a letter was this, can you give more details?

ROSENGOLTZ: Trotsky raised several questions in it. First of all, he pointed out that if we procrastinated, the result would be that all the counter-revolutionary forces would be smashed piecemeal. Therefore, inasmuch as the cadres had already been considerably demolished, a number of possible actions should be expedited to the maximum.

VYSHINSKY: For example?

ROSENGOLTZ: Two questions chiefly were raised: the first was to retaliate to the court sentence on Pyatakov by terrorist acts.

VYSHINSKY: That is, to the sentence of the court?

ROSENGOLTZ: AS A RETALIATION TO THE SENTENCE OF THE COURT CONDEMNING PYATAKOV TO BE SHOT, IT WAS PROPOSED TO ORGANIZE TERRORIST ACTS.

VYSHINSKY: AGAINST WHOM?

ROSENGOLTZ: AGAINST LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT, AND TO EXPEDITE A MILITARY COUP TO THE MAXIMUM.

VYSHINSKY:... Do you not recall that Trotsky gave his appraisal of Pyatakov's conduct in Court in admitting his crimes?

ROSENGOLTZ: I do not exactly remember this point. I HAVE A CLEAR RECOLLECTION OF THE TWO POINTS I HAVE MENTIONED: REGARDING THE DEMAND FOR ACTION IN TROTSKY'S PROPOSAL TO RETALIATE BY TERRORIST ACTS, AND THE POINT ABOUT EXPEDITING A MILITARY COUP.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 250-251





KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TROTSKY DEMANDED DEFENDANTS NOT ADMIT GUILT;

ADMITS HE WORKED FOR GERMAN INTELLIGENCE



KRESTINSKY: IN THIS LETTER TROTSKY EXPRESSED HIS DISGUST WITH PYATAKOV'S CONDUCT. HE DEMANDED THAT IN FUTURE, IN A SIMILAR CASE, WE SHOULD NOT BEHAVE IN THIS WAY.

VYSHINSKY: HOW THEN TO BEHAVE?

KRESTINSKY: NOT TO ADMIT ONE'S GUILT.

VYSHINSKY: THESE WERE TROTSKY'S INSTRUCTIONS EVEN AT THAT TIME?

KRESTINSKY: YES.



VYSHINSKY: And when did you confess your guilt at the preliminary investigation?

KRESTINSKY: As to the principal crime, the one that was hardest of all for me to admit, namely, about my connections with the German intelligence service and General Seeckt, I confessed after the lapse of a week, at the first interrogation.

VYSHINSKY: But for a week you denied it?

KRESTINSKY: I confessed it at the end of the first interrogation.

VYSHINSKY: Was it because you wanted to carry out Trotsky's instructions that you denied your guilt?

KRESTINSKY: No. I just hope that I would be believed and that...

VYSHINSKY: You would succeed in the deception?

KRESTINSKY: That I would succeed in the deception and thus save myself.

VYSHINSKY: But you did not succeed!

KRESTINSKY: No.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 251-252



KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS MEETING WAS HELD WITH TUKHASHEVSKY WHO SAID THE COUP WOULD BE IN MAY;

MILITARY LEADERS WOULD SEIZE THE KREMLIN & KILL THE PARTY LEADERS;

HE WAS TOLD OF THE PLAN BECAUSE HE ADVANCED THIS PLOT



VYSHINSKY: Accused Rosengoltz, continue.

ROSENGOLTZ: The point I stopped at was the conference we had with Tukhachevsky. It took place at the end of March. At the confrontation, Krestinsky introduced a correction and said that it was at the beginning of April; but the difference is of no importance. THERE WAS A CONFERENCE WITH TUKHACHEVSKY.

VYSHINSKY: WHERE WAS THIS CONFERENCE HELD?

ROSENGOLTZ: IN MY APARTMENT.

VYSHINSKY: THERE WAS A CONFERENCE IN YOUR APARTMENT. WITH WHOM?

ROSENGOLTZ: WITH TUKHACHEVSKY AND KRESTINSKY.

VYSHINSKY: When was this conference held? Let me have the exact date.

ROSENGOLTZ: It was at the end of March 1937.

VYSHINSKY: Continue.

ROSENGOLTZ: AT THIS CONFERENCE TUKHACHEVSKY STATED THAT HE COUNTED DEFINITELY ON THE POSSIBILITY OF A COUP AND MENTIONED THE DATE. HE BELIEVED THAT BY MAY 15TH, IN THE FIRST HALF OF MAY, HE WOULD SUCCEED IN CARRYING OUT THIS MILITARY COUP.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT WAS THE PLAN FOR THIS COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ACTION?

ROSENGOLTZ: Tukhachevsky had a number of variants. One of them, the one on which he counted most, was the possibility for A GROUP OF MILITARY MEN, HIS ADHERENTS, GATHERING IN HIS APARTMENT ON SOME PRETEXT OR OTHER, MAKING THEIR WAY INTO THE KREMLIN, SEIZING THE KREMLIN TELEPHONE EXCHANGE, AND KILLING THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT.

VYSHINSKY: Was this his plan, or was it your joint plan?

ROSENGOLTZ: We did not discuss this plan of his. He merely told us of it as one of the variants on which he placed great hopes.

VYSHINSKY: And you left it to him to act?

ROSENGOLTZ: Well, of course. We could not go into these questions.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHY DID HE INFORM YOU OF THIS PLAN?

ROSENGOLTZ: INASMUCH AS WE IN GENERAL ADVANCED THE PROPOSITION OF A MILITARY COUP.

VYSHINSKY: AS THE LEADERS OF THIS ACTION?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES, YES.

VYSHINSKY: OF THIS PLOT?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES, YES.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 252-253



KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S & ROSENGOLTZ’S JOINT ACTUAL TESTIMONY

KRESTINSKY SUPPORTS WHAT ROSENGOLTZ SAYS;

KRESTINSKY SAYS HE HEARD YAGODA WAS INVOLVED IN THE COUP PLOT;

BOTH ADMIT A PLOT TO KILL MOLOTOV, STALIN, & KAGANOVICH; ROSENGOLTZ SAYS KRESTINSKY WANTED THE COUP EXPEDITED & KRESTINSKY NEGOTIATED WITH & HURRIED TUKHASHEVSKY; TUKHASHEVSKY SAID HE INTENDED TO START THE COUP IN MAY; ROSENGOLTZ SAID GAMARNIK PLANNED TO SEIZE THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS BUILDING WITH THE HELP OF GORBACHOV;

TROTSKY WROTE THAT TERRORIST ACTS WERE NEEDED



VYSHINSKY: ALLOW ME TO ASK KRESTINSKY NOW. DO YOU CONFIRM THIS?

KRESTINSKY: YES, I DO.

VYSHINSKY: WERE YOU ALSO INFORMED OF YAGODA'S PART IN THE PLOT?

KRESTINSKY: YES, I SPOKE ABOUT THAT YESTERDAY.



ROSENGOLTZ: THE QUESTION OF A TERRORIST ACT WAS RAISED. KRESTINSKY AND I DISCUSSED THE POSSIBILITY THERE AND THEN OF A TERRORIST ACT AGAINST MOLOTOV, CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF PEOPLE'S COMMISSARS.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED KRESTINSKY, DID YOU DISCUSS THE COMMISSION OF A TERRORIST ACT AGAINST MOLOTOV?

KRESTINSKY: HE AND I SPOKE GENERALLY ABOUT THE NECESSITY OF RENEWING THE TERRORIST ACTIVITIES OF THE TROTSKYITES, WHICH HAD BEEN SUSPENDED AFTER THE DEATH OF PYATAKOV, AND I DISCUSSED THIS POINT WITH ROSENGOLTZ AND GAMARNIK. WE DISCUSSED THE NECESSITY OF TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT.

VYSHINSKY: AGAINST WHOM EXACTLY?

KRESTINSKY: WE HAD IN MIND STALIN, MOLOTOV, AND KAGANOVICH, BUT WE DID NOT DISCUSS SPECIFICALLY A TERRORIST ACT AGAINST MOLOTOV IN DETAIL.

VYSHINSKY: AND SO YOU DISCUSSED THE NECESSITY OF PREPARATIONS FOR A TERRORIST ACT IN ORDER TO COMMIT IT?

KRESTINSKY: YES, OF COURSE.

ROSENGOLTZ: KRESTINSKY PUT THE QUESTION QUITE CLEARLY THAT THE COUP SHOULD BE EXPEDITED.... ALL THE NEGOTIATIONS WITH TUKHACHEVSKY WERE CONDUCTED BY KRESTINSKY, with the exception of one conference which was held in my apartment.

VYSHINSKY: AS FAR AS I UNDERSTAND, IT WAS PART OF YOUR CONCEPTION THAT YOUR PRINCIPAL HOPE IN THIS CRIMINAL DESIGN RESTED WITH THE TUKHACHEVSKY GROUP. IS THAT SO?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES.

VYSHINSKY: Who held direct and immediate contact with this group?

ROSENGOLTZ: Krestinsky.

VYSHINSKY: Consequently, he played one of the leading parts in this affair?

ROSENGOLTZ: He hurried Tukhachevsky all the time.... Krestinsky, like myself, considered it necessary to expedite this coup and systematically hurried Tukhachevsky.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED KRESTINSKY, IS IT TRUE THAT YOU SYSTEMATICALLY HURRIED TUKHACHEVSKY TO EFFECT THE COUP?

KRESTINSKY: EVER SINCE NOVEMBER 1936 I WAS DECIDEDLY IN FAVOR OF EXPEDITING THIS COUP TO THE MAXIMUM. I TO NO NEED TO HURRY TUKHACHEVSKY, BECAUSE HE WAS OF THE SAME MIND HIMSELF, and he himself put this question to us--to the Rights, to me, to Rosengoltz and Rudzutak--and asked our consent to carry out this action without waiting for the armed attack. And so there was no need to hurry him. Our minds were one on the question of the coup.



TUKHACHEVSKY WAS PREPARING TO GO TO LONDON FOR THE CORONATION OF THE KING OF ENGLAND SO AS NOT TO AROUSE SUSPICION. BUT WHEN IT WAS LEARNED THAT HIS TRIP HAD BEEN CANCELED, HE SAID THAT HE WOULD START A REVOLT IN THE EARLY PART OF MAY.

VYSHINSKY: SO TUKHACHEVSKY DECLARED THAT HE WOULD START A REVOLT IN THE EARLY PART OF MAY?

KRESTINSKY: YES, HE DID.

ROSENGOLTZ: As regards Gamarnik, the chief point is that GAMARNIK TOLD US OF HIS PROPOSAL, WHICH APPARENTLY HAD THE CONSENT OF TUKHACHEVSKY, THAT IT WAS POSSIBLE TO SEIZE THE BUILDING OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS DURING THE MILITARY COUP. Gamarnik assumed that this attack would be carried out by some military unit under his direct command, believing that he enjoyed sufficient Party, political prestige in the army. HE CALCULATED THAT IN THIS AFFAIR HE WOULD HAVE THE SUPPORT OF SOME OF THE COMMANDERS, ESPECIALLY THE DARE-DEVILS. I REMEMBER THAT HE MENTIONED THE NAME OF GORBACHOV.

VYSHINSKY: And so in addition to your having been informed by Tukhachevsky of his plans for a criminal plot, you were also informed of these plans by Gamarnik?

ROSENGOLTZ: Yes.



KRESTINSKY: I had one conversation with Gamarnik together with Rosengoltz, where the question of terrorism was discussed. When we saw that this business, with which we had not been associated in Pyatakov's time, was left unattended in our Trotskyite ranks after he was shot, and at the same time IT WAS CLEAR AND TROTSKY HAD WRITTEN THAT TERRORIST ACTS WERE NECESSARY, the three of us met to discuss what was to be done. And at this meeting we unanimously came to the conclusion that the three of us Rosengoltz and I were not suited to take up this job,....

VYSHINSKY: In short, Gamarnik took over?

KRESTINSKY: Yes.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 253-257

KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS FOREIGN TRADE MONEY WAS STOLEN & GIVEN TO TROTSKY; TROTSKY TOLD HIM TO SUPPLY GENERAL SEECKT ESPIONAGE INFO ABOUT SOVIET AIRFORCE



ROSENGOLTZ: FOREIGN TRADE WAS CRIMINALLY UTILIZED BY WAY OF USING AND STEALING FUNDS TO FINANCE THE TROTSKYITE MOVEMENT. Without dwelling on quite a number of perhaps insignificant dealings, I shall mention two of the most important examples. THE FIRST WAS AN OPERATION CARRIED OUT BY KRAYEVESKY TO THE AMOUNT OF $300,000, WHICH WERE TRANSMITTED TO THE TROTSKYITE ORGANIZATION OR DIRECTLY TO TROTSKY.

VYSHINSKY: PUT AT TROTSKY'S DISPOSAL?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES.

VYSHINSKY: BY KRAYEVESKY?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES.

VYSHINSKY: ON YOUR INSTRUCTIONS?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES. This was done through the corresponding firms by using Sedov as a broker; later this financing was organized also by me personally, when I came to terms with a certain official in Moscow when we were concluding an agreement.

VYSHINSKY: With what official person?

ROSENGOLTZ: With the representative of a certain state.

VYSHINSKY: A foreign state?

ROSENGOLTZ: Yes. TERMS ACCORDING TO WHICH TROTSKY WAS TO RECEIVE APPROXIMATELY $110,000 ANNUALLY IN THE COURSE OF THREE YEARS.

VYSHINSKY: SO YOU ARRANGED THAT TROTSKY WAS REGULARLY AND PROPERLY SUPPLIED WITH FUNDS?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES.

VYSHINSKY: These were the bigger operations; what about the smaller ones? For example, did you transmit 2000 pounds to Trotsky in 1933?

ROSENGOLTZ: That was done without me, but I knew of it, of course; I'm saying it not in order to absolve myself but for the sake of exactitude.

VYSHINSKY: This was done through the channels of foreign trade, and you were then...

ROSENGOLTZ: I was People's Commissar of Foreign Trade, and with my sanction and knowledge...

VYSHINSKY: That is to say, by you. So 2000 pounds were transmitted. This is also a large sum, but it is a trifle compared with $110,000. And was there another 15,000 pounds transmitted to Trotsky in 1934?

ROSENGOLTZ: Yes, yes.

VYSHINSKY: 15,000 pounds--that is not a mere trifle, it is 15,000 pounds.

ROSENGOLTZ: Yes, 15,000 pounds; then another time again 10,000 pounds.

VYSHINSKY: 15,000 pounds, then 10,000 pounds, then 2000 pounds, that already makes 27,000 pounds.

ROSENGOLTZ: And another 20,000 marks.

VYSHINSKY: That is to say, a rather considerable amount of money?

ROSENGOLTZ: Oh yes, I mentioned in the beginning only two sums, the largest.

VYSHINSKY: I understand. Add to this another $300,000. During what period?

ROSENGOLTZ: That was since 1933.

VYSHINSKY: And since 1931?

ROSENGOLTZ: Oh yes, $300,000 through Exportles.

...Now I want to mention also that at an earlier period--in 1923, in connection with a business contact I had...

VYSHINSKY: With whom?

ROSENGOLTZ: With German military circles. TROTSKY TOLD ME TO SUPPLY SEECKT WITH INFORMATION ABOUT THE SOVIET AIR FORCE.

VYSHINSKY: AND DID YOU SUPPLY IT?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES, I SUPPLIED THIS INFORMATION.

VYSHINSKY: BESIDES TRANSMITTING THE MONEY TO TROTSKY, YOU ALSO GAVE ESPIONAGE INFORMATION TO SEECKT?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES, YES. THIS WAS IN 1923.

VYSHINSKY: And later, and afterwards?

ROSENGOLTZ: Beginning with 1931, information was transmitted concerning orders to be placed abroad in the line of foreign trade.

VYSHINSKY: Confidential, state information?

ROSENGOLTZ: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: You have thus served a foreign intelligence service during a long period of time?

ROSENGOLTZ: Information of this kind was given beginning with 1931 up to 1935 and in 1936.

VYSHINSKY: And in 1937?

ROSENGOLTZ: None.

VYSHINSKY: Why?

ROSENGOLTZ: I am merely stating what the picture was.

VYSHINSKY: AND IN 1923 YOU SUPPLIED GENERAL SEECKT WITH ESPIONAGE INFORMATION ON TROTSKY'S INSTRUCTIONS?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES, YES.

VYSHINSKY: Do you know whether there was anybody else who transmitted to Seeckt similar information at that time?

ROSENGOLTZ: I knew that Krestinsky had some kind of an illegal connection with the Reichswehr.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 257-259





KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TROTSKY TOLD HIM TO MAKE A DEAL WITH SEECKT TO BE PAID $60,000 PER YEAR BY THE GERMANS FOR GETTING GERMAN SPIES VISAS & PROVIDING MILITARY INFO



VYSHINSKY: Accused Krestinsky, what was the connection with the Reichswehr to which Rosengoltz is referring?

KRESTINSKY: IN 1921 TROTSKY TOLD ME TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A MEETING WITH SEECKT DURING OFFICIAL NEGOTIATIONS TO PROPOSE TO HIM, TO SEECKT, THAT HE GRANT TROTSKY A REGULAR SUBSIDY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ILLEGAL TROTSKYITE ACTIVITIES; AT THE SAME TIME HE TOLD ME THAT, IF SEECKT WILL PUT UP A COUNTER-DEMAND THAT WE RENDER HIM SERVICES IN THE SPHERE OF ESPIONAGE, WE SHOULD AND MAY ACCEPT IT. I shall speak later about the conversation I had with Trotsky when he gave me these instructions. I put the question before Seeckt and named the sum of 250,000 gold marks, that is $60,000 a year. General Seeckt, after consulting his assistant, the chief of staff, agreed in principal and put up the counter-demand that certain confidential and important information of a military nature should be transmitted to him, even if not regularly, by Trotsky in Moscow or through me. In addition he was to receive assistance in obtaining visas for some persons whom they needed and whom they would send to the Soviet Union as spies. This counter-demand of General Seeckt was accepted and in 1923 this agreement had been put into effect.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU TRANSMIT ESPIONAGE INFORMATION?

KRESTINSKY: I WOULD SAY, NOT I, BUT WE, THE RUSSIAN TROTSKYITES. BUT THERE WERE CASES WHEN I PERSONALLY GAVE THIS INFORMATION TO GENERAL SEECKT.

VYSHINSKY: YOU GAVE IT PERSONALLY?

KRESTINSKY: YES, I ALSO RECEIVED MONEY ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS.

VYSHINSKY: FROM WHOM DID YOU RECEIVE MONEY?

KRESTINSKY: FROM GENERAL SEECKT.

VYSHINSKY: WHERE?

KRESTINSKY: IN HIS OFFICE. I HANDED OVER THE MONEY TO TROTSKY PERSONALLY DURING MY VISITS TO MOSCOW.

VYSHINSKY: PERSONALLY?

KRESTINSKY: YES, WITHOUT RESORTING TO ANYBODY'S SERVICES.

VYSHINSKY: In what year did the negotiations with Seeckt begin?

KRESTINSKY: It was in the spring and summer of 1922. In the indictment it says 1921. This is of no great consequence,...

VYSHINSKY: SO YOU ESTABLISHED CONNECTIONS WITH THE REICHSWEHR IN THE PERSON OF GENERAL SEECKT IN THE WINTER OF 1921-22, THAT IS TO SAY, SINCE 1921?

KRESTINSKY: THE CONNECTION OF A CRIMINAL NATURE WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1922.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 259-260





KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS GIVING ESPIONAGE INFO TO FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE;

DID WRECKING FOR GERMANY AND JAPAN;

NEGOTIATED BAD TRADE AGREEMENTS



VYSHINSKY: SO YOU, ROSENGOLTZ, ESTABLISHED CONNECTIONS WITH THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE ALREADY IN 1923?

ROSENGOLTZ: WITH SEECKT DIRECTLY.

VYSHINSKY: SO SINCE 1923 YOU, ACCUSED ROSENGOLTZ, BEGAN TO SUPPLY ESPIONAGE INFORMATION TO FOREIGN STATES?

ROSENGOLTZ: THAT IS RIGHT.

VYSHINSKY: Proceed.

ROSENGOLTZ: I must also state, although I said it in my testimony during the preliminary investigation, that in 1926 I gave information to Farbman, an English journalist, who at the same time was a Trotskyite. This was information concerning the foreign policy of the USSR. After that, during 1932-35, I gave information about orders placed abroad to the editor of the "British-Russian Gazette," Talbot, who came to see me on his behalf.

NOW AS REGARDS WRECKING ACTIVITIES. I WANT TO STATE THAT IN THESE WRECKING ACTIVITIES OUR AIM WAS TO HELP MAINLY GERMANY, AND PARTLY JAPAN.

OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ACTS OF THIS WRECKING, WHICH CLEARLY CONSTITUTED ALSO TREACHEROUS ACTIVITY, I shall mention the conclusion of the oil agreement with Germany, I shall mention the fact that gold tailings were exported to Germany when it would have been far more rational to treat them in the Soviet Union. Further, the export of zinc concentrates, the advance exports, then the export of pig iron to Japan at reduced prices and in large quantities at a time when there was an acute shortage of pig iron on the market, the delay in placing orders for tonnage, which entailed extra expenditures, the inclusion of a number of disadvantageous terms in contracts, for example,... also the delays in exports to Mongolia and to Western China.

IT IS NECESSARY TO NOTE ESPECIALLY THE WRECKING ACTIVITIES WHICH FOLLOWED FROM OUR AIM OF WORKING FOR DEFEAT--THE DELAY IN THE IMPORT OF MATERIALS NEEDED FOR DEFENSE.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 261



KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS CONCLUDING AGREEMENT WITH GERMAN MIIITARY ON TROTSKY’S ORDERS;

ADMITS HE IS COMMITING TREASON & ESPIONAGE & RECEIVING MONEY FROM FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE;

SAYS TROTS WERE RECEIVING MONEY FOR ESPIONAGE;

TROTSKY ORDERED SOME GERMAN MONEY BE GIVEN TO FOREIGN ALLIES;

SAYS TROTSKY TOLD HIS FOLLOWERS TO LIE & REJOIN THE PARTY; SUPPLIED SECRET INFO TO GERMAN AGENTS;

SAYS BESSONOV TOLD THE TRUTH & ADMITS HE LIED;

SAYS TROTSKY SAID THEY COULD ONLY COME TO POWER BY FORCE WITH THE HELP OF THE GERMAN ARMY;

TROTSKY ARGUED THAT THE RIGHTS, THE TROTS, & THE INTERNAL MILITARY MUST UNITE WITH FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS;

TROTSKY SPOKE OF UNITING WITH TUKHASHEVSKY;

SAYS TROTSKY PUSHED TERRORISM, WRECKING & DIVERSION TO WEAKEN THE RED ARMY, DISORGANIZE THE GOVT WHEN A COUP OCCURRED, & IMPROVE HIS NEGOTIATING STRENGTH; TUKHASHEVSKY AGREED WITH TROTSKY’S PLAN;

AS PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED TUKHASHEVSKY PUSHED FOR QUICK ACTION;

SAYS THEY WERE WORKING TO BRING BACK CAPITALISM & MAKE CONCESSIONS;

TROTSKY PUSHED TO HASTEN THE COUP;

TROTS WERE INSERTING TROTS INTO RESPONSIBLE GOVT POSITIONS; TROTSKY SCOLDS PEOPLE FOR NOT DOING A GOOD JOB DEVELOPING TERRORIST AND DIVERSIVE ACTIONS;

TUKHASHEVSKY INSISTED MOLOTOV & VOROSHILOV MUST BE KILLED & GAMARNIK SAID HE HAD THE MEN TO DO IT;

KRESTINSKY PLEADS GUILTY, ADMITS BEING A STRONG TROT SINCE 1921, A GERMAN SPY & AN ORGANIZER OF THE BLOC OF RIGHTS & TROTS;

HELPED DRAW UP PLANS FOR AN ARMED COUP WITH TERRORISM; WORKED FOR A SOVIET DEFEAT IN WAR, & HELPED PLAN TO KILL STALIN, MOLOTOV, AND KAGANOVICH



KRESTINSKY: I began my illegal Trotskyite activities at the end of 1921, when on Trotsky's suggestion I consented to the formation of an illegal Trotskyite organization and to my joining its center, which was to be made up of Trotsky, Pyatakov, Serebryakov, Preobrazhensky, and myself, Krestinsky. Trotsky made this proposal to me immediately after the 10th Congress.... I consented to join this organization, which was clearly a violation both of the Party rules and of the special decision of the 10th Congress prohibiting the formation of groups.... A YEAR LATER I COMMITTED A CRIME--I REFER TO THE ONE I SPOKE ABOUT DURING THE EXAMINATION OF THE ACCUSED ROSENGOLTZ--THE AGREEMENT I CONCLUDED ON TROTSKY'S INSTRUCTIONS WITH GENERAL SEECKT, WITH THE REICHSWEHR IN HIS PERSON, ABOUT FINANCING THE TROTSKYITE ORGANIZATION IN EXCHANGE FOR SERVICES OF AN ESPIONAGE NATURE WHICH WE UNDERTOOK IN THIS CONNECTION TO RENDER THE REICHSWEHR. WHEN TROTSKY GAVE ME THESE INSTRUCTIONS MY ATTITUDE TOWARDS THEM WAS MAINLY OF GREAT APPREHENSION, BUT APPREHENSION NOT OUT OF FEAR, BUT, SO TO SPEAK, OUT OF SOME INNER SHUDDERING, AND I POINTED OUT THAT THIS MEANS ESPIONAGE AND TREASON TO THE FATHERLAND. But Trotsky argued that our line in foreign policy coincided with that of Germany at that period, that Germany was in a state of ruin after the war,...a clash between Germany and the Soviet Union, or Soviet Russia at that time, in the near future was out of the question, and that therefore we could agree to this deal without actually committing a grave crime. Blinded by my fractional bitterness, I PERMITTED MYSELF TO BE CONVINCED BY THESE UNSOUND, CHILDISH ARGUMENTS. THE AGREEMENT WAS CONCLUDED

VYSHINSKY: THESE ARGUMENTS WERE TREASONABLE RATHER THAN CHILDISH.

KRESTINSKY: I HAVE SAID ALREADY THAT MY FIRST OBJECTIONS I RAISED FROM TRADITION, FROM AN INNER IMPULSE...BUT I SUBJECTED IT TO REASON....

VYSHINSKY: TO TROTSKYITE REASON?

KRESTINSKY: YES, TO TROTSKYITE REASON, WHICH PERMITTED ME TO BE PERSUADED BY THESE TROTSKYITE TREASONABLE ARGUMENTS....

VYSHINSKY: Who do you mean, "us"?

KRESTINSKY: The Trotskyites. At that time we had already become accustomed to receiving sums regularly, in sound currency....

VYSHINSKY: YOU HAD BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO RECEIVING MONEY FROM FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES?

KRESTINSKY: YES. THIS MONEY WENT FOR THE TROTSKYITE WORK WHICH WAS DEVELOPING ABROAD IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES, FOR PUBLISHING LITERATURE AND SO FORTH....

VYSHINSKY: What is the "and so forth"?

KRESTINSKY: For traveling expenses, for agitators, for maintaining certain professional workers in various countries....

VYSHINSKY:... IS IT NOT A FACT THAT YOUR TROTSKYITE ORGANIZATION ALREADY ENGAGED IN ESPIONAGE AT THAT TIME?

KRESTINSKY: YES,... In 1926, when the struggle of the Trotskyite groups abroad against the Party leadership was at its height, both in Moscow and among the fraternal parties a refusal to accept this money might have undermined the struggle of the Trotskyites. Therefore when Seeckt gave warning that he intended to stop the subsidies, I naturally raised the question as to the conditions on which he would consent to extend the agreement. Then he advanced the proposal that the espionage information which was being transmitted to him not regularly but from time to time should now assume a more regular character, and, in addition, that the Trotskyite organization should pledge that in case it assumed power during a possible new world war, this Trotskyite government would take into consideration the just demands of the German bourgeoisie, that is to say, mainly demands for concessions and for the conclusion of treaties of a different kind.

After I consulted Trotsky...and having received his consent, I answered General Seeckt in the affirmative and our information began to assume a more systematic character, no longer sporadic, as it had been before. Verbally, promises were made with regard to the future post-war agreement.

VYSHINSKY: Thus, you kept on receiving money?

KRESTINSKY: Yes, we kept on receiving money.

VYSHINSKY: Will you tell us how much money you received altogether?

KRESTINSKY: Beginning with 1923 until 1930 we received annually 250,000 German marks in gold.

VYSHINSKY: This makes approximately 2 million gold marks during these years?

KRESTINSKY: Yes, approximately 2 million gold marks....

This went on until October 1928, when I received a letter from Trotsky, who at that time was in exile in Alma-Ata, which was brought to me by Reich....

THIS LETTER CONTAINED TROTSKY'S INSTRUCTIONS THAT I WAS TO RECEIVE FROM THE GERMANS THE MONEY, WHICH HE PROPOSED TO HAND OVER EITHER TO MASLOW OR TO TROTSKY'S FRENCH FRIENDS, that is Rosmer, Madeleine Paz, and others.

KRESTINSKY:... My attitude to Maslow was a negative one, I considered him an unprincipled person. I disliked him not because of any of his Trotskyite or treacherous tendencies, but I considered him a person with no principles in these matters.

VYSHINSKY: Have you been a Trotskyite all the time?

KRESTINSKY: Yes. But while in Trotskyite ranks I had certain differences with Trotsky, certain vacillations, but I adhered to this Trotskyite line all the time.

VYSHINSKY: HAVE YOU BEEN A TROTSKYITE ALL THE TIME?

KRESTINSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY:...You said that in the winter of 1921-22 you evolved your calculations on the German Reichswehr.



KRESTINSKY: THE PLANS TO UTILIZE THE GERMAN REICHSWEHR FOR CRIMINAL TROTSKYITE PURPOSES APPEARED IN THE SPRING OF 1922.



VYSHINSKY: THE QUESTION OF MONEY FOR TROTSKYITE PURPOSES FROM THE GERMAN REICHSWEHR--IS THAT AN OFFICIAL ASPECT OR NOT?

KRESTINSKY: THIS WAS THE SECRET TROTSKYITE ASPECT, A CRIMINAL THING.



VYSHINSKY:... I THINK THAT THAT ALREADY WAS THE FIRST STEP IN YOUR TROTSKYITE TREASONABLE CONNECTIONS WITH GENERAL SEECKT, FOR WHICH YOU TOOK ADVANTAGE OF YOUR OFFICIAL POSITION. DO YOU CONFIRM THIS?

KRESTINSKY: OH, YES.

IN 1929,... TROTSKY'S SON WANTED TO SEE ME ON HIS FATHER'S INSTRUCTIONS.... SEDOV'S INFORMATION WAS TO THE EFFECT THAT TROTSKY ADVISED THE EXILED AND EXPELLED TROTSKYITES TO HAND IN STATEMENTS DECLARING THAT THEY RENOUNCED THE OPPOSITION STRUGGLE AND ASKING TO BE REINSTATED IN THE PARTY. HE MENTIONED PARTICULARLY THAT I COULD SPEAK FRANKLY TO PYATAKOV & RADEK, ALTHOUGH PYATAKOV HAD HANDED IN A STATEMENT ON HIS RENUNCIATION OF TROTSKYISM IN 1928 & RADEK, I THINK, IN 1929. AND HE POINTED OUT THAT THEY WERE STILL FOLLOWERS OF TROTSKYISM.



He said further that it was necessary to give up work among the masses. Up to that time, the work of the Trotskyites was orientated towards winning over the masses and coming, as it were, to power in the Party and then in the Soviet Union by means of wide mass work, of winning followers. Now Trotsky thought that it was utopian in the first place, and, finally, that it was impossible inasmuch as he proposed that we get back into the Party by deception and that we continue our activities in secret.... THE INSTRUCTIONS WERE TO THE EFFECT THAT WE SHOULD WORM OUR WAY INTO THE PARTY, TO OCCUPY RESPONSIBLE POSTS THERE, AND IT REFERRED TO ALL AND NOT ONLY TO US.

VYSHINSKY: I did not quite get you. You say that these instructions referred not only to you?

KRESTINSKY: Not only to the two of us [Krestinsky and Rosengoltz], but to all the others.... I was to keep up the connection with the Reichswehr, getting money from them and transmitting information to them, I was to organize the connections between Trotsky and his agents in Europe and the Trotskyites in the Soviet Union.



...when in the course of our work a need was felt to convey information concerning events in the Soviet Union, information which did not appear in the Soviet press and which did not get abroad through foreign correspondents in the regular way, in any case when there was need for it, for our Trotskyite reasons and, besides, Radek asked me for it, I ARRANGED THROUGH CERTAIN MEMBERS OF MY STAFF IN THE PRESS DEPARTMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS THAT CERTAIN FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS SHOULD BE SUPPLIED WITH CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.

VYSHINSKY: Mention some of the foreign correspondents. It would be interesting to know whom you supplied.

KRESTINSKY: We had in mind German correspondents.

VYSHINSKY: And their names?

KRESTINSKY: I do not want to mention their names.... I presume that it was Baum, I presume that it was Just, that it was Guenther Stein, and William Stein,.... I organized the matter of Mironov's supplying information to foreign correspondents.

VYSHINSKY: INFORMATION WHICH YOU WERE INTERESTED IN PUBLISHING FOR TROTSKYITE PURPOSES?

KRESTINSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: YOU ORGANIZED THIS BUSINESS?

KRESTINSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: HENCE, YOU ENLISTED THE SERVICES OF SOME FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH ESPIONAGE CONNECTIONS? IS THAT RIGHT?

KRESTINSKY: YES.... Up to 1929 the position was as follows: money was received, let us say, from the Reichswehr; this money was spent for mass work....

VYSHINSKY: What kind of mass work?

KRESTINSKY: Trotskyite work.

During the period up to 1929 there were prospects that the Trotskyites would come to power not through a conspiracy, not through insurrections, but through obtaining influence among the masses, by making use of money obtained abroad. This was the conception up to 1929. But after 1929, when we had given up mass work, this conception was no more valid, and no new conception had been reasoned out to the end, no new conception had been advanced. There was money, there were cadres, these cadres were being preserved and enlarged little by little, but how these cadres and their leader Trotsky would come to power--that question remained unsolved.... This was the question which confronted us, and in our brief conversations with Pyatakov we were thinking, WE WERE SAYING THAT WITHOUT HELP FROM THE OUTSIDE, THAT IS TO SAY, WITHOUT INTERVENTION, WITHOUT ARMED ASSISTANCE FROM OUTSIDE, WE COULD NOT MANAGE,...

VYSHINSKY: WITHOUT ARMED ASSISTANCE? WHOSE?

KRESTINSKY: OF THE FOREIGN BOURGEOISIE, OF THE BOURGEOIS STATES....



... it was necessary to establish a connection through the Embassy in Berlin so that we might take advantage of the diplomatic mail. And this was entrusted to Bessonov. I told him that it was necessary to inform Trotsky that I wanted to see him.

VYSHINSKY: SO BESSONOV TOLD US THE REAL TRUTH?

KRESTINSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND AT FIRST YOU TRIED TO DENY IT.

KRESTINSKY: ON THE FIRST DAY, WHEN I DENIED MY GUILT, SINCE I COULD NOT BRING MYSELF TO ADMIT IT PUBLICLY, I NATURALLY, AS A LOGICAL CONCLUSION FROM THIS, DENIED ALSO WHAT ROSENGOLTZ AND BESSONOV SAID.

VYSHINSKY: BUT YOU MUST AGREE THAT BY THIS YOU PUT BESSONOV IN THE POSITION OF A LIAR.

KRESTINSKY: WELL, WHAT OF IT? I LIED MYSELF. SINCE I PUT MYSELF IN THE POSITION OF A LIAR, IT WAS SO MUCH EASIER TO PUT OTHERS IN THE SAME POSITION....



For Trotsky, the questions which bothered us in Moscow were irrevocably settled and he himself proceeded to expand on his instructions with regard to this. HE [TROTSKY] SAID THAT AS SINCE 1929 WE HAD DEVELOPED INTO AN ORGANIZATION OF A CONSPIRATORIAL TYPE, IT WAS NATURAL THAT THE SEIZURE OF POWER COULD BE CONSUMMATED ONLY BY FORCE. BUT OUR CONSPIRATORIAL ORGANIZATION WAS UNABLE TO CARRY OUT ANY COUP BY ITSELF. IT WAS NECESSARY TO COME TO AN EXPLICIT AGREEMENT ON THIS SCORE WITH SOME BOURGEOIS STATE. He remarked that the embryo of such an agreement was our agreement with the Reichswehr, but this agreement in no way satisfied either the Trotskyites or the German side for two reasons: first, the other party to this agreement was only the Reichswehr, and not the German government as a whole....

Second. What was the substance of our agreement with the Reichswehr? We were receiving a small sum of money and they were receiving espionage information which they would need during an armed attack. But the German government, Hitler particularly, wanted colonies, territory, and not only espionage information.... AS FOR US, WE DO NOT NEED THE 250,000 GOLD MARKS, WE NEED THE GERMAN ARMED FORCES IN ORDER TO COME TO POWER WITH THEIR ASSISTANCE. And it is towards this end that the work should be carried on. THIS WORK MEANS A TREASONABLE AGREEMENT WITH A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT ABOUT USING FOREIGN ARMED FORCES IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE VICTORY OVER THE RED ARMY AND IN ORDER TO OPEN THE ROAD TO POWER FOR THE TROTSKYITES. But even if the Soviet Union is attacked, let us say, by Germany, that does not as yet make it possible to seize the machinery of power unless certain internal forces have been prepared along these lines. But the Trotskyites as such are not sufficiently numerous and strong to create such an organization by themselves. It is necessary to have strongholds both in the towns and in the countryside among the petty bourgeoisie and the kulaks, and there it is mainly the Rights who have the connections. Finally, it is necessary to have a stronghold, an organization in the Red Army, among the commanders, in order, with our united effort, to seize the most vital places at the necessary moment and to come to power, to replace the present government, which must be arrested, by a government of our own which has been prepared beforehand.

FROM THIS IT FOLLOWED: THE FIRST LINE TO TAKE WAS FOR AN AGREEMENT WITH FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS, THE SECOND FOR COMBINING THE FORCES OF THE TROTSKYITES, THE RIGHTS, AND THE MILITARY CONSPIRATORS WITHIN THE SOVIET UNION.

In speaking about the Rights, about the necessity of establishing organizational connections with them, Trotsky said that we should not confine ourselves to Rykov, Bukharin, and Tomsky, because although they were the recognized leaders of the Rights, they had already been compromised to a great extent and were under surveillance, and that it was necessary to make the connection through Rudzutak,...

AS FOR THE MILITARY MEN, TROTSKY, IN SPEAKING OF THEM, MENTIONED ONLY ONE NAME, THAT OF TUKHACHEVSKY, AS A MAN OF A BONAPARTIST TYPE, AN ADVENTURER, AN AMBITIOUS MAN WHO STROVE NOT ONLY FOR A MILITARY BUT ALSO FOR A MILITARY-POLITICAL ROLE AND WHO WOULD UNQUESTIONABLY MAKE COMMON CAUSE WITH US.

FURTHER TROTSKY DEVELOPED THE IDEA OF THE NECESSITY OF TERRORISM, WRECKING ACTIVITIES, AND DIVERSIONS. IN SPEAKING OF THEM, TROTSKY CONSIDERED DIVERSIONISTS ACTS AND ACTS OF TERRORISM FROM THE POINT OF VIEW BOTH OF APPLYING THEM IN TIME OF WAR FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISORGANIZING THE DEFENSIVE CAPACITY OF THE RED ARMY, FOR DISORGANIZING THE GOVERNMENT BY THE MOMENT OF THE COUP D'ETAT, AND AT THE SAME TIME, THESE DIVERSIONIST AND TERRORIST ACTS WOULD MAKE HIS, TROTSKY'S, POSITION STRONGER AND WOULD GIVE HIM MORE CONFIDENCE IN HIS NEGOTIATIONS WITH FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS, because he would be able to refer to the fact that his followers in the Soviet Union were both sufficiently strong and sufficiently active.

HE UNDERTOOK TO CARRY ON THE NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE GERMANS. As for the Japanese, of whom he spoke as a force with which it was also necessary to come to terms, he said that, for the time being, it was difficult for him to establish direct connections with them,...



That if a government of a bloc of the opposition groups assumed power in the Soviet Union, it would display a favorable attitude towards the Japanese and take into consideration the wishes of the Japanese during the discussion and settlement of the controversies existing between the Soviet government and the Japanese government.

VYSHINSKY: I beg your pardon, are you with this winding up your explanations concerning your meeting with Trotsky in Meran?

KRESTINSKY: With this I am winding up the story of my meeting with Trotsky in Meran.



IN FEBRUARY 1934, I MET BOTH TUKHACHEVSKY AND RUDZUTAK, TOLD THEM THE SUBSTANCE OF MY CONVERSATION [WITH TROTSKY], AND GOT FROM BOTH OF THEM A CONFIRMATION IN PRINCIPLE, THEIR ACCEPTANCE OF THE LINE FOR AN UNDERSTANDING WITH FOREIGN STATES FOR THEIR MILITARY ASSISTANCE, FOR A DEFEATIST POLICY, FOR SETTING UP A UNITED ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE COUNTRY; they even told me that for them it was not a question of principle but a question of the necessity of ascertaining what their forces were, and that they would give the final reply to Pyatakov as the chief representative of the Trotskyites organization in the USSR.



And now with regard to setting the date for taking action. From the very moment of my meeting in Meran it was considered definitely established that our action was to be timed with the outbreak of war, and that therefore we, here, in the Union, could not independently set the date for Tukhachevsky's action, and we did not do it....

...WE WERE WAITING FOR THE WAR TO BEGIN, WE WERE WAITING FOR THE ATTACK.

BUT LATE IN NOVEMBER 1936 TUKHACHEVSKY SPOKE TO ME EXCITEDLY AND IN GRAVE TERMS AT THE EXTRAORDINARY 8TH CONGRESS OF SOVIETS. He said arrests had begun and there was no reason to think that things would stop with the arrests which had already been made. Apparently the smashing up of the Trotskyites and the Rights would go on. The fact that Yagoda was removed from the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs indicated that it was not only a question of dissatisfaction with his insufficiently active work in the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. Apparently, this indicated political mistrust of him, Yagoda, not just as Yagoda, the former People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, but as an active Rightist, as a member of the united center, and it was possible that they would unearth these things. And if they unearthed this they would also unearth the facts about the military group, and then we would have to give up all hopes for a coup. HE DREW THE CONCLUSION: THERE WAS NO USE WAITING FOR INTERVENTION. IT WAS NECESSARY TO ACT ON OUR OWN. To begin on our own--that was difficult, that was dangerous; but on the other hand there were chances that it might succeed. The military organization, he said, is a big one and well-prepared and he said he thought it necessary to take action.

...TUKHACHEVSKY SPOKE NOT ONLY FOR HIMSELF, BUT ALSO ON BEHALF OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION OF THE MILITARY MEN AND GAMARNIK WAS A MEMBER OF THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION AND A MEMBER OF THE COMMON CENTER, IN WHICH HE REPRESENTED THE MILITARY GROUP. I TALKED IT OVER WITH ROSENGOLTZ, THEN I TALKED IT IN OVER WITH RUDZUTAK, AND WE CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT TUKHACHEVSKY WAS RIGHT, THAT TIME WAS PRESSING. We decided to ask for Trotsky's opinion....

... It was clear to me that in case of a coup of this kind we would have to conceal the true purposes of the coup, we would have to make a statement to the population, to the army and to the foreign states;... IT WOULD BE THE PROPER THING IN OUR STATEMENTS TO THE POPULATION NOT TO MENTION THAT OUR COUP WAS DESIGNED FOR THE OVERTHROW OF THE EXISTING, SOCIALIST, ORDER. WE WERE PREPARED TO RESTORE CAPITALIST RELATIONS IN THE USSR AND TO MAKE TERRITORIAL CONCESSIONS TO THE BOURGEOIS STATES WITH WHICH WE HAD ALREADY COME TO AN AGREEMENT.



We dared not declare this openly to the Soviet people.... We would deceive the people and pose in the guise of Soviet rebels: we would overthrow a bad Soviet government and re-establish a good Soviet government, which is the same as...

VYSHINSKY: That was your line of reasoning?

KRESTINSKY: That is how we were going to speak to the population, that is what we were going to say; but privately we reasoned otherwise. Then it was decided that also in the statements to the foreign states we would not say that we were changing the whole foundation of the state and that we agreed to certain territorial concessions; in our statement to the population and the army and in our statements to the foreign states we would say that, while we pursued a policy of peace, were reducing armaments, etc., we would nevertheless take action in defense of the frontiers of the Soviet Union and would not allow forcible severance of any parts from the Soviet Union.

In my letter I asked Trotsky's opinion on the question of the dissolution of the state farms and collective farms. It seemed to me that economically, from the point of view of the productivity of labor, the collective farm had justified itself in the eyes of the collective farm peasants;... Trotsky replied that he agreed.



...IT TRANSPIRED THAT TROTSKY ON HIS OWN INITIATIVE RAISED THE QUESTION OF HASTENING THE COUP AND SENT THESE INSTRUCTIONS IN A DIFFERENT, ROUNDABOUT WAY IN A LETTER ADDRESSED TO ROSENGOLTZ.... WE BEGAN TO MAKE MORE DIRECT PREPARATIONS FOR THE COUP; TUKHACHEVSKY WAS GIVEN A FREE HAND, HE WAS GIVEN CARTE BLANCHE TO GET ON WITH THE JOB DIRECTLY.... We had to correspond directly with Trotsky, and not through Pyatakov, as had been the case previously, when Pyatakov was alive.... Then we had a conference in Rosengoltz's apartment, about which Rosengoltz has told you. I shall not repeat the gist of the conference because Rosengoltz has given it you in fair detail. At this conference the date of the coup was fixed--the second half of May.... EVER SINCE 1935 I HAD BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THREE RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS OF THE MOSCOW PARTY ORGANIZATION WHO WERE COVERT TROTSKYITES--POSTOLOVSKY, FURER, AND KORYTNY, WHO WERE BUSY GETTING COVERT TROTSKYITES INTO RESPONSIBLE JOBS IN THE MOSCOW REGION....

I got in touch with them and told them that the time for action was drawing nearer, and therefore they must draw up lists of people in Moscow to be arrested and removed from their posts at the outbreak of the coup, and lists of people who could be appointed to these vacancies.... But early in May the debacle of the counter-revolutionary organization began, changes on the active list of the military department were published, Gamarnik was removed from his post of First Assistant People's Commissar and Tukhachevsky from his post of Second Assistant People's Commissar, Tukhachevsky was transferred to Samara, Yakir from Kiev, Uborevich from Byelorussia, while Kork and Eidemann were arrested. It became clear that a coup was now impossible, so that the question whether the coup should take place in the middle of May became obviously irrelevant....



IN THE ALL OF 1935 TROTSKY, THROUGH YAKUBOVICH, REPROACHED US ALL FOR INSUFFICIENT ACTIVITY... IN THE SENSE OF DEVELOPING TERRORIST AND DIVERSIVE ACTIVITIES.



DURING A MEETING WITH TUKHACHEVSKY THE LATTER INSISTED THAT CERTAIN TERRORIST ACTS WERE TO BE COMMITTED BEFORE THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY COUP.... SINCE TUKHACHEVSKY INSISTED ON TERRORIST ACTS, PRIMARILY AGAINST MOLOTOV & VOROSHILOV, WE GAVE OUR CONSENT, AND TOLD HIM THAT TERRORISTS FOR THESE ACTS WOULD BE PROVIDED. GAMARNIK... TOLD US THAT HE ALSO HAD SOME PICKED MEN FOR TERRORIST ACTS.

VYSHINSKY: AFTER ALL YOUR VACILLATIONS AND CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS HERE IN COURT, DO YOU NOW PLEAD GUILTY TO THE CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST YOU?

KRESTINSKY: I DO.

VYSHINSKY: YOU ADMIT THAT THROUGHOUT OUR REVOLUTION YOU HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE MOST ACTIVE AND DIRECT PARTICIPANTS OF THE TROTSKYITE ORGANIZATION?

KRESTINSKY: NOT THROUGHOUT THE REVOLUTION, BUT FROM 1921.

VYSHINSKY: YOU ADMIT THAT EVER SINCE 1921 YOU HAVE BEEN SUPPLYING REGULAR SPY INFORMATION TO THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE?

KRESTINSKY: ACTUALLY EVER SINCE 1923, ALTHOUGH AN UNDERSTANDING WAS REACHED IN 1922.+++

VYSHINSKY: In any case, you admit today that you are a German spy of long-standing, which you reckon at least from 1923, while we reckon from 1921.

DO YOU PLEAD GUILTY TO BEING AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES"?

KRESTINSKY: YES, I WAS AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE CONSPIRATORIAL "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES."... YES, YES. I have been a member of this organization from the beginning of 1935.

VYSHINSKY: FURTHER, YOU'RE NOT ONLY A MEMBER, BUT ONE OF THE ORGANIZERS OF THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER?

KRESTINSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: YOU ADMIT IT?

KRESTINSKY: YES. Up to 1937 I was not a member of the central group, but one of the participants.

VYSHINSKY: But you were a member of the group attached to the center?

KRESTINSKY: Yes, I was a member of the group attached to the center.

VYSHINSKY: FURTHER YOU MADE DIRECT PREPARATIONS AND TOOK PART IN DRAWING UP A PLAN FOR AN ANTI-SOVIET COUP D'ETAT IN THE USSR?

KRESTINSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: BY MEANS OF AN ARMED INSURRECTION REINFORCED WITH TERRORIST ACTS...

KRESTINSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: CALCULATING ON THE USSR BEING INVOLVED IN A WAR AND DEFEATED?

KRESTINSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: WITH ALL THE POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES WHICH MIGHT ENSUE FROM THIS FACT?

KRESTINSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: TO THIS TOO YOU PLEAD WHOLLY AND ENTIRELY GUILTY?

KRESTINSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND, FINALLY, YOU TOOK A HAND IN DISCUSSING AND PREPARING TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST COMRADE STALIN, COMRADE MOLOTOV, AND COMRADE KAGANOVICH?

KRESTINSKY: I ADMIT IT.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 262-287



KEY PARTS OF ROSENGOLTZ’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HE PLANNED TO KILL STALIN



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED ROSENGOLTZ, DID YOU PERSONALLY HAVE THE CRIMINAL INTENT TO COMMIT A TERRORIST ACT AGAINST ANY OF THE LEADERS OF THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES, I TESTIFIED TO THIS AND I CONFIRM IT.

VYSHINSKY: YOU PERSONALLY INTENDED TO COMMIT A TERRORIST ACT?

ROSENGOLTZ: YES.

VYSHINSKY: PERHAPS YOU WILL SAY AGAINST WHOM?

ROSENGOLTZ: AS I TESTIFIED AT THE PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION AGAINST JOSEPH STALIN.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 287





KEY PARTS OF RAKOVSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HE COMMITTED HIGH TREASON;

TROTSKY IS THE MAIN FORCE IN ALL THE ANTI-SOVIET ACTS;

SAYS MURALOV SAID HE GOT INSTRUCTIONS FROM TROTSKY TO CHANGE TO TERRORIST METHODS;

LIED WHEN HE REENTERED THE PARTY TO HIDE HIS & TROTSKY’S WORK WITH FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES:

ADMITS HE WORKED WITH BRITISH & JAPANESE INTELLIGENCE



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Rakovsky, do you confirm the testimony you gave at the preliminary investigation?

RAKOVSKY: I confirm it entirely.... I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT ALONG WITH THESE ORGANIZATIONS, THERE IS STANDING BEFORE YOU A MAN GUILTY OF HIGH TREASON, WHO WAS CONNECTED WITH THEM BY CERTAIN THREADS--SOME HORIZONTAL, AND SOME VERTICAL, AND THEY ALL LED TO TROTSKY. THIS, SO TO SPEAK, IS THE GUIDING FORCE IN ALL THESE CONSPIRACIES, AND ALL THESE TREACHERIES AND TREASONS AGAINST THE SOVIET UNION, AGAINST THE LEADERS OF THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PARTY. Such is my preliminary remark.

MY TREASONABLE ACTIVITIES ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO PERIODS. Between these two periods lies my exile....

Having received permission to go for treatment to Lake Shirlo in 1932, I met Muralov in the summer...on my way.... HE TOLD ME THAT HE HAD HIGHLY IMPORTANT NEWS, AND THEN HE TOLD ME THAT INSTRUCTIONS HAD BEEN RECEIVED FROM TROTSKY TO CHANGE OVER TO NEW, TERRORIST METHODS OF STRUGGLE. When I asked him to explain what they consisted of, he said: terrorist methods of struggle. Trotsky pointed out that after the defeat of the opposition, after the rebuff which it had received from the Party and the working-class, what with the dissension and demoralization which ensued in its own ranks, the old methods of struggle would not lead to seizure of power. I must tell you, not with the intention of creating for myself any circumstances mitigating my offense, but because it corresponds to the truth, that Muralov's information dumbfounded me and at the same time evoked a strong reaction.... In Moscow this evolution of Trotskyism, which is natural, progressed at a rapid tempo. I was not prepared for this; I told Muralov: I strongly objected to tactics which cut across all the past, all the traditions of the labor movement, not only in Russia, but throughout the world.

One and a half years later, in February 1934, I sent a telegram to the Central Committee of the CPSU, saying that I had completely disarmed myself both ideologically and organizationally and asked to be reinstated in the Party. THIS TELEGRAM WAS INSINCERE, I WAS LYING. IT WAS MY DELIBERATE INTENTION TO HIDE FROM THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT MY ASSOCIATION WITH THE [FOREIGN] INTELLIGENCE SERVICE EVER SINCE 1924, AND TROTSKY'S ASSOCIATION WITH THE [FOREIGN] INTELLIGENCE SERVICE SINCE 1926.



When I arrived in Moscow in May 1934,... I wrote to Trotsky and again pointed out that the tactics he recommended were reckless and pointed out that his position was groundless, because judging by my impressions in Moscow and in exile, the actual aspect of the country completely contradicted the gloomy predictions which the Trotskyite opposition gave.

In his reply Trotsky first of all tried to dispel my favorable impression of Socialist construction. He wrote that I was yielding to the mystic influence of statistical data, without considering the process under the surface, and so on and so forth.... I understood the import of these instructions as follows: capitalist aggression against the Soviet Union must be strengthened and intensified.



VYSHINSKY: WHAT INTELLIGENCE SERVICES WERE YOU PERSONALLY CONNECTED WITH?

RAKOVSKY: THE BRITISH AND THE JAPANESE.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , pp. 287, 289, and 295





KEY PARTS OF KRESTINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HE WORKED FOR GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE



VYSHINSKY: Accused Krestinsky, what intelligence service were you connected with?

KRESTINSKY: The German.

VYSHINSKY: Prospectively or actually?

KRESTINSKY: Actually.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 295





KEY PARTS OF RAKOVSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TROTSKYISM BECAME A SCHOOL FOR WRECKING, ESPIONAGE, TERRORISM,TREASON & THE VANGUARD OF FOREIGN AGGRESSION;

ADMITS TRANMITTING JAPANESE INTELLIGENCE REPORTS;

RADEK TOLD HIM OF PYATAKOV’S TRIP TO OSLO & TROTSKY NEGOTIATING WITH THE GERMANS;

ADMITS COMMITTING TREASON & WORKING FOR BRITISH INTELLIGENCE;

HELPED GERMANS ENLIST RUMANIANS;

ADMITS WORKING FOR BRITISH INTELLIGENCE SINCE 1924 & RECRUITING FOR ESPIONAGE;

TROTSKY APPROVED ME WORKING FOR BRITISH INTELLIGENCE & ADMITTED HE HAD CRIMINAL CONTACT WITH BRITISH INTELLIGENCE SINCE 1926;

SAID TROTSKY ADMITTED TROTS PLANTED THE FAKE DOCUMENTS AT ARCOS TO CAUSE DIPLOMATIC BREAK;

SOSNOVSKY TOLD HIM IN 1935 THAT THE RIGHTS & TROTS ALLIED & AGREED ON ESPIONAGE, DIVERSION, & WRECKING;

SAYS KRESTINSKY TOLD HIM HE WAS DOING UNDERGROUND WORK AS A TROT;

ADMITS THAT IN 1924 HE BECAME A TRAITOR TO THE SU;

ADMITS COMMITTING CRIMES, WORKING TO DESTROY SOCIALISM AND BRING BACK CAPITALISM, & SEEKING FASCIST HELP;

ADMITS COMMITTING TREASON & WORKING FOR THE FASCISTS



RAKOVSKY: I RETURNED FROM TOKYO WITH THE CREDENTIALS OF A JAPANESE SPY IN MY POCKET. In my present state of mind I do not find it difficult to say so openly, to admit openly before the people's Court what formerly I would not bring myself to admit to my own conscience.... Trotskyism passed through a period of passive defeatism when it was maliciously gleeful over every mistake, every failure in the sphere of Party development and every failure of the Soviet government in the sphere of Socialist construction. Even during that period there had already been certain links, and in my person too, with one intelligence service or another. I shall speak of this when I deal with my connections with the British Intelligence Service. As I said yesterday, this was a sporadic connection. The second period was the period of active defeatism, a period when one does not wait for mistakes or failures, for mistakes in internal work, but begins to cause them by wrecking activities carried on according to a definite system and program; when one no longer waits for offers to come from the outside, by chance, but begins to look for connections; espionage then becomes a system. This very evolution of Trotskyism--from passive defeatism to active defeatism--I passed through during the period of 1934.



FORMERLY TROTSKYISM POSED AS A DEFINITE IDEOLOGICAL CURRENT; NOW IT HAS COMPLETELY EXPOSED ITSELF IN MY PERSON. In 1934 I already saw that all the theoretical and ideological premises--all that was a thing of the past, all that was of no consequence whatever, including the notorious scholastic theory of the impossibility of building socialism in a single country. NOW WE BECAME A SCHOOL OF ESPIONAGE, WRECKING, TREASON, TERRORISM. WE WERE THE VANGUARD OF FOREIGN AGGRESSION, OF INTERNATIONAL FASCISM, AND NOT ONLY IN THE USSR, BUT ALSO IN SPAIN, CHINA, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. Clearly, there was some kind of interconnection here with our past. Nobody, I think, will put an equation mark between us and the fascists. This would be a distortion of the whole picture and harmful to the truth, harmful to the struggle against the Trotskyites....

During 1935 and the first half of 1936, that is to say, before the trial of Kamenev and Zinoviev, I TRANSMITTED FIVE REPORTS TO THE JAPANESE INTELLIGENCE SERVICE THROUGH NAIDA.



SOMETIME LATER I MET RADEK, AND HE TOLD ME OF PYATAKOV'S TRIP TO OSLO. RADEK INFORMED ME OF THE NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE GERMANS AND TROTSKY, and asked for my cooperation. In his opinion it was necessary to support Trotsky in Moscow, that is to say, with the representatives of the German intelligence service in Moscow....

I RETURN NOW TO MY TREASONABLE ACTIVITIES PRIOR TO MY EXILE, AND I SHALL BEGIN WITH EVIDENCE DEALING WITH THE WAY I BECAME AN AGENT OF THE [BRITISH] INTELLIGENCE SERVICE.



RAKOVSKY: The contents of the letter meant that there existed a connection between me and the German intelligence service, the German government, or some German organization.

VYSHINSKY: AND YOU HELPED GERMANY IN ENLISTING RUMANIAN CITIZENS ON RUMANIAN TERRITORY TO AID GERMANY?

RAKOVSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: ...DID YOU SAY THAT YOU BECAME AN AGENT OF THE BRITISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE IN 1924?

RAKOVSKY: I DID.

VYSHINSKY: IS THAT BETRAYAL OF THE WORKING-CLASS?...

RAKOVSKY: I DID BETRAY.



RAKOVSKY:...while Lenin was alive, Krestinsky, Serebryakov, Preobrazhensky, and Smirnov were removed from the Central Committee.

TROTSKY AGREED THAT CONNECTIONS WITH THE BRITISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED, and, so the speak, gave me his blessing in this enterprise. He pressed me to be extremely careful and to ascertain in what way they could be of service to Trotskyism.



VYSHINSKY:...WE ARE INTERESTED IN KNOWING WHAT YOU DID, WHAT ESPIONAGE SERVICES YOU PERFORMED.

RAKOVSKY: RECRUITING.

VYSHINSKY: You have spoken about this. Further, apart from recruiting?

RAKOVSKY: Then my connections with the Intelligence Service were broken off, from the time I left London--rather not my connections but my reports.

VYSHINSKY: The supplying of information?

RAKOVSKY: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: And then it was resumed?

RAKOVSKY: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: In what year?

RAKOVSKY: Ten years later.

VYSHINSKY: That is to say?

RAKOVSKY: I RESUMED FURNISHING INFORMATION AT THE BEGINNING OF 1936. MY CONNECTIONS WERE RESUMED AFTER A LAPSE OF TEN YEARS.

VYSHINSKY: AND THEN YOU BEGAN SUPPLYING INFORMATION?

RAKOVSKY: YES.



VYSHINSKY: Tell us what you know of Trotsky's connections with the Intelligence Service.

RAKOVSKY: It was just before Trotsky's exile to Alma-Ata. At first he was to have been sent to Astrakhan, but he managed to get this rescinded and changed to Alma-Ata instead. Calling on him at his apartment in Granovsky Street, I found him very pleased that Astrakhan was changed for Alma-Ata. I was surprised. After all, it was several days journey from Frunze to Alma-Ata. He replied: "But it is nearer to the Chinese border," and he pointed to a roll of maps. He gave me to understand that he intended to make his escape. I asked him how his escape could be organized across Western China, through deserts, over mountains, without resources. "THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICE WILL HELP ME," SAID TROTSKY. AND HERE HE TOLD ME IN STRICT CONFIDENCE THAT HE HAD MADE CRIMINAL CONTACT WITH THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICE IN 1926.

VYSHINSKY: Through whom?

RAKOVSKY: Through one of the representatives of the Lena Goldfields concession.

VYSHINSKY: Did he have anything to do with this concession firm?

RAKOVSKY: At that time he was chairman of the Chief Concessions Board.

VYSHINSKY: So when he was chairman of the Chief Concessions Board he made contact with the Intelligence Service through a representative of the Lena Goldfields?

RAKOVSKY: Absolutely. He told me another fact. He had already managed to render a certain service to the British Intelligence Service. This was at the beginning of 1927. ACCORDING TO HIM, IN RETURN FOR CERTAIN SERVICES RENDERED HIM BY THIS ORGANIZATION, HE HELPED THE CONSERVATIVES TO BRING ABOUT THE RUPTURE OF RELATIONS WITH THE USSR. HE HAD ADVISED THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICE THAT A CONVENIENT INCIDENT COULD BE BROUGHT ABOUT BY ORGANIZING A RAID ON ARCOS. HE MENTIONED CERTAIN LONDON TROTSKYITES WHO WERE EMPLOYED THERE, INCLUDING ONE MULLER OR MILLER, THROUGH WHOM SPECIALLY FABRICATED DOCUMENTS WERE PLANTED ON THE ARCOS PREMISES TO BE FOUND DURING A RAID, AND THAT HE HAD IN THIS WAY GIVEN HICKS (THEN HOME SECRETARY) SOMETHING BY WHICH TO CONVINCE HIS COLLEAGUES OF THE NECESSITY OF BREAKING OFF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN THE USSR AND ENGLAND. I MYSELF HAD BEEN CONNECTED WITH THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICE SINCE THE END OF 1924, THAT IS WHY I EASILY UNDERSTOOD ALL THAT TROTSKY TOLD ME OF HIS CONNECTION WITH THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICE. I MUST MENTION ANOTHER FACT OF MY TREASONABLE WORK, DATING BACK TO 1927: my negotiations with Right capitalist circles in France. This began during the July Plenum of 1927. After Stalin's speech, where he came out sharply against the so-called Clemenceau thesis of Trotsky, I had dinner with Trotsky and asked him: "I can't understand why Stalin puts the question so sharply. I see no particular point in this comparison with Clemenceau." Trotsky rejoined: "Stalin understands perfectly well what he's doing. Stalin considers that if the gulf between the opposition and the Party gets wider, then by the very logic of things the opposition must adopt consistent defeatist positions."



THE PRESIDENT: What else do you want to talk about?

RAKOVSKY: I want to speak on the negotiations which Trotsky instructed me to conduct in France in the summer of 1927.

THE PRESIDENT: If you please.



RAKOVSKY:... Now about my counter-revolutionary connections.... IN MARCH 1935 SOSNOVSKY INFORMED ME THAT A BLOC HAD BEEN FORMED BETWEEN THE RIGHTS AND THE TROTSKYITES QUITE A LONG TIME AGO, BUT WHEN, IN WHAT PERIOD, HE DID NOT SAY. HE TOLD ME THAT COMPLETE AGREEMENT HAD BEEN REACHED AS TO AIMS AND METHODS--ESPIONAGE, DIVERSION, WRECKING. He mentioned a detail like this: the Rights spoke of the advantages of the tactics they followed in regard to the Party, because, unlike the Trotskyites, who gave open battle and thereby exposed all their cadres, the Rights had given instructions to all their cadres to exercise the greatest secrecy, so as to be invulnerable. That is how they were preserving their cadres.



During the first conversation Krestinsky looked at me and said nothing. We were sort of feeling out each other. THE SECOND TIME I SAW HIM HE SAID HE WAS ENGAGED IN UNDERGROUND WORK.

VYSHINSKY: AS A TROTSKYITE?

RAKOVSKY: AS A TROTSKYITE.

VYSHINSKY: TELL ME, HOW WOULD YOU BRIEFLY FORMULATE YOUR ADMISSION OF GUILT BEFORE THE SOVIET UNION?

RAKOVSKY: I ADMIT THAT BEGINNING WITH 1924 I BECAME A TRAITOR TO THE SOVIET SOCIALIST FATHERLAND.



VYSHINSKY:...Consequently, for nearly 35 years you have been bound to Trotsky by political and personal friendship.

RAKOVSKY: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: You waged a struggle against the Party and the Soviet government?

RAKOVSKY: In 1921 the trade union discussion was, one might say, a "trial of strength." AND FROM THE END OF 1924 CLANDESTINE CONNECTIONS WERE FORMED WHICH CAME WITHIN THE PROVISIONS OF THE CRIMINAL CODE.

VYSHINSKY: FROM 1924 CLANDESTINE, CRIMINAL CONNECTIONS PUNISHABLE BY SOVIET LAW, AND CRIMINAL ACTIVITY BEGAN?

RAKOVSKY: WHICH I HAVE RECOUNTED.

VYSHINSKY: WHICH YOU HAVE ADMITTED. For the sake of what did you Trotskyites wage this struggle against the Soviet state?

RAKOVSKY: For the sake of the seizure of power.

VYSHINSKY: And further, seizure of power for what object?

RAKOVSKY: THE MAIN OBJECT WAS TO DESTROY THE ACHIEVEMENTS WHICH EXIST AT THE PRESENT MOMENT.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS TO SAY, IN OTHER WORDS, TO DESTROY THE SOCIALIST ORDER?

RAKOVSKY: THE RETURN, I DO NOT SAY OPENLY, OF THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM....

VYSHINSKY: YOU WON'T SAY THIS OPENLY?

RAKOVSKY: I WANT TO SAY THAT IT DID NOT FIGURE IN MY MIND AS AN OPEN, OBVIOUS AIM, BUT IN MY SUBCONSCIOUS MIND I CANNOT HELP REALIZING THAT THIS IS WHAT I WAS AFTER.



RAKOVSKY:...when we thought it was possible to seize power and to hold it without handing it over to the fascists, it was insanity, it was a utopia.

VYSHINSKY: Consequently, if you had managed to seize power it would inevitably have fallen into the hands of the fascists?

RAKOVSKY: I share this estimate entirely.

VYSHINSKY: SO YOU WANTED TO SEIZE POWER WITH THE HELP OF THE FASCISTS?

RAKOVSKY: WITH THE HELP OF THE FASCISTS.... The result would have been something like the Petliura regime in the Ukraine.

VYSHINSKY:...ON WHOSE HELP WAS THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" RELYING FOR THE SEIZURE OF POWER? WHOSE HELP?

RAKOVSKY: THE HELP OF AN AGGRESSOR, A FASCIST AGGRESSOR.

VYSHINSKY: As a result of the defeat, the dismemberment of the USSR, and so forth, which we have already elucidated here. I ask you now: if your bloc figured on seizing power, with the help of fascist aggressors, and this was your only hope, in whose hands would this power be--in the hands of the bloc or in the hands of the fascist aggressors?

RAKOVSKY: In the long run it would have fallen into the hands of the fascist aggressors.

VYSHINSKY: In the long run, and from the very outset. CONSEQUENTLY YOUR "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" WAS ONE OF THE DETACHMENTS OF THE FASCIST AGGRESSORS, AND YOU, AS ONE OF THE MOST ACTIVE AND MOST PROMINENT TROTSKYITES AND LEADERS OF THE TROTSKYITE UNDERGROUND IN THE USSR, ADMIT YOURSELF GUILTY OF THIS?

RAKOVSKY: I ADMIT IT.

VYSHINSKY: AND YOU PERSONALLY FURTHERED THE AIMS AND INTERESTS OF THIS FASCISM?

RAKOVSKY: I ADMIT IT.

VYSHINSKY: YOU ACTED BY METHODS OF ESPIONAGE?

RAKOVSKY: I ADMIT IT.

VYSHINSKY: PREPARING THE DEFEAT OF THE USSR IN A COMING WAR IN CASE OF ATTACK ON THE SOVIET UNION?

RAKOVSKY: I ADMIT IT.

VYSHINSKY: PREPARING TO WEAKEN THE MIGHT AND DEFENSE CAPACITY OF THE USSR BY METHODS OF WRECKING, DIVERSION, AND TERRORISM?

RAKOVSKY: I ADMIT IT.

VYSHINSKY: Is this reality or fantasy? ... this was a real program?

RAKOVSKY: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: That is how it was in reality?

RAKOVSKY: That is how it was, yes.

VYSHINSKY: With your participation?

RAKOVSKY: With my participation.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT YOU HAVE DONE IS HIGH TREASON?

RAKOVSKY: I HAVE SAID SO ALREADY.

VYSHINSKY: THIS IS NOT ONLY TREASON TO THE SOVIET STATE, BUT TREASON TO THE WHOLE INTERNATIONAL LABOR MOVEMENT? YOU PLEAD GUILTY TO THIS?

RAKOVSKY: I DO. I MUST SAY THAT I HAVE PLEADED GUILTY TO THIS FROM THE MOMENT WHEN I DECIDED TO GIVE COMPLETE, EXHAUSTIVE AND FRANK TESTIMONY. For eight months I denied everything and refused to testify.

IT MEANS THAT FOR EIGHT MONTHS I CONTINUED TO LIVE WITH THE SAME OLD TROTSKYITE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY IDEOLOGY.... IT WAS ONLY IN THE EIGHTH MONTH THAT I BEGAN TO MAKE A CLEAN BREAST OF MY MAIN ACTIVITIES.

VYSHINSKY: CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES.

RAKOVSKY: MY CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES, OF COURSE. But before this the thought frequently arose in my mind: was I doing right in denying? Nobody will deny that imprisonment, solitude in general, makes people undertake a revaluation of values. But I remember, and will never forget as long as I live, the circumstances which finally impelled me to give evidence. During one of the examinations, this was in the summer, I learned, in the first place, that Japanese aggression had begun against China, against the Chinese people, I learned of Germany's and Italy's undisguised aggression against the Spanish people....

I learned of the feverish preparations which all the fascist states were making to unleash a world war. What a reader usually absorbs every day in small doses in telegrams, I received at once in a big dose. This had a stunning effect on me. ALL MY PAST AROSE BEFORE ME, MY RESPONSIBILITIES, AND IT BECAME CLEAR TO ME THAT I MYSELF WAS A PARTY TO THIS, THAT I WAS RESPONSIBLE, THAT I MYSELF HAD HELPED THE AGGRESSORS WITH MY TREASONABLE ACTIVITIES. I knew that I was not alone;.... Former heads of the government, former People's Commissars, former Assistant People's Commissars, former Ambassadors had become entangled in this web. And then I became a judge over myself, I sat in judgment over myself. This is a court which no one will reproach with being biased. I sat in judgment over myself. I had given myself to the labor movement from my youth, and where had I got to? I HAD REACHED A STAGE WHEN I FACILITATED THE VILEST WORK WITH MY ACTIONS, I HAD FACILITATED THE FASCIST AGGRESSORS' PREPARATIONS TO DESTROY CULTURE, CIVILIZATION, ALL THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF DEMOCRACY, ALL THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE WORKING CLASS.

This is what induced me to speak, that is what overcame my obstinacy,... my rancour, which all of us harbored, some to a greater and some to a lesser extent, rancor against the leadership, rancor against particular individuals, had played a great part. Rancor and ambition fell from me, I considered that from now on my duty was to help in the struggle against the aggressor, that I would go and expose myself fully and entirely, and I told the investigator that on the following day I would begin to give complete, exhaustive testimony. I must say that the testimony which I gave here is absolutely complete, sincere, and exhaustive.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 295-313



KEY PARTS OF ZELENSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS BEING TREACHEROUS WITH CRIMINAL ACTS TO RESTORE CAPITALISM & BEING PAID BY CZARIST POLICE;

ADMITS CRIMINAL ACTIONS & WRECKING;

SMIRNOV DIRECTED ME TO DISRUPT COLLECTIVIZATION & SAID THE NEW RIGHT TACTICS INVOLVED DOUBLE-DEALING, CONSPIRACY, WRECKING, DIVERSION, TERRORISM;

PURPOSE OF WRECKING WAS TO CREATE MASS DISCONTENT;

RIGHTS FURTHERED SHORT-MEASURING, SHORT WEIGHING & OVERCHARGING; HIS ALLIES THREW GLASS AND NAILS INTO BUTTER & HE ADMITS BEING RESPONSIBLE;

ALLOWED 50 CARLOADS OF EGGS TO SPOIL THROUGH WRECKING; ADMITS HE AIDED EMBEZZLEMENT & THEFT & HAMPERED AUDITING, FOR WRECKING HE PLACED MANY IN KEY POSITIONS;

ADMITS DOING SECRET COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY WORK



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Zelensky, do you confirm the testimony you gave at the preliminary investigation?

ZELENSKY: Yes, I do. And I REQUEST THE COURT TO PERMIT ME TO RECOUNT THE INCRIMINATING EPISODES OF MY TREACHEROUS AND CRIMINAL ACTIVITY AS A MEMBER OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY TRAITOROUS "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES," WHOSE AIM IT WAS TO RESTORE CAPITALISM IN THE LAND OF SOVIETS.

THE PRESIDENT: Briefly and more to the point.

ZELENSKY: FIRST OF ALL I MUST DWELL ON MY GRAVEST CRIME--MY WORK IN THE TSARIST OKHRANA.... When I was recruited I was given the pseudonym "Ochkasty." I was instructed to give reports on the work of the local Social-Democratic Bolshevik group and its struggle against liquidators. Subsequently, I regularly received money for this treacherous work, 25, 40, 50, and even 100 rubles....

In this period my treacherous criminal work consisted of the following. I gave information about the work of the Bolsheviks in the mutual aid society of the printers club and the work of the Bolsheviks in the consumers cooperative society. I gave a general description of the work of the Bolsheviks Social-Democratic group in Samara....



Thus when I arrived in Naryn as an exile I was already a traitor to the labor movement.

Of course it would be ludicrous to say just now, and this is not the time nor the place, how I was tormented by my own treachery.... THE FIRST POSSIBILITY OF MAKING AN HONEST CONFESSION, IF ONE MIGHT SPEAK OF AN HONEST INTENT IN A CASE LIKE THIS, WAS TO REPORT MY TREACHERY TO THE PARTY ORGANIZATION, hand myself over for judgment by the Party organization and abide by the decision of the Party organization.



Before telling you the nature of my connection with the Rights, I want to dwell on another anti-party and criminal action of mine, which the party knew about, but which had not been sufficiently elucidated.

I want to speak of the letter which I wrote to Kamenev from Tashkent in the summer of 1924. I WANT TO SPEAK OF THIS NOT FOR THE PURPOSE OF THROWING LIGHT JUST ON MY OWN CRIMES, but because it is of certain public interest and deals with certain matters that throw light on the status of the Moscow organizations at that time and on Kamenev's preparation for an attack on the party as far back as the summer of 1924. My letter was regarded as the letter of a man resentful at being removed from a post. Actually, this was not the case. The letter undoubtedly was of a factional nature. The letter contained an anti-Party, anti-Leninist attempt to contrast Lenin's line with Stalin's line. The letter is evidence that even then there was the intention to organize an anti-Party struggle against Stalin.



It has a bearing on the case in the sense that it shows that in the summer of 1924 Kamenev was preparing to start a struggle against the Central Committee of the Party.... And I was an accomplice in this.

VYSHINSKY: Well, say so; you were Kamenev's accomplice in his anti-Soviet struggle as far back as 1924.

ZELENSKY: NOW THE QUESTION CONCERNING MY WRECKING WORK. I JOINED THE RIGHT ORGANIZATION AT THE END OF 1928 OR AT THE BEGINNING OF 1929 FOR THE REASONS STATED IN THE INDICTMENT, OUT OF FEAR THAT MY CRIMINAL ACTIVITY WOULD BE EXPOSED.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT CRIMINAL ACTIVITY?

ZELENSKY: PROVOCATEUR ACTIVITY.

VYSHINSKY: Well, say so.

ZELENSKY: I joined the Right organization not only for this reason but because the line adopted by the Party at that time, the offensive against the kulaks, the final liquidation of the kulaks, the last exploiter class, had an especially violent effect on me and precipitated me into the camp of counter-revolution.



IN 1929-30 SMIRNOV GAVE ME A NUMBER OF INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING THE DISRUPTION OF COLLECTIVIZATION IN CENTRAL ASIA.

THESE INSTRUCTIONS WERE AS FOLLOWS: EVERY THING MUST BE DONE, AS SMIRNOV EXPRESSED HIMSELF, TO PRESERVE THE BIG FARMS, MEANING KULAK FARMS; EVERYTHING MUST BE DONE TO CHECK THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COLLECTIVE MOVEMENT, CHECK AND DISRUPT THE ORGANIZATION OF COLLECTIVE FARMS.



At the end of 1931 or the beginning of 1932, Smirnov, in speaking of the failure of the tactics of the Rights to disrupt collective farm development, initiated me into the Ryutin platform. The Ryutin platform, as you know, was a platform for the restoration of capitalism. Speaking of this platform, SMIRNOV TOLD ME OF THE NEW TACTICS WHICH HAD BEEN OUTLINED BY THE CENTER OF THE RIGHTS, AND WHICH CONSISTED IN THE FOLLOWING: THE USE OF DOUBLE-DEALING, A CONSPIRATORIAL FORM OF ORGANIZATION, THE ADOPTION OF TACTICS OF WRECKING, DIVERSION, DESTRUCTION, TRAINING INSURRECTIONARY CADRES, THE ADOPTION OF TERRORISM....

Speaking of the necessity for concentrating our forces in the struggle to remove the leadership of the Party and the country, Smirnov, expressing the opinion of the center, in which I also concurred, considered that any means were permissible, meaning thereby struggle by means of insurrection and by means of terrorism.

After Smirnov was exposed as a Right, I began to maintain contact with Antipov, whom I knew as an active participant in the counter-revolutionary organization of the Rights. From him I received instructions to proceed more actively with wrecking work in the co-operatives and in the Centrosoyuz. The object which the organization of the Rights set itself in the wrecking work in the sphere of trade consisted in the following: Antipov and all the Rights attached special importance to the disorganization of those branches of the economy which most immediately affected the population: housing, cooperatives, trade, commodity circulation, etc.



SO, THE PURPOSE OF THE WRECKING ACTIVITIES WAS TO AROUSE DISCONTENT AMONG THE POPULATION WITH REGARD TO THE SUPPLY SERVICE, DISCONTENT WITH THE WORK OF THE ORGANS OF SUPPLY AND TRADE, IN THE GIVEN CASE THE WORK OF THE CO-OPERATIVE BODIES, AND THEREBY PROVOKE DISCONTENT AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT, THAT IS TO SAY, IT WAS DONE WITH A MANIFEST PROVOCATIVE INTENT.

...The content of the wrecking activities consisted in the following. The Rights engineered interruptions in the supply of commodities of everyday use to the trading organizations. Thus, for instance, interruptions of this kind were engineered in the Kursk Region in the first quarter of 1936 in the sugar supply. Many shops were out of sugar for two or three weeks. Similar interruptions were engineered in the Leningrad Region in the makhorka supply; there were similar interruptions in the summer of 1936 in the bread trade in a number of rural districts of Byelorussia....

THE RIGHTS DID NOTHING TO COMBAT SHORT MEASURE, SHORT WEIGHT, AND OVERCHARGING THE PUBLIC. WHAT IS MORE, THEY FURTHERED THIS CRIMINAL BUSINESS....



VYSHINSKY: You want to explain the technicalities of this business and I want to get to the bottom of this business. You said at the preliminary investigation that the destructive character of your work consisted in the following: the adopted scale of grades of butter had the result that there was only butter of the highest grade, no cheap butter reached the market.

ZELENSKY: That is what I just wanted to explain.

VYSHINSKY: Is it a fact, or not?

ZELENSKY: It is.

VYSHINSKY: Further. This affected the budget of the consumer. Is that so, or not?

ZELENSKY: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Did this rouse satisfaction or dissatisfaction on the part of the public?

ZELENSKY: Dissatisfaction.

VYSHINSKY: Is this what you were striving for?

ZELENSKY: It was.

VYSHINSKY: Did your organization strive for it?

ZELENSKY: It did.

VYSHINSKY: And was the butter which was issued for sale always of good quality, or did you try to spoil its quality too?

ZELENSKY: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: WERE THERE CASES WHEN MEMBERS OF YOUR ORGANIZATION CONNECTED WITH THE BUTTER BUSINESS THREW GLASS INTO THE BUTTER?

ZELENSKY: THERE WERE CASES WHEN GLASS WAS FOUND IN BUTTER.

VYSHINSKY: GLASS WAS NOT "FOUND," BUT THROWN INTO THE BUTTER. YOU UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE: THROWN INTO THE BUTTER. WERE THERE SUCH CASES, OR NOT?

ZELENSKY: THERE WERE CASES WHEN GLASS WAS THROWN INTO THE BUTTER.

VYSHINSKY: WERE THERE CASES WHEN YOUR ACCOMPLICES, FELLOW CONSPIRATORS IN THE CRIMINAL PLOT AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER AND THE SOVIET PEOPLE, THREW NAILS AND TO THE BUTTER?

ZELENSKY: THERE WERE.

VYSHINSKY: For what purpose? To make it "tastier"?

ZELENSKY: That is clear.

VYSHINSKY: WELL, THAT IS ORGANIZING WRECKING AND DIVERSIVE ACTIVITIES. DO YOU ADMIT THAT YOU ARE GUILTY OF THIS?

ZELENSKY: I DO.

VYSHINSKY:...ARE YOU A MEMBER OF THE CONSPIRATORIAL "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES"?

ZELENSKY: I AM.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU TAKE PART IN THE WRECKING, DIVERSIVE, TERRORIST, AND ESPIONAGE WORK OF THIS BLOC?

ZELENSKY: I DID TAKE PART IN WRECKING AND DIVERSIVE WORK.

VYSHINSKY: DO YOU ANSWER FOR ALL THE CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES OF THE BLOC?

ZELENSKY: I DO.

VYSHINSKY: INCLUDING DIVERSIVE ACTIVITIES?

ZELENSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: FOR THE NAILS, FOR THE GLASS IN THE BUTTER, WHICH HACKED THE THROATS AND STOMACHS OF OUR PEOPLE?

ZELENSKY: I ANSWER FOR IT.

VYSHINSKY:...Did you take the same sort of measures as in the case of butter with regard to the supply of eggs to the public? That is another question that interests the public. For example, was there a case, or cases, when periodical attempts were made to leave Moscow without eggs. Where there such cases?

ZELENSKY: Yes, there were.

VYSHINSKY: WAS THERE A CASE IN 1936 WHEN MOSCOW WAS LEFT WITHOUT EGGS THROUGH YOUR FAULT, THROUGH THE FAULT NOT OF YOU PERSONALLY, BUT OF ONE OF THE ACTIVE PARTICIPATORS IN THIS CONSPIRATORIAL PLOT?

ZELENSKY: THERE WAS.

VYSHINSKY: DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN THIS MADE ITSELF MOST ACUTELY FELT?

ZELENSKY: I CANNOT RECALL THE MONTH JUST NOW, BUT I CAN MENTION THE FOLLOWING FACT. IN 1936 FIFTY CARLOADS OF EGGS WERE ALLOWED TO SPOIL, FROM WRECKING MOTIVES.

VYSHINSKY: FIFTY CARLOADS OF EGGS? WHERE WAS THIS, IN MOSCOW?

ZELENSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: Deliberately?

ZELENSKY: I presume so.

VYSHINSKY: You only presume so? But who did this? I'm not asking for the name, but who in relation to your organization?

ZELENSKY: It was done by a man whom I had placed in charge of this organization, Kulinovsky, manager of the egg and poultry department, and by the manager of the Moscow office, whom I had not recruited, but who I presume was a member of the organization....

VYSHINSKY: WERE THERE NOT INSTRUCTIONS TO WRECK WHEREVER POSSIBLE?

ZELENSKY: THERE WERE.

VYSHINSKY: AND THEY, BEING PLACED IN CHARGE OF THE EGG BUSINESS, DID WRECKING WORK ON THIS JOB? WAS THIS WITH YOUR KNOWLEDGE?

ZELENSKY: YES, THIS WAS WITH MY KNOWLEDGE.

VYSHINSKY: CAN THIS BE CALLED ON THEIR OWN INITIATIVE?

ZELENSKY: NO, IT WAS ON MY RESPONSIBILITY.

VYSHINSKY: AS A MEMBER...

ZELENSKY: OF A COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHO WERE YOU AT THAT TIME?

ZELENSKY: THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CENTROSOYUZ.

VYSHINSKY: THAT MEANS THAT IT WAS YOUR DUTY TO SUPPLY THE POPULATION WITH FOODSTUFFS?

ZELENSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND THAT IS THE WAY YOU SUPPLIED THE POPULATION WITH FOODSTUFFS....

ZELENSKY: I consider overcharging, short measure, and short weight to be wrecking in no less a degree.

VYSHINSKY: Yes, that is a serious matter.



ZELENSKY: And I want to divulge the mechanism of this matter.

VYSHINSKY: Tell us first what it consisted in and then you can go on to the mechanism.

ZELENSKY: IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE QUESTION OF OVERCHARGING, SHORT MEASURE, AND SHORT WEIGHT SHOULD BE CLEAR TO EVERYBODY; IT IS VERY OBVIOUS. It consists in the following: when a man comes into a shop to make a purchase, he is over-charged, given short measure and short weight, that is, he is named a price higher than the one at which the goods should be sold, or is given shorter weight than he is entitled to, or is sold goods not of the proper quality.

VYSHINSKY: WHY IS THIS DONE?

ZELENSKY: TO AROUSE DISCONTENT AMONG THE POPULATION.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS, WITH PROVOCATIVE PURPOSES?

ZELENSKY: OF COURSE.... To give some idea of the extent of this wrecking work, I may mention that up to 135,000 shops that were inspected by the Co-operative Trade Inspectorate, cases of overcharging and defrauding purchasers were established in 13,000 shops. The actual number was considerably larger.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT FORM OF WRECKING, ALSO DESIGNED TO AROUSE THE DISCONTENT OF THE POPULATION, WAS THE FREEZING OF TRADE BY DISPATCHING GOODS TO THE WRONG DISTRICTS OR AT THE WRONG TIMES. FOR EXAMPLE, THERE WERE CASES WHEN SUMMER GOODS WERE SENT IN WINTER, AND, VICE VERSA, WHEN WINTER GOODS ARRIVED IN THE SHOPS IN SUMMER.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS, THE PUBLIC WAS OFFERED FELT BOOTS IN SUMMER AND SUMMER SHOES IN WINTER?

ZELENSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: WAS THIS YOUR PLAN?

ZELENSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: WAS THIS ACCIDENTAL, OR WAS IT A PLAN AND A SYSTEM?

ZELENSKY: SEEING THAT IT WAS WRECKING WORK, THERE CAN BE NO QUESTION OF ITS HAVING BEEN ACCIDENTAL.

VYSHINSKY: HENCE IT WAS DONE DELIBERATELY, ON YOUR INSTRUCTIONS?

ZELENSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: WITH THE SAME PROVOCATIVE PURPOSES?

ZELENSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: What dimensions did this wrecking work assume?

ZELENSKY: The total dimensions assumed by this economic wrecking were as follows: as a rule, any particular stocks of goods in the trading system were 1 or 1.5% in excess, which totaled 100 million-150 million rubles....

...I must mention one other method of wrecking, in the shipping and the freezing of goods. In the last quarter of 1936, the goods required for grain purchasing were determined. Goods were sent to all the regions in which grain was to be purchased, but was found that in the Tartar Bashkir Republics and other places grain purchasing was not proceeding satisfactorily. However, the goods reserved for the grain purchasing fund were kept there for five or six months, and only after the lapse of this period was the question raised of taking them off the reserve. The public saw the goods in the shops and was unable to purchase them, which in its turn aroused acute dissatisfaction among the population.

I MUST DEAL WITH ONE OTHER IMPORTANT QUESTION, NAMELY THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF EMBEZZLEMENT AND THEFT.

VYSHINSKY: MORE BRIEFLY, PLEASE.

ZELENSKY: THE ASSISTANCE I GAVE TO EMBEZZLEMENT AND THEFT TOOK TWO FORMS. I gave directions to draw up wrecking instructions governing accountancy. The wrecking feature here was that I sanctioned group entries of trade operations on what was called the group system, which diminished the opportunities for control. Furthermore, I drastically curtailed bookkeeping and preserved a fairly high degree of diary accounting, which considerably diminished the opportunities for controlling outstanding advances.

I DELIBERATELY HAMPERED THE WORK OF THE AUDITING COMMISSIONS OF THE RURAL CONSUMERS' SOCIETIES. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO COMBAT EMBEZZLEMENT AND THEFT WITHOUT THE WORK OF THE AUDITING COMMISSIONS AND WITHOUT THE ORGANIZATION OF PUBLIC CONTROL. I DELIBERATELY REFRAINED FROM TAKING MEASURES TO ORGANIZE THIS WORK.... THESE ARE THE CHIEF FORMS AND BRANCHES OF WORK THAT WERE EMBRACED BY THE WRECKING ACTIVITIES WHICH I ORGANIZED AND FOR WHICH I BEAR FULL RESPONSIBILITY.



I want to say the following. We wreckers could carry on our work on such a broad scale only because we had confederates. Our confederates in trade were the wrecking organizations in the People's Commissariat of Internal Trade and the State Planning Commission. Our confederates were those who should have audited and controlled, that is, Antipov, yet he was the man from whom I directly received instructions on wrecking activities.

But I would like to mention two other confederates. They are the following: in our wrecking activities we took advantage of inter-departmental friction and bureaucratic red-tape of all kinds in the Soviet organizations. This enabled us to mask our wrecking work; and wrecking work was made possible by the existence of such a confederate as the opportunist, tolerant, and philistine attitude of many Communists and non-Party people, who were tolerant towards all manifestations of petty wrecking, as though they were trifling defects of an objective character....

I must deal with one other question. The Rights attributed great importance to the utilization of the co-operative apparatus for anti-Soviet purposes. I HAD INSTRUCTIONS, AND I PURSUED THE AIM OF CONTAMINATING THE APPARATUS WITH ALIEN, HOSTILE, ANTI-SOVIET AND INSURRECTIONARY ELEMENTS. HOW CONTAMINATED THE APPARATUS OF THE CENTROSOYUZ WAS MAY BE JUDGED FROM THE FACT THAT WHEN I WAS IN CHARGE OF IT ABOUT 15 PERCENT OF THE STAFF OF THE CENTROSOYUZ CONSISTED OF FORMER MENSHEVIKS, SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES, ANARCHISTS, TROTSKYITES, ETC. In certain regions the number of alien elements, former members of other parties, Kolchak officers, and so on--as, for example, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk and West Siberia--was considerably higher.

I gave instructions that these people should not be expelled from the apparatus, having in mind that, in view of the wide ratification of the apparatus of the co-operative societies in the rural districts, these people might always act as a center of attraction for all kinds of anti-Soviet elements and act as the organizers of all kinds of insurrectionary groups and bands.



VYSHINSKY: DID YOU CONDUCT SECRET COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY WORK WHILE YOU WERE IN CENTRAL ASIA?

ZELENSKY: WHILE I WAS IN CENTRAL ASIA I CARRIED ON THE WORK OF WHICH I HAVE SPOKEN. I WORKED TO FRUSTRATE COLLECTIVIZATION.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU CARRY ON UNDERMINING, COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY WORK THERE?

ZELENSKY: I WORKED TO FRUSTRATE COLLECTIVIZATION, WHICH WAS COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY, UNDERMINING WORK.

VYSHINSKY: AND SO YOU DID CONDUCT UNDERMINING, COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY WORK. DO I UNDERSTAND YOU RIGHTLY?

ZELENSKY: YES.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 313-336





KEY PARTS OF IKRAMOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS COMMITING A CRIME & LEADING A COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY FASCIST ORGANIZATION FIGHTING FOR BOURGEOIS INDEPENDENCE & UNITING WITH THE RIGHTS;

WRECKED THE ORDER OF CROP ROTATION;

UNITED WITH BUKHARIN WHO PROPOSED TO RESTORE CAPITALISM; WORKED TO BREAK UZBEKISTAN AWAY FROM THE SU;

SAYS BUKHARIN WAS FOSTERING WRECKING, ARMED STRUGGLE, KULAK REVOLTS & RELIGIOUS FANATICISM;

SAYS BUKHARIN SAID THEY SHOULD BLAME IT ALL ON GOVT POLICY & USE TERRORISM ACCORDING TO THE RYUTIN PLATFORM



VYSHINSKY: Accused Ikramov, do you recall how it was you attended illegal meetings in 1929 or 1930?

IKRAMOV: Whether legal or illegal, I cannot say now, but there was a meeting at Smirnov's place to which Zelensky invited me. All the Rights were present at this meeting.



VYSHINSKY:...were not direct calumnies uttered at this meeting against Kirov?

IKRAMOV: There were.

VYSHINSKY: Were they hints or calumnies?

IKRAMOV: Open calumnies.

VYSHINSKY: Anti-Soviet calumnies?

IKRAMOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: And was Zelensky there?

IKRAMOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Zelensky, is that true?

ZELENSKY: Yes.



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Ikramov, do you corroborate the testimony which you gave at the preliminary investigation?

IKRAMOV: I corroborate it in full.

THE PRESIDENT: Tell us briefly about your anti-Soviet activities.

IKRAMOV:...I joined the Trotskyite opposition in 1923.

IN 1928 I WAS IN FACT ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY NATIONALIST ORGANIZATION, WHICH WAS, IN ESSENCE, A NATIONAL-FASCIST ORGANIZATION. This organization was called "Milli-Istiklal," which means "national independence." This name speaks for itself. What other independence could these people expect when there was Soviet power, what other kind of independence except bourgeois restorationist independence? I was a member of this organization. WE FOUGHT FOR BOURGEOIS INDEPENDENCE.



In 1930, in connection with the murder of Abid Saidov by a group of young men belonging to this organization, a number of people were arrested, about seven or eight.

How could we protect them? Simply to say that those arrested were not guilty would be ridiculous, that would be no way of protecting them. Therefore we took the line of double-dealing, that is to say, Karimov, Rakhimi, and myself came out in the Party organization with speeches denouncing these people. In this way we succeeded in preserving the remaining cadres.... YOU KNOW, CITIZEN PROCURATOR, AND YOU YOURSELF REALIZE THAT MY CRIME IS SO MUCH THE GRAVER because, as former Secretary of the Central Committee of Uzbekistan, I enjoyed the great confidence of the leadership of the Party and the Soviet government. I took advantage of this and acted independently.



VYSHINSKY: What do you know from the official record, why was Abid Saidov killed?

IKRAMOV: Because he denounced the "Milli-Istiklal."

VYSHINSKY: That is to say, your counter-revolutionary organization?

IKRAMOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Hence he acted as an honest citizen?

IKRAMOV: Possibly.

VYSHINSKY: What do you mean--"possibly"? I think that he acted as an honest man in denouncing a counter-revolutionary organization. He died for that, did he not?

IKRAMOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: He died for the Soviet power?

IKRAMOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Did he expose the counter-revolutionary organization?

IKRAMOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: ...you were also a member of the counter-revolutionary organization?

IKRAMOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Consequently, he exposed you.

Now I am asking you, did you discuss the measures to take to prevent your organization from being exposed? What did you decide with regard to this?

IKRAMOV: We discussed this question and adopted the following decision: to persecute such people as bad people, and to fire them from the places where they worked so that they would not be in our way.

VYSHINSKY: To declare that these people were anti-Soviet, perhaps nationalist, persecute them--in short, to resort to every kind of provocative means. Is that so?

IKRAMOV: It is.



IKRAMOV: WITH THE OBJECT OF UPSETTING THE ORDER OF CROP ROTATION, WE GAVE INSTRUCTIONS THAT ALL THE IRRIGATED CULTIVATED LANDS SHOULD BE SOWN TO COTTON. Thus we brought it about that there was no fodder for the cattle and the dekhkans were not allowed to raise food crops and vegetables for themselves. I am referring to melons, watermelons, onions, carrots, and other important crops. All this aroused discontent among the dekhkans....

Now I want to speak about the bloc between our nationalist organization and the center of the Rights. They wanted to enlist me, to make me a participator in the organization of the Rights, as early as 1931.... I ESTABLISHED DIRECT COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY CONNECTIONS WITH THE RIGHTS IN 1933 IN TASHKENT....



Bukharin further said that the Party and the Soviet government were pursuing a wrong line, that industrialization was unnecessary, that industrialization was leading to ruin.

VYSHINSKY: Industrialization leading to ruin?

IKRAMOV: Yes.

At the same time he said that he did not believe in Lenin's thesis that the backward colonial countries could obtain socialism with the assistance of the advanced proletariat, without going through the stage of capitalism. Bukharin held the opinion that neither was this possible in the republics such as those of Central Asia, and that they would inevitably have to pass through the stage of normal capitalist development.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS TO SAY, HE PROPOSED TO RESTORE CAPITALISM IN UZBEKISTAN?

IKRAMOV: YES, EXACTLY THAT. I AGREED WITH HIM, THAT IS HOW HE ENROLLED ME. BUKHARIN ASKED ME, "YOU AGREE?" "I AGREE." "WILL YOU WORK WITH US?" "I WILL," I SAID. And right then and there I told him that I was a counter-revolutionary not from today, that I was no novice, but a leader of a similar counter-revolutionary organization. I told him of my organization, and we came to an understanding that we would act jointly, that the political line was one, and that we must also establish one organizational line. Then he formulated our understanding in the following way: WE HAVE ONE AIM--TO OVERTHROW THE LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY AND THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT AND ASSUME POWER OURSELVES IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS TO SAY?

IKRAMOV: THE RESTORATION OF CAPITALISM.

VYSHINSKY: IN ITS ENTIRETY?

IKRAMOV: YES, NOT ONLY IN UZBEKISTAN BUT IN THE WHOLE UNION AS WELL. Then he said: "What are your tactics?" I said: "To gather forces and effect a counter-revolutionary coup."



The ultimate object was to wrest Uzbekistan away from the Soviet Union. He said,... We approve of your work with regard to the severance of Uzbekistan. [He said] With regard to this question there was an understanding between the Rights and the Ukrainian nationalists, the Byelorussian nationalists, and the nationalists of other republics. He said, "other," but I did not ask which other. Thus politically we were fully in accord. THEN BUKHARIN SET US A NUMBER OF TASKS. THE FIRST--WRECKING ACTIVITIES, THE SECOND--KULAK INSURRECTION. HE LINKED THESE TWO QUESTIONS UP, SAYING THAT UNLESS WE ORGANIZED ARMED STRUGGLE WE COULD NOT ACHIEVE OUR GOAL. HE SAID THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO ORGANIZE THE KULAKS, TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF RELIGIOUS FANATICISM, to enlist the priests, and thus create an insurrectionary organization. As for wrecking activities, at first I did not quite get what he was driving at. I was afraid that if we, the leaders, engaged in wrecking activities ourselves, then tomorrow the people would say: "Go to prison yourselves." He replied: "You are queer fellows if you think that people will speak about what you're doing. IN EACH SUCH CASE IT IS NECESSARY TO SAY THAT THIS IS THE LINE OF THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT, AND THUS THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT IS TO BLAME. This will help to turn the people against the Soviet government.... But how are the broad masses to be organized if everything goes well, if everything is developing? It is necessary to arouse discontent with the object of organizing insurrectionary groups among them.

I AGREED. FURTHER HE SAID THAT THE PROGRAM OF THE RIGHTS INCLUDED THE POINT ABOUT TERRORISM. He went on to cite the theses which two months later became known as the Ryutin platform for the removal of the leadership of the Party....

Then he pointed out that it would be absolutely necessary to engage in diversionist destructive activities. These were the tasks which he set us at that time. I agreed, and said that we would get down to work.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 336-347


KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS IKRAMOV IS TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT FIGHTING THE SOVIET GOVT;

IKRAMOV SAYS BUKHARIN IS LYING WHEN HE SAYS HE DID NOT DISCUSS POLITICS IN 1935





VYSHINSKY: I want to question Bukharin. Did you meet Ikramov in 1933?

BUKHARIN: Yes, I stayed with him for several days in 1933.

VYSHINSKY: SO HE IS TELLING THE TRUTH?

BUKHARIN: ABSOLUTELY THE TRUTH.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU DISCUSS POLITICAL SUBJECTS?

BUKHARIN: WE DID.

VYSHINSKY: IS IKRAMOV PRESENTING THEM CORRECTLY?

BUKHARIN: IN SUBSTANCE I SPOKE TO HIM ALONG THE LINES OF THE RYUTIN PLATFORM.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU PROPOSE TO HIM TO JOIN YOU IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: Did you talk to him about wrecking activities as well?

BUKHARIN: No, I did not.

VYSHINSKY: So he is not telling the truth?



BUKHARIN: I want to say that I do not deny that I gave him all the directions, that I recruited him and that I was the first to enroll him in the right organization.

VYSHINSKY: YOU ADMIT THAT? I AM PUTTING THE QUESTION TO YOU;... HE IS TELLING THE TRUTH, IS HE NOT?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: YOU WERE THE FIRST TO ENROLL HIM IN THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION OF THE RIGHTS, WERE YOU NOT?

BUKHARIN: I WAS.

VYSHINSKY: FOR STRUGGLE AGAINST THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: Did you talk to Ikramov about wrecking activities and acts of diversion in subsequent years?

BUKHARIN: No, I did not.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Ikramov, here Bukharin is accusing you of trying to overreach yourself.

IKRAMOV: Before I was arrested I denied. Now I have no intention of hiding behind Bukharin or "our leaders,".... You are witness to the fact that you know for how many days we denied, how many times my "leaders" denied this at the Plenum of the Central Committee. Our arsenal is the same, our methods of denial are the same.



VYSHINSKY: Accused Bukharin, I am asking you whether you recall the circumstances.

BUKHARIN: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: DID THIS MEETING WITH IKRAMOV IN 1935 TAKE PLACE?

BUKHARIN: IT DID.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT WAS ITS PURPORT TO?

BUKHARIN: I DID NOT SAY A WORD TO HIM ABOUT POLITICS.

VYSHINSKY (TO IKRAMOV): IS HE TELLING THE TRUTH?

IKRAMOV: NO, HE IS NOT.

VYSHINSKY: (to Bukharin): And what bound you and Ikramov? Was he a member of your organization?

BUKHARIN: Yes, I recruited him in 1933.... Here it appears that I came from Moscow and said that Lenin's thesis on non-capitalist evolution was wrong, and so let us establish capitalism in Uzbekistan. I'm not that stupid, I could not argue the way Ikramov has testified here.+++

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 348-350





KEY PARTS OF IKRAMOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS UNITING WITH KHODJAYEV TO FIGHT SU GOVT;

AGREES WITH KHODJAYEV THAT BUKHARIN PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN COMBINING COUNTER-REV FORCES;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED CRIMES



VYSHINSKY: Did you form an alliance with Khodjayev?

IKRAMOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Against whom?

IKRAMOV: Against the Soviet government.

VYSHINSKY: So at first you fought and then you became reconciled?

IKRAMOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: And you began to fight the Soviet government together?

IKRAMOV: Yes.



VYSHINSKY: DO YOU CONFIRM WHAT KHODJAYEV IS SAYING HERE--THAT BUKHARIN PLAYED A TREMENDOUS ROLE IN THE AMALGAMATION OF YOUR COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY FORCES?

IKRAMOV: WELL, OF COURSE.



BUKHARIN SAID, "WHY HAVE YOU GOT TWO GROUPS? YOU OUGHT TO UNITE."... AFTER THAT THE ACTUAL UNION OF OUR TWO ORGANIZATIONS WAS AFFECTED, JUST AS IT WAS IN THE CASE BETWEEN THE TROTSKYITES AND THE RIGHTS, BUT AT THE SAME TIME EACH OF OUR ORGANIZATIONS PRESERVED ITS OWN LOATHSOME FACE.... The three of us--Antipov, Khodjayev, and Ikramov---met together. We came to an understanding with regard to the joint activities of our organizations....



VYSHINSKY: There was material against him [Khodjayev], but there was none against you?

IKRAMOV: There was none against me.

VYSHINSKY: So you figured that you ought not to have anything to do with him, that it was dangerous, that you might be exposed yourself?

IKRAMOV: Yes, that is correct. I have spoken about it and I have not hidden behind anything. I DO NOT WANT TO MINIMIZE MY CRIMES.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 353-356





KEY PARTS OF ZELENSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS IKRAMOV WAS CARRYING ON NATIONALIST COUNTER-REV WORK; ADMITS HE WAS A TRAITOR



VYSHINSKY: And, in order to ensure yourself, you raised the question of having Ikramov arrested?

ZELENSKY: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: But did you actually fight against his counter-revolutionary activities?

ZELENSKY: I was very soon recalled from there.

VYSHINSKY: NO, BUT YOU SAY THAT IT BECAME CLEAR TO YOU IN 1928 THAT IKRAMOV WAS CARRYING ON NATIONALIST COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY WORK.

ZELENSKY: YES, IT BECAME CLEAR. Formally, I waged a fight against him.

VYSHINSKY: But actually you did not wage a fight against him?

ZELENSKY: Actually, I did not, and could not.

VYSHINSKY: Why could you not?

ZELENSKY: Khodjayev has already described me here as...

VYSHINSKY: Do you agree with the description Khodjayev gave of you?

ZELENSKY: I MYSELF GAVE SUCH A DESCRIPTION OF MYSELF--ACTUALLY, I DID NOT FIGHT; I COULD NOT FIGHT, BECAUSE I MYSELF WAS A TRAITOR.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 360





KEY PARTS OF IKRAMOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN TOLD HIM TO STEP UP WRECKING WHICH HE ADMITS DOING WITH CARACUL SKINS, DRAINAGE, & CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS;

SAYS KARIMOV AND KHODJAYEV WASTEFULLY DISTRIBUTED MONEY; IGNORED WRECKING AT SILK & COTTON MILLS;

ADMITS COMMITTING CRIMES & TREASON



IKRAMOV: Well, to continue.... Antipov...told me that there was a military group, and that in the event of war they would act by opening the front to the attacking forces of the interventionists....

AT THE SECOND MEETING WITH BUKHARIN...HE ASKED ME ABOUT ACTIONS. I TOLD HIM THAT WE WERE CARRYING ON SOME WRECKING WORK. HE SAID THAT IT WAS ENTIRELY INADEQUATE, THAT IT MUST BE EXTENDED, THAT WE MUST ACT, THAT NO TIME MUST BE LOST.

The third meeting dealt with connections with England. Khodjayev spoke about that yesterday. It is true that Khodjayev informed me in October 1936 that Bukharin had spoken to him, that Bukharin was very optimistic about the capitalist stabilization of European countries, especially of the fascist states. He said that we must orientate ourselves on England. As the question was a serious and important one, at the end of November or the beginning of December 1936 I asked Bukharin about it. He replied in the affirmative.

VYSHINSKY: Bukharin replied in the affirmative?

IKRAMOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Where did he say that?

IKRAMOV: It was during the Congress of Soviets in November or the beginning of December 1936. During the Congress of Soviets I met Bukharin on the staircase; nobody was about, and I asked him about this. He answered in the affirmative, and formulated it as follows: if there will not be a war just now, if there will not be intervention soon, it is all over with our business. They will bag us all, yet we cannot expedite war because of England, which in certain respects is an international arbiter. As long as she does not decide one way or another, as long she does not arrive at some decision, there will be no war.



Permit me now to relate what our nationalist counter-revolutionary organization did in execution of its plan, of its program. AFTER BUKHARIN HAD REBUKED ME FOR INADEQUATE ACTIVITY, I MYSELF COMMITTED A DIRECT WRECKING ACT. In 1935, we--Lyubimov, Khodjayev and I--jointly issued directions,...that cotton with a moisture content exceeding the standard fixed by the government of the union should be accepted, as a result of which 14,000 tons of cotton perished, of which 2,600 tons were sent to the cotton-wool factory, and the rest graded at lower qualities. The loss amounted to several million rubles.

VYSHINSKY: WAS THIS DONE BY YOU DELIBERATELY?

IKRAMOV: OF COURSE. IF IT HAD BEEN ACCIDENTAL, I WOULD NOT HAVE SPOKEN ABOUT IT HERE. Wrecking work was done in the caracul business. We did not do it ourselves directly, but through members of our organization. The grades were lowered. In 1936, owing to wrong methods of treatment, there was a 27 percent lowering of grades. IN 1937 CARACUL SKINS WERE DAMAGED WHOLESALE DURING STEAM TREATMENT--A HUGE NUMBER OF SKINS WERE SCALDED.

WRECKING ACTIVITIES WERE ALSO CARRIED ON IN the municipal enterprises of Tashkent and Bokhara. A member of our organization named Tadjiyev was active in Tashkent--he did wrecking work in THE PLANNING OF THE DRAINAGE SYSTEM AND IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

Here is an example of wrecking work in the sphere of building construction. Tashkent is divided into two parts: the old town and a new town. There is no drainage system in the old town, there are extensive stretches of territory where houses cannot be built. In addition, there are many cesspools. Building operations were begun on the new premises of the People's Commissariat of Post and Telegraph, but in view of the fact that there were 19 cesspools, the laying of the foundation had to be begun at a depth of 30 or 40 meters.

THERE WAS ALSO WRECKING WORK IN THE MUNICIPAL ENTERPRISES OF BOKHARA. The city was allowed to fall to pieces. Houses were sold off. The inhabitants were called upon to pay intolerable rates, they abandoned their houses, which were then sold off.

The funds granted by the government of the USSR for district development were deliberately dissipated on numerous projects so as to secure the minimum effect. In 1937 uncompleted construction work amounted to a total of 34 million rubles.



VYSHINSKY: ALL BECAUSE OF THE WASTEFUL DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS?

IKRAMOV: YES. THAT WAS THE WORK OF KARIMOV AND KHODJAYEV.

VYSHINSKY: NOT YOURS?

IKRAMOV: I HAD NO DIRECT CONNECTION WITH IT, BUT IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT I MUST BE HELD NO LESS RESPONSIBLE.

VYSHINSKY: WAS IT DONE WITH YOUR KNOWLEDGE?

IKRAMOV: OF COURSE. And if I had wanted to, I could have exposed it. WRECKING ON AN EQUALLY LARGE-SCALE, TO WHICH WE CLOSED OUR EYES, TOOK PLACE IN THE BUILDING OPERATIONS OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF LIGHT INDUSTRY, AT THE COTTON PLANTS, AND THE SILK MILLS.... In Namangan the construction of a silk-winding mill was begun. About 1 1/2 or 2 million rubles were spent, but in the middle of the year it was said that the building job would have to be put into conservation. I was very much astonished, because I did not know the technique of this business. It was said that half a million rubles would be required for conservation purposes, and the People's Commissariat of Light Industry did in fact assign half a million rubles for conservation purposes.

Five million rubles were spent on the construction of a cotton ginning plant in Bokhara. The plant was ready, but could not function, even though the machinery had been delivered. Why? Because there were no presses.... Even the houses for the workers and office staffs have been built, but the plant is at a standstill and is now being used as a storehouse.

VYSHINSKY: Who is responsible for that?

IKRAMOV: The People's Commissariat of Light Industry is responsible for it, in particular. But I also am responsible, of course, as a man who closed his eyes to it.

VYSHINSKY: YOU SHIELDED IT?

IKRAMOV: OF COURSE. I PRETENDED THAT I SAW NOTHING. The same applies to the cotton warehouses. That is what I have to say in reference to wrecking work. Now as to insurrections.

VYSHINSKY: What did you do to organize insurrectionary bands?

IKRAMOV: We gave them instructions to this effect. What was actually done, I do not know.... THAT IS WHAT I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT MY CRIMES AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER. IF I MAY SUM UP, I WOULD FORMULATE MY CRIMES AS FOLLOWS: TREASON TO THE SOCIALIST FATHERLAND AND TREASON TO THE SOVIET PEOPLE,...

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 360-364


KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE BELONGED TO THE COUNTER-REV BLOC OF RIGHTS & TROTS & AS A LEADER IS GUILTY OF ALL CRIMES COMMITTED BY IT; ADMITS THE GROUP’S AIM WAS TO RESTORE CAPITALISM BY A FORCIBLE OVERTHROW WITH THE HELP OF A WAR;

GERMANY , JAPAN & ENGLAND TO GET THE CONCESSION OF THE UKRAINE, BYELORUSSIA & THE MARITIME REGION;

SAYS THE INTENT WAS TO WEAKEN THE SU’S DEFENSIVE POWER; ADMITS SENDING PEOPLE TO ORGANIZE INSURRECTIONS & WRECKING; ADMITS THE BLOC STOOD FOR KILLING LEADERS



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Bukharin: Do you confirm the testimony you gave at the preliminary investigation about your anti-Soviet activities?

BUKHARIN: I confirm my testimony fully and entirely.

VYSHINSKY:...FORMULATE BRIEFLY WHAT EXACTLY IT IS YOU PLEAD GUILTY TO.

BUKHARIN: FIRSTLY, TO BELONGING TO THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES."

VYSHINSKY: SINCE WHAT YEAR?

BUKHARIN: FROM THE MOMENT THE BLOC WAS FORMED.... I PLEAD GUILTY TO BEING ONE OF THE OUTSTANDING LEADERS OF THIS "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES." CONSEQUENTLY, I PLEAD GUILTY TO WHAT DIRECTLY FOLLOWS FROM THIS, THE SUM TOTAL OF CRIMES COMMITTED BY THIS COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION, irrespective of whether or not I knew of, whether or not I took a direct part, in any particular act. Because I am responsible as one of the leaders and not as a cog of this counter-revolutionary organization.... THE PRINCIPAL AIM IT PURSUED ALTHOUGH, SO TO SPEAK, IT DID NOT FULLY REALIZE IT, AND DID NOT DOT ALL THE "I'S"--WAS ESSENTIALLY THE AIM OF RESTORING CAPITALIST RELATIONS IN THE USSR.

VYSHINSKY: THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOVIET POWER?

BUKHARIN: THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOVIET POWER WAS A MEANS TO THIS END.

VYSHINSKY: BY MEANS OF?

BUKHARIN: AS IS KNOWN...

VYSHINSKY: BY MEANS OF A FORCIBLE OVERTHROW?

BUKHARIN: Yes, by means of the forcible overthrow of this power.

VYSHINSKY: WITH THE HELP OF?

BUKHARIN: WITH THE HELP OF ALL THE DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY THE SOVIET POWER; IN PARTICULAR, WITH THE HELP OF A WAR which prognostically was in prospect.

VYSHINSKY: Which was prognostically in prospect, with whose help?

BUKHARIN: WITH THE HELP OF FOREIGN STATES.

VYSHINSKY: ON CONDITION?

BUKHARIN: ON CONDITION, TO PUT IT CONCRETELY, OF A NUMBER OF CONCESSIONS.

VYSHINSKY: TO THE EXTENT OF...

BUKHARIN: TO THE EXTENT OF THE CESSION OF TERRITORY.

VYSHINSKY: That is?

BUKHARIN: If all the "i's" are dotted--on condition of the dismemberment of the USSR.

VYSHINSKY: THE SEVERANCE OF WHOLE REGIONS AND REPUBLICS FROM THE USSR?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: FOR EXAMPLE?

BUKHARIN: THE UKRAINE, THE MARITIME REGION, BYELORUSSIA.

VYSHINSKY: IN WHOSE FAVOR?

BUKHARIN: IN FAVOR OF THE CORRESPONDING STATES, WHOSE GEOGRAPHICAL AND POLITICAL...

VYSHINSKY: WHICH EXACTLY?

BUKHARIN: IN FAVOR OF GERMANY, IN FAVOR OF JAPAN, AND PARTLY IN FAVOR OF ENGLAND.

VYSHINSKY: So, that was the agreement with the circles concerned?... And what was the position with regard to wrecking?

BUKHARIN: The position with regard to wrecking was that in the end, especially under pressure of the Trotskyite part of the so-called contact center,...after various vicissitudes, disputes and so on, the orientation on wrecking was adopted.



VYSHINSKY: DID IT TEND TO WEAKEN THE DEFENSIVE POWER ON OUR COUNTRY?

BUKHARIN: NATURALLY.

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY, THERE WAS AN ORIENTATION ON THE WEAKENING, THE UNDERMINING OF DEFENSIVE POWER?

BUKHARIN: Not formally, but essentially it was so.

VYSHINSKY: But the actions and activity in this direction were clear?

BUKHARIN: Yes.



VYSHINSKY: WAS THE ORGANIZATION OF AN INSURRECTIONARY MOVEMENT ONE OF YOUR AIMS?

BUKHARIN: THERE WAS AN INSURRECTIONARY ORIENTATION.

VYSHINSKY: THERE WAS AN ORIENTATION? DID YOU SEND SLEPKOV TO THE NORTH CAUCASUS TO ORGANIZE THIS BUSINESS? DID YOU SEND YAKOVENKO TO BIISK FOR THE SAME PURPOSE?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY:...YOUR "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" GAVE INSTRUCTIONS FROM CASE TO CASE, AS YOU PUT IT, DEPENDING UPON CIRCUMSTANCES, FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF AN INSURRECTIONARY, DIVERSIONIST, AND WRECKING MOVEMENT. DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT?

BUKHARIN: I AGREE WITH THAT. Only I must clarify it, so as to avoid confusion. The uprisings you are referring to took place in 1930, whereas the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" was organized, as you are aware, Citizen Procurator, in 1933.

VYSHINSKY: But its tactics did not differ in any way from the tactics of your right center. Do you agree with that?

BUKHARIN: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS, THE ORGANIZATION OF AN INSURRECTIONARY MOVEMENT WAS PART OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" AS WELL?

BUKHARIN: IT WAS.

VYSHINSKY: AND YOU BEAR RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT?

BUKHARIN: I HAVE ALREADY SAID THAT I BEAR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE SUM TOTAL OF THE ACTIONS.

VYSHINSKY: DID THE BLOC STAND FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF TERRORIST ACTS, THE ASSASSINATION OF LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT?

BUKHARIN: IT DID, and I think that the organization of this must be dated back roughly to 1932, the autumn.

VYSHINSKY: And what was your relation to the assassination of Kirov? Was this assassination also committed with the knowledge and on the instructions of the "bloc of rights and Trotskyites"?

BUKHARIN: That I do not know.

VYSHINSKY: I ask you, was this assassination committed with the knowledge and on the instructions of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites"?

BUKHARIN: And I repeat that I do not know, Citizen Procurator.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 370-374





KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS ORGANIZING TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST GOVT LEADERS;

SAYS YENUKIDZE WAS IN THE RIGHT PART OF THE BLOC



VYSHINSKY: Permit me to question the accused Rykov.

THE PRESIDENT: You may.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Rykov, what do you know about the assassination of Kirov?

RYKOV: I know nothing about the participation of the Rights or the right part of the bloc in the assassination of Kirov.

VYSHINSKY: IN GENERAL, WERE YOU AWARE OF PREPARATIONS FOR TERRORIST ACTS, FOR THE ASSASSINATION OF MEMBERS OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT?

RYKOV: AS ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE RIGHT PART OF THIS BLOC, I TOOK PART IN THE ORGANIZATION OF A NUMBER OF TERRORIST GROUPS AND IN PREPARATIONS FOR TERRORIST ACTS....

VYSHINSKY:...DO YOU KNOW THAT ONE OF THE AIMS OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" WAS TO ORGANIZE AND COMMIT TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT?

RYKOV: I SAID MORE THAN THAT, I SAID THAT I PERSONALLY ORGANIZED TERRORIST GROUPS....

VYSHINSKY: I am asking whether the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" had any relation to the assassination of Kirov.

RYKOV: I have no information regarding the relation of the Right part to this assassination, and therefore I am convinced to this day that the assassination of Kirov was carried out by the Trotskyites without the knowledge of the Rights.

VYSHINSKY: WERE YOU CONNECTED WITH YENUKIDZE?

RYKOV: WITH YENUKIDZE? VERY LITTLE.

VYSHINSKY: WAS HE A MEMBER OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES"?

RYKOV: HE WAS, SINCE 1933.

VYSHINSKY: Which part did he represent in this bloc, the Trotskyites or Rights? To which did he gravitate?

RYKOV: He must have represented the Right part.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 374-375





KEY PARTS OF YAGODA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE, RYKOV, AND BUKHARIN HAD A DIRECT RELATION TO THE KIROV KILLING;

ADMITS ORDERING ZAPOROZHETZ NOT TO PLACE ANY OBSTACLES TO THE KILLING OF KIROV



VYSHINSKY: Permit me to question the accused Yagoda. Accused Yagoda, do you know that Yenukidze, of whom the accused Rykov just spoke, represented the Right part of the bloc and that he had direct relation to the organization of the assassination of Kirov?

YAGODA: BOTH RYKOV AND BUKHARIN ARE TELLING LIES. RYKOV AND YENUKIDZE WERE PRESENT AT THE MEETING OF THE CENTER WHERE THE QUESTION OF ASSASSINATING KIROV WAS DISCUSSED.

VYSHINSKY: DID THE RIGHTS HAVE ANY RELATION TO THIS?

YAGODA: DIRECT RELATION, BECAUSE IT WAS A BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES.

VYSHINSKY: DID THE ACCUSED RYKOV AND BUKHARIN IN PARTICULAR HAVE ANY RELATION TO THE ASSASSINATION?

YAGODA: DIRECT RELATION.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU, AS A MEMBER OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES," HAVE ANY RELATION TO THIS ASSASSINATION?

YAGODA: I DID.

VYSHINSKY: ARE BUKHARIN AND RYKOV TELLING THE TRUTH WHEN THEY SAY THAT THEY KNEW NOTHING ABOUT IT?

YAGODA: THAT CANNOT BE SO, because when Yenukidze told me that they, that is, the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," had decided at a joint meeting to commit a terrorist act against Kirov, I categorically objected....

VYSHINSKY: Why?

YAGODA: I declared that I would never permit any terrorist acts. I regarded it as absolutely unnecessary.

VYSHINSKY: And dangerous for the organization?

YAGODA: Of course.

VYSHINSKY: Nevertheless?

YAGODA: Nevertheless Yenukidze confirmed...

VYSHINSKY: What?

YAGODA: That at this meeting they...

VYSHINSKY: Who were they?

YAGODA: Rykov and Yenukidze at first categorically objected....

VYSHINSKY: To what?

YAGODA: To the commission of a terrorist act. But under the pressure of the remaining part of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites"...

VYSHINSKY: Principally the Trotskyites?

YAGODA: Yes, under the pressure of the remaining part of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," they gave their consent. So Yenukidze told me.

VYSHINSKY: AFTER THIS, DID YOU PERSONALLY TAKE ANY MEASURES TO EFFECT THE ASSASSINATION OF KIROV?

YAGODA: I PERSONALLY?

VYSHINSKY: YES, AS A MEMBER OF THE BLOC.

YAGODA: I GAVE INSTRUCTIONS...

VYSHINSKY: TO WHOM?

YAGODA: TO ZAPOROZHETZ IN LENINGRAD....

VYSHINSKY: AND THEN YOU GAVE INSTRUCTIONS NOT TO PLACE OBSTACLES IN THE WAY OF THE MURDER OF KIROV?

YAGODA: YES, I DID....

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU GIVE INSTRUCTIONS?

YAGODA: I HAVE CONFIRMED THAT.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 375-376


KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TROTSKY WAS INSISTING ON TERRORIST TACTICS;

ADMITS HE WAS IN FAVOR OF KILLING GOVT LEADERS;

SAYS THERE WERE TALKS TO ARREST, LENIN, STALIN & SVERDLOV; SAYS HE WAS NOT A COG OF COUNTER-REV BUT A LEADER;

SAYS HIS GROUP TURNED INTO RABID COUNTER-REV, SPIES, TRAITORS, TERRORISTS & RESTORERS OF CAPITALISM & WERE GUILTY OF TREACHERY, CRIME & TREASON;

SAYS HE LED AN INSURRECTIONARY BAND ENGAGED IN WRECKING & OVERTHROWING THE GOVT;

ADMITS HIS PROGRAM MEANT THE RESTORATION OF CAPITALISM;

HIS PROGNOSIS WAS A HEAVY LIST TOWARD CAPITALISM BUT SOCIALISM ACTUALLY WON;

ADMITS HIS SUPPORT FOR THE KULAKS, A PALACE COUP, & A MILITARY CONSPIRACY WAS A LAPSE INTO RABID FASCISM



VYSHINSKY: I have another question to put to Bukharin. Was your attitude to terrorism positive or negative, to terrorism against Soviet statesmen?

BUKHARIN: I understand. THE QUESTION OF TERRORISM AROSE FOR THE FIRST TIME FOR ME IN A CONVERSATION WITH PYATAKOV, AND I MUST SAY THAT I KNEW THAT TROTSKY WAS INSISTING ON TERRORIST TACTICS. At that time I objected.

VYSHINSKY:...I WANT TO KNOW WHETHER YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS TERRORISM WAS A POSITIVE ONE?

BUKHARIN: WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?

VYSHINSKY: THAT YOU WERE IN FAVOR OF THE ASSASSINATION OF LEADERS OF OUR PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT.

BUKHARIN: YOU ASK WHETHER I, AS A MEMBER OF THE CENTER OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES, WAS IN FAVOR OF...

VYSHINSKY: TERRORIST ACTS.

BUKHARIN: I WAS.

VYSHINSKY: AGAINST WHOM?

BUKHARIN: AGAINST LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT.

VYSHINSKY: You will tell was the details later. You came to favor this roughly in 1929-30?

BUKHARIN: No, I think it was roughly in 1932.+++

VYSHINSKY: But were you not in favor of the assassination of leaders of our Party and government in 1918?

BUKHARIN: No, I was not.

VYSHINSKY: WERE YOU IN FAVOR OF THE ARREST OF LENIN?

BUKHARIN: HIS ARREST? THERE WERE TWO SUCH CASES---ABOUT THE FIRST OF WHICH I TOLD LENIN HIMSELF; AS TO THE SECOND, I KEPT SILENT ABOUT IT FOR REASONS OF SECRECY--REGARDING WHICH, IF YOU LIKE, I CAN SPEAK IN GREATER DETAIL. IT DID TAKE PLACE.

VYSHINSKY: DID IT TAKE PLACE?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: And about the assassination of Vladimir Ilyich [Lenin]?

BUKHARIN: The first time it was proposed to keep him under restraint for 24 hours. There was such a formula. But in the second case...

VYSHINSKY: But if Vladimir Ilyich were to resist arrest?

BUKHARIN: But Vladimir Ilyich, as you know, never entered into armed conflicts. He was not a brawler.

VYSHINSKY: And so you expected that when you came to arrest him, Vladimir Ilyich would not resist?

BUKHARIN: You see, I can mention the case of another man. When the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries arrested Dzerzhinsky, he did not offer armed resistance either.

VYSHINSKY: That always depends upon the particular circumstances of the case. And so, in this case you counted that there would be no resistance?

BUKHARIN: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: And did you not count upon the arrest of Comrade Stalin in 1918?

BUKHARIN: At that time there were several talks about...

VYSHINSKY: I am not asking about talks, but about a plan for the arrest of Comrade Stalin.... AND I ASK YOU, DID YOU HAVE A PLAN FOR THE ARREST OF COMRADE STALIN IN 1918?

BUKHARIN: NOT OF STALIN, BUT THERE WAS A PLAN FOR THE ARREST OF LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV.+++

VYSHINSKY: ALL THREE: LENIN, STALIN, AS SVERDLOV?

BUKHARIN: QUITE SO.

VYSHINSKY: AND SO, NOT COMRADE STALIN, BUT COMRADES STALIN, LENIN, AND SVERDLOV?

BUKHARIN: EXACTLY.

VYSHINSKY: THERE WAS A PLAN OF ARREST?

BUKHARIN: I SAY THAT THERE WAS NOT A PLAN, BUT TALKS ON THE SUBJECT.

VYSHINSKY: And what about the assassination of Comrades Stalin, Lenin, and Sverdlov?

BUKHARIN: Under no circumstances.

VYSHINSKY: I shall request the court at the end of today's session, or at the next session of the Court, to call as witnesses on this question Yakovleva, a former active member of the group of "Left Communists," Ossinsky and Mantsev, former active members of the so-called group of "Left Communists," and then the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries, Karelin and Kamkov, members of the Central Committee of the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries, in order question them whether Bukharin and the "Left Communists," whom he headed at the time, together with the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries, had a plan, and what kind of plan, for the arrest and assassination of Comrades Lenin, Stalin, and Sverdlov.



THE PRESIDENT: I must explain to the accused Bukharin that it is not a speech for the defense he must make, nor a last plea.

BUKHARIN: I understand that.... I want to deal with the subject of the restoration of capitalism. May I?

VYSHINSKY: Of course, that is your chief specialty.

BUKHARIN: I want first to deal with the ideological positions, not in the sense of declining responsibility for practical, criminal counter-revolutionary activities. I have not the slightest desire that the proletarian Court should conceive such an opinion.... I WAS NOT ONE OF THE COGS OF COUNTER-REVOLUTION, BUT ONE OF THE LEADERS OF COUNTER-REVOLUTION; AND AS ONE OF THE LEADERS I PLAY AND ANSWER IN A FAR GREATER DEGREE, BEAR FAR GREATER RESPONSIBILITY THAN ANY OF THE COGS.... The Court and the public opinion of our country...can judge how people sank to such depths, how WE ALL BECAME RABID COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES, TRAITORS TO THE SOCIALIST FATHERLAND, AND HOW WE TURNED INTO SPIES, TERRORISTS, AND RESTORERS OF CAPITALISM, and what, in the end, were the ideas and political standpoint of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites." WE EMBARKED ON TREACHERY, CRIME, AND TREASON. BUT FOR THE SAKE OF WHAT DID WE EMBARK ON THIS? WE TURNED INTO AN INSURRECTIONARY BAND, WE ORGANIZED TERRORIST GROUPS, ENGAGED IN WRECKING ACTIVITIES, WANTED TO OVERTHROW THE VALIANT LEADERSHIP OF STALIN, THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT OF THE PROLETARIAT.



It has been proved many times, and repeated tens of thousands of times, that the Right deviation, from the moment of its inception, when it was still in an embryo, from the moment of its inception set itself the aim of restoring capitalism.... We must here start from the beginning.

The right counter-revolutionaries seemed at first to be a "deviation"; they seemed, at a first glance, to be people who began with discontent in connection with collectivization, in connection with industrialization, with the fact, as they claimed, that industrialization was destroying production. This, at a first glance, seemed to be the chief thing. Then the Ryutin platform appeared. When all the state machines, when all the means, when all the best forces were flung into the industrialization of the country, into collectivization, we found ourselves, literally in 24 hours, on the other shore, we found ourselves with the kulaks, with the counter-revolutionaries, we found ourselves with the capitalist remnants which still existed at the time in the sphere of trade.... Such was the evolution. Our program was--the prosperous peasant farm of the individual, but in fact the kulak became an end in itself.... What was necessary was to develop rich property-owners. This was the tremendous change that took place in our standpoint and psychology. In 1917 it would never have occurred to any of the members of the Party, myself included, to pity Whiteguards who had been killed; yet in the period of the liquidation of the kulaks, in 1929-30, we pitied the expropriated kulaks, from so-called humanitarian motives. To whom would it have occurred in 1919 to blame the dislocation of our economic life on the Bolsheviks, and not on sabotage? To nobody. It would have sounded as frank and open treason.

Yet I myself a 1928 invented the formula about the military-feudal exploitation of the peasantry, that is, I put the blame for the costs of the class struggle not on the class which was hostile to the proletariat, but on the leaders of the proletariat itself. This was already a swing of 180 degrees. This meant that ideological and political platforms grew into counter-revolutionary platforms. Kulak farming and kulak interests actually became a point of the program....

Take industry. At first we raised an outcry about over-industrialization, about over-straining the budget, and so on. But as a matter of fact this was a program demand, it was the ideal of a kulak agrarian country with an industrial appendage....

IF MY PROGRAM STAND WERE TO BE FORMULATED PRACTICALLY, IT WOULD BE, IN THE ECONOMIC SPHERE STATE CAPITALISM, THE PROSPEROUS MUZHIK INDIVIDUAL, THE CURTAILMENT OF THE COLLECTIVE FARMS, FOREIGN CONCESSIONS, SURRENDER OF THE MONOPOLY OF FOREIGN TRADE, AND, AS A RESULT--THE RESTORATION OF CAPITALISM IN THE COUNTRY.



VYSHINSKY: WHAT DID YOUR AIMS AMOUNT TO? WHAT GENERAL PROGNOSIS DID YOU MAKE?

BUKHARIN: THE PROGNOSIS WAS THAT THERE WOULD BE A HEAVY LIST TOWARDS CAPITALISM.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHAT TRANSPIRED?

BUKHARIN: WHAT TRANSPIRED WAS QUITE DIFFERENT.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT TRANSPIRED WAS THE COMPLETE VICTORY OF SOCIALISM.

BUKHARIN: THE COMPLETE VICTORY OF SOCIALISM.

VYSHINSKY: AND THE COMPLETE COLLAPSE OF YOUR PROGNOSIS.

BUKHARIN: AND THE COMPLETE COLLAPSE OF OUR PROGNOSIS. Inside the country our actual program--this I think must be said with all emphasis--was a lapse into bourgeois-democratic freedom, coalition, because from the bloc with the Mensheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, and the like, it follows that there would be freedom of parties, freedom of coalition, and follows quite logically from the combination of forces for struggle...on the day after the possible victory they would be partners in power....

SINCE IN THE CIRCLES OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" THERE WAS AN IDEOLOGICAL ORIENTATION TOWARDS THE KULAKS AND AT THE SAME TIME AN ORIENTATION TOWARDS A "PALACE REVOLUTION" AND A COUP D'ETAT, TOWARDS A MILITARY CONSPIRACY AND A PRAETORIAN GUARD OF COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES, THIS IS NOTHING OTHER THAN ELEMENTS OF FASCISM....

VYSHINSKY: IN SHORT, YOU LAPSED INTO OUTRIGHT RABID FASCISM.

BUKHARIN: YES, THAT IS CORRECT, ALTHOUGH WE DID NOT DOT ALL THE "I'S." THAT IS THE FORMULATION CHARACTERIZING US AS CONSPIRATORS, RESTORERS OF CAPITALISM, TRUE FROM ALL POINTS OF VIEW. And quite naturally, this was accompanied by a disintegration and degeneration of the whole ideology, our entire practice and methods of struggle.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 376-382





KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS THE BYELORUSSIAN BOURGEOIS NATIONAL-FASCIST ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE BLOC LED BY SHARANGOVICH CONDUCTED ESPIONAGE;

RYKOV KNEW IT WAS CONNECTED WITH POLISH INTELLIGENCE



VYSHINSKY: Accused Rykov, do you know that the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" conducted espionage work?

RYKOV: I know there were organizations that conducted espionage work.

VYSHINSKY: TELL ME, DID THE BYELORUSSIAN NATIONAL-FASCIST ORGANIZATION, WHICH WAS PART OF YOUR "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" AND WHICH WAS LED BY THE ACCUSED SHARANGOVICH, CONDUCT ESPIONAGE WORK?

RYKOV: I HAVE ALREADY SPOKEN ABOUT THAT.

VYSHINSKY: IT CONDUCTED ESPIONAGE WORK?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: IT WAS CONNECTED WITH THE POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS?

RYKOV: I DID.

VYSHINSKY: And Bukharin did not know?

RYKOV: In my opinion, Bukharin also knew.

VYSHINSKY: So, accused Bukharin, it is not Sharangovich who says so, but your pal Rykov.

BUKHARIN: Nevertheless I did not know.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 384



KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HIS COUNTER-REV ACTS BEGAN BACK IN 1919;

STARTED A STUDENT GROUP & LATER TOLD HIS STUDENT SLEPKOV TO ORGANIZE A REVOLT IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS;

THEY ADOPTED FORCIBLE OVERTHROW TACTICS IN LATE 1932;

THE RYUTIN PLATFORM WAS ACTUALLY A RIGHT PROGRAM IN DISGUISE;

TROTSKY ADOPTED THE RIGHT PLATFORM & WANTED MORE DRASTIC METHODS;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED NUMEROUS CRIMES;

CONSIDERS HIS ILLEGAL ORGANIZATION & THE RYUTIN PLATFORMS TO BE CRIMES WHEN THE COURT DOES NOT



BUKHARIN: PRACTICALLY SPEAKING, THE FOUNDATIONS FOR MY COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY AS FAR AS THE RIGHT DEVIATION IS CONCERNED, ITS EVOLUTION DOWN TO THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES," WITH CORRESPONDING METHODS OF STRUGGLE, WITH CORRESPONDING CRIMINAL ACTIONS, WERE LAID DELIBERATELY AS FAR BACK AS 1919-20, WHEN FROM MY PUPILS AT THE SVERDLOV UNIVERSITY I MUSTERED A DISTINCT GROUP, WHICH BEGAN TO DEVELOP VERY QUICKLY INTO A FACTION....

VYSHINSKY: AMONG YOUR PUPILS WAS SLEPKOV, THE MAN YOU SENT TO THE NORTH CAUCASUS TO ORGANIZE INSURRECTIONS?

BUKHARIN: QUITE TRUE. I CAN CITE SEVERAL MORE FACTS.



VYSHINSKY: When did your counter-revolutionary Right organization take shape?

BUKHARIN: My rapprochement with Tomsky and Rykov dates approximately to a 1928-29....

VYSHINSKY: And where did Yagoda come in?

BUKHARIN: Yagoda stood aside.

VYSHINSKY: Was he connected with you?

BUKHARIN: Yes, he was

VYSHINSKY: So, he was a participant.

BUKHARIN: I am speaking now about the hierarchy of the leadership, and therefore as far as Yagoda...

VYSHINSKY: I simply did not want the accused Yagoda to be slighted.



BUKHARIN:...About the autumn of 1932 the next page in the development of the Right organization began, namely the transition to tactics of a forcible overthrow of Soviet power.

VYSHINSKY: What year do you date it from?

BUKHARIN: I date it approximately from the summer of 1932....

Proceeding to the tactics of forcible overthrow in general, I make note of the time when the so-called Ryutin platform was formulated.... IT WAS CALLED THE RYUTIN PLATFORM IN ORDER TO CONCEAL THE RIGHT CENTER AND ITS TOP LEADERSHIP.



Furthermore, I must say in addition: I think that the Ryutin platform...was perhaps already actually a common platform of the other groupings, including the Kamenev-Zinoviev and Trotskyite groupings.

It was just at this very moment that the situation became such that Trotsky had to throw off his Leftist uniform. When it came to exact formulations of what had to be done after all, his Right platform came into existence at once, that is, he had to speak of de-collectivization, etc.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS, YOU EQUIPPED TROTSKYISM IDEOLOGICALLY TOO.

BUKHARIN: QUITE TRUE. HERE THE CORRELATION OF FORCES WAS SUCH THAT TROTSKY INSISTED ON MORE DRASTIC METHODS OF STRUGGLE, AND WE TO A CERTAIN EXTENT ARMED HIM IDEOLOGICALLY. Is that all I need to say about the Ryutin platform?

VYSHINSKY: I AM INTERESTED IN YOUR CRIMES.

BUKHARIN: VERY WELL, BUT THESE CRIMES ARE SO NUMEROUS, CITIZEN PROCURATOR, THAT IT IS NECESSARY TO PICK OUT THE MOST IMPORTANT.

VYSHINSKY: I am interested in all of them--not in a selection, but from beginning to end.

THE PRESIDENT: SO FAR YOU ARE STILL BEATING ABOUT THE BUSH, YOU'RE SAYING NOTHING ABOUT YOUR CRIMES.

BUKHARIN: SO YOU DO NOT CONSIDER AN ILLEGAL ORGANIZATION A CRIME, NOR DO YOU CONSIDER THE RYUTIN PLATFORM A CRIME?

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 385-389





KEY PARTS OF YAGODA & RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ASKED THE BLOC THROUGH RYKOV TO BE PUT IN A SPECIALLY SECRET POSITION & RYKOV CONFIRMS IT



VYSHINSKY: YOU MENTIONED YAGODA. I WOULD LIKE TO QUESTION YAGODA. ACCUSED YAGODA, PLEASE TELL US IF YOU DEMANDED OF THE BLOC THAT YOU SHOULD BE PUT IN A SPECIALLY SECRET POSITION.

YAGODA: YES, THERE WAS SUCH A DEMAND ON MY PART.

VYSHINSKY: DO YOU REMEMBER UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES THIS TOOK PLACE AND WITH WHOM YOU SPOKE ABOUT IT?

YAGODA: I SPOKE WITH RYKOV.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED RYKOV, DO YOU CONFIRM THIS?

RYKOV: I CONFIRM IT, I have already spoken about this in my preliminary testimony.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 389-390





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HAVING ILLEGAL CONFERENCE TO DO ILLEGAL WORK & ISSUE ILLEGAL REPORTS;

SAYS THE RIGHTS ADOPTED THE RYUTIN PLATFORM LEADING TO UNITY WITH THE TROTS;

THE PLATFORM CALLED FOR A PALACE COUP;

TOMSKY RECRUITED YENUKIDZE TO BE IN THE COUP;

SAYS THE RIGHTS PUT THEIR HOPES ON MASS INSURRRECTION WHILE THE TROTS RELIED ON TERRORISM;

ADMITS USING LEGAL OPPORTUNITIES TO DO ILLEGAL ACTS;

TOMSKY AND YENUKIDZE TOLD HIM TUKHASHEVSKY & OTHER GENERALS HAD UNITED THE RIGHTS, ZINOVIEVITES, AND TROTS IN THE ARMY & WERE PREPARING A COUP BY FORCE;

SAYS HE LED THE RIGHTS IN CAUSING KULAK REVOLTS & HE SENT SLEPKOV TO THE KUBAN & NORTH CAUCASUS TO CAUSE A REVOLT & YAKOVENKO TO SIBERIA TO DO THE SAME;

ADMITS HE BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR CRIMINAL ACTS OF HIS ORGANIZATION & THEIR CONTACT WITH GERMAN FASCISTS; ADMITS SENDING SLEPKOV TO WORK WITH WHITEGUARD COSSACKS & CREATE KULAK REVOLTS;

ADMITS HE KNEW KARAKHAN WAS IN THE CONSPIRATORIAL GROUP OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES



VYSHINSKY: Continue.

BUKHARIN: The Ryutin platform registered the transition to the tactics of overthrowing the Soviet power by force.

In this connection, I think I should dwell on the conference of 1932. THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN SENT TO VARIOUS PLACES OUTSIDE MOSCOW...RETURNED FROM THEIR LOCALITIES AND...WITH MY SANCTION CALLED A CONFERENCE AT THE END OF THE SUMMER OF 1932, AT WHICH REPORTS FROM THE LOCALITIES WERE MADE.

VYSHINSKY: ILLEGAL?

BUKHARIN: ILLEGAL. THE CONFERENCE WAS ILLEGAL, THE WORK WAS ILLEGAL, THE REPORTS WERE ILLEGAL, AND THE REPORTS WERE ABOUT ILLEGAL WORK.

VYSHINSKY: THE CONFERENCE WAS COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY, THE REPORTS WERE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY, AND THE REPORTS WERE ABOUT COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY WORK.

BUKHARIN: YES, THE WHOLE THING WAS COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY.... The Ryutin platform was approved on behalf of the Right center. THE ESSENTIAL POINTS OF THE RYUTIN PLATFORM WERE: A "PALACE COUP," TERRORISM, STEERING A COURSE FOR A DIRECT ALLIANCE WITH THE TROTSKYITES. Around this time the idea of a "palace coup" was maturing in the Right circles,... At first this idea came from Tomsky, who was in contact with Yenukidze. This thought occurred to Tomsky in connection with the possibilities of using the official position of Yenukidze, who had charge of the Kremlin guard at that time.... TOMSKY SAID THAT YENUKIDZE AGREED TO TAKE AN ACTIVE PART IN THIS COUP.



Consequently, it was already then that the plan was being made and the organizational forces picked to carry it out, that is to say, the recruiting of people for a "palace coup." This was when the political bloc with Kamenev and Zinoviev originated. In this period we had meetings also with Syrtsov and Lominadze.

...THE RIGHTS WERE NOT UNITED WITH THE TROTSKYITES: THE TROTSKYITES COUNTED ON TERRORISM WHILE THE RIGHTS PUT THEIR HOPES IN AN INSURRECTIONARY MOVEMENT. The Rights urged the organization on to mass action.... We counted on enlisting the masses....

In the summer of 1932 I had a second conversation with Pyatakov in the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry. At that time this was a very simple matter for me, since I was working under Pyatakov. At that time he was my boss. I had to go into his private office on business, and I could do so without arousing suspicion....

VYSHINSKY: YOU MADE USE OF ALL THE LEGAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ILLEGAL CONVERSATIONS.

BUKHARIN: I UTILIZED LEGAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ANTI-SOVIET ILLEGAL PURPOSES. In this talk, which took place in the summer of 1932, Pyatakov told me of his meeting with Sedov [Trotsky's son] concerning Trotsky's policy of terrorism.



BUKHARIN:...I WAS INFORMED BY TOMSKY AND YENUKIDZE, WHO TOLD ME THAT IN THE UPPER RANKS OF THE RED ARMY THE RIGHTS, ZINOVIEVITES, AND TROTSKYITES HAD THEN UNITED THEIR FORCES; NAMES WERE MENTIONED TO ME--I DON'T VOUCH THAT I REMEMBER THEM ALL EXACTLY--BUT THOSE I HAVE REMEMBERED ARE TUKHACHEVSKY, KORK, PRIMAKOV, AND PUTNA.



VYSHINSKY:...Tell me, how did you prepare the group of plotters for the seizure of power? Tell me, what was the main object of the group of plotters in this sphere?

BUKHARIN: Even at that period the main object was the overthrow of the Soviet government by force.

VYSHINSKY: Well, tell us then how you were preparing for the overthrow of the Soviet government by force.

BUKHARIN: AT THAT PERIOD WE WERE ALREADY DISCUSSING THE QUESTION OF THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT BY FORCE, WITH THE AID OF A GROUP OF MILITARY PARTICIPANTS IN THE PLOT.

VYSHINSKY: A GROUP?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: A GROUP OF PARTICIPANTS IN YOUR PLOT?

BUKHARIN: ABSOLUTELY CORRECT.

VYSHINSKY: IN THE PERSONS OF TUKHACHEVSKY, PRIMAKOV, AND SOME OTHERS?

BUKHARIN: THERE WAS THE YENUKIDZE GROUP AS WELL.... In 1931-32, in connection with the changed political situation, the main stress was laid on the development of the insurrectionary movement, and THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY RIGHT ORGANIZATION, HEADED BY THE CENTER OF THE RIGHTS, PROVOKED SEVERAL KULAK REVOLTS....

VYSHINSKY: ON YOUR DIRECT INSTRUCTIONS AND UNDER YOUR LEADERSHIP?

BUKHARIN: ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. I CAN MENTION HERE YET ANOTHER FACT WHICH HAS NOT BEEN REFERRED TO. AT THAT TIME I SPOKE ABOUT MYSELF. I SENT SLEPKOV TO PREPARE A KULAK REVOLT IN THE KUBAN....



VYSHINSKY: YOU WISH TO PRESENT MATTERS AS IF YOU WERE NOT PRACTICALLY CONCERNED WITH THESE CRIMES.

BUKHARIN: HOW SO, WHEN I SENT YAKOVENKO TO SIBERIA TO ORGANIZE ARMED KULAK INSURRECTIONS, AND SENT SLEPKOV TO THE NORTH CAUCASUS FOR THE SAME PURPOSE?



VYSHINSKY: Accused Rykov, did Bukharin know of this fact, or did he not?

RYKOV: The initiative of the organization of this League,... belonged to Slepkov, who was sent to the North Caucasus by Bukharin, and who, I presume, was given definite instructions and directives by Bukharin.

VYSHINSKY: SO THEN, SLEPKOV WAS SENT TO THE NORTH CAUCASUS ON BUKHARIN'S INITIATIVE. ACCUSED BUKHARIN, DO YOU CONFIRM THIS?

BUKHARIN: I SENT SLEPKOV THERE AS AN INDIVIDUAL SKILLED IN THE ORGANIZATION OF THE INSURRECTIONARY MOVEMENT. But once he got there, found his bearings and learned what organizations were there, Slepkov could undertake certain steps without me.

VYSHINSKY: DO YOU BEAR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THESE CRIMINAL ACTS AS ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE ORGANIZATION?

BUKHARIN: UNDOUBTEDLY I DO BEAR RESPONSIBILITY.

VYSHINSKY: FOR THE CONNECTION OF YOUR ORGANIZATION WITH WHITEGUARD COSSACK CIRCLES AND GERMAN FASCISTS?

BUKHARIN: OF COURSE I DO.... I DON'T DENY HAVING SENT SLEPKOV THERE. I SENT HIM TO ESTABLISH CONTACT WITH WHITEGUARD COSSACK CIRCLES.



VYSHINSKY: You sent Slepkov to organize a kulak insurrection. Slepkov engaged in the organization of this insurrection and worked in this direction.

BUKHARIN: He did not give me a detailed reply.

VYSHINSKY: I ask you, was this so or not?

BUKHARIN: I sent him.

VYSHINSKY: Did he fulfill your instructions?

BUKHARIN: Apparently he did.

VYSHINSKY: Apparently?

BUKHARIN: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: I ASK YOU, ACCUSED BUKHARIN, DID YOU SEND SLEPKOV TO ORGANIZE WHITEGUARD KULAK INSURRECTIONS?

BUKHARIN: YES.



VYSHINSKY: IT IS IMPORTANT FOR ME TO ESTABLISH THAT AT THAT TIME IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS THERE WAS A PART OF YOUR RIGHT-WING PLOTTING ORGANIZATION.

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: SO IT IS A FACT?

BUKHARIN: IT IS.

VYSHINSKY: THAT YOU KNEW ABOUT IT?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: THAT YOU SENT SLEPKOV THERE TO ESTABLISH CONTACT WITH THIS ORGANIZATION. THAT SLEPKOV DID SOMETHING THERE IN THIS DIRECTION OF WHICH HE SPOKE TO YOU.... IS THAT A FACT?

BUKHARIN: IT IS.

VYSHINSKY: THAT THERE WERE KULAK DISORDERS THERE. IS THAT A FACT?

BUKHARIN: IT IS.

VYSHINSKY: THAT THIS WAS CONNECTED WITH HIS ACTIVITY. IS THAT A FACT?

BUKHARIN: IT IS.

VYSHINSKY: AND WAS CONNECTED WITH YOUR ACTIVITY. IS THAT A FACT?

BUKHARIN: IT IS.

VYSHINSKY: FURTHER, IT IS KNOWN THAT THIS NORTH CAUCASUS GROUP WAS IN CONTACT WITH WHITEGUARD COSSACK EMIGRE CIRCLES.... IS THAT A FACT OR NOT?

BUKHARIN: I HAVE TOLD YOU THAT I CANNOT DENY THIS FACT, CITIZEN PROCURATOR.



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED BUKHARIN, WERE YOU AWARE THAT KARAKHAN WAS A PARTICIPANT IN THE CONSPIRATORIAL GROUP OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES?

BUKHARIN: I WAS.

VYSHINSKY: Were you aware that Karakhan was a German spy?

BUKHARIN: No, I was not aware of that.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 390-401





KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS KARAKHAN WAS ENGAGED IN TREASONABLE NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE GERMAN FASCISTS FOR SU DEFEAT INVOLVING CONCESSIONS AND DISMEMBERMENT OF THE SU & TUKHASHEVSKY WAS WORKING FOR SU DEFEAT



VYSHINSKY (to Rykov): Were you aware, accused Rykov, that Karakhan was a German spy?

RYKOV: No, I was not.

VYSHINSKY: WERE YOU NOT AWARE THAT KARAKHAN WAS ENGAGED IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH CERTAIN GERMAN CIRCLES?

RYKOV: NEGOTIATIONS REGARDING THE CENTER OF THE RIGHTS?

VYSHINSKY: YES, OF COURSE, REGARDING THE CENTER OF THE RIGHTS.

RYKOV: YES, YES.

VYSHINSKY: TREASONABLE NEGOTIATIONS?

RYKOV: TREASONABLE.

VYSHINSKY: With whom did he conduct these negotiations, with what institutions?

RYKOV: (No reply.)

VYSHINSKY: Well?

RYKOV: I don't know that.

VYSHINSKY: In that case, tell the court: what was the line of the negotiations?

RYKOV: The line was...on the question of their attitude to the Rights, to a possible coup d'etat by the Rights.

VYSHINSKY: Were there negotiations regarding the organization of the defeat of the USSR, or not?

RYKOV: I don't know that.

VYSHINSKY: Then I WISH TO REMIND RYKOV OF THE FOLLOWING TESTIMONY GIVEN BY HIM AT THE PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION--VOLUME 1, P. 112: "CONSEQUENTLY NOT ONLY THE TUKHACHEVSKY GROUP, WHICH WAS A COMPONENT PART OF OUR ORGANIZATION, WORKED TO PREPARE THE DEFEAT OF USSR. THIS DEFEAT WAS PREPARED FOR BY OUR ENTIRE INTERNATIONAL ORIENTATION AND KARAKHAN'S NEGOTIATIONS." IS THAT CORRECT?

RYKOV: IT IS.

VYSHINSKY: Then what follows from this?

RYKOV: I had in view defeat not in the direct sense of the word. I had in view that if a group of plotters in any country engages in negotiations with the enemy, then, firstly, the very fact of these negotiations in itself must assist in hastening war--the enemy will the sooner undertake his offensive the more support he has within the country--and, secondly, the ability of the country to defend itself, and of the other to attack, correspondingly changes, that is, the defense weakens while the offensive becomes stronger.

VYSHINSKY: So then this fact took place?

RYKOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: And further: "In our very international orientation, our starting point was that we needed to receive support from the international bourgeoisie, and WE LINKED UP OUR ACTIVITY AND THE SUCCESS OF OUR COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY WORK IN THE USSR WITH DIRECT AID FROM FASCISM."... CAN THE CONCLUSION BE DRAWN FROM THIS THAT KARAKHAN, WITH YOUR KNOWLEDGE, ENGAGED IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH FASCIST CIRCLES REGARDING SUPPORT FOR YOUR TREASONABLE ACTIVITY ON DEFINITE CONDITIONS? WAS THAT THE CASE?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHAT WERE THE CONDITIONS?

RYKOV: FIRSTLY, A NUMBER OF ECONOMIC CONCESSIONS, AND SECONDLY THE SO-CALLED DISMEMBERMENT OF THE USSR.

VYSHINSKY: What does that mean?

RYKOV: That means the separation of the national republics and placing them under a protectorate, or making them dependent, formally not dependent, but actually dependent on....

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS TO SAY, TERRITORIAL CONCESSIONS?

RYKOV: OF COURSE.... He [Karakhan] explained it this way: the German fascists accept these conditions, i.e., privileges as regards concessions, trade agreements, etc. but on their part they demand that the national republics be given the right to free separation.

VYSHINSKY: Well, and what does that mean?

RYKOV: It was not what we proposed. This was a new demand on the part of the Germans. In plain language, this means, of course, the dismemberment of the USSR.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS TO SAY, HANDING OVER PART OF THE USSR TO THE GERMANS?

RYKOV: OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: That is to say, you were aware that Karakhan, with your knowledge, engaged in negotiations with German circles to hand over part of the USSR. Precisely what part?

RYKOV: There was no talk about that.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 401-403


KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN AND RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS RADEK TOLD HIM TROTSKY HAD NEGOTIATED THE SURRENDER OF THE UKRAINE WITH THE FASCISTS TO RECEIVE HELP;

SAYS TROTSKY IS RELYING ON SU DEFEAT & CONCESSIONS TO GET THE BLOC IN POWER;

ADMITS HE WAS IN A PLOTTING ORGANIZATION & THAT HE ENDORSED KARAKHAN’S NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE FASCISTS;

RYKOV SAYS HE ALSO ENDORSED THEM;

SAYS HELP WAS TO BE GAINED BY CONCESSIONS & ADMITS HIS TREACHERY DID NOT BEGIN WITH THE RISE OF HITLER



VYSHINSKY: Then I address myself to the accused Bukharin. Did you in 1934 engage in negotiations with Radek on this subject?

BUKHARIN: RADEK TOLD ME OF HIS NEGOTIATIONS WITH TROTSKY, THAT TROTSKY HAD ENGAGED IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE GERMAN FASCISTS REGARDING TERRITORIAL CONCESSIONS IN RETURN FOR HELP TO THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATIONS.

VYSHINSKY: DID RADEK TELL YOU THAT ON TROTSKY'S INSTRUCTIONS THE UKRAINE WAS TO BE CEDED, YIELDED TO THE GERMANS?

BUKHARIN: I DEFINITELY REMEMBER ABOUT THE UKRAINE.

VYSHINSKY: WERE THERE SUCH CONVERSATIONS ARE NOT?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: And about the Far East?

BUKHARIN: About the Ukraine I definitely remember; there was talk of other regions, but I do not remember which.

VYSHINSKY: YOU TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS: "TROTSKY, WHILE URGING THE INTENSIFICATION OF TERRORISM, YET CONSIDERS THE MAIN CHANCE FOR THE ADVENT OF THE BLOC TO POWER TO BE THE DEFEAT OF THE USSR IN A WAR AGAINST GERMANY AND JAPAN AT THE COST OF TERRITORIAL CONCESSIONS (THE UKRAINE TO THE GERMANS, AND THE FAR EAST TO THE JAPANESE)." WAS THAT SO?

BUKHARIN: YES, IT WAS.

VYSHINSKY: AND SO RADEK TOLD YOU THAT TROTSKY GAVE INSTRUCTIONS TO CEDE THE UKRAINE TO THE GERMANS. DID HE SAY THIS?

BUKHARIN: HE DID, but I do not consider Trotsky's instructions as binding on me.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 404



VYSHINSKY: What post did you occupy?

BUKHARIN: I was the editor of "Izvestia."

VYSHINSKY: Did you talk to Radek as the editor of Izvestia, or as a member of the plotting organization?

BUKHARIN: You understand perfectly well that I spoke to him as a member of the plotting organization.



VYSHINSKY: WERE YOU AWARE THAT KARAKHAN WAS ENGAGED IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE GERMAN FASCISTS?

BUKHARIN: I WAS. I KNEW OF THIS FROM TOMSKY, FROM KARAKHAN HIMSELF....

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU ENDORSE THESE NEGOTIATIONS?

BUKHARIN: OR DISAVOW? I DID NOT DISAVOW THEM; CONSEQUENTLY I ENDORSED THEM.

VYSHINSKY: I ASK YOU, DID YOU ENDORSE THEM, OR NOT?

BUKHARIN: I REPEAT, CITIZEN PROCURATOR: SINCE I DID NOT DISAVOW THEM, I CONSEQUENTLY ENDORSED THEM.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 407



VYSHINSKY: Accused Rykov, did Karakhan undertake these negotiations on his own initiative?

RYKOV: He undertook them on the instructions, on the initiative of Tomsky. BUT BUKHARIN AND I ENDORSED THIS INITIATIVE WHEN THESE NEGOTIATIONS WERE REPORTED TO US.

VYSHINSKY: AND SO IT CAN BE ESTABLISHED THAT KARAKHAN CONDUCTED NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE GERMAN FASCISTS WITH BUKHARIN'S KNOWLEDGE. ACCUSED RYKOV, DO YOU CONFIRM THIS?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND SO, ACCUSED BUKHARIN, YOU BEAR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THESE NEGOTIATIONS OF KARAKHAN WITH THE GERMANS?

BUKHARIN: UNDOUBTEDLY.



VYSHINSKY: HOW WAS HELP TO HAVE BEEN RENDERED? IN ASSISTING THE SUCCESS OF THE CONSPIRACY? AT THE PRICE OF CERTAIN CONCESSIONS?

BUKHARIN: YES.



VYSHINSKY: Accused Bukharin, did you know all of this [the severing of Byelorussia from the USSR]?

BUKHARIN: In 1930 such a question could not arise. Hitler was not yet in power at that time.

VYSHINSKY: But this question was raised. THE HISTORY OF YOUR TREACHERY DID NOT BEGIN WITH HITLER.

BUKHARIN: THAT IS TRUE.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 404-411





KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS THEY DID EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO CAUSE WAR IN ORDER TO COME TO POWER;

SAYS BUKHARIN WAS A SPY, ADMITS BEING A SPY, & SAYS HIS ORGANIZATION WORKED WITH POLISH INTELLIGENCE IN ESPIONAGE



VYSHINSKY: The following paragraph is from Rykov's reply: "...The factors giving rise to the war, the attack by the imperialist powers, the war WE WERE ENGINEERING IN ORDER TO COME TO POWER, WE DID EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO SHARPEN AND STIMULATE THIS FACTOR IN ALL OUR PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES."

DO YOU CONFIRM THIS TESTIMONY OF YOURS?

RYKOV: I DO.



VYSHINSKY: BUT WAS THERE AN ESPIONAGE CONNECTION MAINTAINED BY A PART OF YOUR ORGANIZATION WITH THE POLES ON YOUR INSTRUCTIONS?

RYKOV: OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: ESPIONAGE?

RYKOV: OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: BUKHARIN INCLUDED?

RYKOV: OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: WERE YOU AND BUKHARIN CONNECTED?

RYKOV: ABSOLUTELY.

VYSHINSKY: SO YOU WERE SPIES?

RYKOV: (NO REPLY.)

VYSHINSKY: AND THE ORGANIZERS OF ESPIONAGE?

RYKOV: I AM IN NO WAY BETTER THAN A SPY.

VYSHINSKY: YOU ORGANIZED ESPIONAGE, SO YOU WERE SPIES.

RYKOV: IT MAY BE SAID, YES.

VYSHINSKY: IT MAY BE SAID, SPIES. I AM ASKING, DID YOU ORGANIZE CONNECTIONS WITH THE POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE AND THE RESPECTIVE SPY CIRCLES? DO YOU PLEAD GUILTY TO ESPIONAGE?

RYKOV: IF IT IS A QUESTION OF ORGANIZATION, THEN IN THIS CASE, OF COURSE, I PLEAD GUILTY.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Rykov, was Bukharin receiving any information with regard to activities of this kind?

RYKOV: I never spoke to him about it.

VYSHINSKY: What do you mean, you never spoke? And what about your conversation with Bukharin concerning the espionage connections of the Byelorussian organization with the Poles?

RYKOV: In this conversation there was no special emphasis put on its being an espionage connection.

VYSHINSKY: I am speaking of the nature of the connection, of its essence.

RYKOV: It was inevitable. Under these conditions, any kind of connection with the Poles automatically and inevitably--and everybody understands that--very rapidly develops into espionage connections.

VYSHINSKY: Not only was it inevitable that they should develop, but they did develop?

RYKOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Under your leadership?

RYKOV: I mean to say that we did not personally direct this development; however, it is not a question of direct leadership but of general leadership. We absolutely and definitely bear responsibility for this.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 412-414





KEY PARTS OF SHARANGOVICH’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS BEING A SPY & SAYS BUKHARIN & RYKOV TOLD HIM TO MAKE CONNECTIONS WITH POLISH INTELLIGENCE, ENGAGE IN ESPIONAGE & BECOME SPIES;



VYSHINSKY: THERE IS NO POINT IN MAKING A PIOUS FACE, ACCUSED BUKHARIN. BETTER ADMIT WHAT EXISTS. AND WHAT EXISTS IS THE FOLLOWING: YOU HAD A GROUP OF YOUR ACCOMPLICES, FELLOW-CONSPIRATORS IN BYELORUSSIA, HEADED BY GOLODED, CHERVYAKOV AND SHARANGOVICH. IS THAT RIGHT, SHARANGOVICH?

SHARANGOVICH: IT IS.

VYSHINSKY: AND ON BUKHARIN'S AND RYKOV'S INSTRUCTIONS, AND UNDER THEIR LEADERSHIP, YOU ESTABLISHED CONNECTIONS WITH THE POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE AND WITH THE POLISH GENERAL STAFF? IS THAT RIGHT, SHARANGOVICH?

SHARANGOVICH: ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

VYSHINSKY: UNDER YOUR LEADERSHIP ALSO WITH REGARD TO THE ESPIONAGE CONNECTIONS. IS THAT RIGHT, SHARANGOVICH?

SHARANGOVICH: ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY, WHO WAS THE ORGANIZER OF THE ESPIONAGE IN WHICH YOU ENGAGED?

SHARANGOVICH: RYKOV, BUKHARIN.

VYSHINSKY: HENCE, THEY WERE SPIES.

SHARANGOVICH: QUITE RIGHT.

VYSHINSKY: JUST AS...

SHARANGOVICH: AS I MYSELF.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 414





KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS ALL THE IMPORTANT GOVT APPOINTMENTS IN BYELORUSSIA ARE OK’D BY POLISH INTELLIGENCE;

ADMITS BEING AWARE OF THE TREASONABLE ACTIVITIES OF THE POLISH SPY BENEK



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED RYKOV, DID GOLODED TELL YOU IN 1932 THAT ALL THE MORE OR LESS IMPORTANT APPOINTMENTS OF PEOPLE TO RESPONSIBLE POSTS IN BYELORUSSIA WERE FIRST COORDINATED WITH THE POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: DID BUKHARIN KNOW OF THIS?

RYKOV: I cannot say.

VYSHINSKY: You do not know? You do not want to betray your pal?

RYKOV: What I mean to say is that in those cases when I know that he is not telling the truth, I am exposing him, but in those cases when I do not know, I cannot and shall not do it.



VYSHINSKY: Were you aware of the treasonable activities of the Polish spy Ulyanov?

RYKOV: I was.

VYSHINSKY: Did Bukharin know about it?

RYKOV: I do not know.

VYSHINSKY: WERE YOU AWARE OF THE TREASONABLE ACTIVITIES OF THE POLISH SPY BENEK?

RYKOV: I WAS.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 414-416





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS THAT IN 1933 HIS GROUP GAVE UP ON GETTING MASS SUPPORT & FOCUSED ON A COUP BY FORCE AIDED BY YENUKIDZE IN THE KREMLIN, YAGODA IN THE NKVD, & TUKHASHEVSKY’S GENERALS



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Bukharin, proceed.

BUKHARIN: IN 1933-34 THE KULAKS WERE ALREADY SMASHED, AN INSURRECTIONARY MOVEMENT CEASED TO BE A REAL POSSIBILITY, and therefore in the center of the Right organization a period again set in when the orientation toward a counter-revolutionary conspiratorial coup became the central idea. THUS, FROM A "PALACE COUP," FROM A COMBINATION OF A COUP WITH A MASS INSURRECTION, and from an orientation toward a mass insurrection with the corresponding practical conclusions, WE PASSED ON TO COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY PLOTTING PURE AND SIMPLE. AND THE CENTRAL IDEA BECAME THAT OF A COUP D'ETAT, WHICH WAS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED BY MEANS OF AN ARMED CONSPIRACY.

THE FORCES OF THE CONSPIRACY WERE: THE FORCES OF YENUKIDZE PLUS YAGODA, THEIR ORGANIZATIONS IN THE KREMLIN AND IN THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS; Yenukidze also succeeded around that time in enlisting, as far as I can remember, the former commandant of the Kremlin, Peterson, who, apropos, was in his time the commandant of Trotsky's train.

Then there was the military organization of the conspirators: Tukhachevsky, Kork and others.

VYSHINSKY: What year was that?

BUKHARIN: I think it was in 1933-34.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 419





KEY PARTS OF KHODJAYEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN SAID THEY HAD AN AGREEMENT WITH FASCIST GERMANY & WERE CONCLUDING ONE WITH JAPAN TO BRING ABOUT SU DEFEAT



VYSHINSKY: Accused Khodjayev, did Bukharin talk which you?

KHODJAYEV: Yes, he did.

VYSHINSKY: How, when, where, and about what specifically?

KHODJAYEV: It was in the month of August, when Bukharin came to Tashkent.... BUKHARIN SAID THAT IT WAS NECESSARY SO TO DIRECT OUR ACTIVITIES THAT THESE ACTIVITIES SHOULD HELP TO BRING ABOUT THE DEFEAT OF THE UNION.... HE SAID THAT WE, THE RIGHTS, HAD AN AGREEMENT WITH FASCIST GERMANY, AND THAT WE WERE PLANNING AN AGREEMENT WITH JAPAN.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 420





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS TELLING KHODJAYEV THAT IS WAS NECESSARY TO BE READY TO OVERTHROW THE SOVIET GOVT BY FORCE



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED BUKHARIN, WERE YOU WITH KHODJAYEV AT HIS COUNTRY PLACE?

BUKHARIN: I WAS.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU CARRY ON A CONVERSATION?

BUKHARIN: ...I TOLD HIM THAT IT WAS NECESSARY FOR US TO BE PREPARED TO OVERTHROW THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT BY FORCIBLE MEANS,...

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 420-421





KEY PARTS OF KHODJAYEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN WAS WORKING FOR AN AGREEMENT WITH ENGLAND



KHODJAYEV: I confirm that he said the things of which he spoke here, but immediately after that he spoke about an agreement with Germany.

VYSHINSKY: WAS THERE ANY TALK ABOUT ENGLAND?

KHODJAYEV: YES, THERE WAS. HE SAID THAT AN AGREEMENT WITH ENGLAND WAS BEING CONSIDERED AND THAT THE RIGHT CENTER WOULD, ON ITS PART, TAKE MEASURES TO EFFECT THIS AGREEMENT....

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 421





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

TALKS BACK TO VYSHINSKY & IS REPRIMANDED BY THE PRESIDENT; ADMITS SAYING THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO LINK UP WITH FOREIGN STATES & USE INTERNAL CONTRADICTIONS FOR HIS GROUP OPPOSING THE SOVIET GOVT;
ADMITS THERE WAS A COUNTER-REV ORGANIZATION COMPOSED OF YENUKIDZE, YAGODA, THE MILITARY AS WELL AS TROTS & ZINOVIEVITES;

SAYS TOMSKY WANTED THE ARMED COUP TO OCCUR WITH THE 17TH PARTY CONGRESS INVOLVING THE ARREST OF EVERYONE;

SAYS THE VERY IDEA THAT THIS WAS CONSIDERED PROVES THE MONSTROSITY & CRIMINALITY INVOLVED;

SAYS HE IS MORE RESPONSIBLE THAN ANYONE BY TELLING SEMYONOV TO ORGANIZE TERRORIST GROUPS;

ADMITS HE IS DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM ALLYING WITH COUNTER-REV SR’S & MENSHEVIKS;

ADMITS TRYING TO ALLY WITH SR’S ABROAD THROUGH CHLENOV;

SAYS THERE WAS DEFINITELY AN ALLIANCE NOT ONLY BETWEEN THE TROTS, ZINOVIEVITES, & BOURGEOIS-NATIONALISTS BUT ALSO INCLUDING THE SR’S & MENSHEVIKS WHO DEMANDED THEY BE LEGALIZED IN A COALITION GOVT AFTER VICTORY;

SAYS WHEN THE NAZIS CAME TO POWER THE TROTS WERE FOR TERRITORIAL CONCESSIONS WHILE THE RIGHT WERE FOR ECONOMIC CONCESSIONS;

SAYS THE TROTS WERE MORE RESPONSIBLE THAN THE RIGHTS; REGRETS TROTSKY NOT BEING ON TRIAL;

IN SUMMER OF 1934 RADEK TOLD HIM TROTSKY HAD ALREADY PROMISED THE GERMANS CONCESSIONS LIKE THE UKRAINE; ALWAYS CONSIDERED TUKHASHEVSKY A POTENTIAL DANGEROUS NAPOLEON;

SAYS THE RIGHTS WERE PARTNERS WITH TROTSKY’S NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE GERMANS



VYSHINSKY: TOWARD WHOM DID YOU CONSIDER IT NECESSARY TO ORIENTATE YOURSELVES?

BUKHARIN: I BEG YOUR PARDON, IT IS I WHO AM SPEAKING AND NOT YOU.

THE PRESIDENT: ACCUSED BUKHARIN, DO NOT FORGET THAT IT IS NOT YOU WHO REGULATES THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS HERE.



VYSHINSKY: And you spoke of overthrowing the Soviet government this first time!

BUKHARIN: Yes, for a very simple reason. There's nothing for you to gesticulate about.

THE PRESIDENT: Accused Bukharin, do not forget where you are now.

VYSHINSKY:...I will be compelled to cut the interrogation short because you apparently are following definite tactics and do not want to tell the truth, hiding behind a flood of words, pettifogging, making digressions into the sphere of politics, of philosophy, theory and so forth--which you might as well forget about once and for all, because you are charged with espionage and, according to all the material of the investigation, you are obviously a spy of an intelligence service. Therefore stop pettifogging. If this is the way you want to defend yourself I shall cut the interrogation short.

BUKHARIN: I am answering your questions.

VYSHINSKY: Did you talk with Khodjayev about overthrowing the Soviet government, which your conspiratorial group was preparing for?

BUKHARIN: I spoke in vague nebulous formulas.

VYSHINSKY: But such formulas as he could understand?

BUKHARIN: Perfectly right.

VYSHINSKY (to Khodjayev): Did you understand?

KHODJAYEV: Absolutely.

VYSHINSKY: Hence, it is not a question of words but of the contents. DID YOU SAY THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO ORIENTATE YOURSELVES IN YOUR FOREIGN RELATIONS TOWARDS VARIOUS FOREIGN STATES, AND TO MAKE USE OF THE INTERNAL CONTRADICTIONS AND INTERNATIONAL CONTRADICTIONS IN THE INTERESTS OF THE STRUGGLE OF YOUR GROUP OF CONSPIRATORS AGAINST THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT?

BUKHARIN: RIGHT.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU SAY IT?

BUKHARIN: I DID.



THE PRESIDENT (After an Intermission): The session is resumed. Accused Bukharin, proceed with your evidence; only speak more to the point.

BUKHARIN: All right, I shall. I SAID LAST [TIME] THAT AN ORGANIZATION OF A CRIMINAL COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY CONSPIRACY WAS CREATED, WHICH INCLUDED THE FORCES OF YENUKIDZE, OF YAGODA, THE ORGANIZATION IN THE KREMLIN, IN THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION AND FORCES OF THE MOSCOW GARRISON UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE CONSPIRATORS OF THE MILITARY GROUP, WHICH, AS IS SELF-UNDERSTOOD, DID NOT EXCLUDE THE UTILIZATION OF OTHER FORCES AND CADRES WHICH WERE MADE UP OF THE TROTSKYITES AND ZINOVIEVITES....

During the period preceding the Seventeenth Party Congress in early 1934, TOMSKY BROACHED THE IDEA THAT THE COUP D'ETAT WITH THE HELP OF THE ARMED COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY FORCES SHOULD BE TIMED EXACTLY FOR THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS. According to Tomsky's idea, an integral part of this coup was to be a monstrous crime--the arrest of the Seventeenth Party Congress.

This idea of Tomsky's was subjected to a discussion, though a very cursory one; but objections to this idea were raised on all hands....

Pyatakov objected to this idea not for considerations of principle, but for considerations of tactics, because that would have aroused extreme indignation among the masses.... This idea was rejected. BUT THE FACT ALONE THAT THIS IDEA WAS CONCEIVED AND THAT IT WAS SUBJECTED TO A DISCUSSION SPEAKS SUFFICIENTLY CLEARLY OF THE WHOLE MONSTROSITY AND CRIMINALITY OF AN ORGANIZATION OF THIS SORT.

I must say that at a much earlier period I PERSONALLY HAD ALREADY GIVEN INSTRUCTIONS TO SEMYONOV TO ORGANIZE TERRORIST GROUPS AND REPORTED THIS TO OUR RIGHT CENTER. IT WAS ACCEPTED. THUS, I, MORE THAN ANY OTHER MEMBER OF THE CENTER, AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF SEMYONOV'S TERRORIST GROUPS.

I must also stop to continue a thought which I have already touched on in part, or the facts which I have mentioned--OUR ALLYING WITH VARIOUS COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY FORCES, ESPECIALLY AND PARTICULARLY WITH THE SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES AND MENSHEVIKS.... I AM DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR IT not only as a member of the Right center, but directly responsible in the immediate sense of the word.

Secondly, I TRIED TO ESTABLISH CONTACT WITH ORGANIZATIONS AND GROUPS OF SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES ABROAD THROUGH A CERTAIN CHLENOV. This was one of the men in our diplomatic service, whom I had known years ago, since our school days, when he was a member of a Social-Democratic organization of that time.... The Socialist-Revolutionaries agreed in principle to support the bloc and maintain contact with the Rights, Trotskyites, Zinovievites, and the like. But they demanded formal guarantees, almost in written form, their conditions being that the peasant policy should be changed in the spirit of a kulak orientation, that the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks Parties should be legalized--which obviously implied that the government which would be set up if the conspiracy were successful would be a coalition government....

And Smirnov on his part was likewise arranging connections with the Socialist-Revolutionaries.

THUS, THERE WAS NOT A SHADOW OF DOUBT--AND I ADMIT IT FULLY AND ENTIRELY--THAT APART FROM THE BLOC WITH THE TROTSKYITES, ZINOVIEVITES, KAMENEVITES, AND BOURGEOIS-NATIONALIST ORGANIZATIONS, THERE WAS ALSO ABSOLUTELY DIRECT AND REAL CONTACT WITH SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES AND MENSHEVIKS, FOR WHICH I MYSELF WAS TO A LARGE EXTENT DIRECTLY TO BLAME OF COURSE, AS A LEADER OF THE CENTER OF THE RIGHTS....



VYSHINSKY: Accused Bukharin, proceed.

BUKHARIN: WHEN THE FASCISTS CAME TO POWER IN GERMANY, EXCHANGES OF OPINION COMMENCED AMONG THE LEADERS OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATIONS CONCERNING THE POSSIBILITY OF UTILIZING FOREIGN STATES IN CONNECTION WITH A WAR SITUATION. HERE I MUST SAY FRANKLY, and I tell the court what I precisely remember, that in this major question, which is a very important subject for the Court's consideration and for the determination of the legal sanction, THE TROTSKYITES WERE OUT-RIGHT FOR TERRITORIAL CONCESSIONS, WHILE ON THE WHOLE THE LEADING CIRCLES OF THE RIGHT COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION WERE PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH CONCESSIONS, TRADE AGREEMENTS, DUTIES, PRICES, SUPPLIES OF RAW MATERIAL, FUEL, ETC.--IN SHORT, VARIOUS CONCESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC NATURE. When I began my testimony I told the Court that I, as one of the leaders of the counter-revolutionary bloc, and not just as a cog in the wheel, bear responsibility for absolutely everything done by this organization. BUT IN SO FAR AS CONCRETE THINGS ARE CONCERNED, I THINK THAT IT CAN BE SAID OF THIS CASE THAT THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE IN THE BLOC, THE MOST ACTIVE POLITICAL PRINCIPLE IN THE SENSE OF THE ACUTENESS OF THE STRUGGLE, IN THE SENSE OF FAR-REACHING CRIMINAL CONNECTIONS, ETC., WAS AFTER ALL THE TROTSKYITE SECTION. I repeat, I say this not in order to disclaim the responsibility of the Right section,...but from the point of view of the internal mechanics of this case and from the point of view of elucidating THE PERSONAL ROLE OF TROTSKY, WHO, UNFORTUNATELY, IS BEYOND THE REACH OF THE COURT, I think this question has a certain importance, and that is why I am bold to emphasize it here.

IN THE SUMMER OF 1934 RADEK TOLD ME THAT DIRECTIONS HAD BEEN RECEIVED FROM TROTSKY, THAT TROTSKY WAS CONDUCTING NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE GERMANS, THAT TROTSKY HAD ALREADY PROMISED THE GERMANS A NUMBER OF TERRITORIAL CONCESSIONS, INCLUDING THE UKRAINE. If my memory does not fail me, territorial concessions to Japan were also mentioned. In general, in these negotiations Trotsky already behaved not only as a conspirator who hopes to get power by means of an armed coup at some future date, but already felt himself the master of Soviet land, which he wants to convert from Soviet to non-Soviet.

...I considered it essential that he, Radek, should write and tell Trotsky that he was going too far in these negotiations, that he might compromise not only himself, but all his allies, us Right conspirators in particular, and that this meant certain disaster for us. It seemed to me that with the growth of mass patriotism, which is beyond all doubt, this point of view of Trotsky's was politically and tactically inexpedient from the standpoint of the plan of the conspiracy itself, and that much greater caution was needed.

VYSHINSKY: Who said that?

BUKHARIN: I said it.

VYSHINSKY: Tell the Court about your crimes.

BUKHARIN: Tomsky considered it permissible to take advantage of war and preliminary agreements with Germany. This I opposed by the following arguments. I said that in the first place if Germany were to intervene in one way or another during the war to help the counter-revolutionary coup, then, as it always happens, Germany, being rather a strong military and technical factor, would inevitably put her feet on the table and tear up any preliminary agreement which had been concluded.

Secondly, I advanced the argument that since this was to be a military coup, then by virtue of the very logic of things the military group of the conspirators would have extraordinary influence,...and that hence a peculiar Bonapartist danger might arise. And Bonapartists--I was thinking particularly of Tukhachevsky--would start out by making short shrift of their allies and so-called inspirers in Napoleon style. IN MY CONVERSATIONS I ALWAYS CALLED TUKHACHEVSKY A "POTENTIAL LITTLE NAPOLEON," AND YOU KNOW HOW NAPOLEON DEALT WITH THE SO-CALLED IDEOLOGISTS.



VYSHINSKY: And you considered yourself an ideologist?

BUKHARIN: Both an ideologist of a counter-revolutionary coup and a practical man.



BUKHARIN: I FORGOT TO SAY AND MENTION THAT WHEN TROTSKY WAS NEGOTIATING WITH THE GERMANS, THE RIGHTS WERE ALREADY A COMPLEMENT PART OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" AND THAT CONSEQUENTLY THEY WERE PARTNERS TO THESE NEGOTIATIONS, even in spite of the fact that Trotsky did this on his own initiative, independently of any preliminary arrangement.



THE PRESIDENT: Call in the witness [Yakovleva].

VYSHINSKY: While the witness is being called in, permit me to put to Bukharin a question in connection with his testimony at the preliminary investigation--page 94, Vol. 5. May I read it?

THE PRESIDENT: You may.

VYSHINSKY (Reading from Bukharin's Preliminary Testimony): "We clearly perceived the gigantic growth of Soviet patriotism, which growth was connected with the tangible growth of the might, strength, and prosperity of the broad masses, the extraordinary popularity of Stalin's slogan that we would not surrender a single inch of Soviet land, which in our eyes was a perfectly obvious indication of this growing patriotism." Do you confirm this?

BUKHARIN: I do.

VYSHINSKY: "To set ourselves up against the slogan, however cunning our political calculations might be, would most certainly have meant isolating ourselves from the masses once and for all, rendering our position meaningless in advance, and our plans utterly hopeless." Do you confirm this?

BUKHARIN: I confirm it fully.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 422-439





KEY PARTS OF WITNESS YAKOVLEVA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN WAS A LEADER OF THE LEFT COMMUNISTS;

SAYS BUKHARIN FIRMLY OPPOSED BREST-LITOVSK & THAT STUKOV TOLD HIM IT WAS DECIDED AT A MEETING TO KILL LENIN, STALIN, & SVERDLOV IF NEEDED;

STUKOV SUBMITTED A DRAFT RESOLUTION TO THIS EFFECT WHICH BUKHARIN ADMITS WRITING;

SAYS BUKHARIN TOLD HIM TROTSKY AGREED THAT KILLINGS MAY BE NECESSARY TO OVERTURN BREST-LITOVSK & BUKHARIN AGREED KILLINGS MAY BE NECESSARY;

SAYS THERE WAS A CONSPIRACY OF LEFT COMMUNISTS, TROTSKY & LEFT SR’S IN 1918 & BUKHARIN WAS A LEADER;

SAYS BUKHARIN SPOKE TO HIM DIRECTLY IN LESS THAN PRECISE TERMS ABOUT THE POSSIBLE NEED FOR KILLINGS



VYSHINSKY (TO YAKOVLEVA): DO YOU RECALL YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE GROUP OF "LEFT COMMUNISTS" IN 1918?

YAKOVLEVA: VERY CLEARLY.

VYSHINSKY: TELL US, BRIEFLY, WHO WAS THE PRINCIPAL ORGANIZER AND LEADER OF THIS GROUP?

YAKOVLEVA: ITS IDEOLOGICAL LEADER WAS BUKHARIN.... Then there were a number of public persons who formulated the ideology of the "Left Communists." They included Preobrazhensky, Radek, and Ossinsky.

VYSHINSKY: TELL US, WHAT WAS BUKHARIN'S ATTITUDE TO THE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS IN BREST-LITOVSK, TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE BREST-LITOVSK PEACE?

YAKOVLEVA: BUKHARIN, LIKE THE WHOLE GROUP OF THE "LEFT COMMUNISTS," WAS OPPOSED TO THE CONCLUSION OF PEACE WITH THE GERMANS.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT MEASURES DID HE TAKE TO FRUSTRATE THE CONCLUSION OF PEACE?

YAKOVLEVA: There were a number of utterances in the press and in Party circles, and then there were the illegal activities of the group of "Left Communists," which were directed towards the same ends.

VYSHINSKY: In what did the underground anti-Soviet activities of the group of "Left Communists" consist?

YAKOVLEVA: WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES OF THE ANTI-SOVIET GROUP OF SO-CALLED "LEFT COMMUNISTS" IS THE FOLLOWING:...STUKOV, A MEMBER OF THE BUREAU, MOVED A RESOLUTION ON THIS QUESTION...[THAT] WE MUST NOT EVEN SHRINK FROM THE ARREST OF THE LEADING, MOST RESOLUTE PART OF THE GOVERNMENT, AS REPRESENTED BY LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV. AND IF THE STRUGGLE WERE TO BECOME MORE CUTE, WE MUST NOT SHRINK EVEN FROM THEIR PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION.

VYSHINSKY: FROM THE PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION OF WHOM?

YAKOVLEVA: OF THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY: LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV.

VYSHINSKY: This was proclaimed at a secret meeting of the bureau?

YAKOVLEVA: It was not a secret meeting, it was an open meeting of the narrow bureau of the Moscow Regional Bureau.

VYSHINSKY: And so it might be said that this was a meeting of "Left Communists." There were no others present?

YAKOVLEVA: No.

VYSHINSKY: This was said by Stukov?

YAKOVLEVA: Yes. Stukov also said that in a political struggle we must not only not shrink from replacing the government and even from arresting its leaders and politically irreconcilable section, but even from the loss of the Soviet power, which in the event of the conclusion of peace with the Germans would become a mere formality. Stukov's draft resolution and his speech at this meeting were recorded in the minutes book of the Moscow Regional Bureau.

In May 1918, in connection with the Moscow regional conference, Mantsev and I were preparing to hand over the materials of the regional bureau, and Mantsev told me that Bukharin insisted on the removal of this draft resolution and the record of Stukov's speech from the minutes book of the Regional Bureau, for the reason that it was necessary to avoid politically compromising the position of the Moscow Regional Bureau and the exposure of its illegal activities. Guided by this argument, Mantsev and I removed (tore out or cut out) from the minutes book and destroyed the pages that contained the record of Stukov's speech and his draft resolution.



YAKOVLEVA:...I spoke to Stukov and told him that the resolution he had moved was politically unjustified and also criticized his speech rather sharply. Stukov told me that he did not bear responsibility for the political justification of this motion, and that on this subject I must address myself to Bukharin, for he had received this draft resolution from Bukharin in Leningrad just before the meeting of the Regional Bureau....

Shortly after this, I had a talk with Bukharin on the subject. This was before the Seventh Party Congress. I asked Bukharin whether what Stukov had said was true. BUKHARIN CONFIRMED THAT THE DRAFT RESOLUTION WAS SENT TO STUKOV BY HIM, BUKHARIN, AND THAT HE HAD INSTRUCTED STUKOV HOW TO SPEAK IN SUPPORT OF THE MOTION.



At the same time Bukharin told me that he was not the only one who thought in this way, that he, Bukharin, had had a frank talk on the subject with Trotsky, and that Trotsky also thought that the political struggle on the question of war and peace had only just begun, that the "Left Communists" must envisage the possibility of the struggle going beyond the confines of the Party, and that allies must be sought who could be relied upon in the struggle....

BUKHARIN ALSO SAID THAT TROTSKY TOO BELIEVED THAT THE STRUGGLE MIGHT ASSUME MOST AGGRESSIVE FORMS, INVOLVING NOT ONLY THE REPLACEMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT, BUT ALSO THE OVERTHROW OF THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION OF LEADING PEOPLE IN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PARTY. HE THEREUPON MENTIONED LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV.

At the same time Bukharin informed me that in the course of this conversation Trotsky had frankly told him that his, Trotsky's, halfway position on the question of the conclusion of peace was nothing but a tactical maneuver, that he simply did not dare to come out actively in favor of the position of the "Left Communists," that is, against the conclusion of peace, that he was a new man in the Party and if he openly advocated the position of the "Left Communists" it would be said that Trotsky had joined the Party in order to fight Lenin.

During this conversation, when telling me of Trotsky's line and of the possible allies of the "Left Communists," Bukharin also referred to Zinoviev and Kamenev. He said that Zinoviev and Kamenev occupied an extremely vacillating position on the question of war and peace, and that during the fight over this question they had in private conversations repeatedly expressed themselves to Bukharin directly in favor of the position of the "Left Communists." Bukharin said that Zinoviev and Kamenev dare not come out openly against Lenin, that they had been compromised by their position during the October days on the question of the October uprising, of the Socialist revolution, and that therefore they did not dare to come out against Lenin openly. He said that Zinoviev and Kamenev, like Bukharin and Trotsky, also thought that the political struggle on the question of war and peace might go beyond the confines of the Party, and that in that case the "Left Communists" must think of allies on whom they could rely. But, Bukharin said, on the question of allies Zinoviev and Kamenev went farther than Trotsky and considered that the Mensheviks and Right Socialist-Revolutionaries might also become such allies. Bukharin said that Zinoviev and Kamenev, even though they had come out in favor of the conclusion of peace, were opposed to Lenin, did not believe in the victory of the revolution, and did not believe that the Bolsheviks could retain power. They considered the victory of counter-revolution inevitable and that this counter-revolution would be an unprecedentedly bloody one.



Thus the position of Zinoviev on the question of peace really proved to have had nothing in common with the position of Lenin. Zinoviev's position was thoroughly capitulationist; and as a matter of fact I then got the impression that he dreamed of peace as one of the means of liquidating the Socialist revolution.



...Roughly at the end of April, perhaps it may have been at the beginning of May--I cannot say exactly--there was an illegal meeting, a private illegal conference of the group of "Left Communists"

As far as I can recall there were present: Pyatakov, Preobrazhensky, Bukharin, Stukov, Lobov, Maximovsky, Mantsev, Kizelshtein and I. AT THIS MEETING BUKHARIN MADE A REPORT....



HE SPOKE ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE FORMS OF STRUGGLE, THAT THE QUESTION OF THE GOVERNMENT ITSELF AND OF THE FORMATION OF A GOVERNMENT FROM "LEFT COMMUNISTS" AND "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES WAS ALREADY PERFECTLY CLEAR, THAT IN THE COURSE OF THE STRUGGLE FOR THIS THE QUESTION MIGHT ARISE OF THE ARREST OF THE LEADING GROUP OF THE GOVERNMENT AS REPRESENTED BY LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV, AND THAT IF THE STRUGGLE BECAME MORE ACUTE EVEN THE PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION OF THE MOST RESOLUTE GROUP OF THE LEADERS OF THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT WAS PROBABLE.



VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY, JUDGING BY YOUR EVIDENCE, YOU AFFIRM THAT IN 1918, IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION, DURING THE PERIOD WHEN THE BREST-LITOVSK PEACE WAS BEING CONCLUDED, THERE EXISTED AN ANTI-SOVIET CONSPIRACY IN WHICH BUKHARIN AND HIS GROUP OF SO-CALLED "LEFT COMMUNISTS," TROTSKY AND HIS GROUP, AND THE "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES TOOK PART?

YAKOVLEVA: THERE UNDOUBTEDLY WAS A CONSPIRACY WITH THE "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES INASMUCH AS QUITE DEFINITE NEGOTIATIONS WERE CONDUCTED WITH THEM.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT WAS THE ROLE OF BUKHARIN IN THIS AFFAIR?

YAKOVLEVA: I HAVE STATED THAT BUKHARIN HIMSELF PROPOSED THAT THESE NEGOTIATIONS SHOULD BE CONDUCTED, AND THAT HE CONDUCTED THEM IN CONJUNCTION WITH PYATAKOV.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS, HIS ROLE WAS A PERFECTLY PRACTICAL ONE, AS A LEADER OF THIS CONSPIRACY?

YAKOVLEVA: YES.

VYSHINSKY: YOU CONFIRM THIS?

YAKOVLEVA: I DO.

VYSHINSKY: FURTHER, YOU CONFIRM THAT BUKHARIN SPOKE OF THE NECESSITY OF NOT SHRINKING IN THE COURSE OF THE STRUGGLE FROM THE ARREST OF THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT?

YAKOVLEVA: HE SAID THAT IN THE COURSE OF THE STRUGGLE IT MIGHT SO HAPPEN THAT WE MUST NOT SHRINK FROM THIS.

VYSHINSKY: HE HAD IN MIND?

YAKOVLEVA: He had in mind determination and political irreconcilability, that is, readiness to fight to the end for the overthrow of the leaders of the Party I have mentioned.

VYSHINSKY: You said that it was Lenin, Stalin, and Sverdlov that he had in mind?

YAKOVLEVA: Yes, these names were mentioned by Stukov.

VYSHINSKY: And did Bukharin mention them?

YAKOVLEVA: I also heard them from Bukharin.

VYSHINSKY: You heard them?

YAKOVLEVA: I heard the same from Bukharin.

VYSHINSKY: YOU CONFIRM TO THE COURT THAT BUKHARIN ALSO TOLD YOU THAT THE ASSASSINATION OF LENIN, AS THE HEAD OF THE SOVIET STATE, AND STALIN, AND SVERDLOV, AS LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT, WAS POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT AND NECESSARY.

YAKOVLEVA: BUKHARIN SPOKE ABOUT THAT. OF COURSE, HE SPOKE OF IT CURSORILY, VEILING IT IN A NUMBER OF VAGUE AND UNNECESSARY THEORETICAL ARGUMENTS, AS BUKHARIN LIKES TO DO GENERALLY. HE WRAPPED UP THIS IDEA LIKE A COCOON IN A HOST OF LENGTHY EXPLANATIONS, BUT HE SAID IT.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 439-446





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS THERE WAS TALK BEFORE & AFTER BREST-LITOVSK OF ARRESTING LENIN, STALIN & SVERDLOV & USING FORCE IF NECESSARY



VYSHINSKY: Accused Bukharin, were you the organizer and leader of the so-called group of "Left Communists" in 1918?

BUKHARIN: I was one of the organizers.

VYSHINSKY: You were one of the organizers of this group?

BUKHARIN: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Did you speak openly of the arrest of Lenin, Stalin, and Sverdlov?

BUKHARIN: There was talk of arrest, but not of physical extermination.... At that time [before Brest-Litovsk] I had one conversation with Pyatakov, when Karelin and Kamkov came and said that they proposed to set up a new government....

VYSHINSKY: When was that?

BUKHARIN: It was before the Brest-Litovsk peace. They proposed to form a government by arresting Lenin for 24 hours.

VYSHINSKY: And so we may say that prior to the conclusion of the Peace of Brest-Litovsk you had a conversation with the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries, Karelin and Kamkov, about the formation of a new government, that is, by first overthrowing the government headed by Lenin? Was there such a conversation?

BUKHARIN: There was.

VYSHINSKY: About the arrest of Lenin?



BUKHARIN: The Socialist-Revolutionaries spoke of that.

VYSHINSKY: As you put it, the Socialist-Revolutionaries spoke about the arrest of Lenin; but the witness Yakovleva affirms that Bukharin too spoke about the arrest of Lenin.... I ASK YOU, WERE THERE BEFORE THE CONCLUSION OF THE BREST-LITOVSK PEACE NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES ABOUT THE ARREST OF LENIN?... WAS THERE A CONVERSATION WITH KARELIN AND KAMKOV ABOUT THE ARREST OF LENIN?

BUKHARIN: I CONFIRM THAT THERE WAS.

VYSHINSKY: BEFORE THE BREST-LITOVSK PEACE?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND WERE THERE ALSO NEGOTIATIONS AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF THE BREST LITOVSK PEACE?

BUKHARIN: THERE WERE.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT ABOUT?

BUKHARIN: ABOUT POLITICAL CONTACT.

VYSHINSKY: AND ABOUT ARREST?

BUKHARIN: AND ABOUT THE ARREST OF THE TRIO YAKOVLEVA HAS MENTIONED.



VYSHINSKY: OF WHOM EXACTLY?

BUKHARIN: OF LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV.

VYSHINSKY: Also for 24 hours?

BUKHARIN: This formula was not employed then.

VYSHINSKY: And how were they to be arrested? And what for?

BUKHARIN: In order to form a new government.

VYSHINSKY: And what was to be done with the arrested?

BUKHARIN: There was no talk of physical extermination.



VYSHINSKY: When a government is overthrown and arrested, are not forcible methods resorted to?

BUKHARIN: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Did you envisage adopting forcible methods when making the arrest? Is this true or not?

BUKHARIN: It is.

VYSHINSKY: But what do forcible methods involve? Did you determine that precisely?

BUKHARIN: No, we did not.

VYSHINSKY: And so you decided to act as circumstances permitted and dictated?

BUKHARIN: Just so.

VYSHINSKY: But circumstances might dictate very decisive action?

BUKHARIN: Yes,... This did not mean that circumstances dictated anything and everything.

VYSHINSKY: LET US FOR THE PRESENT ESTABLISH WHAT IS UNDISPUTED. BEFORE THE BREST-LITOVSK PEACE THERE WAS TALK ABOUT THE ARREST OF LENIN; AFTER THE BREST-LITOVSK PEACE THERE WERE NEGOTIATIONS ABOUT THE ARREST OF LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV AND THE FORCIBLE OVERTHROW OF THE GOVERNMENT. IS THAT CORRECT?

BUKHARIN: IT IS CORRECT ON THE WHOLE.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 447-449





KEY PARTS OF WITNESS YAKOVLEVA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN WAS SUPPRESSING THE FACT THAT THERE WAS A PLOT BETWEEN THE LEFT COMMUNISTS & THE LEFT SOCIALIST- REVOLUTIONARIES



VYSHINSKY: Witness Yakovleva, what do you say to this? Is Bukharin speaking the truth?... What did he tell you?

YAKOVLEVA: He told me that such a possibility was not precluded.

VYSHINSKY: What possibility?

YAKOVLEVA: That the possibility of physical extermination, that is, assassination, was not precluded.

VYSHINSKY: Did he speak to you about this?

YAKOVLEVA: He did.



VYSHINSKY: I have a question to put to witness Yakovleva. WHAT IN YOUR OPINION DID BUKHARIN CONCEAL, WHAT DID HE SUPPRESS?

YAKOVLEVA: HE SUPPRESSED ALL THAT I HAVE TOLD THE COURT TODAY.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS TO SAY?

YAKOVLEVA: THAT IS TO SAY, THE FACT THAT THERE WAS A PLOT BETWEEN THE "LEFT COMMUNISTS" AND THE "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES.

VYSHINSKY: IT WAS ORGANIZED WITH THE DIRECT, ACTIVE, LEADING...

YAKOVLEVA:...PART BEING PLAYED BY BUKHARIN HIMSELF.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 449-453





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS TO PARTICIPATING IN TWO CRIMINAL CONVERSATIONS TO OVERTHROW SOVIET POWER



VYSHINSKY: I have a question to Bukharin. For all that, I am interested in whether you were one of the organizers of the plot against the Soviet power in 1918.

BUKHARIN: I, Citizen Procurator, gave testimony on this point and had a confrontation in your presence. I stated that I admitted myself...

VYSHINSKY: I ASK YOU. IF YOU CHOOSE TO ANSWER, SPEAK; IF YOU DO NOT, DON'T REPLY. I ASK YOU, IN 1918 WERE YOU ONE OF THE ORGANIZERS OF THE PLOT OF "LEFT COMMUNISTS" AND "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER?

BUKHARIN: OF THE PREPARATION OF SUCH A PLOT, YES.... YES, THERE WAS A MOMENT WHEN I WAS A PARTICIPANT IN NEGOTIATIONS OF A CONSPIRATORIAL CHARACTER, UNDERTAKEN THROUGH PYATAKOV.... I ADMIT TWO CRIMINAL CONVERSATIONS. The first conversation was with Karelin, Pyatakov, and Kamkov prior to the Brest-Litovsk Peace.

VYSHINSKY: You consider this conversation a criminal one?

BUKHARIN: I consider the conversation a criminal one because...

VYSHINSKY: I did not ask why. I only asked, do you consider this conversation a criminal one?

BUKHARIN: Yes, I think it was. Another criminal conversation took place with Pyatakov, who was commissioned to conduct negotiations of a similar character with the group of "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries, with Kamkov, Karelin, and somebody else.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 456-457





KEY PARTS OF WITNESS OSSINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS YAKOLEVA TOLD HIM AN ILLEGAL MEETING OF BUKHARIN, YAKOVLEVA, LOMOV, MANTSEV, STUKOV AND OTHERS HAD OCCURRED TO OVERTHROW SOVIET POWER & BUKHARIN TOLD HIM IT WOULD PROBABLY BE NECESSARY TO KILL LENIN, STALIN & SVERDLOV;

IS ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THESE PROPOSALS WERE MADE BY BUKHARIN AS TOLD TO HIM BY YAKOVLEVA;

LEFT COMMUNISTS DREW UP THE PLANS THE LEFT SR’S CARRIED OUT; BUKHARIN WAS NOT TRYING TO CRUSH THE LEFT SR REVOLT BUT TO HELP IT IN DISGUISE;

BUKHARIN TOLD HIM HE WAS PLANNING THE ACTS OF THE LEFT SR’S; BUKHARIN TOLD HIM THEY INTENDED TO KILL LENIN, STALIN, & SVERDLOV; SAYS HE AGREED WITH BUKHARIN



VYSHINSKY: Witness Ossinsky, what you know of the activity of the accused Bukharin connected with his participation in the group of so-called "Left Communists"? I speak of his criminal activities. Do you know of any facts in this sphere or not; if you do, then what facts?



OSSINSKY:...On my return I met with Yakovleva my immediate assistant in the Supreme Council of National Economy. YAKOVLEVA TOLD ME WHAT HAD TAKEN PLACE IN MY ABSENCE AND INFORMED ME THAT AN ILLEGAL MEETING OF THE MOSCOW REGIONAL BUREAU AND OF OTHER "LEFT COMMUNISTS" HAD TAKEN PLACE, IN WHICH BUKHARIN, YAKOVLEVA, LOMOV, MANTSEV, STUKOV AND OTHERS HAD PARTICIPATED. AT THIS MEETING THE QUESTION HAD BEEN RAISED THAT A VERY SHARP AND VIGOROUS LINE MUST BE TAKEN AGAINST LENIN'S LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY AND THE SOVIETS, THE LINE OF SEIZING POWER, OF OVERTHROWING LENIN'S GOVERNMENT AND PLACING IT UNDER ARREST; YAKOVLEVA STATED THAT BUKHARIN WAS INCLINED TO THE IDEA THAT WITH THE ARREST OF LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV, THE NECESSITY WOULD ARISE OF PHYSICALLY REMOVING, OR, TO SPEAK MORE CLEARLY, OF EXTERMINATING THEM as the three most outstanding party and Soviet leaders, as the people carrying on a most consistent struggle for the conclusion of the Brest-Litovsk Peace, the most dangerous opponents of the "Left Communists."

At the preliminary investigation I answered from memory that Bukharin had also taken part in this meeting. I cannot make this assertion for certain, but WHAT I CAN ASSERT WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY IS THAT THESE PROPOSALS WERE INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED BY THE INNER CIRCLE OF MEMBERS OF THE MOSCOW REGIONAL BUREAU ON THE INITIATIVE, ON THE INSTRUCTIONS, AND WITH THE COMPLETE AGREEMENT OF BUKHARIN.

VYSHINSKY: But what grounds have you for asserting that these proposals were adopted on the initiative, on the instructions, and with the complete agreement of Bukharin?

OSSINSKY: That was what Yakovleva told me.



... at first sight it might appear that Zinoviev and Kamenev were not suitable partners to be drawn into such a bloc, because Zinoviev was then making speeches at meetings, making reports, etc., in favor of the Brest-Litovsk Peace; but this behavior of Zinoviev and Kamenev was only a very artful double game, calculated primarily on restoring confidence in themselves both among the Party leadership and the masses of Party members, a confidence seriously undermined by the blackleg behavior in the pre-October and October days of these people, whose reputation had been very seriously damaged.

...In order to conduct a struggle against the Party they were ready, by reason of their lack of principle, to form a bloc with anybody at all, including the "Left Communists."



...Outwardly Trotsky was not coming forward either as a supporter of the "Left Communists" or as an opponent of the Brest-Litovsk Peace. To outward appearance he occupied the intermediary position of "Neither peace nor war." He had selected this position as a cover, so was not to demonstrate openly that he was conducting a struggle against Lenin.



VYSHINSKY: So then you assert that the revolt of the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries in July 1918 was carried through by the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries in accordance with the line drawn up by the "Left Communists." Whose line was this?

OSSINSKY: The line of the bloc.

VYSHINSKY: Which bloc?

OSSINSKY: THE BLOC MADE UP OF "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES, "LEFT COMMUNISTS," ZINOVIEVITES, AND TROTSKYITES.

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY THE PLANS OF THIS BLOC INCLUDED...?

OSSINSKY: THE PLANS OF THIS BLOC INCLUDED, FIRST OF ALL, THE SEIZURE POWER.

VYSHINSKY: AND FOR THIS?

OSSINSKY: FOR THIS ARMED ACTION WAS NEEDED.

VYSHINSKY: NOW WAS IT THE "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES WHO CARRIED THROUGH THIS ARMED ACTION IN JULY 1918?

OSSINSKY: WITHOUT ANY DOUBT WHATSOEVER.

VYSHINSKY: But Bukharin interested himself here in asking of witness Yakovleva, who was examined before you, how it could be, since he was engaged in crushing the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionary revolt. SO IT APPEARS THAT HE DID NOT CRUSH, BUT PREPARED THE "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARY REVOLT. IS THAT HOW I AM TO UNDERSTAND YOU?

OSSINSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: Now can you, as a living witness, explain whether Bukharin suppressed the revolt of the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries?

OSSINSKY: I know nothing of this.

VYSHINSKY: BUT DID HE PREPARE THE REVOLT OF THE "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES?

OSSINSKY: WITHOUT A DOUBT, HE PREPARED IT IDEOLOGICALLY AND PREPARED ITS ORGANIZATIONAL SIDE BY NEGOTIATING WITH THE "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES.

VYSHINSKY: WERE YOU AS A "LEFT COMMUNIST," AS A MEMBER OF THE GROUP OF THE "LEFT COMMUNISTS," AND ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THIS GROUP, AWARE OF THE FACT THAT THE "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES WERE PREPARING A REVOLT?

OSSINSKY: YES, I WAS,...

VYSHINSKY: AND WAS BUKHARIN INFORMED OF THIS?

OSSINSKY: UNDOUBTEDLY.

VYSHINSKY: BECAUSE HE HIMSELF CARRIED ON THE NEGOTIATIONS.

OSSINSKY: OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT HE CARRIED ON NEGOTIATIONS?

OSSINSKY: I HEARD IT FROM YAKOVLEVA AND FROM BUKHARIN HIMSELF.

VYSHINSKY: YOU HEARD IT FROM BUKHARIN. AND ABOUT THE INTENDED ARREST OF THE GOVERNMENT, FROM WHOM DID YOU HEAR THAT?

OSSINSKY: I HEARD THIS FIRST FROM YAKOVLEVA, AND THEN BUKHARIN CORROBORATED IT.

VYSHINSKY: And was it a plan not only to arrest the leaders of the Party and the government, but to assassinate them too?

OSSINSKY: It is beyond doubt that a plan of this kind existed as a guiding line and a main perspective in settling the question of what was to be done with the arrested members of the government.

VYSHINSKY: Whom concretely?

OSSINSKY: Lenin, Stalin, Sverdlov.

VYSHINSKY: FROM WHOM DID YOU FIND OUT THAT IT WAS THE INTENTION OF THE BLOC OF CONSPIRATORS TO ASSASSINATE COMRADES LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV IN 1918?

OSSINSKY: FROM YAKOVLEVA IN THE FIRST PLACE, AND THEN FROM BUKHARIN.

VYSHINSKY: DID BUKHARIN PERSONALLY CORROBORATE THIS INTENTION?

OSSINSKY: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHAT WAS YOUR ATTITUDE TO THIS?

OSSINSKY: WHAT WAS MY ATTITUDE? DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MY POLITICAL ATTITUDE OR MY SUBJECTIVE ATTITUDE? HOWEVER, I'LL PUT MY SUBJECTIVE ATTITUDE ASIDE. SINCE I DID NOT OPPOSE THIS AND DID NOT OBJECT, CONSEQUENTLY I AGREED WITH THIS.

VYSHINSKY: And you did not inform anybody about this?

OSSINSKY: I did not inform anybody, consequently I agreed with this.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 457-465

KEY PARTS OF WITNESS MANTSEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE HEARD BUKHARIN ADVOCATE A COUP WITH THE ARREST & IF NECESSARY KILLING OF STALIN, LENIN, & SVERDLOV



VYSHINSKY: Witness Mantsev, did you belong to the group of "Left Communists" in 1918?

MANTSEV: Yes, I did.

VYSHINSKY: What was your role in this group, that of a rank-and-file member, or a leading role?

MANTSEV: A leading role.

VYSHINSKY: What were the relations between the group of the "Left Communists" and the group of the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries at that time? Do you remember?

MANTSEV: I do.

VYSHINSKY: Can you tell us briefly about it?

MANTSEV: I can.... BUKHARIN DELIVERED A REPORT IN WHICH HE DECLARED THAT, AFTER THE BREST-LITOVSK PEACE HAD BEEN ENDORSED BY THE CONGRESS OF THE PARTY AND THE CONGRESS OF SOVIETS, THERE WAS ONLY ONE ROAD LEFT--THE ROAD OF INSURRECTION AGAINST THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT, OF OVERTHROWING THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT. IN THE COURSE OF THE SAME REPORT HE STATED THAT HE CONSIDERED IT AN INDISPENSABLE CONDITION FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE COUP TO ARREST AND, IN CASE OF NECESSITY, TO PHYSICALLY EXTERMINATE, IN PLAIN WORDS TO MURDER, THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT--LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU HEAR IT YOURSELF?

MANTSEV: YES, I HEARD IT MYSELF, JUST AS ALL THOSE WHO WERE PRESENT AT THAT MEETING HEARD IT.... Bukharin confirmed the existence of an alliance between the "Left Communists" and the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries for the purpose of overthrowing the Soviet government. He said that he personally conducted the negotiations. I also heard that, of the "Left Communists" the following people took part in these negotiations: Stukov and Ossinsky.



...I forgot to mention that Bukharin characterized the existing Soviet government, which was headed by Lenin, as a government betraying the interest of the proletarian revolution, as a bourgeois-kulak government. It was as early as February 1918 or towards the end of February that Stukov, on Bukharin's direct instructions, already then raised the question of overthrowing this government and of making preparations for organizing an insurrection against this government.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 465-468





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS MANTSEV IS TELLING THE TRUTH WHEN HE SAYS THEY CONSIDERED A FORCIBLE OVERTHROW;

SAYS IT WAS NOT A PLAN BUT AN INTENTION INITIATED BY TROTSKY TO PUT LENIN, STALIN & SVERDLOV UNDER ARREST BY FORCE IF NECESSARY & HE AGREED WITH IT



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED BUKHARIN, WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO SAY WITH REGARD TO THE TESTIMONY OF WITNESS MANTSEV?

BUKHARIN: I MUST SAY THE FOLLOWING WITH REGARD TO THE TESTIMONY OF WITNESS MANTSEV:... AS FOR THE LINE FOR A FORCIBLE OVERTHROW OF THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT, I HAVE ALREADY REPLIED THAT THERE WAS SUCH A MOMENT, AND WHEN IT WAS, AND THAT I ADMIT....

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED BUKHARIN, DO YOU CONFIRM THAT YOU HAD THE INTENTION OF PLACING COMRADES LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV UNDER ARREST?

BUKHARIN: YES, I CONFIRM IT, THERE WAS SUCH A MOMENT.

VYSHINSKY: SUCH A PLAN?

BUKHARIN: I DO NOT SAY A PLAN.+++

VYSHINSKY: SUCH AN INTENTION?

BUKHARIN: SUCH AN INTENTION.

VYSHINSKY: INITIATIVE?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHO THE INITIATOR OF THIS INTENTION? WAS IT YOU?

BUKHARIN: THE INITIATOR OF THIS INTENTION WAS TROTSKY.

VYSHINSKY: Did Trotsky commission you with it?

BUKHARIN: No, our relations were not of the kind that he could commission me with anything.

VYSHINSKY: Why then did you except Trotsky's initiative and begin to put it into a fact?

BUKHARIN: Because there was a certain inclination among the leading group of the "Left Communists" to accept his plan.

VYSHINSKY: So you agreed with Trotsky's initiative, and supported his initiative in the question of placing Lenin, Stalin, and Sverdlov under arrest, because you yourself had a similar plan?... WAS TROTSKY THE INITIATOR OF THE IDEA OF PLACING LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV UNDER ARREST?

BUKHARIN: YES, QUITE RIGHT.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU AGREE TO THIS?

BUKHARIN: YES, QUITE RIGHT.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU SUPPORT THIS?

BUKHARIN: AS A MATTER OF FACT I DID.

VYSHINSKY: AND YOU STARTED NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES ABOUT PUTTING THIS PLAN INTO EFFECT, IS THAT RIGHT?

BUKHARIN: YES, THAT'S RIGHT.

VYSHINSKY: WITH THE OBJECT OF FORCIBLE OVERTHROW...

BUKHARIN: WITH THE OBJECT, AS TROTSKY FORMULATED IT AT THE TIME, A FORMING A NEW CABINET.

VYSHINSKY: A CABINET?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AT THE SAME TIME, IT WAS NOT EXCLUDED, OF COURSE, THAT FORCIBLE MEANS WOULD BE ADOPTED WITH REGARD TO LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV?

BUKHARIN: YES, IF WE CONSIDER THAT PLACING UNDER ARREST IS A FORCIBLE MEANS...

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 470-472



KEY PARTS OF WITNESS YAKOVLEVA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS STUKOV TOLD HIM THAT BUKHARIN ORDERED HIM TO CREATE A REPORT ON TAKING OVER & KILLING LEADERS IF NECESSARY & BUKHARIN LATER TOLD YAKOVLEVA IT WAS TRUE



VYSHINSKY: Witness Yakovleva, did you speak to Bukharin about Stukov's report?

YAKOVLEVA: STUKOV TOLD ME THAT IT WAS ON BUKHARIN'S INSTRUCTIONS THAT HE DELIVERED HIS REPORT IN WHICH HE ARGUED IN FAVOR OF THIS AFFAIR. IN THIS REPORT STUKOV SPOKE AS A PROSPECT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POLITICAL STRUGGLE, ALSO OF THE ARREST OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE PERSONS OF LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV, AND EVEN, IN CASE OF AN INTENSIFICATION OF THE STRUGGLE, THE POSSIBILITY OF THE PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION OF THESE THREE LEADERS OF THE PARTY. I INFORMED BUKHARIN ABOUT THIS AND HE CORROBORATED IT.

VYSHINSKY: Do you deny this fact?

BUKHARIN: Of course.

VYSHINSKY: Of course? But they confirm it.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 473





KEY PARTS OF WITNESS MANTSEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS THERE WAS TALK ABOUT THE PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION OF LENIN, STALIN, & SVERDLOV



(To Mantsev) YOU ALSO CONFIRM THAT THERE WAS TALK ABOUT THE PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION OF LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV?

MANTSEV: YES.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 473





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE APPROVED OF THE OVERTHROW & POSSIBLE KILLING BUT THE INITIATIVE WAS TROTSKY’S IDEA NOT HIS;

REFUSES TO EXPLAIN WHY YAKOVLEVA, OSSINSKY, & MANTSEV ARE TESTIFYING AGAINST HIM



BUKHARIN:...THERE WAS THE INTENTION, AND INITIATIVE, THE AUTHOR OF WHICH WAS TROTSKY; IT WAS ACTUALLY ACCEPTED AND APPROVED OF.

VYSHINSKY: THE INITIATIVE WAS NOT YOURS?

BUKHARIN: SINCE TROTSKY...

VYSHINSKY: ANSWER THE QUESTION: YOURS, OR NOT YOURS?

BUKHARIN: THIS WAS TROTSKY'S INITIATIVE, AND I'M NOT TROTSKY; CONSEQUENTLY, IT WAS NOT MINE.

VYSHINSKY: Do you repudiate the initiative?

BUKHARIN: I repudiate the initiative but I do not repudiate the approbation.

VYSHINSKY:... I HAVE THE TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES, WHO SAY THAT YOU, TOGETHER WITH TROTSKY, WERE THE INITIATOR, THAT YOU WERE ALSO THE INITIATOR; THAT IS WHY I AM ASKING YOU, BUT YOU'RE DENYING IT.

BUKHARIN: YES, I DENY IT.+++

VYSHINSKY: BUT YOU HAVE SAID THAT YOU APPROVED OF IT?

BUKHARIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND I AM ASKING: WHEN, AFTER THE BREST-LITOVSK PEACE, YOU INTENDED TO ARREST COMRADES LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV, WAS IT FOR THE PURPOSE OF OVERTHROWING THE GOVERNMENT, WAS IT TO BE PART OF THE VIOLENT STRUGGLE? DO I UNDERSTAND YOU RIGHT?

BUKHARIN: WELL, THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING: THAT IT WAS INTENDED, and that this particular act could have been accomplished in such a way as to be violent but not sanguinary, and therefore there can be no...

VYSHINSKY: Violent but not sanguinary?

BUKHARIN: You arrested me, that is an act of violence; however, I'm still live, but perhaps I will not be alive and I am almost certain of it, yet I'm still alive,...

VYSHINSKY: YOU MUST SOMEHOW EXPLAIN THE FACT THAT THREE [YAKOVLEVA, OSSINSKY, MANTSEV] OF YOUR FORMER ACCOMPLICES ARE SPEAKING AGAINST YOU.

BUKHARIN: YOU SEE, I HAVE NEITHER SUFFICIENT MATERIAL NOR THE PSYCHOLOGICAL REQUISITES TO CLEAR UP THIS QUESTION.

VYSHINSKY: YOU CANNOT EXPLAIN.

BUKHARIN: NOT THAT I CANNOT, I SIMPLY REFUSE TO EXPLAIN.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 473-474





KEY PARTS OF WITNESS OSSINSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS YAKOVLEVA TOLD HIM AND LATER BUKHARIN TOLD HIM OF THE POSSIBLE KILLINGS & BUKHARIN IS LYING WHEN HE SAYS OTHERWISE



VYSHINSKY: WITNESS OSSINSKY, DO YOU CATEGORICALLY AFFIRM THAT YOU WERE AWARE FROM BUKHARIN OF THE PROPOSED ARREST AND MURDER OF COMRADES LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV?

OSSINSKY: I CONFIRM THIS. I HAVE ALREADY SAID THAT I LEARNED OF THIS FROM YAKOVLEVA IN THE FORMULATION WHICH I REPORTED TO BUKHARIN, WHO CONFIRMED IT.

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY.

OSSINSKY: BUKHARIN IS NOT SPEAKING THE TRUTH NOW.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 474-475





KEY PARTS OF WITNESS YAKOVLEVA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN IS LYING WHEN HE SAYS HE DID NOT INITIATE THE IDEA OF ARRESTING & POSSIBLY KILLING LENIN, STALIN & SVERDLOV



VYSHINSKY: DO YOU, WITNESS YAKOVLEVA, ALSO THINK THAT BUKHARIN IS NOT SPEAKING THE TRUTH?

YAKOVLEVA: YES, I HAVE SAID THAT I HEARD FROM BUKHARIN ABOUT THE PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION OF THE THREE LEADERS OF THE PARTY.

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY, IN DENYING THIS NOW, BUKHARIN IS NOT SPEAKING THE TRUTH?

YAKOVLEVA: YES, BUKHARIN DOES NOT WISH TO SPEAK THE TRUTH.

VYSHINSKY: BUT WERE THERE CASES WHEN BUKHARIN, WHILE PRETENDING TO SPEAK THE TRUTH, WAS NOT SPEAKING THE TRUTH?

YAKOVLEVA: IT SEEMS TO ME THAT, WHILE PRETENDING TO SPEAK THE TRUTH ABOUT THE CONSPIRACY OF "LEFT COMMUNISTS" AND "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES, HE IS NOT SPEAKING THE TRUTH. THIS IS ALREADY AN HISTORICAL FACT. AND HE HIMSELF ADMITS, IN REPLY TO YOUR QUESTION HE WAS COMPELLED TO STATE, THAT HE HAS NOT TOLD THE WHOLE TRUTH.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 475





KEY PARTS OF WITNESS MANTSEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE LEARNED FROM YAKOVLEVA & TROTSKY HIMSELF THAT TROTSKY & BUKHARIN PROPOSED THE KILLINGS;

SAYS THE DECISION TO KILL THE 3 WAS TAKEN ON THE INITIATIVE OF BUKHARIN



MANTSEV:...BUT REGARDING THE CONSPIRACY, REGARDING THE PROPOSED ASSASSINATION, I KNEW THIS WAS THE PROPOSAL OF BUKHARIN, THE LEADER OF OUR FACTION.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU HAVE OCCASION TO VISIT TROTSKY AND SPEAK TO HIM ON THIS SUBJECT?

MANTSEV: YES, I VISITED TROTSKY AND SPOKE TO HIM OF THIS.

VYSHINSKY: DID TROTSKY SPEAK TO YOU OF THE NECESSITY OF MURDERING LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV?

MANTSEV: YES, TROTSKY SPOKE OF THIS.

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY, WHEN BUKHARIN DECLARES THAT THE INITIATIVE CAME ALSO FROM TROTSKY, HE IS SPEAKING THE TRUTH?

MANTSEV: YES, IN THIS CASE HE IS SPEAKING THE TRUTH

VYSHINSKY: THAT MEANS, IT CAN BE SAID THAT TROTSKY TOGETHER WITH BUKHARIN WERE PLANNING TO KILL LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV?

MANTSEV: YES, THIS IS TRUE.

VYSHINSKY: HOW DID YOU COME TO KNOW OF THIS PLAN?

MANTSEV: I LEARNED OF IT FROM YAKOVLEVA, FROM TROTSKY, AND OTHERS PERSONALLY.

VYSHINSKY: TROTSKY SPOKE OF THE NECESSITY OF MURDERING LENIN AND STALIN?

MANTSEV: YES, HE DID.

VYSHINSKY: DID BUKHARIN TELL YOU THAT HE WAS HIMSELF INCITING THE MURDER OF LENIN AND STALIN?

MANTSEV: THIS WAS A DECISION.

VYSHINSKY: WHOSE DECISION?

MANTSEV: A DECISION OF THE LEADING BODY OF THE "LEFT COMMUNISTS."

VYSHINSKY: TAKEN ON WHOSE INITIATIVE?

MANTSEV: ON THE INITIATIVE OF BUKHARIN.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 477





KEY PARTS OF WITNESS KAMKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BUKHARIN NOT HIMSELF DEFINITELY PROPOSED ARRESTING LENIN;

SAYS AN AGREEMENT WAS REACHED BETWEEN THE LEFT COMMUNISTS AND LEFT SR’S TO OVERTHROW THE GOVT;

ADMITS TAKING PART IN THE SR PLOT TO KILL MIRBACH;

SAYS THE LEFT COMMUNISTS WERE FULLY AWARE OF THE JULY REVOLT PLAN TO KILL MIRBACH & KARELIN TOLD HIM BUKHARIN WAS FULLY AWARE;

SAYS THEY DECIDED TO KILL MIRBACH & FRUSTRATE THE BREST- LITOVSK PEACE



THE PRESIDENT: Is your name Kamkov?

KAMKOV: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Were you a member of the Central Committee of the party of the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries in 1918?

KAMKOV: Yes....



I FIRMLY HOLD TO MY POSITION AND AM NOT MISTAKEN THAT THE PROPOSAL TO ARREST LENIN WAS MADE BY BUKHARIN. I DO NOT OF COURSE ANSWER FOR INDIVIDUAL WORDS--IT WAS 20 YEARS AGO. BUT I DO ANSWER FOR THE SUBSTANCE OF THE DIALOGUE AS IT THEN TOOK PLACE, AND I INSIST THAT IT WAS UTTERED BY BUKHARIN AND NOT BY ME....



VYSHINSKY: CAN YOU ANSWER MY QUESTION? WAS AN AGREEMENT REACHED BETWEEN THE "LEFT COMMUNISTS" AND THE "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES ON CERTAIN CONDITIONS FOR A JOINT STRUGGLE AGAINST THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT, HEADED BY LENIN?

KAMKOV: At what period?

VYSHINSKY: At this period, in the period following the Brest-Litovsk Peace, or, if you like, the Brest-Litovsk period.

KAMKOV: You are referring to the period prior to the July revolt?

VYSHINSKY: Yes, prior to the July revolt. Was there an agreement or not?

KAMKOV: As far as I know there was such an agreement.

VYSHINSKY: Was there, or was there not?

KAMKOV: Inasmuch as I myself did not conclude...

VYSHINSKY: But you were a member of the Central Committee of the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries; you should have known whether there was an agreement or not.

KAMKOV: SUCH AN AGREEMENT WAS REACHED.

VYSHINSKY: And a second question. The Soviet government, headed by Lenin, Stalin, and Sverdlov, was to have been overthrown by the joint action of the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries and the "Left Communists" and a new government formed consisting of "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries and "Left Communists." Is that so or not?

KAMKOV: I hesitate to say exactly.

VYSHINSKY: But the idea?

KAMKOV: The idea is roughly correct.



VYSHINSKY:...THE LEFT SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES ORGANIZED THE ASSASSINATION OF MIRBACH AND THE JULY REVOLT. IS THAT CORRECT?

KAMKOV: IT IS.

VYSHINSKY: BY THE WAY, DID YOU, AS A MEMBER OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES TAKE A DIRECT PART IN ORGANIZING THE ASSASSINATION OF MIRBACH?

KAMKOV: I DID.

VYSHINSKY: THE "LEFT COMMUNISTS" WERE FULLY AWARE OF THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE ASSASSINATION OF MIRBACH AND FOR THE JULY REVOLT. DO YOU CONFIRM THIS?

KAMKOV: I DO.

VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY THE "LEFT COMMUNISTS" WERE INFORMED ABOUT THE JULY REVOLT?

KAMKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: FULLY?

KAMKOV: FULLY....

VYSHINSKY:...I ASK YOU: WAS BUKHARIN IN PARTICULAR, AS A LEADER OF THE "LEFT COMMUNISTS," AWARE OF THE FACT THAT THE SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES WERE PREPARING FOR A REVOLT, WHICH THEN ACTUALLY BROKE OUT IN JULY 1918?

KAMKOV: ACCORDING TO WHAT KARELIN TOLD ME, HE WAS AWARE OF IT.

VYSHINSKY: HE WAS FULLY AWARE OF IT? FULLY?

KAMKOV: MOST LIKELY NOT PARTIALLY, BUT FULLY....

WE DECIDED TO ASSASSINATE MIRBACH AND FRUSTRATE THE BREST-LITOVSK PEACE.

VYSHINSKY: THAT WAS DECIDED?

KAMKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND THEN A REVOLT WAS PROJECTED? THAT WAS DECIDED?

KAMKOV: IT WAS.

VYSHINSKY: AND THAT IS WHAT YOU DID?

KAMKOV: THAT IS WHAT WE DID.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 484-491





KEY PARTS OF WITNESS KARELIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS PROSHYAN TOLD HIM THAT BUKHARIN DID NOT SHRINK FROM KILLING GOVT LEADERS;

BUKHARIN TOLD HIM PERSONALLY THAT IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO RESORT TO KILLING LENIN, STALIN, & SVERDLOV;

SAID PROSHYAN TOLD HIM THAT BUKHARIN FELT THE PLAN TO KILL MIRBACH TO DISRUPT BREST-LITOVSK WAS EFFECTIVE; PROSHYAN TOLD HIM BUKHARIN WANTED THE KILLINGS EXPEDITED



VYSHINSKY: Witness Karelin, did you in 1918, while a member of the Central Committee of the party of "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries, have occasion to conduct negotiations with Bukharin? Do you know Bukharin?

KARELIN: I do.



VYSHINSKY: Citizen Karelin, did you in 1918, while you were a member of the Central Committee of the party of "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries, conduct negotiations or meet Bukharin in connection with his activities as leader of the group of the so-called "Left Communists"?

KARELIN: Yes, I did.



...IT WAS SAID THAT BUKHARIN FAVORED THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT WITHOUT SHRINKING EVEN FROM THE PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION OF THE LEADERS OF THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT AND OF THE PARTY.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS, WITHOUT SHRINKING FROM THE ASSASSINATION OF THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT?

KARELIN: WELL, YES, FROM PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION, OR ASSASSINATION.

VYSHINSKY: OF WHOM EXACTLY?

KARELIN: THE LEADERS WERE SPOKEN OF, AND LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV WERE MENTIONED PERSONALLY.

VYSHINSKY: WHO INFORMED YOU OF THIS?

KARELIN: PROSHYAN.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHO HAD SAID THIS?

KARELIN: HE CITED BUKHARIN.

VYSHINSKY: Did Proshyan conduct negotiations with Bukharin?

KARELIN: Yes, he did.

VYSHINSKY: On whose instructions?

KARELIN: On the instructions of the Central Committee of the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries.



KARELIN:...The "Left Communists" were represented by Bukharin, Pyatakov, and Radek, and to some extent by other persons; the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries were represented by Kamkov, myself, Proshyan, and partly by Natanson.

VYSHINSKY: DID BUKHARIN AT THIS MEETING TELL YOU THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO RESORT TO THE PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION OF LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV?

KARELIN: HE SAID THAT DIRECT ACTION WOULD HAVE TO BE TAKEN, WITHOUT SHRINKING FROM PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION.



...In particular, one of the prime links in the organizational plan of the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionary revolt was a terrorist act against the German Ambassador, Mirbach. PROSHYAN SAID THAT IN HIS CONVERSATION WITH BUKHARIN THE LATTER HAD SAID THAT THIS PLAN FOR THE RUPTURE OF PEACE IN THIS ACT OF ASSASSINATION OF MIRBACH WERE IN GENERAL IMPRESSIVE AND EFFECTIVE.

VYSHINSKY: BUKHARIN SAID THAT THE ASSASSINATION OF THE AMBASSADOR...

KARELIN: THAT THE TERRORIST ACT AGAINST THE GERMAN AMBASSADOR, MIRBACH, WOULD BE AN IMPRESSIVE AND EFFECTIVE STEP TOWARDS A RUPTURE OF THE BREST-LITOVSK PEACE.



...And it was at this period that Proshyan, who had charge of the combat organization of the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries, in a report he made to the Central Committee of the Party of the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries, referred to the fact that the insistence that Bukharin had formerly displayed with regard to a terrorist act had become extremely enhanced.

VYSHINSKY: That is, the Central Committee of the Party of the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries was posted on the preparations for the assassination of Comrade Lenin?

KARELIN: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: And what had Bukharin to do with it?

KARELIN: ACCORDING TO PROSHYAN, WHO WAS CONDUCTING NEGOTIATIONS WITH BUKHARIN BEARING AN OFFICIAL CHARACTER, BUKHARIN URGED THAT THE TERRORIST ACT SHOULD BE EXPEDITED....

VYSHINSKY: And so you confirm that the preparations of the Right and the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries for an attempt upon the life of Lenin were made in conjunction with Bukharin?

KARELIN: With the "Left Communists." We regarded Bukharin as the leader of the "Left Communists."

VYSHINSKY: You said at the preliminary investigation that the fact that you, in conjunction with the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries and on the insistence of Bukharin, had attempted to murder Lenin has been concealed from the Soviet people for 20 years. Do you confirm this?

KARELIN: I confirm that there was insistence on the part of Bukharin as the leader of the group of "Left Communists." This insistence played a very big part in the preparation of this crime.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 496-503





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS PREPARING TO ARREST LENIN, STALIN, & SVERDLOV



VYSHINSKY (to Bukharin): Moreover, Yakovleva testifies that in 1918 you held the standpoint and planned the arrest and assassination of Comrades Lenin, Stalin, and Sverdlov. Karelin testifies to the same, Ossinsky testifies to the same, and Mantsev testifies to the same. I ask you, who gave you instructions to arrange this crime; what intelligence service gave you these instructions?

BUKHARIN: I deny this fact altogether.



VYSHINSKY: And in such an atmosphere, the idea of arrest, and in the case of some, perhaps, of assassination, was not precluded?

BUKHARIN: As regards arrest, I admit it; as regards assassination, I know nothing whatever.

VYSHINSKY: But why do both former "Left Communists" and "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries say so--everybody?

BUKHARIN: No, not everybody; of two "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries, only one said it.

VYSHINSKY: THEY SAY THAT YOU, AS A TRAITOR TO THE REVOLUTION, WERE PREPARING TO ARREST LENIN, STALIN, AND SVERDLOV.

BUKHARIN: THAT I ADMIT.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 504-509





KEY PARTS OF LEVIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS YAGODA WANTED GORKY’S SON KILLED; YAGODA TOLD ME IT WAS NECESSARY TO KILL MENSHINSKY & GET KAZAKOV TO PROVIDE THE POISON



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Dr. Levin, do you confirm the testimony given during the preliminary investigation?

LEVIN: I do.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Levin, tell us when and under what circumstances you became acquainted with Yagoda, and what were the results of your intimacy with Yagoda.

LEVIN: My acquaintance with Yagoda began as early as the beginning of the twenties. I treated the late Dzerzhinsky and Menzhinsky. I met Yagoda occasionally and gave him medical treatment.

...EARLY IN 1933, IN THE WINTER, DURING ONE OF MY VISITS TO YAGODA, DURING A WALK THROUGH THE GROUNDS OF HIS COUNTRY HOUSE, HE BEGAN A CONVERSATION TO WHICH HE SUBSEQUENTLY RETURNED SEVERAL TIMES, A CONVERSATION ABOUT GORKY'S SON, PESHKOV. He said that he was dissatisfied with his mode of life, with his behavior; that he was dissatisfied with the fact that he never touched any work, that he was never engaged in anything;...

DURING ONE SUCH CONVERSATION HE SAID TO ME: YOU SEE, MAX--THAT WAS THE WAY HE CALLED HIM--IS NOT ONLY A GOOD-FOR-NOTHING, BUT ALSO EXERTS HARMFUL INFLUENCE ON HIS FATHER.... HE MUST BE REMOVED. IT IS NECESSARY TO DO SOMETHING THAT HE SHOULD PERISH.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS TO SAY?

LEVIN: TO BRING ABOUT HIS DEATH.

VYSHINSKY: HENCE, TO MURDER HIM?

LEVIN: OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: And so Yagoda proposed to you to carry this out.



LEVIN: He reiterated that my refusal to carry this out would spell ruin for me and my family.... when you consider how all-powerful Yagoda appeared to me, a nonparty person, then, of course, it was very difficult to evade his threats, his orders.

VYSHINSKY: And did you try to evade them?

LEVIN: I tried in my soul.

VYSHINSKY: In your soul, but you showed no resistance?

LEVIN: No

VYSHINSKY: Did you try to protest, to tell somebody about this, to inform?

LEVIN: No. I did nothing, I did not try to evade, I spoke to no one and adopted a decision.



LEVIN: Yagoda. At that time he thought of another design. During our meetings, Yagoda often inquired of me about the state of health of Menzhinsky, the then chairman of the 0GPU, who was seriously ill at the time. Yagoda was assistant chairman of the 0GPU.



VYSHINSKY: I am asking you: when Yagoda asked you about Menzhinsky's state of health, did you not tell Yagoda that Menzhinsky could keep up the fight for an indefinite period of time?

LEVIN: Yes, of course.

VYSHINSKY: And what did Yagoda say in reply to this?

LEVIN: What he said was: "I have information that he is a living corpse."

VYSHINSKY: Did he not say that it was necessary to hasten this?

LEVIN: Yes, he did.

VYSHINSKY: DID NOT YAGODA TELL YOU IT WAS NECESSARY TO KILL MENZHINSKY?

LEVIN: HE DID.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHOM DID HE SAY THEN IT WAS NECESSARY TO ENLIST FOR THIS PURPOSE?

LEVIN: DR. KAZAKOV.

VYSHINSKY: YOU ASKED DR. KAZAKOV TO COME, FOR WHAT PURPOSE? FOR TREATMENT OR FOR BRINGING ABOUT DEATH?

LEVIN: FOR THE LATTER.

VYSHINSKY: WHY EXACTLY KAZAKOV?

LEVIN: HE TREATED PATIENTS WITH LYSATES, AND KAZAKOV PREPARED THE LYSATES HIMSELF IN HIS LABORATORY.

VYSHINSKY: SO HE COULD PREPARE ANYTHING HE LIKED?

LEVIN: HE COULD PREPARE LYSATES WHICH WOULD NOT HELP, BUT WOULD BRING HARM.

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS THE SAME AS ADMINISTERING POISON.

LEVIN: QUITE RIGHT.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 513-520





KEY PARTS OF KAZAKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS LEVIN IS BEING TRUTHFUL;

LEVIN TOLD ME YAGODA WOULD BE VERY IRRITATED IF I IMPROVED MENSHINSKY’S HEALTH;

SAYS LEVIN SAID YAGODA WANTED MENSHINSKY DEAD & WOULD MAKE SHORT SHIRIFT OF HIM IF HE KEPT MENSHINSKY ALIVE



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED KAZAKOV, DO YOU CONFIRM LEVIN'S PRESENT EVIDENCE?

KAZAKOV: IN SUBSTANCE I DO.



KAZAKOV: He [Levin] told me very curtly: "I'm surprised that you have undertaken Menzhinsky's treatment with so much zeal and that you are even improving his health; you should not have allowed him to get back to work." And then he said this phrase: "By this you are irritating Yagoda."

...IN OCTOBER LEVIN SAID TO BE: "YOU MUST REALIZE THAT MENZHINSKY IS ACTUALLY A CORPSE AND BY RESTORING HIS HEALTH, BY ALLOWING HIM TO GET BACK TO WORK, YOU ARE ANTAGONIZING YAGODA. REMEMBER THAT YAGODA IS INTERESTED IN GETTING MENZHINSKY OUT OF A WAY, AND IF YOU DO NOT SUBMIT, YAGODA WILL MAKE SHORT SHRIFT OF YOU."

VYSHINSKY: HE WAS FRIGHTENING YOU.

KAZAKOV: YES.



KAZAKOV: LEVIN UTTERED ONE PHRASE TO THE EFFECT THAT YAGODA WAS A MAN WHO WOULD NOT STOP AT ANYTHING AND THAT, IF I OFFERED RESISTANCE, HE WOULD CERTAINLY DEPRIVE ME OF MY LIFE.

LEVIN: THAT IS PERFECTLY TRUE.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU SAY THAT?

LEVIN: YES.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 521-524





KEY PARTS OF YAGODA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE GAVES ORDER TO KILL GORKY & KUIBYSHEV BUT NOT MENZHINSKY OR PESHKOV



YAGODA: I gave Levin instructions to bring about the death of Gorky and Kuibyshev, and that's all.

VYSHINSKY: And how about Menzhinsky?

YAGODA: I did not bring about the death of either Menzhinsky or Peshkov.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 525-526





KEY PARTS OF KAZAKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS YAGODA ORDERED HIM TO FINISH OFF MENZHINSKY & THREATENED TO KILL HIM IF HE DIDN’T ACT



KAZAKOV: Yagoda met me and asked: "How do you find Menzhinsky's health?" I said that after the attacks of bronchial asthma, Menzhinsky's condition was now grave.... "What are you fiddling about, then?" Yagoda said. "Why don't you act?"... "Who asked you to offer medical assistance to Menzhinsky?" Yagoda was literally fuming; he said: "Everybody has given up Menzhinsky, you are fussing about with him to no purpose. His life is of no use to anybody, he is in everybody's way. I order you to work out together with Levin a method of treatment whereby it would be possible to bring about a quick end to Menzhinsky's life. Remember that if you make any attempt to disobey me, I shall find quick means of exterminating you."

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 527

KEY PARTS OF YAGODA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS TELLING LEVIN TO GET MAX PESHKOV OUT OF THE WAY; ADMITS PREPARTING CRIMES IN THE CASE OF KUIBYSHEV AND MAXIM GORKY



YAGODA: IT IS NOT TRUE THAT I SAID THIS AT THE PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION.

VYSHINSKY: I REQUEST THAT VOLUME 2, PAGE 195, OF THE RECORD BE PRESENTED.

DEPOSITION OF THE ACCUSED YAGODA OF DECEMBER 28, 1937 (PAGE 196 OF THE RECORD):

"IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT DURING HIS LAST YEAR'S MENZHINSKY WAS MORE OFTEN ILL THAN AT WORK. I DIRECTED THE WORK. IT WAS CLEAR THAT AFTER HIS DEATH I WOULD BECOME CHAIRMAN OF THE 0GPU. I BECAME ACCUSTOMED TO THIS IDEA AND WAS WAITING FOR MENZHINSKY'S DEATH, BUT HE DID NOT DIE. WHEN I INSTRUCTED LEVIN TO GET MAX OUT OF THE WAY..."

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED LEVIN, WHO IS THIS MAX?

LEVIN: MAXIM PESHKOV.

VYSHINSKY: "I THOUGHT, WHY COULD NOT THE SAME THING BE DONE TO MENZHINSKY? IN ONE OF MY CONVERSATIONS WITH LEVIN, I SPOKE TO HIM BLUNTLY ABOUT THIS. HE WAS ALREADY LINKED WITH ME IN PREPARING CRIMES AND HE COULD NOT REFUSE TO DO THIS."

ACCUSED YAGODA, WAS LEVIN LINKED WITH YOU IN PREPARING CRIMES?

YAGODA: NOT IN THE CASE OF MAX.

VYSHINSKY: IN WHOSE CASE?

YAGODA: KUIBYSHEV AND MAXIM GORKY.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 528





KEY PARTS OF KRYUCHKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS YAGODA TOLD HIM TO KILL MAXIM PESHKOV & A COUNTER-REV COUP WAS PLANNED



VYSHINSKY: Accused Kryuchkov, what kind of conversation did you have with Yagoda?

KRYUCHKOV: YAGODA TOLD ME THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO REMOVE MAXIM PESHKOV.

VYSHINSKY: WHAT DOES "REMOVE" MEAN?

KRYUCHKOV: TO MURDER MAXIM.... DURING THIS CONVERSATION I LEARNED FROM YAGODA THAT A COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY COUP WAS BEING PLANNED AND HE WAS A PARTICIPANT IN THIS COUP. HE TOLD ME PLAINLY: SOON THERE WILL BE A NEW GOVERNMENT IN THE USSR,... HE SAID: "YOU KNOW HOW GORKY LOVES MAX (HIS SON, PESHKOV). MAX'S DEATH WOULD BE A HEAVY BLOW TO GORKY AND WOULD TURN HIM INTO A HARMLESS OLD MAN. YOU MUST KILL MAX."

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 529





KEY PARTS OF LEVIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS AS A RESULT OF HIS WRECKING ACTS MENSHINSKY & PESHKOV DIED;

SAYS HE, A DOCTOR, COMMITTED ABOMINABLE CRIMES;

SAYS YAGODA TOLD HIM THAT HE WAS NOW IN YAGODA’S HANDS BECAUSE HE COMMITTED THESE TWO MURDERS;

YAGODA TOLD HIM A CHANGE IN GOVT WAS COMING LED BY BUKHARING, RYKOV, AND YENUKIDZE;

SAYS YAGODA WANTED HIM TO KILL GORKY;

ADMITS ORGANIZING THE MURDER OF GORKY WITH HIS ACCOMPLICE KRYUCHKOV & PLETNEV’S HELP & OPERATING UNDER YAGODA’S ORDERS



LEVIN:...I SHALL NOW DWELL ONLY ON THE FACT THAT AS A RESULT OF OUR JOINT WRECKING ACTIVITIES MENZHINSKY DIED ON MAY 10, 1934, AND MAXIM PESHKOV DIED THE FOLLOWING DAY.



THESE CRIMES WERE PERPETRATED. THERE IS NO NEED TO STRESS HOW VILE AND ABOMINABLE THEY WERE WHEN COMMITTED BY ANY DOCTOR, no matter who the patient is or what the circumstances may be....

Within a few days after the funerals of Menzhinsky and Peshkov, Yagoda again summoned me and said: "Well, now that you have committed these crimes, you are entirely in my hands and you must agree to what I shall now propose...." THEN HE WENT ON TO TELL ME THAT WIDESPREAD DISSATISFACTION WAS GROWING AND STRENGTHENING IN THE PARTY AGAINST THE PARTY LEADERSHIP, THAT A CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT WAS INEVITABLE, PREDETERMINED, AND UNAVOIDABLE, THAT THE MOVEMENT WAS HEADED BY RYKOV, BUKHARIN, AND YENUKIDZE. And since this was inevitable, since it would happen all the same, the sooner it took place, the better. In order to speed it up, in order to facilitate this process, we had to remove certain members of the Politburo and Gorky from the political scene. This was a historical necessity.... In the course of this conversation, Yagoda added: "Gorky is a man who is very close to the highest Party leadership, a man very much devoted to the policy which is now being carried out in the country, very devoted personally to Stalin, a man who will never betray, who will never tread our road. Then again, you know what authority Gorky's words have both in our country and far beyond its borders, you are aware of the influence he enjoys and how much harm he can cause our movement by his words. You must agree to undertake this," he said, "and you will reap the fruits of it when the new government comes to power."



VYSHINSKY: THAT MEANS YOU ORGANIZED THE DEATH OF GORKY?

LEVIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: WHOM DID YOU DRAW INTO THIS CRIMINAL DEED?

LEVIN: PROFESSOR PLETNEV.

VYSHINSKY: WHO WERE YOUR ACCOMPLICES IN THIS DEED?

LEVIN: KRYUCHKOV.

VYSHINSKY: UPON WHOSE ORDERS DID YOU ACT?

LEVIN: YAGODA'S.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 530-532





KEY PARTS OF YAGODA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS GIVING LEVIN SUCH AN ORDER



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED YAGODA, DO YOU CONFIRM THIS PART OF THE ACCUSED LEVIN'S TESTIMONY?

YAGODA: YES, I DO.

VYSHINSKY: YOU GAVE SUCH AN ORDER?

YAGODA: YES, I DID.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 532



KEY PARTS OF LEVIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE KILLED KUIBYSHEV ON YAGODA’S ORDERS



VYSHINSKY (to Levin): ON WHOSE INSTRUCTIONS DID YOU ALSO ORGANIZE THE ASSASSINATION OF KUIBYSHEV?

LEVIN: ON YAGODA'S INSTRUCTIONS.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 532



KEY PARTS OF KRYUCHKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS LEVIN IS CORRECT WHEN HE SAYS YAGODA GAVE HIM ORDERS TO KILL GORKY



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED KRYUCHKOV, DO YOU CONFIRM WHAT LEVIN SAYS?

KRYUCHKOV: I CONFIRM THAT YAGODA GAVE ME INSTRUCTIONS TO MURDER GORKY.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 533





KEY PARTS OF PLETNEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS LEVIN IS CORRECT BY SAYING HE, PLETNEV, IS INVOLVED IN CRIMES



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED PLETNEV, DO YOU CONFIRM THE TESTIMONY OF LEVIN, WHO REFERRED TO YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THIS CRIME?

PLETNEV: YES, I CONFIRM IT.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 533





KEY PARTS OF LEVIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS GIVING GORKY MUCH TOO STRONG DOSES OF MEDICINES FOR CRIMINAL ENDS



LEVIN: AS REGARDS GORKY THE LINE WAS AS FOLLOWS: TO USE SUCH MEDICINES, WHICH WERE IN GENERAL INDICATED, AGAINST WHICH NO DOUBT OR SUSPICION COULD ARISE AND WHICH COULD BE USED TO STIMULATE THE ACTIVITY OF THE HEART. AMONG SUCH MEDICINES WERE CAMPHOR, CAFFEINE, CARDIOSOL, DIGALEN. We have the right to apply these medicines for a group of cardiac diseases. But in his case they were administered in tremendous doses. Thus, for example, he received as many as 40 injections of camphor.

VYSHINSKY: Over what period of time?

LEVIN: Between 30 and 40 injections in 24 hours. This dose was too heavy for him.

LEVIN: SUCH POTENT MEDICINES SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ADMINISTERED.

VYSHINSKY: BUT YOU DID?

LEVIN: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AGAIN FOR CRIMINAL ENDS?

LEVIN: OF COURSE.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 541-543


KEY PARTS OF BULANOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

[Private Secretary to Yagoda & Secretary of the People's Commissariat]

SAYS YAGODA TOLD HIM THE RIGHTS HAD UNITED WITH THE TROTS AND ZINOVIEVITES AND THE ONLY WAY TO GET POWER WAS BY A VIOLENT ARMED COUP;

SAYS YAGODA WAS REALLY FASCINATED WITH HITLER & MEIN KAMPF; SAYS YAGODA SAID THE COUP MUST OCCUR AT THE SAME TIME AS A WAR;

SAYS YAGODA WOULD NOT ATTEMPT A COUP UNTIL AGREEMENTS HAD BEEN REACHED WITH GERMANY AND JAPAN;

AFTER THE COUP THE FIGHTING WOULD STOP & CONCESSIONS AND CESSIONS WOULD BEGIN;

HEARD KRESTINSKY AND KARAKHAN WERE INVOLVED AND TUKHACHEVSKY WAS TO BE PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR OF DEFENSE; ADMITS HE WAS INVOLVED IN CRIMES & POISONING;

SAID YAGODA DELIBERATELY HAD CASES AGAINST TROTS, RIGHTS, & ZINOVIEVITES DISMISSED & SHIELDED THEM;

SAYS YAGODA DEFINITELY KNEW OF DREITZER’S CONSPIRATORIAL ACTS & SHIELDED HIM;

SAID PAUKER, CHIEF OF THE OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT, WAS A GERMAN SPY;

YAGODA ADMITS HE KNEW PAUKER & VOLOVICH WERE GERMAN SPIES; SAYS MOLCHANOV, CHIEF OF THE SECRET POLITICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS WAS A MEMBER OF THE RIGHTS;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED CRIMES;

YAGODA TOLD HIM A DECISION HAD BEEN MADE TO KILL YEZHOV;

SAYS YAGODA DID EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO HAMPER YEZHOV;

SAYS YAGODA TOLD HIM ZAPOROZHETZ, ASSISTANT CHIEF OF THE LENINGRAD REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, HAD ARRANGED FOR NIKOLAYEV TO KILL KIROV;

SAYS THAT A GUARD ARRESTED NIKOLAYEV A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE THE KILLING BUT ZAPOROZHETZ HAD HIM RELEASED; YAGODA TOLD HIM BORSOV HAD A HAND IN THE KILLING & ZAPOROZHETZ HAD HIM KILLED BECAUSE HE MIGHT TELL ALL;

ON YAGODA’S INSTRUCTIONS ZAPOROZHETZ HAD BORISOV KILLED IN A CAR WRECK;

YAGODA WAS DETERMINED TO KILL YEZHOV BY POISONING HIS OFFICE; ADMITS PREPARING THE POISON THAT WAS SPREAD AROUND YEZHOV’S FUTURE OFFICE IN THE PRESENCE OF YAGODA & HIMSELF;

SAYS YAGODA WAS VERY INTERESTED IN POISONS CONNECTED WITH THE CONSPIRACY;

ADMITS BEING PRESENT AT 4 POISON SPRAYINGS;

SAYS YAGODA HELPED KILL GORKY;

SAYS HE LEARNED FROM YAGODA THAT DR. LEVIN, PROF. PLETNEV, AND KRYUCHKOV, GORKY'S SECRETARY, TOOK PART IN THIS CRIME.;

SAYS HE PERSONALLY HEARD YAGODA SEVERAL TIMES TELLING KRYUCHKOV THAT HE MUST TRY TO GIVE GORKY A CHILL TO KILL HIM;

SAYS MENSHINSKY WAS KILLED ON THE DIRECT ORDERS OF YAGODA; SAYS YAGODO TOLD HIM HE HAD DECIDED TO KILL MENZHINSKY;

SAYS THAT YAGODA ASSIGNED DR. KAZAKOV TO DO THE KILLING WHEN LEVIN FAILED;

SAYS YAGODA IS LYING ABOUT HIS ROLE



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Bulanov, do you confirm the testimony you gave at the preliminary investigation?

BULANOV: Yes, I do.... During the years I worked with Yagoda as his private secretary and as secretary of the People's Commissariat....



One day, during a conversation, YAGODA TOLD ME THAT THEY (THAT IS, HE AND THE PEOPLE WHO STOOD BEHIND HIM--THE RIGHTS) HAD UNITED WITH THE TROTSKYITES AND THE ZINOVIEVITES, AND THAT THERE COULD BE ABSOLUTELY NO COUNTING ON ACHIEVING ANY SUCCESS IN THE NORMAL WAY, BY MEANS OF A LEGAL STRUGGLE WITHIN THE PARTY, AND THAT ONLY ONE MEANS REMAINED BY WHICH THEY COULD ATTAIN POWER--THAT WAS THE VIOLENT METHOD OF ARRIVING AT POWER BY A DIRECT ARMED COUP.... They had spheres of influence: Yenukidze's was the Kremlin, and Yagoda's the apparatus of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs.... I am summing up all the conversations, and I fully answer for the accuracy of my statements.

In this connection I recall a parallel which Yagoda drew between the future Secretary of the future Central Committee, Bukharin, and Goebbels. I MUST SAY THAT IN GENERAL YAGODA WAS VERY MUCH INFATUATED WITH HITLER.

VYSHINSKY: HE WAS INFATUATED WITH FASCISM GENERALLY? BUT IN PARTICULAR?

BULANOV: HE WAS INFATUATED WITH HITLER, AND SAID THAT HIS BOOK, "MY STRUGGLE," WAS A REALLY WORTH-WHILE BOOK.

VYSHINSKY: A worth-while book?

BULANOV: He repeatedly stressed the fact that Hitler had risen from a top sergeant to be the man he is.

VYSHINSKY: And was not Yagoda himself a top sergeant formerly?

BULANOV: I do not know, but his behavior differed very little from that of a top sergeant....

VYSHINSKY: But what has Goebbels to do with it?

BULANOV: He [Yagoda] said that Bukharin would be no worse than Goebbels under him.

VYSHINSKY: He said that about Bukharin?

BULANOV: It must be presumed that when he drew this parallel, as far as I understand and conceive it, he intended to say that he, as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, with a Secretary of the type of Goebbels, and with the Central Committee that would be completely obedient to him, would rule is he liked. That is how I understood him. I think that I formed a correct idea as far as he was concerned.

The idea was that Bukharin would be a puppet in his hands and would do whatever he, Yagoda, pleased.

AS YAGODA PUT IT, THEY CONSIDERED THAT THE ARMED COUP MUST ABSOLUTELY BE TIMED TO COINCIDE WITH WAR. I once said to Yagoda in perplexity: "To tell the truth, I don't understand. War, direct danger, a tense situation, and a government upheaval at such a time--why, it might cause very, very serious damage at the front." TO THIS YAGODA BLUNTLY REPLIED THAT I WAS VERY NAIVE IF I THOUGHT THAT THEY, STATESMEN OF SUCH A BIG CALIBER, WOULD EMBARK UPON A COUP WITHOUT HAVING COME TO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE PROBABLE AND INEVITABLE ANTAGONISTS OF THE USSR IN A WAR. THE GERMANS AND JAPANESE WERE MENTIONED AS THE ANTAGONISTS. HE TOLD ME OUTRIGHT THAT THEY HAD A DIRECT ARRANGEMENT THAT IN THE EVENT OF THE SUCCESS OF THE COUP, THE NEW GOVERNMENT THAT WOULD BE FORMED WOULD BE RECOGNIZED AND MILITARY HOSTILITIES WOULD CEASE.

VYSHINSKY: ON WHAT CONDITIONS?

BULANOV: I HESITATE TO SAY EXACTLY, BUT I HAVE A RECOLLECTION OF CONCESSIONS AND CESSIONS. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME I HEARD THAT KRESTINSKY AND KARAKHAN WERE ABSOLUTELY THEIR MEN, and, moreover, not only responsible men, but men who knew how to work--to work, of course, in a counter-revolutionary sense. It was very much later that I heard mention of the name of TUKHACHEVSKY, WHO IN THE FUTURE GOVERNMENT WAS TO BE PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR OF DEFENSE.



BULANOV:... I SHALL NOW PASS TO THAT PART OF MY CRIMES IN WHICH, ON THE DIRECT ORDERS OF YAGODA, I HAD AN IMMEDIATE PART--THE POISONING.

VYSHINSKY: PERHAPS YOU WILL FIRST TELL US OF ALL THE CRIMINAL CONNECTIONS THAT EXISTED, AND OF THE AGREEMENT THAT EXISTED, AND THEN ABOUT THE DEFINITE PARTICULARS OF THE POISONING.

BULANOV: VERY WELL, AS YOU PLEASE.

VYSHINSKY: Did you know that Yagoda, as a member of the centre of the Rights, was connected with the Trotskyites?

BULANOV: I did.

VYSHINSKY: How did you know that? With whom was he connected, and how was he connected?

BULANOV: IT WAS QUITE OBVIOUS THAT YAGODA HAD THE CLOSEST CONNECTIONS WITH THE LEADERS OF THE RIGHTS. HE WAS ALSO CONNECTED WITH THE TROTSKYITES. I JUDGE OF THIS BECAUSE I WAS MORE THAN ONCE A WITNESS TO THE DIRECT OPERATIVE INSTRUCTIONS, WHICH HE GAVE IN ONE DEGREE OR ANOTHER TO THE APPROPRIATE PERSONS IN CHARGE OF DEFINITE SECTIONS OF THE WORK, DIRECT OR INDIRECT ORDERS NOT TO PROCEED WITH CASES AGAINST TROTSKYITES, BUT, ON THE CONTRARY, TO TERMINATE A NUMBER OF CASES AGAINST TROTSKYITES, AS WELL AS RIGHTS AND ZINOVIEVITES.

VYSHINSKY: That it is, he shielded them.

BULANOV: I WOULD SAY THAT HE NOT ONLY SHIELDED THEM BUT DIRECTLY ASSISTED THEIR ACTIVITIES.... And, in general, I must say that Yagoda's line with regard to the Rights, as well as the Trotskyites and Zinovievites, was most definitely directed towards terminating the struggle with them.



VYSHINSKY: YAGODA KNEW OF DREITZER'S CONSPIRATORIAL ACTIVITIES AND SHIELDED HIM?

BULANOV: ABSOLUTELY CORRECT.



BULANOV: When the decision was taken to arrest Kamenev & Zinoviev, Yagoda sent me to arrest, Kamenev.

VYSHINSKY: Whom did he send with you?

BULANOV: I went with Pauker.

VYSHINSKY: WHO WAS THIS PAUKER?

BULANOV: CHIEF OF THE OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT.

VYSHINSKY: AND YET, WHO WAS HE?

BULANOV: A MAN WHO WAS COMPLETELY INITIATED INTO THE CONSPIRATORIAL AFFAIRS AND ONE WHO WAS EXCEPTIONALLY TRUSTED. HE WAS THE CONNECTING LINK WITH YENUKIDZE.

VYSHINSKY: WAS NOT PAUKER A GERMAN SPY?

BULANOV: I LEARNED LATER THAT HE WAS A SPY.

VYSHINSKY: A GERMAN SPY?

BULANOV: QUITE SO.



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED YAGODA, DID YOU KNOW THAT PAUKER WAS A GERMAN SPY?

YAGODA: YES, I DID.

VYSHINSKY: So Pauker and you, Bulanov, were sent by Yagoda to arrest Kamenev. And who was to arrest Zinoviev?

BULANOV: I think it was Molchanov and Volovich.

VYSHINSKY: Who was MOLCHANOV?

BULANOV: CHIEF OF THE SECRET POLITICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS AND A MEMBER OF THE ORGANIZATION.

VYSHINSKY: OF WHICH ORGANIZATION? THE SECRET ORGANIZATION OF RIGHTS?

BULANOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: And Volovich?

BULANOV: VOLOVICH WAS ASSISTANT CHIEF OF THE OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT. IT IS KNOWN THAT HE WAS IMPLICATED IN ESPIONAGE.

VYSHINSKY: DO YOU CONFIRM, YAGODA, THAT VOLOVICH WAS ALSO A GERMAN SPY?

YAGODA: YES, I DO.

VYSHINSKY: Accused Bulanov, how did Yagoda instruct you when he sent you to arrest Kamenev and Zinoviev?

BULANOV: The instructions were quite simple--to bring them in, but not to make a search. And that is what I did.

VYSHINSKY: And that is what you did. Now continue your story.

BULANOV: I SHALL NOW PROCEED DIRECTLY TO THE SPECIFIC CRIMES IN WHICH I PERSONALLY TOOK PART. I KNOW FROM WHAT YAGODA TOLD ME THAT THE DECISION TO ASSASSINATE YEZHOV.... ACCORDING TO YAGODA, THE DECISION TO ASSASSINATE YEZHOV WAS ADOPTED BY THEM, I.E., BY THE CENTRE, WITH EXCLUSIVELY POLITICAL AIMS.... The reason that led to the adoption of this decision was that very soon, or rather, after the assassination of Kirov, Yezhov was appointed by the Central Committee of the CPSU to watch the investigation. And I learned from Yagoda personally that very soon after this Yagoda became extremely and increasingly alarmed over Yezhov's work. Yagoda stressed the fact that Yezhov was extremely rapidly, as he put it, digging into and mastering all the special features of the work of the Administration of State Security, and that there was absolutely no certainty that in the end he would not arrive straight at the discovery of the true state of affairs, at the discovery of the conspiracy.



YAGODA--THIS I AGAIN KNOW FROM HIS CONVERSATIONS WITH A NUMBER OF THE CHIEFS OF OPERATIONS DEPARTMENTS WHO WERE AT THE SAME TIME MEMBERS OF THE CONSPIRATORIAL ORGANIZATION--EMPLOYED EVERY MEANS HE COULD TO MISINFORM YEZHOV. Only those materials, information, and records were sent to Yezhov that were picked out by Yagoda and his assistants. Corresponding information and documents were concealed and held back. In general, everything was done to hamper Yezhov's work. Yet in spite of this, at the beginning of the first third of 1936 Yagoda said outright that he not only had absolutely no assurance, no guarantee, that Yezhov would not dig down to the true state of affairs, but that, on the contrary, he was already convinced that he was so far on the right path that resolute measures would have to be adopted to localize the really impending danger.

In the early part of 1936 I first learned that Yagoda had known at the time how the assassination of Kirov was organized. One day I happen to enter Yagoda's office, as always without being announced, and found him in a state of excitement talking to Molchanov. When Molchanov left, Yagoda, in a state of great irritation, uttered the phrase: "It looks as if Yezhov is also getting at the bottom of the Leningrad affair." Then, pulling himself up, although he usually concealed nothing from me, and warning me of the extremely confidential nature of what he was about to tell me, and once again--for the 20th or 40th time--promising, "if anything should happen," to tear my head off, HE SAID THAT HE HAD KNOWN THAT AN ATTEMPT ON KIROV WAS BEING PREPARED, THAT HE HAD HAD A RELIABLE MAN IN LENINGRAD WHO WAS INITIATED INTO EVERYTHING, ZAPOROZHETZ, ASSISTANT CHIEF OF THE LENINGRAD REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, AND THAT HE HAD SO ARRANGED MATTERS AS TO FACILITATE THE ASSASSINATION OF KIROV BY NIKOLAYEV. To put it plainly, it was done with the direct connivance, and consequently with the assistance, of Zaporozhetz. I recall that Yagoda said in passing, incidentally abusing Zaporozhetz for his lack of efficiency, that there was an occasion when the whole affair was nearly exposed, when SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE THE ASSASSINATION OF KIROV THE GUARD DETAINED NIKOLAYEV BY MISTAKE, AND A NOTEBOOK AND REVOLVER WERE FOUND IN HIS PORTFOLIO, BUT THAT ZAPOROZHETZ RELEASED HIM IN TIME. YAGODA FURTHER TOLD ME THAT BORISOV, AN EMPLOYEE OF THE LENINGRAD ADMINISTRATION OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, HAD A SHARE IN THE ASSASSINATION OF KIROV. WHEN MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT CAME TO LENINGRAD AND SUMMONED THIS BORISOV TO THE SMOLNY TO INTERROGATE HIM AS A WITNESS IN CONNECTION WITH THE ASSASSINATION OF KIROV, ZAPOROZHETZ, BEING ALARMED BY THIS AND FEARING THAT BORISOV WOULD BETRAY THOSE WHO STOOD BEHIND NIKOLAYEV, DECIDED TO KILL BORISOV.



ON YAGODA'S INSTRUCTIONS, ZAPOROZHETZ SO ARRANGED IT THAT AN ACCIDENT OCCURRED TO THE AUTOMOBILE WHICH TOOK BORISOV TO THE SMOLNY. BORISOV WAS KILLED IN THE ACCIDENT, AND IN THIS WAY THEY GOT RID OF A DANGEROUS WITNESS....

THE DANGER OF EXPOSURE WAS SO EVIDENT TO THEM AND SO REAL THAT YAGODA DECIDED TO ADOPT MORE RESOLUTE MEASURES. TO PUT IT PLAINLY, HE DECIDED TO ASSASSINATE YEZHOV....

WHEN HE WAS REMOVED FROM HIS POST AS PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, HE DIRECTLY SET ABOUT LAYING POISON IN THE OFFICE...which Yezhov was to occupy. HE INSTRUCTED ME PERSONALLY TO PREPARE A POISON, NAMELY, TO TAKE MERCURY AND TO DISSOLVE IT IN ACID.... THE SPRAYING OF THE OFFICE WHICH YEZHOV WAS TO OCCUPY AND THE ADJOINING ROOMS, THE RUGS, CARPETS, AND CURTAINS WAS DONE BY SAVOLAINEN IN THE PRESENCE OF YAGODA AND MYSELF.



VYSHINSKY: TELL US, PLEASE, WAS YAGODA INTERESTED IN POISONS GENERALLY?

BULANOV: EXCEPTIONALLY.

VYSHINSKY: WAS THIS INTEREST IN POISONS CONNECTED WITH HIS CONSPIRATORIAL ACTIONS AND PLANS?

BULANOV: QUITE DEFINITELY. During a private conversation, when the coup d'etat they were organizing was being discussed, Yagoda said that for the achievement of this coup all means would be required--armed action, provocation, and even poisons...and there was no point in being squeamish in the employment of means.



VYSHINSKY: Did the poisoning begin soon after Yagoda left?

BULANOV: The first spraying was done on September 29, 1936.... Six or seven sprayings were done in all.

VYSHINSKY: AND AT WHICH SPRAYINGS WERE YOU PERSONALLY PRESENT?

BULANOV: I RECALL EXACTLY. IT WAS THE FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, AND THE LAST. FOUR IN ALL.

VYSHINSKY: In addition to the dastardly preparations for the poisoning of Yezhov, do you know of any crimes of the same kind committed by Yagoda and yourself, or by Yagoda alone?

BULANOV: Yes, I know quite definitely of the killing of Menzhinsky, Gorky, and Maxim Peshkov.

VYSHINSKY: Tell us briefly about these cases.

BULANOV: THE KILLING OF GORKY WAS UNDERTAKEN BY YAGODA AS ONE OF THE EFFECTIVE MEASURES FOR THE CREATION OF THE CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS IN CASE THE COUP CAME OFF. Yagoda said that when the Rights became convinced that Gorky not only fully and entirely shared the policy of the Party and the government, but that he himself, with his usual enthusiasm, had joined in the building of the Socialist state, when they saw, heard and observed with what exceptional admiration Gorky on every occasion spoke about the role of Stalin in the building of the Socialist state, they came to the unanimous conclusion that in the event of the success of the coup, Gorky would publicly raise his voice against them, and that, in view of the prestige which Gorky enjoyed among all sections of the population in the Soviet Union and his exceptional significance in the eyes of culturally thinking people abroad, this revolt-- as Yagoda put it--of Gorky's against the new power would be of exceptional consequences. They therefore decided to remove Gorky in good time.

FROM YAGODA I LEARNED THAT DR. LEVIN, PROF. PLETNEV, AND KRYUCHKOV, GORKY'S SECRETARY, TOOK PART IN THIS CRIME. I PERSONALLY SEVERAL TIMES HEARD YAGODA INSTRUCTING KRYUCHKOV THAT HE MUST TRY TO GIVE GORKY A CHILL, saying that, in view of the condition of Gorky's lungs, a cold might result and complications, and as to the rest, everything required would be done by Pletnev and Levin.



VYSHINSKY: AND WAS MENZHINSKY KILLED ON DIRECT INSTRUCTIONS, AND WHOSE?

BULANOV: ON THE INSTRUCTIONS OF YAGODA. And I must say that if in the killing of Gorky the motives were, as he said, exclusively political, here I know from him that there were motives of a personal kind.

VYSHINSKY: That is?

BULANOV: The personal motives of a man who wanted by any means, in any way, to make a career for himself, that is, to hasten the vacation of a post, to make the post of Chairman of the 0GPU vacant, considering, obviously, that in that case he, Yagoda, would be the only candidate for the post of Chairman.... Of course, political motives were also operative here. It was more than of interest to the center of the Rights, and of the conspirators generally, to have their own man at the head of the punitive organ, one of their leaders, that is, to create a guarantee, the almost complete possibility of covering up any tracks.

...in 1933, I think it was--when HE [YAGODA] TOLD ME OUTRIGHT THAT HE HAD DECIDED TO EXPEDITE IT, THAT IS, TO PUT IT PLAINLY, TO DESTROY MENZHINSKY, THAT HE HAD PUT DR. LEVIN ON TO THIS JOB, BUT THAT FOR SOME REASON LEVIN HAD NOT MANAGED IT. THEN I LEARNED FROM HIM DEFINITELY THAT HE HAD ENLISTED DR. KAZAKOV AS THE DIRECT PERPETRATOR.



VYSHINSKY: SO YAGODA IS NOT TELLING THE TRUTH HERE?

BULANOV: HE IS NOT. Where could I have got it from that Yagoda told me that Dr. Kazakov had also been drawn into this affair--the murder of Menzhinsky--and that he was doing it together with Levin, that Kazakov was employing very intricate drugs that were not only unknown to medicine, but not very well-known to Kazakov himself, so that to find any clues after this poisoning would be difficult? This is what Yagoda told me. Where else could I have got it from?

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 553-564





KEY PARTS OF YAGODA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS BULANOV IS TELLING THE TRUTH WHEN HE SAYS YAGODA POISONED MENZHINSKY AND WHEN HE SAYS YAGODA HELPED TO KILL PESHKOV;

YAGODA WANTS TO TESTIFY IN SECRET



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED YAGODA, DID YOU HEAR BULANOV'S TESTIMONY REGARDING THE POISONING OF MENZHINSKY?

YAGODA: YES, I DID.

VYSHINSKY: AFTER THIS TESTIMONY, WHICH ESTABLISHES YOUR PART IN THE POISONING, DO YOU CONTINUE TO DENY IT?

YAGODA: NO, I CONFIRM MY PART IN IT.

VYSHINSKY: YOU DO CONFIRM IT?

YAGODA: YES.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED BULANOV, AND WAS THE KILLING OF PESHKOV ALSO YAGODA'S WORK?

BULANOV: OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED YAGODA, WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THAT?

YAGODA: I ADMIT MY PART IN THE ILLNESS OF PESHKOV. I REQUEST THE COURT TO HEAR THIS WHOLE QUESTION IN CAMERA.

VYSHINSKY: I HAVE NO OBJECTIONS.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 564





KEY PARTS OF BULANOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS YAGODA TOLD HIM PLAINLY THAT THE DECISION TO POISON YEZHOV AND TO KILL GORKY, WAS ADOPTED BY RYKOV, BUKHARIN & YENUKIDZE



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED BULANOV, YOU HAVE DRAWN A MONSTROUS PICTURE HERE OF A NUMBER OF CRIMES YOU COMMITTED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF YAGODA. WHO ELSE AMONG THE LEADERS OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" HAD A SHARE IN THESE CRIMES AS FAR AS YOU KNOW?

BULANOV: YAGODA TOLD ME PLAINLY THAT THE DECISION TO POISON YEZHOV AND TO KILL GORKY WAS ADOPTED BY RYKOV, BUKHARIN...



VYSHINSKY: AND YENUKIDZE?

BULANOV: AND YENUKIDZE, OF COURSE.

VYSHINSKY: IN A WORD, THE TOP LEADERSHIP OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES"?

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 564-565


KEY PARTS OF RYKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS THE RIGHTS & TROTS WERE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT GORKY’S INFLUENCE ABROAD SO THEY DECIDED TO KILL HIM;

SAYS YENUKIDZE SPOKE ABOUT THE NECESSITY OF KILLING GORKY



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED RYKOV, DO YOU KNOW THAT THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" ADOPTED A DECISION TO PHYSICALLY DO AWAY WITH GORKY?

RYKOV: No.... YENUKIDZE TOLD ME THAT THE TROTSKYITES AND ZINOVIEVITES WERE EXTREMELY CONCERNED BECAUSE OF THE INFLUENCE WHICH GORKY WAS ACQUIRING, and because he was a determined supporter of Stalin and the general line of the Party. Therefore, as he put it, they considered it necessary, in view of this significance of Gorky's--and his significance both abroad and in our country required no confirmation--THEY INSISTED, AS HE PHRASED IT, ON PUTTING AN END TO GORKY'S POLITICAL ACTIVITY.+++

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS, YENUKIDZE SPOKE OF THE NECESSITY OF PUTTING AN END TO GORKY'S POLITICAL ACTIVITY?

RYKOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: HOW, AND IN WHAT SENSE?

RYKOV: HE SPOKE IN SUCH A RAISED VOICE, OR IN SUCH SHARPLY HOSTILE EXPRESSIONS, THAT IT WAS CLEAR TO ME...THAT THIS TONE CONCEALED THE POSSIBILITY OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF VIOLENT MEASURES.

VYSHINSKY: AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN, GOING TO THE EXTENT OF ADOPTING VIOLENT MEASURES? MAY IT ALSO MEAN MURDER?

RYKOV: OF COURSE.



VYSHINSKY: In order to avoid any further arguments about this question, I formulate what you have just said in the following words: first--in 1935 you had a conversation with Yenukidze during which he said in sharp terms that the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc insisted on putting An End to Gorky's political activity.

RYKOV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: Second--from the tone, from the hostile manner, from the viciousness of the conversation it was possible to gather that they would not stop at anything in order to put an end to Gorky's political activity.

RYKOV: Now, after it has happened, is quite clear.... I would simply say that they might not stop at taking violent measures.

VYSHINSKY: So. And, third-- it was clear from this conversation with Yenukidze that might be a question of a terrorist act against Gorky?

RYKOV: Yes. The question could have been put that way.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 565-567





KEY PARTS OF BULANOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE KNOWS YAGODA WAS SENDING MONEY TO TROTSKY;

HE PERSONALLY GAVE MONEY TO A MAN WHO WAS TAKING IT TO TROTSKY ACCORDING TO YAGODA’S ORDERS



VYSHINSKY: I HAVE A QUESTION TO PUT TO BULANOV. DO YOU KNOW OF ANY CASES OF YAGODA'S SENDING MONEY TO TROTSKY?

BULANOV: I KNOW QUITE DEFINITELY.

VYSHINSKY: In what year?

BULANOV: It was not at once that I found out from Yagoda that he was supplying Trotsky with money. In 1934 Yagoda called me in and told me that a man would come to me to whom I was to give $20,000.

VYSHINSKY: $20,000? For what purpose and for whom?

BULANOV: I never asked Yagoda why and for what purpose. I handed the money over to this man.

The next day, when I reported that I had executed the order, YAGODA TOLD ME THAT I WOULD HAVE TO HAND OVER TO THIS MAN FURTHER SUMS OF MONEY WHICH HE WOULD DESIGNATE. AT THE SAME TIME HE SAID THAT THIS MAN WAS HIS DIRECT CONTACT WITH TROTSKY, THAT TROTSKY WAS LATELY VERY HARD PRESSED FOR MONEY AND THAT THE SUMS WHICH I HANDED OVER TO THIS MAN AND WHICH I WOULD HAND OVER TO HIM IN THE FUTURE WERE INTENDED DIRECTLY FOR TROTSKY. As a matter of fact, this man came about four or five times during the period of 1934-36, and each time I gave him money, of course on Yagoda's instructions.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 567





KEY PARTS OF YAGODA’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS SUPPLYING CONFIDENTIAL OGPU INFORMATION TO BUKHARIN & RYKOV;

ADMITS HE COVERED FOR THE RIGHTS & TROTS UP TO 1937 WHICH IS THE KEY STATEMENT ABOVE ALL OTHERS;

FULLY CONFESSES HIS GUILT;

ADMITS PUTTING RIGHTS LIKE PROKOFIEV, MOLCHANOV, MURALOV, BULANOV, & SHANIN IN KEY OGPU POSITIONS;

ADMITS ESTABLISHING CONNECTIONS WITH YENUKIDZE ON TOMSKY'S INSTRUCTIONS;

ADMITS THAT BY 1932 THE COLLECTIVE SYSTEM WAS SUCCEEDING, THERE WAS NO HOPE OF A KULAK REVOLT & THE ONLY OPTION LEFT WAS A PALACE COUP;

ADMITS THE PURPOSE OF THE COUP WAS TO OVERTHROW THE GOVT & SET UP CAPITALIST RELATIONS;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED CRIMES;

SAYS IN 1933 A BLOC OF RIGHTS, TROTS, & ZINOVIEVITES WAS SET UP CONNECTED TO THE MENSHEVIKS THROUGH RYKOV & TO THE SR’S THROUGH BUKHARIN;

SAYS YENUKIDZE TOLD HIM THE COUP WAS TO OCCUR AT THE 17TH CONGRESS;

SAYS HE COVERED FOR A GROUP OF SPIES THAT WERE IN THE OGPU; SAYS HE KNEW ABOUT THE SPYING BY KNEW ABOUT THE SPYING OF ZAPOROZHETZ, GAI, VOLOVICH, PAUKER, VINETSKY, AND OTHERS;

SAYS THE SPIES LET FOREIGNERS KNOW YAGODA WAS INVOLVED; SAYS KARAKHAN TOLD HIM THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES," WERE CARRYING ON NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE GERMAN FASCIST CIRCLES;

SAYS KARAKHAN TOLD HIM TROTSKY HAD BEEN CONDUCTING NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE GERMANS FOR A LONG TIME AND PROMISED TOO MUCH SUCH AS THE UKRAINE & MARITIME REGION;

SAYS KARAKHAN DEMANDED INFORMATION ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" ALL OVER THE UNION FOR HIS FORTHCOMING CONVERSATION WITH THE FASCIST GERMAN CIRCLES & I GAVE HIM THIS INFORMATION; SAYS HE KNOWS THE MEETING WITH LEADING FASCISTS TOOK PLACE, AND THAT AN AGREEMENT WAS REACHED ABOUT ASSISTANCE TO BE GIVEN BY THE GERMANS TO THE ANTI-SOVIET BLOC;

SAYS EVERY TERRORIST ACT CARRIED OUT BY HIM WAS DONE ON THE ORDERS OF THE BLOC;

IN 1934, IN THE SUMMER, YENUKIDZE INFORMED ME THAT THE CENTER OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" HAD ADOPTED A DECISION TO KILL KIROV;

RYKOV TOOK A DIRECT ROLE;

YENUKIDZE INSISTED THAT I WAS NOT TO PLACE ANY OBSTACLES IN THE WAY & THE TERRORIST ACT WOULD BE CARRIED OUT BY THE TROTSKYITE-ZINOVIEVITE GROUP;

THUS I DECLARE CATEGORICALLY THAT THE MURDER OF KIROV & TERRORIST ACTS COMMITTED AGAINST KUIBYSHEV, MENZHINSKY, AND GORKY. WERE CARRIED OUT ON THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES; SAYS RYKOV, BUKHARIN, AND THE OTHERS BEAR FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR TERRORIST ACTS & DECLARES THEY WERE COMMITTED ON THEIR DECISION;

ADMITS HE SENT MONEY TO TROTSKY;

SAID AN ARMED REVOLT WAS SILLY & WAS RELYING ONLY ON A PALACE COUP OF A SMALL GROUP;

DENIES BEING A SPY BUT ADMITS SHIELDING SPIES;

ADMITS GIVING STATE FUNDS TO TROTSKY;

ADMITS HAVING HELPED KILL KIROV, MENSHINSKY, KUIBYSHEV, GORKY; ADMITS PROTECTING MENSHEVIKS



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Yagoda, do you confirm the testimony which you gave during the preliminary investigation?

YAGODA: I do.

THE PRESIDENT: What do you wish to tell the Court about your crimes?

YAGODA: The beginning of my anti-Soviet activities dates back to 1928, when I joined the anti-Soviet organization of the Rights.... This role of mine in the organization of the rights was known to a few persons, Rykov, Bukharin, Uglanov, Smirnov, Tomsky. DURING THE FIRST STAGE OF THE STRUGGLE OF THE RIGHTS AGAINST THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT MY ROLE CONSISTED IN SUPPLYING THE ORGANIZATION OF THE RIGHTS--RYKOV AND BUKHARIN--WITH TENDENTIOUSLY SELECTED AND CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL OF THE 0GPU, which they, Bukharin and Rykov, used for their struggle against the Party.

Later on, when the Rights adopted illegal methods in their struggle against the Party and the Soviet government, the center of the Rights entrusted me with the task of guarding the organization of the Rights against exposure. On the strength of this understanding I TOOK ALL MEASURES, IN THE COURSE OF A NUMBER OF YEARS, TO GUARD THE ORGANIZATION, PARTICULARLY ITS CENTER, AGAINST EXPOSURE. I MUST STATE HERE WITH FULL RESPONSIBILITY THAT IT WAS MY TREASONABLE WORK IN THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS WHICH MUST BE BLAMED FOR THE FACT THAT IT WAS NOT UNTIL THE YEARS 1937-38 THAT THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS WERE ABLE TO UNCOVER AND LIQUIDATE THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE RIGHTS AND THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES." HAD THE SOVIET INTELLIGENCE SERVICE BEEN FREE OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY GROUPS OF RIGHTS AND SPIES WHO, THANKS TO ME, OCCUPIED POSITIONS IN THE APPARATUS OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY HAVE BEEN UNCOVERED AT ITS INCEPTION. [THE KEY STATEMENT]



I FULLY CONFESS THIS GUILT OF MINE BEFORE THE SOVIET COURT. At the same time the responsibility for all this must be shared by those sitting here in the dock, Rykov and Bukharin in the first place. In 1931...the center of the Rights demanded of me that I appoint active members of the organization of the Rights to leading posts in the 0GPU. I may cite as proof the concrete fact of the appointment of Molchanov, a member of the organization of the Rights, to the post of Chief of the Secret Political Department, which was supposed to carry on the struggle against the Right and Trotskyite organizations. In 1931 Tomsky invited me to his country house, where, besides himself, I found also Smirnov, and he told me in very categorical terms that I must do this, which I did.... It was then that Tomsky informed me of the plan of the Rights with regard to seizure of power and of the intended bloc of the Trotskyites and Zinovievites with the Rights. It was in connection with this proposition, mainly, I repeat, with the object of directly safeguarding the organization against exposure, that they argued about the necessity of appointing Molchanov, who was a member of this organization. DURING THE SAME PERIOD, IN THE YEARS 1931-32, I SET UP IN THE APPARATUS OF THE 0GPU A GROUP OF RIGHTS MADE UP OF 0GPU OFFICIALS. Prokofiev, Molchanov, Muralov, Bulanov, Shanin and a number of other officials belonged to this group. In 1932, in connection with the general plan of the Rights to overthrow the Soviet government and to seize power, I ESTABLISHED CONNECTIONS WITH YENUKIDZE ON TOMSKY'S INSTRUCTIONS.... At that time the main idea of the Rights and the starting point in the activities of the organization was the stake on a counter-revolutionary coup by means of seizing the Kremlin. I consider it superfluous to explain to the Court here that the very fact that the question was put this way was a result of the bankruptcy of the line for a mass insurrection,... TOWARDS THE END OF 1932, WHEN THE VICTORY OF THE COLLECTIVE FARM SYSTEM DEPRIVED US OF OUR HOPES FOR MASS KULAK INSURRECTIONS, THE MAIN STAKE BECAME A SO-CALLED "PALACE COUP." Hence, it is quite clear that my role in the organization, the role of a man who was occupying the post of Vice Chairman of the 0GPU and who had in his hands the technical means for effecting the coup, that is to say, the Kremlin guard, military units, and so forth, became the center of attention. And that is precisely why, on the instructions of the center of the Rights, I established connections with Yenukidze (at that time he occupied the post of Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR), who was one of those in charge of the conspiratorial activities of the Rights.

In the beginning of 1933 something happened which introduced serious corrections to our plan. I am referring to the fascists' coming to power in Germany. While up to that period the main line of the Rights was based on the idea of a "palace coup" by our own forces, now, starting with 1933, we began to orientate ourselves on the fascist organization.

...WHEN THE SO-CALLED "PALACE COUP" WAS DISCUSSED, WE HAD IN MIND TO ARREST, OVERTHROW THE LEADERSHIP OF THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT AND OF THE PARTY, AND, HAVING OVERTHROWN THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT, TO RESTORE CAPITALIST RELATIONS IN THE COUNTRY--that which Bukharin did not have the courage to state clearly and explicitly during the course of his interrogation. Did we stake on the overthrow of the Soviet government? I answer this question in the affirmative. WHAT SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORDER WOULD WE HAVE ESTABLISHED IN THE COUNTRY AFTER THE OVERTHROW OF SOVIET POWER? I ANSWER THIS QUESTION AS WELL IN PLAIN WORDS--A CAPITALIST ORDER.

I AM PASSING ONTO A CONCRETE PRESENTATION OF THE FACTS OF MY CRIMES.... From Yenukidze I learned that a military conspiratorial organization had been set up in the Kremlin and that it was ready to affect the coup at any moment. From him I also learned about the orientation on German fascism, which came to power in 1933.

IN 1933 THE CENTER, THE BLOC OF TROTSKYITES, ZINOVIEVITES, AND RIGHTS, WAS ORGANIZED AND TOOK SHAPE. I ALSO FOUND OUT THAT, THROUGH RYKOV, THE BLOC WAS CONNECTED WITH THE MENSHEVIKS AND, THROUGH BUKHARIN, WITH THE SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES. YENUKIDZE KEPT ME INFORMED ABOUT THE DECISIONS OF THE CENTER. IT WAS FROM HIM I LEARNED THAT IN JANUARY 1934 THERE WERE PREPARATIONS FOR A COUP D'ETAT ENTAILING THE ARREST OF THE SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE PARTY, WHICH WAS THEN IN SESSION.

I am passing on to the treasonable activities of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" and its connections with foreign states.



IN THE FIRST PLACE, I MUST TELL THE COURT THAT, UNDER MY PROTECTION, A GROUP OF MY FOLLOWERS, A GROUP OF SPIES OF VARIOUS FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES, EXISTED IN THE VERY APPARATUS OF THE 0GPU, AND LATER IN THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS. I KNEW ABOUT THE ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES OF ZAPOROZHETZ, GAI, VOLOVICH, PAUKER, VINETSKY, AND OTHERS, but, having in mind the interests of the conspiracy, I favored their work, I considered them a valuable force in the realization of the conspiratorial plans, particularly along the lines of maintaining connections with foreign intelligence services. THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THROUGH THESE SPIES THE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES WERE INFORMED ABOUT MY BELONGING TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE RIGHTS AND ABOUT MY PART IN THEIR ORGANIZATION. THEY WERE ALSO WELL-INFORMED ABOUT THE EXISTENCE AND ACTIVITIES OF THE ENTIRE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES." I can give the Court the facts corroborating this position at an in camera (secret) session.

Besides this group of spies in the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, I was aware of other connections of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" with foreign states. I am referring to Karakhan, one of the participants in the conspiracy, about whose connections I found out in 1935. Karakhan informed me of the foreign political orientation of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," on whose instructions he, Karakhan, was carrying on negotiations with the German fascist circles. "The Germans," Karakhan told me, "will help the bloc to overthrow the Soviet power." KARAKHAN TOLD ME THAT TROTSKY HAD BEEN CONDUCTING NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE GERMANS FOR A LONG TIME BEFORE THAT AND THAT HE HAD "ENGAGED HIMSELF" (I PUT THIS IN QUOTATION MARKS) TOO MUCH, SINCE HE HAD PROMISED, in compensation for assistance in the struggle against the Bolsheviks, a great deal more than was necessary. TROTSKY HAD PROMISED TO GIVE THE UKRAINE TO THE GERMANS AND THE MARITIME REGION TO JAPAN. According to Karakhan, the bloc instructed him to bargain with the Germans. "Of course, we shall have to make some concessions," Karakhan said. KARAKHAN DEMANDED THAT I GIVE HIM INFORMATION ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" ALL OVER THE UNION FOR HIS FORTHCOMING CONVERSATION WITH THE FASCIST GERMAN CIRCLES. I GAVE HIM THIS INFORMATION ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION. I KNOW THAT THIS MEETING WITH LEADING FASCISTS TOOK PLACE, AND THAT AN AGREEMENT WAS REACHED ABOUT ASSISTANCE TO BE GIVEN BY THE GERMANS TO THE ANTI-SOVIET BLOC, but I am not acquainted with the details of the negotiations, I mean with the details as to the price at which this agreement was reached. At the in camera session I shall name the persons whom he met.



I am passing on to the terrorist activities of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," and my own terrorist activities particularly. Not with the object of mitigating my guilt to any extent, but only in the interests of establishing the true state of affairs, I must declare before the court that the attempts made by some of the accused in the present case to represent me as a professional terrorist are essentially wrong. I CANNOT, NOR HAVE I THE DESIRE TO, DISCLAIM ANY OF THE CHARGES PREFERRED AGAINST ME WITH REGARD TO THE TERRORIST ACTS COMMITTED, BUT I ONLY WANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THESE ACTS WAS COMMITTED BY ME WITHOUT INSTRUCTIONS HAVING BEEN RECEIVED FROM THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES...."

In the first place, the murder of Kirov. How did the matter stand? IN 1934, IN THE SUMMER, YENUKIDZE INFORMED ME THAT THE CENTER OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" HAD ADOPTED A DECISION TO ORGANIZE THE ASSASSINATION OF KIROV. RYKOV TOOK A DIRECT PART IN THE ADOPTION OF THIS DECISION. From this it became quite clear to me that the Trotskyite-Zinovievite terrorist groups were making definite preparations for this murder. Needless to say here, I tried to object, I martialed a series of arguments about this terrorist act being inexpedient and unnecessary. I even argued that I, as a person responsible for guarding the members of the government, would be the first to be held responsible in case a terrorist act was committed against a member of the government. Needless to say, my objections were not taken into consideration and had no effect. Yenukidze insisted that I was not to place any obstacles in the way; the terrorist act, he said, would be carried out by the Trotskyite-Zinovievite group. Owing to this, I was compelled to instruct Zaporozhetz, who occupied the post of Assistant Chief of the Regional Administration of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, not to place any obstacles in the way of the terrorist act against Kirov. Some time later Zaporozhetz informed me that the organs of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs had detained Nikolayev, in whose possession a revolver and a chart of the route Kirov usually took had been found. Nikolayev was released. Soon after that Kirov was assassinated by this very Nikolayev. Thus I declare categorically that the murder of Kirov was carried out on the instructions of the center of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites." It was also on the decision of the center that terrorist acts were committed against Kuibyshev, Menzhinsky, and Gorky.



What was the situation here? EVEN BEFORE KIROV WAS ASSASSINATED, GORKY'S SON MAXIM PESHKOV DIED. I HAVE ALREADY STATED BEFORE THE COURT THAT I ADMIT MY PART IN CAUSING MAX'S ILLNESS....



Around that time the death of Menzhinsky was brought about. I deny that in causing the death of Menzhinsky I was guided by considerations of a personal nature. I aspired to the post of head of the 0GPU not out of personal considerations, not for careerist considerations, but in the interest of our conspiratorial organization. The decision of the center on this question was conveyed to me personally by Yenukidze. In both of these cases we resorted to the services of physicians, which meant complete guarantee in the sense that exposure was impossible.

When Yenukidze conveyed to me the decision of the contact center about the assassination of Kirov, I expressed my apprehension that a direct terrorist act might expose not only myself, but the whole organization as well. I pointed out to Yenukidze that there was a less dangerous method and I reminded him, Yenukidze, how Menzhinsky's death was brought about with the help of physicians. Yenukidze replied that the assassination of Kirov must be carried out the way it was planned, that the Trotskyites and Zinovievites took it upon themselves to commit this murder, and that it was our business not to place any obstacles.



As for the safe method of causing death with the help of physicians, Yenukidze said that in the near future the center would discuss the question as to who exactly of the leaders of the Party and the government should be the first to be done to death by this method.

Indeed, sometime later, during my next visit with Yenukidze, he told me that the center had decided to undertake a number of terrorist acts against members of the Politburo and, in addition, against Maxim Gorky personally. The decision with regard to Kuibyshev was clear to me, but I could not comprehend the decision about committing a terrorist act against Gorky. Yenukidze explained to me that the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," considering that the overthrow of the Soviet government was a prospect of the near future, regarded Gorky as a dangerous figure. Gorky was a staunch supporter of Stalin's leadership, and in case the conspiracy was carried into effect, he would undoubtedly raise his voice in protest against us, the conspirators. Considering Gorky's immense prestige within the country and abroad, the center, according to Yenukidze, adopted a categorical decision about Gorky being physically put out of the way....

I DECLARE THAT RYKOV, BUKHARIN, AND THE OTHERS SITTING HERE IN THE DOCK BEAR FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THESE TERRORIST ACTS. I DECLARE THAT THESE ACTS WERE COMMITTED ON THEIR DECISION....

WHEN YEZHOV WAS APPOINTED PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, IT BECAME QUITE CLEAR THAT ALL THE ACTIVITY OF OUR GROUP AND ALSO OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" WOULD BE UNCOVERED. YEZHOV HAD ALREADY BEGUN TO SMASH UP THE CADRES OF THE CONSPIRATORS AND, OF COURSE, MIGHT GET AT THE CENTER OF THE BLOC AND AT ME PERSONALLY.

AND THUS, IN ORDER TO SAVE OUR ORGANIZATION, IN ORDER TO SAVE RYKOV, BUKHARIN, AND THE OTHERS, WE DECIDED TO MURDER YEZHOV.

I ALSO DO NOT DENY THE FACT THAT AT YENUKIDZE'S REQUEST I SENT MONEY TO TROTSKY THROUGH MIROV-ABRAMOV.

VYSHINSKY: HENCE, IF WE SUM UP YOUR EXPLANATIONS, WE MAY SAY THE FOLLOWING:

FIRST--THAT YOU PLEAD GUILTY TO THE FACT THAT YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE UNDERGROUND WORK OF THE RIGHTS WAS OF LONG-STANDING.

YAGODA: YES.

VYSHINSKY: SECOND--THAT YOU PLEAD GUILTY TO HAVING BEEN ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE UNDERGROUND "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES."

YAGODA: YES, I DO.

VYSHINSKY: THIRD--THAT, TOGETHER WITH THIS BLOC, YOU PURSUED THE AIM OF OVERTHROWING THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT AND OF RESTORING CAPITALISM IN THE USSR.

YAGODA: YES, I DO. WE SET OURSELVES THE TASK OF SEIZING THE KREMLIN.

VYSHINSKY: THAT FOR THE PURPOSE OF OVERTHROWING THE GOVERNMENT YOU CHOSE THE METHOD OF AN INSURRECTION TIMED PRIMARILY FOR THE OUTBREAK OF WAR. IS THAT SO?

YAGODA: NO, IT IS NOT SO. AN ARMED INSURRECTION--THAT WAS NONSENSE. ONLY THESE BABBLERS HERE COULD THINK OF THAT.+++

VYSHINSKY: WELL, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING OF?

YAGODA: OF A "PALACE COUP."

VYSHINSKY: THAT IS TO SAY, OF A VIOLENT COUP, CARRIED THROUGH BY A SMALL GROUP OF PLOTTERS?

YAGODA: YES,...

VYSHINSKY: Was it your point of view that it was expedient in case of war to prepare and secure the defeat the USSR?

YAGODA: That was the point of view of the bloc, and therefore it was mine too.

VYSHINSKY: DO YOU ALSO ADMIT BEING GUILTY OF ESPIONAGE WORK?

YAGODA: NO, I DO NOT ADMIT BEING GUILTY OF THIS ACTIVITY.+++

VYSHINSKY: BUT YOU YOURSELF HAVE SAID THAT SEVERAL SPIES WERE AT WORK UNDER YOUR DIRECT LEADERSHIP.

YAGODA: YES, I ADMIT THAT.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU KNOW THEY WERE SPIES?

YAGODA: YES, I DID.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU KNOW THEY WERE FULFILLING ESPIONAGE DUTIES?

YAGODA: YES, I DID.

VYSHINSKY: SO YOU HELPED THEM?

YAGODA: I AM JUST AS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SPIES AS...

VYSHINSKY: WAS VOLOVICH A SPY?

YAGODA: YES.

VYSHINSKY: ARE YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR VOLOVICH?... DO YOU ADMIT THAT A NUMBER OF INTELLIGENCE SERVICE AGENTS, GERMAN AND POLISH SPIES, WERE UNDER YOUR WING? IS THAT SO, OR NOT?

YAGODA: IT IS.

VYSHINSKY: I CONSIDER THAT SINCE YOU SHIELDED THIS ESPIONAGE ACTIVITY, YOU HELPED THEM, ASSISTED THEM.

YAGODA: NO, I DO NOT ADMIT BEING GUILTY OF THAT. HAD I BEEN A SPY, I ASSURE YOU THAT DOZENS OF STATES WOULD HAVE BEEN COMPELLED TO DISBAND THEIR INTELLIGENCE SERVICES.+++

VYSHINSKY: WAS VOLOVICH A SPY?

YAGODA: I SAID HE WAS.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU KNOW OF THAT?

YAGODA: I DID.

VYSHINSKY: YOU NEITHER ARRESTED NOR SHOT HIM?

YAGODA: NO.

VYSHINSKY: WERE YOU IN DUTY BOUND TO ARREST AND SHOOT SPIES YOU HAD DISCOVERED?

YAGODA: OBVIOUSLY.

VYSHINSKY: SO THEN YOU DID NOT DO THAT, THAT IS TO SAY, IN OTHER WORDS, YOU HELPED SPIES TO ACT AS SPIES.

YAGODA: I SHIELDED THEM.

VYSHINSKY: WERE YOU INFORMED THAT THEY PASSED ON MATERIALS TO FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES?

YAGODA: UNDOUBTEDLY.

VYSHINSKY: SINCE YOU WERE INFORMED OF IT, THEN IT WAS WITH YOUR KNOWLEDGE?

YAGODA: WITH MY CONNIVANCE.

VYSHINSKY: VERY WELL, WITH YOUR CONNIVANCE IN WHAT THEY WERE DOING, AND OF WHAT YOU WERE AWARE. IS THAT ESTABLISHED?

YAGODA: YES.

VYSHINSKY: DO YOU ALSO ADMIT BEING GUILTY OF HAVING PLACED STATE FUNDS AT TROTSKY'S DISPOSAL ON THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE BLOC?

YAGODA: I DO.

VYSHINSKY: AND DO YOU ADMIT BEING GUILTY OF ORGANIZING AND AFFECTING TERRORIST ACTS: FIRST--THE MURDER OF COMRADE KIROV ON THE ORDERS AND INSTRUCTIONS OF THE BLOC?

YAGODA: I ADMIT BEING GUILTY OF COMPLICITY IN THE MURDER.

VYSHINSKY: DO YOU ADMIT BEING GUILTY OF COMPLICITY IN THE MURDER OR IN CAUSING THE DEATH OF MENZHINSKY?

YAGODA: I DO.

VYSHINSKY: DO YOU ADMIT BEING GUILTY OF ORGANIZING THE MURDER OF KUIBYSHEV?

YAGODA: I DO.

VYSHINSKY: DO YOU ADMIT BEING GUILTY OF THE MURDER OF GORKY?

YAGODA: I DO.



VYSHINSKY: CONSEQUENTLY IN YOUR PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES YOU PROTECTED THE MENSHEVIKS FROM DISCOVERY? IS THAT CORRECT?

YAGODA: IT IS.

VYSHINSKY: ...Please tell me now, what, according to your information, was the role of the accused Rykov and Bukharin in causing the death of Gorky?

YAGODA: From Yenukidze I learned that they had taken part in a discussion of this question.

VYSHINSKY: We have already cleared up this question as regards Rykov. He has admitted that in a conversation with Yenukidze they discussed the possibility of a terrorist act.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 568-580


KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS GORKY AND TROTSKY STRONGLY DISLIKED ONE ANOTHER



(To Bukharin) I WISH TO ASK YOU, WHAT WAS THE ATTITUDE OF GORKY TO TROTSKY?

BUKHARIN: A SHARPLY NEGATIVE ONE.

VYSHINSKY: AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT WAS TROTSKY'S ATTITUDE TOWARDS GORKY?

BUKHARIN: ALSO A SHARPLY NEGATIVE ONE....

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 580





KEY PARTS OF BESSONOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS TROTSKY TOLD HIM HE STRONGLY DISLIKED GORKY;

SAYS TROTSKY TOLD HIM TO TELL PYATAKOV TO KILL GORKY;

ADMITS HE WAS CONNECTED TO PYATAKOV IN UNDERGROUND CONSPIRATORIAL WORK



VYSHINSKY: ...ACCUSED BESSONOV, DO YOU CONFIRM THAT TROTSKY'S ATTITUDE TO GORKY WAS A SHARPLY NEGATIVE ONE?

BESSONOV: YES, I DO.

VYSHINSKY: ON THE BASIS OF WHAT FACTS?

BESSONOV: ON THE BASIS OF WHAT TROTSKY SAID TO ME IN A PERSONAL CONVERSATION.

VYSHINSKY: DO YOU CONFIRM YOUR TESTIMONY IN COURT, TO THE EFFECT THAT TROTSKY CONVEYED THROUGH YOU THE INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT THE PHYSICAL DESTRUCTION OF GORKY?

BESSONOV: YES, I PASSED ON THESE INSTRUCTIONS OF TROTSKY'S TO PYATAKOV.

VYSHINSKY: TROTSKY SELECTED PYATAKOV AS ONE OF THE RINGLEADERS OF THE BLOC? IS THAT SO?

BESSONOV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: YOU WERE CONNECTED WITH PYATAKOV IN UNDERGROUND CONSPIRATORIAL WORK?

BESSONOV: QUITE RIGHT.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 580





KEY PARTS OF BUKHARIN’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE KNEW TROTSKY & THE TROTS HATED GORKY;

SAYS TROTSKY LINKED UP THE KILLING OF GORKY WITH THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOVIET GOVT



VYSHINSKY: ACCUSED BUKHARIN, ARE YOU AWARE THAT THIS HOSTILE ATTITUDE TO GORKY WAS ADOPTED NOT ONLY BY TROTSKY, BUT ALSO BY THE TROTSKYITES?

BUKHARIN: YES, OF COURSE, BECAUSE TROTSKY AND THE TROTSKYITES ARE ONE WHOLE; THE PLOTTERS OBEYED IN MILITARY FASHION.



BUKHARIN: I had one conversation with Tomsky.

VYSHINSKY: Where and when did it take place?

BUKHARIN: In 1935 Tomsky told me that Trotsky was preparing some hostile action or hostile act against Gorky.... he said that it was an action against the "Stalinite Gorky" as a defender of socialist construction in general, and of Stalin's Party policy in particular.

VYSHINSKY: TELL ME, DID TOMSKY LINK UP THE PERPETRATION OF A HOSTILE ACT AGAINST GORKY WITH THE QUESTION OF THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT?

BUKHARIN: IN ESSENCE HE DID.

VYSHINSKY: Consequently, you knew that some hostile act against Gorky was under consideration?

BUKHARIN: Yes.

VYSHINSKY:...The facts are as follows: in 1935 (if your statement at the preliminary investigation was correct), at the beginning of 1935, a conversation took place between Tomsky and you. Tomsky informed to you that the Trotskyite-Zinovievites part of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" was contriving a hostile act directed against Gorky as against an adherent of the Stalin leadership. Is this so?

BUKHARIN: It can be formulated that way.

VYSHINSKY: Is this a fact?

BUKHARIN: It is a fact.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 580-582





KEY PARTS OF KRYUCHKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HE TREACHEROUSLY MURDERED GORKY AND HIS SON, PESHKOV, ON YAGODA'S INSTRUCTIONS AND UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF HIS THREATS;

SAYS HE EMBEZZLED A LOT OF GORKY’S MONEY;

SAYS YAGODA ORDERED HIM TO KILL GORKY BECAUSE GORKY WAS IN THE WAY OF ZINOVIEV, KAMENEV, BUKHARIN AND RYKOV;

SAYS YAGODA TOLD HIM TO KILL PESHKOV BY GIVING HIM TOO MUCH LIQUOR;

SAYS HE KILLED PESHKOV ON YAGODA’S ORDERS;

SAYS YAGODA TOLD HIM TO UNDERMINE GORKY’S HEALTH



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Kryuchkov, inasmuch as you have already confirmed the testimony given by you at the preliminary investigation, tell the Court briefly of your criminal deeds.

KRYUCHKOV: I have confirmed my testimony completely. I TREACHEROUSLY MURDERED GORKY AND HIS SON, PESHKOV. I COMMITTED BOTH MURDERS ON YAGODA'S INSTRUCTIONS AND UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF HIS THREATS.

While ordering me to murder Peshkov, Yagoda informed me of the proposed coup d'etat and of his, Yagoda's, participation in it. By accepting this order I became a participant of the counter-revolutionary organization of the Rights.

...I do not wish to minimize the degree of my guilt by referring to Yagoda. I set about undermining Gorky's health after great hesitation. But in the death of Peshkov I was interested personally. I calculated that with the death of Peshkov I would become the only person close to Gorky, a person who in the future might succeed to Gorky's large literary inheritance, which would provide me with means and an independent position in the future.



I EMBEZZLED LARGE SUMS OF MONEY BELONGING TO GORKY, EXPLOITING HIS FULL CONFIDENCE IN ME....

In 1933, I think in the spring, as I have already testified today, Yagoda again resumed this conversation. THIS TIME HE BLUNTLY URGED THE REMOVAL, OR, TO BE MORE EXACT, THE MURDER OF PESHKOV.

HE SPOKE TO ME IN THE FOLLOWING WAY: "IT IS NOT PESHKOV THAT MATTERS, IT IS NECESSARY TO LESSEN GORKY'S ACTIVITY, BECAUSE IT IS IN THE WAY OF THE 'BIG CHIEFS'--RYKOV, BUKHARIN, KAMENEV, ZINOVIEV." The conversation took place in Yagoda's office. He also spoke to me of the counter-revolutionary coup. As far as I can remember his words, he spoke about a new government soon coming to power in the USSR, which would fully correspond to my political tendencies. Gorky's activity was an obstacle in the way of the coup d'etat, this activity must be lessened. "You know how Gorky loves his son Peshkov; he derives great strength from this love," he said.

I told him that I did not intend to stand in his, Yagoda's, way, and asked what I must do. To this he replied: "Remove Peshkov"--and added that Peshkov's death would affect Gorky and turn him into a harmless old man. In the course of further conversation he said: "Your task is very simple; make Peshkov drink heavily. I have spoken with Dr. Vinogradov and I know what fatal affect wine has on Peshkov's constitution."

I complied with his orders and set about preparing the murder of Peshkov. I began to ply him with liquors, receiving them directly from Yagoda in fairly large quantities.



On May 7 or 8 Peshkov's health improved. I reported this to Yagoda, who indignantly said: "Damn it all, they are able to kill healthy people by their treatment, and here they cannot do the trick on a sick man."



PESHKOV DIED ON MAY 11, I HAVE ALREADY TESTIFIED THAT I HAD A PERSONAL INTEREST IN THE KILLING OF PESHKOV. YAGODA PUT THE DAGGER IN MY HAND. I KILLED PESHKOV ON YAGODA'S INSTRUCTIONS.

HAVING COMMITTED THIS CRIME, I WAS COMPELLED TO AGREE TO A MORE HORRIBLE CRIME, THE MURDER OF GORKY. YAGODA SAID BLUNTLY THAT I WAS TO SET ABOUT UNDERMINING GORKY'S HEALTH.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 582-587


KEY PARTS OF PLETNEV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS LEVIN TOLD HIM THAT, BESIDES YENUKIDZE, RYKOV WAS ALSO INVOLVED IN THE ANTI-SOVIET CONSPIRACY;

SAYS THAT AT THE TIME YAGODA INVOLVED HIM IN THE MURDER OF GORKY AND KUIBYSHEV HE HAD ANTI-SOVIET TENDENCIES WHICH HE HID;

ADMITS HE CAMOFLAGED HIMSELF, LIED, DECEIVED, & ENGAGED IN DOUBLE DEALING;

ADMITS HE DECIDED TO KILL GORKY BY TIRING HIM OUT;

ADMITS DRAWING UP A PLAN TO KILL KUIBYSHEV WITH LEVIN’S HELP



PLETNEV:... LEVIN TOLD ME THAT, BESIDES YENUKIDZE, RYKOV WAS ALSO INVOLVED IN THE ANTI-SOVIET CONSPIRACY.



As you see, my testimony coincides with Levin's testimony, differing perhaps only in some minor details; but minor details do not decide the matter and I bear just as much responsibility as he does.

VYSHINSKY: HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOUR FRAME OF MIND AT THE YOU WERE INVITED BY YAGODA TO CONSPIRE ABOUT THE MURDER OF KUIBYSHEV AND GORKY? DID YOU ENTERTAIN ANTI-SOVIET TENDENCIES AT THAT TIME?

PLETNEV: I DID.

VYSHINSKY: AND DID YOU DISGUISE THESE TENDENCIES?

PLETNEV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: How?

PLETNEV: I said on many occasions that I fully supported measures which the Soviet government introduced.

VYSHINSKY: But in reality?

PLETNEV: I was not Soviet minded.

VYSHINSKY: Anti-Soviet?

PLETNEV: Yes.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU CAMOUFLAGE YOURSELF?

PLETNEV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU ENGAGE IN DOUBLE-DEALING?

PLETNEV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU LIE?

PLETNEV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU DECEIVE?

PLETNEV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: FORMULATE BRIEFLY THE PARTICULARS OF THE PLAN WHICH YOU DREW UP TOGETHER WITH LEVIN FOR THE KILLING OF GORKY.

PLETNEV: TO TIRE OUT THE ORGANISM AND THUS LOWER ITS POWER OF RESISTANCE.

VYSHINSKY: FOR WHAT PURPOSE?

PLETNEV: TO BRING ABOUT GORKY'S DEATH.

VYSHINSKY: AND THAT WAS YOUR PLAN?

PLETNEV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: AND YOU CARRIED OUT?

PLETNEV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: What did you do to Gorky's organism in order to bring it to a state when it could not resist illness?

PLETNEV: The technique was explained here by Levin.

VYSHINSKY: DID YOU, TOGETHER WITH LEVIN, BRING ABOUT THE MONSTROUS RESULT WHICH YOU PLANNED?

PLETNEV: YES.

VYSHINSKY: IN THE CASE OF KUIBYSHEV, DID YOU ALSO DRAW UP WITH LEVIN THE PLAN BRINGING ABOUT HIS DEATH?

PLETNEV: YES, TOGETHER WITH LEVIN.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 590-593





KEY PARTS OF KAZAKOV’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

SAYS HIS CRIMES ARE CONNECTED WITH THE MURDER OF MENSHINSKY;

YAGODA TOLD ME TO WORK WITH LEVIN TO KILL MENSHINSKY;

SAYS IT WAS NOT DONE FROM IGNORANCE BUT WAS A CRIME PURE AND SIMPLE;

SAID HE USED LYSATES FOR MURDER;

SAID YAGODA WANTED MENZHINSKY DEAD ASAP AND HE AGREE TO ACT IN THAT DIRECTION;

SAYS HE GAVE MENSHINSKY LYSATES AND HEART STIMULANTS TO CAUSE DEATH



THE PRESIDENT: Accused Kazakov, do you confirm your testimony given at the preliminary investigation?

KAZAKOV: I do.

THE PRESIDENT: Tell the Court about your criminal activities.

KAZAKOV: MY CRIMES ARE CONNECTED IN PARTICULAR WITH THE MURDER OF MENZHINSKY.



KAZAKOV: YAGODA SAID THAT I MUST WORK OUT TOGETHER WITH DR. LEVIN A METHOD OF TREATMENT WHEREBY WE WOULD BRING ABOUT A QUICK END TO MENZHINSKY'S USELESS LIFE, which was in the way of many people.



VYSHINSKY: PERHAPS THIS WAS A CASE OF BOTH IGNORANCE AND CRIMINAL INTENT?

KAZAKOV: NO, IT WAS A CRIME PURE AND SIMPLE. Gradually one set of preparations was introduced, while another was put aside.



VYSHINSKY: FOR WHAT PURPOSES DID YOU EMPLOY THESE LYSATES?

KAZAKOV: FOR CRIMINAL PURPOSES.

VYSHINSKY: FOR PURPOSES OF MURDER?

KAZAKOV: YES, YES.



KOMMODOV (Defense Counsel): At your meeting with Yagoda in November 1933 did he demand a definite method of treatment or definite results?

KAZAKOV: He demanded such a method of treatment as would accelerate the death of Menzhinsky.

KOMMODOV: AS YOU UNDERSTAND IT, WHAT DID YAGODA WANT?

KAZAKOV: YAGODA WANTED TO BE RID OF MENZHINSKY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

KOMMODOV: THE DEATH OF MENZHINSKY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, AND YOU AGREED TO ACT PRECISELY IN THIS DIRECTION?

KAZAKOV: YES.

KOMMODOV: How soon after your conversation with Yagoda did the death of Menzhinsky take place?

KAZAKOV: In six months.



KOMMODOV: DO I UNDERSTAND CORRECTLY THAT FORMULA NO. 2...AMOUNTS TO THE FACT THAT THE COMBINED TREATMENT BY YOUR LYSATES TOGETHER WITH POWERFUL DOSES OF HEART STIMULANTS WAS INEVITABLY BOUND TO LEAD TO A WEAKENING OF THE CARDIAC ACTIVITY OF MENZHINSKY? IS THAT CORRECT?

KAZAKOV: YES, ABSOLUTELY CORRECT.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 597-610





KEY PARTS OF MAXIMOV-DIKOVSKY’S ACTUAL TESTIMONY

ADMITS HE WAS IN THE RIGHTS FOR YEARS; YENUKIDZE TOLD HIM THE RIGHTS WANTED TO OVERTHROW THE GOVT AND RESTORE CAPITALISM;

YENUKIDZE TOLD HIM THE RIGHTS HAD UNITED WITH THE TROTS AND CHANGED TACTICS TO TERRORISM AND ENLISTED SOME KREMLIN DOCTORS BECAUSE IT COULD BE HIDDEN MORE EASILY; YENUKIDZE TOLD HIM A TERRORIST ACT AGAINST KUIBYSHEV WAS PLANNED AND HE AGREED TO IT;

SAYS THE KILLING OF KUIBYSHEV WAS ORGANIZED BY YENUKIDZE AND YAGODA ON THE INSTRUCTION OF THE CENTER & HE TOOK A CRIMINAL PART;

SAYS YENUKIDZE TOLD HIM THE RIGHT CENTER, BUKHARIN AND RYKOV, TOOK PART



MAXIMOV-DIKOVSKY: I fully confirm the testimony given by me at the preliminary investigation. MY ASSOCIATION WITH THE RIGHTS DATES BACK TO 1928.... I TOO MASKED MYSELF AND PRACTICED DUPLICITY.



FROM YENUKIDZE I LEARNED THAT THE RIGHTS STOOD FOR THE OVERTHROW OF THE EXISTING LEADERSHIP, SO AS TO CHANGE THE POLICY AND DIVERT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY INTO THE PATHS OF RESTORING CAPITALISM.

...DURING THIS TALK YENUKIDZE TOLD ME: "WHEREAS FORMERLY THE RIGHTS CALCULATED THAT THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT COULD BE OVERTHROWN BY ORGANIZING CERTAIN OF THE MORE ANTI-SOVIET MINDED STRATA OF THE POPULATION, AND IN PARTICULAR THE KULAKS, NOW THE SITUATION HAS CHANGED. THIS STAKE IS FORFEIT, AND IT IS NECESSARY TO PROCEED TO MORE ACTIVE METHODS OF SEIZING POWER." HE INTERPRETED THE MORE ACTIVE METHODS TO ME THEN AND THERE: IN AGREEMENT WITH THE TROTSKYITES, THE RIGHTS' CENTER HAD ADOPTED A DECISION THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO COMMIT A NUMBER OF TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST THE MEMBERS OF THE POLITBURO. This had to be achieved by the method of ruining the health of the leaders. AT THE SAME TIME HE TOLD ME THAT A PART OF THE DOCTORS OF THE KREMLIN MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION HAD BEEN RECRUITED OR ENLISTED FOR THIS BUSINESS, THAT THIS METHOD WAS THE MOST CONVENIENT BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT ON THE SURFACE IT WOULD APPEAR IN THE NATURE OF AN UNFORTUNATE ISSUE TO AN ILLNESS AND THEREBY MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR THIS TERRORIST ACTIVITY OF THE RIGHTS TO BE CAMOUFLAGED.



Observing that I was a bit flustered Yenukidze went on talking. "You," he says, "obviously underestimate the strength of the Rights in this country; we have many more Right organizations and members than you suppose." Here he said that Yagoda was one of our members,...

The talk was postponed, but it was soon resumed.... AGAIN THE CONVERSATION DEALT EXCLUSIVELY WITH THE PREPARATION OF A TERRORIST ACT AGAINST KUIBYSHEV. I AGREED TO IT. After that, events developed at a rapid pace. As a result of the so-called treatment, Kuibyshev's health got worse and worse.... I rang up Yenukidze and said that Kuibyshev had gone home, that he was very ill. I had no doubt that this was the result of the treatment that had been employed.... Kuibyshev left at 2 o'clock and his death occurred at half past three....

THAT IS WHAT I HAD TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE TERRORIST ACT WHICH WAS ORGANIZED BY YENUKIDZE AND YAGODA ON THE INSTRUCTION OF THE CENTER, IN THE COMMISSION OF WHICH I TOOK A CRIMINAL PART.



VYSHINSKY: WERE BUKHARIN AND RYKOV PARTY TO THE MURDER OF KUIBYSHEV?

MAXIMOV: YENUKIDZE SAID THAT THE RIGHTS CENTER--THAT IS, BUKHARIN, RYKOV, AND TOMSKY--WERE TAKING PART IN THIS AFFAIR.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 611-614







ANSWERS OF THE COMMISSION OF MEDICAL EXPERTS TO THE QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY THE STATE PROSECUTOR

Professor Burmin, Scientist of Merit

Professor Shereshevsky, Scientist of Merit

Professor Vinogradov

Professor Rossisky

Zipalov, Dr. of Medicine

March 9, 1938


ON THE KILLING OF GORKY



Question: Was it permissible to appoint a regimen of long walks after dinner, especially when accompanied by exhausting work, for a patient who suffered from acute pneumosclerosis,...

Might such a regimen, practiced over a long period, cause the deterioration of the health of the patient and especially of the cardio-vascular system?

Answer: Such a regimen was undoubtedly impermissible and could lead to the deterioration in the help of the patient....

Question: Was it permissible to place such a patient in an apartment where there were known to be persons suffering from grippe?

Answer: Absolutely impermissible,...

Question: Is it permissible in general for prolonged, large doses of heart stimulants,...to the administered intravenously, subcutaneously, and internally at the same time, and, in particular, in the case of a very sick patient Gorky, who was 68 years of age,...

Answer: Absolutely impermissible.

Question: May it be regarded as established, on the basis of the sum total of these facts, that the method of treatment of Gorky was a deliberate act of wrecking designed to hasten his death, the expert knowledge possessed by the accused Levin and Pletnev having been utilized for the attainment of this criminal end?

Answer: Yes, it can be taken as established beyond doubt.





ON THE KILLING OF KUIBYSHEV



Question: Was it permissible to prescribe prolonged administration of large doses of digitalis to the patient Kuibyshev?

Answer: No, it was impermissible.

Question: Is it permissible in case of attacks of angina pectoris to allow the patient to move about and to climb stairs, and may a patient suffering from an attack of angina pectoris be left without immediate medical attention?

Answer: It is absolutely impermissible and criminal, since this can lead, and in the present case did lead, to death.

Question: May it be regarded as established, on the basis of the sum total of these facts, that the method of treatment of Kuibyshev was a deliberate act of wrecking designed to hasten his death....

Answer: Yes, it may be taken as established beyond doubt.



ON THE KILLING OF MENZHINSKY



Question: Was the prolonged administration of extracts of foxglove, especially in conjunction with lysates, permissible in the case of the patient Menzhinsky,...

Answer: No, it was absolutely impermissible and criminal.

Question: Might such a method of treatment have contributed to the exhaustion of the cardiac muscles and thus have contributed to a fatal issue?

Answer: Yes, it absolutely might have done so.

Question: May it be regarded as established, on the basis of the sum total of these facts, that the accused Levin and Kazakov deliberately adopted wrecking methods of treating Comrade Menzhinsky, making it their criminal aim to bring about the earliest onset of death, which did in fact result from their criminal actions?

Answer: Yes, it may be taken as established beyond doubt.





ON THE KILLING OF PESHKOV



Question: In the case of Peshkov, who suffered from pneumonia, as described in the testimony of the accused Levin, was the treatment conducted properly?

Answer: The treatment of Peshkov as described in the testimony of the accused Levin was conducted wrongly and criminally:...

1) No use was made of the anti-pneumococcus serum....

2) Narcotics were prescribed in impermissibly large doses;

3) No heart stimulants were used.

Such treatment not only did not help the organism to combat the disease, but, on the contrary, impaired the condition of a patient.

Question: May it be regarded as established that the accused Levin, having set himself the criminal aim of hastening the death of Peshkov, deliberately adopted a wrecking method of treatment for the accomplishment of his criminal aim?

Answer: Yes, it may be taken as established beyond doubt.



ON THE POISONING OF YEZHOV



Question: May it be concluded from the materials submitted to the experts regarding the organization of the poisoning of Yezhov that the accused Yagoda and Bulanov employed for the attainment of their criminal aim extremely dangerous and highly potent means for the gradual poisoning of Yezhov?

Answer: On the basis of the chemical analyses of the carpet, curtains, upholstery, and the air in Comrade Yezhov's office, as well as analyses of his urine and the nature of the morbid symptoms which he manifested, it must be taken as absolutely established that the poisoning of Yezhov by mercury absorbed through the respiratory tracts, the most potent and dangerous method of chronic mercurial poisoning, was organized and put into execution.

Question: May it be regarded as established that as a result of the methods employed by the accused Yagoda and Bulanov to poison Yezhov his health was considerably impaired and that if the crime had not been discovered in time there was a direct menace to the life of Yezhov?

Answer: Yes, it should be taken as established that as a result of the method of gradually poisoning Comrade Yezhov employed by the accused Yagoda and Bulanov, his health was considerably impaired and that if the present crime had not been discovered in time the life of Yezhov would have been in immediate danger.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 618-622





At the session in camera the accused RAKOVSKY, GRINKO, ROSENGOLTZ, AND KRESTINSKY gave evidence about their treasonable, espionage connections with certain official representatives of certain foreign states.

The Court established both the exact identity of the representatives with whom the above-mentioned conspirators from the anti-Soviet "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" were connected, and the states they represented.

At this session in camera the accused YAGODA gave testimony in which he fully admitted to organizing the murder of Comrade Peshkov, stating that he had pursued personal aims as well as conspiratorial aims in committing this murder.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 624





SPEECH FOR THE PROSECUTION

by Vyshinsky



... The historic significance of this trial consists before all in the fact that at this trial it has been shown, proved, and established with exceptional scrupulousness and exactitude that the Rights, Trotskyites, Mensheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, bourgeois nationalists, and so on and so forth, are nothing other than a gang of murderers, spies, diversionists, and wreckers, without any principles or ideals....

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 626



Caught red-handed in the act, Bukharin calls Hegel as a witness, hurls himself into the jungle of linguistics, philology, and rhetorics, mumbles some sort of learned words, so as to cover up the traces in one way or another. But he does not stand the test, and ENDS HIS SCIENTIFIC RAVING BABBLE WITH THE FOLLOWING ADMISSION:

"WE ALL BECAME RABID COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES, TRAITORS TO THE SOCIALIST FATHERLAND, WE TURNED INTO SPIES, TERRORISTS, AND RESTORERS OF CAPITALISM. WE EMBARKED ON TREACHERY, CRIME, AND TREASON. WE TURNED INTO AN INSURRECTIONARY BAND, WE ORGANIZED TERRORIST GROUPS, ENGAGED IN WRECKING ACTIVITIES, WANTED TO OVERTHROW THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT OF THE PROLETARIAT."

To this Bukharin should have added: "We became a police department of the Japanese and German intelligence services, we became shameless barterers of our country....Ó

The historical significance of this trial lies first and foremost in the fact that it has completely exposed the bandit character of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," its ideological sterility, exposed the fact that the bloc--all these Rights, Trotskyites, Mensheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, bourgeois nationalists, etc., etc.,--are all hired agents of the fascist intelligence services.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 628



The Bukharins and Rykovs, Yagodas and Bulanovs, Krestinskys and Rosengoltzs, Ikramovs, Sharangovichs, and others are the very same as the Fifth Column, the P0UM, the Ku Klux Klan.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 629



Indeed, if we speak of Trotsky, his connections with the Gestapo were proved up to the hilt at the trials of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite terrorist center in August 1936 and of the anti-Soviet Trotskyite center in January 1937. Now, however, IT HAS BEEN PROVED THAT HIS CONNECTIONS WITH THE GERMAN POLITICAL POLICE AND THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICES OF OTHER COUNTRIES DATE BACK TO A MUCH EARLIER PERIOD, THAT TROTSKY HAS BEEN CONNECTED WITH THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE SINCE 1921. THIS HAS BEEN STATED QUITE DEFINITELY BY KRESTINSKY AT THE PRESENT TRIAL. IT IS NOW A PROVED FACT THAT TROTSKY HAS BEEN CONNECTED WITH THE BRITISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE SINCE 1927. THIS HAS BEEN STATED DEFINITELY AND PROVED BY THE ACCUSED RAKOVSKY. The whole bloc headed by Trotsky consisted in its entirety of foreign spies and agents of the Tsarist Okhrana.

Through their accomplices Bukharin and Rykov were connected with a number of foreign intelligence services, which they served systematically.

Yagoda was surrounded, as with flies, with German, Japanese, and Polish spies whom he not only shielded, as he himself admitted here, but through whom he engaged in espionage work, supplying foreign intelligence services with confidential state information, selling and betraying our country to these foreign intelligence services.

KRESTINSKY, ON HIS OWN ADMISSION, HAS BEEN A GERMAN SPY SINCE 1921.

ROSENGOLTZ, ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE TROTSKYITE UNDERWORLD, AS HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED, BEGAN HIS ESPIONAGE WORK FOR THE GERMAN GENERAL STAFF, ON HIS OWN ADMISSION, IN 1923, AND FOR THE BRITISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, ALSO ON HIS OWN ADMISSION, IN 1926.

RAKOVSKY, ONE OF TROTSKY'S CLOSEST AND PARTICULARLY TRUSTED MEN, HAS BEEN, ACCORDING TO HIS OWN TESTIMONY, AN AGENT OF THE BRITISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE SINCE 1924, AND AN AGENT OF THE JAPANESE INTELLIGENCE SERVICE SINCE 1934.

CHERNOV, ACCORDING TO HIS OWN TESTIMONY, BEGAN HIS ESPIONAGE WORK FOR GERMANY IN 1928, BY FORMING A CONNECTION WITH THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE ON THE INITIATIVE AND WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE NOTORIOUS EMIGRE --THE MENSHEVIK, DAN.

Sharangovich was enrolled by the Polish intelligence service, and in 1921 was sent to the USSR to carry on espionage work.

GRINKO, ACCORDING TO HIS OWN WORDS, BECAME A SPY OF THE GERMAN AND POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICES IN 1932, AND PRIOR TO THIS MAINTAINED ESPIONAGE CONNECTIONS WITH THESE INTELLIGENCE SERVICES, PARTICULARLY WITH THE POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE.

Ikramov and Khodjayev through their bandit chiefs "worked" under Bukharin's leadership on the establishment of contacts with the residents of the British Intelligence Service,...

Then follow the provocateurs and agents of the Tsarist Okhrana--Zelensky, Zubarev, Ivanov-- Ivanov being in addition a British spy.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 630



Add to this gang the group of poisoners and murderers--Levin, Pletnev, Kazakov, Kryuchkov, Maximov-Dikovsky and the others connected with them--and then the moral and political countenance of this bloc and of each of its participants becomes clear to the utmost.

That is why we can say that here is a foul-smelling heap of human garbage, who stop at nothing, who have no qualms whatsoever, who are ready for anything--to blow up factories and trains, to destroy cattle, to spoil grain, to engage in murder, espionage, and high treason.

...They sold their country, traded in the military secrets of its defense, were spies, diversionists, wreckers, murderers, thieves--and all in order to help the fascist governments to overthrow the Soviet government, to overthrow the power of the workers and peasants, to restore the power of the capitalists and landlords, to dismember the country of the Soviet people, to wrest away the national republics and turn them into colonies of the imperialists....to bring back the power of the landowners and capitalists, for whom these traitors worked tirelessly.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 631





Bukharin shrinks from the admission of his guilt as the devil from incense....

I would only remind you that at the morning session of March 7, Bukharin and Rykov were shown to be fully guilty of espionage connections and of conducting espionage work for the German and Polish intelligence services. I would briefly call to mind my dialogue with Rykov.

QUESTION: But was there an espionage connection maintained by a part of your organization with the Poles on your instructions?

RYKOV: Of course.

QUESTION: Bukharin included?

RYKOV: Of course.

QUESTION: Were you and Bukharin connected?

RYKOV: Absolutely.

QUESTION: So you were spies?

RYKOV: (No reply)

QUESTION: And the organizers of espionage?

RYKOV: I am in no way better than a spy.

QUESTION: You organized espionage, so you were spies.

RYKOV: It may be said, yes.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 632



This trial has reminded us once again, and has done so with unprecedented force and acuteness, that two worlds face each other as irreconcilable and deadly enemies--the world of capitalism in the world of Socialism.

Just recently Comrade Stalin once again reminded us of this capitalist encirclement.

"Indeed," wrote Comrade Stalin in his historic reply to Ivanov, "it would be ridiculous and stupid to close our eyes to the capitalist encirclement and to think that our external enemies, the fascists, for example, will not, if the opportunity arises, make an attempt at an armed attack upon the USSR. Only blind braggarts or masked enemies who desire to lull the vigilance of our people can think like that.... Only blockheads or masked enemies...can deny the danger of military intervention and of attempts at restoration as long as the capitalist encirclement exists."

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 635





The trials of Zinoviev and Kamenev and of Pyatakov & Radek completed the exposure of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite scum of humanity as a rabid and unprincipled band of wreckers, diversionists, spies, and assassins....

It is now clear to all and sundry what the Rights are, who, like the Trotskyites, long-ago ceased to be a political trend, and, like Trotskyism, degenerated into a rabid and desperate gang of felonious criminals.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 638



Bukharin likes to picture himself as a "theoretician," and a Marxist too, and of the most orthodox kind to boot. But the actual state of affairs may be seen from the following brief historical review of the anti-Party activity of Bukharin from 1909 to 1936 inclusive.





SUMMARY OF BUKHARIN'S CAREER

by Vyshinsky



Here are several brief data.

The year 1909--Bukharin adhered to the position of "Otzovism."

The years 1914-1917 (the period of the imperialist war)--Bukharin was a "Left Communist," rejected the minimum program, and waged a struggle against Lenin.

The year 1914--he was fussing about a plan for publishing his own paper, as against the Bolshevik press, the Leninist press.

The spring of 1915--Bukharin was a Trotskyite. At the Berne Conference he opposed the slogan of civil war, and advocated unity with the Trotskyite-Menshevik "Nashe Slovo." Lenin wrote the article "About the National Pride of the Great Russians," which Bukharin treated as a manifestation of social-patriotism.

The autumn of 1915--Bukharin came forward with theses rejecting the right of nations to self-determination.

February 1916--Bukharin endorsed the semi-anarchist program of the Dutch Left Social-Democrats.

In 1916 Bukharin expressed anarchist, anti-Leninist views in the magazine "The Youth International" on the problem of the state, against the dictatorship of the proletariat.

In an article entitled "World Economy and Imperialism" (1915), Bukharin openly defended the Trotskyite thesis that isolated actions by the proletariat of individual countries could not result in victory. In other words, as Lenin stated, the Bukharins were postponing Socialism...forever."

Lenin wrote of him in 1916 that he--Bukharin--was "(1) credulous towards gossip and (2) devilishly unstable in politics." (Collected Works, Vol. 29, p. 229)

"The war," wrote Lenin, "spurred him on to semi-anarchist ideas. At the Conference that adopted the Berne Resolutions (spring of 1915) he produced theses...the acme of absurdity; a disgrace; semi-anarchism."

In 1916, as I have already stated, Bukharin, in "The Youth International" magazine, developed anarcho-syndicalist ideas about the proletariat's hostility in principle to the state, the necessity to blow up any state whatsoever.

Subsequently, a year after the death of Lenin, Bukharin came forward with the brazen assertion that not he, Bukharin, had been wrong on this question, but Lenin.

The years 1916-17--Bukharin, together with Trotsky, edited the Trotskyite paper "Novy Mir" in New York, in which he denied the possibility of the victory of socialism in a single country.

The year 1917--at the Sixth Congress of the Party Bukharin came forward with a Trotskyite scheme. During the October days he again and again advocated the idea of the impossibility of the victory of Socialism in Russia.

The year 1918--Bukharin was the leader of "Left Communism." This episode has been most carefully examined at this trial.

On Oct. 8, 1918, Bukharin made a statement at the Plenum of the Moscow Soviet to the effect that his "Left Communism" had been a mistake. "In my time I was against the Brest-Litovsk Peace, but never advocated the disruption of peace, as the 'Left' Socialist-Revolutionaries did. I now must make the honest and open admission that we opponents of the Brest-Litovsk Peace were wrong, while Lenin was right." We know--and Bukharin has had to admit this at the trial--that in actual fact he carried on an active struggle to disrupt the Brest-Litovsk Peace.

The year 1919-- at the Eighth Congress of the Party, Bukharin again opposed the recognition of the right of nations to self-determination

Then followed the Ninth and Tenth Congresses of the Party, where Bukharin invariably pursued his "own" line directed against the party, against Lenin, against Stalin.

In 1921, in the interests of Trotsky, Bukharin adopted the position of buffer, treacherously fanning the flame of the discussion, and, to use Lenin's expression, pouring "buffer oil" on it.

Bukharin joined Serebryakov, Radek, Krestinsky, Pyatakov, and other Trotskyites in the anti-Lenin faction.

At the end of 1920 and the beginning of 1921 there took place the discussion on the trade unions. The country was preparing for the transition to the New Economic Policy. Bukharin assumed the role of "buffer," then passed over completely to Trotsky's position. And at the Tenth Congress declared that "the Republic hangs by a thread."

In 1923 Bukharin wrote an article in the "Pravda" entitled "Down with Factionalism," in which he spoke of Trotsky's errors, and vaguely of those of "a number of other comrades," while keeping silent regarding himself.

In 1922 Lenin was battering Bukharin for his attempt to disrupt the monopoly of foreign trade. Lenin bluntly exposed Bukharin as a profiteer, a petty-bourgeois, as a defender of the interests of the kulak upper stratum of the peasantry, opposing the industrial proletariat. (Collected Works, Vol. 27, p. 381)

In 1923-24 Bukharin formed a bloc with Kamenev and Zinoviev against Comrade Stalin. On the eve of the discussion Bukharin published an article in which he propagated in a veiled form the theory of the kulaks growing into Socialism.

[Bukharin lied, for example, in 1924 when he denied the existence of a bloc between himself and the "Left" Socialist-Revolutionaries in 1918.--on page 646]

The year 1925--Bukharin's kulak slogan of "enrich yourselves." True, in his booklet "Caesarism Behind the Mask of Revolution" and at the Fourteenth Party Congress, Bukharin admitted the erroneousness of this slogan, but here in Court Bukharin has admitted that this "repentance" was nothing but a tactical maneuver, a fraud.

The year 1928--Bukharin declared at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party that he had no differences with the Party, and at the same time engaged in negotiations and reached a secret understanding with Kamenev. He wrote the "Notes of an Economist."

The year 1929--Bukharin made a declaration in "Pravda" regarding the erroneousness of his views. "While admitting these errors of ours, we on our part will exert every effort to wage, together with the entire Party, a resolute struggle against all deviations." Now in Court he has testified that this was also a tactical maneuver, that at that time, in 1929, he was also lying. For it was precisely henchman that time that there was taking shape the underground organization that began, with arms in hand, to oppose the Soviet power.

To avoid unfounded statements, I will remind you of the testimony of Bukharin, Rykov, and finally Ivanov as to how Bukharin was fanning the struggle in the North Caucasus, how through his disciple and henchman in this affair, Slepkov, he organized kulak uprisings against the Soviet power, how he sent Yakovenko to Siberia, how they all succeeded in provoking a kulak uprising in the Biisk area and other places. I will remind you that at that very time Bukharin wrote to the press stating that "we will exert every effort to wage together with the entire Party a resolute struggle against all deviations." Bukharin lied here as well.

On December 15, 1929, Bukharin published an article in "Pravda" at the end of which he enumerated and condemned his errors. And at the same time he was conducting secret negotiations with Kamenev.

At the same time, as he has himself admitted here, he joined with Rykov in sending Slepkov to the North Caucasus and Yakovenko to Siberia to rouse kulak uprisings against the Soviet power. In Court Bukharin has admitted that it was they who at that time provoked such-and-such kulak uprisings.

And how did Bukharin behave then?

With the hypocritical mien of a Pharisee, and hiding behind a mask of sincerity, Bukharin began at the very outset of the struggle to engage in base intrigues, secret factional machinations against the Party and its leadership. He concluded a bloc with the worst enemies of Bolshevism, who have been exposed, who had but shortly before, in November 1927, undertaken a hostile demonstration against the Soviet power in the streets of Moscow and Leningrad.

In 1930 Bukharin again handed in a declaration to the Central Committee and admitted his errors. Bukharin wrote about his "unreserved condemnation of every attempt against the unity of the Party, all factional activity, all attempts at surreptitious struggle against the Party leadership, surreptitious defense of another political line differing from that of the Party." But in actual fact, as you have heard from Bukharin's testimony, it was precisely at this moment that he was engaged in negotiations with Semyonov regarding the organization of a terrorist act against the leaders of our Party and government.

In January 1933 Bukharin made a speech at the Joint Plenum of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission of the CPSU in which he demanded "severe punishment of Smirnov's grouping," spoke of his own "Right opportunist, absolutely wrong general political line," of his "guilt before the Party, its leadership, before the Central Committee of the Party, before the working-class and the country," spoke of Tomsky and Rykov as of his "former companions in the leadership of the Right opposition." In general he "criticized" his "former" views.

In actual fact, however, this was the first year of the formation of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," which proceeded to fulfill such tasks as terrorism, espionage, diversion, wrecking, and high treason, the wresting of the national republics from the USSR.

The beginning of 1934. The Seventeenth Party Congress--Bukharin's speech in which he approved of the "ruthless crushing of all oppositions and of the Right opposition as the main danger, i.e., of the very group to which I once belonged."

And at the same time he was mobilizing all forces in order to intensify the criminal activity of his group, which had already degenerated into a group of genuine spies, murderers, and intelligence service agents.

The beginning of 1936-- in an article in the "Izvestia" Bukharin dubbed the Russian people a "nation of Oblomovs." In the issue of the "Izvestia" dated February 14, 1936, Bukharin declared that this assertion of his was erroneous. ("The assertion is wrong," and "I express my profound regret" at this.)

Such is Bukharin, this hypocritical, false, wily creature; this piously rapacious and respectfully malicious person, this "damnable cross of a fox and a swine," to use Gorky's words about one of the heroes from the gallery of "Those Who Once Were People."

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 640-643





SUMMARY OF RYKOV'S CAREER

by Vyshinsky



Neither are the others--also "heroes"--any better.

Take the accused Rykov.

Prior to joining the Bolshevik Party, Rykov was a member of the united Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries and Social-Democrats in Saratov.

The years 1909-11--Rykov was a semi-Trotskyite, a semi-Liquidator. In the period of the April Conference, Rykov and Kamenev advocated the unification of the "live forces" of revolutionary democracy, i.e., an alliance with the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks.

In October 1917 Rykov, together with Kamenev & Zinoviev, turned deserter.

In December 1917 Rykov croaked about the instability of the Soviet power and declared that "a purely Bolshevik government cannot maintain itself in a backward country while the Socialist revolution has not taken place in Europe."

In 1928 Rykov joined the Sapronovites in opposing Lenin, and in defending collegiate responsibility.

Rykov was against Lenin's GOELRO plan, he sank with his head in philistine "realism," sank to the ears in routine (as Comrade Stalin wrote at the time about him to Lenin).

And later? Later there was 1928, 1929, 1932--blocs, centers, plots, betrayals.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 643-645





LAST PLEA OF BESSONOV

ADMITS COMMITTING GHASTLY ULCERS OF TREASON AND TREACHERY & NEGOTIATING WITH FASCIST GERMANY;

ADMITS BEING A GO-BETWEEEN FOR RIGHT & TROTS & WHITEGUARDS; SAYS TROTS AND RIGHTS HAD NOT NATIONAL SUPPORT SO THEY TRIED TO BRING ALL THE FASCISTS TOGETHER UNDER ONE WING; ADMITS BEING IN ON THE KILLING OF GORKY;

BLAMES BEING 6 YEARS IN CAPITALIST COUNTRIES FOR HIS ATTITUDE



...OF THESE CRIMES THE MOST TERRIBLE, TREMENDOUS, IS THE TREASON TO THE FATHERLAND OF WHICH I'M GUILTY. I WAS AN INTERMEDIARY IN AND PARTICIPANT OF THE CRIMINAL NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" AND FASCIST CIRCLES IN GERMANY....

THE STERN HAND OF PROLETARIAN JUSTICE WAS TIMELY IN UNCOVERING THE GHASTLY ULCERS OF TREASON AND TREACHERY, IN EXPOSING THE MONSTROUS PLOT and placing its participants, including myself, before the relentless responsibility of Soviet law.

I WAS ALSO AN INTERMEDIARY AND PARTICIPANT IN THE CRIMINAL CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" AND THE WHITEGUARD EMIGRE SECTION of the so-called "Trudovaya Krestyanskaya Partia." DEPRIVED OF ALL SUPPORT WHATSOEVER WITHIN THE COUNTRY, SPURRED ON BY THEIR FASCIST MASTERS, THE LEADERS OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" STROVE TO GATHER UNDER THEIR WING ALL THE AGENTS OF FASCISM WITHIN THE USSR, including the so-called "Trudovaya Krestyanskaya Partia." Proletarian justice dealt a crushing blow to this miserable effort, too.

NOT ALL THE CRIMES OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES," OF WHICH I PERSONALLY AM ALSO GUILTY, SUCH AS THE EXECUTION OF THE HEINOUS DESIGN TO DESTROY THE GREAT WRITER OF THE WORKING-CLASS, the treacherous killing of several outstanding figures of the Soviet country could be prevented by justice. But apart from the crimes spoken of in the Indictment and in the speech of Citizen the State Prosecutor, I must admit yet another crime against proletarian justice, which has not been spoken of at the trial.



In the year that has passed since I was arrested, I have already on one occasion faced a proletarian Court, and hid from it the facts of my anti-Soviet activity of which I am accused at the present trial.

...On Oct. 28, last year, exactly ten months after my arrest, I was shown that part of Krestinsky's testimony which exposed me as the liaison man between the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" and abroad and Trotsky. Since Krestinsky, after Pyatakov, was the only person who knew everything about my anti-Soviet activity, I no longer had the energy and did not attempt to maintain my former position of disavow, I only asked for a few days in which to think things over, and these were granted me. I was faced with a choice: either to continue my former tactics of disavow with immeasurably smaller chances of success, in view of the fact that the investigating authorities possessed far greater materials about my anti-Soviet activity and were on the unerringly correct road, or else, to make a clean breast of everything that I knew to the investigation authorities.



...The break with the criminal past-- and I very thoroughly understood this--could only assume one form, the form of complete, frank detailed testimony. I testified absolutely everything I knew both of the facts that were wholly or partly known to the investigating authorities, and the facts that were not known to the investigating authorities.

...My criminal activity took place in the conditions of work carried on abroad. My lengthy detachment from Soviet realities also explains to a considerable degree the fact that I took the criminal path. The more than six years of my sojourn in a directly capitalist environment had a fatal effect on my political behavior.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 715-717


LAST PLEA OF GRINKO

SAYS HE HAS NO DEFENSE;

SAYS HE DESERVES HIS SENTENCE FULLY;

SAYS HE WAS A TRAITOR IN THE TROT-RIGHT PLOT AGAINST THE SU & SOCIALISM & FOR CAPITALISM;

ADMITS WORKING FOR WAR & THE FASCISTS TO DISMEMBER THE SU; ADMITS WORKING TO KILL KEY FIGURES AND OVERTHROW THE GOVT; SAYS HE ONLY LEARNED ABOUT SOME OF THE TROT-RIGHT CRIMES IN COURT;

ADMITS BEING A SPY AND FASCIST ALLY;

SAYS DOUBLEDEALING LED THEM ALL TO FASCISM;

SAYS HE WORKED TO UNDERMINE THE WESTERN BORDER OF THE SU; SAYS HE KNEW FOR 2 YEARS THAT TOP MILITARY MEN WERE PREPARING DEFEAT;

SAYS HE KNEW FOR SEVERAL MONTHS OF THE TERRORIST LINE OF THE TROT-RIGHTS AND THAT 2 GROUPS WERE FOLLOWING STALIN AND YEZHOV TO KILL THEM;

ADMITS HE ALLOWED STATE FUNDS TO BE USED BY CONSPIRATORS AGAINST THE STATE;

ADMITS THE PARTY PARDONED HIM WHEN HE WAS GUILTY AND HE BETRAYED THEM;

SAYS HE WAS A TRAITOR LIKE THE WORLD HAS NEVER SEEN;

ACCEPTS HIS EXECUTION AS DESERVED;

HE WANTS TO REPENT BY CONFESSING



I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY IN MY DEFENSE. Nor shall I make use of this plea in order to ask for a mitigation of the sentence. I HAVE NO RIGHT TO A MITIGATION OF THE SENTENCE. I AM WHOLLY AND COMPLETELY IN AGREEMENT WITH THE QUALIFICATION AND POLITICAL ESTIMATION, BOTH OF OUR CRIMES IN GENERAL AND OF MY CRIMES IN PARTICULAR, as given in the speech of the Procurator of the USSR....

I FACE THE SUPREME COURT AS A TRAITOR TO THE COUNTRY, AS AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT OF THE PLOT OF THE RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES AGAINST SOCIALISM VICTORIOUS IN THE USSR, AS AN ALLY AND AGENT OF CAPITALISM IN ITS MORAL STRUGGLE AGAINST SOCIALISM, as an offender against THE STATE WHO HAD SET HIS HAND TO THE PREPARATION OF THE PROVOCATION OF WAR, OF THE DISMEMBERMENT OF THE USSR FOR THE BENEFIT OF FASCISM, WHO HAD SET HIS HAND TO THE PREPARATION OF THE MURDER OF THE BEST PEOPLE OF OUR COUNTRY AND TO THE VIOLENT OVERTHROW OF THE SOCIALIST STATE AND PUBLIC ORDER IN THE USSR.

THERE IS NOTHING TO BE ADDED TO THIS LIST OF CRIMES. MANY FACTS AND CRIMINAL DEEDS OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" BECAME KNOWN TO ME, AS APPARENTLY TO SEVERAL OTHERS OF THE ACCUSED, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE COURT ITSELF....

LIKE SOME OTHERS OF THE ACCUSED, I FACE THE COURT AS A DIRECT AGENT AND SPY OF FASCIST POWERS AND THEIR INTELLIGENCE SERVICES, AS A DIRECT ALLY OF FASCISM IN ITS STRUGGLE AGAINST THE USSR.

But it is not fascism that made me such.... It is to Trotsky & Bukharin that I am obliged for the "ideology," pardon the expression, and THE SCHOOL OF MONSTROUS DOUBLE-DEALING LED US ALL TO OUTRIGHT FASCISM.



MY VERY GRAVE CRIMES, AS A PARTICIPANT IN THE PLOT OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES....

AT THE ORDERS OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" AND OF THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL-FASCIST ORGANIZATION, INCLUDING MYSELF, CONDUCTED A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WORK TO UNDERMINE THE WESTERN BORDER OF THE USSR.



The second circumstance which makes my guilt, as a participant in the plot of Rights and Trotskyites, more grave is that FOR OVER TWO YEARS I KNEW OF THE CONSPIRACY IN THE RED ARMY, I WAS PERSONALLY CONNECTED WITH A NUMBER OF THE OUTSTANDING MILITARY CONSPIRATORS WHO WERE UNDERMINING THE DEFENSIVE POWER OF THE USSR AND PREPARING ITS DEFEAT. I knew and was connected, with people both in the Ukrainian organization as well as in the Red Army, who were preparing to do what was spoken of at this trial, to open the front to the enemy.

The third circumstance which adds to the gravity of my guilt before the peoples of the USSR is that IN THE COURSE OF SEVERAL MONTHS I KNEW NOT ONLY OF THE GENERAL TERRORIST LINE OF THE CENTER OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES, BUT I ALSO KNEW ABOUT THE FACT THAT TWO TERRORIST GROUPS, DAY AFTER DAY, KEPT TRAILING STALIN AND YEZHOV, WITH THE AIM OF ASSASSINATING THEM.

Finally, my guilt is made more grave by the high station which I occupied, by my high post and by the confidence shown in me by the Central Committee and Stalin.

The party raised me from the petty-bourgeois mire, it placed me in a high post in the government, a high station, entrusted me with State secrets and with control over the State finances of the USSR. I betrayed these secrets. I PERMITTED, I COLLABORATED IN THE UTILIZATION OF STATE FUNDS, PUBLIC FUNDS OF THE USSR TO FINANCE AN UNPARALLELED CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE PEOPLES OF THE USSR.

I RECALL ONE EPISODE OF MY LIFE. IN 1933, WHEN THE UKRAINIAN NATIONALIST ORGANIZATION WAS DESTROYED AND SEVERAL OF MY CLOSEST PALS WERE ARRESTED, I WAS SERIOUSLY COMPROMISED BY MY PERSONAL CONTACT WITH THEM. MY PARTY ORGANIZATION RECOILED FROM ME. I WAS ALONE AND ISOLATED. AND I WROTE A PERSONAL LETTER TO STALIN ABOUT THIS. ON THE VERY SAME DAY, ON THE VERY SAME EVENING I RECEIVED OVER THE TELEPHONE FROM THE LEADERSHIP OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE A VERY WARM MESSAGE OF COMRADELY ENCOURAGEMENT AND SUPPORT WHICH PUT ME AT EASE. AND WITHIN A FEW MONTHS I WAS SHOWN SUCH CONFIDENCE AS IS THE DREAM OF EVERY PARTY MEMBER. I WAS ELECTED TO THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE CPSU.

AND TO ALL OF THIS I REPLIED BY BETRAYAL, BY DARKEST BETRAYAL, OF THE PARTY, THE FATHERLAND AND STALIN.



...In the situation in which I found myself there was only one-way open to me to prove by my deeds that I have repented, and that was to disclose all the facts of the conspiracy and all the participants in the conspiracy known to me to the investigating authorities and the Court. I have done this to the end. IN MY TESTIMONY I DID NOT SPARE MYSELF, DID NOT SPARE ANY OF MY CONFEDERATES. I NAMED ALL THE FACTS AND ALL THE PLOTTERS KNOWN TO ME. I must confess that I did not do this at once. But was it possible for me at one blow to overcome the inertia of many years of stubborn and dangerous underground struggle against the Soviet government, to suppress the feeling of friendship for accomplices, to destroy the ulcer of double-dealing, to suppress the feeling of shame? IN A WORD, COULD I AT ONCE LAY BARE MY SOUL, THE SOUL OF A TRAITOR, THE LIKE OF WHICH THE WORLD HAS NEVER SEEN? But I have done this to the very end and the Court has had the possibility of verifying this.

In my situation there is still another form in which to express repentance.... I refer to my inner feeling of satisfaction. I make bold to speak of my happiness at the fact that our villainous conspiracy has been discovered and that the unexampled calamities, which we were preparing and partially carried out against the USSR, have been averted. The Peoples Commissariat of Internal Affairs, given new vitality, wiped out the plot of Rights and Trotskyites in their last lair. I am glad of this.

I WILL ACCEPT THE MOST SEVERE VERDICT--THE SUPREME PENALTY--AS DESERVED. I have only one wish: I wish to live through my last days or hours, no matter how few they may be, I WISH TO LIVE THROUGH AND DIE NOT AS AN ENEMY TAKEN PRISONER BY THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT, BUT AS A CITIZEN OF THE USSR WHO HAS COMMITTED THE GRAVEST TREACHERY TO THE FATHERLAND, whom the fatherland has severely punished for this, but who repented.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 718-721





LAST PLEA OF CHERNOV

ADMITS COMMITTING HEINOUS AND INDEFENSIBLE CRIMES & BEING A TRAITOR & BEING A SPY FOR FASCISM AND WORKING FOR GERMAN INTELLIGENCE;

ADMITS WORKING TO OVERTHROW THE SOCIALISM AND SETTING UP CAPITALISM;

SAYS HE COMMITTED CRIMES THAT CAN’T BE DEFENDED OR EXCULPATED & MERIT SUPREME PUNISHMENT;

ADMITS BEING A MENSHEVIK & IN THE COUNTER-REV BLOC OF RIGHTS & TROTS;

TWICE SAYS HIS CRIMES ARE BOUNDLESS & MONSTROUS;

ADMITS HE DRINKS EXCESSIVELY;

SAYS HE CARRIED OUT MONSTROUS WRECKING & DIVERSION FOR THE FASCISTS;

SAYS RYKOV AND GERMAN INTELLIGENCE GAVE HIM WRECKING ORDERS;

SAYS THE COUNTER-REV ORGANIZATION WAS A GANG OF BUREAUCRATS WITH NO SUPPORT FROM THE PEOPLE & ITS ONLY BASE WAS WITH THE FASCISTS;

SAYS ANY PUNISHMENT HE GOT WOULD BE INADEQUATE



...THE HEINOUS CRIMES WHICH I COMMITTED AGAINST THE GREAT SOVIET COUNTRY CAN NEITHER BE EXCULPATED NOR DEFENDED.

I AM A TRAITOR TO THE SOCIALIST FATHERLAND. I WAS SELLING THE INTERESTS OF THE FATHERLAND TO FASCISM, THAT ENEMY OF THE WORKING-CLASS AND OF THE WHOLE OF HUMANITY. I AM A SPY IN THE EMPLOYEE OF THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, an active member of the counter-revolutionary organization of Rights, an organization of wrecking and diversion. I AM AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES," WHICH HAD FOR ITS AIM THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOCIALIST SOCIAL AND STATE SYSTEM EXISTING IN THE USSR AND THE RESTORATION OF CAPITALISM, the restoration of the power of the bourgeoisie. I am an active participant of the bloc which undertook crimes unprecedented in their monstrosity in order to achieve its aims--the restoration of capitalism, and utilized the whole arsenal of banditry for this purpose.



THE CRIMES WHICH I COMMITTED, I REPEAT, CAN BE NEITHER DEFENDED NOR EXCULPATED. THEY MERIT THE MOST SEVERE PUNISHMENT.

How could it come about that I, in whom the Party placed the greatest confidence, could betray the Party and fatherland and become a spy in the employ of the German intelligence service and a member of a counter-revolutionary organization?

As I have already testified in Court, I HAD BEEN A MENSHEVIK IN THE COURSE OF A LONG PERIOD, AND NOT A RANK-AND-FILE MEMBER OF THE MENSHEVIK PARTY but the leader of one of its organizations, the Ivanovo-Voznesensk organization. I possessed sufficient education and political understanding to accept Menshevism consciously and fight for its program of the defense of capitalism.

...MY CRIMES ARE BOUNDLESS AND MONSTROUS. People like Rykov, Bukharin, and Tomsky stood at the head of the counter-revolutionary organization of the Rights and the fact that they arrived at the aim of overthrowing the Soviet government and restoring capitalism, that is to say they arrived at Menshevism, strengthened me in my Menshevik stand.



...I MUST ALSO ADD MY MORAL INSTABILITY, NAMELY, EXCESSIVE DRINKING.

Upon my return to the Soviet Union from Germany it was my duty, not only as a member of the Party but as a citizen of the Soviet Union, to tell of the criminal contact which I had established with the German intelligence service. In doing so I would have reinstated myself in the ranks of honest citizens. I did not do this. I preferred to remain a traitor to the fatherland.... I SERVED THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE AND HELPED IT IN ITS STRUGGLE FOR THE DISMEMBERMENT OF THE SOVIET UNION AND FOR THE DEFEAT OF THE USSR IN WAR.

...IN THE COURSE OF MY CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES, AS AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION OF RIGHTS AS A GERMAN SPY, I CARRIED OUT WRECKING AND DIVERSION ACTIONS OF A MONSTROUS CHARACTER AND ON A LARGE-SCALE....

The Party had shown me the greatest confidence by placing me at the head of the Peoples Commissariat of Agriculture. But I used this confidence against the Party, I used it against the fatherland. It was not the directions of the Party, aimed at consolidating the collective farming system, fostering the might of the collective farms and enhancing the well-being of the collective farmers, that I carried out; I carried out the directions of the center of the counter-revolutionary organization of Rights and of the German intelligence service, tending to destroy the collective farming system, to undermine the collective farms. RYKOV TRIED TO DENY HERE THAT HE GAVE ME INSTRUCTIONS TO ORGANIZE WRECKING ACTIVITIES IN AGRICULTURE....

RYKOV WISHES TO DEPICT MATTERS AS THOUGH HE SUPPLIED ONLY "IDEOLOGICAL" ADVICE ON WRECKING ACTIVITIES BUT TOOK NO PART IN THE ORGANIZATION OF THESE ACTIVITIES. THIS IS NOT TRUE.... RYKOV, SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, DIRECTED ALL MY ACTIVITIES IN WRECKING AND DIVERSION IN AGRICULTURE.

What prompted me to give truthful testimony immediately after my arrest?

The smashing of the counter-revolutionary organization of Rights began in 1937. The ringleaders of the organization, Rykov, Bukharin and others, were arrested, the counter-revolutionary organization of the Rights in the Peoples Commissariat of Agriculture was routed.

Raivid, the above-mentioned resident agent of the German intelligence service, was arrested in the summer of 1937. All of this made me ponder over the question of whether the continuation of the struggle would be of any use. They reply could only be in the negative....

WHAT WAS OUR COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION? IT WAS A GANG OF FRENZIED BUREAUCRATIC OFFICIALS, IT HAD NO ROOTS IN THE PEOPLE. AGREEMENTS WITH THE FASCIST GOVERNMENTS FORMED ITS BASIS....

MY CRIMES ARE GREAT AND MONSTROUS. ANY PUNISHMENT WHICH THE COURT DEEMS NECESSARY TO METE OUT TO ME WOULD BE INADEQUATE AS AGAINST THESE CRIMES.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 721-724





LAST PLEA OF IVANOV

ADMITS COMMITTING TREASONABLE ACTS & BEING IN THE BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTS;

FULLY ADMITS HIS GUILT AND HAS NOTHING TO SAY IN DEFENSE; ADMITS BEING A CRIMINAL & COMMITTING TREACHERY;

SOUGHT OUT ALL FORCES TRYING TO RESTORE CAPITALISM;

SAYS BUKHARIN LED HIM DOWN THE LADDER OF CRIME;

ON BUKHARIN’S INSTRUCTIONS HE TRIED TO CREATE KULAK REVOLTS, OVERTHROW SOVIET POWER IN NORTH CAUCASUS, BUKHARIN TOLD HIM OF THE NEED FOR A SOVIET DEFEAT IN WAY & THE NECESSITY TO RELY ON THE FASCISTS;

SAID HE LED A GROUP OF RIGHTS USING TERROR, EXPIONAGE & WRECKING;

SAYS BUKHARIN IS LYING WHEN HE SAYS ALL HE DID WAS ENGAGE IN THEORY;

SAYS HE COMMITTED MONSTROUS CRIMES & HE DID IT WITH BUKHARIN; BUKHARIN WAS NOT AN IDEOLOGIST BUT THE KEY LEADER OF THE RIGHTS;

HE ORGANIZED THE RIGHTS, SELECTED PEOPLE, GAVE INSTRUCTIONS, DEMANDED ACCOUNTING, INITIATED TERRORISM, WRECKING, DIVERSION, & DEFEATIST MENTALITY;

BUKHARIN WAS THE PRINCIPAL ORGANIZER OF ESPIONAGE & WAS THE COORDINATOR WITH THE FASCISTS;

ADMITS COMMITTING CRIMES MORE HEINOUS THAN THOSE BEFORE; SAYS THE ONLY HOPE THEY HAD WAS THE DEFEAT OF THE SU IN WAR AFTER THE KULAK DEFEAT;

I WANTED WAR, I LONGED FOR IT;

HIS ALLIES WERE RELYING ON DEFEAT & THE CREATION OF A FASCIST DICTATORSHIP;

SAYS HE WAS A DEFEATIST AND A SPY AND SO WAS BUKHARIN;

SAYS IT IS PAINFUL TO STAND BEFORE THE MASSES AS A BETRAYER AND TRAITOR;

CAN’T FIND ANYTHING TO MITIGATE HIS DASTARDLY CRIMES;

SAYS HE FEELS BETTER AFTER REVEALING HIS CRIMES;

SAYS IT IS HARD TO GO ON LIVING WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN THROUGH A BLACK AND STINKING CESSPOOL



I have fully and sincerely revealed the history of my criminal struggle against the Party and the Soviet power, against the Soviet people. I have hidden nothing, I HAVE CONCEALED NOTHING, EITHER AS REGARDS MY COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY TREASONABLE ACTIVITIES, OR AS REGARDS THE ACTIVITIES OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES," OF WHICH I WAS AN ACTIVE MEMBER.

I WAIVED MY SPEECH FOR THE DEFENSE BECAUSE I FULLY ADMIT AND PAINFULLY REALIZE MY PROFOUND GUILT BEFORE THE SOVIET LAND, AND HAVE NOTHING TO SAY IN MY DEFENSE.

The only thing that supported me in these dark days, the days of my public disgrace, was the thought that I had at last broken with that accursed and criminal past which bound me, that I had broken once and for all and had left it behind me.

WHEN I WAS DRAWN INTO THIS CRIMINAL BUSINESS OF PROVOCATION, I WAS JUST A RAW LAD,... I ACTED LIKE A COWARD, TOOK THE FIRST STEP ALONG THE PATH OF TREACHERY, AND THEN SLIPPED DOWN THE INCLINED PLANE AND WAS SUCKED INTO THE QUAGMIRE OF TREACHERY.



I believed that the menace of exposure of my provocateur activities would be removed only if the power of capitalism were restored. THIS CONSTANTLY IMPELLED ME TO SEEK FOR HOSTILE FORCES OF RESTORATION, SO THAT I MIGHT JOIN THEM. I LOOKED FOR PEOPLE WHO DESIRED WHAT I DID, WHO DESIRED A BOURGEOIS SYSTEM. I sought for these people, and I found them in the organization of the Rights. It is therefore clear that I sympathized with all the actions and activities of the Rights, and of Bukharin, with whom I maintained anti-Soviet connections as the leader of the "Left Communists." It required no effort at all in 1928 to enlist me into the organization of the Rights. AND THEN THE WHOLE SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT OF MY ANTI-SOVIET ACTIVITIES WAS INFLUENCED BY BUKHARIN, WHO LED ME STEP-BY-STEP DOWN THE LADDER OF CRIME.

ON BUKHARIN'S INSTRUCTIONS, I ENDEAVORED IN 1928 TO ORGANIZE A KULAK INSURRECTIONARY "VENDEE" IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS. IN 1932, AGAIN ON HIS INSTRUCTIONS, I ASSOCIATED MYSELF WITH AN UPRISING FOR THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOVIET POWER IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS, where I was working at that time. IN 1934 BUKHARIN SPOKE TO ME OF THE NEED FOR DEFEAT IN WAR, OF THE NECESSITY TO BASE OUR PLANS ON THE AGGRESSIVE FASCIST COUNTRIES, ON GERMANY AND JAPAN IN THE FIRST PLACE. ACCORDINGLY, A GROUP OF RIGHTS IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY BEGAN TO ENGAGE UNDER MY GUIDANCE IN TERRORIST, DIVERSIVE, AND ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES. AFTER ALL THIS, IT WAS STRANGE TO HEAR BUKHARIN DECLARE HERE THAT HE WAS A "PURE THEORETICIAN" WHO CONCERNED HIMSELF ONLY ABOUT PROBLEMATICS AND "IDEOLOGY." CITIZENS JUDGES, THE FACT THAT I HAVE LAID DOWN MY ARMS AND HAVE REPENTED WOULD NOT BE WORTH A BRASS FARTHING IF IN MY LAST PLEA I DID NOT RAISE MY VOICE AGAINST THIS BLATANT UNTRUTH.

...YES, I HAVE COMMITTED MONSTROUS CRIMES, AND I AM ANSWERING FOR THEM. BUT I COMMITTED THEM JOINTLY WITH BUKHARIN, AND WE MUST ANSWER FOR THEM JOINTLY.



...I MUST FIRMLY AND CLEARLY DECLARE, CITIZENS JUDGES, THAT BUKHARIN HAS NOT TOLD EVERYTHING HERE, THAT HE HAS CONCEALED MANY OF THE THREADS AND CONNECTIONS, AND HAS TRIED TO EVADE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS GRAVE CRIME. BUKHARIN WAS NOT OUR IDEOLOGIST. WE CONSPIRATORS NEEDED NO IDEOLOGISTS. BUKHARIN WAS THE ORGANIZER OF THE RIGHT CONSPIRATORS; HE SELECTED PEOPLE AND PLACED THEM, GAVE THEM INSTRUCTIONS AND DEMANDED ACCOUNT OF THEM. BUKHARIN WAS THE INITIATOR OF THE PRACTICE OF TERRORISM, WRECKING AND DIVERSION, AND OF THE WHOLE SYSTEM OF DEFEATIST MEASURES. HE WAS THE PRINCIPAL LEADER OF THE ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES, AND HE IT WAS WHO HELD IN HIS HANDS THE MOST IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS WITH THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICES OF THE FASCIST COUNTRIES.

As such, and only as such, do I know him. That is what I took him to be; and, moreover, that is what all the other members of the organization took him to be. Bukharin directed the organization of the Rights by the same means and methods as Trotsky directed the whole "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites."

Why has not Bukharin told the whole truth? This question arises in my mind, and cannot but arise in my mind, when we are being called upon to answer before the people for OUR HEINOUS CRIMES, CRIMES WHICH ARE WITHOUT PRECEDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WORKING-CLASS MOVEMENT. The reason, I think, why Bukharin has not told the whole truth here is because throughout the whole period of the revolution he has fought the revolution and to this day he has remained its enemy, and because he wants to preserve those remnants of the hostile forces which are still lurking in their dens.

I, as a man who, although he did not belong to the central nucleus of the leadership of the Rights, nevertheless was an active conspirator, as a man who knows Bukharin well, consider IT MY DUTY TO DECLARE HERE THAT AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF OUR HOPES FOR A KULAK UPRISING, THE ONLY HOPE THAT REMAINED TO US WAS THE HOPE FOR THE DEFEAT OF THE SOVIET UNION IN WAR. I was unable in my testimony to bring out in sufficient relief how profoundly defeatism had become part of the very bone and marrow of our organization. The point must be stressed that we, the members of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," became as strongly possessed by the idea of defeatism as by duplicity; like duplicity, defeatism literally became part and parcel of the psychology of every one of us. Wherever I happened to meet a member of our organization, the talk would invariably turn to the subject that war was bound to break out in the near future, and that the defeat of the Soviet Union, for which we were paving the way, would radically alter our position. I WANTED WAR, I LONGED FOR IT. I RECALL THAT EVERY DIPLOMATIC SUCCESS OF THE SOVIET UNION WHICH TENDED TO POSTPONE WAR, THAT EVERY SUCCESS OF THE UNITED FRONT IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST FASCISM AND WAR, CAUSED DESPONDENCY AND DEJECTION IN ALL OF US.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 728





One must lose the last remnants of conscience to deny that WE PLACED OUR STAKE ON DEFEAT AND ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A FASCIST DICTATORSHIP.

IN CONNECTION WITH DEFEATISM, I RECALL ANOTHER CHARACTERISTIC DETAIL, A CONVERSATION I HAD WITH BUKHARIN IN 1936. BUKHARIN ASSERTED THAT IT WAS ESSENTIAL, BY MEANS OF A SERIES OF DIVERSIVE AND TERRORIST BLOWS, TO DESTROY THE DEFENSE OF THE COUNTRY; HE SAID THAT THE RIGHTS IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY WERE VERY SLACK IN MUSTERING INSURRECTIONARY CADRES. AND HE ADDED THE FOLLOWING: OF COURSE WE WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR ASSISTANCE BY CESSIONS OF BORDER TERRITORIES, YOU WILL GET NOTHING FOR NOTHING, NO HELP; but, after all, it is not indispensable that Russia should constitute 1/6 of the world--she may be 1/10. That is not the important thing, Bukharin said, and it is only people who feared terrible words who cannot understand it.

I am not concealing the truth, I am not sparing myself. Neither can I avoid telling the truth to spare my accomplices. I WAS A DEFEATIST AND A SPY, AND SO WAS MY LEADER, BUKHARIN.

In order to give a clear idea of my state of mind by the time of my arrest I would like to say a few words about the poisonous, asphyxiating atmosphere that prevailed in our counter-revolutionary underground organization.

We, the members of the underground organization, regarded the masses of the toilers with misgivings and rancor. We conspirators hounded honest people, and tried in every way to drag honest people into our quagmire. We played a game of duplicity. We tried to lure every novice into some wrecking act so as to get him into our power by the threat of exposure.

As I have already stated in my testimony, there were many moments when my heart was torn by repentance, and the thought throbbed insistently in my mind to go and tell about the organization of the Rights. But I did not do so.

IT IS ESPECIALLY PAINFUL FOR ME TO STAND BEFORE THE PEOPLE, THE BROAD MASSES, AS A BETRAYER OF MY COUNTRY, AS A TRAITOR. But I must say that I have now made a clean breast of my crimes to the Court. WHEN I BEGAN TO ANALYZE MY CRIMES AND WISH TO FIND MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES, I CANNOT, AMIDST MY DASTARDLY CRIMES, FIND ANYTHING TO MITIGATE THEM. It was only after my arrest that I felt relief, that I felt that I was really through with my dastardly deeds.



I could fight no more. It became clear to me that we had suffered a debacle, that my struggle against the Soviet power was over, and it became clear to me that it was impossible to continue the struggle. That is why I told the whole truth at the preliminary investigation and in Court, without any concealment. I have told everything to the very end. I AM NOW IN A POSITION WHERE BURDENSOME CRIMES WEIGH DOWN UPON ME: TREASON, TREACHERY, TERRORISM.

I NOW FEEL MUCH EASIER AT HEART, BECAUSE I HAVE COMPLETELY DIVULGED MY CRIMES.

Citizens Judges, I NOW EXPERIENCE A DUAL FEELING WITH REGARD TO THE SENTENCE. IT IS HARD TO GO ON LIVING WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN THROUGH A BLACK AND STINKING CESSPOOL. WHEN I PONDERED WHETHER THERE WAS ANYTHING TO LESSEN MY GUILT, WHETHER THERE WAS ANY CRIME ABOUT WHICH I COULD SAY THAT I HAD NOT COMMITTED IT, I COULD FIND NOTHING.

MY CRIMES INCLUDED PROVOCATION, ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES," TREASON TO THE FATHERLAND, WRECKING, DIVERSION, AND INSURRECTION. IT IS HARD TO LIVE, COMRADES, WITH SUCH A RECORD.... I FIND IT INEXPRESSIBLY HARD TO DIE WHEN I HAVE AT LAST CLEARED MYSELF OF THIS FILTH, OF THIS ABOMINATION.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 726-730





LAST PLEA OF KRESTINSKY

ADMITS HE AND TROTSKY WORKED WITH THE REICHSWEHR DOING ESPIONAGE AND GRANTING CONCESSIONS FOR MONEY;

SAYS TROTSKY GAVE DOUBLE-DEALING INSTRUCTIONS FOR TROTS TO REJOIN THE PARTY WHILE LYING;

TROTSKY ALSO FORMED AN ILLEGAL ORGANIZATION THAT WAS TO COME TO POWER THROUGH WRECKING, DIVERSION, AND TERRORISM;

TROTSKY TOLD HIM IN 1933 OF HIS PLANS TO OVERTHROW THE SOVIET GOVT AND SEVER THE UKRAINE AND MARITIME REGION;

SAYS HE BEARS COMPLETE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE GROUPS CRIMINAL ACTS;

IN 1935 PYATAKOV TOLD HIM OF THE JOINT AGREEMENT FOR A COUP ARRIVED AT BY THE RIGHT, THE TROTS, AND TUKHASHEVSKY; ADMITS HE WORKED WITH GERMAN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE;

REALIZED HE DID CRIMINAL ACTS;

SAYS HIS CRIMES ARE IMMENSE AND HE ACCEPTS WHATEVER VERDICT IS PASSED REGARDLESS OF SEVERITY



In 1921 I accepted Trotsky's proposal to take part in the illegal Trotskyite work which he was then commencing, mustering forces and cadres for subsequent open action.

A bureau was formed right then, consisting of Trotsky, Serebryakov, Preobrazhensky, Pyatakov, and myself. This was in October 1921. My illegal struggle against the party dates from this moment.

In the spring of 1922, when I arrived for the Eleventh Party Congress, Trotsky broached the subject of securing funds for the internal party struggle, for the struggle against the Central Committee which, as he visualized it, would be a prolonged and acute one. Victor Kopp, who was present, proposed that an attempt be made to secure funds from the German Reichswehr. This proposal at first gave rise to certain vacillations on my part, but I afterwards accepted it and played an active part in the conclusion of a treasonable agreement with the Germans.

Towards the end of 1923 an open attack of the Trotskyites on the party took place. The defeat which we Trotskyites suffered only served to intensify our resentment and to aggravate the struggle.

IN 1926-27 THE TROTSKYITES LAUNCHED A NUMBER OF ATTACKS ON THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE. SIMULTANEOUSLY, A TROTSKYITE STRUGGLE BEGAN IN THE WESTERN COMMUNIST PARTIES AS WELL. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION, THE REICHSWEHR DEMANDED THAT WE SHOULD NOT ONLY INTENSIFY OUR ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES, BUT ALSO GIVE CERTAIN POLITICAL PROMISES OF FUTURE GRANTS OF ECONOMIC CONCESSIONS IN THE UKRAINE IN CASE WE CAME TO POWER. TROTSKY AND I, FEARING TO LOSE A SOURCE OF FUNDS AT A MOMENT OF ACUTE STRUGGLE, AGREED TO IT AND CONSENTED TO DEEPEN THIS TREASONABLE AGREEMENT.

At the end of 1927 Trotsky flung all his forces into the struggle, but suffered smashing and utter defeat. The Trotskyites were expelled from the party. The majority of their leaders were exiled.



The masses were against us, and an open struggle offered no prosper of success. Accordingly, TROTSKY GAVE INSTRUCTIONS TO ALL WHO HAD BEEN EXPELLED OR EXILED TO GET THEMSELVES REINSTATED IN THE PARTY BY SUBMITTING DOUBLE-DEALING STATEMENTS TO THE EFFECT THAT THEY HAD RENOUNCED THEIR VIEWS. At the same time he gave instructions for the restoration of the illegal Trotskyite organization, which now was to bear a purely conspiratorial character.

ITS METHOD OF STRUGGLE WAS TO PAVE THE WAY FOR AN ARMED COUP. THE MEANS TO THIS END WERE TERRORISM, WRECKING, AND DIVERSION.

The change in the tactical line was accompanied by a change of program. We had always considered that the building of socialism in the USSR alone is impossible....

DURING THE MEETING IN MERAN IN OCTOBER 1933, TROTSKY EXPOUNDED TO ME AT LENGTH THE BOURGEOIS-RESTORATIONIST PROGRAM OF OUR CONSPIRATORIAL ORGANIZATION AND THE PROGRAM FOR THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOCIALIST SOCIAL SYSTEM EXISTING IN THE COUNTRY, ADOPTING FOR THIS PURPOSE METHODS OF TERRORISM, WRECKING, AND DIVERSION, AND ENVISAGING THE SUBSEQUENT DISMEMBERMENT OF THE SOVIET UNION AND THE SEVERANCE FROM IT OF THE UKRAINE AND THE MARITIME REGION.

I accepted the program proposed by Trotsky, and also agreed to the new methods of struggle. And from that moment I BEAR COMPLETE POLITICAL AND CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALL THESE METHODS OF STRUGGLE.

IN FEBRUARY 1935 PYATAKOV INFORMED TO ME THAT AN AGREEMENT ON A JOINT ARMED COUP HAD BEEN REACHED BETWEEN THE TROTSKYITES, THE RIGHTS, AND TUKHACHEVSKY'S MILITARY GROUP. From that moment I bear responsibility not only for the actions of the Trotskyites, but for the actions of the Rights and of the military conspirators as well.

...In this counter-revolutionary work of mine I was connected with Pyatakov, as the leader of the Trotskyite center, with Rosengoltz, who was carrying on the same sort of work, with Rudzutak, the representative of the center of the Rights, and with TUKHACHEVSKY, THE LEADER OF THE MILITARY CONSPIRATORIAL ORGANIZATION.



...I have already said that since the end of 1933, and then since the end of 1935, I bear responsibility for all these forms of counter-revolutionary work.

I therefore consider it necessary to stress the fact...that up to the beginning of 1937 I was not a leader either of the Trotskyite organization or of the Right-Trotskyite center. And only in February 1937, when I, Rosengoltz, and Gamarnik took it upon ourselves to unite all the illegal work of the Trotskyites, and when Rosengoltz and I joined the center of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," did I began to occupy myself directly with the preparations for an armed coup and joined in the organization of terrorist acts.

I further consider it my duty to inform the Court...that for two years prior to my arrest doubts often arose in my mind as to the correctness of this counter-revolutionary, criminal path which I and the other Trotskyites were following. I stood at the center of government work, and could not but see how the might and wealth of the Soviet Union were growing, how the standard of living of the working people was rising and what tremendous cultural progress was taking place in our country.

After the arrest the Pyatakov & Radek and the exposure of the Trotskyite organization, I felt that an end must be put to this: I must either go and tell about my criminal activities, or the coup must be expedited. I sank to the latter alternative, and embarked on crime. This, of course, corresponded with the urgings of Tukhachevsky and Trotsky, and I began to make intensive preparations for a coup d'etat in the very near future.

And it was not until after my arrest that I made a critical survey of my counter-revolutionary activities. I became convinced of the shadowiness of our hopes, and I realized the utter hopelessness and criminality of our struggle. I drew the conclusion from this, and immediately, at the first interrogation, told the investigating authorities what had weighed most on my mind during the past 15 years, what was THE DARKEST AND MOST SHAMEFUL FACT IN MY LIFE, NAMELY, MY CONNECTIONS WITH THE GERMAN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE.



...FROM THE VERY FIRST DAY OF MY ARREST I REALIZED THE UTTER CRIMINALITY OF OUR STRUGGLE.... I hope that the sum total of my testimony and the testimony of the other arrested Trotskyites have placed the necessary threads into the hands of the investigating authorities, and that the Trotskyite organization has now been definitely liquidated. After that, five months elapsed before the trial began. I continued to suffer painfully from the consciousness of my criminal activities. I not only laid down my arms, ceased to be an enemy, but re-armed myself; I became another man, and nothing remained within me of the old collaborator of Trotsky who had conducted an active struggle against the Soviet power.

This, Citizens Judges, is not contradicted by my conduct on the first day of the trial. I admit that my refusal to plead guilty was objectively a counter-revolutionary act but subjectively, it was not a hostile sally on my part.



The fact is that in the days just preceding the trial I was under the painful impression caused by the gruesome facts I had learned from the Indictment, especially from its second section. My disapproval of the criminal past was only heightened, and not diminished, by the knowledge of these facts, but it seemed to me beyond my powers to admit my guilt to the whole world, to all working people. It seemed to me easier to die than to give the world the idea that I was even a remote accessory to the murder of Gorky, about which I actually knew nothing.

I conclude. MY CRIMES AGAINST MY COUNTRY AND THE REVOLUTION ARE IMMENSE, AND I SHALL ACCEPT, AS FULLY MERITED, WHATEVER VERDICT YOU PASS, HOWEVER SEVERE IT MAY BE. I request you...bear in mind that I myself, voluntarily, without confrontations and without being presented with other incriminating evidence, frankly and fully related my criminal activities and the activities of my organization.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 732-736


LAST PLEA OF ZUBAREV

FULLY AND COMPLETELY ADMITS THE CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST HIM OF CRIMES AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER;

ADMITS HE DIRECTED WRECKING WORK IN AGRICULTURE;

ADMITS BEING ONE OF THE LEADERS OF A TERRORIST GROUP AND CARRYING ON ESPIONAGE AND PROVOCATEUR ACTIVITIES; ADMITS THE DEPTHS OF THE GRAVITY OF THE CRIMES HE COMMITTED; FULLY AGREES WITH THE PROSECUTOR AND HIS DEMAND FOR THE DEATH PENALTY AND FEELS HIS CRIMES MERIT CAPITAL PUNISHMENT;

DOES NOT WISH TO DEFEND OR ACQUIT HIMSELF



I FULLY AND COMPLETELY ADMIT AND CONFER THE CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST ME OF CRIMES AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER. I was one of the organizers and leaders of the counter-revolutionary underground organization of the Rights in the Urals, and directed the wrecking work in the sphere of agriculture both in the Urals and here, in Moscow, when I worked in the People's Commissariat of Agriculture. I was ONE OF THE LEADERS OF A TERRORIST GROUP AND CARRIED ON ESPIONAGE AND PROVOCATEUR ACTIVITIES. I REALIZE THE PROFOUND DEPTHS TO WHICH I HAVE FALLEN AND THE FULL GRAVITY OF THE CRIMES I HAVE COMMITTED. I also realize the utter gravity of my responsibility before the proletarian Court. I FULLY AND ENTIRELY AGREE WITH THE SPEECH OF THE STATE PROSECUTOR, WITH THE DESCRIPTION HE GAVE OF MY CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES, AND WITH HIS DEMAND FOR THE SUPREME PENALTY. THE PENALTY HE DEMANDS WOULD BE A MERITED PUNISHMENT FOR THE GRAVITY OF THOSE CRIMES I HAVE COMMITTED. AND THERE IS NO PUNISHMENT WHICH THE GRAVITY OF THESE CRIMES DOES NOT WARRANT.

Realizing my responsibility, I cannot, and have no wish to, defend or acquit myself. It would be ridiculous and false to declare to the Court that I am an unfortunate victim of inexperience or ignorance, and that I was led astray by some other hand.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 736





LAST PLEA OF RYKOV

ADMITS HE COMMITTED MONSTROUS CRIMES AND BETRAYED HIS COUNTRY;

ADMITS HE WAS NOT A SECONDARY FIGURE IN THIS COUNTER- REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION;

ADMITS PREPARING FOR A COUP D'ETAT AND ORGANIZING KULAK INSURRECTIONS AND TERRORISM;

ADMITS HE WORKED FOR THE KILLING OF GORKY, PESHKOV, MENSHINSKY AND KUIBYSHEV;

COMPLETELY ADMITS HIS GUILT FOR WRECKING;

SAYS CHERNOV WAS A FULL-FLEDGED COUNTER-REV. ON HIS OWN; ADMITS BEING A CLOSE PAL OF BUKHARIN;

BUKHARIN'S REFERENCE TO SOME SORT OF DIVISION OF LABOR IS OF COURSE WRONG BECAUSE HE WAS AS ACTIVE AS WE WERE; SAYS BUKHARIN WAS THE MOST ACTIVE IN THE COUNTER-REV. BLOC; SAYS HE MUST ANSWER FOR THE MONSTROUS BLOC’S ACTS;

HE CALLS UPON THOSE NOT YET CAUGHT TO SURRENDER AND EXPOSE THE REMAINDER OF THE COUNTER-REV. DREGS



I CONFIRM THE ADMISSION OF MY MONSTROUS CRIMES WHICH I MADE DURING THE TRIAL. I HAVE BETRAYED MY COUNTRY.... In its struggle, the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" resorted to the whole arsenal of all means of struggle that have ever been employed by conspiratorial organizations.

I WAS NOT A SECONDARY FIGURE IN THIS COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION.

WE WERE PREPARING FOR A COUP D'ETAT, WE ORGANIZED KULAK INSURRECTIONS AND TERRORIST GROUPS, AND ADOPTED TERRORISM AS A MEANS OF STRUGGLE. Nesterov and I formed a special terrorist organization in the Urals. In 1935 I gave instructions regarding terrorist acts to Kotov, who headed the terrorist organization in Moscow, and so on and so forth.

But the State Prosecutor has charged me with something in which I had no direct part, and which I cannot admit. He has charged me with adopting a decision, or with giving directions for the murder of Kirov, Kuibyshev, Menzhinsky, Gorky, and Peshkov.+++



The assassination of Kirov has formed the subject of two trials. Both the direct perpetrators and the organizers and leaders of this assassination have appeared in court. I do not recall that my name was mentioned then.

I must say that I cannot deny that on the basis of the sum total of my counter-revolutionary activities, the state prosecutor has grounds for suspecting me of these assassinations. But it seems to me that logical deductions alone are not enough to accuse a man --it is true, a man who has been incriminated, against whom there is evidence of unusually serious crimes--of these assassinations as well.

At any rate, I deny any charge of my participation in these five assassinations.+++



When we discussed terrorism, we regarded it as a means of inflicting a blow on the most important and most powerful link of the Party. When we spoke of it, before us there always loomed such figures as Stalin, Voroshilov, Molotov, and Kaganovich. In this connection I MUST UNDOUBTEDLY ADMIT THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT FALLS UPON US FOR THE ASSASSINATION OF MENZHINSKY, KUIBYSHEV, PESHKOV, AND GORKY--ASSASSINATIONS THAT CORRESPONDED WITH THE STAND OF OUR ORGANIZATION ON TERRORISM AS ONE OF THE METHODS IN OUR STRUGGLE AGAINST THE PARTY--AND FOR THIS I WORKED NO LESS THAN ANY OTHER MEMBER OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION.

...WHERE THERE WERE WRECKING ACTIVITIES, ACTIVITIES NO LESS SERIOUS THAN IN BYELORUSSIA, I COMPLETELY ADMIT MY GUILT. It seems to me suspicious that Chernov would try in every way to magnify my authority and to minimize his own role in these wrecking activities, to picture it as being as small is possible. I must say that this is not true. ALREADY DURING MY FIRST MEETING WITH CHERNOV IN 1928, WHEN I WANTED TO RECRUIT HIM FOR THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION, I FOUND HIM TO BE A FULL-FLEDGED COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY, who had fully developed to, and had even developed beyond, the counter-revolutionary convictions which I held, without any assistance on my part....



He wants to make himself out to be smaller than he actually is.

I SHOULD LIKE TO SAY A FEW WORDS ABOUT BUKHARIN. THE STATE PROSECUTOR REPROACHED ME WITH WANTING TO SHIELD MY PAL. THE STATE PROSECUTOR WAS QUITE RIGHT IN CALLING BUKHARIN MY PAL, BECAUSE BUKHARIN AND I WERE REALLY VERY INTIMATE. But I would like to say that BUKHARIN'S REFERENCE TO SOME SORT OF DIVISION OF LABOR IS OF COURSE WRONG.... THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN WHICH HE WAS LESS ACTIVE THAN WE WERE.... he had occupied a specific position even during the period of the struggle against Trotsky, and he used to say that they must become used to each other while fighting each other. This was one of Bukharin's typical, verbose somersaults, but it signified his desire not to lose Trotsky. FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE BLOC IT WAS BUKHARIN WHO WAS THE MOST ACTIVE...I DO NOT WANT TO DENY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE FORMATION OF THE BLOC...BUT THE INITIATIVE AND THE MOST ACTIVE ROLE IN THIS RESPECT UNDOUBTEDLY BELONGED TO BUKHARIN.

The State Prosecutor was quite right about Bukharin and me when he said that we must answer for the sum total and for all the consequences of our counter-revolutionary activities. That is quite true, and that is why I, as one of the founders of the counter-revolutionary organization of the Rights, who enjoyed certain, sometimes considerable influence among the Rights, of course answered not only for what I did personally and for what was done on my instructions, and about which I knew, but also for the consequences.... I MUST ANSWER FOR WHAT AROSE ON THE MONSTROUS COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY FOUNDATION, in the laying of which I, of course, played no little part.



I would, in conclusion, like to take advantage of my last plea in order to try with all my might to influence those of my former supporters who perhaps have still not been arrested and have still not laid down their arms, and whom I did not know or have forgotten....

I WOULD LIKE THOSE WHO HAVE NOT YET BEEN EXPOSED AND WHO HAVE NOT YET LAID DOWN THEIR ARMS TO DO SO IMMEDIATELY AND OPENLY....

Salvation lies only in laying down their arms. THEIR ONLY SALVATION, THEIR ONLY ESCAPE LIES IN HELPING THE PARTY, IN HELPING THE GOVERNMENT TO EXPOSE AND LIQUIDATE THE REMNANTS, THE DREGS OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION, if any still happen to remain in any part of the territory of the Soviet Union.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 736-741


LAST PLEA OF SHARANGOVICH

SAYS HE WILL NOT DEFEND HIMSELF AND ADMITS COMMITTING HEINOUS AND LOATHSOME CRIMES AGAINST THE SU;

ADMITS HE IS A TRAITOR WHO BETRAYED HIS COUNTRY AND DESERVES NO MERCY;

ADMITS HE WAS A SPY CARRYING ON TREASONABLE ESPIONAGE ACTS FOR THE POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE WORKING FOR THE DEFEAT OF THE SU IN A WAR AGAINST THE FASCISTS;

ADMITS LEADING A NATIONAL-FASCIST ORGANIZATION WORKING FOR THE OVERTHROW OF THE SU;

OPERATED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE RIGHTS, TROTS, AND POLES AND RYKOV AND BUKHARIN PERSONALLY;

SOUGHT TO SET UP CAPITALISM;

SOUGHT TO BREAK OFF BYELORUSSIA AND GIVE IT TO POLISH LANDLORDS AND CAPITALISTS;

SOUGHT THE DEFEAT OF THE SU IN A WAR WITH THE FASCIST STATES; WORKED TO BRING ABOUT THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOVIET GOVT; ADMITS HE IS GUILTY AND SHOULD BE HELD FULLY RESPONSIBLE; ADMITS THAT HE PERSONALLY DIRECTED WRECKING AND DIVERSION; ADMITS THAT WITH HIS ACCOMPLICES HE UNDERMINED AGRICULTURE, DESTROYED HORSES, DEPRIVED COLLECTIVE FARMERS OF HOUSEHOLD LAND, MUDDLED THE PLANNING OF CROP AREAS AND ENDEAVORED, FROM PROVOCATEUR MOTIVES, TO INCENSE THE COLLECTIVE FARMERS AGAINST THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT;

ADMITS THAT IN BYELORUSSIAN INDUSTRY HE UNDERMINED THE FUEL BASE, THE POWER INDUSTRY, RETARDED THE SPEED OF NEW CONSTRUCTION WORK AND COMMITTED A NUMBER OF WRECKING AND DIVERSIVE ACTS;

ADMITS HE DEVELOPED EXTENSIVE WRECKING ACTIVITIES ON THE PRINCIPAL SECTORS OF THE CULTURAL FRONT--IN THE SCHOOLS, THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS, AND SO FORTH;

ADMITS HE TOOK THE PATH OF THE PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION OF THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT;

ADMITS BEING FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CREATION OF A TERRORIST GROUP AND FOR THE PREPARATION OF TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST THE LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT;

ADMITS THAT IN THE CHAIN OF CRIMES COMMITTED BY ME AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER I AM, OF COURSE, MANY TIMES GUILTY; ADMITS COMMITTING CRIMES AND TREASON;

SAYS HE DESERVES THE MOST DRASTIC PUNISHMENT;

ADMITS COMMITING VILE AND TREACHEROUS ACTS WHICH HIS LEADERS REFUSE TO ADMIT;

REFUSES TO PLEAD FOR CLEMENCY BECAUSE HE DOES NOT DESERVE IT



I DO NOT INTEND TO SAY ANYTHING IN MY DEFENSE. I HAVE COMMITTED LOATHSOME, VILE, AND HEINOUS CRIMES AGAINST THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE,... I HAVE BETRAYED MY COUNTRY, AND AS A TRAITOR I DESERVE NO MERCY.

FOR A LONG PERIOD, EVER SINCE 1921, I WAS A POLISH SPY AND CARRIED ON ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES ON BEHALF OF THE POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE. DURING THESE YEARS, ON THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE POLISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, I ACTIVELY CARRIED OUT ESPIONAGE AND TREASONABLE TASKS, DIRECTED TOWARD UNDERMINING THE POWER OF THE SOVIET UNION AND BRINGING ABOUT THE DEFEAT OF THE SOVIET UNION IN A WAR WITH FASCIST STATES. I WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE NATIONAL-FASCIST ORGANIZATION IN BYELORUSSIA WHICH WAGED A STRUGGLE AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER, A STRUGGLE FOR THE OVERTHROW OF THE EXISTING SOVIET SYSTEM IN THE COUNTRY.



GUIDED BY THE DIRECT INSTRUCTIONS OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" AND OF RYKOV AND BUKHARIN PERSONALLY, ON THE ONE HAND, AND BY THE ORDERS OF THE POLISH GENERAL STAFF, ON THE OTHER, OUR ORGANIZATION STROVE BY ITS COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES TO BRING ABOUT THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOVIET POWER AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CAPITALIST SYSTEM IN ITS PLACE. WE ATTEMPTED TO ACHIEVE THE SEVERANCE OF SOVIET BYELORUSSIA FROM THE SOVIET UNION AND TO PLACE THE WORKING PEOPLE OF SOVIET BYELORUSSIA UNDER THE YOKE OF THE POLISH LANDLORDS AND CAPITALISTS. WE DESIRED THE DEFEAT OF THE SOVIET UNION IN A FORTHCOMING WAR WITH THE FASCIST STATES, WITH WHOSE HELP THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES," AND WE TOO, UNDER ITS LEADERSHIP, WORKED TO BRING ABOUT THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOVIET POWER. I ADMIT THAT I AM GUILTY OF THIS TOO, AND I ONCE MORE DECLARE TO THE PROLETARIAN COURT THAT I AM GUILTY AND MUST BE HELD FULLY RESPONSIBLE.

I AM GUILTY OF THE FACT THAT I PERSONALLY, AND THE NATIONAL-FASCIST ORGANIZATION OF BYELORUSSIA UNDER MY GUIDANCE, DIRECTED BY THE CENTER OF THE RIGHTS, CARRIED ON EXTENSIVE WRECKING AND DIVERSIVE ACTIVITIES IN ALL BRANCHES OF ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL LIFE. TOGETHER WITH MY ACCOMPLICES, I UNDERMINED AGRICULTURE, DESTROYED HORSES, DEPRIVED COLLECTIVE FARMERS OF HOUSEHOLD LAND, MUDDLED THE PLANNING OF CROP AREAS AND ENDEAVORED, FROM PROVOCATEUR MOTIVES, TO INCENSE THE COLLECTIVE FARMERS AGAINST THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT.

IN THE INDUSTRY OF BYELORUSSIA, WE UNDERMINED THE FUEL BASE, THE POWER INDUSTRY, RETARDED THE SPEED OF NEW CONSTRUCTION WORK AND COMMITTED A NUMBER OF WRECKING AND DIVERSIVE ACTS.

We endeavored in every way to provoke, to discredit the national policy, the national policy of Lenin and Stalin; and with this object in view, WE DEVELOPED EXTENSIVE WRECKING ACTIVITIES ON THE PRINCIPAL SECTORS OF THE CULTURAL FRONT--IN THE SCHOOLS, THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, THE HIGHER EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS, AND SO FORTH.

We scorned no means in our struggle against the Party and the Soviet power; WE TOOK THE PATH OF THE PHYSICAL EXTERMINATION OF THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT.

I AM FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CREATION OF A TERRORIST GROUP AND FOR THE PREPARATION OF TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST THE LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT. IN THE CHAIN OF CRIMES COMMITTED BY ME AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER I AM, OF COURSE, MANY TIMES GUILTY.

I was mature and politically developed, and I cannot, I have not the right to advance my sentiments or my ignorance as an excuse--that would be a lie, it would be an untruth.



I understood what our aim, the severance of Soviet Byelorussia from the Soviet Union, meant. And not only did I understand it, but I saw close at hand an example of what such severance meant, what a protectorate meant. That example was Western Byelorussia, where the working people languish under the yoke of the Polish landlords and capitalists.

I UNDERSTOOD THIS, YET I EMBARKED ON THE COMMISSION OF THESE CRIMES. I UNDERSTOOD THAT BY CONSENTING TO BECOME A POLISH SPY AND TO WORK FOR THE POLES, I WAS BETRAYING MY COUNTRY. I AM SENSIBLE OF THESE GRAVE AND TREASONABLE CRIMES. I committed them, and I admitted them at the preliminary investigation and to you. I DESERVE THE MOST DRASTIC SENTENCE OF THE SOVIET COURT.

I DO NOT WANT IN MY LAST PLEA TO DWELL ON ALL MY VILE AND TREACHEROUS ACTIVITIES AND THE TREACHEROUS ACTIVITIES OF MY ACCOMPLICES WHO ARE SITTING HERE IN THIS DOCK, AND OF OUR LEADERS IN THE FIRST PLACE, SOME OF WHOM, INSTEAD OF SINCERELY ADMITTING THEIR DESPICABLE, BLOODY, AND TREASONABLE CRIMES, ARE TRYING WITH THE HELP OF THEORETICAL PHRASES TO HIDE behind the backs of their accomplices, and to escape answering to the proletarian Court....

I HAVE COME TO UNDERSTAND THE FULL HORROR OF THE TREASONABLE AND TREACHEROUS CRIMES I HAVE COMMITTED AGAINST THE SOVIET PEOPLE AND THE SOVIET COUNTRY....

I DO NOT PLEAD FOR CLEMENCY, CITIZENS JUDGES, BECAUSE I AM NOT FIT TO PLEAD FOR IT.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 741-743



LAST PLEA OF KHODJAYEV

ADMITS HE COMMITTED GRAVE CRIMES AS A BOURGEOIS-NATIONALIST LEADER;

DECIDED TO CONFESS TO BRING TO LIGHT ALL THE BLACK, PUTRIFYING FORCES THAT MIGHT CONSTITUTE A DANGER OF INFECTION; WAIVED HIS DEFENSE SPEECH BECAUSE HE CAN’T THINK OF A SINGLE ARGUMENT AND HIS CRIMES ARE TOO SERIOUS;

REALIZES THE UTTER CRIMINALITY OF HIS DEEDS AND THE DEPTHS TO WHICH HE HAS FALLEN, THE FULL HORROR OF HIS DISGRACE AND THE FULL GRAVITY OF HIS MISDEEDS;

SAYS THE SUPREME PUNISHMENT IS JUSTIFIED;

SAYS HE AND THE OTHERS ARE HARDENED CRIMINALS, HEROES OF BANDIT DEEDS, PEOPLE WHO HAVE SOLD THEIR HONOR AND CONSCIENCE



...I have related in detail all the grave crimes which were committed by the nationalist organizations of Uzbekistan under my direction. I HAVE RELATED TO YOU IN DETAIL THE GRAVE CRIMES WHICH I HAVE COMMITTED BOTH AS AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE BOURGEOIS-NATIONALIST MOVEMENT and as its leader in Uzbekistan and as an ally and member of the Right counter-revolutionaries and, through them, of the whole Right-Trotskyite counter-revolutionary bloc.

...I HAVE COMMITTED GRAVE CRIMES AGAINST THE PROLETARIAN STATE, AGAINST THE PEOPLES OF THE UNION OF SOVIET REPUBLICS AND AGAINST THE UZBEK PEOPLE.

HAVING DECIDED TO MAKE A CLEAN BREAST OF MY CRIMES, I WAS GUIDED BY ONLY ONE CONSIDERATION, NAMELY, BY MY SINCERE CONFESSION TO HELP THE INVESTIGATING AUTHORITIES TO BRING TO LIGHT ALL THE BLACK, COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ELEMENTS WITH WHICH I HAD BEEN CONNECTED, WHICH HAD BOUND ME, AND WHICH WERE A SOURCE OF PUTREFACTION THAT MIGHT LATER CONSTITUTE A DANGER OF INFECTION. I spared neither myself nor the other participants in my counter-revolutionary actions, in order to make it easier for the Soviet people's power and the Party to eradicate this evil. I WAIVED MY SPEECH IN DEFENSE, FOR I CANNOT FIND A SINGLE ARGUMENT, NOT EVEN A SINGLE WORD, IN ANY SORT OF JUSTIFICATION OF MY CONDUCT, MY ACTIONS, AND THE CRIMES I HAVE COMMITTED. I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY IN MY DEFENSE AND I CANNOT DEFEND MYSELF. TOO MUCH EVIL HAS BEEN DONE, TOO SERIOUS ARE THE CRIMES THAT HAVE BEEN COMMITTED, FOR ANYTHING TO BE SAID IN JUSTIFICATION, OR FOR ANY WORDS TO EFFACE THEM.



I STAND HERE IN THE DOCK--I AM A CRIMINAL....

People who knew Uzbekistan before the Revolution, or who were there ten years ago and have seen it in recent years, have found the country unrecognizable. Why? Because it has completely changed. Tremendous progress in economic and cultural life, the huge growth of the political activity of the broad masses of the people--all this has been achieved in relatively so brief a period as 10 or 20 years only thanks to our proletarian revolution, to the Leninist-Stalinist national policy. In 1917 only 1 1/2% of the population of Uzbekistan was literate, while today the population of the country is almost universally literate.

Formerly the country had absolutely no industry, but now it has hundreds of big plants and hundreds of thousands of working men and women.

This will be clear to anyone from even the briefest analysis of the general conditions prevailing in Uzbekistan.... Now that I HAVE REALIZED THE UTTER CRIMINALITY OF MY DEEDS, NOW THAT I HAVE REALIZED INTO WHAT AN ABYSS I HAVE FALLEN, it has become more clear to me,...that the victory of this counter-revolutionary line would have meant for Uzbekistan the victory of the blackest reaction, the restoration of feudal and capitalist relations and, consequently, a new bondage for the workers and peasants.... It is particularly hard for me to talk about this side of the matter, because I now realize it quite clearly, I UNDERSTAND IT AND AM SENSIBLE OF THE DEPTHS TO WHICH I HAVE FALLEN, OF THE FULL HORROR OF MY DISGRACE AND THE FULL GRAVITY OF MY MISDEEDS....



YES, CITIZENS JUDGES, I WAS A BOURGEOIS NATIONALIST; I HAVE COMMITTED MANY CRIMES....



Characterizing the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" and its deeds and people, Citizen the State Prosecutor said that all the participants in this bloc must be held jointly responsible for all its misdeeds. I cannot help agreeing with the definition given by Citizen the State Prosecutor. I consider this definition absolutely correct,...

...IT IS FOR YOU TO APPLY OR NOT TO APPLY TO US THAT DRASTIC, BUT JUSTIFIED, ABSOLUTELY JUSTIFIED DEMAND OF CITIZEN THE STATE PROSECUTOR.

...much that was revealed to me in Court caused even me, a criminal, to shudder at the horror of it.

IS NOT THE VERY FACT OF THE CONSPIRACY, THE VERY DECISION THAT THE RIGHTS SHOULD COME TO POWER AND THE BOURGEOIS-NATIONALISTS RECEIVE INDEPENDENCE --WHICH THEY WANTED TO RECEIVE AT THE COST OF THE DEFEAT OF THE SOVIET UNION AND BY PAVING THE WAY FOR THIS DEFEAT--IS NOT THIS ENOUGH TO COMPLETELY JUSTIFY THE APPLICATION TO US OF THE DRASTIC MEASURE OF PUNISHMENT WHICH CITIZEN THE PROCURATOR HAS DEMANDED?

...IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AT ALL, IT WILL BE AS HARDENED CRIMINALS, AS HEROES OF BANDIT DEEDS, AS PEOPLE WHO HAVE SOLD THEIR HONOR AND CONSCIENCE.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 744-747






LAST PLEA OF ZELENSKY

SAYS HE HAS NO DEFENSE OR EXCUSE FOR HIS CRIMES AND DESERVES NO EXONERATION;

SAYS HE IS GUILTY OF TREACHERY AND TREASON;

ADMITS WORMING HIS WAY INTO THE PARTY, DOUBLE-DEALING, AND USING CAMOFLAGE;

ADMITS HE DECEIVED THE PARTY, CARRIED ON UNDERMINING, WRECKING, COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES, STIRRING UP DISCONTENT AMONG THE POPULATION;

ADMITS BEING A PROVOCATEUR AND SERVING THE OKHRANA;

SAYS HIS VILE AND TREACHEROUS CRIMES ARE HORRIFYING;

SAYS THE ONLY HONEST THING TO DO WAS EXPOSE HIS MONSTROUS UNDERMINING WORK;

SAYS HE CONFESSED IMMEDIATELY BECAUSE IT WAS THE ONLY THING THAT COULD REINSTATE HIM IN THE RANKS OF THE SOVIET PEOPLE, IF NOT TO LIVE, THEN AT LEAST TO DIE AS A SOVIET MAN;

SAYS HE BECAME A FASCIST AGENT AND A WRECKER SEEKING A COUP; ADMITS DOING MONSTROUS DEEDS AND MONSTROUS CRIMES;

SAYS BUKHARIN WAS GUILTY OF CRIMES AND TREACHERY AND THE OTHERS WERE PUPPIES BESIDE HIM;

SAYS THAT TROTSKY’S ATTACK IN 1921 WAS NOT SOME SORT OF LEGAL DISCUSSION THAT CONFRONTED THE PARTY BUT A CONSPIRACY; AFFIRMED THAT IT CAN BE SAID WITH CERTAINTY THAT TROTSKY WHILE FORMALLY ADHERING TO THE PLATFORM OF THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION, MUSTERED HIS FOLLOWERS WITHIN THE PARTY FOR THE PURPOSE OF BLOWING UP THE PARTY FROM WITHIN; SAYS HE BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE BLOC’S VILE, TREACHEROUS, AND BRIGAND ACTIVITIES AND BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CRIMES WHICH HE COMMITTED;

SAYS HE DECEIVED THE PARTY AND WORMED HIS WAY INTO HIGH AND RESPONSIBLE POSTS AND CAN FIND NO REASONS, NO GROUNDS TO SEEK MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES FOR HIS CRIMES AND GUILT



I TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MY LAST PLEA NOT TO SAY ANYTHING IN DEFENSE OR EXCUSE OF MY GRAVE CRIMES. SUCH CRIMES, AND SUCH CRIMINALS AS I, HAVE NO RIGHT TO DEFENSE OR EXONERATION.

MY GRAVE CRIMES AGAINST THE PARTY....

Citizen the State Prosecutor has correctly described the criminal activities of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" and my own crimes as one of its members.

I AM GUILTY OF TREASON AND OF TREACHERY TO THE REVOLUTION, of having served in the Tsarist Okhrana; I am guilty of having for many years concealed these crimes from the Party. I am guilty of having in 1929 joined the counter-revolutionary organization of the Rights, and of having, through it, joined the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites."

I AM GUILTY OF HAVING WORMED MY WAY INTO HIGH POSTS THAT DEMAND THE PARTICULAR CONFIDENCE OF THE PARTY, BY PLAYING A DOUBLE GAME AND BY CAMOUFLAGE. I UTILIZED THE CONFIDENCE SHOWN IN ME IN ORDER TO DECEIVE THE PARTY; I CARRIED ON UNDERMINING, WRECKING, COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES, STIRRING UP DISCONTENT AMONG THE POPULATION AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER.



WHAT LED ME ONTO THE PATH OF TREASON AND TREACHERY? It was a pretty-bourgeois disbelief in the forces and victory of the revolution. COWARDICE IMPELLED ME IN MY YOUTH TO BECOME A TRAITOR, PROVOCATEUR, AND SERVITOR OF THE TSARIST OKHRANA. This fact was enough to cripple me as a man and to destroy me as a revolutionary. My past crimes weighed upon me for many years; my past activities as a provocateur determined a certain aloofness on my part from honest members of the Party.

...I chose the second path, the path of struggle against the Party and the government, the path of wrecking, which led me to this shameful dock. I continued to play a double game, and for doubledealers there's only one path--the path of underground counter-revolutionary activities. And it is to such counter-revolutionary activities that I sank. IN 1933 I BECAME A WRECKER AND BEGAN TO RECRUIT SUPPORTERS FOR THE RIGHTS. But I succeeded in recruiting for the Rights only people who had committed crimes against the Party, or who were careerists, selfseekers, and the like.

I ENGAGED IN WRECKING ACTIVITIES IN THE CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES. Citizen the Procurator characterized my wrecking activities as having been directed against the growth of trade and the development of the trading system, and towards undermining the normal supply of commodities to the population. He is right; I have nothing to add and no objections to make to this conclusion....



Wrecking activities caused a good deal of damage and really did hamper the development of trade and the trading system, and thus disrupted the supply of commodities to the workers and collective farmers.

...I must say that despite our wrecking activity, despite our undermining work, the Soviet co-operatives steadily grew in strength; and when we counter-revolutionaries, wreckers are removed, it will progress further.

We endeavored to win recruits among the rank-and-file. We wanted to extend our base in the countryside by relying on the kulak elements. I must say that the rural cooperative workers very rapidly detected our criminal efforts and that we met with a severe rebuff from the overwhelming part of the rank-and-file cooperative workers, who are honest and devoted to the Soviet power. These masses rejected every attempt at the restoration of capitalism, and us, who made the attempts....

CITIZENS JUDGES, I MUST SAY THAT THE SUM TOTAL OF OUR CRIMES, OUR VILE AND TREACHEROUS ACTIVITIES, IS HORRIFYING.... I can find only one honest thing which we could do in the course of the investigation, the interrogation. THIS ONLY HONEST THING OPEN TO US WAS RELENTLESSLY AND THOROUGHLY EXPOSE TO THE COUNTRY, TO THE REVOLUTION, TO THE REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE, ALL OUR VILE TO ACTIONS AND CRIMES, ALL OUR ACCOMPLICES AND CONFEDERATES, ALL THE MONSTROUS CRIMINAL ACTIVITY OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES," THE UNDERMINING WORK WHICH I HAD ENGAGED IN FROM THE VERY OUTSET.



THE TESTIMONY I GAVE ABOUT MY CRIMES, AND MY EXPOSURE OF MY ACCOMPLICES FOLLOWED FROM MY REALIZATION OF MY CRIMINALITY, FALSITY, AND TREACHERY.

It is painful, extremely painful, to feel that you are an enemy of the people, to see and know that you are in the wrong, to see and feel that the people are against you, to be always a counterfeit, and to act covertly.

Long before my arrest I had already lost faith in the Rights and realized the hopelessness of their struggle. THAT IS WHY I IMMEDIATELY GAVE FRANK TESTIMONY TO THE INVESTIGATING AUTHORITIES. THIS IS THE ONLY THING THAT COULD REINSTATE ME IN THE RANKS OF SOVIET PEOPLE, IF NOT TO LIVE, THEN AT LEAST TO DIE AS A SOVIET MAN.

I clearly foresaw the collapse of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" when we, the Rights, attempted to frustrate the campaign against kulaks, the rout of the kulaks, that last of the exploiting classes. And when this failed, I, TOGETHER WITH THE RIGHTS, BECAME A DIRECT FASCIST AGENT, BECAME A WRECKER; and I must admit that my wrecking activities thereby became part of the general plan of disruptive work of the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," which was performed on the instructions of foreign agents, and THE PURPOSE OF WHICH WAS TO BRING ABOUT A COUP D'ETAT IN OUR UNION.

MONSTROUS DEEDS AND MONSTROUS CRIMES--A SAMPLE OF OUR VILE RIGHT-TROTSKYITE WORK, OF OUR VILE RIGHT-TROTSKYITE UNDERGROUND ACTIVITIES, IN WHICH TO MY SHAME, DISGRACE, AND MISFORTUNE, I PARTICIPATED. I must, however, say that even for me, a participant in this underground activity, much of what has been revealed in the trial was new, unknown, and dumbfounding.

THE TALK OF BUKHARIN, THE LEADER OF THE RIGHTS, ABOUT THE TREACHERY AND CRIMINALITY OF PROVOCATEURS AND SPIES IS VALUELESS. FOR, BUKHARIN, YOU YOURSELF ARE A PAST MASTER IN THIS ART, YOU HAVE SHOWN A CHAIN OF CRIMES AND TREACHERY AGAINST THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT BY YOUR ACTIONS, BY YOUR BEHAVIOR IN COURT. WE ARE PUPPIES COMPARED WITH YOU. You, Bukharin, want to come out of it unblemished. But you will not succeed. You will go down in history with us, branded with the shameful stigma that marks the foreheads of all of us....



I EXPECTED THAT THE TROTSKYITES AND BUKHARINITES WOULD OPEN UP ONE OTHER PAGE OF THEIR CRIMES AGAINST THE SOVIET POWER, AGAINST THE PARTY, AGAINST LENIN, CRIMES COMMITTED IN 1921. THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE SO, IF ONLY TO DESTROY THE LEGEND THAT TROTSKY'S ATTACK IN 1921 WAS A SORT OF LEGAL DISCUSSION. NOTHING OF THE KIND! I take advantage of my last plea to do it for them. I want to help the Court and the investigating authorities to reveal these crimes. I want to elucidate facts which cast a vivid light on the activities of the Trotskyites against the Party in 1921. These facts are very little known to the public. I now affirm, in the light of the events of 1918 revealed by the investigation in this Court, that WHAT CONFRONTED THE PARTY IN 1921 WAS NOT A DISCUSSION BUT A CONSPIRACY. I affirm this on the basis of the following facts. The actions in Moscow in the beginning of 1921 of the Trotskyites, of Bukharinites...and other Mensheviks who then joined the Party, and Mensheviks who remained outside the Party and who continued to come out openly as Mensheviks, and the actions of the counter-revolutionaries who had formed a bloc with Trotsky, did not differ from each other in any way and all bore a Kronstadt character. All these anti-Party, anti-Soviet elements acted in concert;...utilizing the food and fuel difficulties, they attacked the Central Committee and Lenin, endeavoring to organize strikes and to bring the workers out on the streets.... Those who endeavored to provoke the workers to strike, and who partially succeeded in this, endeavored to penetrate to the Khamovniki barracks, to get possession of arms and to gain the following of the Red Army men. The attempt failed. These facts and documents are to be found in the archives of the Moscow Soviet and the Moscow Party Committee. Simultaneously with the collapse of this attempt, a plot was discovered in a Rifle Division, a plot of Whiteguard officers and Mensheviks. The commander of the Moscow military area, Petrayev,...a protege of Trotsky's, was dismissed on suspicion of being implicated in this plot. Trotsky objected to the dismissal of Petrayev just because he knew that Petrayev was implicated in the plot. IT CAN NOW BE SAID WITH CERTAINTY THAT TROTSKY AT THE TIME EMPLOYED HIS DOUBLE-DEALING METHOD: WHILE FORMALLY ADHERING TO THE PLATFORM OF THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION, HE MUSTERED HIS FOLLOWERS WITHIN THE PARTY FOR THE PURPOSE OF BLOWING UP THE PARTY FROM WITHIN. I AFFIRM THIS....



I am convinced that a detailed investigation of the facts will supply rich material about this plot and put an end to the legend that what took place in 1921 was a mere discussion. AS A MEMBER OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES," I CANNOT BUT BEAR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS VILE, TREACHEROUS, AND BRIGAND ACTIVITIES. I ALSO BEAR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CRIMES WHICH I COMMITTED MYSELF.

MY GUILT IS AGGRAVATED BY THE FACT THAT I FOR A LONG TIME DECEIVED THE PARTY, BETRAYED THE CONFIDENCE IT PLACED IN ME; I WORMED MY WAY INTO HIGH AND RESPONSIBLE POSTS. I need hardly mention that I repent. The proof of my repentance is the testimony, the exposure of myself and my accomplices which I made in Court and at the preliminary investigation.

...But I declare to the Court that I did not know, that I took no part, that I disassociate myself from such crimes as the preparations for a coup by means of a military conspiracy; that I did not know about the criminal decision of the center to assassinate Kirov, that I knew nothing about espionage matters and connections and had no relations with foreign intelligence services; that I had no relation whatever to the negotiations with foreign states regarding the severance of national republics and regions from the Soviet Union, nor did I have any relation to the terrorist acts committed by Yagoda and others.+++

My crimes against the Party, the country, and the revolutionary people are great indeed. That is why I CAN FIND NO REASONS, NO GROUNDS TO SEEK FOR MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES FOR MY CRIMES AND MY GUILT.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 748-753




LAST PLEA OF IKRAMOV

SAYS HE CAN’T FIND WORDS OR ARGUMENTS TO DEFEND HIS CRIMES; WAIVES HIS DEFENSE;

SAYS HE BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS CRIMES SUCH AS ESPIONAGE, WRECKING, AND THE MURDER OF PEOPLE LIKE GORKY, KUIBYSHEV, MENZHINSKY AND KIROV;

SAYS HE BETRAYED HIS NATION;

SAYS HIS GROUP HINDERED THE PARTY GETTING RID OF MALARIA AND FAMINE;

SAYS HE COMMITTED TOO MANY SHAMEFUL CRIMES AND CAN’T FIND GROUNDS TO ASK FOR CLEMENCY;

SAYS HE AND HIS ALLIES ARE RIGHTLY CALLED ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE, TRAITORS, SPIES, AND ASSASSINS;

SAYS HE WILL ACCEPT THE COURTS SENTENCE AS RIGHT AND JUST



...I COULD NOT FIND EVEN WORDS, LET ALONE ARGUMENTS, TO JUSTIFY AND DEFEND MY CRIMES. Criminals like the participators in the Right and Trotskyite nationalist bloc, and not only participators, but active participators like myself, can scarcely find words in any language to say in their defense. That is why I was obliged to waive my defense.... I SAY THIS NOT IN BOAST, BUT IN ORDER TO EXPOSE THE DEPTHS OF MY CRIME.

...I BEAR RESPONSIBILITY, AND NOT ONLY FOR THE CRIMES I MYSELF COMMITTED,...I ALSO BEAR FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUCH ACTIONS OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" AS ESPIONAGE OR THE DASTARDLY MURDER OF SUCH FAMOUS PEOPLE OF THE SOVIET COUNTRY AS GORKY, KUIBYSHEV, AND MENZHINSKY AND... KIROV.



The counter-revolutionary organization which existed in Uzbekistan, which was directed by me, and which formed close contacts with the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites," called itself a "nationalist" organization. This term "nationalist" might give some people the impression that we wanted to do something for the benefit of our nation. But WE BETRAYED THE INTERESTS OF OUR NATION. I then realized to what depths I had sunk, how far I had fallen.... Actually, they engaged in wrecking activities in municipal enterprises, they engaged in wrecking against the people, they engaged in wrecking against the improvement of living conditions and they engaged in wrecking in agriculture, all in order to frustrate the measures of the Soviet government and the Communist Party, when the Soviet government and the Communist Party were improving the condition of the nation.... The nationalists, in striving for "independence," were striking at the pockets of the working people, at their standard of living.

We were only a hindrance and an obstacle to this progress. Were it not for us, Uzbekistan would have attained far greater and much finer achievements.

EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT BEFORE THE REVOLUTION FAMINE OFTEN RAGED IN UZBEKISTAN, MALARIA WAS PREVALENT, AND PEOPLE PERISHED FROM THESE AND OTHER MALADIES. PEOPLE PERISHED FROM STARVATION AND MALARIA. BUT THE SOVIET POWER PUT AN END TO ALL THIS.

OUR NATIONALIST COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION ONLY TENDED TO FOSTER THESE DISEASES AND TO BRING ABOUT STARVATION AND DEATH. THAT IS WHY MY GUILT, MY CRIMES ARE SO GRAVE.



...It is a good thing that the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" was not victorious. If the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" were victorious there would be a veritable massacre the very next day, conflict would at once break out between the Trotskyites and the Rights in the Ukraine, Byelorussia, Uzbekistan, and other republics....

REALIZING ALL THESE CRIMES, ALL THESE SHAMEFUL DEEDS, I CAN FIND NO GROUNDS TO ASK FOR CLEMENCY....

What should I have said to justify the confidence which was placed in me by the leaders of the Party and the government? Instead of justifying that confidence, I abused it.

In 1930, when Zelensky proposed that I should be removed from my post in Uzbekistan, he was instructed by the Central Committee to show to Ikramov all the material incriminating Ikramov, to acquaint him with it. The Central Committee expressed complete confidence in me. A month or a month and a half later I received another telegram, from which I learned that in order to support Ikramov, the Central Committee had appointed him Secretary of the Central Asiatic Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Instead of responding to this confidence with sincerity, I played a double game. What can I say now in my defense, what words, what arguments can I use in pleading for clemency?

I have said this in passing. I do not know whether anybody sitting here in this shameful dock, whether any of these creatures who once were men, enjoyed as much confidence as I did before my arrest.



Before I was arrested I was shown a heap of material collected by the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. This was the testimony of people given in 1937, it was material that concerned me. I was told to read it and say whether it was true or not. I must say that in this respect I was treated vary considerately by Yezhov, who spoke to me four times. And what did I do? I denied everything point-blank. This disgrace therefore cannot in any way be mitigated by the fact that on the sixth or seventh day I changed my mind and began to give sincere and honest testimony.

...WE HAVE BEEN QUITE RIGHTLY CALLED ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE, TRAITORS TO THE FATHERLAND, SPIES, AND ASSASSINS.

These shameful stains we cannot obliterate, do as we will.

...I must say that when I repented, WHEN I CAME TO REALIZE THE FULL GRAVITY OF MY CRIMES, I FOUND IT VERY HARD TO COME HERE AND ANSWER FOR MY CRIMES PUBLICLY, BEFORE THE COURT. You know that when your conscience is stirred, it is very difficult to stand up before the people and to look them in the face....

...I, a beast in man's shape, stand absolutely naked. I have told everything I know. I have lanced the ulcer within me. And I now feel greatly relieved. I thought that if I told all this to the Court the people would know, the people would know that this Ikramov,...abandoned and renounced the position which is called treachery, espionage, enemy of the people and the fatherland; they would know that he abandoned this position and died an honest Soviet citizen. This is a great relief to me. And if it is to be so, this would be a certain consolation to me.

I do not say all this so as to save my vile skin. I say this so that every citizen of the Soviet Union may know what criminals we are, what the nationalists were making for, and wither they would have led the peoples of Uzbekistan. Our path was the path of oppression, the path of enslavement for the peoples of Uzbekistan.

ANY VERDICT THE COURT MAY PASS I SHALL CONSIDER ABSOLUTELY JUST AND RIGHT.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 753-757


LAST PLEA OF RAKOVSKY

CONFESSES TO ALL HIS CRIMES;

ADMITS TO BEING IN THE BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES;

ADMITS TO COMMITTING CRIMES AND BEING A FIFTH COLUMN SPY;

IS MAD THAT THE ATAMAN OF THE GROUP, TROTSKY, IS NOT PRESENT; SAYS TROTSKY WILL CONTINUE TO BE A THREAT TO THE WORLD LABOR MOVEMENT;

REJECTS THE IDEA THAT THE REVOLUTION IS EATING ITS CHILDREN AS DO BOURGEOIS REVOLUTIONS;

ADMITS HE BECAME A CRIMINAL;

SAYS TROTSKY’S IDEOLOGY TOOK SHAPE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST BOLSHEVISM;

SAYS THAT THE MAJOR TROTS ALL MADE SERIOUS DEVIATIONS BEFORE AND AFTER THE REVOLUTION;

SAYS TROTSKY SET UP CONNECTIONS WITH GERMAN INTELLIGENCE IN 1921



...I CONFESSED TO ALL MY CRIMES....

...I participated in the underground counter-revolutionary Trotskyite organization up to the last moment, to the moment of my arrest.



I WAS AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES." I COMMITTED THE GRAVEST CRIMES AGAINST THE STATE. I AM DOUBLY A SPY. In 1924 I established criminal connections with the British Intelligence Service, and in 1934 I established criminal connections with the Japanese intelligence service.... I informed you about Trotsky's letter of July 1934, in which he wrote of the necessity of isolating Stalin internationally, that is to say, of strengthening, consolidating the capitalist encirclement around the Soviet Union. I BELONGED TO THE SO-CALLED "FIFTH COLUMN" OF WHICH THE PROCURATOR SPOKE YESTERDAY....

I share the State Prosecutor's regret that the enemy of the people, Trotsky, is not here in the dock alongside of us. THE PICTURE OF OUR TRIAL LOSES IN COMPLETENESS AND DEPTH BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THE ATAMAN OF OUR GANG IS NOT PRESENT HERE.... I am older than Trotsky both in years and in political career, and I probably have no less political experience than Trotsky. I regret his absence here for considerations of a political nature. I am sorry, because Trotsky's absence in this dock means that no matter how his opportunities may be limited, HIS ACTIVITIES WILL CONTINUE, AND THIS PRESENTS A DANGER, EVEN IF A SMALL ONE, FOR THE INTERNATIONAL LABOR MOVEMENT. It is true that even beyond the Mexican meridian Trotsky will not escape that complete, final, shameful ignominy which we all are undergoing here.

...it seems to me that Citizen the Procurator dwelt on only one aspect of the case. Yes, he stressed the monstrosity of the crimes which we committed, but I should like to turn your attention to the fact that the monstrosity of this is also determined by the persons who committed these crimes.

Who were those who committed espionage, wrecking, acts of diversion, terrorism, murder? They were committed not by candidates for criminal court records, people living in slums and cellars. The criminals sitting here had to be taken from the house of the government. And thus the question which arises and to which I, as one of those involved, feel the necessity to find an answer, is the question as to HOW FORMER MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE, FORMER MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT, FORMER AMBASSADORS HAVE ENDED UP HERE. What form of insanity brought them to this dock of political infamy? I think that this is all the more necessary since this question faces every one of us and every one is searching for an explanation. I shall mention one explanation which is widely current. After all, this is not the first trial. I remember how this question was answered in connection with the other trials. PEOPLE ARE SATISFIED WITH THE TRITE AND SHALLOW BOURGEOIS EXPLANATION, ACCORDING TO WHICH ALL REVOLUTIONS FINISH BY DEVOURING THEIR OWN CHILDREN. THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION, THEY SAY, DID NOT ESCAPE THIS GENERAL LAW OF HISTORICAL FATALISM.

IT IS A RIDICULOUS, GROUNDLESS ANALOGY. BOURGEOIS REVOLUTIONS DID INDEED FINISH--EXCUSE ME IF I CITE HERE SOME THEORETICAL ARGUMENTS WHICH, HOWEVER, ARE OF SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE PRESENT MOMENT--BOURGEOIS REVOLUTIONS DID INDEED FINISH BY DEVOURING THEIR OWN CHILDREN, BECAUSE AFTER THEY HAD TRIUMPHED THEY HAD TO SUPPRESS THEIR ALLIES FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE, THEIR REVOLUTIONARY ALLIES OF THE LEFT.

BUT THE PROLETARIAN REVOLUTION, THE REVOLUTION OF THE CLASS WHICH IS REVOLUTIONARY TO THE END, WHEN IT APPLIES WHAT MARX CALLED "PLEBEIAN METHODS OF RETALIATION," IT APPLIES THEM NOT TO THE ADVANCED ELEMENTS, IT APPLIES THEM TO THOSE WHO STAND IN THE WAY OF THIS REVOLUTION, OR TO THOSE WHO, AS OURSELVES, WERE WITH THIS REVOLUTION, MARCHED ALONG WITH IT FOR A CERTAIN TIME, AND THEN STABBED IT IN THE BACK.

And I, an active Trotskyite, a very close personal friend of Trotsky (the Procurator has established that our friendship was of 34 years, duration), a man who after many had returned (true, with duplicity) into the Party, continued for many more years to carry on an open struggle against the Party leadership....

Citizens Judges, WHY INDEED DID IT HAPPEN THAT I TURNED AGAINST MY PARTY AND IN THE END SANK TO THE STATUS OF A CRIMINAL? What did we Trotskyites represent in the Party? We were what is known as an alien body in the living Party organism. Trotsky joined the Bolshevik Party only a few months before the October Revolution, HIS IDEOLOGY TOOK SHAPE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST BOLSHEVISM.

I joined the Party at the end of 1917, after I had belonged for more than a quarter of a century to the Second International.... Although I belonged to its Left wing, I was permeated by its opportunism. IF YOU TRACE BACK THE HISTORY OF OTHER TROTSKYITES, IF I TAKE RADEK, PYATAKOV, PREOBRAZHENSKY AS EXAMPLES, YOU WILL FIND THAT BOTH BEFORE THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION AND AFTER THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION EVERY ONE OF THEM WAS GUILTY OF A NUMBER OF SERIOUS DEVIATIONS.

IN 1921 TROTSKY ALREADY GAVE HIS FIRST INSTRUCTION ABOUT ESTABLISHING CRIMINAL CONNECTIONS WITH THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE. In 1926 came the second instruction. The first instruction was given to Krestinsky, the second to Rosengoltz. At the end of 1924 a recruiting agent of the intelligence service called on me; I could have thrown him down the stairs, because he resorted to blackmail. But when he said: "Do not forget that we obtained the agreement for you because we learned that you were a Trotskyite," this touched the Trotskyite strain in me. I gave no answer at the time, I talked it over with Trotsky. We knew the position we were in. I had been removed from the Ukraine, some had been removed from the Central Committee, Smirnov had been removed from the Siberian Revolutionary Committee, Radek and Pyatakov were also at a loose end, and Trotsky was saying that in the very near future, within the next few days, he would have to quit the Revolutionary Committee, unless he wanted to be ousted from it with a bang.

I am arraying all these facts so that the picture may become clear. In 1926 we already established connections with the foreign intelligence service. In 1927 it became apparent that we were suffering defeat,...

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 757-761



LAST PLEA OF ROSENGOLTZ

SAYS THAT BECAUSE OF HIS MONSTROUS CRIMES HE HAS NO INCENTIVE TO MITIGATE HIS SENTENCE;

SAYS THE BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTS WAS A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE BECAUSE THE TROTS CONTRIBUTED THEIR CONNECTIONS WITH FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES AND THE RIGHTS CONTRIBUTED THEIR CADRES, THEIR CONNECTIONS WITH THE NATIONALISTS, MENSHEVIKS, SOCIALIST- REVOLUTIONARIES AND THE KULAKS;

HIS GROUP COMMITTED DECEIT, TREASON, BRIBERY, MURDER BY MEANS OF POISON OR THE REVOLVER;

SAYS HIS GROUP WAS WORKING FOR THE COMPLETE VICTORY OF CAPITALISM;

SAYS THEY STUPIDLY RELIED ON FOREIGN ASSISTANCE WHICH WOULD THROW THEM OVERBOARD AFTER VICTORY;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED CRIMINAL DEEDS AND TREASON;

SAYS THERE IS NOT A SINGLE MAN IN THE WORLD WHO BROUGHT SO MUCH SORROW AND MISFORTUNE TO PEOPLE AS TROTSKY, THE VILEST AGENT OF FASCISM;

REGRETS THAT TROTSKY IS NOT ON TRIAL;

SAYS TROTSKYISM IS NOT A POLITICAL CURRENT BUT AN UNSCRUPULOUS DIRTY GANG OF MURDERERS, SPIES, PROVOCATEURS, AND POISONERS AND A DIRTY GANG OF HENCHMAN OF CAPITALISM;

TROTSKYISM IS PERFORMING THIS FUNCTION IN ALL COUNTRIES



During the October Revolution I brought the first military unit to the Moscow Soviet.... I was sent by Lenin personally to a number of armies.... It is with a warm feeling that I recall now the attitude which I always met on the part of Lenin when I came to Moscow from the front. I recall the great support with Stalin always gave me during the Civil War. I recall that during the period of the struggle in the Thirteenth Army on the approaches to Tula, Stalin, on his own initiative, insisted that Pyatakov be removed from that army, and that I become the head of the army on this most important sector of the front. I recall that in the Seventh Army, nearest Leningrad, a month before Yudenich's offensive, Stalin, who came there at the request of Lenin, defended me against the campaign which was carried on against me in the course of a number of controversies on strategical problems,...

...after the feeling of shame which I experienced during this trial, AFTER THE MONSTROUS CRIMES WHICH I COMMITTED, I HAVE NO INCENTIVE OR DESIRE TO ASK FOR THE MITIGATION OF MY SENTENCE.



...we knew that at the Fifteenth Congress of the Party, at the very latest, we would be expelled, if not all of us, at any rate Trotsky.

...THE FORMATION OF THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES" WAS, IF WE MAY PUT IT THAT WAY, "A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE," EACH PARTY CONTRIBUTING ITS DOWERY. WE TROTSKYITES CONTRIBUTED OUR CONNECTIONS WITH FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES, THE RIGHTS CONTRIBUTED THEIR CADRES, THEIR CONNECTIONS WITH THE NATIONALIST, MENSHEVIK, SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARY AND OTHER ELEMENTS, THEIR CONNECTIONS WITH THE KULAKS. Of course, in addition to this fixed capital of ours, each could contribute something else. We did not hesitate before perfidy, before DECEIT, TREASON, BRIBERY, MURDER BY MEANS OF POISON OR THE REVOLVER INSTEAD OF THE TRADITIONAL DAGGER.

...WE CALCULATED THAT WE WOULD ACHIEVE THE COMPLETE TRIUMPH OF CAPITALISM IN AN EXTREMELY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.

Ours was, of course, a counter-revolutionary ideology. We wanted to rely for support on the elements which had already been doomed by the Five-Year Plans, the elements which had been swept away, cast out. Of course there is nothing surprising in the fact that these old ruins came down with a crash and we found ourselves buried under the debris.... We thought that with our insignificant forces, not only without any base of support, but with the working-class against us, with the Party against us--we thought that we could achieve some results. THESE WERE RAVINGS, CALCULATING ON SOME KIND OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE. RAVINGS IN WHAT SENSE? THIS FOREIGN ASSISTANCE WOULD UTILIZE US AND THEN THROW US OVERBOARD. FROM A POLITICAL FORCE, WE BECAME A TOOL.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 762



Ravings in every respect. Our misfortune was that we; occupied responsible posts, that power had made us dizzy. We were blinded by that passion, by that ambition for power. This cannot be explained by "ideology" alone. These two factors, taken together and acting in combination, brought us to the dock.

We considered ourselves to be people sent by providence; we consoled ourselves with the thought that we would be summoned, that we were needed. This is what both the Trotskyites and the Rights said. We did not notice that the entire development of the Soviet Union swept over us, that the peaceful revolution which transformed our countryside swept over us, that this immense growth of the cultural and political level of the masses of the people...swept over us, unnoticed by us.

Citizens Judges, from my young days I honestly, truthfully, and devotedly performed my duty as a soldier of the cause of the emancipation of labor. AFTER THIS BRIGHT PERIOD A DARK PERIOD SET IN, THE PERIOD OF MY CRIMINAL DEEDS, OF TREASON TO THE FATHERLAND, A SERIES OF DARK CRIMES WHICH I BRIEFLY SUMMED UP BEFORE YOU TODAY.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 763





THERE IS NOT A SINGLE MAN IN THE WORLD WHO BROUGHT SO MUCH SORROW AND MISFORTUNE TO PEOPLE AS TROTSKY. HE IS THE VILEST AGENT OF FASCISM. The Procurator was right, and Rakovsky was right when they said that here, in the dock, IT IS TROTSKY IN THE FIRST PLACE WHO IS MISSING.

TROTSKYISM IS NOT A POLITICAL CURRENT BUT AN UNSCRUPULOUS DIRTY GANG OF MURDERERS, SPIES, PROVOCATEURS, AND POISONERS, IT IS A DIRTY GANG OF HENCHMAN OF CAPITALISM. THIS IS THE FUNCTION WHICH TROTSKYISM IS PERFORMING EVERYWHERE, IN ALL COUNTRIES, INCLUDING THE SOVIET UNION.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 761-766


LAST PLEA OF BUKHARIN

ADMITS HE WAS A LEADER OF THE RIGHTS AND TROTS WHO COMMITTED DASTARDLY CRIMES;

SAYS THE TRIALS EXPOSED ALL HIS CRIMES AND TREASONABLE ACTS; ADMITS HE WAS A TRAITOR WORKING TO VIOLENTLY OVERTHROW THE GOVT;

ADMITS HIS GROUPS ENGAGED IN TERRORIST ACTS & ORGANIZED KULAK REVOLTS;

ADMITS ENGAGING IN CONSPIRACY FOR A COUP;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED TREASON;

ADMITS BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THE ACTS COMMITTED BY THE RIGHTS AND TROTS;

ADMITS HE COMMITTED HEINOUS CRIMES, WAS A LEADER AND NOT A COG, ORGANIZED A PALACE COUP AND DESERVED THE MOST SEVERE PUNISHMENT;

ADMITS LEADING THE DEFEATIST MOOD;

SAYS HE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WRECKING ACTS;

ADMITS WORKING WITH THE TROTS FOR TERRITORIAL CONCESSIONS; SAYS TOMSKY TOLD HIM THE TROTS WERE PLANNING TO KILL GORKY; ADMITS HE WORKED WITH THE SR’S TO ARREST LENIN;

ADMITS HIS CRIMES WERE GRAVE AND IMMENSE JUSTIFYING THE SEVEREST PUNISHMENT;

WITHOUT HESITATION ADMITS HIS CRIMES DESERVE TO BE SHOT 10 TIMES OVER;

ADMITS HIS VIEWS RESEMBLE KULAK PRAETORIAN FASCISM;

REJECTS THE EXCUSES THE BOURGEOIS GIVE FOR THE CONFESSIONS SUCH AS BEING CAUSED BY TIBETAN RITUALS;

REJECTS THE HYPNOTISM ARGUMENT; SAYS THE FATE OF TROTSKY IS COUNTER-REV. POLITICS;

SAYS HE REPENTS FOR HIS CRIMES;

SAYS TROTSKY WAS THE PRINCIPAL MOTIVE FORCE OF THE MOST ACUTE METHODS OF STRUGGLE, SUCH AS TERRORISM, ESPIONAGE, DISMEMBERMENT OF THE USSR AND WRECKING; SAYS THAT HE WILL REJECT THE DEFENSES OF TROTSKY AND HIS OTHER ALLIES IN CRIME;

SAYS THE MONSTROUSNESS OF HIS CRIMES IS IMMEASURABLE



I FULLY AGREE WITH CITIZEN THE PROCURATOR REGARDING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TRIAL, AT WHICH WERE EXPOSED OUR DASTARDLY CRIMES, THE CRIMES COMMITTED BY THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES," ONE OF WHOSE LEADERS I WAS, AND FOR ALL THE ACTIVITIES OF WHICH I BEAR RESPONSIBILITY.

THIS TRIAL, WHICH IS THE CONCLUDING ONE OF A SERIES OF TRIALS, HAS EXPOSED ALL THE CRIMES AND THE TREASONABLE ACTIVITIES, IT HAS EXPOSED THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE AND THE ROOTS OF OUR STRUGGLE AGAINST THE PARTY AND THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT.

WE FOUND OURSELVES IN THE ACCURSED RANKS OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION, BECAME TRAITORS TO THE SOCIALIST FATHERLAND.

At the very beginning of the trial, in answer to the question of Citizen the President, whether I pleaded guilty, I replied by a confession.

In answer to the question of Citizen the President whether I confirmed the testimony I had given, I replied that I confirmed it fully and entirely

FIRST QUESTION: WERE YOU A MEMBER OF THE CENTER OF THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION OF THE RIGHTS? I ANSWERED: YES, I ADMIT IT.

SECOND QUESTION: DO YOU ADMIT THAT THE CENTER OF THE ANTI-SOVIET ORGANIZATION, OF WHICH YOU ARE A MEMBER, ENGAGED IN COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES AND SET ITSELF THE AIM OF VIOLENTLY OVERTHROWING THE LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY AND THE GOVERNMENT? I ANSWERED: YES, I ADMIT IT.

THIRD QUESTION: DO YOU ADMIT THAT THIS CENTER ENGAGED IN TERRORIST ACTIVITIES, ORGANIZED KULAK UPRISINGS, AND PREPARED FOR WHITEGUARD KULAK UPRISINGS AGAINST MEMBERS OF THE POLITBURO, AGAINST THE LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY AND THE SOVIET POWER? I ANSWERED: IT IS TRUE.

FOURTH QUESTION: DO YOU ADMIT THAT YOU ARE GUILTY OF TREASONABLE ACTIVITIES, AS EXPRESSED IN PREPARATIONS FOR A CONSPIRACY AIMING AT A COUP D'ETAT? I ANSWERED: YES, THAT IS ALSO TRUE.

In court I admitted and still admit my guilt in respect to the crimes which I committed and of which I was accused...and on the basis of the materials of the investigation in the possession of the Procurator. I DECLARED ALSO IN COURT, AND I STRESS AND REPEAT IT NOW, THAT I REGARD MYSELF POLITICALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SUM TOTAL OF THE CRIMES COMMITTED BY THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES."

I HAVE MERITED THE MOST SEVERE PUNISHMENT, AND I AGREE WITH CITIZEN THE PROCURATOR, WHO SEVERAL TIMES REPEATED THAT I STAND ON THE THRESHOLD OF MY HOUR OF DEATH.

I ONCE MORE REPEAT THAT I ADMIT THAT I AM GUILTY OF TREASON TO THE SOCIALIST FATHERLAND, THE MOST HEINOUS OF POSSIBLE CRIMES, OF THE ORGANIZATION OF KULAK UPRISINGS, OF PREPARATIONS FOR TERRORIST ACTS, AND OF BELONGING TO AN UNDERGROUND, ANTI-SOVIET ORGANIZATION. I FURTHER ADMIT THAT I AM GUILTY OF ORGANIZING A CONSPIRACY FOR A "PALACE COUP." And this, incidentally, proves the incorrectness of all those passages in the speech for the prosecution made by Citizen the State Prosecutor, where he makes out that I adopted the pose of a pure theoretician, the pose of a philosopher, and so on. These are profoundly practical matters. I said, and I now repeat, that I WAS A LEADER AND NOT A COG IN THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY AFFAIRS.



I ADMIT THAT I AM RESPONSIBLE BOTH POLITICALLY AND LEGALLY FOR THE DEFEATIST ORIENTATION, FOR IT DID DOMINATE IN THE "BLOC OF RIGHTS AND TROTSKYITES,"...

But I consider myself responsible for a grave and monstrous crime against the socialist fatherland and the whole international proletariat. I FURTHER CONSIDER MYSELF RESPONSIBLE BOTH POLITICALLY AND LEGALLY FOR WRECKING ACTIVITIES, although I personally do not remember having given directions about wrecking activities.+++



...Thirdly, I categorically deny that I was connected with foreign intelligence services, that they were my masters and that I acted in accordance with their wishes.+++

Citizen the Procurator asserts that I was one of the major organizers of espionage, on a par with Rykov. What are the proofs? The testimony of Sharangovich, of whose existence I had not even heard until I read the indictment.

SHARANGOVICH: Stop lying, for once in your life at least. You are lying even now in Court.

THE PRESIDENT: Accused Sharangovich, don't interrupt.

SHARANGOVICH: I could not restrain myself.

BUKHARIN (Continues):



I, HOWEVER, ADMIT THAT I AM GUILTY OF THE DASTARDLY PLAN OF THE DISMEMBERMENT OF THE USSR, FOR TROTSKY WAS NEGOTIATING ABOUT TERRITORIAL CONCESSIONS, AND I WAS IN A BLOC WITH THE TROTSKYITES. THIS IS A FACT, AND I ADMIT IT.

I categorically deny any complicity in the assassination of Kirov, Menzhinsky, Kuibyshev, Gorky, and Peshkov.+++



...I recall the conversation with Tomsky which I mentioned here in Court.... THE SUBSTANCE OF THIS CONVERSATION WAS THAT TOMSKY CURSORILY REMARKED THAT THE TROTSKYITES WERE PREPARING TO COMMIT HOSTILE ACTS AGAINST THE STALINIST, GORKY.



...I ADMIT THAT THERE WAS ONE CONVERSATION WITH KARELIN AND KAMKOV; AND THE INITIATIVE WITH REGARD TO THE ARREST OF LENIN FOR 24 HOURS.... AND AS REGARDS THE FACT THAT NEGOTIATIONS WERE SUBSEQUENTLY CONDUCTED THROUGH PYATAKOV WITH THE "LEFT" SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES... THIS I ADMIT; IT WAS THE CASE.



...I now conclude my objections to certain charges which the State Prosecutor brought against me in the course of the trial, and I will return to the crimes I actually did commit. I have already enumerated them twice. THE GRAVITY OF THESE CRIMES IS IMMENSE. I THINK IT IS UNNECESSARY TO REPEAT HOW GRAVE THESE CRIMES ARE; IT IS CLEAR ENOUGH AS IT IS.

THE IMMENSE GRAVITY OF THE CRIMES IS OBVIOUS, THE POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY IMMENSE, THE LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY SUCH THAT IT WILL JUSTIFY THE SEVEREST SENTENCE. THE SEVEREST SENTENCE WOULD BE JUSTIFIED, BECAUSE A MAN DESERVES TO BE SHOT TEN TIMES OVER FOR SUCH CRIMES. THIS I ADMIT QUITE CATEGORICALLY AND WITHOUT ANY HESITATION AT ALL.

I want briefly to explain the facts regarding my criminal activities and my repentance of my misdeeds.

I already said when giving my main testimony during the trial, that it was not the naked logic of the struggle that drove us, the counter-revolutionary conspirators, into this stinking underground life, which has been exposed at this trial in all its starkness. This naked logic of the struggle was accompanied by a degeneration of ideas, a degeneration of psychology, a degeneration of ourselves, a degeneration of people. There are well-known historical examples of such degeneration. One need only mention Briand, Mussolini and others. And we too generated, and THIS BROUGHT US INTO A CAMP WHICH IN ITS VIEWS AND FEATURES WAS VERY MUCH AKIN TO A KULAK PRAETORIAN FASCISM.



But this process of degeneration of people, including myself, took place...amidst colossal socialist construction, with its immense scope, tasks, victories, difficulties, heroism....

Even I was sometimes carried away by the eulogies I wrote of socialist construction, although on the morrow I repudiated this by practical actions of a criminal character. There arose what in Hegel's philosophy is called a most unhappy mind. This unhappy mind differs from the ordinary unhappy mind only by the fact that it is also a criminal mind.

The might of the proletarians’ state found its expression...in the fact that it disintegrated its enemies from within, that it disorganized the will of its enemies. Nowhere else is this the case, nor can it be in any capitalist country.

It seems to me that when some of the West European and American intellectuals begin to entertain doubts and vacillations in connection with the trials taking place in the USSR, this is primarily due to the fact that these people do not understand the radical distinction, namely, that in our country the antagonist, the enemy, has at the same time a divided, a dual mind. And I think that this is the first thing to be understood.



I take the liberty of dwelling on these questions because I had considerable contacts with these upper intellectuals abroad, especially among scientists, and I must explain to them what every Young Pioneer in the Soviet Union knows.

REPENTANCE IS OFTEN ATTRIBUTED TO DIVERSE AND ABSOLUTELY ABSURD THINGS LIKE TIBETAN POWDERS AND THE LIKE. I must say of myself that in prison, where I was confined for over a year, I worked, studied, and retained my clarity of mind. THIS WILL SERVE TO REFUTE BY FACTS ALL FABLES AND ABSURD COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY TALES.

HYPNOTISM IS SUGGESTED. BUT I CONDUCTED MY OWN DEFENSE IN COURT FROM THE LEGAL STANDPOINT TOO, ORIENTATED MYSELF ON THE SPOT, ARGUED WITH THE STATE PROSECUTOR; AND ANYBODY, EVEN A MAN WHO HAS LITTLE EXPERIENCE IN THIS BRANCH OF MEDICINE, MUST ADMIT THAT HYPNOTISM OF THIS KIND IS ALTOGETHER IMPOSSIBLE.

I shall now speak of myself, of the reasons for my repentance. Of course, it must be admitted that incriminating evidence plays a very important part. For three months I refused to say anything. Then I began to testify. Why? Because while in prison I made a revaluation of my entire past. For when you ask yourself: "If you must die, what are you dying for?"--an absolutely black vacuity suddenly rises before you with startling vividness. There was nothing to die for, if one wanted to die unrepented. And, on the contrary, everything positive that glistens in the Soviet Union acquires new dimensions in a man's mind. This in the end disarmed me completely and led me to bend my knees before the Party and the country.



...I happened by chance to get Feuchtwanger's book from the prison library. There he refers to the trials of the Trotskyites. It produced a profound impression on me; but I must say that Feuchtwanger did not get at the core of the matter.... You cannot do what Feuchtwanger does in relation to Trotsky in particular, when he places him on the same plane as Stalin. Here his arguments are absolutely false. For in reality the whole country stands behind Stalin; he is the hope of the world; he is a creator. Napoleon once said that fate is politics. THE FATE OF TROTSKY IS COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY POLITICS.

I am explaining how I came to realize the necessity of capitulating to the investigating authorities and to you, Citizens Judges. We came out against the joy of the new life with the most criminal methods of struggle. I refute the accusation of having plotted against the life of Lenin, but my counter-revolutionary confederates, and I at their head, endeavored to murder Lenin's cause, which is being carried on with such tremendous success by Stalin.+++ The logic of this struggle led us step-by-step into the blackest quagmire. And it has once more been proved that departure from the position of Bolshevism means siding with political counter-revolutionary banditry. COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY BANDITRY HAS NOW BEEN SMASHED, WE HAVE BEEN SMASHED, AND WE REPENT OUR FRIGHTFUL CRIMES.

I FEEL IT MY DUTY TO SAY HERE THAT IN THE PARALLELOGRAM OF FORCES WHICH WENT TO MAKE UP THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY TACTICS, TROTSKY WAS THE PRINCIPAL MOTIVE FORCE. AND THE MOST ACUTE METHODS--TERRORISM, ESPIONAGE, THE DISMEMBERMENT OF THE USSR AND WRECKING--PROCEEDED PRIMARILY FROM THIS SOURCE.

I MAY INFER A PRIORI THAT TROTSKY AND MY OTHER ALLIES IN CRIME, AS WELL AS THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL, ALL THE MORE SINCE I DISCUSSED THIS WITH NIKOLAYEVSKY, WILL ENDEAVOR TO DEFEND US, ESPECIALLY AND PARTICULARLY MYSELF. I REJECT THIS DEFENSE, because I am kneeling before the country, before the Party, before the whole people. THE MONSTROUSNESS OF MY CRIMES IS IMMEASURABLE especially in the new age of the struggle of the USSR.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 767-778


LAST PLEA OF LEVIN

ADMITS HIS GUILT IS VERY GREAT AND THE GRAVITY OF HIS CRIMES MERIT VERY SEVERE PUNISHMENT;

PAINFULLY REPENTS FOR ALL THE CRIMES HE COMMITTED



Citizens Judges! IN MY LAST PLEA I WANT TO REAFFIRM MY GUILT ONCE MORE.

THE STATE PROSECUTOR HAS DISCLOSED my entire guilt with exhaustive comprehensiveness and objectively and has drawn a vivid picture of THE GRAVITY OF THE CRIMES I COMMITTED....

My guilt is very great, Citizens Judges. MY GUILT IS SUCH THAT PUNISHMENT MUST, OF COURSE, BE VERY SEVERE, I DO NOT DOUBT THIS.

...OF THE CRIMES I COMMITTED, I REPENT, PAINFULLY REPENT, BITTERLY REPENT, SINCERELY AND WITH MY WHOLE HEART.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 778-781





LAST PLEA OF BULANOV

SAYS HIS CRIMES ARE STARK FACT AND DON’T NEED TO BE PROVEN; SAYS THERE ARE NO EXCUSES OR MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES FOR HIS CRIMES WHICH ARE TOO GREAT;

SAYS YAGODA MADE HIM A TROT AND A RIGHT AND AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE;

SAYS YAGODA WAS THE ORGANIZER OF THE MURDERS HE KNEW OF; THE RIGHTS, TROTSKYITES, SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES, AND MENSHEVIKS, ALL HAD THE SAME METHODS WHICH WERE ESPIONAGE, ACTS OF DIVERSION, AND TREACHERY;

YAGODA CONSIDERS HITLER HIS MODEL;

YAGODA TOLD HIM BUKHARIN WOULD BE YAGODA'S MINISTER OF PROPAGANDA



I will not speak of the crimes I have committed because they are known and proven to the full, if, of course, there is a need to prove the facts, because MY CRIMES ARE STARK FACTS, DEMANDING AT THE BEST MERE REGISTRATION, AND NOT PROOF OF ANY KIND.

THERE ARE NO EXCUSES IN MY CASE, NO CIRCUMSTANCES MITIGATING MY CRIME. MY CRIMES ARE TOO GREAT.

Before I met Yagoda I was neither a Right nor a Trotskyite. YAGODA MADE ME BOTH A RIGHT AND A TROTSKYITE, IN SHORT, AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE....

I heard Bukharin here developing a sort of theory about confession, but, as a matter of fact, it is a very simple thing. NEITHER I, NOR BUKHARIN, NOR MY OTHER FELLOW-ACCUSED HAVE ANY EXCUSES WHATEVER, AND THERE CAN BE NO CIRCUMSTANCES LESSENING OUR GUILT, because to add any mitigating circumstances would in effect be to excuse to some extent the crimes that we committed.

Two or three days after my arrest, and during the preliminary investigation, and at a confrontation, Yagoda quite brazenly persisted in denying a number of circumstances. Facts can be denied for five or ten minutes, for a day, for two days, but it is folly.

Here at the court session he [Yagoda] denied any complicity whatsoever in two murders. HE IS THE ORGANIZER OF ALL THE MURDERS I KNOW. What do we find--Bukharin knew nothing, Rykov knew nothing, Yagoda knew nothing. So it was Bulanov that poisoned Yezhov? So Gorky was murdered by Kryuchkov and Levin, so Kuibyshev was murdered by Levin, so Menzhinsky was murdered by Kazakov and Levin? And Bukharin, Rykov, Yagoda had nothing to do with it?



But now I think, the countenance of these so-called leaders is perfectly clear and not only to you Citizens Judges but to us also.... The Russian worker, the Russian collective farmers are fortunate that Yezhov caught us in time and put us in the dock in time. If these men and I among them, could not have actually let the enemy in, they could in any case have created conditions for the German and Japanese hordes to invade the territory of the USSR with the greatest ease, with all the ensuing consequences.

...THEY HAD A SHOP ON THE SIGN BOARD OF WHICH THERE WERE THE RIGHTS, TROTSKYITES, SOCIALIST-REVOLUTIONARIES, AND MENSHEVIKS, BUT THEY HAD ONE AND THE SAME ASSORTMENT OF GOODS: MURDER, ESPIONAGE, ACTS OF DIVERSION, TREACHERY IN ALL ITS FORMS.

If they had actually crashed through to power I think that HITLER, WHOM YAGODA CONSIDERS HIS MODEL, would soon have been green with envy. For Bukharin's benefit I confirm and repeat that YAGODA TOLD ME THAT BUKHARIN WOULD BE YAGODA'S MINISTER OF PROPAGANDA, and I answer for my words. We know how Hitler dealt with people who did not please him. So I would not have been surprised if under Yagoda, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, you Bukharin, the first minister of agitation and propaganda, would turn out to be the first chicken in Yagoda's path.

Citizens Judges, MY CRIMES ARE GRAVE, AND, I REPEAT, I HAVE NO EXCUSE.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 782-783



LAST PLEA OF YAGODA

SAYS HE WAS A CONSPIRATOR AND A TRAITOR;

SAYS RYKOV WAS A MEMBER OF THE CENTER OF THE BLOC AND MADE DECISIONS;

ADMITS COMMITTING HEINOUS CRIMES



...For me, the former leader of the Soviet intelligence service, having my finger on the pulse of the whole country, the utter futility, the utter hopelessness of any attempts on our part to overthrow the Soviet power was clearer than to any of the prisoners here in the dock.... I lacked the Bolshevik courage to make a final break with the Rights, with this damned counter-revolution, and to give away the whole thing.

...I became two men. One was Yagoda--the Party member, in daily contact with the greatest people of our era, and THE OTHER YAGODA WAS A TRAITOR TO HIS COUNTRY, A CONSPIRATOR. The first Yagoda saw the gigantic growth of the country, its flourishing under the leadership of the Stalinist Central Committee; he also saw the utter loathsomeness and filth of the Right-Trotskyite underworld,...

I want to correct the Procurator and make an objection on a part of the charges which he has made. They mean nothing in so far as the decision of my fate is concerned, but the Procurator is not right in considering me a member of the center of the bloc. I am not a member of the center of the bloc.+++



...I was informed post factum and told to carry out the decisions. In all cases they were made without me.... RYKOV WAS A MEMBER OF THE CENTER OF THE BLOC, HE MADE DECISIONS.

A second point--the Procurator announced it proved beyond doubt that I was a spy. This is not true. I am not a spy and have not been one....+++ I had no direct connections with abroad, there are no instances of my directly handing over any information. I am not jesting when I say that if I had been a spy dozens of countries could have closed down their intelligence services--there would have been no need for them to maintain such a mass of spies as have now been caught in the Soviet Union.

It is not only untrue to say that I was an organizer but it is untrue to say that I was an accomplice in the murder of Kirov.... The entire material of the Court proceedings and the preliminary investigation has failed to prove that I was an accomplice in this vile murder.+++

...My defense would have no practical meaning here, because for each millionth part of my crimes, as the Procurator says, he wants my head.... I HAVE COMMITTED HEINOUS CRIMES. I REALIZE THIS.

...Our laws and our Court differ greatly from the laws and the courts of all bourgeois countries. I remember how Frick, Minister of Justice in Germany, declared at a conference of judges: "the laws of fascist countries are laws of revenge and not of correction...." Our laws are based on a different principle, our Court is a different court.



Our country is mighty, strong as never before, purged of spies, diversionists, terrorists, and other scum,... I would not dare to ask for mercy if I did not know that the present trial is the apotheosis of the defeat of counter-revolution, that the country has destroyed all the hotbeds of counter-revolution and that the Soviet country has won, has routed counter-revolution completely.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 784-787





LAST PLEA OF KRYUCHKOV

SAYS HE CAN’T EXTENUATE HIS TREACHEROUS CRIME;

SAYS HIS CRIME IS GREAT;

SAYS YAGODA UTILIZED HIM FOR THE CRIME;

ADMITS HE MURDERED GORKY;

SAYS GORKY HATED THE SELF SATISFIED ANIMAL TROTSKY AND ALL OF HIS ILK--THE BUKHARINITES, ZINOVIEVITES, KAMENEVITES, AND RYKOVITES;

REPENTS FOR BEING A HIRED ASSASSIN



Citizens Judges, THERE ARE NO HUMAN WORDS WHICH I COULD SAY IN EXTENUATION OF MY TREACHEROUS CRIME. MY CRIME AGAINST THE SOVIET PEOPLE, AGAINST YOUNG SOVIET CULTURE IS GREAT. In admitting my guilt to the full I would like once more to confirm to the court that the "bloc of Rights and Trotskyites" through the medium of one of its members, YAGODA, UTILIZED ME FOR THEIR COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY PURPOSES OF CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE SOVIET PEOPLE, AGAINST THE PROLETARIAN STATE.... I BECAME THE MURDERER OF GORKY, who was so loved by the people and who returned the same great love to the people, its Party, its leader--to mighty Stalin, as Gorky often called Stalin. Yagoda knew about this great love of Gorky's; he also knew how ruthlessly GORKY HATED ALL ENEMIES, AND PARTICULARLY AS GORKY EXPRESSED IT, THE SELF SATISFIED ANIMAL TROTSKY AND ALL OF HIS ILK--THE BUKHARINITES, ZINOVIEVITES, KAMENEVITES, AND RYKOVITES.

...I SINCERELY REPENT. I suffer burning shame, particularly here in Court when I learned of and understood the entire counter-revolutionary baseness of the crimes of the gang of Rights and Trotskyites, in which I WAS A HIRED ASSASSIN.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 787





LAST PLEA OF PLETNEV

ADMITS COMMITTING CRIMINAL ACTS AND REPENTS FOR HAVING DONE THEM



...I STAND BEFORE YOU AS A MAN WHO REPENTED OF HIS CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES.... I became acquainted with the deeds of the bloc only from the Indictment and during the progress of the trial....

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 788





LAST PLEA OF KAZAKOV

ADMITS HE IS THE WORST OF CRIMINALS AND MURDERED MENZHINSKY WITH LEVIN’S HELP IN A DESPICABLE CRIME;

DOES NOT DISCLAIM BLAME AND WANTS TO REPENT;

CALLS YAGODA A MONSTER AND TYRANT WHO DRAGGED HIM INTO A NIGHTMARE;

SAYS HE DESERVES THE SEVEREST PUNISHMENT AND WILL ACCEPT THE DECISION AS DESERVED



...I STAND BEFORE YOU AS THE WORST OF CRIMINALS, AS THE MURDERER OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE 0GPU, MENZHINSKY.

It is hard for me to talk of my crime, because as a physician my calling is naturally to cure people, to restore their health....

I BECAME A MURDERER, BECAUSE AS A RESULT OF WRONG TREATMENT I, TOGETHER WITH DR. LEVIN, HASTENED MENZHINSKY'S DEATH. At the present moment I shudder picturing to myself the entire gravity of the crime which I committed, the more so that Menzhinsky had full confidence in me as a physician.



Now, when I stand before you, Citizens Judges, as THE MURDERER OF MENZHINSKY, I cannot help shuddering and being overcome with horror when I think of THE DESPICABLE CRIME INTO WHICH I WAS DRAGGED. NOT FOR A MINUTE DO I WANT TO DISCLAIM THE BLAME FOR THIS CRIME. ON THE CONTRARY I WANT TO REPENT OF THIS CRIME TO THE END AND RID MYSELF OF THIS NIGHTMARE.

BUT I CANNOT ESCAPE THE FEELING OF HATRED, OF REPUGNANCE WHICH I ENTERTAIN FOR YAGODA. I CURSE THIS MAN--THIS MONSTER, THIS TYRANT, who by means of threats and intimidation, by basely taking advantage of my cowardice, by taking advantage of the high position HE OCCUPIED, FOR MONSTROUSLY VICIOUS PURPOSES, tore me away from the orbit of the honest scientific activity of an honest worker and physician, DRAGGED ME INTO A CRIME OF IMMEASURABLE GRAVITY, made a criminal of me in the great land of Soviets where the work of a physician is raised to such a high honorable position, where the government accorded me and my scientific activity exceptional attention and solicitude.

FOUR YEARS WEIGH HEAVILY ON ME WITH THE NIGHTMARE OF THE CRIMES WHICH I COMMITTED, and by this sincere repentance I want to rid myself of this nightmare. I ask the Court to believe the depth and sincerity of my repentance. I never thought that I would become a criminal....

I DESERVE THE SEVEREST PUNISHMENT AND, IF THE COURT WILL SO DECIDE, I SHALL ACCEPT THIS DECISION AS DESERVED.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 788-790


LAST PLEA OF MAXIMOV

ADMITS ENTERING THE PATH OF CRIME AND BETRAYING THE PARTY AND THE COUNTRY;

ADMITS BEING AN ACCOMPLICE IN THE COMMISSION OF A TERRORIST ACT;

SAYS HE IMMEDIATELY CONFESSED WHEN ARRESTED AND DID NOT DENY ANYTHING;

REFERS TO THE CASUISTIC SOMERSAULTS OF BUKHARIN DURING THE TRIAL;

ADMITS COMMITTING A GRAVE CRIME;

SAYS THE TRIAL SHOWED HIM QUITE CLEARLY THAT HITLER, TROTSKY, AND BUKHARIN WERE AS ONE IN THEIR FRENZIED STRUGGLE AGAINST THE SU;

AGREES WITH THE PROSECUTOR WHO CALLS HIS ALLIES A GANG OF TRAITORS, SPIES, DIVERSIONISTS, BETRAYERS, PROVOCATEURS AND MURDERERS



Citizens Judges, when I testified in the Court I was guided by only one consideration: to repent, to tell everything, and to except my deserved punishment.

IT WAS NOT AT ONCE THAT I ENTERED ON THE PATH OF CRIME....

...I BETRAYED THE INTERESTS OF THE PARTY, I BETRAYED THE INTERESTS OF MY COUNTRY. I BECAME JUST AS MUCH A CRIMINAL AS THOSE WHO PERSUADED ME TO COMMIT THIS CRIME.

In the criminal environment of the Right conspirators I sank so low that on the demand of the center I BECAME AN ACCOMPLICE IN THE ORGANIZATION OF ONE OF THE TERRORIST ACTS. I COMMITTED A GRAVE CRIME, I inflicted great harm on the Party and the country.

...WHEN I WAS ARRESTED, I IMMEDIATELY CONFESSED AND DID NOT DENY ANYTHING EVEN FOR A DAY....

I gave testimony about all the counter-revolutionary work of which I knew, I fully disarmed myself, without holding back any secrets and without assuming any disguise. THE MORE REASON WHY THE CASUISTIC SOMERSAULTS OF BUKHARIN DURING THE TRIAL APPEARED ALIEN TO ME.

Much a what I learned during the trial, I had not known before. This is comprehensible, considering the role I played among the conspirators. I could not and was not supposed to know everything. But this does not lessen my guilt because even what I knew and, primarily, the fact that I COMMITTED A GRAVE CRIME are sufficient for me to be tried as a state offender.

At the same time I want to say that the trial has shown with utter clarity what was meant by the so-called restoration of capitalism. The trial showed me that it meant such dismemberment of the country when it would be reduced to semi-colonial dependence on fascist states.

Had these criminal designs been consummated the country would have been drenched in the blood of scores of thousands of its best sons, more cruelly than it was done by Denikin and Wrangel. It would have meant that the country would have been thrown back scores of years in its development, it would have meant that the international struggle of the proletariat would have also been impeded.

I want to say that THE TRIAL SHOWED ME QUITE CLEARLY THAT HITLER, TROTSKY, AND BUKHARIN ARE AS ONE IN THEIR FRENZIED STRUGGLE AGAINST OUR COUNTRY. In the light of the picture of the crimes which was unfolded here in Court I CANNOT BUT ADD MY VOICE TO THE ESTIMATION WHICH WAS GIVEN HERE BY THE STATE PROSECUTOR: A GANG OF TRAITORS AND SPIES, OF DIVERSIONISTS AND BETRAYERS, PROVOCATEURS AND MURDERERS. These are grave, sinister words, but the criminal deeds committed by us are even more grave, the people who committed these deeds are even more despicable.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 790-791





VERDICT



BUKHARIN, RYKOV, YAGODA, KRESTINSKY, ROSENGOLTZ, IVANOV, CHERNOV, GRINKO, ZELENSKY, IKRAMOV, KHODJAYEV, SHARANGOVICH, ZUBAREV, BULANOV, LEVIN, KAZAKOV, MAXIMOV, AND KRYUCHKOV.-- ALL TO BE SHOT.

PLETNEV-- 25 YEARS IN PRISON because he did not take an active part in causing the deaths of Kuibyshev and Gorky, although he was an accessory

RAKOVSKY--20 YEARS IN PRISON because he did not take a direct part in the organization of terrorist, diversive, and wrecking activities.

BESSONOV--15 YEARS IN PRISON because he did not take a direct part in the organization of terrorist, diversive, and wrecking activities.

Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites". Moscow: The People's Commissariat of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1938 , p. 799