Bolshevik Leaders correspondence

Bolshevik leadership Correspondence. 1912-1927
Collection of documents 1996.
Compiled by: A.V.Kvashonkin, L.P.Kosheleva, L.A.Rogovaya, O.V.Khlevnyuk.

M. I. Muralova - E. M. Yaroslavsky

March 21, 1921

Dear comrade YAROSLAVSKY 1 .

During the year of the existence of Soviet power in Stavropol, everything was done as if on purpose in order to restore the population, including the workers, against the communists. Here the concept of communists took root, as people, first of all, living well, living well, lounging, drinking, not embarrassed to take public things into their own property, cracking down on violence for every trifling incident with a whip and scuffle. These are irrefutable facts. And the top communists here are primarily to blame for this.

Random people, careerists, an unprincipled public, without class proletarian self-consciousness, without any party restraint, and often alien to the concepts of communism, but strongly absorbed by the concept, attitude and methods of work of the old system, are in power: to show the outward appearance of order, while in essence complete devastation and inactivity, concealment of crimes of persons who have personal relationships and connections, etc.

Not knowing how and often not understanding Soviet Construction, they had one old means to support their career, unfortunately, a means that turned out to be in the dexterous hands of rogues and is now strong - this is the involvement of honest, but unstable comrades, through drunkenness, food supplies and all sorts of personal services - unacceptable in the ethics and discipline of the present moment. Almost every newly arrived comrade was invited to a “family evening”, where there was a drink, etc.

Once having attended such an evening, not having the courage or resourcefulness to immediately and openly protest, a comrade fell into their hands; then he is offered to write out products, not limiting their variety and quantity, then something else like that, up to meeting women - and the victim is ready, he is in their hands. The former Gubkom took part in such drinking bouts and wrote out alcohol "for technical needs" on its letterheads.

There are documents for this too.

No rations were established here, but food was simply prescribed by acquaintance, and this extract is simply monstrous in its impudence at such a critical moment in food. Lacking proletarian self-awareness, class instinct, these drinks, “family evenings” were held in the company of the local bourgeoisie, Mensheviks, relatives of the White Guards (the daughter of a White Guard colonel served as a telephone operator of the Revolutionary Committee and was close to the wife of Predrevkom Ikonitsky) and in general any public that did not interfere with drinking and servility .

Such behavior of "responsible communists" was in the public eye and gave rise, on the one hand, on the part of the enemies of Soviet power, gloating and slander in general against the RCP, on the other hand, on the part of the workers and Red Army soldiers - communists, irritation, distrust and a hopeless mood. And all these people were invariably in power here, having full disposition on the part of the Caucasian Bureau, and the military on the part of the Caucasian Front. Why? The city of Stavropol seems to have no special significance either from the military or from the political side, except for food, wine and self-supply, and meanwhile the trains of the political commissar of the Caucasian Front, comrade, came here. Pechersky, a member of the Revolutionary Military Council Comrade. Trifonova and others. Predrevkom Ikonitsky, Gubvoenkom Batulin, who had lost the full confidence of the workers, Red Army soldiers and little communists, were “their own people” in these trains and, conversely, in Rostov they had “ready and a table and a house” with members of the Caucasian Bureau and members of the Caucasian Front. Having strong support in the Caucasus Bureau and in the Caucasus Front, the local bigwigs became completely insolent, disbanded and disintegrated.

With every modest remark by some "little" comrades about their unacceptable behavior as communists, they evoked a rebuff and a hint of their support in the Caucasus Bureau *.

But all the same, drunkenness, revelry, idleness overflowed the cup of patience, and then one of the military communists, in order to finally stop this drunkenness, decided to officially issue an instruction to the Cheka, the day and the house in which these drinking parties and orgies were usually arranged. In fact, the Cheka found almost all the people usually participating in these drinking parties, led by the prerevolutionary committee Ikonitsky and Gubvoenkom Batulin, as well as empty and full barrels and jugs of wine, empty and full quarters and bottles of alcohol, as well as a host of all sorts of things, up to to the cake.

In addition to the party audience, there were several from the local bourgeoisie, Mensheviks and Red Army soldiers (the latter for services). The case was referred to the Gubkom, and as a result, all participants in drunkenness were expelled from the party.

They were expelled from the party not because they were drinking that very evening (some came late and had not yet had time to get drunk, the Cheka arrived early), but because in general it had become a habit and a constant phenomenon in their life. I am afraid that, following the example of the former Gubkom, the new Gubkom will also hide this matter, the workers and Red Army cells the next day already expelled the participants in this booze from the members of the cell. The district Party meetings asked the Provincial Committee to make a report on the expulsion of comrades from the Party and unanimously passed resolutions of the full approval of the Provincial Committee for such a measure, and that the Provincial Committee continue to firmly follow its line of purging the Party of accidental and degraded members of the Party. Batulin is listed as a member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee from the Stavropol province, but it is characteristic that at the party Provincial Conference he did not receive a single vote when choosing members to the Gubkom. In general, none of the former members of the Revolutionary Committee, the Gubkom received seats in the new Gubkom, since they received at most 4 votes out of 112 members of the congress, or even not a single one, like, for example, Batulin. Previously, Batulin worked in the army of Muralov N.I. and was a modest worker there. Here he drank, patronized unemployed women, and generally fell very low, and the garrison is in a very difficult condition at a time when large bands of whites are around. Predrevkom Ikonitsky at the time of the October Revolution served in Moscow with the county sanitary doctor Kelch, was a saboteur, then fled to Astrakhan, where he ended up in the Red Army, where he became a communist, entered Stavropol with the 11th army, settled here as a deputy Pre-revolutionary committee, and recently was a pre-revolutionary committee. Previously, Predrevkoms were sent here, but they survived from here very quickly. The last of them was comrade. Galaktionov. All this is nothing that Ikonitsky was a saboteur, joined the party recently, but the important thing is that he is a clever intriguer, careerist, unscrupulous, lackey and far from communism in his psychology and habits. He has an old approach to work: to please his superiors, to show himself and work from the outside, where it is necessary for a personal career and external order to hide, cover up even crimes, to bring personal non-business relationships into work, etc., etc. Therefore, all departments are in complete disarray, they have still essentially preserved the old order with the inactivity of specialists and Soviet employees.

In the uyezds, communists, commissars and party workers personally participate in the torture, flogging and execution of peasants without trial, alone. There are documents for all this. Among the communists you will find bribery, forgery of documents, etc. Nightmare!

And if, even now, the Caucasus Bureau does not go towards Gubki to purify the party even a little, then it will completely alienate the workers and honest communists from itself, then it is impossible to work here, it is a waste of strength and nerves.

If the Caucasus Bureau takes all those expelled from here, restores their rights and again sends them to other places to responsible posts, then this Caucasus Bureau needs to be purged so that it is not a conductor of dirt among the Communists. If you like, I do not blame all these drunkards and careerists as much as the Caucasian Bureau, which saw this and did not take any measures, on the contrary, supported them. That is why even now the workers are afraid that the Caucasian Bureau will hinder the cleansing of the party. Forgive Comrade Yaroslavsky for taking up your time, but you also need to know what is happening in the border regions, from where you will need to get bread, meat, wool, etc. next year.

Today, one of the most ordinary local peasants told me: "Send at least one honest communist to our village, because Lenin cannot be everywhere." Of course, if the local Presovnarkhoz says that there is no lime for whitewashing the barracks, and then 1,000 pood[s] are found, if Ikonitsky, hiding someone, says that 1,000 pood[s] of coal have been given out to workshops for repairing agricultural implements, while only 300 poods have been given out—this does not mean that Lenin must reorganize all this, but all the same, small but firm communists are needed.

Everybody. And I wrote so much, there's a lot of terrible things here, and I can't get rid of it. Do not forget, comrade Yaroslavsky, the suburbs, the Nurse of Soviet Russia. I am very glad that you are in Moscow. Best wishes.

Original signed: Maria Muralova March 21, 1921 2

RTSKHIDNI. F. 5. Op. 2. D. 129. L. 1-2. Certified typewritten copy.

Notes:

1 Muralova was not a member of the RCP(b), but, being the sister of N. I. Muralov and the wife of F. Lizarev (both Bolsheviks with pre-revolutionary experience, active figures in the revolutionary movement), she was always in the thick of things and personally knew many representatives of the Bolshevik leadership. (Muralova Yu. About what will never be forgotten // Torch. Historical and revolutionary almanac. M., 1990. P. 255).

2 At the top of the letter, Yaroslavsky’s note: “vol. Lenin. I am sending you the letter I received from M. I. Muralova for review.