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.

No. 178

V. A. Antonov-Ovseenko - F. E. Dzerzhinsky

[January 10, 1924]

Dear and highly respected Felix Edm[undovich].

You reproached me in vain for saying that I only consider myself "honest", etc. I consider myself not blinded by the group struggle - that's all. I think, I feel that the party as a whole is really dear to me, and in your speech against me you are not right. Simply - I'm not a factionalist; and in the majority of the Politburo, as in Trotsky, I see this factional deviation .

Your Antonov

RTSKHIDNI. F. 76. Op. 3. D 89. L. 4. Autograph.

Notes:

oneOn December 27, 1923, Antonov-Ovseenko wrote a statement to the Presidium of the Central Control Commission and the Politburo, in which he protested against the campaign to discredit Trotsky and the policy of splitting the party leadership. “I know that this warning voice of mine will not make the slightest impression on those who are frozen in the consciousness of their infallibility by the history of selected leaders,” wrote Antonov-Ovseenko in conclusion. “But know that this voice is symptomatic. He expresses the indignation of those who throughout their lives have proved their selfless devotion to the interests of the party as a whole, to the interests of the communist revolution. These Party silencers raise their voice only when they realize a clear danger to the entire Party. They will never be "silent" courtiers of party hierarchs. And their voice will someday call the presumptuous "leaders" to order so that they will hear him,

On January 12, 1924, Antonov-Ovseenko was subjected to elaboration at a meeting of the Orgburo. He was accused of publishing two orders of the PUR without coordination with the Central Committee. However, the main object of consideration was, undoubtedly, the letter of December 27, characterized in the decision of the Orgburo as "a threat against the Central Committee" and "an unheard-of attack that makes it impossible for Comrade to work further. Antonov-Ovseenko as head of the PUR” (RTsKhIDNI. F. 17. Op. 112. D. 509. L. 4-5). The note was most likely written at this meeting (see Document No. 179).

No. 179

F. E. Dzerzhinsky — V. A. Antonov-Ovseenko

[January 12, 1924]

Dear friend! From your letter I felt all the bitterness and anguish for the game. But your letter is a big mistake, because, revealing your feelings, the political results of this revealing are completely reversed, because, knowing and showing your torment, as you say, and you all just “presumptuous”, and are not betrayed by the party and the revolution.

Then, I take the crisis we are experiencing much more seriously and see the greatest danger. But the reason for the danger lies not in our discussion, but in the composition of our Party, and in the fact that to keep the dictatorship of the proletariat in a peaceful situation—in a peasant country, with mass pressure to raise the standard of living and in our lack of culture—requires from the Party the greatest ideological unity and unity of action. under the banner of Leninism.

Your F.D.

And that means we must fight Trotsky .

RTSKHIDNI. F. 76. Op. 3. D. 89. L. 5. Autograph.

Notes:

1 See note 1 to document No. 178.

2 At the end of the document there is an inscription: “It is 14/1 [19]24 at the meeting of the Organizational Bureau”. However, in fact, on January 14, the Orgburo did not meet. This is most likely about the meeting on January 12 (see document No. 178).