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Report of Court Proceedings
Heard Before the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R.
August 19-24, 1936 (Moscow)The Trotskyite-Zinovievite United Terrorist Centre
Report of Court ProceedingsThe Case of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite Terrorist CentreHeard Before the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R.August 19-24, 1936 (Moscow)I. The Trotskyite-Zinovievite United Terrorist Centre
The testimonies of Zinoviev, Kamenev, Evdokimov, Mrachkovsky, Bakayev and a number of other accused in the present case, have established beyond doubt that the only motive for organizing the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc was thier striving to seize power at all costs, and that the sole and decisive means chosen for this purpose was the organization of terroristic acts against the most prominent leaders of the Party and the Government.
Lacking all support in the working class and the toiling masses of the people of the U.S.S.R., having lost all their ideological possessions, having no political program and imbued with bitter hatred toward the Socialist victories of our country, the leaders of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite counter-revolutionary bloc, Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev, sank definitively into the swamp of whiteguardism, joined forces and merged with the most inverterate enemies of the Soviet Power, and became the organizing force of the last remnants of the exploiting classis which had been routed in the U.S.S.R. In their desperation and hatred they resorted to the most despicable means of fighting the Soviet Government and the leaders of the C.P.S.U., namely, political assassinations.
At first, in the face of the first successes of Socialism in the U.S.S.R., they held to their hopes that difficulties would arise, with which, in their calculations, the Soviet Power would not be able to cope. But later, seeing that these difficulties were being successfully overcome and that our country was emerging victorious from these difficulties, they frankly banked on the complication of international relations, on war and the defeat of the Soviet Power.
Seeing no favourable prospects for themselves, they resorted to the gun; they organized underground terroristic groups and made use of the most detestable method of fighting, namely terrorism.
At present the Trotskyite-Zinovievite conspirators, as a reason for their fight against the C.P.S.U. and the Soviet Government, no longer advance the claim that the Party and the Soviet Government are pursuing an allegedly wrong policy, or that the C.P.S.U. and the Soviet Government are leading the country to its doom, as they lyingly and slanderously asserted in the past. As their principal motive for resorting to terrorism they now advance the successes of the building of Socialism in the U.S.S.R., the successes in the cultural and economic growth of the country, which successes, demonstrating the ideological and political bankruptcy of the Trotskyites-Zinovievites, fan their hatred of the Soviet Government still more and intensify their desire to avenge themselves on the Soviet Government for their political failure by resorting to terrorism.
In spite of obdurate denials, the accused Zinoviev was compelled by the weight of evidence which was laid before him by the investigating authorities to admit that:
". . . The main object which the Trotskyite-Zinovievite centre pursued was the assassination of the leaders of the C.P.S.U., and in the first place the assassination of Stalin andKirov. " (Vol. XII, p. 16.)
Another member of this centre, accused Reingold, during examination on July 3, 1936, testifield:
". . . The main thing on which all the members of the bloc agreed was... the recognition of the necessity of consolidating all forces to capture the Party leadership. I must admit that the fundamental aim of the Trotskyite-Zinovievitebloc was to remove by violence the leadership of the C.P.S.U. and the Soviet Government, and Stalin in the first place. At the end of 1932 the centre adopted a decision to organize the fight against the leadership of the C.P.S.U. and the Government by terroristic means. I know that the Trotskyite section of the bloc received instructions from L. D. Trotsky to adopt the path of terrorism and to prepare attempts on the life of Stalin." (Vol. XXVII, p. 52)
Exhaustive evidence on the same point was also given during the examination on July 23, 1936 by the accused Kamenev. The accused Kamenev stated:
".. . . The emergence from the difficulties, the victory of the policy of the Central Committee of the C.P.S.U. caused in us a new wave of animosity and hatred towards the leadership of the Party, and primarily towards Stalin."
". . . We, i.e., the Zinovievite centre of the counter-revolutionary organization, the members of which I have enumerated above, and the Trotskyite counter-revolutionary organiztion in the persons of Smirnov, Mrachkovsky and Ter-Vaganyan, negotiated in 1932 to unite both the Zinovievite and Trotskyite counter-revolutionary organizations for joint preparation of terroristic acts against the leaders of the Central Committee and in the first place against Stalin and Kirov. "
".. . . The main thing is that in 1932 both Zinoviev and we, namely, myself (Kamenev), Evdokimov, Bakayev and the Trotskyite leaders, Smirnov, Mrachkovsky and Ter-Vaganyan, decided that the only means by which we could hope to come to power was to organize terroristic acts against the leaders of the C.P.S.U., and primarily against Stalin. It was precisely on this basis of a terroristic struggle against the leaders of the C.P.S.U. that negotiations for the union were conducted between ourselves and the Trotskyites." (Vol. XV, pp. 10, 12, 13.)
The accused Kamenev further stated that:
".. . . However, our banking on the insuperability of the difficulties which the country was experiencing, on the state of crisis of its economy, on the collapse of the economic policy of the Party leadership had obviously failed by the second half of 1932.
"Overcoming the difficulties, the contry, under the leadership of the Central Committee of the C.P.S.U., was successfully advancing along the road of economic growth. We could not help seeing this.
"One would have thought that we should have stopped fighting. But the logic of the counter-revolutionary struggle, the nakedly unprincipled striving to scize power led us in the other direction. The emergence from the difficulties, the victory of the policy of the Central Committee of the C.P.S.U., caused in us a new wave of animosity and hatred towards the leaders of the Party, and primarily towards Stalin." (Vol. XV, p. 27.)
This was confirmed also by the accused Evdokimov who, on Aug. 10 this year, gave detailed evidence on the organization of the united centre and the terroristic position adopted by it. In reply to the question put to him by the investigating authorities on what basis the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc arose, the accused Evdokimov stated:
".. . . Mrachkovsky said: 'The hopes we have placed on the collapse of the Party's policy must be considered doomed. The methods of struggle used up to now have not produced any positive results. There remains only one path of struggle, and that is the removal of the leadership of the Party and the Government by violence ... ' Seeing that I agreed with him, Mrachkovsky, no longer having any fear that I would not support him, went on to say: 'Stalin and the other leaders of the Party and the Government must be removed. This is the principal task.'
"Right there, Mrachkovsky informed me that the Trotskyites had received instruktions from Trotsky on the necessity of organizing terroristic attempts on the lives of the leaders of the Party and the Government, that Trotsky, being outside the Soviet Union, correctly defined the tasks of the fight against the leadership of the C.P.S.U. At the same time, by the logic of the struggle, Mrachkovsky himself and other Trotskyites had come to the conclusion that terrorism was the only road of struggle remaining.. . . ..Smirnov expressed the same views as Mrachkovsky . . . . In conclusion Mrachkovsky and Smirnov proposed to unite the forces of the Trotskyites and Zinovievites and to proceed to create secret terrorist groups for the purpose of committing terroristic acts against the leadeers of the Party and the Government. (Vol. XXXVI, p. 10.)
Similar evidence was also given by a member of the Moscow terrorist centre, I.I. Reingold, who testified as follows:
". . . I met Kamenev in the second half of 1933 and also in 1934 in his apartment in Karmanitsky pereulok, in Moskow.
Kamenev appraised the situation in approximately the same way as Zinoviev and backed his conclusions by an analysis of the economic and political situation in the country. Kamenev arrived at the conclusion that after all, things were not moving toward catastrophe but were on upgrade; therefore, all expectations of an automatic collapse were groundless, and the leadership that had grown up was made of too hard a granite to expect that it would split of itself. From this Kamenev drew the conclusion that the 'leadership will have to be split.'
"Kamenev repestedly quoted Trotsky as saying: 'the whole matter is in the top, therefore the top must be removed.'
"Kamenev advocated the necessity of a terrorist struggle and primarily the necessity of killing Stalin, pointing out that this was the only way of coming to power. I particularly remember his cynical remark that 'heads are peculiar in that they do not grow on again.'
"Kamenev proposed that terrorist gunmen be trained. He said that the distinguishing feature of the new bloc compared with the previous opposition bloc was the adoption of energetic terroristic action." (Vol. XXVII, p. 61.)
He further said:
". . . I have already stated above that the Trotskyite-Zinovievite united bloc had no new political program.It based itself upon the old threadbare platform, and none of the leaders of the bloc occupied themseles with, or were interested in the question of drawing up any kind of political program that was to any degree complete and consistent. The only thing that united this heterogeneous bloc was the idea of a terrorist flight against the leaders of the Party and the Government.
"As a matter of fact the bloc was a counter-revolutionary terrorist gang of assassins who strove to seize power in the country by any means whatever." (Vol. XXVII, pp. 72-73.)
The accused I N Smirnov, during examination on Aug. 5, 1936, also admitted that he had met Sedov, L. Trotsky's son, while he was in Berlin as far back as 1931.
I .N .Smirnov stated:
".. . . In the course of our conversation, L. Sedov, analysing the situation in the Soviet Union, expressed the opinion that under the present conditions only the removal by violence of the leading persons in the C.P.S.U. and the Soviet Government could bring about a change in general situation in the country...."
". . . I admit that the attitude which regarded terrorism as the only way of changing the situation in the Soviet Union was known to me from a conversation with Sedov in Berlin in 1931 as his own personal position. I admit that this line on terrorism was confirmed by L. Trotsky in 1932 in his personal instructions conveyed to me through Y. Gaven.
"I admit that Ter-Vaganyan, who with my knowledge conducted negotiations with the Leftists and the Zinovievites in the name of the Trotskyite group, formed in 1932 a bloc with Kamenev, Zinoviev and the Lominadze group for joint struggle against the C.P.S.U. and the Soviet Government, and that L. Trotsky's instructions regarding terror against the leaders of the C.P.S.U. and the Soviet state werw made the basis of this bloc. " (Vol. XXIX, pp. 93, 104.)
The accused V. A. Ter-Vaganyan confirmed this evidence of the accused Smirnov, admitting his participation in the united centre, as well as the participation in this centre of the accused I. N. Smirnov, Mrachkovsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev.
The accused V. A. Ter-Vaganyan confirmed this evidence of the accused Smirnov, admitting his participation in the united centre, as well as the participation in this centre of the accused I. N. Smirnov, Mrachkovsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev.
The accused Ter-Vaganyan admitted that:
"The Trotskyite organization headed by I. N. Smirnov, in its counter-revolutionary activities, particularly fostered hatred and animosity against the leaders of the C.P.S.U. . . . It was on this hatred that the bloc was founded. . . " (Vol. XXXVIII; p. 11.)
The accused Ter-Vaganyan also admitted that as far back as 1931 -
"Sedov received from Trotsky special instructions for I. N. Smirnov and the underground Trotskyites in the U.S.S.R. to adopt the most active and sharp methods of struggle against the Party and its leadership." (Vol. XXXVIII, p. 27.)
Confirming the evidence of the accused Mrachkovsky on this point, the accused Ter-Vaganyan testified:
"Mrachkovsky is right when he says that the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc itself was really organized on the basis of the recognition that it was necessary to fight the leadership of the Party and the Government by terroristic methods." (Vol. XXXVIII, p. 32.)
Thus, there is no doubt left that the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc had turned into a group of unprincipled, political adventurers and assassins striving at only one thing, namely, to make their way to power even through terrorism.
Such is the sole and exhaustive "program" of this association of political assassins.
Concerning terrorism as the sole basis on which the union of the Trotskyites and Zinovievites took place in 1932, evidence was given at the preliminary investigation also by the accused R. V. Pickel. During the examination on July 23, Pickel testified:
". . . According to the information conveyed to us by Reingold in the beginning of 1934, the all-Union united counter-revolutionary centre of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc decided by the efforts of the Trotskyites and Zinovievites to strike a crushing blow at the C.P.S.U. by committing a number of terroristic acts with the aim of beheading the leadership and seizing power.
"The all-Union centre of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc then bluntly raised the question of the necessity of 'strugical intervention' (meaning terrorism) in order to bring about a decisive change in the situation in the country. For this purpose the centre gave instructions to start selecting people who nursed particularly bitter feelings against the Party leadership, who had very strong will power and were capable of carrying out terroristic attempts on the lives of the leaders of the C.P.S.U." (Vol. XXV, p. 65.)
In conformity with the course taken by the Trotskyite-Zinovievite underground bloc of seizing power by any means, the members of this bloc widely practised double-dealing as the special and main method in their relations towards the Party and Government. They brought this double-dealing to monstrous dimensions, and transformed it into a system that might rouse the envy of any Axef and Malinovsky, of any secret service with all its spies, provocateurs and agents for diversive activities.
One of the principal aims of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc was in every possible way to conceal and mask its counter-revolutionary activities and the organization of terroristic acts.
On this point the accused Reingold testified:
". . . In 1933-34 Zinoviev told me when I was alone with him in his apartment that: ' . . . The principal practical task is to organize the terroristic work so secretly as to preclude our being compromised in any way. . . . '
" ' . . . When under examination the main thing is persistently to deny any connection with the organization. if accused of terroristic activities, you must emphatically deny it and argue that terror is incompatible with the views of Bolsheviks-Marxists.' " (Vol. XXVII, pp. 110, 112)
Similar instructions were given by L. Trotsky, who rekommended that when terroristic acts were committed they should be disavowed and "a position should be taken up analogous to that taken up by the Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionaries toward Madame Kaplan" who shot at V. I. Lenin.
Another reason why the united centre resorted to profound secrecy and carefully masked its terroristic activities was that one of its aims was to betray the vigilance of the working class and the masses of the toilers. While preparing the assassination of Comrade Stalin and other leaders of the C.P.S.U., the united centre simultaneously strove by all means in its power to give assurances of its loyalty and even devotion to the Party and the Soviet Power, of its repentance of past mistakes and of its readiness to serve the Proletarian Revolution honestly. The leaders of the united centre figured that having been "forgiven" they could, after killing Comrade Stalin, utilize this "forgiveness" to come into power. On this point the accused Reingold testified:
". . . They believed - I am speaking of the leaders of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite centre - that the fact that we were forgiven while Stalin was still alive, the fact that confidence was placed in us, would ensure our coming nearer to the leadership and to power; and following this, after Zinoviev, Kamenev and their supporters had come into power, they would ensure the return also of Trotsky to the leadership and to power." (Vol. XXVII, p. 168.)
This was also testified to during examination by the accused Kamenev:
". . . We discussed this question more than once. We outlined and decided on two possible ways for the leaders of theTrotskyite-Zinovievite bloc to come to power.
"The first, and what seemed to us to be the most feasible way, was that after a terroristic act had been committed against Stalin, there would ensure confusion in the leadership of the Party and the Government, and negotiations Would be opened with us, the leaders of the Zinovievite bloc and in the first place with Zinoviev, Kamenev and Trotsky.
"We assumed that in these negotiations, myself and Zinoviev would occupy the leading positions in the Party and the country, for even with Stalin we, by our policy of doubledealing, had obtained, after all, forgiveness of our mistakes by the Party and had been taken back into its ranks, while our participation, that is mine, Zinoviev's and Trotsky's, in the terroristic acts would remain secret from the Party and the country.
"The second way by which we could seize power, and which seemed to us to be less reliable, was that after a terroristic act had been committed against Stalin, the leadership of the Party and the country would be thrown into a state of uncertainty and disorganization.
"The leaders of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc would be able to take advantage of the confusion to compel the remaining leaders of the Party to admit us to power or else to yield to us their places.
"Trotsky's appearance and his active participation in the struggle for power were taken as a matter of course." (Vol. XV, pp. 33-34.)
The united Trotskyite-Zinovievite centre took the path of terrorism under the direct influence of L. D. Trotsky, who personally gave the members of the united centre a number of verbal and written instructions to this effect.
During examination on July 20, 1936 the accused S. V. Mrachkovsky testifield:
". . . We Trotskyites adopted the policy of terrorism long before the bloc with Zinoviev and Kamenev was formed. In 1931, when I. N. Smirnov was in Berlin and established contact with L. Trotsky, instructions were received from the latter to proceed to the organization of action groups of Trotskyites." (Vol. XVIII, pp. 40. 41.)
This same Mrachkovsky stated:
". . . According to the instructions of L. Trotsky received in 1931 by I. N. Smirnov, we were to kill Stalin, Voroshilov and Kaganovich. Stalin was to be killed first." (Vol. XVIII; p. 42.)
On Trotsky's attitude towards forming, a united Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc and adopting terroristic methods of struggle, the accused Mrachkovsky testified as follows:
". . . In the middle of 1932, I. N. Smirnov put before our leading trio the question of the necessity of uniting our organization with the Zinoviev-Kamenev and Shatskin-Lominadze groups . . . It was then decided to consult L. Trotsky on this question and to obtain his directions. L. Trotsky replied, agreeing to the formation of a bloc on the condition that the groups uniting in the bloc would agree to the necessity of removing by violence the leaders of the C.P.S.U. and Stalin in the first place." (Vol. XVIII, pp. 44, 45.)
This evidence of Mrachkovsky was fully confirmed by the accused Dreitzer who during examination testified:
". . . On the direct instructions of L. Trotsky, our all-Union centre of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc was to prepare and carry out the assassination of Stalin and Voroshilov for the purpose of beheading the leadership of the C.P.S.U. and the Red Army." (Vol. X, p. 99.)
In 1934, the accused Dreitzer personally received written instructions from Trotsky, through L. Trotsky's son, Sedov, to prepare and carry out terroristic act against Comrade Stalin. This letter was written personally by Trotsky. According to Dreitzer's testimony the contents of this letter were as follows:
"Dear friend. Convey that today we have the following main tasks before us:
"1) To remove Stalin and Voroshilov.
"2) To unfold work for organizing nuclei in the army.
"3) In the event of war, to take advantage of every setback and confusion to capture the leadership."
The accused Dreitzer stated that "the letter ended with instructions to keep Trotsky informed of the progress of the work done in fulfilment of the above instructions. I must add that these instructions of Trotsky fully confirmed the instructions I received from Mrachkovsky in May 1934." (Vol. X, pp. 102, 103.)
This letter was addressed by Trotsky to Dreitzer personally as to one of the people most devoted to him, and who at one time was chief of his personal bodyguard.
Dreitzer handed this letter to Mrachkovsky, who, according to the testimony of Dreitzer and of Mrachkovsky himself, eventuelly destroyed it for reasons of secrecy.
In addition to the above-mentioned letter, Trotsky sent to theTrotskyite-Zinovievite centre a number of other verbal and written instructions concerning terrorism. In particular, he handed to the accused Holtzman instructions of this nature when he met him personally. Holtzman, served as a Liaison man between L. Trotsky and the Trotskyite-Zinovievite centre.
The investigation has established that after the smash-up of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite centre in connection with the murder of Comrade Kirov, L. Trotsky himself assumed the leadership of terroristic activities in the U.S.S.R. and began stongly to press forward the organization of the assassinations of Comrades Stalin and Voroshilov. For this purpose he took steps to restorč the terrorist groups in the U.S.S.R. and to stimulate their activity by sending a number of his tried agants to the U.S.S.R. from abroad and also by using for this purpose persons belonging to underground Trotskyite organizations in the U.S.S.R. who went abroad ostensibly on official business.
The investigation has established that at various times the following accused persons were sent from Berlin to Moscow as such agents: V. Olberg, Berman-Yurin, Fritz David (Kruglyansky), Moissei Lurye, Nathan Lurye and several others who received directly from L. D. Trotsky and his son Sedov (L. L .Trotsky) instructions to organize at all costs the assassinations of Comrades Stalin, Voroshilov, Kaganovich and other leaders of the Party.
One of these Trotskyite agents, V. Olberg, who arrived in the U.S.S.R. with the passport of a citizen of the Republic of Honduras, stated when arrested and examined:
". . . As I have already testified, I began active Trotskyite work at the beginning of 1930. In addition to the persons I have enumerated, I was personally connected with Trotsky and his son Lev Sedov; I carried out a number of assignments given to me personally by Trotsky in connection with the Trotskyite organization, and I was his emissary in Germany. As Trotsky's emissary in Germany, I carried on work in the Trotskyite organization in Berlin and also maintained secret connections with the Soviet Union. I maintained connections with the Soviet Union using addresses and places which Lev Sedov indicated to me." (Vol. XXI, p. 24.)
V. Olberg admitted that he arrived in the U.S.S.R. illegally for the purpose of carrying on Trotskyite counter-revolutionary workand of organizing a terroristic act against Comrade Stalin.
During examination on February 21 of this year, V. Olberg testified that during one of his meetings with L. Trotsky's son, Sedov, the latter showed him a letter from Trotsky in wich Trotsky proposed that Olberg be sent to the Soviet Union with a group of German Trotskyites for the purpose of preparing and organizing the murder of Stalin
". . . In this letter," V. Olberg goes on to say, "Trotsky wrote to Sedov stating that he fully agreed with his proposal that I be sent to the Soviet Union. Trotsky wrote that he considered me to be an absolutely suitable person who could be fully relied upon in so perilous a matter."
To this Olberg added:
"Sedov said to me that it was my duty to conceal by every possible means Trotsky's role in the organization of a terroristic act against Stalin, and that even if were arrested in circumstances in which my role of a terrorist would be absolutely obvious, I was to conceal the fact that I was a Trotskyite and was committing the terroristic act on Trotsky's instructions." (Vol. XXI, pp. 77, 78)
As the investigation has established, V. Olberg arrived in the U.S.S.R. with the passport of a citizen of the Republic of Honduras obtained with the aid of the German Secret Police (Gestapo).
On this point V. Olberg, during examination in the office of the State Attorney of the U.S.S.R., testified
". . . Sedov promised to help me to obtain a passport to returnto the U.S.S.R. once more. But I succeeded in obtaining a passport with the help of my younger brother, Paul Olberg. Thanks to my connections with the German police and their agent in Prague, V. P. Tukalevsky, I, by means of a bribe, obtained the passport of a citizen of the Republic of Honduras. The mony for the passport - 13,000 Czechoslovakian kronen - I obtained from Sedov, or rather, from the Trotskyite organization on Sedov's instructions." (Vol. XXI, p. 262.)
Re-examined on the question of his connection with the Gestapo, V. Olberg on July 31 of this year testified:
"Confirming also my testimony of May 9 of this year, I emphasize that my connection with the Gestapo was not at all an exception, of which one could speak as of the fall of an individual Trotskyite. It was the line of the Trotskyites in conformity with the instructions of L. Trotsky given through Sedov. The connection with the Gestapo followed the line of organizing terrorism in the U.S.S.R. against the leaders of the C.P.S.U. and the Soviet Government."
". . . Several times I met a prominent official of the Gestapo, whose name was not mentioned to me, and I did not consider it convenient to inquire. With this official I discussed my first journey to Moscow and my plans concerning the preparation of a terroristic act. This official knew my brother as an agent of the Gestapo to whom he advised me to apply for help whenever necessary. (Vol. XXI, pp. 263-264.)
This testimony of V. Olberg was fully confirmed by Paul Olberg, also an agent of the German Secret Police, arrested in connection with another case. It was Paul Olberg who put his brother V. Olberg, as both of them testify, in touch with the Gestapo and helped V. Olberg to obtain from the Gestapo the passport of a citizen of the Republic of Honduras, which figures as an exhibit in the present case.
Paul Olberg also confirmed the fact that V. Olberg's journey to the U.S.S.R. was organized with terroristic purposes. During examination on May 16 this year, Paul Olberg testified:
". . . Valentine Olberg informed me that an official of the German Secret Police told him that all persons taking part in preparing and committing terroristic acts would be given refuge in Germany." (Vol. XXIV, p. 231.)
Another Trotskyite agent, sent to the U.S.S.R. with terroristic tasks, namely Berman-Yurin, testified:
". . . My own role was that I arrived in the U.S.S.R. as a person particularly trusted by Lev Davidovich Trotsky with a special mission and instructions from him." (Vol.IV, p. 30.)
As the investigation has established, this "special mission and instructions" were to organize the assassination of Comrade Stalin. This was admitted by the accused Berman-Yurin, who testified that, on meeting L. Trotsky .in Copenhagen, he received from Trotsky directions to kill Comrade Stalin.
". . . During this conversation," said the accused Berman-Yurin, "Trotsky openly said to me that in the fight against Stalin, one must not hesitate to resort to extreme measures, and that Stalin must be physically destroyed." (Vol. IV, p. 36.)
". . . Trotsky emphasized that the attempt must be prepared very carefully and circumspectly and should be timed with some big political event of international importance. It would be most preferable, if the opportunity arose, to make the attempt coincide with some plenum or congress of the Comintern. Trotsky stated that such a terroristic act committed at a congress or plenum would immedeately assume the nature of an international political event; it would rouse the masses far beyond the frontiers of the U.S.S.R. and would give rise to powerful movement.
"Trotsky told me that this terroristic act against Stalin must not be committed secretly, on the quiet, but that the assassination must be committed publicly, before an international forum." (Vol. IV, pp. 38, 39.)
Simultaneously with Berman-Yurin, L. Trotsky sent also the accused Fritz David (I. I. Kruglyansky) to the U.S.S.R. to prepare terroristic act.
In the autumn of 1932, Fritz David (I. I. Kruglyansky) also had a meeting with L. Trotsky, arranged for him by Sedov. In conversation with him, Trotsky proposed that Fritz David (I. I. Kruglyansky) undertake, as he expressed it, the "historic mission" of killing Stalin.
Fritz David (I. I. Kruglyansky) testified:
". . . When proposing that I go to the U.S.S.R. to kill Stalin, Trotsky advised me, for the sake of secrecy, not to maintain open connections with the Trotskyites but outwardly to adhere to the policy of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Germany.
"This conversation with Trotsky took place in November 1932 and I accepted his proposal to kill Stalin." (Vol. VIII, p. 73.)
On arriving in the U.S.S.R. Berman-Yurin found Fritz David (I. I. Kruglyansky) at an address given him by Sedov, Fritz David(I. I. Kruglyansky) and Berman-Yurin decided to carry out the assassination of Comrade Stalin at the Seventh Congress of the Comintern. This, however, they failed to do owing to the fact that Berman-Yurin was unable to get into the Congress, while Fritz David (I. I. Kruglyansky), although he got into the Congress, could not carry out his criminal intention because he sat far away from the presidium and had no opportunity of getting near to Comrade Stalin.
As both of the accused admitted during the investigation, Fritz David (I. I. Kruglyansky) was to have shot Comrade Stalin at the Seventh Congress with a Browning pistol which he had received from Berman-Yurin. (Vol. VIII, p. 77.)
The investigation has also established that the terrorist group headed by Trotsky's agent, Moissei Lurye, whom Trotsky sent into the U.S.S.R. from abroad, was actually organized by the active German fascist Franz Weitz, the representative of Himmler, at that time the leader of the fascist SS Detachments and now the director of the German Secret Police (Gestapo).
On this point M. Lurye, examined on July 21, stated:
"Nathan Lurye replied that he was still, as before, a convinced Trotskyite, and he reported that a terrorist group, small in number, but very reliable, had been organized here in Moscow in April 1932. . . .
". . . When I asked on whose instructions and at whose initiative this action group had been organized, N. Lurye answered that the action group was created by a certain Franz Weitz. . ."
". . . When I asked who was Franz Weitz, N. Lurye, at first very unvillinly, answered as follows: Franz Weitz is an active member of the National-Socialist Party in Germany and a trusted man of Himmler (the present director of the Gestapo in Germany). At that time Himmler was the leader of the 'SS' - Blackshirt Guards. . ."
". . . The main task of the group, according to Weitz, was to prepare terroristic acts against Stalin, Kaganovich, Voroshilov and Orjonikidze . . . . " (Vol. XXXII, pp. 243, 244.)
The accused M. Lurye communicated to Zinoviev in detail N. Lurye's report, desiring to ascertain Zinoviev's attitude towards connections with the fascists and the German Secret Police.
After listening to M. Lurye's communication, Zinoviev replied:
"What is there in this to disturb you? You are a historian,Moissei Ilyich, you know the case of Lassalle and Bismarck, when Lassalle wanted to use Bismarck in the interests of the revolution."
". . . By means of this historical parallel," added M. Lurye,"Zinoviev wanted to prove the possibility and the necessity of utilizing an alliance with the National-Socialists in the fight against the C.P.S.U. and the Soviet Government." (Vol. XXXII, p. 252.)
M. Lurye's testimony was fully confirmed by N. Lurye, who, during examination on July 21 testified as follows:
"I must admit that from the autumn of 1932 to the end of 1933 the terrorist action group of which I was the head, was actively preparing a terroristic act against the People's Commissar of Defence, Voroshilov . . . ."
". . . I was commissioned to do this by Franz Weitz, a German engineer-architect, member of the National-Socialist Party of Germany, representative of Himmler, now director of the Gestapo."
". . . In August 1932, leaving for Germany for his vacation, Franz Weitz put me in charge of the terrorist action group and set before me the task of preparing and carrying out terroristic acts against Stalin, Kaganovich and Voroshilov." (Vol. XXXIII, pp. 141-142.)
Thus the accused M. Lurye and N. Lurye, by establishing direct organizational contact with the German fascists and the German Secret Police, betrayed the interests of the Soviet State and committed treason against their country.
Finally, the circumstances established by the investigation show that L. Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev and others, the leaders of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc, in their fight against the Soviet Government sank so low that their morals proved to be more contemptible than those of gangs of the most hardened criminals. While organizing terroristic acts against the leaders of the C.P.S.U. and the Soviet State, the leaders of the united centre simultaneously were preparing to exterminate their own terrorist agents, in order completely to wipe out all traces of their crimes.
On this point the accused Reingold testified as follows:
"Zinoviev and Kamenev did not exclude the possibility that the O.G.P.U. was in possession of the threads of the conspiracy against the State which was being prepared by them. Therefore they regarded it as their most important task to destroy every possible trace of the crimes committed. For this purpose it was proposed to appoint Bakayev chairman of the O.G.P.U. He was to be charged with the function of physically exterminating the persons who directly carried out terroristic acts against Stalin and Kirov, as well as those workers of the O.G.P.U. who might be in possession of the threads of the crimes committed." (Vol. XXVII, pp. 163-164.)