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. 224

S. I. Syrtsov — G. K. Ordzhonikidze

June 22, 1927

N[ovo]sib[irsk] 22/VI-27.

Dear Sergo!

I am writing to you to ask for some friendly advice. Brikke, a member of our Siberian organization recently arrived from Moscow (put up for the opposition from the apparatus of the Communist International) and began to talk right and left about the conversation he had with Stalin about the policy of the Siberian Krai [ th] Committee on the Peasantry. According to Brikke, my line of conduct, my speech at the regional conference on the stratification of the Siberian countryside, on the question of the middle peasant, etc., was attested by Stalin in this conversation as non-Party, harmful, etc.

I cannot guess to what extent the transmission that Brikke gives is true. I only know that he is using talk of this conversation in order to discredit the decisions of the Siberian Conference , 1 which he opposed unsuccessfully.

(See "resolutions" sent, pp. 5, 6, 25, 26 - crossed out) 2 .

His speeches, in our opinion, are nothing more than a repetition of certain positions of the opposition (anti-middle peasant speeches, exaggeration of the growth of the kulaks, etc.)

Recently, this is the second case when the name of Stalin is associated with my person.

The first time is those conversations of the Moscow oppositionists, about which I told you (and Molotov) about how St[alin]-de will soon remove me from Siberia for my belonging (!) to the R[ykov] faction 3 .

Radek , relaying this, said that the talk about my belonging to the R[ykov] faction "comes from the secretariat of Koba."

Perhaps you know that I informed the Central Control Commission about these conversations by a letter addressed to you (it did not reach you, but Yaroslavsky—you unexpectedly left for the Crimea for me and for yourself) 4 and by a conversation with Yaroslavsky.

The juxtaposition of these two points gives Brikke's conversations a certain character. Obviously, not everything can be explained by the intrigue of the opposition, a cheap attempt to turn me against the Central Committee. The Central Committee obviously has some kind of ambiguity regarding me.

You know me. I don't want to confuse the cards of the Central Committee in any way. In Siberia, I work with great enthusiasm. But perhaps it is necessary that there be someone else in Siberia whom the Central Committee trusts more than I do.

This can be done very simply without introducing any complications to the organization. If my mistakes are to be corrected, there is no need for the Central Committee to take detours.

I wrote to Molotov (in response to his comradely letter pointing out - quite correctly - two erroneous formulations in my speech not at the conference, but at another meeting 5. Molotov considers my position at the conference and the decisions of the conference to be completely correct), I thought to write Stalin, but I do not dare to ruin his vacation for the time being . But comradely advice, based on trust in me, I can only seem to get from you.

If you know what the matter is, and if the situation is such that the leading circles consider that it is better to have someone else here instead of me, write me two or three words. For example: "go retire." And I will leave without asking either you or the Central Committee for any explanations and, moreover, without complicating the situation in any way.

I hope that a little respite in the Crimea has corrected you. Hi Zina. We often remember Eterka. Asya Sukhum benefited. Holds up well so far. You can’t say that she is healthy, but she has grown stronger.

Greetings.

Yours S. Syrtsov.

RTSHIDNI; F. 85. Op. 1/S. D. 51. L. 8-10. Autograph.

Notes:

1 The III Siberian Regional Conference of the CPSU(b) took place in March 1927.

2 Not preserved in the file.

3 See Document No. 223.

On May 3, 1927, the Politburo decided: “In view of the alarming state of health of Comrade Ordzhonikidze, give him a two-week vacation, obliging him to leave Moscow immediately” (RTSKHIDNI. F. 17. Op. 3. D. 633. L. 9).

5 On the eve of the regional party conference, in one of his speeches, Syrtsov said: “To the middle peasant and powerful economy, to the prosperous, we say: Save up at a good hour.” Party leaders considered this wording to be erroneous. Molotov, who at one time assisted in the admission of Syrtsov to the party, wrote a special letter to Syrtsov, in which he suggested that he correct the mistake himself. This episode was again blamed on Syrtsov at a joint meeting of the Politburo and the Presidium of the Central Control Commission of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on November 4, 1930, where the case of Syrtsov-Lominadze was considered (Ibid. Op. 163. D. 1002. L. 118).

6 As Syrtsov reported at a joint meeting of the Politburo and the Presidium of the Central Control Commission on November 4, 1930, he nevertheless wrote a letter to Stalin, in which he raised the question of political confidence in himself. Stalin responded with a telegram in which he stated that he trusted Syrtsov (Ibid. L. 20-21).