To Stalin

To Stalin Top Secret Summaries Of The most important testimonies Of Those arrested 1937‐ 1938

A summary of the most important testimonies of those arrested by the GUGB NKVD of the USSR for April 4, 1938

Archive: AP RF. F. 3. Op. 24. D. 407. L. 89‐114

April 6, 1938

SECRETARY of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) comrade STALIN

I am sending you a summary of the most important testimonies of those arrested by the GUGB NKVD of the USSR for April 4, 1938.

Peopleʹs Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR Peopleʹs Commissar for State Security (EZHOV)

Top secret

For the 3rd DEPARTMENT

1. MAZEL, former deputy manager of Soyuzzagotpushnina, former member of the CPSU (b) since 1917. Interrogated by: ARGIR.

He showed that while at work abroad in 1920 through the Intelligence Directorate of the Red Army, he was recruited by V.I.

IVANOV. (arrested), a resident of the Intelligence Directorate of the Red Army in Bulgaria, for espionage work in favor of French intelligence.

The copies of materials on the overseas line were passed by MAZEL to

IVANOV for French intelligence.

Mazelʹs connection with French intelligence continued until 1923.

In 1928, MAZEL was sent to Poland through the Intelligence Directorate of the Red Army, was arrested by the Poles and sentenced to 4.5 years of hard labor. In 1925 [1] MAZEL returned to the USSR in exchange, having been previously recruited by the Polish police commissar LABOGA to conduct espionage work in the USSR in favor of Poland.

LABOGA named MAZEL a woman under the nickname ʺMamusyaʺ, with whom MAZEL should have contacted upon arrival in the USSR. MAZEL in Moscow learned from IVANOV that “Mamusya” worked with him in Paris as an employee of the Intelligence Agency and with FIRIN (convicted) along the same line in Poland, where she was recruited by the Poles.

In addition to IVANOV, MAZEL named a number of Polish intelligence agents known to him: GEREBR, Elena, the wife of IVANOV, ORLOV, Pavel, nephew of IVANOV, Dvoretsky Yakov, an employee of the Moscow police (arrested), RASKIN Vladimir, commercial director of a haberdashery factory in Moscow, RASKINA Alexandra Ivanovna, wife of RASKIN, SHUSTER Cecilia ‐ ex. worker of the Intelligence Directorate of the RKKA, RABINSKY I.I. ‐ an employee of Afgantorg, MIKHAILOV ‐ director of the Botkin hospital, CHEREKUL KUCHI ‐ the owner of a safe spy apartment in Moscow, MARKOV ‐ former. director of Afgantorg.

MAZEL testified that he had received over 10,000 rubles from IVANOV for espionage activities.

In addition to participating in espionage work in favor of foreign states, MAZEL admitted that since 1933 he had been a member of the Pravotrotskyist anti‐Soviet organization, into which ZELENSKY was recruited (convicted).

In the Tsentrosoyuz MAZEL, together with members of the anti‐Soviet organization KURGUZOV, PLAKUNOV, sabotaged the construction of a trade network. Construction was carried out advantage in those areas where less commodity funds were relied on and, conversely, in those areas where the need for the construction of stores was huge, construction was disrupted.

Persons passing according to the testimony of MAZEL are identified for their arrest. (ʺMamusyaʺ ‐ KOSAKOVSKAYA was arrested).

For the 4th DEPARTMENT

1. SP AKOBYAN, former 2nd secretary of the Kirov regional committee of the CPSU (b). Interrogated by GATOV, BARTOSHEVICH. HAKOBYAN testified that he was one of the leaders of the anti‐Soviet organization of the right that existed in the Kirov region, and that he was recruited into this organization in 1935 by STOLYAR, the former first secretary of the Kirov regional committee, as a result of repeated conversations that took place between them.

In these conversations, as HAKOBYAN shows, they exchanged antiSoviet right‐wing views with the CARPENTER on the state of agriculture in the Kirov region. Describing the state of affairs in the Kirov region, STOLYAR stated that the policy of the Central Committee of the party was in complete rupture with the interests of the peasantry. In these conversations STOLYAR sharply criticized the general line of the party, especially on industrialization, and made counter‐revolutionary attacks against the party leadership.

As a result of conversations with AKOPYAN, STOLYAR informed him that in the Kirov region there is an anti‐Soviet organization of the right under his leadership, which includes: LEGKONRAVOV ‐ former. Head of Kirovsky KraiZU, ABUGOV ‐ former early UNKVD, GRACHEV ‐ representative of Kraisovprof, BERMAN ‐ b. Secretary of the Udmurt Regional Committee of the CPSU (b).

Further, HAKOBYAN showed that the main task of the anti‐Soviet organization of the right in the Kirov region was to create artificial difficulties, to discredit the main measures of the party and government, to arouse the discontent of the masses with the policy of the party in order to create conditions for the seizure of leadership in the party and in the government by the right.

The organization of the right in the Kirov region was organizationally connected with RYKOV, with whom LEGKONRAVOV, STOLYAR and especially GOLDMAN ‐ b. RYKOVʹs secretary, who worked in Kirov as chairman of the Regional Planning Committee.

The main methods of the anti‐Soviet work of the organization were sabotage both in agriculture and in industry, and especially active sabotage was carried out in agriculture.

In his testimony, HAKOBYAN cites numerous facts of this sabotage.

In the field of industry, sabotage was aimed at disrupting the

Stakhanov movement.

The organization of the Rights carried out a very active anti‐Soviet work in the matter of checking and exchanging party documents, using the leading position in the field of such members of the organization as

STOLYARA, HAKOBYAN himself, LEGKONRAVOV, ABUGOV and others. The latter pursued a policy of indiscriminate expulsion from the party, as a result of which they expelled many honest communists from the party and retained in the party counter‐revolutionary cadres from the Trotskyists to the right.

In his testimony, HAKOBYAN dwells in detail on the role of each of the members of the organization known to him.

2. BRONSKY B., former Deputy Peopleʹs Commissar for Foreign Trade (under KRASIN), Plenipotentiary of the RSFSR in Austria, member of the Collegium of the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Finance (under Sokolnikov and Bryukhanov) and Peopleʹs Commissar for Foreign Trade (under ROSENGOLTS). Interrogated: KONKIN.

BRONSKY testified that, starting in 1918, he was working in favor of Germany, being associated with Dr. LIST, who then headed the German government commission in Moscow for the implementation of the economic conditions of the Brest Peace.

At that time BRONSKY assisted LIST in identifying raw materials for Germany. For this work BRONSKY received from LISTA about 5,000 rubles.

BRONSKY was associated with German intelligence until 1935, and throughout this time he systematically transferred to German intelligence materials, not subject to publicity, about the state of a number of sectors of the national economy.

After 1918 BRONSKY was consistently associated with agents of German intelligence ‐ journalists LDERERI, YUSTOM and others.

At the same time, BRONSKY was associated with the Polish intelligence service, to which he transferred similar materials of an espionage nature. BRONSKY also received monetary rewards from agents of the Polish intelligence service.

Answering the question of the investigators whether he proceeded only from mercenary motives, engaging in espionage activities, BRONSKY testified that he was engaged in espionage work mainly because he was hostile to the Soviet regime, standing on the positions of the right.

For the 5th DEPARTMENT

1. DOUBOVI I.N., former commander of the troops of the Kharkov military district. Interrogated by YAMNITSKY, KAZAKEVICH.

In addition, he named the participants of the Ukrainian military nationalist organization, including RYAVIN (arrested), the head of the advanced training courses for command personnel in Kiev, recruited by the former head of the Kiev military registration and enlistment office RYABOKON (convicted), TITOV, the head of the Kiev school of communications (arrested), recruited by the former commander of the KVO universities KOPULOVSKY (arrested).

RYABININ and TITOV recruited among the students of the courses and the school, creating nationalist groups there. Both of them, as DUBOVA knew from Yakir, were also part of an anti‐Soviet military conspiracy. RYABININ and TITOV at the time of the uprising were to occupy the Kiev bridges across the Dnieper with their nationalist cadets.

From RYABOKON DUBOVA knew that RYABININ was a Polish spy. A Polish spy is also KWYATEK (deputy commander of the KhVO ‐ arrested), connected with Polish intelligence through BEGAILO, the former 2nd secretary of the Vinnitsa regional committee of the CP (b) U (convicted). In addition, KVYATEK was recruited by DUBOV into an anti‐Soviet military conspiracy and into a Ukrainian nationalist organization.

In 1936, DUBOVY established a connection on joint anti‐Soviet work with the head of the Latvian nationalist organization in Ukraine

LATSON (assistant of the KhVO commissariat, arrested).

From LATSON, DUBOVA was informed about the participation of the former head of the Ukrainian border troops LEPINA (arrested) in the leadership of the Latvian nationalist organization in Ukraine.

The Latvian nationalist organization was supposed to participate in the anti‐Soviet coup, by agreement between DUBOVO and LATSON.

2. Pogrebnoy, former deputy commander of the Kharkiv military district. Interrogated: BRENER.

Pogrebnoy, who had previously confessed to participating in the Ukrainian nationalist military organization, additionally testified that in order to implement the plan he had developed for preparing an uprising in the Kharkov, Poltava regions, Dubna and Kremenchug by the forces of the 14th Rifle Corps, he was personally connected with a member of this organization, a former assistant commander of the 25th rifle division GLADYSHEV (arrested).

Gladyshev informed POBERBNY that he had recruited into the organization: assistant commander of the 74th rifle regiment AGREKOLYAN (arrested), chief of staff of the 73rd rifle regiment KOLODOCHKA (not arrested) and chief of staff of the 74th regiment PASHKOV (not arrested), who, according to him assignments created a number of insurgent groups among the renegade Ukrainian nationalists of the Poltava region.

In addition, Pogrebnoy testified that at the beginning of July 1937, for the same purposes, he personally established contact with a member of the organization, the former commander of the 225th rifle regiment ROVIN (arrested), who informed him that, on the instructions of DUBOVO (arrested) , ROVIN, contacts his insurgent activities with members of the organization, the former commissar of the 75th rifle division ROSSADIN, the commander of the 234th regiment POTAPENKO (both arrested) and the chief of staff of the 224th regiment DOBZHANSKY (not arrested) and that he personally recruited the assistant commander into the organization 225th Rifle

Regiment on the front line of YATSUNA (not arrested).

3. PEREMYTOV AM, former chief of staff of the BVO, division commander. Interrogated by LUKIN and PETUSHKOV.

PEMYTOV previously confessed to espionage activities in favor of Polish intelligence, participation in the military‐Socialist‐Revolutionary organization and an anti‐Soviet military conspiracy. He additionally testified that according to BELOV, the former commander of the BVO troops (arrested), the following persons are known as participants in an anti‐Soviet military conspiracy: KOVTYUKH ‐ a former army inspector of the BVO (arrested), APANASENKO ‐ deputy. BVO commander (not arrested), NIKITIN ‐ division commander, commander of the XI corps (arrested), ZOTIN ‐ major, former chief of staff of the BVO army inspection (not arrested), RULEV ‐ brigade commander, head of the BVO ABT (arrested), MALTSEV ‐ major, chief 9th department of the BVO (arrested), ANOSHKIN ‐ colonel, former commander of the 190th rifle regiment (arrested).

4. ZONBERG Zh.F., former inspector for military work at the NCO, corps commander. Interrogated: YAKUNIN.

ZONBERG previously confessed to his participation in the Latvian antiSoviet nationalist organization and in espionage activities in favor of Latvia. He additionally testified that while he was in the service in Odessa, he was aware of the existence in Ukraine of an anti‐Soviet nationalist organization, which included a number of senior military officials.

Of the members of this organization, SONBERG was associated with GREBENNIK (arrested), a former pompolite of the 6th rifle corps.

ZONBERG was informed by GREBENNIK about the goals and objectives of the Ukrainian nationalist anti‐Soviet organization and the composition of the leading center of this organization.

The leadership center of the Ukrainian nationalist organization, as ZONBERG shows, then included: ZATONSKY ‐ the former Peopleʹs Commissariat of Education of the Ukrainian SSR, DUBOVY ‐ the former commander of the 2nd rank, GARKAVYI ‐ the former corps commander (all arrested), and VLASENKO ‐ the former deputy chairman of the VUTSIK.

5. ALGAZIN AC, former head of the department of operational art of the Air Force Academy of the Red Army. Interrogated: VOLOSOV.

He confessed that he was recruited into an anti‐Soviet military conspiracy by MEZHENINOV in 1932 (convicted).

On the instructions of MEZHENINOV, ALGAZIN until recently was engaged in sabotage in the Red Army.

In 1932 and 1933, being the assistant chief of staff of the air group, and later the air brigade of the Air Force Academy of the Red Army, ALGAZIN, for sabotage purposes using the newly introduced in the Air Force ʺcombat daily routineʺ, achieved an unproductive waste of time by the flight crew, thereby reduced the time for combat training.

As the main organizer of the flight and combat training of the students of the Academy and the flight crew of the air brigade, ALGAZIN disrupted training by improper planning and organization of classes.

Since 1933, being a teacher of tactics, and later head of the department of operational art of the Air Force of the Red Army, ALGAZIN, following the sabotage instructions of MEZHENINOV, incorrectly taught the operational use of the Air Force in a future war, focusing on independent aviation actions, tearing them away from the actions of ground forces ...

ALGAZIN was pursuing among the command personnel of the Academy a line on exaggerating the power of the German air fleet in comparison with ours and the inevitable defeat of our aviation in a future war.

6. ANZIPO‐CHIKUNSKY, former military attaché in

England. Interrogated: PETROV.

He additionally testified that, being appointed naval attaché to England in January 1936, before leaving for London, he received from ORLOV, the former Namorsi, the task of establishing contact with the head of British naval intelligence, Admiral TRUPP, and informing the latter that British naval intelligence could through him, ANCIPO‐CHIKUNSKY, to receive the necessary espionage materials about the USSR navy. At the same time, ORLOV informed ANCIPO‐CHIKUNSKY about the participation in the conspiracy of the military attaché in England PUTNA (convicted) and the trade representative OZERSKY.

Upon arrival in London in February 1936, ANZIPO‐CHIKUNSKY contacted Admiral TRUPP and informed him in detail about the state of the Red Armyʹs naval forces, submarines, torpedo, mine and artillery weapons and the MC Red Army shipbuilding program.

In May 1936, before his departure home to Moscow, ANCIPOCHIKUNSKY received an order from TRUPP to deliver him detailed information on the number of completed submarines broken down by theaters, a detailed plan for the construction of submarines for 1936‐37, data on the possibility of transferring warships from The Baltic Sea to the north through the Baltic‐White Sea Canal to the Far East and back, on the state and development of the base in Murmansk and the coastal defense of the northern coast of the Soviet Union. This data ANCIPOCHIKUNSKY soon received from ORLOV and passed on to TRUPP.

In the same 1936, ANTSIPO‐CHIKUNSKY handed over to ORLOV the task received from TRUPP, namely: disrupt the construction of submarines, sabotagely distribute built submarines to theaters, delay the construction of the main base of the Northern Military Fleet in order to deprive the possibility of basing large submarines there during the war , to disrupt the device of the White Sea‐Baltic Canal for the transfer of ships, submarines to the Far East, to delay and confuse the construction of cruisers and battleships, to continue disrupting the mass production of torpedoes, ʺ5ʺ, ʺ6ʺ guns and periscopes.

At the end of December 1936, before the departure of AntsipoChikunsky to Moscow, TRUPP instructed him to transfer the task to ORLOV ‐ to disrupt the shipbuilding of the plant near Arkhangelsk, to delay the design of battleships and their laying. This directive was handed over to ORLOV by TRUPPA ANCIPO‐CHIKUNSKY on his arrival in Moscow in January 1937.

Upon his return to London, ANZIPO‐CHIKUNSKY informed TRUPP in detail about the situation in the Soviet Union in connection with the beginning of the exposure of the Pyatakov group and ORLOVʹs instructions on the maximum conspiracy of espionage conspiracies in order to prevent failure.

In May 1937, ANCIPO‐CHIKUNSKY arranged a meeting with ORLOV, who arrived in London for the coronation of the English king, with Admiral GENDERSON and Vice‐Admiral CHETFIELD, whom

ORLOV informed in detail about the situation in the Soviet Union in connection with the removal of Tukhachevsky from the post of deputy. Peopleʹs Commissar of Defense, about the possibility of arresting the latter, and assured the Admiralty that the conspiracy case in the Union, and in particular in the naval forces of the Red Army, he would continue. In response to ORLOVʹs assurances, CHETFIELD expressed confidence that ORLOV and the other conspirators would fulfill the mission of British intelligence.

In 1936‐1935. ANZIPO‐CHIKUNSKY met twice with an Italian intelligence officer working in Berlin as a military attaché, BERTOLDI, to whom he passed on espionage materials.

In 1936 and early 1937, ANCIPO‐CHIKUNSKY, together with a technical mission arrived in England in the person of engineers STRELTSOV, ORAS and SNITKO, trade representative of OZERSKY, his deputy BELAKOVSKY and authorized NKTP PIRIN (all arrested) on the instructions of ORLOV spent 10 million rubles for the purchase turbines instead of those required for equipping battleships.

7. SUSLOV PK, former deputy editor‐in‐chief of the newspaper ʺKrasnaya Zvezdaʺ, brigade commissar. Interrogated: GRINBERG.

SUSLOV, who had previously confessed that he was a participant in an anti‐Soviet military conspiracy who carried out sabotage in the editorial office of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, additionally testified that, on the direct instructions of LANDA, the former executive editor of the newspaper, who recruited SUSLOV into a conspiracy (arrested), SUSLOV took over leadership over the department of Red Army letters so that the signals received from the field about the subversive work of the conspiracy participants in the Red Army are not made public.

SUSLOV shows that the newspaperʹs editorial office received up to 100 letters daily from Red Army men, commanders and political workers, among whom there were many signals of sabotage and outrage in different parts of the Red Army. Especially often such signals came from the Kiev, Belorussian and Moscow military districts.

All this correspondence in the interests of the conspiracy was deliberately marinated in the editorial office or, by agreement with LANDA, sent to GAMARNIK and OSEPYAN, who destroyed this material.

Without exposing the anti‐Soviet subversive activities of the participants in the conspiracy, the workers of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper (the conspirators) did everything to praise the military districts commanded by the participants in the conspiracy and to show them as advanced and exemplary in military and political training, calling on other districts to equal them.

SUSLOV carried out this work on the direct instructions of GAMARNIK, systematically informing him about the implementation of these wrecking installations.

In addition, SUSLOV testified that in the interests of the conspiracy, he and LANDA on the pages of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper systematically praised and popularized GAMARNIK, opposing him to the Peopleʹs Commissar of Defense.

For this purpose, in each issue of the newspaper, sometimes in different materials and several times, the idea was emphasized and introduced that GAMARNIK is a real builder of the armed forces of the USSR, the ʺleaderʺ of the army Bolsheviks and almost the ʺleaderʺ of the Red Army.

8. KLYAVIN Ya.E., former deputy head of the 4th department of the financial department of the NCO, quartermaster of the 1st rank. Interrogated: PROKOFIEV.

KLYAVIN, who had previously confessed to spying for French intelligence and preparing a terrorist attack on the Peopleʹs Commissar

of Defense Comrade VOROSHILOV, additionally showed his participation in the Latvian nationalist organization and his connection with the French intelligence resident Egoriev, senior consultant of the legal department of the Peopleʹs Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (not arrested).

KLYAVIN, through Grobin, a former employee of the financial department of an NGO (arrested), and Egoriev, the following spy materials were transferred to French intelligence:

Final data on expenditures according to estimates of NCOs for 19301931, preliminary data on estimated appointments for 1932, reporting data on the execution of estimates by NCOs for 1930 and preliminary results for 1931, data on the number of the Red Army by groups of personnel, data on estimated estimates for 1932‐1934, reporting data on the execution of the estimate of the Red Army for 1932‐33, information on the number of the Red Army for 1932‐1933‐1934, reporting data on the execution of the estimate for 1934, preliminary and final data according to the 1935 estimate, information on the number of the Red Army for 1935, final information on the estimated appointments according to the 1936 estimate, information on the number of the Red Army by groups of personnel according to the 1936 estimate, information on the new staffs of the military academies of the Red Army, information on mobilization deployment of the Red Army (on the size of the Red Army in wartime),information on the estimated appointments according to the 1937 estimate, preliminary information on the proposed appointment according to the 1936 estimate, preliminary results on the execution of the 1935 estimate, information on the preliminary number of the Red Army for 1936 by personnel groups and an indicative plan of external orders of the Red Army.

In 1935, in August, Grobin, leaving for Kharkiv at his new destination, handed over to KLYAVIN two of his agents, former employees of the financial department of the NPO MISHIN and PANDER (both arrested).

In addition, Grobin, having informed KLYAVIN of belonging to the French intelligence service Egoriev, suggested that he contact him.

Using a pre‐determined password, KLYAVIN, having met with Yegoriev, handed him regular spy materials about the Red Army and then received instructions from him on further espionage activities. In the future, KLYAVIN regularly met with Egoriev and gave him various spy materials.

On instructions from Grobin and Egoriev, Klyavin and Mishin developed a plan for a terrorist attack on the Peopleʹs Commissar of Defense Comrade VOROSHILOV. During 1935‐1937. KLYAVINS systematically monitored the routes of the car of Comrade VOROSHILOV, KLYAVIN and MISHIN were going to carry out a terrorist act on Comrade. VOROSHILOV from their weapons at the corner of Frunze Street and Znamensky Lane.

KLYAVIN testified that while observing the routes of Comrade VOROSHILOVʹs car, he repeatedly informed Egoriev and received appropriate instructions from him.

From conversations with GROBIN KLYAVIN, back in 1935, it was known that there was an anti‐Soviet military conspiracy and a Pravotrotskyist bloc in the Red Army.

In 1935, KLYAVIN was recruited by GROBIN into a Latvian nationalist organization. Before recruiting KLYAVIN into the Latvian organization, Grobin told him about the existence in the USSR of branches of this organization, whose task is to fight the Soviet government for the restoration of great Latvia.

According to GROBIN, KLYAVIN knows that one of the leaders of this organization was OSHLEY, the former head of the Military Economic Directorate of the Red Army (convicted).

For espionage activities, KLYAVIN received about 4 thousand rubles from Grobin and Egoriev.

9. MULEVICH MN, former controller of the military group of the Soviet Control Commission, military engineer of the 2nd rank. Interrogated: SOLOVIEV.

MULEVICH, who had previously confessed to participation in the Trotskyist‐terrorist organization that existed at the Military‐Chemical Academy of the Red Army and in the anti‐Soviet military‐fascist conspiracy, additionally showed that the organizationʹs terrorist activities began in 1927‐28, after the head of the organization LIBERMAN (former head of the faculty of the Academy, arrested) received directives on terror from TROTSKY and ZINOVIEV.

LIBERMAN met with TROTSKY in Moscow, and ZINOVIEV repeatedly visited him at his apartment in Leningrad.

In 1932 LIBERMAN informed MULEVICH about the existence of a military‐terrorist organization and that he had established contact with the leaders of this organization, among whom he named Mikhail Mikhailovich ISAEV ‐ deputy. the head of the naval inspection of the Soviet Control Commission (not arrested), KAZINITSKY ‐ the former director of the plant of the Peopleʹs Commissariat of the Defense Industry (arrested), SHVARTSMAN ‐ the former assistant to the USSR military attaché in the USA (arrested) and BAUM ‐ the head of the laboratory of the Red Army Art Academy (not arrested).

In 1934, in Kislovodsk, LIBERMAN and MULEVICH established contact with another group of members of the military‐terrorist organization: BERMAN ‐ the former military prosecutor of the Moscow Military District (arrested), MEDNIKOV ‐ the former head of the rear units of the Red Army (arrested), SOLOMONOV ‐ the former head of the department of the RKKA (not arrested) and TIKHONENKOV, the former commissar of the training unit of the Military Chemical Academy of the Red Army (not arrested).

Subsequently, LIBERMAN told MULEVICH that the work of the terrorist organization existing at the Military Chemical Academy was headed by a member of the military terrorist organization in the RKKA IMYANINNIKOV Mikhail Alexandrovich, a former assistant to the head of the Military Chemical Academy for political affairs (arrested).

10. LOZOVSKY AP, former head of the 10th department of the RKKA RU. Interrogated by YAMNITSKII, PAVLOVSKY.

In addition, he showed that, having got a job on the instructions of the German intelligence and with the help of its agent KRASTYNYA (arrested) in 1926 in the technical department of the Intelligence Directorate of the Red Army and, in essence, taking all the passport equipment into his own hands, he, LOZOVSKY, helped KRASTYNYA to organize the failures of the sent workers of the Comintern Latsection to Germany and Latvia for underground work.

Making passports and other documents for workers sent to work abroad on the orders of KRASTYN, LOZOVSKY deliberately made stamps somewhat smaller than usual ones, and put them on those documents and passports that KRASTYN pointed to.

LOZOVSKY knows that according to a number of documents that he prepared with deliberate seals, a number of persons sent by KRASTYN to Germany and Latvia failed. Among them were: Maria COLLE, WEINBERG, PURINOV, Anna BITU, Alma JAUNZEM, ALKSNE and others. All of them were arrested and sentenced there for different terms.

Many of them, failed later, turned out to be provocateurs, spies and were sent back to the Soviet Union in the so‐called ʺexchange of political prisonersʺ to conduct espionage work.

From the words of KRASTYNIA LOZOVSKY it is known that at different times in this way (ʺexchangeʺ) the following persons arrived in the USSR to conduct espionage work:

RATSEN Lilia was in the USSR for several years, then returned to Latvia and was expelled from the Communist Party there as a provocateur.

GROSIS (convicted), ROSN Karl, VINCE Alexander, BLU (all three convicted), IKAL, BERZIN Yan, POLISS Albina (all arrested), ZHBIKOVSKY (convicted), SHMIDT‐BIROIS, ZAPROVSKAYA,

PELEIKOS, STURRIT, LITSISER (all arrested).

For many of those who arrived in the USSR not in the order of ʺexchangeʺ LOZOVSKY, on the instructions of KRASTYNYA, using the passport equipment of the Intelligence Agency, prepared entry documents.

11. VETVITSKY VV, former assistant to the USSR military attaché in Czechoslovakia. Interrogated: YAMNITSKY, PAVLOVSKY.

VETVITSKY additionally testified that under the influence of his father, a Black Hundred man and a classmate at the gymnasium of the Socialist‐Revolutionary Saltykov (to be established), in 1916 he joined the Socialist‐Revolutionary Party. In 1917, VETVITSKY was in the city of Pavlograd in the combat Socialist‐Revolutionary five. Until 1919 he was the organizer‐propagandist of the local Socialist‐Revolutionary organization.

VETVITSKY joined the Bolshevik Party in May 1919 on a directive from the Socialist‐Revolutionary Center with the aim of preserving the position of the struggle against Soviet power from the defeat of the Socialist‐Revolutionary cadres.

Formally, he was a member of the Bolshevik Party, but in essence, being a convinced Socialist‐Revolutionary, VETVITSKY continued to carry out active anti‐Soviet work until the day of his arrest.

Until 1933, that is, until the moment of formal entry into the anti‐Soviet military‐Socialist‐Revolutionary organization, VETVITSKYʹs antiSoviet activities consisted in the fact that, working almost all these years through the GUVUZ of the Red Army, he did everything possible to help the Socialist‐Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Trotskyists, and former officers, with whom he closely contacted for sabotage work in the military educational institutions of the Red Army.

His ideal was ʺeverything is good that is directed against Soviet power.ʺ

Being in 1921 the commissar of the Batumi command courses and in 1932 the Vyatka infantry school, VETVITSKY not only closely ties with the old regular officers but supports them in every possible way. Having established then contact with officers TUMASHEVSKY ‐ the former tsarist military attaché in Paris, MARSOV ‐ the former commander of the punitive detachment of whites, ROSTOMOV ‐ a former English intelligence officer, YASNITSKY ‐ a senior career officer (all convicted), VETVITSKY together with them brought these schools to complete collapse.

VETVITSKY carried out the same anti‐Soviet work on the collapse of military educational institutions in subsequent years, during his work in the Political Department of the GUVUZ of the Red

Army. VETVITSKYʹs anti‐Soviet activities at the GUVUZ were greatly facilitated by the fact that there were many former SocialistRevolutionaries, Mensheviks, officers and Trotskyists, with whose help he disrupted the training of the Red Army personnel.

12. PANDER Ya.Ya., former deputy chief of the financial department of an NCO, quartermaster of the 1st rank. Interrogated: PROKOFIEV.

PANDER had previously confessed to spying for French intelligence. In addition, he showed about his participation in the Latvian nationalist organization and sabotage in mobilization work in the financial department of NGOs.

Heading from 1933 to 1936 the mobilization work in the Financial Department of the NCO, PANDER handed over the following mobilization documents to the French intelligence, through the associated resident Grobin (arrested):

Instruction on the system of financing the Red Army at the time of mobilization, the cost estimate of the NCO for the first month of the war for 1935‐1936, the general summary data on the number of the Red Army in wartime, the provision on the methodology for calculating the cost estimate for NCO for 1936

All these data, when using the rules for calculating calculations, gave the number of the Red Army by type of service.

PANDER was recruited into the Latvian nationalist spy organization by GROBIN in 1935. After being recruited into this organization, Grobin set him the task of the need to fight against Soviet power for great Latvia, to contribute to the defeat of the Soviet Union in the war with Germany, to recruit among Latvians, to carry out subversive work in the mobilization work of the NPO financial department and disrupt the mobilization readiness to finance the Red Army for the war period.

In pursuance of Grobinʹs instructions, PANDER carried out the following subversive work:

He delayed the development of important mobilization documents to ensure financing of the Red Army for the war period.

He devastatingly drew up a project for financing the Red Army for the first month of the war, as a result of which, in the first days of mobilization, military units might lack instructions on the procedure for settlements and money.

As members of the Latvians of the nationalist organization from the employees of the financial department of the NGO, PANDER called:

GROBINA ‐ ex. Head of the Financial Department of the Military Economic Academy of the Red Army, KLYAVIN ‐ former head of the financial department of an NGO (both arrested), MELBARD ‐ formerly head of the department of the financial unit of the CDKA (convicted), KREVS ‐ an employee of the Food Administration (not arrested).

After Grobin left for Kharkov, PANDER, on behalf of the latter, switched to communication with KLYAVIN (arrested) and carried out his instructions on espionage.

For his espionage activities, PANDER received a reward of 1,500 rubles from Grobin.

For the 6th DEPARTMENT

1. ZIMIN, former secretary of the Yaroslavl regional committee of the CPSU (b). Interrogated: ZARANKIN.

ZIMIN gave additional testimony about his anti‐Soviet work. ZIMIN confessed that he was a German spy and, on the instructions of the German intelligence agencies, gave them spy materials about the state of railway transport.

ZIMIN testified that for espionage work in favor of Germany, he was recruited in 1934 by ABRAMOV‐MIROV and PYATNITSKY (workers of the ECCI), who were associated with German intelligence as members of the Trotskyist organization in the Comintern apparatus. ZIMINʹs espionage work and his connection with ABRAMOV were sanctioned by LIVSHITS and POLONSKY (former deputies of the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Railways, convicted).

In the fall of 1936, ZIMIN, through ABRAMOV, handed over to German intelligence spy material about the condition and throughput of the road to them. Dzerzhinsky, October and Belarusian‐Baltic roads.

In November 1934 ZIMIN handed over to ABRAMOV material on the state of the track facilities of the South‐Western, former Yekaterinoslav, South and Donetsk roads. From April to September 1935, ZIMIN, on the instructions of ABRAMOV, collected material about the state of the locomotive economy, the series and power of locomotives operating on the roads of the Union, and handed it over to ABRAMOV, the first time at the dacha near Pyatnitsky and the second ‐ in his office at the NKPS, where he specially came ABRAMOV.

In 1936, ZIMIN transferred material to the German intelligence service that characterizes the political and moral state of workers and employees of railway transport.

ZIMIN testified that BYKHOVSKY and KUDRYAVTSEV (former employees of the Political Directorate of the NKPS, arrested), KASTANYAN (the former head of the political department of the Dzerzhinsky road, arrested), who had connections with the German and British intelligence services, and BOBRYSHEV (the former head of PODRYAVTSEV), were also involved in espionage work, associated with Japanese intelligence.

2. PITSYN, a former vred . Head of the Zheldorzapchasti trust

Interrogated by: SOKOLOV.

PTITSYN confessed that he was a cadre Trotskyist, actively fought against the party since 1927 and in 1935 became a member of the Trotskyist organization in the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Railways.

In the Pravotrotskyist organization, PTITSYN was recruited by OSTROVSKY, the former head of the NKVD carriage department (convicted), and for anti‐Soviet activities was associated with the members of the organization BUYANSKY ‐ the former head of the capital construction sector of the carriage department (convicted), and NOGINSKY ‐ the former head of the Zheldorzapchasti trust ).

Ptitsyn testified that together with OSTROVSKY, BUYANSKY and NOGINSKY, he discussed the issue of the terrorist struggle against the leaders of the party and government.

For sabotage and subversive work in transport, PITSYN recruited into the c. organization of 6 people of heads of bases and departments of the Zheldorzapchasti trust on the Tomsk, October, Yaroslavl, Orenburg roads and in Kharkov.

Members of the organization, on the instructions of PITITSYN, sent locomotive parts inappropriately, rendered unusable the mobilization stock, stored spare parts for such series of locomotives that are not on the roads in the mobilization stock. They disrupted the timely start‐up of car repair points on the Union roads by sending them incomplete equipment and unusable spare parts.

PTITSYN showed that through the members of the organization recruited by him, by disorganizing the supply of spare parts, he achieved the maximum reduction of the working locomotive fleet, mainly on the Tomsk, South‐Eastern and Moscow‐Donbass roads. He managed to disrupt the repair of steam locomotives of the FD series on a number of Union roads.

PITITSYN also testified that he had disrupted the construction period for warehouses and shops along the entire road network of the Union, as a result of which valuable spare parts for steam locomotives lay in the open in many places and deteriorated. In particular, a large number of imported flame and smoke tubes were rendered unusable at the Kharkov base.

3. CHERNOV, former head of the South‐Eastern road. Interrogated: PLAYER.

CHERNOV confessed to belonging to an anti‐Soviet Trotskyist organization on the South‐Eastern road, into which he was recruited in 1936 by ARNOLDOV ‐ formerly. the head of this road (convicted).

Named 17 members of the Pravotrotskyist organization on the road and in the apparatus of the Peopleʹs Commissariat for Railways (of whom 12 were arrested and convicted).

CHERNOV personally recruited 9 people for sabotage and subversive work on the South‐Eastern road. On the instructions of CHERNOV, the members of the anti‐Soviet organization disorganized the work of the road, sewn up the most important railway junctions, disrupted train schedules, loading and unloading operations and prepared train wrecks on the road.

CHERNOV testified that, on his instructions, members of the organization ANTONOVICH (former assistant to the head of the operation department of Likhaya station, arrested) and MOSKAL (former traffic inspector, arrested) in August 1937 prepared the crash of passenger train No. 42 at the station. Sheptukhovka, for the purpose of which a reserve locomotive was dumped at the entrance switch of this station and thus the arrival of train No. 42 was blocked. The crash was prevented by the train crew.

In July 1937 at the station. Glubokaya, a member of the organization Pozudzievsky (former head of the station Glubokaya, was arrested) prepared the crash of the passenger train number 76, which was also prevented by the train crew.

11th DEPARTMENT

1. LAPIRO‐SKOBLO M.Ya., head of the technical department of the Radio Committee, member of the CPSU (b). Interrogated:

CHERNYAVSKY.

He testified that he was a member of the anti‐Soviet Trotskyist organization in the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Communications.

He was recruited into the organization in 1935 by Zhukov (former deputy commissar of communications, convicted). He was an agent of German intelligence, for which he was recruited in Berlin in 1935 by E.A. SCHWARTZ. (employee of the German company ʺSiemens and Halskeʺ).

Head of the Secretariat of the NKVD of the USSR, senior major of state security (SHAPIRO)