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 February 23‐25, 1938

Archive: AP RF. F. 3. Op. 24.D. 405.L. 97‐112

February 27, 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 23‐25 February 1938.

Peopleʹs Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR General Commissar of

State Security (EZHOV)

Top secret

For the 3rd DEPARTMENT

1. ROMANOVSKY VI, former deputy. Commissar of

Communications. Interrogated: KUZNETSOV.

He pleaded guilty to being a member of the anti‐Soviet organization of the right in the system of the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Communications, where he was involved in 1934 by I.P. Zhukov. (arrested). While working at the All‐Union Radio Committee under the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars of the USSR, ROMANOVSIY disrupted measures for the radioification of the USSR.

ROMANOVSKY destroyed the work of the communications group at KSK, which was subsequently liquidated. By active wrecking activity, ROMANOVSKY contributed to the collapse of the work of the electric low‐voltage industry, which he carried out together with the former head of Glavosprom, Trotskyist LYUTOV. Disrupted the drawing up of the general communication scheme of the 3rd five‐year plan. Slowed down the resolution of the question of building a new telephone plant. Delayed the repair of broadcasting stations, which brought a number of stations into an almost unusable state. He did not provide the telegraph with telegraph devices, which was reflected in the modernization of telegraph communications in 1937. As members of the anti‐Soviet organization of the right, ROMANOVSKY named: PAKHILEVICH ‐ head of the international communications department of NKSvyaz (arrested), MORTOVITSKY ‐ head of the capital construction department of NKSvyaz (arrested), ZBRUEVA ‐ head of Radiostroy (arrested), BUNIN ‐ head of the NKSvyaz financial department (convicted), LAPIRO‐SKOBLO ‐ professor of NKSvyaz (arrested), BUSHUEV ‐ chief inspector of NKSvyaz (arrested), VELLER ‐ deputy. the head of ʺRadiostroyʺ (arrested).

2. MAMAEV AC, Head of the Main Directorate of the Knitwear

Industry of the USSR Peopleʹs Commissariat for Legal Industry. Interrogated: TIMONIN.

He showed that since 1923 he was a member of the Trotskyist organization. In 1923, MAMAEV carried out an active Trotskyist activity in Central Asia, heading the Trotskyist organization in Tashkent. In 1933, MAMAEV became a member of the Trotskyist organization that existed in light industry. In terms of anti‐Soviet activities, MAMAEV was associated with the head of the capital construction sector of the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Legislation by the terrorist Dokuchaev (convicted), the enemy of the people ARKUS and the former Deputy Peopleʹs Commissar of Light Industry LEVIN (convicted).

On the instructions of the organization, MAMAEV placed Trotskyists in leading positions in enterprises of the main department of the knitwear industry (KATSATOV ‐ director of the Velikie Luki factory, VLASOV ‐ director of the Ivanovo spinning factory, ALEKSANDROV ‐ head of Novosibirsk construction, GROMOV ‐ director of the Reutov factory, etc. ‐ were arrested).

MAMAEV and other members of the organization carried out a lot of subversive work in the knitwear industry. The greatest sabotage was carried out by them at the largest knitwear factory in Leningrad ʺRed Bannerʺ. Here the Trotskyist organization was headed by the director of the KAPLAN factory (convicted).

MAMAEV, together with KAPLAN, disrupted capital construction at this factory, in particular, the installation of backup boilers at the steam power station. They deliberately delayed housing construction, which caused discontent and a huge turnover of workers. In order to disrupt the work of this factory, MAMAEV established a procedure for supplying it with yarn from 12 different enterprises, as a result of which there was a delay in the supply of yarn.

For the 5th DEPARTMENT

1. LEVANDOVSKY ‐ Former commander of the Primorsky group of

OKDVA. Interrogated by: AGAS, KAZAKEVICH.

He confessed that in 1917, being associated with the SocialistRevolutionary Party, he tried to use the military unit he commanded to suppress the October Revolution in the former Petrograd. From that day until the day of his arrest, he was a member of the militarySocialist‐Revolutionary organization, and in recent years, an anti‐Soviet military conspiracy. He was connected with the military conspiracy and the military Socialist‐Revolutionary organization that was part of it, mainly through VELIKANOV and SAVITSKY.

As members of the military Socialist‐Revolutionary organization, VELIKANOV named the following persons: VELIKANOV, SAVITSKOVA [1] , SABLINA, GRYAZNOV, BELOV, EFIMOV, POCUS, KUTATELADZE; among the conspirators of the Social Revolutionaries ‐ DUBOVO, URITSKY and PRIMAKOV (all arrested and some of them convicted).

Since 1932, LEVANDOVSKY has been a German spy; for cooperation with German intelligence, he was recruited by Captain III PALKE, an employee of the intelligence department of the German headquarters. The recruitment took place in Berlin while he was studying at the German Academy.

Upon his return to the Soviet Union and until recently, LEVANDOVSKY continued to work in favor of German intelligence. He maintained contact with the German intelligence service through the head of the ZakVO intelligence department recruited by him, MAVLYUTOV (not arrested), who used for this the network of agents he had organized abroad.

On the instructions of German intelligence, LEVANDOVSKY contacted nationalist counter‐revolutionary groups in the ZakVO, among which he named the division commander TUKHARELI, the division commander VEZIROV and the division commissar ALIEV (the latter was arrested).

LEVANDOVSKY also testified that he was hiding his social origin and nationality. In all official documents, he wrote that he was the son of a farm laborer and a Russian, but in reality, his father was a Pole who served in the police in Tiflis.

2. UDRIS , former head of the 1st department of the Research Institute of the Red Army. Interrogated: DMITRIEV, LUSCHINSKY.

In addition, he showed about the circumstances of his recruitment into the military‐fascist conspiracy and the sabotage work carried out by him in the Research Institute of the Red Army. The sabotage in the Research Institute of the Red Army, aimed at weakening the combat power of the Red Army and the defeat of the Red Army in the upcoming war, was carried out by UDRIS on the direct instructions of the enemy of the people FISHMAN and proceeded in the following directions:

1) In a synthetic research robot with OB, attention was diverted from the main directions at the expense of secondary wrecking ones. Topics for development were given that were not relevant.

2) The funds allocated for the development of scientific and chemical topics were used sabotagely, as a result of which an underestimated efficiency was obtained.

3) Cluttered NIHI RKKA with an abundance of projects for research work (new samples of OB), as a result of which none of them was brought to the end but was postponed for a final decision to subsequent years.

4) They disrupted the work on creating a production base and manufacturing indicators and gas detectors for chemical warfare agents.

5) In terms of research work related to simplifying technology and improving the quality of manufactured OBs, sabotage went along the line of disrupting research work and deteriorating product quality.

3. KALACHEV VP, Deputy Chief of the Main Naval Staff. Interrogated:

KUDRYAVTSEV.

He confessed to participating in an anti‐Soviet fascist conspiracy, into which he was recruited in 1936 by the former Namorsi RKKA ORLOV (arrested).

KALACHEV knew the center of the conspiracy in the person of TUKHACHEVSKY, YAKIR, UBOREVICH and GAMARNIK. Of the other participants in the conspiracy with whom KALACHEV was associated, he named KOZHANOV, the former commander of the Black Sea Fleet, LUDRI, LEVICHEV, OBYSOV, SOLONNIKOV, GORSKY (head of the weapons department of the UMS RKKA) (all arrested).

KALACHEV knew from ORLOV the conspirators PETIN and PANTSERZHANSKY (former head of the department of the Academy of the General Staff) (both arrested).

KALACHEV had the task of subversive work assigned to him by ORLOV:

1) Together with ORLOV, LUDRY, GORSKY to disrupt the timely development of the program of the large fleet.

2) Disrupt defense construction in the Black Sea and Pacific fleets. KALACHEV, together with KOZHANOV, LUDRI, GORSKY, approved the construction of naval bases in Kaborga and Poti, which was not operationally necessary for the Black Sea Fleet. Together with SOLONNIKOV, KALACHEV carried out sabotage work on the development of the Pacific Fleet bases.

3) The operational plan of the war was deliberately unrealistic, it included warships that could not actually be used, since they were under repair. KALACHEV deliberately lowered the standard of ammunition for the year of the war.

4) While working in the General Staff of the Red Army, KALACHEV supported all of ORLOVʹs sabotage activities in the development of naval forces and in covering up major shortcomings in weapons and the failure to promote new types of weapons.

4. GURVICH AI, former head of the research institute tech. communications of RU RKKA. Interrogated: POLISHCHUK.

A.I. GURVICH, who had previously confessed in connection with the German and Japanese intelligence services, additionally testified that after leaving China in 1930, he was soon dispatched to Europe with his main residence in Germany, in Berlin, to organize a network of secret radio stations of the RKKA RU ...

In 1931, in Berlin, he contacted a German intelligence worker known to him, ZILNER, through whom he transmitted spy information to German intelligence about organized secret radio stations, radio operators, and about workers of the Zakordon apparatus of the RKKA RU.

Upon returning to the USSR in 1934 and being appointed head of the scientific and testing institute of technical communication of the RU RKKA, GURVICH was recruited by the former head of the RKKA communications department SINYAVSKY (arrested) into an antiSoviet military‐fascist conspiracy and, on his instructions, carried out sabotage in the field of radio communications and experimental work of the institute.

The interrogation continues.

5. FUNERAL, Deputy Commander of the Kharkov Military District. Interrogated: BRENER, PROKOFIEV.

He confessed that he was a member of an anti‐Soviet military conspiracy and a Ukrainian nationalist counter‐revolutionary organization. In the conspiracy, FUNERAL was recruited at the beginning of 1933 by the former head of the political department of the 51st division, RUDENKO. In November 1933, Pogrebnoy was appointed head of the 40th division of the OKDVA, where, on the instructions of YAKIR, he contacted one of the leaders of the OKDVA conspiracy ‐ the former head of the OKDVA Political Department ARONSTAM (arrested).

On assignments of ARONSHTAM Pogrebnoy, he carried out subversive work to disrupt combat training in units of the Primorsky group of troops of the OKDVA.

FUNERAL in OKDVA was personally associated with the participants in the conspiracy of the former. deputy. early the political department of the Primorsky group DREYMAN (arrested) and the former head of the 1st rifle division FIRSOV (arrested).

In mid‐1936, Pogrebnoy, with the assistance of a conspiracy participant DUBOVO (arrested), was recalled from the OKDVA and sent to the KhVO as commander of the 14th rifle corps. Pogrebnoy called the members of the Ukrainian nationalist organization: KVYATEK ‐ former deputy komvoisk KhVO (arrested), KUNITSKY ‐ former. the commander of the 33rd rifle division (arrested), BUBLICHENKO ‐ the former chief of the 23rd rifle division (arrested), FAKTOROVICH ‐ the commander of the heavy mechanized brigade in Kharkov (arrested), VASIRIONOV ‐ the former chief of artillery of the 14th corps (arrested).

Pogrebnoy was personally associated with a member of the Ukrainian nationalist organization SOKOLOV, the former chief of staff of the KhVO (arrested), who informed Pogrebnoy that there is a Ukrainian nationalist rebel organization in Ukraine headed by the former chairman of the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR LYUBCHENKO (committed suicide) and his deputy PORAYKO arrested). In addition, SOKOLOV told POBERBNY that the military work of this organization is headed by DUBOVA and that this organization is working to prepare an armed uprising in Ukraine with the aim of overthrowing Soviet power and creating a Ukrainian nationalist republic.

Personally, FUNERAL was supposed to lead and lead the uprising in the regions of Kharkov, Poltava and Kremenchug.

The interrogation continues.

6. PEREMYTOV , former chief of staff of the KVO, division commander. Interrogated by LUKIN, PETUSHKOV.

PEREMYTOV, who had previously confessed to participating in an anti‐Soviet military conspiracy, additionally showed that he was associated with BELOV for anti‐Soviet activities since 1922 (arrested).

PEREMYTOV became close to BELOV back in 1922 during joint service in the North Caucasian Military District. At the same time, BELOV informed PEREMYTOV that in the past he was a Socialist‐

Revolutionary, remained in the Socialist‐Revolutionary positions and that the Socialist‐Revolutionaries did not stop fighting the Soviet regime.

PEREMYTOV, for his part, told Belov that although he was not formally a member of the organization of the Socialist‐Revolutionaries, he considered himself, by convictions, a populist, a SocialistRevolutionary from the pre‐revolutionary years, from the cadet school, where he was under the influence of the Social Revolutionaries available in the school.

Then BELOV recruited PEMYTOV into an underground SocialistRevolutionary organization. During the recruitment process, BELOV named PEREMYTOVA as members of the Socialist‐Revolutionary underground, carrying out anti‐Soviet work: early. PUOKRa SKVO SAAKOVA (arrested), early. supply SKVO LITUNOVSKY (arrested) and division commander KOVTYUKH (arrested).

LITUNOVSKY PEREMYTOV knew from his joint studies in high school as a convinced Socialist‐Revolutionary, about SAAKOV BELOV said that he was a Dashnak in the past, and spoke of KOVTYUKH as one of the future peasant leaders at the time of the uprising. Peremytovʹs connection with BELOV did not stop until the moment of his arrest. PEREMYTOV confessed that he is an agent of Polish intelligence. He was recruited in 1928 in the mountains. Moscow, when he worked as chief of staff of the Moscow Military District, Polish military attaché KOBYLYANSKY, a former officer of the tsarist army. To the Polish intelligence, with which he was associated until the end of 1936, PEREMYTOV systematically transmitted secret information of an operational‐mobilization nature about parts of the Moscow and Belarusian military districts.

The interrogation continues.

7. SEVEROV‐ODOEVSKY, head of the foreign department of the Civil Air Fleet. Interrogated: YUKHIMOVICH, RUBANOV.

He gave initial testimony about his anti‐Soviet Socialist‐Revolutionary activities from 1917 to 1937. Being a Left Socialist‐Revolutionary since 1917, ODOEVSKY in 1919, at the direction of the Central Committee of the Socialist‐Revolutionary Party, joined the RCP (b) for anti‐Soviet work. Beginning in 1917, ODOEVSKY led an active struggle against the Bolsheviks in Ukraine and in 1918 took an active part in the preparation of an armed uprising in Kharkov and the defeat of the council. While in the Red Army until April 1919, ODOEVSKY conducted subversive work to crush the army, having a directive from the Central Committee of the Socialist‐Revolutionary Party to organize peasant uprisings.

In 1920, ODOEVSKY was summoned to Kharkov and received a directive from GRINKO (arrested) and others to stay in Kharkov to prepare for an armed uprising. Since 1923, working in industry, ODOEVSKY at several factories in Moscow created SocialistRevolutionary Anti‐Soviet groups ‐ at the former factory. Curting and at the Ikar plant. Since 1930, ODOEVSKY was associated with BUKHARIN, who was informed that he joined the RCP (b) on the instructions of the Central Committee of the SRs for subversive work from within and about his ties with the Central Committee of the SRs. BUKHARIN told ODOEVSKY that now there is a unification of all opposition groups to fight against the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) and that he is aware of the work of the Socialist‐Revolutionary underground.

ODOEVSKY carried out the instructions of BUKHARIN on the implementation of communication with the Leningrad groups of the right. So, in 1933, on the instructions of BUKHARIN, ODOEVSKY went to Leningrad and took a personal letter from BUKHARIN addressed to NORKIN, who at that time was the director of the Institute of

Mechanical Ore Processing.

In 1934, ODOEVSKY traveled to the Urals and to the mountains. Sverdlovsk contacted KOLEGAEV, whom he informed about the establishment of contact with BUKHARIN. KOLEGAEV said that the Socialist‐Revolutionaries are working with the right and that the unification of the entire underground for the struggle against the Central Committee of the All‐Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks is under the leadership of BUKHARIN, that the Socialist‐Revolutionaries are working in the Urals. From 1936, ODOEVSKY was also engaged in espionage work, being associated with the Germans, to whom he passed on a number of information about the state of the civil air fleet.

ODOEVSKY named some of the employees of the Civil Air Fleet who are associated with the Germans in espionage work: ARNOLDOV, IOFFE, TKACHEV (arrested) and others.

8. SOTNIKOV , head of combat training, Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper. Interrogated by: GRINBERG, SELEZNEV.

Gave initial testimony that he was a participant in an anti‐Soviet military conspiracy, into which he was recruited in November 1936 b. editor of the newspaper ʺKrasnaya Zvezdaʺ LANDA

MM (arrested). As the participants in the conspiracy LANDA named SOTNIKOVA: SUSLOVA P. K., b. deputy. editor of ʺKrasnaya Zvezdaʺ, and the workers of this newspaper ‐ TIMOSHENKO, SHLEMING and ZALEVSKY (all arrested).

In accordance with the assignments LANDA SOTNIKOV carried out the processing of persons for recruiting them into conspiracy and sabotage in the editorial office of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper. SOTNIKOV testified that on the direct instructions of LAND, he systematically published material in newspapers praising the leadership of the conspiracy: GAMARNIK, TUKHACHEVSKY and YAKIR, popularizing them as ʺtrue builders of the armed forces of the

USSR.ʺ

Signals from the Red Army men and commanders of military districts received by the combat training department of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, revealing the anti‐Soviet subversive work of the conspiracy participants Yakir, Uborevich and others, SOTNIKOV, by agreement with LANDA, destroyed, about which GAMARNIK was informed about this.

SOTNIKOV deliberately reduced the number of military correspondents, with the aim of depriving the newspaper of signaling devices revealing anti‐Soviet sabotage work in parts of the Red Army, carried out by participants in the conspiracy, especially in the KVO, BVO and MVS.

9. MULEVICH, military engineer of the 2nd rank of the naval inspection of the Soviet control. Interrogated: SOLOVIEV.

He gave initial testimony that he was a member of a Trotskyist‐terrorist organization existing in the chemical service of the Red Army and aimed at preparing terrorist acts against members of the government.

MULEVICH was recruited into a terrorist organization in 1931 in Leningrad by the former head‐emissary of the faculty of the militarytechnical academy of the RKKA LIBERMAN Grigory Borisovich

(arrested).

With LIBERMAN, he was associated with 1927 through joint Trotskyist activities, LIBERMAN at that time was active in Trotskyist work at the academy, occupying a leading position in the Trotskyist underground in Leningrad, being associated with ZINOVIEV.

When recruiting, LIBERMAN told MULEVICH that in the chemical service of the Red Army there was a Trotskyist organization headed by him ‐ LIBERMAN, IMYANINNIKOV ‐ b. pom. political unit of the Military Chemical Academy, and GVOZDIKOV ‐ b. early Faculty of the Military Chemical Academy (both arrested), and that the members of the organization are: PB LEVIN, VV ABORENKOV, NEDOSEKIN, LYUBIMOV, ISAEV, SOLOMONOV, ARGENTS, SUDNIKOV and other persons who are being identified by us.

In 1932‐33. LIBERMAN, in repeated conversations with MULEVICH, emphasized the need to switch from propaganda methods of struggle to terror against the leadership of the party and government.

In 1934, LIBERMAN suggested to Mulevich to prepare a terrorist act against the Peopleʹs Commissar of Defense VOROSHILOV when he, together with an Italian military delegation, visited the laboratory of toxic substances in the 7th corps at the Military Chemical Academy of the Red Army. At the time of his visit to the laboratory, Comrade VOROSHILOV MULEVICH had to turn off the exhaust ventilation, after which the toxic substances in the half‐open ventilation cabinets would spread inside the laboratory and, as a result, massive poisoning of workers in the laboratory, including the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Defense, would occur.

The planned terrorist act was not carried out due to the fact that VOROSHILOV did not come to the Academy with the Italian delegation, but other persons accompanied it.

The interrogation continues.

10. JANSON. Interrogated: YUKHIMOVICH, RUBANOV.

He confessed that he is an agent of the Latvian intelligence. For espionage work, he was recruited by the Latvian intelligence agent BRIC in 1923 while in custody in Riga Central for belonging to the Latvian Komsomol and distributing illegal literature. After his release from prison, YANSON, under the guise of a political emigrant, was transferred to the Soviet Union.

Together with YANSON, BRIK arrived in the USSR (it is being established), with whom he was connected for espionage work, gave him information about the Kremlin garrison, in whose workshops YANSON worked.

Working at 24 aircraft plant, JANSON, through BRICA, transmitted information about the production of new aircraft engines, aircraft brands, etc. to the Latvian intelligence service. While at work in Motomech. academy, YANSON, through the same BRICA, transferred schemes and calculations of machine‐gun installations on motorcycles

ʺAN‐600ʺ, ʺNATIʺ and ʺPVSʺ.

In addition, a number of espionage information was transmitted to them through the agents of the Latvian [2] intelligence DRAVNEKA and VITOL (to be established), with whom he was connected by BRIC.

11. OZEROV, teacher of the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization named after Stalin. Interrogated: SHCHERBAKOV.

He gave initial testimony that since 1927 he had been carrying out espionage work in favor of Germany and from that time, he had participated in an anti‐Soviet sabotage organization. OZEROV was recruited into the anti‐Soviet sabotage organization by the former head of the Tank Design Bureau SHUKALOV (arrested), together with whom he was engaged in espionage from that time, transferring information about the tanks and weapons of the Red Army to the German intelligence officer VOLMER (in 1928‐1931 he worked as a designer in USSR, and then left for Germany).

OZEROV named the following German spies with whom he was personally connected for espionage and participation in an anti‐Soviet organization: V.I.ZASLAVSKY, V.Ya. Obukhov, G.Ya. Gurevich. and A. ROZHKOVA (all arrested).

In addition, OZEROV named as participants in an anti‐Soviet organization: S.V. ZOTOV, who works at a tank plant as a designer at a brake plant (not arrested) and others known to him personally and from the words of other participants, Ph.D. organizations.

The interrogation continues.

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

[1] So in the source.

So in the source