Outer space is increasingly seen as a full-fledged theater of war. After the unification of the Air Force (VVS) and the Aerospace Defense Forces, the Aerospace Forces (VKS) were formed in Russia. A new branch of the Armed Forces has also appeared in the United States.
However, so far it is more about missile defense, delivering strikes from space and destroying enemy spacecraft from the surface or from the atmosphere. But sooner or later, weapons may also appear on board orbital spaceships. Just imagine a manned Soyuz or a revived American Shuttle carrying lasers or cannons on board. Such ideas have long lived in the minds of the military and scientists. In addition, scientific and not quite science fiction periodically warms them up. Let's look for viable starting points from which a new space arms race can begin.
With a gun on board
And although guns and machine guns are the last thing we think about, imagining a combat clash of spaceships in orbit, this century will probably begin with them. In fact, a cannon on board a spacecraft is simple, understandable and relatively cheap, and there are already examples of the use of such weapons in space.
In the early 70s, the USSR began to seriously fear for the safety of the vehicles sent into the sky. And it was because of what, because even at the dawn of the space age, the United States began to develop inspector satellites and interceptor satellites. Such work is being carried out now - both here and on the other side of the ocean.
Inspector satellites are designed to inspect alien spacecraft. Maneuvering in orbit, they approach the target and do their job: they photograph the target satellite and listen to its radio traffic. You don't have to go far for examples. Launched in 2009, the American electronic intelligence apparatus PAN, moving in geostationary orbit, “sneaks up” to other satellites and eavesdrops on the radio exchange of the target satellite with ground control points. Often, the small size of such devices provides them with low visibility, so from the Earth they are often mistaken for space debris.
Satellites in orbit
In addition, in the 1970s, the United States announced the start of work on a reusable transport spacecraft, the Space Shuttle. The shuttle had a large cargo compartment and could both deliver into orbit and return spacecraft of large mass from it to Earth. In the future, NASA will launch the Hubble Telescope and several modules of the International Space Station into orbit in the cargo compartments of NASA shuttles. In 1993, the space shuttle Endeavor grabbed a 4.5-ton EURECA scientific satellite with its arm, placed it in the cargo hold and returned it to Earth. Therefore, fears that this could happen to Soviet satellites or the Salyut orbital station - and it could well fit in the "body" of the shuttle - were not in vain.
space shuttle
Sent into orbit on June 26, 1974, the Salyut-3 station became the first and so far the last manned orbital vehicle with weapons on board. The military station Almaz-2 was hidden under the civilian name Salyut. The advantageous position in orbit at a height of 270 kilometers gave a good overview and turned the station into an ideal observation post. The station stayed in orbit for 213 days, 13 of which worked with the crew.
At that time, few people imagined how space battles would take place. Examples were sought in something more understandable - primarily in aviation. She, however, and so served as a donor for space technology.
At that time, they could not come up with any better solution than to place an aircraft gun on board. Its creation was taken up by OKB-16 under the leadership of Alexander Nudelman. The design bureau was marked by many breakthrough developments during the Great Patriotic War.
"Under the belly" of the station installed a 23-mm automatic cannon, created on the basis of an aviation rapid-fire cannon designed by Nudelman - Richter R-23 (NR-23). It was adopted in 1950 and installed on Soviet La-15, MiG-17, MiG-19 fighters, Il-10M attack aircraft, An-12 military transport aircraft and other vehicles. The HP-23 was also produced under license in China.
Gun design Nudelman - Richter R-23 (NR-23)
The gun was fixed rigidly parallel to the longitudinal axis of the station. It was possible to direct it to the desired point on the target only by turning the entire station. Moreover, this could be done both manually, through the sight, and remotely - from the ground.
The calculation of the direction and power of the volley required for guaranteed destruction of the target was carried out by the Program-Control Apparatus (PKA), which controlled the firing. The rate of fire of the gun was up to 950 rounds per minute.
A projectile weighing 200 grams flew at a speed of 690 m/s. The gun could effectively hit targets at a distance of up to four kilometers. According to witnesses of ground tests of the gun, a volley from a cannon tore in half a metal barrel of gasoline, located at a distance of more than a kilometer.
When firing in space, its return was equivalent to a thrust of 218.5 kgf. But it was easily compensated by the propulsion system. The station was stabilized by two propulsion engines with a thrust of 400 kgf each or rigid stabilization engines with a thrust of 40 kgf.
The station was armed exclusively for defensive operations. An attempt to steal it from orbit or even inspect it by an inspector satellite could end badly for an enemy device. At the same time, it was pointless and, in fact, impossible to use the 20-ton Almaz-2, stuffed with the most sophisticated equipment for the targeted destruction of objects in space.
The station could defend itself against an attack, that is, from an enemy that approached it on its own. For maneuvers in orbit, which would allow approaching targets within an accurate shot, Almaz simply would not have enough fuel. And the purpose of his finding was different - photo reconnaissance. In fact, the main "weapon" of the station was a giant long-focus mirror-lens telescope-camera "Agat-1".
Agat-1
During the time the station was on duty in orbit, no real opponents of it have yet been created. But still, the gun on board was used for its intended purpose. The developers needed to know how firing the cannon would affect the dynamics and vibration stability of the station. But for this it was necessary to wait for the station to operate in unmanned mode.
Ground tests of the gun showed that firing from the gun was accompanied by a strong roar, so there were fears that testing the gun in the presence of astronauts could adversely affect their health.
The shootings were carried out on January 24, 1975 by remote control from the Earth just before the station left orbit. The crew had already left the station by this time. Shooting was carried out without a target, shells fired against the orbital velocity vector entered the atmosphere and burned out even before the station itself. The station did not collapse, but the return from the volley was significant, even despite the engines being turned on at that moment to stabilize. If at that moment there was a crew at the station, he would have felt it.
Salyut-5
At the next stations in the series - in particular, Almaz-3, which flew under the name Salyut-5 - they were going to install missile weapons: two space-to-space missiles with an estimated target range of more than 100 kilometers. Later, however, this idea was abandoned.
Military "Union": guns and missiles
Developments on the Almaz project were preceded by work on the Zvezda program. In the period from 1963 to 1968, Sergei Korolev's Design Bureau No. 1 was engaged in the development of the 7K-VI multi-seat military research manned spacecraft, which would be a military modification of the Soyuz (7K). Yes, the same manned spacecraft that is still in operation and remains the only means of delivering crews to the International Space Station.
The cosmonaut's console of the Soyuz 7K-VI spacecraft 11K732 / Wikipedia
Military "Unions" were intended for different purposes, and, accordingly, the designers provided for a different set of equipment on board, including weapons.
Soyuz P (7K-P), which began development in 1964, was supposed to be the first manned orbital interceptor in history. However, there were no weapons on board, the crew of the ship, having examined the enemy satellite, had to go into outer space and disable the enemy satellite, so to speak, manually. Or, if necessary, by placing the device in a special container, send it to Earth.
Military Soyuz projects: 7K-P, 7K-PPK, 7K-R, 7K-VI (Zvezda), Soyuz-VI (from left to right, rendered by astronautix.com)
But this decision was rejected. Fearing similar actions on the part of the Americans, we equipped our spacecraft with a self-explosion system. It is possible that the United States would have gone the same way. They did not want to risk the lives of the astronauts here either. The Soyuz-PPK project, which replaced the Soyuz-P, already assumed the creation of a full-fledged warship. It was able to eliminate satellites thanks to eight small space-to-space missiles located in the bow. The crew of the interceptor consisted of two astronauts. He no longer needed to leave the ship. Having inspected the object visually or examined it with the help of on-board equipment, the crew made a decision on the need to destroy it. If it was accepted, then the ship moved a kilometer away from the target and shot it with onboard missiles.
Missiles for the interceptor were supposed to be made by Arkady Shipunov's weapons design bureau. They were a modification of a radio-controlled anti-tank projectile, leaving for the target on a powerful marching engine. Maneuvering in space was carried out by igniting small powder cartridges, which were densely dotted with its head. When approaching the target, the warhead was undermined - and its fragments hit the target at great speed, destroying it.
In 1965, OKB-1 was instructed to create an orbital reconnaissance aircraft, called Soyuz-VI, which meant High-Altitude Researcher. The project is also known under the designations 7K-VI and Zvezda. "Soyuz-VI" was supposed to conduct visual observation, photographic reconnaissance, perform maneuvers for rapprochement, and if necessary, could destroy the enemy ship. To do this, the NR-23 aircraft gun, already familiar to us, was installed on the descent vehicle of the ship. Apparently, it was from this project that she then migrated to the project of the Almaz-2 station. Here it was possible to point the gun only by controlling the entire ship.
Model of the ship 7K-VI. The photographs were taken in branch No. 3 of OKB-1 in 1967. Photo: TsSKB-Progress
However, not a single launch of the military Soyuz was ever made. In January 1968, work on the 7K-VI military research ship was terminated, and the unfinished ship was dismantled. The reason for this is internal squabbles and cost savings. In addition, it was obvious that all the tasks of such ships could be entrusted either to ordinary civilian Soyuz or to the Almaz military orbital station. But the experience gained was not in vain. OKB-1 used it in the development of new types of spacecraft.
One platform - different weapons
In the 1970s, the tasks were already set more broadly. Now it was about creating space assets capable of destroying ballistic missiles in flight, especially important air, orbital, sea and ground targets. The work was entrusted to NPO Energia under the leadership of Valentin Glushko. The special resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR, which formalized the leading role of Energia in this project, was called: “On the study of the possibility of creating weapons for combat operations in and from space.”
The long-term orbital station Salyut (17K) was chosen as the basis. By this time, there was already a lot of experience in operating devices of this class. Having chosen it as the base platform, the designers of NPO Energia began to develop two combat systems: one for use with laser weapons, the other with missiles.
The first one was called "Skif". The dynamic layout of the orbital laser, the Skif-DM spacecraft, will be launched in 1987. And the system with missile weapons was called "Cascade".
"Cascade" compares favorably with the laser "brother". She had a smaller mass, which means she could be refueled with a large supply of fuel, which allowed her to more “feel free in orbit” and carry out maneuvers. Although for both of the complex it was assumed the possibility of refueling in orbit. These were unmanned stations, but it was also possible to visit them by a crew of two people for up to one week on Soyuz spacecraft.
Dynamic layout Skif-DM
In general, the constellation of laser and rocket orbital complexes, supplemented by guidance systems, was to become part of the Soviet anti-missile defense system - "anti-SDI". There was also a clear division of labour. Rocket "Cascade" was supposed to work on targets located in medium-altitude and geostationary orbits. "Skif" - for low-orbit objects.
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Separately, it is worth considering the interceptor missiles themselves, which were supposed to be used as part of the Cascade combat complex. They were developed, again, at NPO Energia. Such missiles do not quite fall under the usual understanding of missiles. Do not forget that at all stages they were used outside the atmosphere, it was possible not to take into account aerodynamics. Rather, they were similar to modern upper stages used to bring satellites into calculated orbits.
raigap.livejournal.com
The rocket was very small, but sufficiently power-armed. With a launch mass of only a few tens of kilograms, it had a margin of characteristic velocity commensurate with the characteristic velocity of rockets that put spacecraft into orbit as a payload. The unique propulsion system used in the interceptor rocket used non-traditional, non-cryogenic fuels and heavy-duty composite materials.
Abroad and on the verge of fantasy
The United States also had plans to create warships. So, in December 1963, the public was announced a program to create a manned orbital laboratory MOL (Manned Orbiting Laboratory). The station was to be carried into orbit by a Titan IIIC launch vehicle, along with a Gemini B spacecraft carrying a crew of two military astronauts. They were supposed to spend up to 40 days in orbit and return on the Gemini spacecraft. The purpose of the station was similar to our "Diamonds": it was to be used for photographic reconnaissance. However, the possibility of "inspection" of enemy satellites was also proposed. Moreover, the astronauts had to go into outer space and approach enemy vehicles using the so-called Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU), a jetpack designed for use on MOL. But the installation of weapons at the station was not supposed. MOL was never in space, but in November 1966 its mock-up was launched in tandem with the Gemini spacecraft. In 1969 the project was closed.
Picture of the Gemini B lander undocking from MOL/Wikipedia
There were also plans for the creation and military modification of the Apollo. He could be engaged in the inspection of satellites and - if necessary - their destruction. This ship was also not supposed to have any weapons. Curiously, it was proposed to use a manipulator arm for destruction, and not guns or missiles.
But, perhaps, the project of the Orion nuclear-pulse ship, proposed by General Atomics in 1958, can be called the most fantastic. It is worth mentioning here that it was a time when the first man had not yet flown into space, but the first satellite did take place. Ideas about the ways of space exploration varied. Edward Teller, nuclear physicist, "father of the hydrogen bomb" and one of the founders of the atomic bomb, was among the founders of this company.
The Orion spacecraft project and its military modification Orion Battleship, which appeared a year later, was a spacecraft weighing almost 10 thousand tons, driven by a nuclear pulse engine. According to the authors of the project, it compares favorably with chemical-fueled missiles. Initially, Orion was even supposed to be launched from Earth - from the Jackess Flats nuclear test site in Nevada.
Orion Battleship
ARPA became interested in the project (it will become DARPA later) - the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US Department of Defense, which is responsible for developing new technologies for use in the interests of the Armed Forces. Since July 1958, the Pentagon has allocated one million dollars to finance the project.
The military was interested in the ship, which made it possible to deliver into orbit and move in space cargo weighing about tens of thousands of tons, to carry out reconnaissance, early warning and destruction of enemy intercontinental ballistic missiles, electronic countermeasures, as well as striking ground targets and targets in orbit and other celestial bodies. In July 1959, a draft of a new type of US Armed Forces was prepared: Deep Space Bombardment Force, which can be translated as Space Bombardment Force. He envisaged the creation of two permanent operational space fleets, consisting of ships of the Orion project. The first was supposed to be on duty in near-Earth orbit, the second - in reserve beyond the lunar orbit.
The crews of the ships were to be replaced every six months. The life of the Orions themselves was 25 years. As for the weapons of the Orion Battleship, it was divided into three types: basic, offensive and defensive. The main ones were W56 thermonuclear warheads with the equivalent of one and a half megatons and up to 200 units. They were launched using solid rockets placed on the ship.
Three double-barreled howitzers "Kasaba" were launchers for directional nuclear charges. The shells, having left the gun, upon detonation, had to generate a narrow front of plasma moving at near-light speed, which was capable of hitting enemy spaceships at long distances.
The long-range defensive armament consisted of three 127mm Mark 42 naval gun mounts modified for space-based firing. Short-range weapons were elongated, 20 mm M61 Vulcan automatic aircraft guns. But in the end, NASA made a strategic decision that the space program would become non-nuclear in the near future. Soon ARPA also refused to support the project.
death rays
To some, the guns and missiles on modern spaceships may seem like old-fashioned weapons. But what is modern? Of course, lasers. Let's talk about them.
On Earth, individual samples of laser weapons have already been put into service. For example, the Peresvet laser complex, which took up experimental combat duty in December last. However, the advent of military lasers in space is still quite a long way off. Even in the most modest plans, the military use of such weapons is seen primarily in the field of missile defense, where the targets of orbital groups of combat lasers will be ballistic missiles launched from the Earth and their warheads.
Although in the field of civil space, lasers open up great prospects: in particular, if they are used in laser space communication systems, including long-range ones. Laser transmitters are already installed on several spacecraft. But as far as laser guns are concerned, most likely the first job they will be assigned will be to "defend" the International Space Station from space debris.
international space station
It is the ISS that should become the first object in space to be armed with a laser gun. Indeed, the station is periodically subjected to "attacks" of various kinds of space debris. To protect it from orbital debris, evasive maneuvers are needed, which have to be carried out several times a year.
Relative to other objects in orbit, the speed of space debris can reach 10 kilometers per second. Even a tiny fragment carries enormous kinetic energy, and if it hits a spacecraft, it will cause serious damage. If we talk about manned spacecraft or orbital station modules, then depressurization is also possible. In fact, it's like a projectile fired from a cannon.
The laser, intended to be placed on the ISS, was taken up by scientists from the Japan Institute of Physical and Chemical Research back in 2015. At that time, the idea was to modify the existing EUSO telescope at the station. The system they came up with included the CAN (Coherent Amplifying Network) laser system and the EUSO (Extreme Universe Space Observatory) telescope. The telescope was assigned the task of detecting fragments of debris, the laser was tasked with removing them from orbit. It was assumed that in just 50 months, the laser will completely clear the 500-kilometer zone around the ISS.
A test version with a power of 10 watts was supposed to appear at the station last year, and already a full-fledged one in 2025. However, last May there was information that the project to create a laser facility for the ISS became international and included Russian scientists. Boris Shustov, Chairman of the Expert Group of the Council on Space Threats, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke about this at a meeting of the RAS Council on Space.
Domestic experts will bring their developments to the project. According to the original plan, the laser was supposed to concentrate energy from 10,000 fiber-optic channels. But Russian physicists proposed to reduce the number of channels by a factor of 100 by using so-called thin rods instead of optical fiber, which are being developed at the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This will reduce the size and technological complexity of the orbital laser. The laser installation will occupy a volume of one or two cubic meters and have a mass of about 500 kilograms.
The key task that everyone involved in the design of orbital lasers, and not only orbital lasers, needs to solve is to find the necessary amount of energy to power the laser installation. To run the planned laser at full power, all the electricity generated by the station is needed. However, it is clear that it is impossible to completely de-energize the orbital station. Today, the ISS solar panels are the largest orbital power plant in space. But they give only 93.9 kilowatts of power.
Our scientists are also thinking about how to meet the five percent of the available energy for a shot. For this purpose, it is proposed to stretch the shot time to 10 seconds. Another 200 seconds between shots will be spent on "recharging" the laser.
The laser system will “get” the garbage from a distance of up to 10 kilometers. Moreover, the destruction of debris fragments will not look the same as in Star Wars. The laser beam, falling on the surface of a large body, causes its substance to evaporate, resulting in a weak plasma flow. Then, due to the principle of jet propulsion, a fragment of debris acquires momentum, and if the laser “hits on the forehead”, then the fragment will slow down and, having lost speed, will inevitably enter the dense layers of the atmosphere, where it will burn out.
"KREMLIN AFFAIR" ZINOVIEV-KAMENEV
The names of Grigory Evseevich Radomyslsky (Zinoviev) and Lev Borisovich Rosenfeld (Kamenev) are inextricably linked in the history of the USSR. They were political twins not only in age (both were born in 1883 and died in 1936), but also in political views. Both were associates of V.I. Lenin and "famous" for the fact that in 1917, on the eve of the October Uprising, both were categorically against the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks, which was announced in the press. For this, Lenin called them "traitors." This, however, did not prevent the "twins" from holding prominent positions in the party and Soviet bodies. So, Zinoviev since December 1917 was the chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, it is he who is responsible for organizing the mass executions of innocent people during the years of the "Red Terror". Kamenev from November 1917 was the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, and from 1917 to 1926 the chairman of the Moscow Council. It is noteworthy that after the loss of legal capacity V.I. Lenin, it was he who proposed to appoint I.V. Stalin to the post of general secretary of the party - a post, then insignificant and connected with routine paper work, a post to which only Stalin was able to give true brilliance.
G.E. Zinoviev (Radomyslsky) and L.B. Kamenev (Rosenfeld)
However, when Stalin began to seize power, none other than Kamenev, at the Fourteenth Party Congress in 1925, dared to openly declare:
“I came to the conclusion that Comrade Stalin cannot play the role of a unifier of the Bolshevik headquarters ... We are against the theory of one-man command, we are against creating a leader!”
In the winter of 1935, the NKVD arrested a large group of employees of the Kremlin institutions in Moscow. They were charged with preparing an attempt on the leader's life. L.B. was named the organizer of the conspiracy. Kamenev.
"Tov. I.V. Stalin.
Now, on December 16 at 19.50 in the evening, a group of Chekists came to my apartment and searched my place ... I am not to blame for anything, for anything, for anything before the party, before the Central Committee and before you personally. I swear to you everything that can only be sacred for a Bolshevik, I swear to you by the memory of Lenin. I cannot imagine what could arouse suspicion against me. I beg you to believe this word of honor. Shocked to the core.
G. Zinoviev.
Zinoviev's appeal remained unanswered.
In the course of the investigation, the composition of the group of conspirators expanded rapidly. In the networks of the NKVD were relatives, friends, acquaintances of the arrested and even random persons who had the misfortune to meet with them.
All these people were credited with connections with Trotskyists and Mensheviks, White Guards and monarchists, Russian emigrants and foreign intelligence.
On the night of January 13-14, 1935, something terrible was happening in the cellars of the Lubyanka, because the next day all the accused unanimously pleaded guilty to all charges, even to the murder of Kirov.
On January 15, 1935, a closed trial began in Leningrad in the case of the "Moscow Center".
The first court sentenced "the main organizer and most active leader of the underground counter-revolutionary group" Zinoviev to 10 years in prison, the "less active" member of the "Moscow center" Kamenev to 5 years.
After the guilty verdict was announced in the “Moscow Center” case, a wave of public indignation at the intrigues of the “Zinovievites” swept the whole country. These sentiments were fueled by the assassination of Kirov, the responsibility for which was directly assigned to the “Zinovievites”.
To Stalin, however, the process did not seem large enough. This is how the scenario of a new grandiose trial in the case of the “united Trotskyist-Zinoviev center” arose.
Kamenev and Zinoviev were returned from their places of detention, and the Trotskyites convicted in the Moscow Center case and members of the Communist Party of Germany who had recently arrived in the USSR were added to them.
By that time, the main accused, Zinoviev, was the most broken, fallen spirit. From his prison cell, he wrote desperate letters to Stalin.
“One desire burns in my soul: to prove to you that I am no longer an enemy. There is no requirement that I would not fulfill in order to prove this ... I ... for a long time stare at your and other members of the Politburo portraits in newspapers with the thought: relatives, look into my soul, can't you see that I Your soul and body that I am ready to do everything to earn forgiveness, indulgence.
Shortly before the trial, a closed letter from the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks “On the terrorist activities of the Trotskyist-Zinoviev bloc” was sent to all party organizations in the country. It directly stated that S.M. Kirov was killed on the decision of the "united" center of this bloc. In addition, it was emphasized that the “center” “set the murder of comrades Stalin, Voroshilov, Kaganovich, Ordzhonikidze, Zhdanov, Kostorov, Postyshev as the main and main task.” As a working copy of the closed letter preserved in the archives of the Central Committee of the CPSU shows, these names were included in the text by Stalin's hand. The fate of the defendants was sealed.
On August 19, 1936, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR began an open hearing of the case.
After the announcement of the indictment, the presiding judge's obligatory question was asked to the defendants: do they plead guilty? Of the 16 accused, 14 pleaded guilty, including Zinoviev and Kamenev. They also called on the “unrepentant” to confess.
From the last words of the defendant Zinoviev:
"The Party saw where we were going and warned us ... My distorted Bolshevism turned into anti-Bolshevism, and through Trotskyism I went over to fascism."
Kamenev's last word:
“Whatever my verdict, I consider it fair in advance. Don't look back. Go forward. Together with the Soviet people, follow Stalin."
All defendants were found guilty under Article 58-8 (commission of a terrorist act) and Article 58-11 (organization of activities aimed at committing counter-revolutionary crimes) of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. All were sentenced to death with confiscation.
According to the law, those sentenced to death had the right to apply to the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR with a petition for pardon within 73 hours.
The Presidium of the CEC showed exceptional efficiency. The petitions of the convicts in this case were considered immediately. None of them were satisfied. The verdict remained in effect.
Zinoviev, until his last moment, asked for a meeting with Stalin, begged for mercy, wallowed at the feet of the guards.
“Come on, Grigory,” said Kamenev. We will die with dignity.
When his last moment came, Kamenev did not ask for anything and accepted death in silence.
This text is an introductory piece. From the book 100 great scams [with illustrations] author Mussky Igor AnatolievichZinoviev's letter The so-called "letter of Zinoviev", Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Comintern, dated September 15, 1924, addressed to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Great Britain, is considered perhaps the most famous political forgery in world history. Letter signed
From the book of 100 great plagues author Avadyaeva Elena NikolaevnaTHE “KREMLIN AFFAIR” OF ZINOVYEV-KAMENEV The names of Grigory Evseevich Radomyslsky (Zinoviev) and Lev Borisovich Rosenfeld (Kamenev) are inextricably linked in the history of the USSR. These were political twins not only in age (both were born in 1883 and died in 1936), but also
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Russia is a country with an unpredictable past.
Today, someone may have heard the names of Zinoviev and Kamenev, but not many. The debate is mainly about Joseph Stalin and his legacy, crowds of Russians bring flowers to his grave on his birthday, dozens of historians and propagandists diligently justify the events that took place during the era of his reign, explaining them by the vital necessity and great goals facing the young state of workers and peasants. Much less and not always in the same positive context, they remember Vladimir Lenin, although his corpse still lies unburied in the central square of the country. Some people can recall the name of Leon Trotsky, about whom it is known only that he was killed by an ice pick blow to the skull. And the vast majority of the population of modern Russia knows practically nothing about the rest of the "founding fathers" of the Soviet state. Just not interested.
And what did our grandfathers-winners know about Lenin's comrades-in-arms, say, in the early 1950s? We pick up the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, second edition, volumes 17 (signed for publication on October 30, 1952) and 19 (signed for publication on June 16, 1053). We find references to one Zinoviev and two Kamenevs:
"Zinoviev, Georgy Terentyevich - Russian icon painter of the 2nd half of the 17th century."
"Kamenev, Gavriil Petrovich (1772-1803) - Russian poet."
"Kamenev Lev Lvovich (1833-86) - Russian landscape painter."
The encyclopedia remembers the icon painter who lived in the 17th century, but not about the revolutionaries, the creators of the great USSR, who worked for the benefit of the working people less than forty years ago. A little strange, isn't it? Let's restore justice and recall at least some facts from the biographies of these prominent political figures of the first half of the 20th century.
I have combined information about these two statesmen in one article, although it would not be entirely correct to consider Lev Borisovich Kamenev the leader. He himself, while occupying high positions in the Bolshevik government, did not aspire to occupy the main party post. But too much connects him with Grigory Evseevich Zinoviev - both general political activity and fate. But - in order.
Grigory Evseevich Zinoviev (Evsey (Ovsey) - Gershen (Gersh, Gershon, Girsh) Aaronovich Radomyslsky, sometimes referred to by the name of his mother Girsh Apfelbaum), was born on September 11 (23), 1883 in the city of Elisavetgrad, from 1924 to 1934 bearing his name - Zinovievsk .
Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies December 13 (26), 1917 - March 26, 1926.
Candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) March 25, 1919 - March 8, 1921.
Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks March 16, 1921 - July 23, 1926
Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Communist International March 4, 1919 - July 23, 1926.
Lev Borisovich Kamenev (Rosenfeld), was born on July 6 (18), 1883 in Moscow. Father is a baptized Jew, mother is Russian.
2nd Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee October 27 (November 9) - November 8 (November 21), 1917
Chairman of the Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Moscow City Council October 14, 1918 - January 15, 1926
2nd Chairman of the Council of Labor and Defense of the USSR February 2, 1924 - January 19, 1926
2nd People's Commissar of Foreign and Internal Trade of the USSR January 16 - August 14, 1926
Plenipotentiary representative of the USSR in Italy November 26, 1926 - January 7, 1928
Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) October 10 (23), 1917 - November 4 (17), 1917
Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks March 25, 1919 - December 18, 1925
Candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) January 1 - October 23, 1926.
Grigory Evseevich Zinoviev met Lenin in 1903, established close personal contact with him, and joined the Bolsheviks. After the revolution of 1905 he lived in exile. In 1907, at the 5th Party Congress, he was elected to the Central Committee. He did not stay long in Russia, he soon returned to exile.
After the February Revolution, he returned to Russia with Lenin in a "sealed" carriage. In July 1917, he was accused, again together with Lenin, of spying for Germany and receiving German money, and together with him he was hiding from court in the famous "hut" at Razliv station.
On October 10, at a meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP, Zinoviev and Kamenev spoke out against an armed uprising. Despite the disagreement with Lenin himself on this issue, after the October Revolution, Zinoviev took over as chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, became chairman of the Petrograd Revolutionary Defense Committee, a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the 7th Army, and became an active supporter of the Red Terror. At the same time from 1919 to 1926 he was chairman of the executive committee of the Communist International.
In the "fight against the counter-revolution" he showed truly bestial cruelty, which was condemned even by the ruthless chairman of the Petrograd Cheka, Moses Uritsky
According to P.A. Sorokin, during the Civil War and after it, Zinoviev, being the "revolutionary dictator" of Petrograd with unlimited powers, acted as the main organizer of the "Red Terror" policy against the Petrograd intelligentsia and the former nobility, up to the complete physical destruction of the "exploiting classes". In particular, according to the decision of the Petrograd Soviet in 1921, participants in the so-called "Tagantsev's conspiracy", including the poet Nikolai Gumilyov, were shot. In reality, the conspiracy case was completely falsified by the organs of the Petrograd Cheka. (WIKI).
This dry information does not give a sufficiently clear idea of the personality of Grigory Evseevich, of his human qualities. Therefore, let's turn to the memories of contemporaries whom fate directly or indirectly confronted with the character of interest to us.
Here is how Georgy Aleksandrovich Solomon characterizes Zinoviev in his book entitled “Among the Red Leaders” (M., Tsentrpoligraf, 2015):
“I am being served an encrypted telegram received over a direct wire. It is signed by "himself" Zinoviev. Here is its approximate text: “I ask you to issue two hundred thousand German gold marks for the needs of the Comintern to the courier of the Comintern who has to arrive in Revel, Comrade Slivkin, and to render him all possible assistance in carrying out the assignment entrusted to him for purchases in Berlin for the needs of the Comintern of goods. Zinoviev."
(addition: Slivkin Albert Moiseevich. Born 1886, Dvinsk (Latvia); Jew, member of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, arr. lower, assistant to the head of the Main Directorate of the Film Industry of the USSR,<…>Arrest. 08/03/1937. Sentenced by the VKVS of the USSR on March 15, 1938, according to obv. in provocative activities in the RSDLP. Shot on 03/15/1938. Rehabilitated 11/19/1959.)
And after that, without a report and without even knocking, the "courier" of the Comintern himself comes to me. This is a cheeky young man of the type of a Gostinodvor fellow, with all his appearance and manners, as if saying: “But I don’t give a damn!” He calmly, without greeting or introducing himself, sits down in an armchair and, imitating Zinoviev's "himself" with his posture, says:
“You are Comrade Solomon?… It’s very nice… I’m Slivkin… have you heard?… yes, it’s me, Comrade Slivkin… courier of the Comintern, or rather, trusted courier of Comrade Zinoviev himself… I’m going on personal orders from Comrade Zinoviev,” he stressed.
By my nature, I generally do not like amikoshonstvo and, of course, the appearance of "comrade" Slivkin under the circumstances described caused me the usual impression in such cases. I began to stubbornly keep silent and no less stubbornly look not so much at him as at him. People who know me have told me more than once that my silence and looking “at a person” can be very difficult. And, apparently, this made a depressing impression on Slivkin too: he gradually, as he spoke and as I was silent, looking at him point-blank, began to somehow fade, in his voice there were notes of some kind of self-doubt and even a slight trembling, as if a spasm was constricting his throat. And his manners and posture became less lively ... I kept silent and stared ...
“Yes, on the personal orders of Comrade Zinoviev ... on the most responsible orders,” he tried to continue, as if inflating himself, gradually starting to stutter: “Comrade Zinoviev and I are great friends ... uh, we ... i.e., he and I... Even now I'm on a business trip on the personal orders of Comrade Zinoviev... uh... I didn't want to send anyone else... uh... let's send Comrade Slivkin, he says... just for such delicate assignments ... uh ... everyone knows me ... here in your office ... everyone ... uh ... ask whoever you want about Slivkin, everyone will say ... uh ... soul ... uh ... human…
He finally began to fade. I was cruel - I continued to be silent and look at him with my heavy gaze ...
– What do you really want? I asked him at last.
– Excuse me, comrade Solomon… uh-uh… right, I allowed myself to enter without a report… sorry… maybe you are busy?…
"Of course I'm busy," I replied. - What do you want anyway?
And he explained that he had come to receive the two hundred thousand German marks in gold allocated to him, and that, since he was traveling on a "responsible" mission from Comrade Zinoviev himself, he allowed himself to enter me without a report and without even knocking. He showed me an appropriate certificate, from which I learned that “he is sent to Berlin for various kinds of purchases according to the lists of the Comintern, which he personally has, he will make purchases personally and completely independently, will personally accompany the purchased goods”, that I “must to provide him with full and all-round assistance, at his request to provide at his disposal the necessary employees ... "and that" a report on the expenditure of two hundred thousand marks Slivkin will personally present to the Comintern.
“All right,” I said, reading his certificate, “go to the chief accountant, he has all the orders ...
He left. There was some discrepancy in the documents. He shouted, ran to complain, jabbing “Comrade Zinoviev” in the eyes of everyone and everyone, his “responsible mission”, etc.
Who is this Slivkin? I asked Makovetsky, who, as a manager, was supposed to know everything.
“Just a scoundrel, a courier of the Comintern,” Makovetsky replied. - But all the ladies of Gukovsky are simply crazy about him. He always pleases everyone. One says: "Comrade Slivkin, bring me Koti's soap" ... "Atkinson's spirits," the other asks. He promises everything to everyone and will certainly bring it ... You will see, and he will bring you some kind of present, you will not get rid of him ... But he is really very close to Zinoviev ... probably, on the execution of all sorts of orders ...
And he fell silent, because he was a modest man and chastely did not like to touch the dirt of life ...
Before leaving, Slivkin came and said goodbye to me, announcing himself through a courier.
“I came to say goodbye,” he said, “and ask if you have any orders? ... to bring something from Berlin? ... Please, do not be shy, anything you like ... I have enough money ... enough ...
“No, thank you,” I answered, “I don’t need anything ... I wish you a happy journey ...
He left disappointed...
About three weeks later I receive a telegram from him from Berlin, in which he informs me that he will arrive with a “responsible cargo” on such and such a date with such and such a steamer and demanded that two wagons be brought to the steamship pier along the pier branch for reloading goods and for sending him immediately to Petersburg.
Meanwhile, at that time, we had a hasty dispatch, almost two block trains a day, of various very urgent goods. And that is why my head of the transport department, engineer Fenkevi, could not in any way arrange for the wagons requested by Slivka to be waiting for him by the time the steamer arrived. The line was occupied by a train advanced to another ship, from which a hasty cargo was reloaded ... In a word, in short, according to the technical conditions, it was absolutely impossible to immediately satisfy Slivkin's demand. And so, immediately upon arrival, Slivkin began all sorts of misunderstandings with Fenkevi. A. Fenkevi was a serious man and did not allow anyone to step on his foot. Slivkin quarreled, shouted that his "special purpose cargo" was "at the request of the Comintern" and that "this is sabotage." Fenkevi objected to him with serious and convincing arguments... Finally, Slivkin came to me with a complaint about Fenkevi. I called him to my place: what's the matter? ...
“First of all,” Fenkevi answered, “the line is occupied by a block train (40 wagons), there is only one line, we cannot turn the block train back without delaying urgent cargo for two days - agricultural implements, and then ...
“Oh, I understand,” I said. - When can you deliver two wagons? ...
“Tomorrow at six in the morning. Tonight we will finish the load, we will sleep the loaded train at night and it will immediately go to Moscow according to the schedule. And immediately a new train of 40 wagons will be sent to the pier, and two of them at the tail of the train will stop at the steamer for Comrade. Slivkin...
No, I must hurry! To hell with the guns, let them wait, because my cargoes, on the personal order of Comrade. Zinoviev ... I will complain, I will send a telegram - shouted Slivkin.
“Okay,” I replied, “do whatever you want, I can’t cancel urgent cargo ...
Slivkin, of course, sent telegrams ... In response, he received sharp answers, requests. I didn't answer. But there is another misunderstanding here. Slivkin insisted that both of his boxcars be coupled to the passenger train the next day. The railway administration, of course, flatly refused to do so. Makovetsky, Fenkevi, were busy - the administration stood its ground: only the minister could resolve this. And I had to apply personally to the minister, who in the end allowed it, only for me ...
We were all exhausted by this burden "for the needs of the Comintern." Everyone was knocked off their feet, running around, writing papers, sending telegrams... And the precious time of several people was wasted to please Zinoviev... his belly... Fenkevi personally supervised the reloading. When it was finally over, he came to give me an account. He was gloomy and annoyed.
- What kind of cargo is this? I asked casually.
“Excuse me, Georgy Alexandrovich, I can’t talk about this calmly ... There are so many troubles, so many nasty things, complaints, slander ... and because of what? ... It’s disgusting, ugh, such disgusting! comrade" Zinoviev, - he uttered this name with anger. - “Responsible cargo”, ha ha ha! .. Everyone was raised to their feet, you, the entire administration of the railway, the minister, we all galloped, we abandoned everything ... How, for mercy!
Zinoviev, that lousy Grishka, the tsar's cook (Zinoviev, according to rumors, took the former tsar's cook into his service) lacks various delicacies, truffles and, the devil knows what else, for his master's table ... Pineapples, tangerines, bananas, various fruit in sugar, sardines... And there the people are starving, they've got suede... an army in bast-mat overcoats... And we have to indulge the fat belly of Zinoviev, who has grown fat on Soviet bread... Disgusting! sodkomok”, perfumes, soaps, all kinds of manicure tools, lace and the devil knows what ... Ha, “responsible cargo,” he mimicked Slivkin and spat. “People’s money, where does it go!” Believe me, I was ashamed when these goods were loaded, I wanted to burn! I don’t know where, but everyone knew what kind of cargo it was ...
The townsfolk, the common townsfolk laughed... they laughed evilly, people said without hesitation: "look where the Soviets are spending the money of the hungry peasants and workers... ha, ha, ha, I suppose Grishka Zinoviev is eating it up and spending it on his girls"...
Everything was set. Slivkin hooted with his "special cargo for the needs of the Comintern." Before leaving, he came to say goodbye to me. He was pleased: he served the authorities so well ... And I was angry ... Saying goodbye, he handed me some kind of box and said:
“And this is for you, comrade Solomon, a small present for your wife, a bottle of perfume, a real Koti ...
“Thank you,” I answered sharply, “neither I nor my wife use Kochi perfumes ...
- Pardon me, comrade, this is from the bottom of my heart ...
“I already told you,” I almost shouted, “you don’t need to ... Farewell ...
And Slivkin was really a shirt - a guy. He brought various "presents" to all Gukovsky's employees and Gukovsky himself. My employees and co-workers, like me, rejected these "presents".
Slivkin came once or twice more, and all with "responsible" assignments for the Comintern, though not so plentiful. And soon Zinoviev himself arrived. I just didn't recognize him. I remember meeting him several times in the editorial office of Pravda even before the Bolshevik coup: he was a thin, nimble guy ... On a vile duty of service (I remember this with disgust) I had to go to the station to meet him. He went to Berlin. He rode with a whole retinue ... Now he was a fat fellow with a fat, nasty face, framed by thick, curly hair and with a huge belly ...
Gukovsky gave him a luxurious reception in his office, in which I also had to participate. He sat in an armchair with an arrogant look, his thick belly thrust forward and his whole figure resembled some kind of ugly Chinese god. He kept himself important ... no, not important, but arrogantly. This rascal, who had grown fat on the money squeezed out of the hungry population, barely spoke, however, he did not speak, but broadcast ... He made it clear to me that he was very “surprised” by the fact that when I was in St. to him (on a bow?) ... I did not participate in this reception for long and soon left. Zinoviev left without me. And Gukovsky then "friendly" blamed me:
- Comrade Zinoviev was very surprised, unpleasantly surprised that you were not on the ship when he left ... He asked about you ... he wanted to talk with you again ...
Therefore, at one time, on his way back to St. Petersburg, Zinoviev again stopped in Revel. He carried with him some colossal amount of "responsible" cargo "for the needs of the Comintern." I don’t remember exactly, but I remember that the cargo consisted of 75 huge boxes, which contained oranges, tangerines, bananas, canned food, soaps, perfumes ... but I am not a grocery or haberdasher to remember the entire specification this goods stolen from a Russian peasant ... My employees again had to bother to load and send all this cargo ... for the belly of Zinoviev and his "sodkoms" ...
But this money was spent, so to speak, in front of me. And how those colossal funds were spent, which I had to constantly spend at different addresses, I don’t know ... Maybe someday this will be revealed ... Maybe it will also be revealed that Zinoviev not only “devoured” the people’s funds, but also and stained his hands with the people's blood...
So one of my employees Breslav (Breslav is a tanner by profession, an illiterate person. At present, judging by the newspapers, he has been appointed deputy trade representative in Paris. - Author.) told me how a scene took place before his eyes, which even he could not forget ... He was in Smolny when some deputation of sailors from three people came to Zinoviev there. Zinoviev received them and almost immediately jumped out of his office, called the guards and ordered:
- Take these scoundrels to the yard, put them against the wall and shoot them! They are counterrevolutionaries...
The order was immediately executed without trial or investigation ... "
As a member of the Politburo, even during the life of Lenin, Zinoviev began the struggle for the highest position in the Bolshevik hierarchy. Grigory Evseevich saw Lev Davidovich Trotsky as the main competitor in this struggle, therefore he attracted Kamenev and Stalin to his side, since he did not consider the poorly educated Georgian a potential rival. Zinoviev played an important role in the rise of Stalin. It was on the idea of Zinoviev that in 1922 Kamenev proposed to appoint Stalin to the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the RCP(b).
At the 12th (1923) and 13th (1924) party congresses, Zinoviev delivered the political reports of the central committee, that is, he played the role of the first person in the party. He propagandized the Leninist heritage by printing a huge number of books with his articles, speeches, etc. The publication of his collected works was begun. (WIKI).
During this time period, all power in the country belonged to the "troika": Zinoviev - Kamenev - Stalin. Boris Bazhanov wrote about this in his memoirs (“Memoirs of the former secretary of Stalin”, France, Third Wave, 1980):
“On the eve of the meeting of the Politburo, Zinoviev, Kamenev and Stalin gather, at first more often at Zinoviev’s apartment, then usually in Stalin’s office in the Central Committee. Officially - to approve the agenda of the Politburo. No charter or regulation provides for the issue of approving the agenda. I can affirm it, Stalin can affirm it. But the troika approves it, and this meeting of the troika is the real meeting of the secret government, which decides, or rather, predetermines all the main questions. There were only four people at the meeting - a troika and me. I report briefly every question that is proposed for the agenda of the Politburo, I report the essence and features. Formally, the troika decides whether to raise the issue at a meeting of the Politburo or to give it another direction. In fact, the members of the troika are agreeing on how this issue should be resolved at tomorrow's meeting of the Politburo, they are considering a decision, even distributing roles among themselves when discussing the issue at tomorrow's meeting.
I am not writing down any decisions, but everything is essentially a foregone conclusion here. Tomorrow at the meeting of the Politburo there will be a discussion, decisions will be made, but everything important is discussed here, in a close circle; discussed frankly, among themselves (there is nothing to be ashamed of each other) and between the true holders of power. Actually, this is the real government, and my role as the first speaker on all issues and the inevitable confidant in all secrets and behind-the-scenes decisions is much more than a simple secretary of the Politburo.<…>
The meetings of the Politburo usually took place in the meeting room of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Almost the entire length of the long, but not wide hall stretches a table, or rather, two, since there is a passage in the middle of it. The table is covered with red cloth. At one end of the table is the chairman's chair. Lenin always sat here. Kamenev now sits in this chair, presiding over meetings of the Politburo. Members of the Politburo sit on both sides of the table facing each other. To the left of Kamenev is Stalin. On the right - Zinoviev.
However, the real seniority in the trio has not yet been finally determined, Zinoviev and Kamenev clearly underestimate Stalin:
“In mid-December, the GPU timidly tried to inform the Politburo that in most of the party organizations the majority was not on the side of the Central Committee. I state that in the huge cell of the Central Committee itself, the majority votes against the Central Committee. I am asking the secretary of the Moscow Committee of the Zelensky party about the results of the voting in the Moscow organization. I receive a panic report - the Central Committee has lost the majority in the capital organization, the most important in the country; it equals the provincial organizations.
At the meeting of the troika (approval of the agenda), I report Zelensky's report. For the trio, this is an unexpected blow.
Of course, the issue is of paramount importance. Zinoviev makes a long speech.
<…>Then Kamenev takes the floor. He draws attention to the fact that the political processes in the country can only be expressed through the party;<…>we must return to the Leninist formulation of the question of the bond between the working class and the peasantry.
While speeches are going on at these heights, Stalin is silent and sucks his pipe. As a matter of fact, Zinoviev and Kamenev are not interested in his opinion - they are convinced that in matters of political strategy Stalin's opinion is of no interest at all. But Kamenev is a very polite and tactful person. So he says: “And you, Comrade Stalin, what do you think about this question?” “Ah,” says Comrade Stalin, “on what question exactly?” (Indeed, many questions were raised). Kamenev, trying to descend to the level of Stalin, says: "But on the question of how to win a majority in the party." “You know, comrades,” says Stalin, “what I think about this: I think that it doesn’t matter at all who and how will vote in the party; but what is extremely important is who and how will count the votes. Even Kamenev, who must already know Stalin, clears his throat emphatically.<…>
In connection with the death of Lenin and the turmoil associated with it, the plenums of the Central Committee follow one after another. The first January plenum of the Central Committee is followed by an emergency plenum after Lenin's death, then another in January; just at the beginning of January, all the appointments and reappointments of the allied people's commissars were made, and the redistribution of important places is already taking place again. Who should be appointed chairman of the Council of People's Commissars to replace Lenin? There is no agreement either in the Politburo or even in the troika. The members of the troika are afraid that if one of them is appointed, this will be an indication for the country that he will finally inherit Lenin - as the number 1 regime, and this does not suit the rest of the troika. In the end, they agree on the candidacy of Rykov: politically he is a pale figure, and his post of head of government will be more decorative than real (like Kalinin, chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, formally something like the president of the republic, but in reality - nothing). Prior to that, Rykov was chairman of the Supreme Council of the National Economy.
But in connection with the creation of the USSR, the STO - the Council of Labor and Defense - is being reorganized. It is headed by Kamenev, and in fact the leadership of all economic people's commissariats (VSNKh, Gosplan, NKFin, NKTorg, NKZem, etc.) is transferred to the STO; this still limits the importance of Rykov's post of chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. The GPU is being reorganized, turning into the OGPU with power over to all the USSR."
Intrigues in the Central Committee of the party are going on with varying degrees of success. Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev and Stalin spun into one ball:
“Zinoviev in the troika furiously demanded the final overthrow of Trotsky. In January 1925, a plenum of the Central Committee took place, at which Zinoviev and Kamenev proposed that Trotsky be expelled from the party. Stalin opposed this proposal, playing the role of a peacemaker.
Stalin persuaded the plenum not only not to expel Trotsky from the party, but to appoint him both a member of the Central Committee and a member of the Politburo. True, Trotsky's speeches and political positions were condemned. But, most importantly, the moment had come to remove him from the Red Army. His replacement had long been prepared in the person of his deputy, Frunze. Stalin was not very happy with Frunze, but Zinoviev and Kamenev were for him, and as a result of long preliminary bargaining at the troika, Stalin agreed to appoint Frunze to the place of Trotsky as the People's Commissariat of War and chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, and Voroshilov as his deputy.<…>
If one attempts to reconstruct what Trotsky's main political thought was, it is not so easy to make sense of the mountain of false accusations that was incessantly piled up against him, first by the Zinovievists, then by the Stalinists, then by the Stalinist heirs. In any case, already at the time when this struggle was taking place within the party, and I was a witness to it, for me, as for all the Bolshevik leaders, the falsity and far-fetchedness of most of the disagreements was clear. It was necessary to defeat the opponent and seize power. But it was impossible to look like this was an unprincipled struggle of spiders in a jar. It was necessary to pretend that the struggle was highly ideological and that the disagreements were extremely important: almost the entire future of the revolution allegedly depended on one or another of their decisions.<…>
At this moment (March 1925) a squabble began again between Zinoviev and Stalin: Zinoviev did not tolerate Stalin's excursions into the field of general strategy and found his attempts to act as a theoretician and strategist ridiculous. There were skirmishes at the March plenum, and Stalin took revenge on Zinoviev by showing him that a majority in the Central Committee was worth more than some kind of strategy. At the plenum, Zinoviev's theses to the Executive Committee of the Comintern were rejected on the absurd motives of a dispute over words - whether it was a question of the "final" victory of socialism or not. In April, Zinoviev and Kamenev doubled their attacks on the Politburo against Stalinist socialism in one country - it was necessary to prevent Stalin from putting his candidacy for strategists and leaders of the revolution.
In addition to the internal party struggle for power, the question arose of the further path along which the economic and political development of the country should go. The NEP convincingly demonstrated its economic advantages, but its very existence ran counter to communist dogmatism:
“Practically, it was primarily a question of the countryside. To give the opportunity to somehow slowly evolve the peasantry and its economy, without destroying them, or to crush the peasantry without stopping at anything (according to Marxist dogma, the peasantry are small proprietors, a petty-bourgeois element). Here, of course, there was also the question of whether it is possible to do this. Lenin feared that the authorities did not have sufficient forces, and preferred a gradual solution with the voluntary and slow involvement of the peasantry in the collective farms ("cooperatives"). Now, according to Stalin, the gigantic police apparatus (based on the army) has reached such strength that the creation of the desired all-Russian penal servitude was possible.
But what is the best way? The practitioners Bukharin and Rykov, who had learned something, believed that it was necessary to continue the Leninist path of the NEP. In April 1925, at a meeting of Moscow activists, Bukharin made his famous statement that "collectivization is not a high road to socialism" and that it is necessary to stake on the development of the peasant economy, throwing even the peasants the slogan "enrich yourself!". Strictly speaking, it was a choice: whether to follow the path of human common sense (and then this path is not communist) or to follow the path of the communist meat grinder.
It is characteristic that the most talented Bukharins, Sokolnikovs, Krasins, Syrtsovs understood (as, apparently, Lenin also understood) that there was a failure of communism and that it was necessary to move on to the path of common sense. Ardent fanatics like Trotsky, dishonest schemers who sought only power like Zinoviev, and a completely immoral public like Stalin, for various reasons, agreed on the same thing: to continue the introduction of communism by force.
But this did not happen immediately. In 1925, the Zinoviev clan had nothing against the Bukharin position. It took him to be removed from power in 1926 so that he made a volt-face and began to defend Trotsky's recipes for over-industrialization and pressure on the countryside. And Stalin, not particularly delving into ideas, more subordinated everything to his combinations. In 1926, having thrown out Zinoviev and Kamenev, he supported Bukharin's position against them. And until the end of 1927, smashing the Zinoviev-Trotskyist bloc, he held this position. But at the end of 1927, he decides to get rid of the old members of the Politburo - Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky. And then, without any embarrassment, he takes the whole policy of Zinoviev and Trotsky, which he constantly condemned and smashed. Now he is for super-industrialization, and for forced collectivization and the destruction of the countryside. And when the December Congress of 1927 finally gives him a firm and unshakable majority in the Central Committee (the fruit of many years of tireless work), he accepts this attempt, throws out the old members of the Politburo, and now calmly marches towards his communism through mountains of corpses.
Stalin, better than his opponents, understood the meaning of the expression "cadres decide everything" and outplayed the self-confident Zinoviev in domestic political intrigues, like a baby. After Lenin's death in 1924, a massive recruitment of workers into the party ("Lenin call") was carried out. While his opponents were engaged in chatter and sticking out their merits, Stalin competently selected the people he needed from these recruits, enlisted their support and achieved the majority of his supporters in the field and in the highest party strata.
“In 1922, an illness incapacitates Lenin; The Politburo becomes the central authority without Lenin. This means the struggle for inheritance. Zinoviev and Kamenev, who have seized power, believe that their power is secured by what they have in the hands of the Politburo. Stalin and Molotov see further. The Politburo is elected by the Central Committee. Have the majority of the Central Committee in your hands, and you will elect the Politburo as you please. Place your secretaries of the Gubernia Committees everywhere, and the majority of the Congress and the Central Committee will be with you.
For some reason, Zinoviev does not want to see this. He is so absorbed in the struggle to destroy Trotsky according to the old Leninist recipes - bickering within the Central Committee, that he does not see the Stalinist work of selecting all his members in the party apparatus (and it lasts 1922, and 1923, and 1924, and 1925). As a result, in 1922, 1923 and 1924 the country was ruled by a troika, and in 1925, with its break, by the Politburo. But from January 1926, after the congress, Stalin reaps the fruits of his many years of work - his Central Committee, his Politburo - and becomes a leader.<…>
For three years, Grigory Evseevich Zinoviev was the number 1 of communism, and then for ten years he gradually descended into the basement of the Lubyanka, where he ended his life. Replacing Lenin as leader, he was still not accepted by the party as a real leader. At first glance, it might seem that this made it easier for him to defeat. In fact, victory or defeat in this struggle for power was determined by other reasons than popularity, than recognition of superiority. (B. Bazhanov, "Memoirs of the former secretary of Stalin").
Realizing his catastrophic blunder, in 1926 Zinoviev rushed to seek support from his old enemy Trotsky, but it was too late. The next year he was expelled from the party and removed from all positions.
After that, Stalin amused himself by playing cat and mouse with his opponent. In 1928, he allowed the restoration of Zinoviev in the party, but in 1932 Grigory Evseevich was again expelled from the party ranks, now with a reference to 4 years in Kustanai. In 1933, Stalin again reinstated him in the party and in February 1934 allowed him to participate in the 17th Party Congress. In anticipation of a worthy place in the pyramid of power and the return of party privileges, Zinoviev spoke with repentance and praises to Stalin.
But everything happened exactly the opposite: in December of the same 1934, the NKVD arrested Grigory Evseevich and soon he was sentenced to 10 years in the Moscow Center case. From a prison cell, the former arbiter of human destinies writes servile letters to his new master: “A desire burns in my soul: to prove to you that I am no longer an enemy. There is no requirement that I would not fulfill in order to prove this ... I get to the point that for a long time I stare at you and other members of the Politburo in the newspapers with the thought: relatives, look into my soul, don’t you see that I am no longer your enemy, that I am your soul and body, that I understood everything that I am ready to do everything to earn forgiveness, indulgence ... ”One can imagine with what pleasure Joseph Vissarionovich read these sobs and cries for mercy.
The lengthy process of preparing for the trial of Zinoviev, Kamenev and their supporters was described in detail by the defector Alexander Orlov (Lev Lazarevich Felbin) in his book The Secret History of Stalin's Crimes (M., World Word, 1991). By the way, it is interesting to note that when this book was republished in 2014 (M., Algorithm), the publishing house, taking into account the emergence of a new cohort of Stalinists in the country and the increased love for the tyrant among the Russian population, changed the title to “The Secret History of the Stalinist Time” in order to avoid trouble. Apparently, the editors felt that it was risky to talk about the crimes of the “great leader” that was once again coming into fashion.
So, what did the former Stalinist spy and saboteur tell readers?
“According to the Stalinist plan, it was necessary to bring to Moscow from exile and various prisons about three hundred former members of the opposition, whose names were widely known, subject them to “treatment”, as a result of which about a fifth of the prisoners would be broken, and thus recruit a group of fifty or sixty people who confessed that they participated in a conspiracy led by Zinoviev, Kamenev and Trotsky. Then, using these testimonies, the organizers of the trial will be able to direct its edge against Zinoviev and Kamenev and, using threats, promises and other methods from the arsenal of the investigation, force these figures themselves to admit that they led a conspiracy against Stalin and the Soviet government.
In order to speed up the implementation of the Stalinist plan, it was decided to put several secret agents of the NKVD in the cells of the accused, who, both during the preliminary investigation and before the court, would portray participants in the conspiracy and pass off Zinoviev and Kamenev as their leaders.<…>
The organizers of the trial, who succeeded in pinning Zinoviev and Kamenev to the wall, did everything necessary to prevent them from committing suicide. In solitary confinement, where they were kept, under the guise of arrested oppositionists, NKVD agents were planted, vigilantly watching both and informing the leaders of the investigation about their mood and every word they uttered.<…>
Zinoviev suffered from asthma and suffered from the heat. Soon his sufferings were aggravated: he began to suffer from attacks of colic in the liver. He rolled on the floor and begged for Kushner to come, a doctor who could give him an injection and transfer him to the prison hospital. But Kushner invariably replied that he had no right to do either without Yagoda's special permission. His functions were limited to the fact that he prescribed Zinoviev some kind of medicine, from which he became even worse. Everything was done to completely exhaust Zinoviev and bring him to a state where he would be ready for anything. Of course, at the same time, Kushner was obliged to ensure that Zinoviev, which is good, did not die.
Even death should not have saved Zinoviev from the even more bitter fate that Stalin had prepared for him.
Meanwhile, Mironov continued to interrogate Kamenev. He aloud, in his presence, analyzed the state of affairs and tried to convince him that he had no choice but to accept Stalin's conditions and thereby save himself and his family.<…>
One evening, when Kamenev was in Mironov's office, Yezhov came in. Once again, he started a painfully long conversation with Kamenev, trying to convince him that no matter how he resisted, he would not be able to get away from the court and that only submission to the will of the Politburo could save him and his son. Kamenev was silent. Then Yezhov picked up the phone and, in his presence, ordered Molchanov to deliver Kamenev's son to the inner prison and prepare him for trial along with other defendants in the case of the "Trotsky-Zinoviev terrorist center."
The investigators conveyed to Zinoviev and Kamenev Stalin's promise to save the lives of themselves and their families if they agreed to participate in the trial. In the end, Zinoviev was forced to agree to appear in court. Despite some hesitation and objections, Kamenev agreed with him, putting forward a condition: Stalin must confirm his promises in the presence of all members of the Politburo. Then they immediately arranged a meeting with Stalin in the Kremlin. Investigator Mironov says:
“Yagoda met us in the reception room and escorted us to Stalin's office. Of the members of the Politburo, besides Stalin, only Voroshilov was there. He sat to the right of Stalin. Yezhov sat to the left, Zinoviev and Kamenev entered in silence and stopped in the middle of the office. They didn't greet anyone. Stalin pointed to a row of chairs. We all sat down - I next to Kamenev, and Molchanov - with Zinoviev.
- Well, what do you say? Stalin asked, suddenly looking at Zinoviev and Kamenev. They exchanged glances.
"We were told that our case would be considered at a meeting of the Politburo," said Kamenev.
- Before you is just a commission of the Politburo, authorized to listen to everything you say, - Stalin answered. Kamenev shrugged his shoulders and cast an inquiring glance at Zinoviev. Zinoviev got up and spoke.
He began by saying that in the past few years he and Kamenev had been given many promises, of which not a single one had been kept, and asked how, after all this, they could rely on new promises. After all, when, after Kirov's death, they were forced to admit that they were morally responsible for this murder, Yagoda conveyed to them Stalin's personal promise that this was their last victim. Nevertheless, now a most shameful trial is being prepared against them, which will cover with mud not only them, but the entire party.
Zinoviev appealed to the prudence of Stalin, imploring him to cancel the trial and arguing that he would cast a stain of unprecedented shame on the Soviet Union. “Just think,” Zinoviev pleaded with tears in his voice, “you want to portray the members of the Leninist Politburo and personal friends of Lenin as unprincipled bandits, and present our Bolshevik Party, the party of the proletarian revolution, as a snake nest of intrigues, betrayal and murder ... If only Vladimir Ilyich he would be alive if he saw all this!” exclaimed Zinoviev, and burst into sobs.
He was poured water. Stalin waited until Zinoviev calmed down and said in a low voice: “Now it’s too late to cry. What were you thinking about when you embarked on the path of struggle against the Central Committee? The Central Committee has repeatedly warned you that your factional struggle will end in tears. You did not listen - and it really ended in tears. Even now they tell you: submit to the will of the party - and you and all those whom you have led into the swamp will be spared life. But again you don't want to listen. So you will only have yourself to thank if the case ends even more deplorably, so badly that it doesn’t get any worse.
And where is the guarantee that you will not shoot us? Kamenev asked naively.
- Warranty? - asked Stalin. - What, actually, here can be a guarantee? This is ridiculous! Perhaps you want a formal agreement certified by the League of Nations? Stalin chuckled ironically. - Zinoviev and Kamenev apparently forget that they are not in the bazaar, where there is a bargain about the stolen horse, but in the Politburo of the Bolshevik Communist Party. If the assurances given by the Politburo are not sufficient for them, then, comrades, I do not know if there is any point in continuing the conversation with them.
Kamenev and Zinoviev act as if they have the right to dictate their conditions to the Politburo, Voroshilov intervened. It's outrageous! If they have even a shred of common sense left, they should kneel before Comrade Stalin for keeping them alive. If they don't want to save their own skin, let them die. To hell with them!
Stalin got up from his chair and, with his hands behind his back, began to walk around the office.
“There was a time,” he began, “when Kamenev and Zinoviev were distinguished by clarity of thought and the ability to approach questions dialectically. Now they talk like ordinary people. Yes, comrades, like the most backward inhabitants. They suggested to themselves that we were organizing a trial specifically in order to shoot them. It's just stupid! Like we can't shoot them without any trial if we see fit. They forget three things:
the first is that the lawsuit is directed not against them, but against Trotsky, the sworn enemy of our party;
secondly, if we did not shoot them when they actively fought against the Central Committee, then why should we shoot them after they help the Central Committee in its struggle against Trotsky?
thirdly, the comrades also forget (Mironov emphasized the fact that Stalin called Zinoviev and Kamenev comrades) that we Bolsheviks are the disciples and followers of Lenin and that we do not want to shed the blood of old party members, no matter how grave sins in relation to the party for they were not listed.
The last words, Mironov added, were spoken by Stalin with deep feeling and sounded sincere and convincing.
“Zinoviev and Kamenev,” Mironov continued his story, “exchanged significant glances. Then Kamenev stood up and, on behalf of both of them, declared that they agreed to stand trial if they were promised that none of the old Bolsheviks would be shot, that their families would not be persecuted, and that no death sentences would be handed down for past participation in the opposition. . “That goes without saying,” Stalin replied.
“In the courtroom, groups of NKVD officers who had undergone special training were seated here and there. At the first sign of danger, at the accuser's signal, they were ready to jump up from their seats and loudly drown out the defendant's words. Such behavior of the “hall” should have served as a pretext for the presiding judge to interrupt the court session in order to “restore peace and order”. It goes without saying that the "rebel" will never again appear in the courtroom.
The final touch, completing the investigative preparation for the trial, was an encouraging conversation that Yagoda and Yezhov had with the main defendants - Zinoviev, Kamenev, Evdokimov, Bakaev, Mrachkovsky and Ter-Vaganyan. Yezhov, on behalf of Stalin, once again assured them that if they comply with the obligations they had given during the trial, then everything that they were promised would be scrupulously fulfilled. He warned his "interlocutors" not to try even surreptitiously to push through their political line in court. Yezhov also warned that the Politburo considered them bound by a common responsibility: if any of them "commit treachery", it would be seen as an organized defiance of all.<…>
The defendants looked less exhausted than in the investigator's offices. They had gained some weight in the last couple of weeks and were given a chance to sleep. However, the sallow complexions and dark circles under the eyes spoke clearly of what they had to endure.
However, several people in the same dock were distinguished by a completely healthy appearance, which was especially striking in combination with their relaxed manner, which contrasted sharply with the lethargy and stiffness, or, on the contrary, the nervous swagger of the others. An experienced eye, therefore, immediately distinguished the real defendants from the fictitious ones.
Among these latter, Isaac Reingold stood out. A well-groomed face, full of health, and an elegant suit made him look like an actor - a favorite of the public. Taking a seat on the edge of the second row, right next to the barrier, he sat with an expression as if he were on a tram, in the company of random passengers. Without taking his eyes off the public prosecutor, he expressed with all his appearance his readiness to jump up at the first sign and come to his aid. Not far from him sat secret agent of the NKVD Valentin Olberg, stupefied by his unexpected proximity to Zinoviev and Kamenev and furtively glancing at them with a mixed expression of fear and respect. Fritz David and Berman-Yurin, secret representatives of the NKVD in the German Communist Party, looked through their notes with a businesslike air, frankly preparing for the moment when the public prosecutor would give them the opportunity to fulfill their party duty. Of the five fictitious defendants, only one Pikel sat with an apathetic and sad look.<…>
Presiding Ulrich began the first session of the court with a formal identification of the accused. He then announced that the defendants had abandoned defense counsel and would therefore be given the opportunity to carry out their defense themselves.
It may seem strange to anyone why suddenly all sixteen defendants, knowing that their lives were at stake, did not want to resort to the help of defense lawyers, who were obliged to try to somehow help them. However, this phenomenon has its own explanation, and a very simple one at that: before the start of the trial, the accused had to make a promise that they would all, as one, refuse lawyers. Moreover, they promised that they themselves, in turn, would not even lift a finger to protect themselves. Indeed, when they were asked what they could say in their defense, they all unanimously declared that they had nothing to say.<…>
Although the public prosecutor was unable to provide Zinoviev, Kamenev and other old Bolsheviks with any evidence of their participation in the assassination of Kirov, one by one they pleaded guilty to this crime.<…>
Despite the fact that the defendants fully complied with the obligations given to the investigation, Vyshinsky emphasized that in a number of cases they "did not say everything", though without explaining what exactly they concealed from the court. On the other hand, Vyshinsky was quite pleased with the testimony of the five alleged defendants - Reinhold, Pikel, Olberg, Fritz David and Berman-Yurin. He praised, in particular, Reingold and Pikel, thereby prompting them to even more violent attacks on the other defendants. Vyshinsky did not seem to notice that in his role as the accused, Reingold was trying too hard and overacting.<…>
It was not difficult for Vyshinsky to concoct his thunderous accusatory speech, denouncing the defendants, who not only did not resist him, but, on the contrary, did everything to support the charges brought against them. Attributing to them the most monstrous crimes, he did not even take into account the obvious circumstance that some of the accused were physically unable to commit these crimes, since they were either in prison or in distant exile at that time. “I demand,” shouted Vyshinsky, finishing his speech, “that these rabid dogs be shot, one and all!”<…>
The "last words" of the defendants are perhaps the most dramatic part of the entire process. Hoping to save their families and thousands of their supporters from Stalinist vengeance, they reach here the extreme limits of self-abasement. Knowing Stalin's insidiousness, they even try to exceed the obligations squeezed out of them during the investigation, in order not to give Stalin even the slightest reason to break his own promise. They stigmatize themselves as unprincipled bandits and fascists and immediately praise Stalin, whom they consider in their hearts a usurper and a traitor to the cause of the revolution.<…>
The party, - said Zinoviev in his last speech, - saw where we were going, and warned us. In one of his speeches, Stalin emphasized that these tendencies among the opposition could lead to the fact that it would want to impose its will on the party by force ... But we did not heed these warnings.
Defendant Kamenev said in his last words:
- For the third time I appeared before the proletarian court ... Twice they saved my life. But there is a limit to the generosity of the proletariat, and we have reached this limit.
This is truly an extraordinary phenomenon! Finding themselves on the edge of the abyss, under the yoke of accusation, the old Bolsheviks are eager to help Stalin, instead of saving themselves, as if they were not threatened with the death penalty. But out of a simple sense of self-preservation, they should have made a desperate attempt to protect themselves and save themselves at least in the last word, and instead they spend the last minutes of their lives praising their executioner. They assure those around him that he has always been too patient and too generous towards them, so now he has the right to destroy them...<…>
All the participants in the Stalinist trials knew that each of them, be it the accused or the defender, the prosecutor or the judge, did not act of his own free will, but was forced to play the role assigned to him in strict accordance with a pre-prepared scenario. Everyone faces a fatal dilemma. For the accused, it looks like this: to play the role of a criminal - or to destroy not only himself, but also his family. For the prosecutor and the chairman of the tribunal - to conduct a court performance, appointed by Stalin, without a hitch or to die for nothing, for the slightest mistake, which will give reason to suspect that the whole thing is sewn with white thread. For the defender - to exactly fulfill the secret instructions received from the prosecutor, or to share the fate of his clients ...<…>
Reingold, Pikel and three secret agents of the NKVD - Olberg, Fritz David and Berman-Yurin - also uttered their "last word". All of them, with the exception of Olberg, assured the court that they considered it impossible for themselves to ask for leniency. As befits fictitious defendants, they were sure that nothing threatened their lives.
On August 23, at 7:30 p.m., the judges retired to the deliberation room. Yagoda soon joined them. The text of the verdict was prepared in advance; his correspondence took two hours, no more. However, the judges remained in the deliberation room for a full seven hours. At 2:30 am, that is, it means already on August 24, they again took their places at the judging table. In dead silence, the presiding Ulrich began reading the verdict. When, after a quarter of an hour of monotonous reading, he reached its final part, which determined the measure of punishment for the defendants, a nervous cough was heard from all ends of the hall. After waiting until silence was restored, the chairman listed all the accused one by one and after a long pause ended with the announcement that they were all sentenced to capital punishment - the death penalty "by firing squad."<…>
Under Soviet law, persons sentenced to death are given 72 hours to apply for clemency. As a rule, the death sentence is not carried out until this period has expired, even if the pardon was denied before it ended. But in this case, Stalin neglected this rule. On the morning of August 25, a day after the announcement of the verdict, the Moscow newspapers came out with an official announcement that the sentence had been carried out. All sixteen defendants were shot."
Including provocateurs - fictitious defendants.
We got to know different categories of Stalinist investigators: sadists like Chertok, unprincipled careerists like Molchanov and Slutsky, people who suffered from painful splitting, like Mironov and Berman, who, in the name of the Party, drowned out the voice of conscience in themselves, but still reluctantly carried out Stalin's criminal orders.
The NKVD investigators had considerable power over the arrested. But in such cases, in which the Secretary General was personally interested, their power turned out to be greatly curtailed: they were deprived of the right to even the slightest doubt about the guilt of the defendants.
Even those investigators who felt sympathy for Lenin's closest associates did not have the opportunity to help them in any way. Everything that was connected with the upcoming trial was decided apart from the investigating authorities and only then had to be confirmed by the “confessions” of those under investigation. The victims of the upcoming trial were selected by Stalin; the accusations were invented by him too; he also dictated the conditions that were set for those under investigation; and, finally, the verdict of the court was also predetermined by Stalin.
A vivid example of the investigator's sincere sympathy for his person under investigation could be the relationship that developed between Berman, deputy head of the Foreign Directorate of the NKVD, and the accused Ter-Vaganyan.
Ter-Vaganyan was my old friend. I met him back in the spring of 1917 at the Moscow cadet school, where we, deprived of the right to become army officers under the tsarist regime, were accepted after the February Revolution. Ter-Vaganyan, who already then had a solid experience of being in the Bolshevik Party, spread communist ideas among the junkers. However, he paid the main attention to propaganda work in Moscow factories and among the soldiers of the Moscow garrison, from which he hoped to create combat detachments for a future uprising. Ter-Vaganyan was not an outstanding orator, but he conquered the audience of workers and soldiers with a fanatical faith in the success of his party cause and sincerity. It was hard to resist his personal charm. His swarthy handsome face breathed kindness and sincerity, a pleasant low voice sounded confident and sincere.
When the time came for graduation from the school, Ter-Vaganyan tried to fail at the final exams. The fact is that those who failed were sent as volunteers to the 55th and 56th regiments, quartered in Petrovsky barracks, in the center of Moscow. Ter-Vaganyan was sent to one of these regiments and within two months managed to make them completely Bolshevik. After October, he led them to storm the Kremlin, where the cadets settled, remaining loyal to the Provisional Government.
When the Bolsheviks seized power, Ter-Vaganyan was appointed head of the military department of the Moscow Party Committee. Later he took an active part in the civil war. When the revolution reached the Transcaucasus, Ter-Vaganyan became the leader of the Armenian communists and Soviet power was established in Armenia under his leadership.
Least of all Ter-Vaganyan was interested in his own career. He was incomparably more fascinated by the ideological questions of Bolshevism and Marxist philosophy. When the Soviet regime in Transcaucasia was finally established, Ter-Vaganyan plunged headlong into science and wrote several books on the problems of Marxism. He founded the main theoretical journal of the Bolshevik Party - "Under the Banner of Marxism" - and became its first editor. When the left opposition appeared, Ter-Vaganyan joined Trotsky. For this, he was subsequently expelled from the party, and in 1933 he was sent to Siberian exile.
As Stalin began to prepare the first of the Moscow Trials, Ter-Vaganian's name came to his mind and he decided to use him as one of Trotsky's three representatives in the illusory "Trotsky-Zinoviev terrorist center." Ter-Vaganyan was brought to Moscow, and Berman was entrusted with his processing.
When I heard about this, I spoke to Berman about Ter-Vaganyan and asked him not to treat my friend too harshly.
Berman liked him very much. Most of all he was struck by the exceptional decency of Ter-Vaganian. The more Berman got to know him, the more respect and sympathy he was imbued with. Gradually, in the unusual atmosphere of the official investigation of Ter-Vaganyan's "crimes", the friendship between the investigator of the Stalinist inquisition and his victim grew stronger.
Of course, for all his sympathy for Ter-Vaganyan, Berman could not be frank with him. Outwardly, he respected the decorum and tried to conduct an interrogation using party phraseology of the Stalinist persuasion. At the same time, he did not try to instill in Ter-Vaganyan a sense of guilt and did not apply to him those inquisitorial methods that should have made him feel doomed.
Without going into details of what the "authorities" see as Ter-Vaganyan's fault, Berman explained to him that the Politburo considered it necessary to back up with his confession those testimonies that had already been received from other arrested persons and directed against Zinoviev, Kamenev and Trotsky, since he, Ter-Vaganyan, Vaganyan is also recognized as a participant in the conspiracy. At the same time, Berman left it to him, on the basis of these premises, to choose his own line of conduct during the investigation and at trial.
Here are some of his conversations with Ter-Vaganyan, in which he initiated me at one time.
Refusing to testify, Ter-Vaganyan told Berman: “I would be sincerely glad to fulfill the desire of the Central Committee, but I cannot sign such false confessions. Believe me, I am not afraid of death. I repeatedly risked my life both in the days of the October Revolution on the barricades and in the civil war. Who among us then thought about saving his own life! But in signing the testimony you demand, I must at least be convinced that it really meets the interests of the party and the revolution. But I feel with all my heart that such testimony will only dishonor our revolution and discredit the very essence of Bolshevism in the eyes of the whole world.” Berman objected that the Central Committee knew better what the Party and the revolution really needed at the present time. The Central Committee is better informed than Ter-Vaganyan, cut off from political activity for a long time. In addition, every Bolshevik must have confidence in the decisions of the supreme body of the party.
Dearest Berman, - Ter-Vaganyan objected, - you say that I should not hesitate, but must blindly submit to the Central Committee. But I'm so arranged that I can't stop thinking. And so I come to the conclusion that the assertion that the old Bolsheviks have turned into a gang of murderers will do incalculable harm not only to our country and the party, but also to the cause of socialism throughout the world. I can swear: I do not understand the monstrous plan of the Politburo and I am surprised how it fits in your head. Maybe I've gone crazy. But in that case, what is the point of demanding evidence from a sick, abnormal person? Wouldn't it be better to put him in a madhouse?
Well, what did you say to him? I asked Berman.
I told him,” he replied with an ironic grin, “that his arguments testify to only one thing: it means that the roots of the opposition have penetrated so deeply into his mind that he has completely lost the idea of \u200b\u200bparty discipline.
Ter-Vaganyan objected to this, that even Lenin said: of the four commandments of a party member, the most important is agreement with the party program. “If now,” the defendant concluded, “the new program of the Central Committee considers it necessary to discredit Bolshevism and its founders, then I do not agree with such a program and can no longer consider myself bound by party discipline. And besides, I have already been expelled from the Party and therefore do not consider myself obliged to obey Party discipline at all.
One evening, Berman came into my office and offered to go to the NKVD club, where the Foreign Directorate was holding a masquerade ball. Ever since Stalin announced: “Life has become better, comrades! Life has become more fun! - The Soviet ruling elite abandoned the practice of secret parties with drinking, dancing and playing cards, and began to arrange such entertainment openly, without any hesitation. The leadership of the NKVD took the leader's instructions about the "sweet life" with particular enthusiasm. The luxurious premises of the NKVD club turned into a kind of officer's club of one of the pre-revolutionary privileged guards regiments. Heads of departments of the NKVD sought to outdo each other in arranging magnificent balls. The first two such balls, hosted by the Special Department and the Directorate of Border Troops, were a great success and caused a sensation among the NKVD. Soviet ladies from the new aristocracy rushed to dressmakers to order evening dresses. Now they looked forward to each next ball.
The head of the Foreign Department, Slutsky, decided to show the "uncouth Muscovites" a real masquerade ball according to the Western model. He set out to outdo the most expensive nightclubs in European capitals, where he himself left a lot of dollars during his trips abroad.
When Berman and I entered, the sight presented to us, indeed, turned out to be unusual for Moscow. The luxurious hall of the club was immersed in twilight. A large rotating ball, suspended from the ceiling and consisting of many mirror prisms, scattered a mass of bunnies around the hall, creating the illusion of falling snow. Men in uniforms and tuxedos and ladies in long evening gowns or operetta costumes danced to the sound of jazz. Many of the women were wearing masks and extremely picturesque costumes that Slutsky had rented from the dressing room of the Bolshoi Theatre. Tables were bursting with champagne, liqueurs and vodka. Loud exclamations and violent laughter sometimes drowned out the sounds of music. Some colonel of the border troops shouted in drunken ecstasy: “This is life, guys! Thanks to Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood!”
Noticing Berman and me, the organizer of the ball exclaimed: “Let them speak out! These are two Europeans. Tell us frankly,” he continued, turning to us, “did you see anything like that in Paris or Berlin? I outdid all their Montmartres and Kurfürstendamms!”
We had to confirm that the ball given by the Foreign Office was superior to anything we had ever seen in Europe. Slutsky beamed and began to pour us champagne. Mironov, who was sitting at the same table, exclaimed: “Needless to say, you would be a good owner of some first-rate Parisian brothel!”
In fact, this role would suit Slutsky much more than the post of head of Soviet intelligence, not to mention the post of secretary of the NKVD party committee, which he held part-time for the past three years.
There was a terrible stuffiness in the hall, and we quickly left this ball. Directly opposite the club stood a huge gloomy building of the NKVD, lined with black granite from below. Behind this granite lining, Lenin's closest friends and associates languished in solitary confinement, now turned into Stalin's hostages.
Berman and I wandered the dark Moscow streets for a long time. I thought about Ter-Vaganyan, and, as if in response to my thoughts, Berman suddenly said: “I can't get Ter-Vaganyan out of my head. What a man, what a bright mind! It is a pity that he contacted the opposition and fell into these millstones. He really doesn't care about life. He is really interested only in the fate of the revolution and the question of whether he, as a Bolshevik, has the moral right to sign the testimony that is required of him, - Berman sighed. - Of those whom we have now met at the club, no one has done for the revolution and one percent of what Ter-Vaganyan did. I often regret taking on his case. On the other hand, it’s good that he didn’t get such a bastard as Chertok. After a minute of silence, Berman said in a less despondent tone: “If only you could hear how he addresses me: dra-a-dreadful Be-e-erman!”
From what I have said, I concluded that Berman is using a special tactic against Ter-Vaganian. He really did not know what was better for his defendant - to sign the required testimony or refuse to do so. And so he did not put the slightest pressure on him. As long as Zinoviev and Kamenev held out, Berman was inclined to think that Ter-Vaganyan was right in not wanting to sign a blatant lie. But when Berman found out that Stalin had sincerely promised Zinoviev and Kamenev not to shoot the old Bolsheviks, and that both had agreed to come forward with their “confessions” at the trial, he came to the conclusion that it would be better for his defendant to follow their example. He began persistently persuading Ter-Vaganyan to sign the required testimony and present it at the trial. Ter-Vaganyan, who during the investigation got used to trusting him, realized that Berman's changed behavior was not an inquisitorial trick. In addition, Ter-Vaganian's fears of compromising the party and the cause of the revolution lost their meaning since Zinoviev and Kamenev - much more prominent party leaders - agreed to confirm Stalin's slander in court. Ter-Vaganyan capitulated. When he signed his "confession". Berman said:
That's better!.. Any resistance was useless. The most important thing is to keep your courage. A few years will pass, and I hope to see you again in responsible work in the party!
Dearest Berman, - answered Ter-Vaganyan, - it seems that you did not understand me at all. I have no desire to return to responsible work. If my party, for which I lived and for which I was ready to give my life at any moment, forced me to sign this, then I no longer want to be a member of the party. Today I envy the very last non-partisan.
Shortly before the trial, prosecutor Vyshinsky began to receive cases from the NKVD along with the accused themselves. The “transfer” procedure looked like this: the accused were taken to the office of Molchanov or Agranov, where Vyshinsky, in the presence of the leaders of the NKVD, asked them the same question: do they confirm the testimony they signed during the investigation. After this formality, which took no more than ten minutes, the accused were returned to prison, where they remained at the disposal of the same NKVD investigators who had interrogated them.
Yagoda and the entire top of the NKVD found Ter-Vaganian's antics a great pleasure. Although Vyshinsky always flattered the leadership of the NKVD, he was treated here with obvious condescension.
On New Year's Eve 1927, composer Sergei Prokofiev arrived in Moscow from Paris for a short time. In the French capital for the last couple of months, he persuaded the famous theater manager, author of the Russian Seasons in Paris, Sergei Diaghilev, to go to the USSR. A little later, in August 27, Sergei Diaghilev's brother Valentin was arrested in Moscow. He taught at the Military-Political Academy, from the age of 18 he was in the Red Army. At the last moment, the execution will be replaced by 10 years in the camps. They will send you to the Solovki. And they shoot there. Sergei Diaghilev, despite Prokofiev's persuasion, did not go to the USSR. Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev, who arrived in Moscow, was accommodated in the Metropol Hotel. After the age of 17, the rooms were given over to responsible workers for housing. In the 27th year, the responsible workers began to be relocated to new apartments. Prokofiev writes in his diary: “Again, one floor was leased to the Germans for a hotel. There are still responsible workers left on the upper floors, and therefore the most terrible dirt is everywhere.”
"Metropol" - the so-called II-nd House of Soviets. There are many such Houses of Soviets in Moscow. Plus, apartments in the Kremlin are equipped in 20 buildings. Anna Larina, wife of Lenin's favorite Bukharin, lived with her mother and father at the Metropol until her marriage. By the way, her father is the famous Bolshevik Yuri Larin. So, until Bukharin's arrest, she lived with him in the Kremlin. After her arrest, she was moved to the House on the Embankment. That is, she lived in turn in the best houses - the Metropol, the Kremlin and the House on the Embankment. The house received this name half a century later thanks to the writer Yuri Trifonov, after the title of his famous novel. The decision to build the House on the embankment was made on January 20, 27. So, having moved to this house, the wife of the arrested Bukharin immediately sent a note to the chairman of the Central Executive Committee, Kalinin: "There is no way to pay for the apartment." And she attached an unpaid apartment bill to the note. Later, Anna Bukharin would go through many years of Stalin's camps, but then, during the years of a prosperous life in the Kremlin and the Metropol, she did not and could not have the habit of paying for an apartment. Unlike all Soviet people, the party tenants in 1927 did not need anything. The famous six houses of the Soviets are the National, Metropol and Peterhof hotels, which are on the corner of Vozdvizhenka and Mokhovaya, where Maxim Gorky and his wife, actress Andreeva, once made bombs for terrorist attacks. Further - the houses of Count Sheremetyev on Granovsky Street, the house of Prince Kurakin on Lenivka, houses on Znamenka, on Neglinnaya and on Prechistensky Boulevard. I must say that the borders of residence of the Bolshevik elite in Moscow completely coincide with the territory of the oprichnina lands under Ivan the Terrible. Oprichnina is a special ruling organization directly subordinate to Ivan the Terrible with administrative and police functions and the best lands assigned to them. The rest of the population supported this organization. In the 16th century, the lands of the guardsmen, as in the 20th, the houses of the Bolshevik chiefs were located from Prechistinka to Neglinnaya. All amenities are provided in these houses: furniture, table and bed linen, crockery. Central heating, hot water bathrooms, lifts. There are special laundries in the houses, sometimes even separate kindergartens. At this time, according to official data, the average Muscovite has 5.7 square meters. In reality, many people live in semi-basements and cellars. By the year 30, these figures will drop to 4.5 meters per person. Hot water, no bathrooms. And I will share a delicate detail: from a communal apartment in Pechatnikov Lane, my wife's grandmother went every morning to wash herself in a public toilet on Trubnaya Square. Three, four and five-room apartments are planned in the House under construction on the embankment. All apartments are furnished. Phones everywhere. Grocery and manufactured goods stores, hairdresser, clinic, gym, dining room. The construction was supervised by the deputy chairman of the OGPU Heinrich Yagoda. Soon this house will turn out to be a mousetrap. Most of the tenants will be shot or exiled. But they settled there with pleasure. Responsible workers wanted to live and eat in their own closed circle. In place of the executed, new ones will also willingly move in.
On November 16, 1927, Lev Borisovich Kamenev left the apartment in the Kremlin. At the beginning of last year 26, he was removed from the post of chairman of the Moscow City Council, from the deputy chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, removed from the Chairman of the Council of Labor and Defense, which he became after Lenin in the 24th year. After that, Kamenev headed the People's Commissariat of Trade for six months. He was replaced in this post by Anastas Mikoyan. He recalled: “I went to Varvarka to Kamenev, on the second floor, to the office. There were two of us in the office. He began to express his extremely pessimistic views on the state of affairs in the country, he lost faith in the cause of the victory of socialism. It became clearer to me than before how far he had strayed from the party line.”
Kamenev himself submitted a letter of resignation from the post of People's Commissar of Trade, explaining that he did not enjoy the full confidence of the Politburo. Mikoyan talked with Stalin before his appointment. Stalin then said: “Kamenev did little practical work in the people's commissariat - he was more busy with his political opposition activities. Kamenev has gone over to the opposition.”
Mikoyan, after talking with Kamenev, briefly wrote down the main theses of his half-hour monologue with a blue pencil. The bottom line is this: "Kamenev is already leaving our party, and he calls us bourgeois degenerates." “Nas” means “us and Stalin”.
The most gifted apparatchik Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan is offended. Offended in vain, in a year and a half it would never occur to anyone to call Stalin a bourgeois degenerate. But then, in 1927, not only Mikoyan, but also Western observers were wondering where Russia would go. The fact is that Stalin in the Soviet scenario at this moment is considered right. He was opposed by the "left opposition" headed by Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev. Until 25, Kamenev and Zinoviev played in a troika with Stalin against Trotsky. After the victory over Trotsky and after the strengthening of Stalin, party life and their own ambitions brought Kamenev and Zinoviev together with Trotsky against Stalin.
It was Kamenev and Zinoviev who convinced Trotsky that the main opponent was Stalin. Prior to this, Trotsky saw the main competitor in Zinoviev. Moreover, Zinoviev himself saw himself as Stalin's main rival.
Grigory Evseevich Zinoviev had an invaluable past. From 1908, he was inseparably with Lenin in exile, he and Lenin arrived in Petrograd in a German sealed carriage. After it became widely known in June 17 that Lenin returned to Russia on German money and with German money, Zinoviev went with Lenin to Razliv, where the two of them hid from arrest. Then, under the interim government, the order in Moscow to arrest Lenin was signed by the chairman of the 1st Yakimansk council Andrey Vyshinsky. In 1936, Vyshinsky would conduct the trial in the case of the united Trotsk-Zinoviev Center in his capacity as Stalin's Prosecutor General of the USSR. And in the year 17, on April 6, the Bolshevik newspaper Pravda reported: “Comrades Lenin and Zinoviev, who returned from emigration, joined the editorial office of Pravda. The combination of Lenin and Zinoviev is familiar to party life in the summer of 1917. The Kamenev-Zinoviev tandem did not yet exist. At the April conference of the RSDLP in 1917, Zinoviev presided and argued with Kamenev. During the Central Committee elections, Zinoviev's candidacy, like Lenin's, was accepted without discussion. For the first time, Zinoviev was introduced to the Central Committee in May 1907 at the London Congress of the RSDLP. He was a delegate from Petersburg. Nobody knew him. Then he stood up on a chair and drew attention to himself. The debutant's speech on the chair made him a member of the Central Committee. From the very moment he stood on a chair, he was number 2 everywhere after Lenin.
The stable and impersonal combination of "Kamenev-Zinoviev" appeared in 1926 together with the "Left Opposition". True, once these two names have already lit up together. This happened on October 10, 17 at a meeting of the Central Committee, when a decision was made on an armed uprising. Then Kamenev and Zinoviev spoke out against the uprising and in favor of convening a constituent assembly. Zinoviev then spoke out against Lenin for the first time, if we do not take into account one more episode. Lenin in exile wanted to adopt Zinoviev's son Stepan. Those. take a son away from living parents. Zinoviev did not give his son to Lenin. The idea to adopt the younger Zinoviev was caused by Lenin's childlessness. But also to others. Lenin knew Zinoviev all too well, who for many years in exile was his shadow. And Lenin appreciated him for this, but did not want to trust him with the upbringing of the future communist. Lenin, in his manner, appreciated Zinoviev, but did not respect him. Sverdlov said: Zinoviev is panic. Kamenev, in the sense of his attitude towards the armed uprising on October 17, is consistent. In March 17, in Pravda, Kamenev wrote that during a world war the army had no right to lay down its arms. Kamenev avoided attacking the provisional government. Kamenev was released from exile by Kerensky's decree at the very beginning of the February Revolution. He arrived in Petrograd from the Turukhansk region. In exile he was with Stalin. We arrived together. Lenin's "Letters from afar" with a call for the overthrow of the Provisional Government Kamenev, together with Stalin, censored. Stalin already in April switched to the Leninist position. Lenin was not interested in Kamenev's position on the armed uprising. He received the majority without Kamenev and without Zinoviev. Trotsky wrote about Kamenev simply and with respect: “On the night of October 24, Kamenev came to Smolny. He was opposed to the uprising. But this decisive night came to spend next to me. Then Trotsky added that Kamenev had given him a cigarette. It is of little importance to Lev Davidovich that Kamenev is his relative, his sister's husband.
In 1927, the essence of the platform of the Left Opposition was as follows. “Stalin’s group, which actually determines the policy of the central institutions of the party, turned out to be powerless to prevent “the exorbitant growth of those forces that wanted to turn the development of our country onto the capitalist path, which leads to the weakening of the working class and peasantry against the growing power of the kulak, NEPman and bureaucrat.” The left opposition represented by Kamenev, Zinoviev and Trotsky stressed that there were two mutually exclusive positions in the country. One expresses the interests of the new bourgeoisie, hopes for private initiative, weakens the planned principle in the economy.
The second position is based on the fact that the victory of socialism can be ensured only if the proletarian state power first builds up industry, then helps the backward countryside and thereby raises labor productivity there on the basis of collective machine farming. This is the path of socialism, the platform of the Left Opposition pointed out.
The opposition emphasized: "The Stalinist line consists of short zigzags to the left and deep ones to the right."
This is a fragment from the last document of the “Left Opposition” called “Platform of the Bolshevik-Leninists”.
He appeared in September 27. It said nothing about the zigzag to the left that Stalin had made back in the spring.
The April plenum of the Central Committee of 27 decided to reduce the purchase prices for grain. For kulaks and middle peasants, i.e. those who produced marketable grain and were used to selling it under the market conditions of the New Economic Policy, this decision came as a complete surprise. In 1925 and 1926, Stalin regularly repeated words about the need to pacify the countryside. He said that the demagogic proposals of the opposition about the forcible seizure of bread are nonsense, creating additional difficulties. Now the peasants refused to give away their grain for next to nothing, and were immediately accused of a "grain strike." Problems with bread for the city and the army loomed. At the same time, Stalin spoke about the close possibility of an attack by a bloc of capitalist states on the USSR, so a trial mobilization was carried out. Mass purchases of flour, sugar and soap began in the cities in case of war. In some villages, it was generally believed that the war had already begun. From the information summary of the GPU: “In connection with rumors about the war and about the change of power, there are cases of pioneers leaving the pioneer detachments. In order to avoid mobilization in some provinces, members of the Komsomol leave the Komsomol. In a number of regions, the peasants, fearing mobilization, sell good horses or exchange them for worse ones. In Moldova, in connection with this, the prices for defective horses have risen by 100 percent.”
The capacities of the Soviet military-industrial complex at the beginning of 27 amounted to 50 percent of the 1916 level. In fact, Stalin has no contradictions with Trotsky, with the leader of the left opposition. He completely agrees with him that heavy industry, which has been crushed by the revolution, must be brought up by force, in spite of everything. Stalin's move to reduce the purchase prices for grain is essentially leftist and worthy of Trotsky. Stalin stepped into his field. Now in this field Stalin must remain alone. According to the logic of the game on this field, Stalin is obliged to go on the offensive against the NEP. The attack on the NEP was predetermined by the character of Stalin himself. He was completely prepared for emergency measures and completely unprepared for complex economic maneuvering, which has little to do with political showdowns. In addition, the NEP itself by the year 27 had exhausted its modest possibilities. The expansion of economic freedom, the attraction of private capital to industry would entail a change in the political regime with the inevitable expansion of democracy in the future. The rejection of the NEP removed not only this problem. Ten years after the October coup, the party and Soviet system turned into a grandiose stalling bureaucratic machine. Accordingly, powerful anti-bureaucratic sentiments are rising among the workers and peasants. These protest moods are beginning to form a serious threat to the authorities. Ten years after 17, the population hoped to see the fruits of the revolution. But in the mass consciousness, the fruits of the revolution are still understood only in the form of distribution to all and equally. Therefore, by the year 27, for an ordinary Soviet person, the bureaucrat and the Nepman merged into one. Moreover, with might and main there was talk that the government, which allowed the NEP, had become bourgeois. The conversation on the street coincides with the wording of the left opposition - "Stalin's supporters are bourgeois degenerates." A bunch of Nepman-bureaucrat, or, more precisely, Nepman-representative of power, that arose in the minds of people, was masterfully cut by Stalin. The “new bourgeoisie,” that is, the possessors, were harshly opposed to those in power. A massive propaganda assault on a private entrepreneur began. He was not favored before, but now he was openly turned into a class enemy responsible for the crisis in the country. It did not solve economic problems. Psychologically, the population was excellently prepared for the policy of the “Great Leap Forward” laid down in the first five-year plan. The desire for a new "expropriation of the expropriators" seized the population. The revolution did not live up to expectations. So a new revolution is needed. The worker Temkin wrote to Stalin: “How does a worker, exhausted, frayed, sick, unable to recover after 10 years of revolution, look at a bourgeois capitalist? Yes, he is ready to rush, tear him to pieces, destroy his pieces, anger boils, the worker is dissatisfied.
Private entrepreneurs have already been transferred to the category of “non-citizens”. The government, unable to cope with the economic situation, in the summer of 27 withdrew citizens' deposits from savings banks. A group of anonymous citizens in August 27 wrote a statement to the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, where they demanded the return of deposits. At the same time, the statement stated: “To the bourgeois, who have more than 5 thousand, nothing should be given.”
The fact that in private enterprises the wages of workers are higher, that the owner gave them gifts, only deepened the fury of the workers of state enterprises. It is not difficult for Stalin to meet them halfway, whipping up the anti-NEP attack. In the face of mass unemployment in the country, workers in private enterprises sometimes refused to raise wages in order to help the owner keep his business, applied to government agencies to reduce taxes from the owner. That is, these workers acted pragmatically and, thereby, increased the displeasure of the authorities. Khrushchev wrote in his memoirs: “It was always painful for me to look, because there were more crowds of people at private shops.” The situation was aggravated by strong peasants producing marketable grain. They said: “We will build communism through capital and the bourgeoisie, and there is no other way out, but it is possible and easy to use capital and the bourgeoisie, if wisely.”
The private sector accounted for 75% of commodity turnover and 87% of industrial production. The private sector restored economic ties between regions and forced state-owned enterprises to spin at least somehow. However, it accounts for only 1% of national income. This is mainly a small business, large fortunes - on the fingers of one hand. Much of it is based on speculation. None of the old business circles are left. As long as business has not gone into large-scale industry, it must be brought down. Zinoviev should have been happy. Even at the dawn of the NEP, he called for “breaking the back of all opponents of the dictatorship of the proletariat. “In the mid-20s, they say differently: “It would be a wonderful NEP if this NEP were without NEPmen and without kulaks.” That is what they say in the new party-bureaucratic milieu.
Year 1927. Writer Victor Serge, real name Kibalchich, he is the nephew of the Narodnaya Volya Nikolai Kibalchich, and so Victor Serge wrote: “Kamenev and Zinoviev are the builders of a bureaucratic machine, outside of which nothing could live.” The third with them on the construction of this machine was Stalin. By the 26th year, everything was almost ready. Stalin's first major victory over Trotsky at that time was won not only because of successful inner-party combinations, but also because the leftist revolutionary spirit of Trotsky-Lenin was buried by the hard-stoned bureaucratic apparatus. Lenin's closest associates, Zinoviev and Kamenev, rebuilt it as best they could. Zinoviev is more successful. He created his own courtyard in Petrograd. Yard - i.e. an apparatus built on family ties and personal devotion to the owner. Zinoviev's wife Zlata Lilina headed the provincial department of public education. Her brother Ilya Ionov headed the publishing house of the Petrograd Soviet. The husband of Zinoviev's sister, Samuil Zaks, headed the apparatus of the State Publishing House in Moscow. All this Zinoviev family poisoned Gorky, who wanted to sit on two chairs at the same time - to be with the Bolsheviks and at the same time feed the old intelligentsia. Gorky was allowed to open his own publishing house. The brother of Zinoviev's wife, Ionov, who heads the publishing house of the Petrograd Soviet, saw Gorky as a direct competitor. Gorky received money that could have gone to him, Ionov.
Year 1927. Ilya Ionov, brother of the wife of the revolutionary Zinoviev, headed the publishing house of the Petrograd Soviet. He and the rest of the Zinoviev family hounded Gorky, who was allowed to open his own publishing house. Ionov saw Gorky as a direct competitor. Gorky received money that could have gone to him, Ionov. Gosizdat also has its own commercial plans that are far from ideology. Gorky's executive director was his friend, the well-known collector and cartoonist Zinovy Grzhebin. It was Grzhebin that Zinoviev with his brother-in-law Ionov and his brother-in-law Zaks fell upon. Zaks wrote personally to Lenin, saying that he did not know Gorky at all, that Lenin had a poor understanding of people in general. He even reminded Lenin of his friendship with Roman Malinovsky, an officer of the tsarist police introduced into the party. The main slogan of the Zinoviev game against the publisher Grzhebin: “The Jew Grzhebin robs not only Russian writers, but also the Russian proletariat. Grzhebin squanders the money of the working people.”
One thing is extraordinary in this situation: party and Soviet officials, who are ethnic Jews and do not hide their nationality, spoke from an anti-Semitic position. At the height of Soviet power, after Stalin's campaign against cosmopolitanism, this would no longer be possible. Jewish origin will be carefully concealed by those persons who will be able to break into the highest party milieu. Maxim Gorky hated anti-Semites, as well as politicians who played the Jewish card. Six months after the October Revolution, he wrote: “Antisemitism is alive and little by little rears its vile head.” He wrote about this to Lenin. Lenin's old friend Zinoviev was engaged in perusal of Gorky's correspondence with Lenin, that is, in secret from both of them he read their letters to each other. Lenin did not trust Gorky. He needed Gorky for his political image.
In 1921, the Politburo voted several times to allow or not to allow the terminally ill Blok to go abroad for treatment, Zinoviev was categorically against rescuing Blok. Lenin and he, after a month and a half of discussions, had mercy and voted "for". Zinoviev remained adamant. After the death of the poet Blok, Zinoviev hurried the Cheka with the execution of the arrested poet Gumilyov.
Zinoviev is an ardent activist of the Red Terror. Even the head of the Petrograd Cheka, Uritsky, sometimes spoke out against the most severe measures proposed by Zinoviev. Nowhere then was terror so total as in Petrograd under Zinoviev. However, he was unable to provide the defense of Petrograd against Yudenich's army. Trotsky had to go to work. During the famine of 20, Zinoviev kept a former tsarist cook for his kitchen. This Zinoviev tradition will not die and will be developed already during the years of the Leningrad blockade under Stalin's governor Zhdanov. Academician Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev recalled. In the blockade, in the spring of 1942, he was offered by a team of authors to write a book about the defense of ancient Russian cities. Summoned to Smolny. They barely came from hunger. Likhachev wrote: “In Smolny there was a strong smell of the canteen. The people looked satiated. We were received by a woman. She was full and healthy.”
On October 15, 27, the jubilee session of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee opened on the 10th anniversary of October in Leningrad. Zinoviev has been removed from the leadership of the city for a year and a half. Instead of him - Kirov. Zinoviev and Trotsky arrived from Moscow. They are ordinary members of the Central Committee. During a festive demonstration in front of the Tauride Palace, opposition leaders were not allowed to the podium. They stood aside in the back of a truck. Some demonstrators waved their hats at them. Some stopped out of curiosity. Trotsky mistook curiosity for support. On October 21, a joint Plenum of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission was convened in Moscow. The leaders of the new left opposition demanded the publication of Lenin's suicide notes. They are known as the "Letter to the Congress." These notes are usually considered and called Lenin's "Testament", because they contain the words that Stalin is rude. Kamenev and Zinoviev, during the period of their alliance with Stalin, tried not to make Lenin's text public primarily for this reason. Actually, there was another reason. In his Letter to the Congress, Lenin wrote not only about Stalin, but also about Trotsky. He praised Trotsky highly: “the most capable man in the present Central Committee.”
In 1927, Kamenev and Zinoviev, already in alliance with Trotsky, insisted that the Testament should receive wide publicity. Stalin read Lenin's text aloud at the plenum. When he finished, he would have answered Lenin about his own rudeness: “Yes, I am rude, comrades. Rude towards those who rudely split the party. Perhaps a certain softness is required in relation to the schismatics. But I can't do it."
The Plenum removed Trotsky and Zinoviev from the Central Committee.
On November 7, on the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution, Zinoviev in Leningrad and Trotsky in Moscow held demonstrative actions. In the morning, portraits of Trotsky, Zinoviev, Lenin were displayed on the balconies of the oppositionists' apartments - these are the already mentioned Houses of Soviets. And banners with the inscriptions "Back - to Lenin!" Several thousand workers, students and cadets of military schools took part in the Trotskyist alternative celebratory demonstrations. The demonstrators were attacked by combatants, police, and GPU officers in civilian clothes. Anti-Semitic cries were clearly heard. Anti-Semitism, as a method of dealing with the opposition, is already in use. This problem was discussed in June 27 at a meeting of the Central Control Commission with the participation of Trotsky. After that, a statement from the Politburo appeared in the central press, i.e. in fact, Stalin's statement: “We are fighting against Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev not because they are Jews. But because they are oppositionists.” The reading population has learned that the leaders of the opposition are Jews. On November 7, Trotsky and Kamenev drove by car through the center of Moscow. Stones were thrown at them, and the GPU officers fired several shots into the air. The apartments of the oppositionists were raided. In the apartment of the poet Mikhail Svetlov in the passage of the Art Theater, house 2, in an illegal printing house, the Trotskyist newspaper Kommunist was printed with his poems by November 7th. Subsequently, the Soviet poet Mikhail Svetlov, the author of the famous "Grenada", will evade arrest by indulging in deep protracted binges. By the way, the song and the poet became popular a year before these events, after the publication of Grenada in Komsmolskaya Pravda. Academician-rocketeer Boris Chertok, the right hand of Sergei Korolev, recalled: “On the house of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, on the corner of Vozdvizhenka and Mokhovaya, where Kalinin’s reception room, a huge portrait of Trotsky was hung. The military from the balcony began to pluck this portrait with long poles. The people below went on a rampage. It is impossible to make out who is more - supporters or opponents of Trotsky. Suddenly, a column of Trotskyist students emerges from the gates of the university. A brawl begins in the street, in which it is impossible to understand who is for whom.
At 27, Boris Chertok is a seventh grade student. In his memoirs he wrote: “The next day, during a big break, shouting “Beat the Trotskyites!” we broke in from the neighboring 7B. They were ready to defend. The slogan was written on the blackboard: "Fire on the kulak, NEPman and bureaucrat!"
On the evening of November 16, 1927, Zinoviev moved out of his apartment in the Kremlin at the same time as Kamenev. Revolutionary Victor Serge recalled: “In his Kremlin apartment, Zinoviev sat next to the death mask of Lenin. More precisely, this is Lenin's head on a pillow under glass. Zinoviev told me: “Only members of the Central Committee have the right to live in the Kremlin. They throw me out the door, and I will leave with the death mask of old Ilyich.
Trotsky left the Kremlin on 14 November. He recalled: " I lived in the apartment of my friend Beloborodov, who was still listed as People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR." Recall that Beloborodov, at the direction of Lenin and Sverdlov, signed an order to execute the royal family in July 18. The GPU did not immediately determine exactly where Trotsky moved from the Kremlin. Karl Radek, known as the "golden pen of the party", also collected things in the Kremlin. All the same Victor Serge found him when he was destroying papers among the collapse of old books on the carpet.
“I'm going to unpack it all and get out. You have to be such idiots: we don’t have a penny, but we could grab wonderful trophies.”
Year 1927. Kamenev is 44 years old. At this time, he actually divorced his wife Olga Davydovna, Trotsky's sister. He unofficially but openly considered Tatiana Ivanovna Glebova to be his wife. She is an instructor in the women's department of the MK party. The father of the Soviet gold chervonets Sokolnikov, who went with Kamenev to see Radek, soon married Galina, the ex-wife of a member of the Central Committee Serebryakov. Galina Serebryakova recalled: I met Kamenev's wife Tatyana Ivanovna, a typical Russian beauty. Of those who want to wear a kokoshnik on their heads, cover their white puffy shoulders with a velvet flyer trimmed with sables. Because of such women there were fisticuffs in Russia.”
Tatyana Glebova and members of her family will be shot. The son survived. Tatyana Ivanovna's mother will die after the first trial against Kamenev in 1935. Galina Serebryakova from the window of her apartment in Karmanitsky Lane on the Arbat will watch how the janitor knocks together a wooden cross on the grave of Kamenev's mother-in-law. The Kamenevs and Serebryakovs lived next door. In 27, Kamenev was ambassador to Italy for a short time. With Glebova they called on Gorky in Capri. Then Tatyana Ivanovna, during a short exile from Moscow, lived with Kamenev in Kaluga. In 1932-33 they were in exile in Minusinsk. In 29, their son Vladimir was born. He bears his mother's surname. In total, he spent 18 years in the camps. The last time he was arrested in the 50th year in the 5th year of the Leningrad University.
Before the revolution in Paris, Kamenev and his wife Olga Davydovna lived near the family of the Socialist-Revolutionary leader Viktor Chernov. We talked. Chernov was visited by the legendary Yevno Azef, a police informant and the main SR terrorist, the murderer of the highest tsarist officials. Kamenev had just had his first son, Alexander, at home, Buttercup. In 1818, Chernov was elected chairman of the famous Constituent Assembly, which was then dispersed by the Bolsheviks. In the 20th year, Chernov was wanted. His wife and three daughters were arrested. Chernov's friends, mindful of the general Parisian emigration, turned to Kamenev for help. Kamenev replied that the family members were detained as hostages. And his, Kamenev's, wife Olga Davydovna is ready to take Chernov's youngest daughter Ariadna, who was 10 years old, to bring up.
Chernov was given Kamenev's reply. He reacted: “After you explained with enviable composure that my wife and three children were taken hostage by the Soviet authorities, there can be no talk of any personal relationships based on the past. In addition, I do not want my daughter to enjoy the privileges of the Kremlin, which is a mockery of the hunger of children in Moscow and not only in Moscow.” The Chernov family managed to emigrate at the age of 21.
During World War II, Ariadne and her husband participated in the French Resistance. In 1960 they returned to the Soviet Union. In the late 20s, the first Kamenev family - Olga Davydovna, sons Alexander and Yuri - lived in a house on Manezhnaya Square, under Lenin's sister Anna Ilinichnaya Ulyanova - Elizarova. Kamenev's daughter-in-law, Alexander's wife, actress Galina Kravchenko recalled: “At first, life was fabulous. Six-room apartment. For dinner I went to the Kremlin, i.e. to the Kremlin canteen, by Lev Borisovich's car. Lunches were for two, but nine people were full of these dinners like this. Galina Kravchenko married the son of Kamenev, the Moscow playboy Alexander, whose family name was Buttercup - in the 29th year. At this time, the whole country was already living on cards. And Galina Kravchenko recalled the Kremlin dinners: “A pound of black caviar, granular, was always given for dinner. Along with or instead of dinner, you could take a dry ration: gastronomy, groceries, sweets, alcohol, wonderful chops, whatever you want. If you need more, you can order. Hot pancakes were served for Shrovetide. They were transported in ships, pancakes did not have time to cool down.
Clothes were more difficult. Kamenev's daughter-in-law dressed in the atelier of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs on Kuznetsky Most. There she met Stalin's wife Alliluyeva. Once Kamenev asked his daughter-in-law to buy him socks. Galina Kravchenko wrote: “I went and returned with nothing. Noskov, I say no, Lev Borisovich.
So, in Moscow there are no socks anywhere.
Kamenev was surprised. It was already at 32. Kamenev's daughter-in-law played in the NEP films "Cigarette from Mosselprom", "Fever of the NEP", "Doll with Millions". In 1967, she starred in Sergei Bondarchuk's 'War and Peace' as Julie Karagina. She was from a good family, she graduated from the gymnasium, the ballet school at the Bolshoi Theater. An artistic party was gathering in the Kamenevs' apartment at the Manege. Lenin's sister Anna Ilyinichna sent servants to ask them not to make noise. Eisenstein was there. Kamenev adored him.
On November 7, 27, the premiere of the film by Sergei Eisenstein and Grigory Alexandrov “October” took place at the Bolshoi Theater. The film was personally edited by Stalin. Cut out Trotsky. When in the spring of 1935 they came to arrest Kamenev's son, during the search they seized a film where Kamenev was filmed with Lenin. During a meeting in Butyrka, Alexander Kamenev will tell his wife to immediately go anywhere with her son, arrange her life and give the child her last name. Kamenev's grandson Vitaly Kravchenko was arrested in 1951. He studied to be a lawyer, was the secretary of the Komsomol committee. Fellow students reported that the grandson of the enemy of the people Kamenev and in such a position. They put him in. Kamenev's brother, Nikolai, the artist, his wife, and their son, an engineer, were shot. The youngest son of Kamenev Yuri - a schoolboy, a ninth grader, was shot. At the end of her life, Kamenev's daughter-in-law said: “Now that I have learned a lot about the execution of the royal family, for some reason I think that all of them, with their children and wives, were punished by life. Both the guilty and the innocent." Kamenev's father, a successful railway engineer, studied at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology on the same course as Grinevitsky. Ignatius Grinevitsky - Russian terrorist, bomber, murderer of Emperor Alexander II, who abolished serfdom in Russia.
The 15th party congress in Soviet historiography was called the "collectivization congress". In fact, there was no talk of collectivization at this congress. Stalin said in his report: "Those comrades are wrong who think that it is possible and necessary to put an end to the kulaks administratively, through the GPU."
A week and a half later, Stalin changed his position to the exact opposite. The total destruction of the peasantry began in the country. Stalin was not interested in the moderate decisions of the last congress. Nevertheless, the 15th Congress in December 27 deserved attention for two reasons. Stalin at this congress, not for the first, but for the last time, announced that he was ready to resign. He said: “Please release me from the post of general secretary. I assure you, comrades, that the Party will only benefit from this.” Stalin's request, of course, was rejected. Stalin motivated his request for resignation. He said: “Until recently, the party needed me as a more or less tough person, representing an antidote to the opposition. Now the opposition is broken. Stalin spoke the pure truth.
Immediately after the congress, Zinoviev and Kamenev wrote a statement in which they condemned their views as anti-Leninist. They wrote that they were subject to the will of the party, "because it is the only supreme judge." The “open letter” of Zinoviev and Kamenev was published in Pravda. Trotsky did not write letters of repentance. Zinoviev and Kamenev wrote that they had broken with Trotsky's group. They were given a six-month probationary period. Sent to Kaluga. In July 28, Kamenev received a letter from Grigory Sokolnikov in exile in Kaluga. Sokolnikov was the first to repent at the 15th Congress, he was left a member of the Central Committee. At the same time, he is Bukharin's school friend. So, in exile to Kamenev, he wrote in plain text in the mail: “Battles are starting in the Central Committee. Come. We need to consult." Kamenev has arrived. The three of them met - Sokolnikov, Kamenev and Bukharin. The conversation was essentially an extremely emotional monologue by Bukharin. He said that Stalin was an unprincipled intriguer, deliberately inflaming discord, leading to a Civil War. Soon "a record of Bukharin's conversation with Kamenev" appeared on Stalin's desk. Stalin deliberately told Rykov, chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, about this. Rykov ran to Bukharin. Bukharin said: "That means Kamenev denounced him, scoundrel and traitor!" Later, the GPU ensured that this Record was published abroad in the Socialist Bulletin. After being published abroad in Moscow, this text was reproduced and distributed among the members of the Central Committee. He went into action both against Bukharin and against Kamenev. Bukharin's wife read this text after the camp and exile. She did not consider this to be Kamenev's own record. That is, she did not consider this a denunciation of Kamenev to Stalin. She can be trusted in this matter. She believed that the recording appeared as a result of wiretapping by the GPU. Even then it was a common well-established business. Stalin himself showed Bukharin the wiretaps of Zinoviev's conversations with his wife. Political themes interspersed with intimate ones. Stalin relished intimate details. Bukharin told Kamenev in a conversation that Stalin would want to use him, Kamenev, in his struggle against him, Bukharin. Kamenev wrote to Zinoviev: "Signals from another camp should appear in the next few days." Kamenev meant a signal from Stalin. In a letter to Zinoviev, he said: “It will be. Let's see what they say."
Signals from Stalin did not follow. Zinoviev was appointed to Kazan as the rector of the University. Kamenev - in Glavkontsesskom. Then both were in exile. Zinoviev's last position was a member of the board of the Tsentrosoyuz. Kamenev, after his exile, headed the excellent publishing house Academia. Supervised the preparation of a new academic edition of Pushkin's works. Engaged in the Pushkin Museum in Mikhailovsky. In fact, Kamenev was preparing the celebration of the centenary of Pushkin's death.
When Bukharin offered him to head the literary department of Izvestia, Kamenev refused: “I want to be forgotten about. So that Stalin does not even remember my name.
Korney Chukovsky wrote: “On December 5, 1934, I was invited to Kamenev’s for dinner. Zinoviev was also there, who said that he was writing an article "Pushkin and the Decembrists." After dinner, Chukovsky and Kamenev went to the Hall of Columns to the coffin of the murdered Kirov.
Kamenev and Zinoviev, who soon followed, were accused of murdering the first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Kirov, was fabricated. They were shot in August 36th. Kamenev himself, while Lenin was still alive, proposed Stalin's candidacy for the post of General Secretary. Until his arrest on December 16, 1934, Kamenev headed the Institute of Russian Literature in Leningrad and in Moscow, the Institute of World Literature. Gorky. Gorky is still alive. Bukharin said: "Gorky wants to see Kamenev as the leader of Soviet literature."
Zinoviev was arrested on the same day as Kamenev. Zinoviev lived on the Arbat in the famous Moscow house with knights. At the time of his arrest, he wrote to Stalin: “I was thinking only about one thing: how to earn the trust of the Central Committee and yours personally. I am not to blame for anything, anything, anything."
From prison, Zinoviev again wrote to Stalin: “I get to the point that for a long time I look at your and other members of the Politburo portraits in newspapers with the thought: relatives, I am your soul and body. I realized that I was ready to do everything to deserve forgiveness, indulgence.
Finally, on January 28, 1935, Zinoviev wrote to Gorky: “You are a great artist, you are a connoisseur of the human soul, you are a teacher of life, think about it, I ask you for a minute, what does it mean for me to sit now in a Soviet prison. Imagine it concretely."
Gorky did not receive Zinoviev's letter. Zinoviev once kept Gorky's letters to Lenin. Now Gorky's correspondence was filtered on Stalin's orders. In one of the bookcases in Gorky's mansion, there was a rare book. Publishing house "Academia", 1935. Almost the rest of the circulation was put under the knife. This is a novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky "Demons". It was first published in the USSR. The bold decision to publish The Possessed was made by Kamenev. In the Pravda newspaper, The Possessed was immediately called "a dirty libel against the revolution" and "old junk." Before Stalin, this novel by Dostoevsky was forbidden by Lenin's wife Krupskaya.
