sokolnikov

Born Girsh Brilliant in 1888, Grigory Sokolnikov had returned from abroad in 1917, aboard Lenin’s sealed train, and was a member of the first Politburo. After signing the Brest-Litovsk treaty for Soviet Russia, Sokolnikov worked on the newspaper Pravda and held ongoing negotiations with Germany about the treaty. He was co-commissar of the 8th Army that retook Rostov-on-Don and Novorossiysk from the Whites – decisive battles securing the Bolsheviks’ ultimate victory. He then oversaw the retaking of Russian Turkestan and went on to become Commissar of Finance. In the political struggles of the 1920s, he aligned himself mainly with leftist forces, and called for Stalin’s removal in 1925. A slow but relentless fall from grace followed. By 1934, Lazar Kaganovich summarized his status, saying that “a simple kolkhoz woman is more politically aware than the ‘educated’ Sokolnikov.” In July 1936 Sokolnikov was arrested and confessed to made up crimes after being assured that his wife would not be touched (a lie). Sentenced to ten years in prison, he was murdered in a Tobolsk prison on Stalin’s direct order.