January 15, 2015

Trotsky on Trotskyites


Trotsky on Trotskyites

On January 15, 1935, Grigory Zinovyev, Lev Kamenev, and 16 others were tried in relation to the murder of Leningrad party boss Sergei Kirov. After they were convicted on the sixteenth, Leon Trotsky weighed in on the absurdity of it all. Yet in those absurd times, just one trial was not enough. One year later, many of the same people, including Zinovyev and Kamenev, were again tried, convicted, and executed for their alleged participation in a massive conspiracy masterminded by Trotsky himself.

“Everything Gradually Becomes Clear” (excerpt)

A letter to American friends, January 26, 1935

After the Moscow group of old Bolsheviks were arrested, the first government announcements and official articles claimed that Zinovyev, Kamenev, and Co. had set “the restoration of the capitalist regime” as their objective, and aimed to cause a foreign “military intervention” (by way of… the Latvian consul!). Of course, not a single person seriously believed that.

And yet Stalin’s lackeys, appearing to us in the guise of Comintern “leaders,” do not tire of repeating that Zinovyev, Kamenev, et al. “themselves admitted to their crimes.” What crimes? Preparing the restoration of capitalism? Preparing a military intervention? Preparing the murders of Kirov and Stalin? No, not quite. Faced with the barrel of a gun, they admitted: 1) that they had been very critical of collectivization methods; 2) that they did not sympathize with Stalin or Kaganovich; 3) and that they had not kept these thoughts and feelings from their closest friends. Just that! All of this was in 1932. For these heinous crimes, the most serious of which was their lack of love for Stalin, they were once excluded from the Party. Afterwards, however, they repented and were reinstituted. So what crime have they committed since repenting? Out of the avalanche of empty words and lackey’s curses we could extract only a single concrete incident: in December 1934, Zinovyev told his friends that the Comintern was managing the single-front policy incorrectly, and that the initiative was being practically handed over to the social democrats.

The sheer fact that this kind of critical review of Stalin and Bela Kun’s most recent policy is being cited in court as a criminal act and officially quoted as evidence of a counter-revolutionary conspiracy shows what unheard-of indignity has been visited upon the Party by the unbridled excesses of the Thermidorean-Bonapartist bureaucracy!

Let us assume that Zinovyev’s criticism is mistaken. Let us even allow the lackeys their right to call any criticism directed against them “criminal.” But then what is the relevance of “restoring capitalism” and “military intervention”? What is the connection between demanding a more revolutionary policy against the bourgeoisie and a plan to restore the bourgeois regime? Where is the common sense in this? It has been completely buried by monstrous eruptions of base vileness!

Source: http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/trotsky/trotm380.htm

You can read more about Kirov's assassination and the source of the accusations here and here.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons (artist: Yuri Annenkov)

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
The Little Humpbacked Horse

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955