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1e s

By G ro ve r Fu rr

Er yth ros Pr ess an d Med~a, LLC

Corrected Edition Au gu st 20 19
Tro tsky's Lies
Corrected Edition pub.lished Aug ust 2019
1

{A revi sed and upd ated edit ion of the Intr odu ctio n, and Cha pter s
13 . . 16 of Grover Furr, Trotsky )s 'Amalgams:' Trotsky 's Lies, The
Moscow Trials As Evidenc e, The Dewey Con1mission. Ket teri ng, OH:
Ery thr6 s Pre ss & Med ia, LLC, 201 5, 201 6.}

Pub lish ed by Ery thr6 s Pre ss and Med ia

PO Box 294 994
Kettering, OH 454 29- 099 4
med ia@ ery thro spre ss.c om

©G rov er Fur r 201 5, 201 9

Pub lish ed and prin ted \vit h per mis sion of the atlt hor, \vho as-
sum es all resp ons ibil ity ·for the con tent here in.

Locally Ass igne d LC-type Call Num ber DK 254 .T6 F87 122 201 9

ISBN: 978 -0-5 78- 521 04- 6

198 pp . Incl ude s index.

1. Tro tsky , Leon, 187 9-1 940 . 2. Rev olut iona ries - Russia- Bio gra-
phy. 3. Stal in, Joseph, 187 8-1 953 . 4. Sov iet Uni on - His tory - 192 5-
195 3. 5. Tria ls (Co nsp irac y).
 Table of Contents
Acknc)wledgeme11ts and Dedicatio11 ... ,........................................................................ 4
Ch apt e r 1. Trotsky' s Lies ........... ,................................................. ,..................................... 5
Chapter 2. Trotsky on the Kirc)v Assassination .................................................. 28
Chapter 3. Trotsky and the Cl1arge of '(Ar1ned Interve11tion'' ....................... 64
Chapter 4. ·T rotsky's Kirov Assassination article - ''The Restoration of
Cap ital i s m '' ... ,........ ,......................................... ,............... ,................................... ,................ 9 8
Chapter S. Trotsky in Biulle·ten'Oppozitsii ....................................................... ( 135
c0 n cl us i 0 n - I I • • 'f 11 ) ' "!) • ., 1. • f I ~·
l " '() t I I I t .I ' ). , ~ l 1 C "I «l t 16 2
I, • ) I I J JI l • l I J ;t A '.I • l JI I f .J • ) ' •,t .. l )( J t • l t I I f l l f e ) 11 X f' • t l t J t j .I I I r I ) I t I. 'I A 1 ). A • I A J ., I I I t • l t t 11 )_ • 1

Appendix·; Docu111e·n ts ............................. ,..................................................................... 167

Bib Ii o gr ap !1y ....... ,............................. ,.......... ,.,................,................. ,.............................. ·1 7 9
Index ...................................................................................................................................... 193
 ·.

A ck no w le dg em en ts an d D ed ic at io n

On ce ag ain , I wi sh to ex pre ss my gra tit ud e to Ke vin Pr en de rga st,

Ar thu r Hu dso n, an d Sio bh an Mc Ca rth y, the ski lle d an d tir ele ss In-
ter -L ibr ary Loan lib rar ian s at Ha rry S. Sp rag ue Lib rar y, Mo ntc lai r
Sta te Un ive rsi ty. W ith ou t the ir he lp my res ea rch wo uld no t be
po ssi ble .

I wo uld lik e to ex pre ss my sp ec ial tha nk s to my · wo nd erf ul Mo sco w

co lle ag ue Vl adi .m ir L'v ov ich Bo bro v, for all his tir ele
.
ss an d bri lli an t
he lp du rin g the pa st nin ete en ye ars of ou r res ea rch tog eth er.

My tha nk s to Eff ie Ma tla ck, wh o did a su pe rb job of pro ofr ea din g

thi s bo ok an d ma de ma ny inv alu ab le su gg est ion s for ch an ge s an d
im pro ve me nts .

** ** *

I wo uld lik e to rec og niz e Mo ntc lai r Sta te U11iversity for giv ing me a
sab ba tic al lea ve in the fal l se me ste r of 20 15 for the pu rp os e of
wo rki ng on thi s bo ok .

** ** *

Dedication
To De rek an d Ka rla , As ia an d Le on a, my tre asu res .
 1
Ch ap ter 1. Tr ot sk y s Lies

The just ific atio n for this boo k is ·t wof old. Firs t, dur ing the pas t sev-
eral dec ade s a gre at many prim ary hist oric al sou rces hav e bee n
mad e ava ilab le for the firs t time . Sec ond , non e of tho se who hav e
wri tten abo ut Tro tsky hav e mad e use of thes e sou rces .

The se prim ary sou rces are imp orta nt. The y per mit us to kno w a
gre at dea.l mor e abo ut Tro tsky 's acti viti es dur ing the 193 0s than
eve r befo re. Yet des pite this fact - or, per hap s, bec aus e of i.t - they
hav e bee n alm ost enti rely neg lect ed.

The se new prim ary sou rces are:

* The Tro tsky Arc hive at Hou ghto n Lib rary , Har var d Uni ver-
sity , ope n sinc e Jan uary 2, 1.98 0. In this boo k I refe r to this as
the ''Ha rvar d TA,' or sim ply ''TA."

*A floo d of doc ume nts from form er Sov iet arch ives pub -
lish ed sinc e the end of the Sov iet Uni on in 199 1 and con tinu -
ing to this day.

Oth er coll ecti ons of prim ary sou rces incl ude the Tro tsky -Se dov
cor resp ond enc e at the Hoo ver Inst itut ion, and doc ume nts mad e
ava ilab le but not pub lish ed at vari ous arch ives in Rus sia and else -
\vhe re.

The doc ume nts from form er Sov iet arch ives hav e re·v olut ioni zed
our kno wle dge and und erst and ing of Sov iet hist ory of the Stal in
peri od) and thu s of Sov iet hi.story as a who le. The y per mit us to see
tha t muc h of wha t was wri tten abo ut Stal in and his era dur ing
Khr ush che v's time , then dur ing Gor bac hev 's tenu re, and still to-
day, is deli bera tely fals e - in plaj n lang uag e, lies .

The doc ume nts in the Har var d TA, and the rese arch bas ed on them
by the late 'P ierr e Bra ue, and by Am eric an hist oria n Arc h G·etty ,
con tinu e to be neg lect ed by all wri ters on Tro tsky eve n tho ugh -
 1

6 Tro tsk y s Lies

or pe rh ap s· be ca us e - the y de ma nd of us a rad ica lly dif fer en t vie w

of Tr ots ky 's ac tiv itie s du rin g the 19 3 Os an d ev en be for e.

Th ese pr im ary so urc es no w ma ke it po ssi ble to ch ec k ma ny of the

fac t-c lai ms ma de by de fen da nts in the Mo sco w Tr ial s in the co urs e
of the ir tes tim on y. Fo r the fir st tim e we are ab le to ob jec tiv ely
ev alu ate thi s im po rta nt bo dy of ev ide nc e by ve rif yin g so me of the
sta tem en ts ma de in the Mo sco w Tr ial s ag ain st ind ep en de nt
so urc es.

Th is too ha s ne ve r be en do ne . Sin ce Ni kit a Kh rus hc he v s iiSecret

1

Sp eec h'' to the XX Pa rty Co ng res s in Fe br ua ry 19 56 vir tua lly all

his tor ian s ha ve dis mi sse d the Mo sco w Tr ial s tes tim on y as false.
Th e pa rad igm of the Mo sco w Tr ial s ha s be en tha t of inn oc en t de -
fen da nts for ce d to mo uth fal se co nfe ssi on s to cri me s the y ne ve r
co mm itt ed by me an s of thr ea ts to the ms elv es, ag ain st the ir fam i-
lies, etc. Th eir tes tim on y ha s be en un ive rsa lly rej ec ted as fab ri-
cat ed , fak ed , ''sc rip ted '' by the NK VD inv est iga tor s, the pro sec u-
tio n, ''Stalin.''

Bu t the re ha s ne ve r be en an y evi de nc e tha t the Mo sco w Tr ial s tes . .

tim on y wa s fab ric ate d. Th is ha s sim ply be en ass ert ed . Th is as se r ..
tio n ha s be en ''be lie ve d," ac co rde d alm os t un ive rsa l cre de nc e, be ..
ca us e it ha s be en vo ice d by see mi ng ly div ers e au tho rit ies : by Tr ot-
sk y him sel f; by So vie t em igr es an d dis sid en ts wh o fle d the US SR in
the 19 30 s an d the rea fte r; the n by Kh rus hc he v an d by co mm iss ion s
an d wr ite rs du rin g his tim e; the n by Mi kh ail Go rba ch ev an d the
co mm iss ion s an d wr ite rs sp on so red by him ; an d sin ce 19 91 by
bo th Ru ssi an an d We ~t er n his tor ian s wh o cla im to be dra wi ng
up on the ne wl y-a va ila ble do cu me nta tio n fro m for me r So vie t ar-
ch ive s.

Ho we ve r, the tru th is no t co ns tit ute d by an y ''co ns en su sl' of

au tho rit ies . No r is ''credibility,, a ca te:g ory of an aly sis . W he the r a
sta tem en t, fac t-c lai m, etc . is ''b eli ev ed ha 11
s no be ari ng at all on
wh eth er it is tru e, no ma tte r ho w ma ny ''au tho rit ies '' aff m
ir. it. On ly
pr im ary so urc es are ev ide nc e.
Chape r 1, Trots kys Lies 7

Thes e newl y-av ailab le prim ary sour ces - evide nce - from the for-
mer Sovi et archi ves and from the Harv ard TA perm it us to see for
the first time that the histo ry of the Sovi et Unio n durin g the Stali n
perio d, inclu ding the roles of Stali n and Trotsky} is very diffe rent -
indee d, in many respe cts the diam etric al oppo site - from wha t we
have been taugh t, and from wha t is still the ''mai nstre am," ''con-
sensus1' versi on.
* Than ks to these newl y-av ailab le sour ces we can now see that
Khru shch ev, and then Gorb ache v, lied abou t Sovi et histo ry of the
Stalin perio d.

*We can also see now that Trot sky lied too delib erate ly, as did
Khru shch ev and Gorb ache v. Like them , Trot sky lied a lot.

I have writt en a num ber of book s and artic les abou t the lies perp e ..
trate d unde r the ausp ices of Khru shch ev and Gorb ache v, abou t
antic omm unist histo rians East and Wes t who have draw n upon
their lies, and abou t the new versi on of Sovi et histo ry that emer ges
from the newl y.. avail able archi val sourc es. In Trotsky's A.malgams'
(from whic h the pres ent book is large ly extra cted) , in Leon Trot-
sky's Collaboration with Germany and japan, and in futur e volu mes,
I will ident ify and stud y some of Trotsky}s lies and exam ine how
this new evide nce chan ges our unde rstan ding of Trot sky's activi-
ties and of Sovi et histo ry durin g the 1930 s.

Trotsky's Lies
We owe, in grea t part, our intro duct ion to the fact that Trot sky lied
to a num ber of semi nal work s of resea rch. First is the work of the
late Pierr e Broue, the forem ost Trot skyis t histo rian in the worl d
durin g his time (Bra ue died in 2005 ). Seco nd is the semi nal artic le
by J~ Arch Getty, ''Tro tsky in Exile: The Foun ding of the Four th Jn ..
terna tiona l," publ ished in Soviet Studies in Janu ary, 1986 . Thir d is
the brilli ant artic le by Sven .. Eric Holm strom , ''New Evid ence Con-
cern ing the 'Hote l Brist ol' Ques tion in the First Mosc ow Trial of
1936 ,'' publ ished in Cultural Logic for 2008 . Insp ired by the effor ts
of these resea rche rs I have disco vere d some more lies by Trots ky.
 1
8 Trotsky s Li.es

v·erifying the Moscow Trials Testimony

1 1
Part One of Trotsky s 'Amal9ams (excerpted and updated in The
Moscow Trials as Evidence) consists of the process of ve1~ification of
those fact .. claims made by defendants in the three Moscow Trials
that we can now check from other, independent sources. This pro-
ject is important for understanding \iVhat Trotsky \Vas doing during
the 1930s.

Ac.cordi11g to the Moscow Trials testimony Trotsky, in the leader..

ship of his clandestine followers within the USSR ar1d in a political
bloc \Vitl1 many other Oppositionists,, vvas involved in the following
• •
consp1rac1es:

* To assassinate Stali11 and other Soviet leaders (called ('terror'' or

''individual terror}' in Russian);

* To sabotage as much of the Soviet economy as possible, princi-

pally in industry, in mining, and in transpor·tation;

* To conspire with command.ers of the Soviet armed forces in or-

der to promo·t e a coup d'etat against the Stalin regime;

*to take over leadership of the Soviet Union \Vith the help of Hit-
ler's Germany, militarist Japa.n, and other foreign powers at the
price of making important economic concess'ions and of ceding
parts of the Soviet Union to them, stopping support for the Comin-
tern, and returning n1uch or most of the economy bacl< to private
ovv11ership.

Trotsky vigorously denied all of this. Especially since Khrushchev

and Gorbachev) Trotsky's denials have been almost universally
believed.

But the primary source evidence available to us today enables us

to see that at the very least many, and indeed perhaps all) of the
charges against Trotsky and the confessions made ,by the Moscow
.

Trials defendants were true. On t·he evidence, Trotsky s denials are

1

lies.
Chaper 1. Trotsky's Lies 9

In Trotsky's 'Amalgams', The Moscow Trials as Evidence, the present

book, and in future books I will examine those lies of Trotsky's that
bear directly upon his conspiratorial activities and upon my verifi ..
cation of the Moscow Trials testimony~ I do not mean to imply that
these were all Trotsky was lying about~ The more we study} the
more lies of Trotsky's we discover.

Lenin's ''Peppery Dishes'' Statement

One example of a lie by Trotsky that does not bear directly upon
his conspiracies or upon verification of the Moscow Trials testi-
mony will serve to illustrate the fact that Trotsky lied a great deal.
This is his claim that Lenin opposed Stalin's appointment as Gen-
eral Secretary of the Party because of his crude behavior towards
others, which Trotsky called ''peppery dishes."

I begin with what I believe to be the first time that Trotsky used
this story. This was in his speech of October 23, 1927, to a com-
bined meeting of the Plenum of the Central Committee and the
Central Control Committee, called to consider his expulsion from
the Party. Trotsky's ''peppery dishes'' statement is in boldface in
the original, below:
10 Trots ky s Lies
1

. I
1 · . . · _., ~fJepb O&flfpie&.110 ~8.0I• i
~ BGI . . . . a~:ifR4 _I _C~ ff~l -j
lorfJll~Y-1 llmaptVI · JJlllJGUll~ j
OU IOW~ Bt-11.10.tUI 1'6Hllpe&&I ~~ J
"TfP~ CfelOTOttl!I. i;U!lTJPLl 8 .1 1-·1
_qe~ IO•mw . nmd . . -. j
(Dlf•),. JWI Jenae. QI _..tao• nu• 1
tp11-.a•• Ko•ateM ~ . ··. . ·· .. •~-
. . ' 1Ufll1t 4at llOlUl{Q peao.111U•~·· 1
-IS~ Q4®QBOI JJ . IQo.- 11~1~·._!
~ .IJJM\lt (hJ11u. I · ·. . ftl . ·.· ·..
aor. ee.,.np1,· n1••• "8117 Gaaca:. -.l
·o ca1on.- ••llL «Cd .._. ~- ~­
__,.. _... · · · · lltul•trl~ roaopu ·
·1ma • nc1• 'PJrt 1..aoxdf t · e·ew:-
'"'*~ (!erQs.a Gaa ·-. .. ·· MIO -~­
MIO 1'1: , . . qta ~ aot IQGI ~.l
-.Ct8"1 I 1-IO~!Of .. . ".· .· (lUfl).~ ·I

The earlies t version of Trotsky 's ''cook ... pepper y dishes' ' story
Pravda Novem ber 2, 1927.

Tpo~KH H:. l1 epe3 0KTH6p bC'KYIO pe·ao111Du;1110 Harna napTHH

"'
noJiyq11Jia B CBOM pyKH Mory~eCTBeHHbIH arrrrapa T
npHHY/K ,D,eHI15l , 6e3 KOTOpo ro HeMblCJ IHMa rrpoJieTapcKa5l
Al-IKTaT ypa. Cpe,aoTO t.!HeM tJiHKTaT ypbI .HBJIHeTc.H
~eHTpaJlbH bIH Kor-.111TeT Harnei1 rrapTHH . Dp11 JieHHHe , npx
JieH11HCKOM [(eHTpa JibHOM KoMH1~eTe opr'taHH3a~HOHHhIM
arrnapaT naprl' HH 6bIJI ITO,LJ;YHHeH peBOJIIO IJ.HOHHO H K JiaCCOBO H
rroJI.HTHKe MHposo ro MacUITa 6a. ITpaB~a , CTa1111H, B KaqecTB e
reHepaJ ibHoro ceKpeTapH, BHylllaJ I JleHHHY onaceHH .H c
caMoro HaqaJia. <<Celi noeap 6yAeT roTOBH Th TOJihKO
OCTpLi e OJIIOAa>>, TaK fOBOpHJ J lleHI1H B TeCHOM Kpyry B
MOJ\1eHT x C'bes,n,a. 1

'(Rech' tov. Trotskog o , Pravda Novemb er 2-1 192-7. Felix Krei~el has usefully put
11
1
a phott1graphic i~ep1 ociucti. on o.f this page of Pravda at
1

http: // web.mit .edu/ f)k/ww\-V/ images/ P1 avda/ 1927-11 -02-4.pd f and

1

transcrib ed the somewh at differen t version of Trotsky's speech from the MS in

 1
Chaper 1. Trotsky s Lies 11

Translated~

Trotsky: Through the October Revolution our Party re-

ceived into its hands a powerful apparatus of compul-
sion without which the proletarian dictatorship is un-
thinkable. The concentration of the dictatorship is the
Central Committee of our Party. In Lenin's time, in the
1
time of Lenin s Central Com.m ittee, the organizationa l
apparatus of the Party was subordinated to revolution ..
ary class politics of a global scale. True, Stalin in his ca-
pacity of General Secretary instilled fear in Lenin from
the very beginning. ''This cook will prepare only pep ..
pery [literally: sharp - GF] dishes," - so said Lenin to a
small circle at the time of the X Party Congress.

In this first occurrence Trotsky clearly separated the (icook ... pep--
pery dishes'' story from Stalin's being made General Secretary.
Here Trotsky claims that Lenin made this remark ''at the time of
the X Party Congress},, which took place March 8 - 16, 1921. Stalin
was named to the post of General Secretary as a result of the XI
Congress held a year later} March 27 - April 2, 1922.

This would have been a good opportunity for Trotsky to name

others that also heard Lenin make this remark. It would, arguably,
have helped him, given his speech more impact, if he had done so.
But he did not. This makes us suspect that perhaps he could not do
so - that the story may be false.

It is difficult to prove that Lenin did not make this remark. Most
events do not leave a paper trail. For our purposes what is most
important here is that even Trotsky does not claim that Lenin made
the remark in connection with Stalin's being made General Secre-
tary~

In February 1929, the same month he went into exile to Turkey,

Trotsky once again cited the ''peppery dishes story.11

the Harvard TA at
http:/ /web.mit.edu/fj k/\vww /Trotsky/sochineniia/19 27 /19271023.html
12 Trots ky's Lies

('This cook will prep are only pepp ery dishes,'' Leni n
warn ed the party as early as 1922 .

- ''Hovv Coul d This Happ en?'' Febr uary 25, 1929 . WLT
'29. p. 38.

Here ·r1~otsky does not explicitly tie the story to Stali n's gaini ng the
Gene ral Secr etary post. But he does so implicitly, by shift ing the
date from 1921 to 1922 , the year of the Elev enth Party Cong ress,
the year Stali n was chos en as Gene ral Secr etary .

Belo w are some of the citat ions of this state men t in Trot sky's
work s. I do not claim that this is an exha ustiv e list.

Trot sky on ''Peppery Dishes''

Whe n at the Tent h Cong ress, two year s after the deat h of
Sverd lov, Zino viev and other s, not with out a hidd en
thou ght of the strug gle again st me, supp orted the cand i-
dacy of Stali n for Gene ral Secr etary - that is, place d him
de jure in the posit ion whic h Sver dlov had occu pied de
facto - Leni n spok e in a smal l circl e again st this plan, ex-
press ing his fear that ''this cook will prep are only pep-
pery dishes." That phra se alone , take n in conn ectio n
with the char acter of Sver dlov, show s us the diffe rence s
betw een the two type s of orga nizer s: the one tirele ss in
smoo thing over confl icts, easin g the work of the Colle-
gium } and the othe r a spec ialist in pepp ery dish es - not
even afrai d to spice them with actua l poiso n.

- ''On the Supp resse d Test amen t of Leni n (Dec embe r

19 3 2) .''
.h tt.p s: //ww w.m arxis ts.or g/arc hive /trot sky/19 3 2/12 /l e
nin.h tm

The n ecess ity of remo ving the boss \vho was spec ializ ing
t

in pepp ery dish es beca me clear to Leni n imm ediat ely

after his retur n to work .
Chaper 1. Trot sky' s Lies 13

- Ibid.

In 19 21, war nin g his mo st inti mat e com rad es aga inst
elec ting Stali.n as gen eral secr etar y, Len in said , ''Th is
coo k will pre par e only pep per y dishes.,,

- ''So me Res ults of the Stal in Am alga m' WL T '34--'35; also

1

http s:// ww w.m arx ists .org /arc hiv e/tr otsk y/19 35 /01 / a
mal gam .htm

·F rom bein g the inst rum ent of the revo luti on, the G.P.U.
has bec ome the inst rum ent of the sov iet aris tocr acy , the
per son al inst rum ent of Stal in, abo ut who m Len in
war ned in 192 2: ''Th is coo k will pre par e only pep per y
dishes."
- ''Th e Mo sco w (Co nfes sion s''' 18 Dec. 193 6

In 192 2, whe n Stal in was firs t elec ted gen eral sec reta ry
of the part y, Len in rem ark ed war nin gly to a sma ll circ le:
''Th is coo k will give us only pep per y dishes.''

- ;'Is Stal in We ake ning or the Sov iets ?', Jan uar y 193 2.
WL T19 32p .38 .
Tru e to his eva luat ion of peo ple and circ ums tanc es,
Len in in Mar ch 192 2 spo ke out dec isiv ely aga inst the
app oin tme nt of Stal in as gen eral sec reta ry (''th at coo k
will mak e only pep per y dishes'') ...

- ''Fro m the Arc hive s," Sep t. 193 2 WLT 193 2 p. 208.

Len in saw the dem ocra tiza tion of the adm inis trat ion as
the mos t imp orta nt task of the dict ator ship . ''Ev ery coo k
mu st lear n how to gov ern." The pro cess tha t has take n
plac e is quit e the reve rse. The num ber of adm inis trat ors
did not gro w to incl ude ''ev ery cook''; it con stri cted in-
stea d to a sing le chef , and at tha t a spe cial ist in pep per y
dis hes only .
- ''Al arm Signal!'' Mar ch 3, 193 3. WL T 193 2-3 3 p.1 12.
14 Tr ot sk y's Lies

In 19 21 , w ar ni ng hi s m os t in ti m at e co m ra de s ag ai ns t
el ec ti ng St al in as ge ne ra l se cr et ar y, Le ni n sa id ) ''T hi s
co ok w ill pr ep ar e on ly pe pp er y dishes."

- ;'Some R es ul ts of th e St al in A m al ga m ),, Ja nu ar y 12 ,
19 35 . WLT 19 34 -3 5 p. 20 7.

You m ay re m em be r th at in 19 21 L en in ha d st ro ng ly ad ..
vi se d th e pa rt y ag ai ns t el ec ti ng St al in to th e po st of ge n ..
er al se cr et ar y. ''T hi s co ok '' ~- Le ni n li te ra ll y sa id - ''w ill
pr ep ar e on ly sp ic y di sh es ." In an y ca se , L en in co ul d no t
at th at m om en t ha ve ha d th e sl ig ht es t id ea of ju st ho w
sp ic y th is co ok 's di sh es w ou ld be.2

. . ''S ta lin Is N ot Ev er yt hi ng .'' A ug us t 23 , 19 36 . WLT 19 35 ..

36 p. 41 1.

Fr om be in g th e in st ru m en t of th e re vo lu ti on , th e G PU
ha s be co m e th e in st ru m en t of th e So vi et ar is to cr ac y, th e
pe rs on al in st ru m en t of St al in , ab ou t w ho m Le ni n
w ar ne d in 19 22 : ''T hi s co ok w ill pr ep ar e on ly pe pp er y
dishes."

- ''S ha m e! '' D ec em be r 18 , 19 36 . WL T 19 35 .. 36 p. 49 6.

It is as to un di ng ho w pe rs is te nt Zi no vi ev w as , as he
pulled K am en ev a
. lo ng , in pr ep ar in g ov er a nu m be r of
ye ar s hi s ow n tr ag ic fin al e. If no t fo r Zi no vi ev 's in iti at iv e,
Stalin w ou ld ha ve ha rd ly be co m e th e G en er al Se cr et ar y
of th e Pa rt y. Z in ov ie v w as be nt on ut ili zi ng th e ep is od ic
tr ad e un io n di sc us si on in th e w in te r of 19 20 -2 1 fo r a
fu rt he r st ru gg le ag ai ns t m e. St al in ap pe ar ed to hi m ---
an d no t w it ho ut fo un da ti on -- th e m an m os t su it ab le fo r
th e be hi nd -t he -s ce ne s w or k. It w as du ri ng th es e ve ry

ye bl iu da ," lit er al ly "s ha rp di sh es ,'} m ea ni ng "spicyn or

2 Th e R.u ss ia n t er m is "o str
th e tra ns la to rs us ed th e te
11
rm sp icy " he re bu t
''p ep pe ry," Fo r so m e re as on
"p ep pe ryn el se w here x
Chaper 1. Trotsky's Lies 15

days that Lenin} objecting to the appointment of Stalin as

General Secretary, made his famous remark: ''I do not
advise it -- this cook will prepare only peppery dishes."
What prophetic words!

.. ''Pages from Trotsky's Journal," 1936-1937.

In March 19 21 Lenin had already given the advice not to

choose Stalin as the general secretary since, as he put it,
•

''This cook will prepare only peppery dishes." ... Thus

the Kremlin ''cook'' came to the most peppery ''dishes'' in
the form of the Moscow trials.

- ''Statement to Journalists on the Dewey Verdict." De-

cember 13, 1937. WLT 1937-38 p. 98-9.

Lenin did not trust Stalin in 1921, when Zinoviev rec-

ommended him for the post of general secretary. Lenin
gave the following warning: ''I don't advise this. This
cook will prepare only peppery dishes) ''
- ''Behind the Moscow Trials." March 3, 1938. WLT 1937 ..
38 p. 203.

It was precisely at this point that Stalin brought into

complete view the dangerous qualities which Lenin had
warned against: rudeness, disloyalty, propensity to
abuse power. The ''cook of the Kremlin'' had indeed pre-
pared the most peppery of dishes.

- Ibid. p. 205 .

... why it was precisely Stalin (''the cook of peppery

dishes," according to Lenin,s definition as far back as
March 1921) who became head of the avid and conser ..
vative caste of usurpers of the revolution;
- ''The Priests of Half>WTruth.'' March 19, 1938. WLT 1937-
38 p. 280.
16 Trots ky's Lies

Leni n prop osed in his testa men t (Janu ary 1923 ) to re-
move Stalin from the post of gene ral secre tary of the
pa.rty , givin g as his reaso ns Stalin's rude ness , dislo yalty ,
and tend ency to abus e powe r. Two year s earli er Leni n
\Varned: ''This cook will prep are only pepp ery dishes.''
No one in the party liked or respe cted Stali n ... That is
\vhy the cook of pepp ery dish es beca me the leade r of
the total itaria n bure aucr acy.

- ''The Com inter n and the GPU. The Atte mpte d Assa ssi-
natio n of May 24 and the Com mun ist Party .'' WL T 1939 -
40 p. 349 - 3 50.3

Trot sky made this claim man y time s. He vacil lated betw een 1921
and 19 2 2 as the year Leni n supp osed ly said it. Trot sky also vacil -
lated over the ques tion of to who m Leni n mad e this rema rk. Trot-
sky wrot e ''in a smal l circle," ''his most intim ate comr ades ,'' ''his
1
fan1ous rema rk,' ''war ned the party , ' ''to a smal l circle ,'' ''spo ke out
1

decis ively ," ''stro ngly advis ed the party ,', ''gav e the follo wing warn . .
ing."

Trot sky alwa ys claim ed that othe rs besid es hims elf had hear d
Leni n make this rema rk. His acco unts diffe r signi fican tly abou t
who and how man y those peop le were . He neve r speci ficall y name
anyb ody but hims elf. In addition) only Trot sky reco rds it, no one
else. Thes e cons idera tions migh t prov ide reaso n enou gh to rejec t
this oft-r epea ted story of T1. otsky )s as a lie.

3 This staten1er1t is also to be fc)und. th1~ee times in Chapt er 12 o.f the English lan.-
guage editio n of Trots ky)s biogr aphy of Stalin. But this book \A/as not comp leted at
Trots ky's death. It was co mplet ed by Cha1 les Malam uth, who was later critici zed
1

for addin g mate1~ials of his own. (My thank s to David Walte r·s for this inform a-
tion.) It is nc)·t in the Russia11 versio11 edited by It1rii Fel'sh tinsky fro in, he says, the
copy in the 'fA. But of cours e it \A/ould not be, for that volum e only goes up to the
year 1917.
Chaper 1. Tr ot sk y's Lies 17

Th er e is a ye t m or e es se nt ia l po in t: A fte r hi s in iti al ve rs io n of th e
st or y in O ct ob er 19 27 , in w hi ch he da te s Le ni n' s st at em en t to
19 21 , Tr ot sk y us ua lly tie s it to th e di sc us si on ar ou nd th e ch oi ce of
St al in as G en er al Se cr et ar y of th e Pa rty , w hi ch to ok pl ac e at th e XI
Pa rt y Co ng re ss in March-April 19 22 .

Th is is ho w w e kn ow Tr ot sk y w as ly in g. Fi rs t, be ca us e in iti al ly
ev en Tr ot sk y di d no t co nn ec t th e st or y w ith St al in 's ap po in tm en t.
Se co nd , be ca us e, by all ac co un ts , it w as Le ni n hi m se lf w ho pr o-
po se d Stalin as G en er al Se cr et ar y.

Iu rii Fe l's ht in sk y is a pr om in en t an d de vo te d Ru ss ia n Tr ot sk yi st
sc ho la r w ho , pr ed ic ta bl y, ha te s St al in . Fe l's ht in sk y w rit es :

0T M eT HM , t.ITO )J;O Ha l.J aJ ia 6oJie3HH JleHHHa HH Ka KH X

IlO JIH TH l.J eC I<H X pa 3H O·r Jia CH H MeJK~Y Jle HH .H bIM 11

CT aJ IH Hh IM He ohrJio. (V oz hd y 25 0)

Tr an sl at ed :

We no te th at be fo re th e on se t of Le ni n' s ill ne ss th er e
w er e no po lit ic al di sa gr ee m en ts be tw ee n Le ni n an d St a-
lin.

Th e XI Pa rt y Co ng re ss to ok pl ac e im m ed ia te ly be fo re Le ni n be -
ca m e ill.

Fe l's ht in sk y do es no t ci te an y ot he r so ur ce fo r th e ''p ep pe ry
di sh es st at em en t. In fa ct
1
' he do es no t en do rs e it hi m se lf bu t
m er el y qu ot es Tr ot sk y' s te xt (p . 27 4) . He th en go es on to qu ot e (p .
33 3, no te 5) Le ni n' s rin gi ng en do rs em en t of St al in at th is 11 th
th e Ru ss ia n ed iti on of Le ni n' s Co mpl et e Co l~
Pa rt y Co ng re ss fr om
lected Works~
BoT ITpeo6paJKeHCKMH 3AeCh JierKo 6pocaJI, l.JTO CT aJ IH H B

ABYX KO MM CC ap Ha Ta x A KT O He rp er ne H 113 Ha e. KTo He op aJ J

HeCKOJihK'.O oo fl3 aH HO CT eH cpasy. ~a H Ka K MO /KH O ,n; eJ iaT b

qT O Mb l MO )!{ eM ce iiq ac c,n ;eJ iaT b, l:£ T0 6h I 6b IJI O

:HH atJ e.
o6ecneqeHo cym;ecTByrom;ee noJJo/KeHMe B Ha pK OM Ha u,e ,

"IT O Ob ! pa36HpaTbC.H co BC eM :H Ty pK eC Ta HC KM MH ,

Ka BK a3 CK HM H H np o'l :H MH Bo np oc aM H. Be,n;h 3T O Bee

18 Tro tsk y's Lies

noJ IHT ifqe cK He Bo npo cbr . A pa 3p em aT b 3TH Bo npo cbr

Heo6X OA HM O, 3TO .. BO IIpO CbI , KO TO pbi e COTHH Jie T 3aH MM aJI H
. u

eB pon eH CK He rocy,n;apCTBa, KOTOpbie B HHqTO/KHOH AOJie

v

pa 3p elli eH hI B ,n;eMoKpaTHqecKHX pec ny6 nH Ka x. Mb r HX

pa3 per nae M, H HaM HY)KHO, qT0 6b1 y Ha e 6hIJI qeJ ioB eK , K
KO TO poM y JII0 60H H3 npeACTaBHTeJieH: Ha qH H Mo r 6br TIOHTH H
rro,n;po6HO paCCKa3aTb, B l.feM ,n;eJIO. f ,n;e ero pa3 bIC Ka Tb. fl
~yM aIO , 11 ITp eo6 pam eH CK HH He Mo r 6br Ha 3B aTh AP Yro H:
Ka Hf: \IIA aTy pbI, KpOMe TOBapHI.Qa CTaJIHHa. 4

Tr an sla ted :

He re is Pr eo bra zh en sk y ca su all y tos sin g ou t the rem ark

th at Sta lin is he ad of tw o co mm iss ari ats . Bu t wh o am on g
us is no t gu ilty of the sa me thi ng ? W ho ha s no t tak en
sev era l res po ns ibi lit ies at the sa me tim e? Mo reo ve r, ho w
co uld it be oth erw ise ? W ha t ca n we do no w to gu ara nte e
the cu rre nt sit ua tio n in the Co mm iss ari at of Na tio na li-
tie s, to de al wi th all the Tu rke sta n, Ca uc asu s, an d oth er
qu est ion s? Fo r the se are all po liti cal pro ble ms . An d it is
ess en tia l to res olv e the se pro ble ms . Th ese are pr ob lem s
th at ha ve oc cu pie d Eu rop ea n po we rs for ce ntu rie s an d
wh ich are sca rce ly res olv ed in the de mo cra tic rep ub lic s.
W e are res olv ing the m an d we ne ed a ma n wh om an y of
the na tio na l rep res en tat ive s ca n ap pr oa ch an d ex pla in in
de tai l wh at is the ma tte r. W he re can we fin d him ? I thi nk
th at ev en Pr eo br az he ns ky co uld no t na me an oth er ca n-
did ate be sid es co mr ad e Sta lin .

Ab du rak hm an Av tor kh an ov , a fer oc iou sly an ti- Sta lin wr ite r, sta ted
tha t Sta lin wa s ele cte d Ge ne ral Se cre tar y on Ap ril 3, 19 22 , ''at
Le nin ,s pro po sal .')

4 Lenin, Polnoe Sobranie Sochinenii 45, p. 122 , At htt p:// nglib ..

fre e.ru /bo ok_ vie w.j sp? idn =00 157 9& pag e=1 22& for ma t=h tml Also in the
tra nsc rip t of the 11th Par ty Co ngr ess : XI c'beaa PKT I (6). 27 Ma p ma 2 anp e.11R
1922 2. M.: ITa pTH s,n;aT) 193 6, p. 150 (M arch 27) . Thi s is the firs t edi tio n of the
tra nsc rip t of thi s Par ty Co ngr ess (W orl dca tAc ces sio n Nu mb er 837 236 13) .
Chaper 1, Trot sky's Lies 19

Ern;e np11 rrepBOM nocJiecTaJJHHCKOM '{KOJIJieKTHBHOM

pyKoBO)J;CTBe}' BhillleJI 3HIJ;HKJiorre,n;HtiecKHH CJIOBapb, rAe B
611orpacpHH CTaJI11Ha np.HMO 11 tte.n;BycMhICJieHHO HarrHcaHo
cJie~yro~ee: ''TiocJie XI c'bes~a rrapTHHJ 3 anpe nR 192 2
rrneHyM IJ;eHTpaJibHoro KoMHTeTa rrapTHH no rrpeAJIO)f(eHHID
B. Yi. lieH HHa 11s6paJI H. 8. CTaJIHHa rettepaJihHbIM
ceKpeTapeM l(K napTHM. Ha 3TOM noc Ty Yi. B. CTaJIHH pa6oTaJI
;i;o 0 K T fl 6 p H 1 9 5 2, a 3aTeM f];O KOHIJ;a CBOeH /KH3HH
HBJIHJICH c e K p e T a p e M U K'' (pa3pH,n;Ka MOH. - A. A.)
(3H~MKJiorre,n;H'LleCKHH CJIOBapb B 3 TOMax. M. 195 5, T. III, cTp.
310 ). 5

Tra nsla ted:

Dur ing the firs t post~Stalin peri od of ''col lect ive lead er-
ship'} the Ency.clopedic dictionary was pub lish ed, whe re
in the bio gra phy of Stal in we find wri tten , dire ctly and
une quiv oca lly, the foll owi ng: ''Af ter the XI Con gres s of
the Par ty, on Apr il 3, 1922} th.e Ple num of the Cen tral
Com mit tee of the Par ty, acc ord ing to the pro pos al of V.I.
Lenin, elec ted J.V. Stal in as Gen eral Sec reta ry of the CC of
the Par ty. J.V. Stal in wor ked at this pos t unti l Oct ob·e r
19 5 2, and the n unti l his dea th was Sec reta ry of the CC''
(em pha sis min e - A.A.). - [Encyclopedic dictionary in 3
volumes. Mos cow , 195 5, vol. 3, p. 310 ].
Mol otov agr ees and eve n say s tha t Len in wor ked har d to ove r-
com e obje ctio ns to this pro pos al.

- HeO)K:H)J;aHHO ,aJI.H ce6.H B 19 21 ro,n;y .H cTaJI CeKpeTapeM

U.K. l13 Tpe x ceKpeTapeif OhIJI ceKpeTapttaT: MoJioToB,
RpocJiaBCKHH, MHxaHJIOB, KaK 6bIJio ony6JIHI<oBaHo, MoJIOTOB
- 0TBeTcTBeHHbIH ceKpeTapb. He 6b1J I0 TOrAa e~e nep Boro ,
reHepaJibHOro, 6bIJI OTBeTCTBeHHbIH. IlpH eMH bie .IJ;HH 6bJJIH
orry6JIMKOBaHbI. JI BCTpeTHJICH c lleHHHhIM. MbI c HHM
no6ece;:i;oBaJIH no pH,n;y Bon poco B, rroToM ryJI.H JIH no KpeMJIID.

5 A. ABTopxaHoB 3aza8Ku c.Mepmu Cma.11uHa. BapHayJJ . AJJTai1cKoe KH.H )KHO e

H3AaTeJibCTBO, 1993. At~ http~//mario21.narod.ru/docs/stalin/7 .htm Also in
Novy i Mir 1991 , p. 205.
 1

20 Tr ots ky s Lies

op HT : Ba M coB eT yFO : Bb l ;J;O JI)K Hb I KaK

OH roB <<T oJi bK O JI
CeKpeT ap b UK 3aHH Ma Tb CH no JIH Tif qe cK o:H pa 6o To H, ae ro
TeXHHqecK yJ:O pa .6o Ty Ha 3aM OB H ITOMO rn;HHK OB . Bo T 6bI JI y
Hae )J,O c11x no p CeKpeTapeM UK Kp ec TH HC KH H, Ta K OH 6bIJI
ynpaa.n ;eJiaM H, a He Ce Kp eT ap b UK ! BcHK OM epy H)J ,OH
3aHHMaJIC.H, a He ITOJIHTHKOH[>>

3To rrocJie X c'be3,n;a rrapTHH. A Ha XI cbe3Ae rroHBHJICR Ta K

Ha 3b IBa eM hIH <<CTilf COK .n;ec.HTKH>> cpa MH JIH H

np e)J ;llO Jia rae Mh IX qJi eH OB QK, CT Op OH HH KO B J1e HH Ha . l1

npoTaB <PaMHJIHH CTaJIHHa py Ko H Jie HH Ha 6hIJio Han11caHo:
<<reHepaJihHhIH ceKpeTaph>>. Jle HH H op raH H3 os an
OH HO e co 6p aH He <<,n;eC.HTKH> >. r)J ,e- TO B0 3J le
cppaKu;H
CBep)J,JIOB cKoro 3a Jia Kp eM JI.H KO MH aT y Ha rne JI, yro Bo pH1111 ch;
cpp aK u;H OH HO e co6p aH He , TpO IJ;K HC TO B He Jib 3H , pa 6o qy w
...,
OT III0 3H I.\H ID HeJ1h3H, ,n; eM OK pa TH qe cK HH u;e HT pa JIH 3M TO )Ke
He np11rnawaTh, TO Jih KO 0)1,HH Kp en KH e CT Op OH HH KH
<<)J,eC .HT KH> >, TO ec T.h Jie HH HIJ ;bI . Co 6p aJI, no -M Oe My , qe Jio Be K
)J,Ba,n;u;a Tb OT Ha H6 on ee Kp yrr t
· thI X op raH H3 a1 'HH ne pe .n;
roJiocoBaH He M. CT aJI HH )J,aJKe yn pe KH YJ I J1e HH Ha , )J, ecK aT h, y
Hae ceKpeTHoe HJIH rro Jiy ce Kp eT Ho e coaern;attHe Bo BpeM.H
C'b e3, n;a , Ka K-TO cp pa K~ HO HH O ITO Jiy qae TC 5I, a lle Hi ifH roB op HT :

<<ToBa pH ~ CT aJI HH , Bb l-T O CT apbIM , Oil blT Hh lH cppa Kl\ HOHe p!

He COMHeB aHTeCb , Ha M ce ifq ac He J1b 3H HH aq e, JI xo qy , qT o6 bI

Bee 6b IJI M xo po rno no .n; roT OB Jie Hb I K ronocoBaHHIO, Ha,n;o

npe~yn pe ,n ;M Tb TO Ba pH ~e H, qT OO bI TB ep,n;o roJ IOC OB aJI M sa

3T OT cn Hc oK 6e 3 rro rrp aB oK ! Cr rxc oK <<,n;ec HTK H>> Ha ,n;o

np oB ec TH 4eJIHKOM. Ec Tb 6o Jib llla fl onacHOCTb, t.fTO cTaHyT
rOJ IOC OB aT h no JIMIJ;aM, .n;o 6aB JI.H Th: BO T 3T OT xo pO illH H
.....
JIMTepa To p, era tta,n;o, ST OT xop ow 11 11 op aT op 11 pa3)K H)K aT
crr11coK, on. HT b y Ha e He 6y, n;e T 6o Jib llIH HC TB a. A Ka K To r,n;a
PYKOBO)J;HTb!>>

A Be,D;b Ha X c1>e3f1ie JieHHH aanpeTHJI <l:>paK~HH.

MroJ ioc oB aJ IH c 3T HM np 11 Me qa HH eM B cK o6 Ka x. CT aJ IHH cT aJ I

feH ep aJ ILH &I M. Jle HH HY 3T o oo JIL WH X TPYAOB CT OH JIO . Ho

OH , KOHeqHo, Bo rrp oc ,n;ocTaToqHo r JIYOOKO rrpo,n;yMaJI H ,n;a
JI
J:

ITOH.HTh, Ha pa BH flT hC 5I. Jle HH H, BH,D;HMO, rro cq HT aJ I, 'tJTO 5I

Ko ra
Ta To qH bIH IlO JIH TH K, HO B ceK pe Ta p.H X H B Tio JIH T6 IO po
He ,n; oc
Me HH OC TaB HJ I, a CT aJIHH a c,n;eJiaJI ret tep aJ ibH bIM . OH ,
 Chaper 1, Trotsky' s Lies 21

KOHeLIH O, roTOBHJ IC.H, qyBCTBY .H 6oJie3H b CBOIO. B11.n;eJI JlH OH B

CTaJJHH e CBOero rrpeeMH HKa? ~yMaro, 'CfTO M 3TO MOrJIO
yqHThlB aTbC.H. A ~JI.H qero Hy)KeH 6bIJI reHepaJ ihHbIH
ceKpeTa pb? HHKor.n;a He 6h1110, Ho nocTene HHO asTop11 TeT
CTaJIHHa no,n;H.HJICH H Bbipoc B ropaa,n;o 6oJiblllee, t.IeM
rrpe~noJiaraJI JleHHH HJIH qeM OH ~a/Ke cqHTaJI
'.>KeJiaT eJibHhIM . Ho npeJiiBH ,n;eTb Bee, KOHe'1H o, 6h1JI0
HeB03M O/KHO, a B ycJIOBH. HX OCTpoii 6opb6b I BOKpyr CTaJIHH a
BCe 6oJiee CKOJiaq HBaJiaC b aKTHBHaH rpynna
.zl:3ep)KHHCKHH, Kyif 6hIIIIeB, ¢pytt3e H .n;pyr11e, ot.teHb pa3Hbre
JIID~H. 6

Transla ted:

Unexpe ctedly, in 19211 I becam e a Secreta ry of the Cen-

tral Commi ttee. The Secreta riat was compri sed of three
secreta ries: Moloto v, Yarosla vsky, and Mikhai lov. As has
been publish ed, Moloto v was executi ve secreta ry. There
was not at that time a first or Genera l Secreta ry but an
executi ve secreta ry. Recept ion days were made public. I
met with Lenin. We discuss ed a numbe r of questio ns and
then walked around the Kremli n. He said: ''But I advise
you: as Secreta ry of the CC you must take care of the po-
litical work. Leave, all the technic al work to your second ..
in-com mand and assista nts. Here we had until now
Krestin sky as Secreta ry of the Centra l Comm ittee but he
was a busine ss manag er, not Secreta ry of the CC! He oc-
cupied himsel f with every trivial matter but not with
politics !''

This was after the X Congre ss of the Party. And at the XI

Congre ss appear ed the so-call ed ''list of ten'' .. the names
of propos ed membe rs of the Centra l Commi ttee, Lenin's
suppor ters. And beside Stalin's name in Lenin's hand
was written : ''Gener al Secreta ry." Lenin organiz ed a fac . .
tional meetin g of the ''ten." Somew here near Sverdl ovsk

6Felix Chuev1 Molotov. Poluderz havniy Vlastelin, pp. 239-241 . This is an expande d
version of the _b ook publishe d in English as Molotov Rememb ers.
 1
Tr ot sk y s Lies
22

Hall of th e K re m li n I fo un d a ro om . T he y w er e pe r-
suaded~ th is is a fa ct io na l m ee ti ng , T ro ts ky is ts , w or ke rs '
op po si ti on , th e D em oc ra ti c C en tr al is ts - do n' t in vi te
th em , on ly th e fir m su pp or te rs of th e '(t en ,'
1
th at is1 th e
Le ni ni st s. I ga th er ed , I th in k, ab ou t tw en ty pe op le fr om
am on g th e st ro ng es t or ga ni za .ti on s be fo re th e vo te . St a-
lin ev en re pr oa ch ed Le ni n, sa yi ng th at w e ar e ha vi ng a
se cr et or se m i- se cr et m ee ti ng du ri ng th e co nv en ti on ,
so m et hi ng fa ct io na l is ta ki ng pl ac e, an d Le ni n sa id :
''C om ra de Stal in , yo u ar e an ol d, ex pe ri en ce d fa ct io na lis t!
Have no do ub t, w e ca n' t do ot he rw is e no w . I w an t ev e ..
ry on e to be w el l pr ep ar ed fo r th e vo te ) it is ne ce ss ar y to
w ar n th e co m ra de s to vo te fo r th is li st w it ho ut am en d-
m en t! W e ne ed to ca rr y th ro ug h w it h th e li st of 'te n' as a
w ho le . T he re is a gr ea t da ng er th at if pe op le vo te fo r in -
di vi du al s th ey w ill sa y: H er e is a go od w ri te r, w e ne ed
hi m ; th is is a go od sp ea ke r - th ey w ill te ar up th is sh ee t
an d on ce ag ai n w e w ill no t ha ve th e m aj or ity . A nd th en ,
ho w· ca n w e le ad !''

B ut at th e X C on gr es s, Le ni n ha d ba nn ed fa ct io ns .

A nd th ey vo te d w it h th is no te in br ac ke ts . St al in be -
ca m e Gen er al Se cr et ar y. T hi s co st L en in a lo t of
work. B ut he, of co ur se , ha d th ou gh t th ro ug h th e qu es -
ti on de ep ly en ou gh an d m ad e it cl ea r w ho to re ly on .
Le ni n ap pa re nt ly de ci de d th at I w as no t en ou gh of a
po lit ic ia n, bu t he le ft m e as a Se cr et ar y an d in th e Po lit -
bu ro an d m ad e St al in G en er al Se cr et ar y. H e, of co ur se ,
w as pr ep ar in g hi m se lf , fe el in g hi s si ck ne ss . D id he se e
St al in as hi s su cc es so r? I th in k yo u ca n co un t on th at . B ut
w ha t w as th e ne ed fo r a G en er al Se cr et ar y? T he re ha d
ne ve r be en on e. B ut gr ad ua ll y St al in 's au th or it y ro se an d
gr ew in to so m et hi ng m uc h la rg er th an L en in ha d an tic i-
pa te d or ev en th ou gh de si ra bl e. B ut of c9 ur se it w as im -
po ss ib le to fo re se e ev er yt hi ng , an d un de r co nd it io ns of
sh ar p st ru gg le an ac tiv e gr ou p be ga n to fo rm it se lf
 1
Chaper 1. Trot sky s Lies 23

aro und Stalin .... Dzerzhinsky) Kuibyshev} Fru nze and

othe rs) ver y diff eren t peo ple.

Rob ert Service cites Molotov here , and doe s not que stio n wh at he
says. For Service} Lenin eith er ''cho se Stalin'' or ''su ppo rted a pro -
pos al'' by som eon e else.

He [Lenin] was eag er to hav e Stalin bac k at his side .

Hav ing recr uite d him to the Len inis t cause in the trad e
uni on disp ute, Lenin. sup por ted a pro pos al to mak e him
Gen eral Sec reta ry of the Rus sian Com mun ist Part y.

Con ven tion ally it has bee n sup pos ed tha t Stalin was put
in office bec aus e he was an exp erie nce d bur eau cra t wit h
an unu sua l cap acit y for not bein g bor ed by adm inis tra-
tive work~ The facts do not bea r this out .... The reas on
why Lenin cho se Stalin was less adm inis trat ive than po-
litical. He wan ted one of his allies in a pos t cru.cial to the
mai nten anc e of his policies . (Stalin 189 -19 0)

Oth er sou rces agr ee tha t at the XI Par ty Con gres s Len in nom inat ed
Stalin to the pos t of General Sec reta ry.

Stalin was form ally app oin ted on April 3, 192 2, at the firs t mee ting
of the new Cen tral Com mit tee afte r the Congress. In fact, I can not
find any sou rce tha t disa gree s - except, implicitly, Tro tsky , and
Tro tsky ist wri ters who just echo wha t Tro tsky late r wro te.

Tro tsky con trad icte d him self abo ut whe n Lenin sup pos edly mad e
the rem ark , und er wha t circ ums tanc es, and who hea rd him mak e
it. The refo re the ''pe ppe ry dish es'' stor y is a lie.

But Tro tsky told it ove r and ove r again, man y tim es ove r a num ber
of yea rs. Eve ntua lly he eve n call ed it Len in's ''fam ous rem ark. " This
is a pro pag and a tech niqu e: claim the rem ark is so ;'famous'' tha t
''ev ery bod y kno ws it'' and so no evid enc e for it is nec essa ry.

It's eas y to see why Tro tsky like d this stor y and wan ted oth ers to
beli eve it. It mad e him app ear as tho ugh he had bee n clos e to
Lenin, par t of the ''small circle," one of Lenin's ''mo st inti mat e com-
 Tr ot sk y's Lies
24

lo ok lik e so m eo ne w ho m L en in op po se d
ra de s. ' It m ad e St al in
1

fr om a da te m uc h ea rl ie r th an 19 23 , w he n L en in w as ve ry ill.

th at he co ul d ge t aw ay w it h re pe at in g
But ho w co ul d T ro ts ky th in k
ag ai n? Fo r on e th in g) it w ou ld no t ha ve be en
th is lie ov er an d ov er
30 s. T he pr oc ee di ng s of th e XI C on gr es s
ea sy to re fu te it in th e 19
ti l 19 36 . V er y fe w pe op le w ou ld ha ve bo th . .
w er e no t pu bl is he d un
of th e so ur ce s I ci te he re w er e no t to
er ed to ch ec k th em . T he re st
be pu bl is he d fo r m an y ye ar s.
er to w ho m T ro ts ky w as ad dr es si ng th is an d
W e sh ou ld al so co ns id
th is w or k. T hi s w as , in th e m ai n, hi s
th e ot he r lie s I do cu m en t in
is ts . W ho el se w as re ad in g T ro ts ky 's m at e ..
su pp or te rs , th.e T ro ts ky
ri al s? 7

T ro ts ky 's fo ll ow er s believed T ro ts ky . V ir tu al ly no on e el se di d. A nd
fo ll ow er s to be li ev e th at he , no t St al in ,
T ro ts ky w an te d his ow n
so ci at e. T ro ts ky 's es sa ys w er e pu b-
ha d be en L en in 's cl os es t as
hi s B iu lle te n' O pp oz itsii. M an y w er e
li sh ed pr im ar il y in R us si an in
ed in pa m ph le ts an d in ne w sp ap er s bu t
tr an sl at ed an d di·s tr ib ut
al w ay s by T ro ts ky 's ow n su pp or te rs .
re la ti ve ly ea sy to ex po se to da y. B ut I
T hi s sp ec if ic lie of T ro ts ky 's is
be en ex po se d be fo re . O ne m ig ht th in k th at
ca n, t fi nd th at it ha s
ov em en t m ig ht ha ve do ne so . A ft er
m em be rs of th e T ro ts ky is t m
th e w or ld ar e re al ly in te re st ed in T ro ts ky ,
all, fe w ot he r pe op le in
s w or ks ca re fu lly an d us e th em in ju dg ..
re al ly m ot iv at ed to st ud y hi
in g So vi et hi st or y.
in sk y no ti ce d th is in co ng ru it y be . .
I no te d ab ov e th at Iu ri i Fe l's ht
ry di sh es '' ta le an d th e re al it y th at Le ni n
tw ee n T ro ts ky 's ''p ep pe
er al Se cr et ar y. B ut ev en Fe l's ht in sk y,
ha d pr op os ed St al in as G en
pa bl e T ro ts ky is t hi st or ia ns to da y, di d no t
su re ly am on g th e m os t ca

e ca pi ta lis t pr es s. Na tu ra lly , w ha te ve r lie s he

7 Tr ot sk y also w ro te ar tic le s for th
io ns ha d to be re pe at ed th er e to o. Bu t re ad .er s of th e
to ld in his ow n pu bl ic at
ca pi ta lis t pr es s w er e no t his pr im ar y audience.
Chaper 1. Trotsky}s Lies 25

come out and state: ''Trotsky must have been lying; he must have
fabricated this story)" etc.

Whatever the difficulty of uncovering this specific lie of Trotsky's,

it is much harder to discover those of Trotsky's lies that I discuss
and utilize as evidence in this book. I was only able to find them
because I was looking for them) I was guided by the hypothesis
that Trotsky often lied. This hypothesis suggested itself after
studying the research of Pierre Broue) Arch Getty, and Sven .. Eric
Holmstrom. They had revealed the fact that Trotsky lied about im-
portant matters.

At length it occurred to me to wonder: ''If Trotsky lied about these

1
things, maybe he also lied about other important things as well.'
Only then did I begin to look for other lies by Trotsky. And} sure
enough, I discovered some.

The Structure of This Book

11
Trotsky's ''peppery dishes lie is, in terms of its practical impact,
not very important. I include it here because this lie is indicative of
1
Trotsky s overall character and reliability. As we will see in other
contexts many times, Trotsky lied a lot!

Trotsky was not afraid to lie even when it was not important) at
that moment} to tell that particular lie, After all, in telling this ''cook
... peppery dishes'' lie Trotsky took some chance that his lie would
be discovered.

But what did he stand to gain by telling it that he would not have
gained if he had not told it? Nothingj as far I can determine. True, it
suggests that a clear-headed Lenin opposed Stalin something 1

Trotsky wished others to believe. But if he had never told this par-
ticular lie no one would have missed it, because no one would have
expected it in the first place. Probably no one became a Trotskyist,
or gave money to the Trotskyist movement, just because of this
story. The most one can say for this fable is that it is consistent
1 1
with Trotsky s overall project of presenting himself as Lenin s
closest confidant, his best student, and therefore his rightful heir.
 Tro tsk y s Lies
1

26

Pe rha ps thi s is the rea so n th at Tr ots ky wa s wi llin g to lie rep ea t-

ed ly ev en wh en the re wa s litt le ga in to be ha d an d de sp ite the fac t
tha t the re wa s alw ay s a ris k of be ing ex po sed as a lia r. An d tha t
1

was a possibility~ Anyone wh o fou nd tha t sp ee ch of Tr ots ky s in the

No ve mb er 2, 19 27 , iss ue of Pr avd a an d co mp are d the ''co ok ...
pe pp ery dis he s 1
've rsi on the re wi th the wa y Tr ots ky tol d it rep eat .-
ed ly du rin g the 19 30 s co uld ea sil y se e tha t Tr ots ky ha d ch an ge d
his sto ry.

This gives us a ve ry int ere sti ng ins igh t int o the mi nd of Tr ots ky . It
ref lec ts a kin d of bra va do or arr og an ce : ''I ca n ma ke stu ff up , an d
pe op le will be lie ve it." Ho w mu ch mo re, the ref ore , sh ou ld we ex-
pe ct Tr ots ky to be wi llin g to lie wh en the re wa s so me thi ng im po r . .
tan·t at sta ke , so me thi ng su bs tan tia l to be ga ine d by lyi ng an d/ or to
be los t by no t lyi ng ? Un de r su ch cir cu ms tan ce s we sh ou ld ex pe ct
Tr ots ky to lie rea dil y, wh en ev er he tho ug ht it ex pe die nt to do so.
And tha t is exactly wh at I ha ve found,

In the pr es en t bo ok I ex am ine so me int ere sti ng an d bo ld lies by

Tr ots ky tha t I ha ve dis co ve red } an d co ns ide r the im pli ca tio ns of
tho se liesl I wi.1 1 arg ue tha t, tog eth er wi th oth er ev ide nc e, Tr ots ky 's
lies rev ea l mu ch ab ou t his a
cl· nd est ine co ns pir ato ria l act ivi tie s.
Moreover, wh at the y rev ea l is co ns ist en t bo th wi th Mo sco w Tr ial s
tes tim on y - tes tim on y wh os e va lid ity we ca n no w accept, ha vin g
tes ted an d pro ve n it in Pa rt On e of Tr ots ky' s 'Am alg am s' an d in Th e
Mosco w Tri als as Ev idenc e - an d wi th oth er pr im ary so urc e ev i-
de nc e.

Tr ots ky 's lie s - tho se dis co ve red fir st by oth ers lik e Br au e, Ge tty ,
an d Ho lm str om , an d so me th at I ha ve dis co ve red - are ce ntr al to
un de rst an din g Tr ots ky him sel f, the Op po sit ion co ns pir ac ies , the
Mo sco w Tr ial s, the Tu kh ac he vs ky Af fair, or Mi lita ry Pu rge s - in
sh ort , all the hig h po liti cs of the So vie t Un ion du rin g the 19 30 s.
The bo ok as a wh ole c·a n be rea d as a co mm en tar y on so me ve ry
int ere sti ng fal seh oo ds tha t Tr ots ky ch os e to pro pa ga te, an d wh ich
he wa s, on the wh ole , su cc ess ful at ge tti ng otl ier s to be lie ve . In-
deed, the y are still wi de ly be lie ve d today.
Chaper 1. Trotsky>s Lies 27

The facts uncovered and discussed in this book should be of great

interest to those who wish to learn the truth about the high poli ..
tics of the Soviet Union during the 1930s, and also those who have
a genuine interest in the prominent political actors of that period,
including Trotsky himself.

*****
All boldface emphases are by me unless otherwise noted.

I would like to e·xpress my special thanks to Bill Sacks, whose ad ..

vice and criticism has been more helpful than I can truly say; to
Mike Bessler, my tireless publisher, editor, and friend; and to Dr.
Susana M. Sotillo, incisive critic, great scholar, and supportive
companera.
N
 Ch apt er 2. Tro tsk y on the Kirov
Ass ass ina tio n

On Dece mber 1, 1934 Serg ei M. Kirov, First Secr etary of the Bol--
shev ik party in Leni ngra d, Polit buro mem ber, and close assoc iate
of Josep h Stalin, was murd ered outsi de his office by Leon id Niko-
laevJ an unem ploy ed party mem ber. Niko laev then tried to comm it
suici de but failed and was captu red. With in a few days he had
nam ed as his acco mpli ces a num ber of mem bers of an unde r . .
grou nd grou p of Party mem bers loyal to Grig ory Zinoviev, who m
Kirov had repla ced as Leni ngra d party chief.

Stud y of the disco verie s made durin g the past seve ral deca des in
the Harv ard Trot sky Arch ive and of docu ment s from form er Sovi et
archi ves publ ished since the end of the USSR perm its us to read
1
Trot sky s writi ngs on the Kirov assas sinat ion in a new light. Trot-
sky's artic le purp orts to be an attem pt to unde rstan d the Kirov
assas sinat ion by scrut inizi ng the Sovi et gove rnme nt's repo rting
abou t it.

. But now we can see that it is not this at all. Rath er, Trot sky s arti-
1

cle is a cover--up, an attem pt to use lies and misd irect ion to keep
1
hidd en Trot sky s and his follo wers ' invo lvem ent in a bloc with the
cland estin e Zino vievi st grou p that did carry out Kirov's murd er.

The Biull eten' Oppo zitsii - in English, the Bulle tin of the [Rus sian]
Oppo sitio n (hen cefo rth 8 . 0.) - was Leon Trots ky)s perio dical jour-
nal durin g the year s betw een his expu lsion from the Sovi et Unio n
1929 and his assas sinat ion i.n Augu st 1940 . Writ ten and publ ished
in Russian, it has neve r been trans lated in its entir ety. How ever,
many of Trot sky's indiv idual artic les, publ ished first in the B.O.,
have been trans lated and publ ished sepa ratel y. In the case of B.O.
#41 of Janu ary 1935 , a singl e artic le of Trot sky's occu pied an en-
tire issue . I have verif ied that the Engl ish versi on, titled ''The Sta-
linis t Bure aucr acy and the Assa ssina tion of Kirov," is a faithful
 Ch apt er 2. Tro tsk y on the Kirov As sas sin atio n 29

tra ns lat ion of the en tir e issue #4 1 of the B.O. an d will us e t.h e Eng-
lish tra ns lat ion here.1

''Amalgam''
I ne ed to say so me thi ng ab ou t Tr ots ky 's fre qu en t us e of the wo rd
''am alg am ." In Ru ssi an am al' ga ma ca n be us ed to me an an y kin d of
mi xtu re or co mb ina tio n. Tr ots ky us es it ve ry fre qu en tly in Ru ssi an
to me an so me thi ng like ''false ac co un t of events.'} Fo llo wi ng Tr ot-
sk y's pra cti ce his En gli sh tra ns lat or s em plo y the wo rd ' am alg am ."1

Tr ots ky us es the wo rd ''am alg am '' tw o do ze n tim es in thi s on e art i-

cle alo ne . He de fin es it in the fol low ing way:

It was clear, ho we ve r, tha t thi s inf orm ati on rel ati ng to the
('Zinoviev gro up '' wa s no t iss ue d by ac cid en t; it co uld im ply
no thi ng els e bu t the pr ep ara tio n of a jur al ''am alg am ," tha t
is to say, a co ns cio us ly false att em pt to im pli ca te in the as-
sas sin ati on of Kirov ind ivi du als and gr ou ps wh o did no t
and co uld no t ha ve anything in co mm on with th e ter-
ro ris t act.
One no tew or thy res ult of my res ea rch is the dis co ve ry tha t it wa s
no t Sta lin bu t rat he r Tr ots ky him sel f wh o co mp os ed ''am alg am s 1
'

the ''co ns cio us ly false'' ac co un ts of ev en ts su rro un din g the Kirov

mu rde r.

Tr ots ky 's ow n ''am alg am s'' - on e of wh ich wa s the ch arg e tha t it

wa s Sta lin wh o wa s co mp os ing ''am alg am s'' - se rv ed Tr ots ky 's
aim s in tw o wa ys. Fir st, the y we re an att em pt to dis cre dit acc usa -
tio ns ma de by the So vie t pro sec uti on ag ain st the va rio us opposi~
tio nis ts. All of the se me n ha d be en fol low ers of Tr ots ky 's, ha d
wo rk ed clo sel y wi th Tr ots ky , or we re fol low ers of on e or mo re of

1 ''Le on Tro tsk y: On t'he Kirov As sas sin atio n (De cem ber 193 4). 11 At
htt p:/ /ww w.m arx ists .or g/a rch ive /tro tsk y/19 34 /12 /ki rov .ht m Unless o·t her wis e
identified, all quo tati ons att rib ute d to Tro tsk y her e are to thi s two~part arti cle .
Th e Ru ssia n ori gin al of Biul/eten' Oppozitsii is at
htt p:/ /ww w.m it.e du/ peo ple /fjk /BO /B0 -41 .ht m.l and at
htt p:/ /ww w.1 91· 7.c om /M arx ism /Tr ots ky/BO /BO_N o_41/ Ma in. htm l
30 Tr ot sk y's Lies

th e op po si tio ni st s w ho , lik e Zi no vi ev , ha d w or ke d cl os el y w ith

Tr ot sk y.

Second, by ac cu si ng St al in of co m po si ng ''a m al ga m s,, , i.e. of ly ing,

Tr ot sk y de fle ct ed at te nt io n aw ay fr om hi s ow n fa ls eh oo ds . Si nc e
m an y of th es e lies of Tr ot sk y s co ul d 1
ha ve ea si ly be en di sc ov er ed if
an yo ne ha d checked} pe rh ap s th e on ly ef fe ct iv e ''s m ok es cr ee n' ' or
co ve r- up at Tr ot sk y s di sp1
os al w as to ca ll St al n
i· th e lia r fir st.

Tr ot sk y lis te d th e fif te en M o.s co w -b as ed Zi no vi ev is ts w ho se ar . .

re st s ha d be en an no un ce d in Pr av da . Tw o of th os e ar re st ed w er e
Grigory Zinoviev an d Le v K am en ev , w ho w e kn ow w er e pa rt of th e
bl oc of Tr ot sk yi st s an d Zi no vi ev is ts fo rm ed w ith Tr ot sk y s pe rm is -
1

si on in 19 32 . A th ir d w as Sa fa ro v, a Zi no vi ev fo llo w er w ho m Le on
Sedov, Tr ot sk y' s so n an d hi s m ai n po lit ic al ai de , ha d id en tif ie d in
19 32 as on e w ho w ou ld sh or tly jo in th e bl oc .z I ha ve re pr od uc ed
th e te xt s of Se do v' s an d Tr ot sk y' s le tte rs ab ou t th e bl oc at th e en d
of th e pr es en t vo lu m e.

W e ha ve in de pe nd en t ev id en ce fr om So vi et ar ch iv es th at Sa fa ro v
w as re cr ui tin g ot he rs to th is sa m e bl oc in A ug us t 19 32 . A cc or di ng
to th is te st im on y Sa fa ro v w as te lli ng ot he rs th at th e bl oc ha d re gu ..
la r co nt ac t w ith Trotsky, 3 a fa ct co nf irm ed by m at er ia ls in th e H ar -
va rd Tr ot sk y Archive.
B aa ry cT e 19 32 r. H 6h IJI y He ro B Mo cK Be Ha yJ IH u;e

, 5 B ~o Me co Be To B. CA <PAP OB , y6 e~ HB ll IH Ch B
fp at to ac Ko ro
MO HX aH TH CO B€ TC KH X y6eJK,n ;eH HH ) co o6 IQ HJ I
H€ H3 Me HH OC TH

n Le on Se do v dis cu ssi ng th e fo rm ati on of th e blo c

2 Le tte rs by Tr ot sk y an d his so
mp os iti on we re di sc ov er ed in 19 80 in th e Ha rv ar d Tr ot sk y
in 19 32 an d its co
Br ou e, at th e tim e th e mo st pr om in en t Tr ot sk yi st hi sto ria n in
Archive by Pi er re
re po rte d th es e fin din gs , inc lud ing a let ter na mi ng Zi no vie v,
th e wo rld . Br ou e
an d ot he rs in Pi er re Br ou e, ''T ro tsk y et le blo c de s op po sit ion s
Ka me ne v, Sa far ov
5 (1 98 0) 5-3 7. Th e dis co ve ry of th e blo c is di sc us se d an d th e
de 19 32 ." CahLT
s let ter qu ot ed in En gli sh tra ns lat io h in Fu rr Ki ro v 13 1-
re lev an t pa rt of Se do v'
13 3.
3 In ter ro ga tio n of S. Kh . Kh od zh n
a. ov , Jul y 31 , 19 37 . In Lu bia nk a. 19 3.7 -1 93 8
Do cu me nt No . 15 5 p. 29 0,
Chapt er 2. Trots ky on the Kirov Assas sinati on 31

v ..,,

MHe, qTQ 3HHO Bb€BU :bI HMeK >T CBOH KOHC ilH.pa THBH bIH u:eHT p
I1 B 6JIOK e c 6opb 6y npoT HB ~K
TpOIJ ;KHCT aMH npo,n; OJI)Ka IDT
BKD(6). BH)J;H, l..fTO B JIHIJ;e CA<PAPOBA R Mory HaHT H
'-' v
B03M O/KHO ro COID3 HHKa Hawe H aHTHC OBeTC KOH opraHH3aIJ;HH,
R B caoIO oqepe,n;h paccK asaJI eMy, qTo Bxomy B HeJie raJibH YIO
Ha:qH OHaJI HCTH tJeCK YIO aHTHC OBeTC KYIO opraH H3aIJ ;HIO,
6op10rn;y10cR npoTH B BKCT(6) 11 coBeTCKOH BJiacT 11. CA<PAPOB
BbI;J;B MHYJI rrepe, n;o MHOH BOIIp oc 0 6JioK e Tpou;K HCTC KO-
v v
3HHO Bb€B CKoro u;eHT pa c Harne H opraH H3a4 HeH ,ll;JIR

coBMe CTHO H 6opb6b1 npoTH B BKCT(6). OH TaKJK.e

HH<PopMHpoBaJI MeHR , qTo y HHX l1MeeT C.H perynHpHa.H CBJJ3b
c TPOL(KHM, 11 OHH cqHTa IOT Heo6x o,n;HM bIM ,n;ei1c TBOB aTb ·a
COI03 e c arpec cHBH'b IMH CTpaH aMH.

Tran slate d:

In Augu st 1932 I was with him in Mosc ow at 5 Gra-

novs ky Stree t, in the Palac e of Soviets. SAFAROV, con ..
vinc ed that my anti .. Sovi et conv ictio ns had not chan ged,
infor med me that the Zino vievi sts had their cons pirat o-
rial cent er and in a bloc with the Trot skyis ts were con-
tinui ng the strug gle again st the CC of the VKP(b). Seein g
that in SAFAROV I could find a poss ible ally for our anti-
Sovi et organ izatio n) I told him in turn that I had joine d
an illegal natio nalis t anti- Sovi et orga nizat ion that was
strug gling again st the VKP(b) and again st Sovi et auth or..
ity. SAFAROV pose d the ques tion of a bloc betw een the
Trots kyist -Zino vievi st cent er and our orga nizat ion for
mutu al strug gle again st the VKP(b). He also infor med me
that they had regu lar cont act with TROTSKY, and that
they cons idere d it essen tial to act in conc ert with ag-
gres sor coun tries .

The fact that we know from the Trot sky Arch ive that the bloc ex-
isted and inclu ded both Trot skyis ts and Zinovievists, as Khodz-
hano v testif ies here, is furth er evide nce that the NKVD was not fal ..
sifying inter rogat ion-- confe ssion s. In Part One of Trotsky's 'Amal-
gam s' an.d in The Moscow Trials as Evidence I set forth a grea t deal
of evide nce that the Mosc ow Trial s testi mon y ·is genu ine - that is,
it repre sents wha t the defe ndan ts chos e to say.
32 Tr·otsky's L.ies

Trotsky did .his best ·to distance himse.lf from Zinoviev and Kame-
nev by attacking them:

There is not the slightest i--eason 01~ motive for us to de,.

fend tl1e policies or personal reputations of ZinovievJ
Kamenev and their friends. They were at the head of that
faction -vvhich inaugurated the struggle against Marxist
inter11ationalism under the name of ''Trotskyism''; they
were subsequently driven against the bureaucratic \Vall
raised \Vith their own efforts and under their own lead-,
ership; having taken fright at their own handiwork, they
joined the Left Opposition for a brief period and re-
vealed the f1. auds and falsehoods utilized in the struggle
against ''Trotskyism''; frightened by the difficulties of the
struggle against the usurping bureaucracy, they capitu-
lated; reinstated to the party, they substituted for prin-
cipled opposition, sniping, secr·et machinations; they
were agai.n expelled. - they ca.pitulated for the second
time.

They disavowed the banner· of Marxis1n and camou-

flaged themselves, hoping to gain a place in the party
which had been corrupted and. strangled by the appara-
tus. Having generally lost esteem and confidence, and
even the possibility of waging a struggle, they found
themselves) in tl1e end) cruelly punished. It is not our
task to defend them!

These paragraph.s are a lie. We know now that Trotsk_y and his so ..
viet-based follo\vers really were in a bloc with Zinoviev, Kamenev,
Safarov and others. That means that tl1is verbal assault by Trotsky
1

on Zinoviev, Kamenev ''and their friends'' was a cover"'up intended

to mask Trotsky's real relations with these men through the bloc.
It was a part of Trotsky's ''amalgam." Likewise, Trotsky often
wrote sharp attacks on Karl Radek claiming that, on principle, he
had not been in any contact, direct or indirect, with Radek, when in
fact \Ve kno\lV that he had indeed written Radek at exactly the time
Chapter 2. Trotsky on the Kirov Assassin ation 33

Radek disclos ed during his testimo ny at the Januar y 1937 Mosco w

Trial.4
Docum ents from Trotsk y's own archive now permit us to see that
in the cases of ZinovievJ Kamen ev, and Radek Trotsk y's attacks
were a cover for conspi ratoria l ties. Therefore we cannot take any
of Trotsky's attacks on any oppositionfigures at face value.
Trotsk y argued that Zinovie v and Kamen ev ''could not have been
11

involve d in Kirov's assassi nation on two ground s. First} becaus e

these ''old Bolshe viks, the most intima te collabo rators of Lenin,
those who shared power with Stalin1 membe rs of the 'Old Guard, '''
could not possibl y ''have posed for their task the restoration of
capitalism." Second , becaus e Bolshe vism and Marxis m-Leni nism
firmly prohib it ''indivi dual terror'' (assass ination ).s

''Terror''
Trotsk y insiste d that the Zinovie vists could not be involve d in the
assassi nation of Kirov becaus e terrori sm is incomp atible with
Marxis m.

The negativ e attitud e of Marxis m toward s the tactic of in . .

dividua l terror is known to every worke r able to read and
write. A great deal has been written on this questio n.

Theref ore, Trotsk y asserte d, Zinovie v and Kamen ev could not have
been involve d in Kirov's murder .

4 Evidenc e of this letter was discover ed in the Harvard Trotsky Archive by

America n historian J. Arch Getty. See Getty TIE 24-35. For the evidence that this
letter was the one Radek mention ed in his testimon y at the January 193 7 Moscow
Trial (sometim es called the 'Radek.. Piatakov Trial" or ;;Second Moscow Trial'') see
1

Furr, Kirov, 321. We discuss this matter in detail in another chapter of the
present book.
5 A careful reading of all the Sovie·t material s related to the Kirov murder and

publishe d during Decemb er 1934 reveals that Zinov.iev and Kamene v were not, in
fact, accused of plotting ithe restorat ion of capitalis m." We explore this apparw
1

ently unaccou ntable remark of Trotsky' s in a later chapter.

 1

34 Trotsky s Lies

Zinoviev an d Ka me ne v we re lacking in ch ara cte r) bu t no

on e co ns ide red the m foo ls or ign or an t bu ffo on s. Th e oth er
thi rte en ab ov e na me d Bolsheviks liv ed thr ou gh the ex pe ri-
en ce s of the Bo lsh ev ik pa rty for 25 -30 an d mo re ye ars .
Th ey could no t su dd en ly tur n to a be lie f in the uti lity of in-
div idu al ter ro r for ch an gin g the social reg im e ··-

Nor, say s Tr ots ky , co uld he him sel f be su sp ec ted of sto op ing to

ter ro r. Qu oti ng fro m an art icl e of his ow n pu bli sh ed in 19 11 he
co nti nu ed :
To thi s art icl e wh ich co un ter po se d to ter ro ris t ad ve ntu r-
ism the me tho d of pr ep ari ng the pr ole tar iat for the soc ial -
ist rev olu tio n, I can ad d no thi ng today, tw en ty- thr ee ye ars
lat er.

Tr ots ky the ori ze d tha t ter ro ris ts we re gu ilty of the sa me kin d of

cu lt- of- gre at.. ma n thi nk ing as he dis ce rne d in the So vie t pa rty .
Ind ivi du al ter ro ris m is in its ve ry ess en ce bu rea uc rat ism
tur ne d ins ide out. Fo r Marxists this law wa s no t dis co ve red
ye ste rda y. Bu rea uc rat ism ha s no co nfi de nc e in the ma sse s,
an d en de av ors to su bs tit ute its elf for the ma sse s. Te rro r-
ism wo rk s in the sam e ma nn er; it see ks to ma ke the
ma sse s ha pp y wi tho ut ask ing the ir pa rti cip ati on . Th e Sta~
lin ist bu rea uc rac y ha s cre ate d a vil e lea de r-c ult , att rib uti ng
to lea de rs div ine qualities. ''Hero'' wo rsh ip is also the relig-
ion of ter ror ism , only wi th a mi nu s sign.

Th en he us es lan gu ag e sim ila r to tha t us ed by his so n Le on Se do v

wh en tal kin g to Ma rk Zb oro ws ki in Jan ua ry 19 37 .
Trotsky, De ce mb er - Ja nu ar y 1934~1935: ''The Nikolaievs
im ag ine th at all th at is ne ce ssa ry is to rem ov e a few lead--
ers by me an s of a rev olv er in or de r for his tor y to tak e an-
oth er co urs e."
Chapter 2. Trots ky on the Kirov Assassination 35

Sedov, January 1937: ''While he was read ing news pape rs

{Sonny'6 said tha·t since the whol e regim e in the USSR is
held up by Stalin} it woul d be enou gh to kill Stali n for i·t all
to fall apart ."

Trotsky and Terror

Mark Zbor owsk i was an NKVD agen t who man aged to gain Sedo v's
confi denc e. Zbor owsk i wrot e repo rts to his hand lers whil e actin g
as one of Sedo v's close st colla bora tors. In a repo rt date d Febr uary
8, 1937 , Zbor owsk i wrot e that on Janu ary 22, 1937 , the eve of the
Piata kov- Rade k trial, Sedo v sudd enly bega n spea king to him of
1
''terr or':

Febr uary 8, 1937

On Janu ary 22 L. Sedo v in our conv ersat ion at his apar t..
men t abou t the ques tion of the seco nd Mosc ow trial and
the role in it of some of the accu sed (Rad ek, Piata kov and
othe rs) state d: ''Now there is no reaso n to hesit ate. Stali n
mus t be killed."

For me this sta.t eme nt was so unex pecte d that I did not
mana ge to reac t to it in any way. L. Sedo v imm ediat ely
redir ected the conv ersat ion onto othe r ques tions .

On Janu ary 23 L. Sedov, in my prese nce and also that of

L. Estri na, utter ed a sente nce with the same cont ent as
that of the 22nd . In answ er to this state men t of his L.
Estri na said; ''Keep your mou th shut. " They did not re-
turn to this ques tion againl7

6 ''Sonn y'' (Russian synok ) was the NKVD code name for Sedov . Pierre Broue
rende red synok in Frenc h as ('le fiston ."
7 Zboro wski archiv e1 F.316 60 d. 9067 Papka No. 28. ln.Volko gonov Archi ve,
Library of Congr ess. Onlin e at
http:/ /msuw eb.mo ntclai r.edu / ~furrg/research/zbor_sedov_stali n0238 .pdf
Some of these same docum ents are confir med by John Coste llo and Oleg Tsare v,
Deadly Illusions (New York: Crown , 1993) ~ 283; 469 n.44. Tsare v) a forme r KGB
 Tr ot sk y s Lies
1

36

T ro ts ky cl ai m ed th at te rr or is m w as in vi ol at io n of M ar xi sm :

B ut if M ar xi st s ca te go ri ca ll y co nd em ne d in di vi du al te r-
ro ri sm , ob vi ou sl y fo r po lit ic al an d no t m ys ti ca l re as on s,
ev en w he n th e sh ot s w er e di re ct ed ag ai ns t th e ag en ts of
th e C za ri st go ve rn m en t an d of ca pi ta li st ex pl oi ta tio n,
th ey w ill ev en m or e re le nt le ss ly co nd em n an d re je ct th e
cr im in al ad ve nt ur is m of te rr or is t ac ts di re ct ed ag ai ns t
th e bu re au cr at ic re pr es en ta ti ve s of th e fi rs t w or ke rs '
st at e in hi st or y.
ju st if ie d te rr or is m to Z bo ro w sk i in la ng ua ge
B ut in 19 37 Se do v
, a co de fe nd an t in th e 19 36 M os co w
si m il ar to w ha t I.I. Reingol'd
vi ev an d K am en ev , an d th at an ot he r co de -
Tr ia l, at tr ib ut ed to Zi no
fe nd an t, K.B. B er m an -I ur ii n at tr ib ut ed di re ct ly to T ro ts ky .

R ei ng ol 'd :

VYSHINSKY: How di d Zi no vi ev an d K am en ev re co nc ile

te rr or is ti c ac tiv iti es w it h M ar xi sm ?

REINGOLD~ In 19 32 , Zi no vi ev , at K am en ev 's ap ar tm en t,
in th e pr es en ce of a nu m be r of m em be rs of th e un it ed
T ro ts ky is t- Z in ov ie vi te ce nt re ar gu ed in fa vo r of re so rt -
in g to te rr or as follo w s: al th ou gh te rr or is in co m pa ti bl e
w it h M ar xi sm , at th e pr es en t m om en t th es e co ns id er a-
ti on s m us t be ab an do ne d. T he re ar e no ot he r m et ho ds
av ai la bl e of fi gh tin g th e le ad er s of th e Pa rt y an d th e
G ov er nm en t at th e pr es en t ti m e. St al in co m bi ne s in hi m -
se lf all th e st re ng th an d fi rm ne ss of th e pr es en t Pa rt y

ss to KG B files fo r a tim e in th e ea rly 19 90 s. Th e sa m e

man, ha d pr iv ile ge d ac ce
ev & Ko ste llo , Ro ko vy e Jlliuz ii, 32 2- 3, an d n. 44 p. 53 1
te xt s ar e qu ot ed in Ts ar
d ot he r te xt s of Zb or ow sk i's re po rts ar e in fa cs im ile
(R us sia n original). Th es e an
LO C, Th is ar ch iv e al so co nt ai ns fa cs im ile s of th e
.in th e Volkogonov Archive,
llo an .d Ts ar ev , th us ve rif yi ng th at th ey ar e th e sa m e
re po rts pu bl ish ed by Coste
ones.
Chapter 2. Trotsky on the Kirov Assassination 37

leadership. Therefore Stalin must be put out of the way

in the first place. (1936 Trial 55)

Berman- I uriin:

In the evening we continued our conversation. I asked him

how individual terrorism could be reconciled with Marx-
ism. To this Trotsky replied: problems cannot be treated in
a dogmatic way. He said that a situation had arisen in the
Soviet Union which Marx could not have foreseen. (1936
Trial 95)

Zborowski:

C 1936 r. <<CbIHOK>> He BeJI co MHOH pa3roBopoB o Teppope.

lIHlllh He~eJIH ,a;Be-TpH TOMY Ha3a;:i,, rrocJie co6paHHH rpyrrrrhI
cHoBa. 3ar0Bop11JI Ha aTy TeMy. B nepBhIH pa3 OH
<<CbIHOK>>
TOJibKO CTapaJICfl <<TeopeTH.'lleCKH>> ,a;oKa3aTb) t.ITO TeppopH3M
He npOTMBOpet.rHT MapKCI13My. <<MapKCI13M>> .. - no CJIOBaM
CbIHKa - <<OTpH~aeT Teppop113M TIOCTOJihKO, IlOCKOJihKO
ycnoBH.H KJiaccoBoH 6oph6b1 He 6narorrpHnHTCTByeT
TeppopH3My, HO 6bIBaIOT TaKHe ITOJIO/KeHHH, B KOTOpbIX
TeppopH3M Heo6xo,n;11M.>> B cJie,n;yro~HH pa3 <<ChIHOK>>
aarosopMJI o TeppopH3Me, Kor ,a;a H rrp11IIIeJI K HeMy Ha
KBapTHPY pa6oTaTb. Bo BpeM.H qI.fTKH ra3eT <<CbIHOK>> CKa3aJI,
qTo TaK KaK Beeb pemttM B CCCP ;:i;ep:>KHTCH Ha CTaJittHe, TO
;:r;ocTaToqHo y611Tb CTaJIHHa, qTo6bI Bee pa3BaJIHJiaCb, 3Ty
MbICJlb OH BbICKa3bIBaJ1 H paHbllie, HO ;:i;o TIOCJie,n;ttero pa3a OH
HHKor,n;a ee TaK qeTKO He cpopMyJI11poBaJJ. B 3TOT nocJie,n;HHH
pa3 OH HeO,lJ;HOKpaTHO B03BparqaJIC.H K 3TOMy, H OCOOeHHO
Trn;aTeJibHO no,n;11epK11BaJI Heo6xo,n;HMOCTb y6HHCTBa TOE.
CTaJIHHa.

Translated:

Since 1936 ''Sonny'' had not talked with me about terrork

Only about two or three weeks ago, after a meeting of
the group, ''Sonny', again began to speak on this subject.
At first he only tried to ''theoretically'' prove that terror . .
ism does not contradict Marxism. ''Marxism'' - in Sonny's
words - ''rejects terrorism only insofar as the conditions
38
Tr ot sk y's Lies

of th e cl as s st ru gg le ar e no t su it ab le fo r te rr or is m , bu t
th er e ar e si tu at io ns in w hi ch te rr or is m is es se nt ia l."

T he ne xt ti m e ''S on ny '' be ga n to sp ea k ab ou t te rr or is m
w he n I ar ri ve d at hi s ap ar tm en t to w or k. W hi le re ad in g
ne w sp ap er s ''S on ny '' sa id th at si nc e th e w ho le re gi m e of
th e USSR is he ld up by Stal in ) it w ou ld be en ou gh to ki ll
St al in fo r ev er yt hi ng to fa ll ap ar t. H e ha d st at ed th is
th ou gh t ea rl ie r to o, bu t un til th is ti m e he ha d ne ve r fo r--
m ul at ed it th is sh ar pl y. T hi s la st ti m e he re pe at ed ly re -
tu rn ed to it, an d un de rs co re d w it h sp ec ia l ca re th e ne -
ce ss it y to kill co m . Stalin.

Se do v tr ie d to re cr ui t Z bo ro w sk i as a te rr or is t to ki ll St al in :

oB op oM << CbIHO K>> cr rp oc HJ I Me H. H 6o ro cb

B CB H3 H c 3T HM pa 3r
TH B0 06 ~e H cr ro co 6e H JIM H Ob IJI CO Be pll IH Tb
JIM R CM ep
'-'

Te pp op HC TH tJe C: HH aK T.

T ra ns la te d:

In co nn ec ti on w it h th is ta lk ''S on ny '' as ke d m e w he th er I
fe ar ed de at h in ge ne ra l an d w he
1
th er I w ou ld be ca pa bl e
of co m m it ti ng a te rr or is t act.
w it ho ut gi vi ng a de fi ni te an sw er Se-
W he n Z bo ro w sk i te m po ri ze d
do v ou tl in ed hi s ow n co nc ep ti on of w ha t a te rr or is t m us t be lik e:

3a BH CH T OT He o6 xo AH M OC TH H
Ha MO H OT Be T qT o Be e 3T O
CT :H , Cb IH OK CK a3 aJ I, tJ.T O H He CO BC eM Be pH O
,q eJ iec oo 6p a3 HO
v

Ta Ko e << Ha CT OH ~H H> > Te pp op HC T H Ha qa JI M He

TI OH HM aIO , qT o
H ,n; oJ I)l{ Hh I ob IT h JIID,LJ;H rro ;:i; xo ,n; .H II.\ He ,n;JIH
oo 'hH CH HT h Ka KH M
HC IIO JIH eH H. H Te pa KT OB .

HK e Te pp op a OH OC Ta HO BH JIC H Ha Ka ,n; pa x,
Tie pe xo ,n; H K Ta KT
BH Oe . Te pp op HC T - no CJ IO Ba M Cb lH Ka -
cq HT aH , tfT O 3T O OC HO
er ,n; a ob IT h ro TO Bb IM K cM ep TH , cM ep Tb ,n;oJIJJ<Ha
,n; on iK eH Bc
op HC Ta eJ Ke f}. He BH OH pe aJ ibH OC Th IO , rrp Hq eM
6b IT b ;J;JIH Te pp
IJI 10 CT pH po Ba JI rrp HM "ep oM IIC HX OJ IO rH H
3T Y Te 3y OH HJ
HJ I pe rrJ IH Ky , qT o
HapO,[\OBOJlb~eB. Ti pH t.I eM rrp H 9T OM OH 6p OC
Chapt er 2. Trots ky on the Kirov Assas sinati on 39

ero MHeHM10 - qeJJOBeK CJIH.UIKOM MHrKHH ,ll;JIH TaKo ro

.fl - no
POAa AeJI.

Tran slate d:

To my answ er that ever ythin g woul d depe nd on the ne-

cessi ty and the expediency} Sonn y said that I did not un-
ders tand accu ratel y at all wha t a ''real '' terro rist was and
bega n to expla in to me just wha t pers ons who were suit-
able for carry ing out terro rist acts mus t be like.

Spea king of the tacti c of terro r he paus ed on the subje ct

of cadre s, sayin g that this was basic . A terro rist - in
Sonn y s word s - must alwa ys be prep ared for death ;
1

deat h mus t be for the terro rist a daily reali ty. Here he il-
lustr ated this thesi s with the exam ple of the psyc holo gy
of the Naro dovo l tsy. 8 At this poin t he tosse d out the re-
1

mark that I, in his opin ion, was too soft a pers on for this
kind of affair .

Acco rding to Mark Zbor owsk i) Sedo v told him on Janu ary 22, the
day before the Seco nd Mosc ow Trial bega n, that Stali n shou ld be
killed:

22 HHBapH JI. CeAOB BO BpeMH Harne:H 6eceAhI, y Hero Ha

KBapT 11pe, no Borrp ocy 0 2-M MOCKOBCKOM rrpou;ecce I1 poJIH B
HeM OTp;eJihHblX no;n;c y~HMblX (Paf);eKa, fT.HTaKOBa H ,n;p.)
1
saHBH JI: ''.Teneph KOJie6aThCH Heqe.ro. CTaJI1 1Ha HY/KHO y6MTh.:

Tran slate d:

On Janu ary 22 L. Sedo v, durin g our conv ersat ion in his

apar tmen t abou t the ques tion of the Seco nd Mosc ow
Trial and the roles in it of certa in defe ndan ts (Rad ek,
Piata kov, and othe rs) decla red: '',Now there is 119 reas on
to hesit ate. Stali n mus t be killed.'' (Emp hasis in origi nal)

Memb ers of the terror ist ''Naro dnaia Vol ya or ''Peop le's Will," who carrie d out
1 11
8

nume rous assass inatio ns of Tsari st officials, includ ing that of Tsar Alexa nder II in
1881.
40 Trot sky's Lies

On Oct obe r 28, 193 6, a littl e few er than thre e mon ths earl ier, Se--
dov had sign ed the intr odu ctio n to the Livre rouge sur le proces de
Moscou (The Red Book on the Moscow TriaIJ. The Livre rouge re-
pea ts Tro tsky 's insi sten t clai m tha t Mar xist s gen eral ly, and Trot--
sky him self spec ifica lly, com plet ely esc hew ''ter ror' ' - indi vidu al
assa ssin atio n. 9 The Bulletin of the Opposition, Tro tsky 's Rus sian -
lang uag e peri odic al, ##5 2-5 3 and also date d Oct obe r, 193 6, say s
exa ctly the sam e thin g.

The Sec ond Mo sco w Tria l beg an on Jan uar y 23, 193 ·7. Zbo row ski
rep orte d:

23 HHB apH JT.. Ce~OB, B rrpH CYT CTB iflf MOe M a TaK/ Ke JI.
3cTpHHOH, 6pOC HJI cppa 3y TaK oro me COAep)KaHHH KaK H 22-
r o. B OTB eT Ha STO era 3a5l BJie HHe, JI. 3cTp HHa CKa3 aJia
<<~ep)KH 5l3bIK 3a 3y6a MH>>. EoJ ibllle K 3TO MY Borr pocy He
B03Bpa~aJIHCh .

Tra nsla ted:

On Jan uar y 23 L. Sed ov in my pre sen ce and tha t of L.

Estr ina10 utte red a sen tenc e with the sam e con tent as
tha t of the 22nd. In ans wer to this stat eme nt of his L.
Estr ina said : ''Keep you r mou th shu t." The y did not re-
turn to this que stio n aga in.

It is legi tim ate to assu me tha t Sed ov's view s on terr or wer e also
tho se of his fath er. Afte r all, Sed ov was Tro tsky 's mai n poli tica l
rep rese ntat ive. He had no poli tica l pos itio ns of his own .

9 Livre rouge pp. 68~ 71, uMa rxism e et terre ur indiv idue lle." The Livre rouge and
B.O. ##52 -53 are the sam e work . This wor k \Vas tran slate d into Engl ish as The
Red Book on the Moscow Trials. It is onlin e at
http ;//www. marx ists. org/ hist ory/ etol/ writ ers/ sedo v/ work s/ red/
10 Lola or Lilia Estr ina was a supp orte r of Trot sky's mov eme nt and secr etar y to
Sedov.
Cha pter 2, Tro tsky on the Kirov Ass assi nati on 41

We kno w fro m the me mo ir of Jul es Hu mb ert -Dr oz tha t by 19 28 at

the lat est Bu kha rin wa s adv oca tin g the mu rde r of Sta lin. 11 Th e
Rig hti st gro up led by Bu kha rin wa s aga in dis cus sin g the nee d to
kill Sta lin in 193 2, the sam e yea r the y uni ted wit h the Tro tsk yis ts,
Zin ovi evi sts, and oth ers in the bloc.12 If Tro tsk y had rea lly opp ose d
ter ror in pri nci ple } as he rep eat edl y pro cla ime d, he wo uld no t hav e
joi ned a blo c wit h tho se wh o cha mp ion ed it.

Bo th Pie rre Braue and Arc h Ge tty hav e poi nte d ou t tha t Tro tsk y
lied wh en he bel iev ed it wa s exp edi ent to do so. For exa mp le, Tro t-
sky den ied the exi ste nce of the blo c, and als o den ied tha t he had
wr itte n to Ra dek . Ho we ver , Ge tty dis cov ere d ·t hat Tro tsk y had in . .
dee d wr itte n to Ra dek . (Ge tty TIE) Sve n-E ric Ho lm str om sho we d
tha t Tro tsk y lied rep eat edl y con cer nin g the <'Ho tel Bri sto l'' ma t-
ter.13 Braue dis cov ere d a nu mb er of oth er iss ues Tro tsk y lied
about.1 4

All the evi den ce we no w hav e sup po rts the hyp oth esi s tha t Tro t-
sky adv oca ted ass ass ina tio n. Th ere is no evi den ce to im pug n thi.s
hyp oth esi s exc ept for Tro tsk y's and Sed ov' s pub lic den ials . We are
com pel led to dis cou nt the ir den ials sin ce we kno w the y bo t.h lied
wh en the y tho ugh t it to the ir adv ant age to do so in the int ere sts of
the ir con spi rat ori al wo rk, wh ich Zb oro ws ki's rep ort s shi ne a lig ht
on.

Ev en Pie rre Braue, in his day the mo st pro mi nen t Tro tsk yis t his to ..
ria n and res ear che r in the wo rld , acc ept ed Zb oro ws ki's rep ort s as
•
gen uin e.

11See Par t One, Cha pter 8 of Trotsky's 'Amalgams', Cha pter 8 of The Moscow Trials
As Evidence. See also the disc uss ion of Jules Hum ber t-D roz 's rev elat ion in his
1971 mem oir in Grover Fur r and Vla dim ir L. Bob rov . /(Stephen Coh en's Bio gra phy
of Buk hari n: A Stu dy in the Fal seh ood of Khr ush che v-E ra 'Re vela tion s.'!} Cul tura l
Logic 201 0 (pu blis hed January 1, 201 2) 1-5 ,
12 Fur r and Bobrov, 64-67.
1.3Holmstrom, New Evidence.
14 Broue sum mar izes som e of the m in POS.
42 Trotsky's Lies

Le gen eral est cap able de pas ser des doc ume nts sou s si-
lenc e, mai s je ne le croi s pas cap able de fals ifie r un
doc ume nt. (Br aue Leo n Sed ov 210 .. 211 )

Tra nsla ted:

The gen eral [Dm itry Vol kog ono v - GF] is cap able of re-
mai ning sile nt abo ut doc ume nts but I do not beli eve tha t
he is cap able of fals ifyi ng a doc ume nt.

In a late r cha pter I disc uss Zbo row ski' s rem ark s at gre ater leng th
and not e tha t Joh n Cos tell.a and Oleg Tsa rev hav e veri fied tha t the y
com e from Zbo row ski' s NKVD file, to whi ch they gain ed acce ss in
the earl y 199 0s.

The refo re we hav e goo d evid enc e tha t Tro tsky was ind eed adv o-
cati ng ''ter ror des pite his veh eme nt pro fess ions tha t he wou ld
1
'

nev er do so.

The Name of Trotsky

The firs t of Tro tsky 's two essa ys in issu e #41 of the B.O. (als o in
the tran slat ion) , date d Dec emb er 28) 193 4, doe s not cite any so ..
viet sou rce tha t men tion s Tro tsky 's nam e. Nev erth eles s, Tro tsky
stat ed he has ded uce d tha t he him self was the real targ et:

By dea ling this blo w to the Zin ovie v gro up, Stalin, as we
sai.d, aim ed at con soli dati ng the ran ks of the bur eau crac y.
But tha t is only one asp ect of the mat ter. The re is ano ther ,
and no less imp orta nt, side : Using the Zinovievist group as a
footstool, Stalin is aiming to stri ke a blow at Trotskyism. And
cos t wha t it may , he mu st stri ke tha t blow . In ord er to un-
der stan d the goa l and the dire ctio n of this new stag e of the
stru ggle aga inst ''Tro tsky ism ," it is nec essa ry to con side r -
eve n tho ugh brie fly - the inte rna tion al wor k of the Stal inis t
fact ion.
~

As Tro tsky kne w then , and as we kno w toda y, he and his foll owe rs
in the USSR wer e in a bloc wit h the Zin ovie vist s. Zinoviev, Kam e-
Chap ter 2. Trotsky on the Kirov Assa ssina tion 43

nev , and oth ers had bee n arre sted x It was obv ious tha t the Zino -
viev ists had alre ady nam ed thei r own lead ers.

Hav ing don e tha t they wou ld hav e no reas on not to also nam e
tho se wit h who m they had long bee n in a bloc : the Tro tsky ists .
And the Tro tsky ists wou ld not ally wit h per son s who plan ned ''ter . .
ror,, unle ss Tro tsky had dec lare d tha t terr or was nec essa ry. We
kno w tha t the bloc was in tou ch wit h Tro tsky . So Tro tsky had goo d
reas on to thin k tha t his nam e wou ld be men tion ed by the Zino -
viev ists .

Tro tsky clai med tha t he had pre dict ed this new ''am alga m:''

Wh en the firs t disp atch app eare d in whi ch Nik olai ev was
said to hav e bee n a mem ber of the Len ingr ad Opp osit ion
in 192 6, the re was no furt her roo m for dou bt. The new
cam paig n aga inst Zin ovie v and Kam ene v was not long in
foll owi ng. At tha t mo men t, in a con ver sati on wit h a
friend (I apo log ize for the se per son al details, but
the y are nec ess ary· for the und ers tan din g of the psy-
cho log ical und erc urr ent s in the cas e), I said, ''The
ma tter wil l not res t lon g on this plane; tom orr ow
the y wil l bring Tro tsk yism to the fore.'' To be abl e to
ma ke suc h a prediction, it was rea lly not nec ess ary
to be a prophet. The Dec emb er 25 issu e of the Temps
whi ch I rece ived two or thre e day s late r con tain ed in a
tele gra phi c disp atch from Mo sco w the foll owi ng item :
''We mu st poi nt out ... tha t as the day s go by} Tro tsky 's
nam e is bein g men tion ed mor e and mor e ofte n alon gsid e
Zin ovie v's.' ' [3] Kiro v's cor pse and the Zin ovie v gro up
thu s bec ome pre par ato ry step s for a muc h wid er and
bol der sch eme : to dea l a blo w at inte rna tion al Len inis m.

Tro tsky 's nam e was ind eed men tion ed, but only bec aus e the
Fre n.ch new spa per had mis iden tifie d as a Tro tsky ist Grig ori
Evd okim ov, a Zin ovie vist arre sted on Dec emb er 9 in con nec tion
wit h the Kiro v inve stig atio n. Thi s was an eas y erro r to mak e be-
cau se Evd okim ov had bee n iden tifie d as a Tro tsky ist whe n, alon g
44 Trots ky's Lies

with man y other s, he had been expe lled from the Party in 1927 .
Trot sky wou ld have know n this.i s

''Expose the Sch eme In Advance''

Trot sky claim ed that he had dedu ced that his nam e woul d be men-
tione d and publ icize d this in orde r to ''exp ose the sche me in ad-
}}
vanc e,

Ther e is only one way to fores tall en route the amal gams
that are in prep arati on: Expose the scheme in advance. The
Stali nists are tryin g to mold the publ ic opin ion of the worl d
polic e towa rds expu lsion s, extra ditio ns, arres ts and othe r
more decis ive meas ures. The Leni nists must prep are the
publ ic opin ion of the worl d prole taria t for these poss ible
even ts. In this case, as in othe rs, it is nece ssary to spea k out
.
open ly abou t wha t is; that is also the aim of the pres ent ar-
ticle.

We know toda y that the NKVD's conn ectin g Trot sky with the Zino-
vievi sts wa·s not a ''sche me but the truth . Evidently, Trot sky
1
'

hope d to make what was true appe ar so pate ntly false as to be

pred ictab le in adva nce and so to dissi pate any susp icion abou t his
activities. It was Trotsky}s story that was the real ('amalgam."

''The Indictment''
In the same issue #41 of B.OA (and in the .s ame English trans latio n)
Trot sky publ ished an artic le titled ''The Indic tmen t'' and date d it

15Page 2 of the Decem ber 25, 1934, issue of the Paris news paper Le Temps did
carry an article that conta ined these word s - but only becau se of the arres t on
Decem ber 10 (he was actual ly arrest ed on Decem ber 9) of Grigori Evdokimov.
Evdok imov had been expel led from the Party at the XV Party Congr ess in 1927 as
"an active memb er of the Trots kyist opposi.tion." Evdok imov is listed in XV S''ezd
Vsesoiuznoi Kommunisticheskoi Partii _, (b). Stenograficheskii .otchet (Moscow~
Gosud arstve nnoe Izdate l'stvo , 1928), p. 1247, No. 17 and page 1318 No. 18.
Evdok imov was No. 31 of 121 perso ns who signe d a letter dated Decem ber 3,
1927, agree ing to the Party 's line and reque sting reinst ateme nt; see ibid. p. 1334.
1
Cha pter 2, Trot sky on the Kirov Assa ssina.t ion 45

Dec emb er 30, 193 4, two day s afte r the first . In it Tro tsky clai med
tha t he was exa min ing the sum mar y of the ind ictm ent of the Kiro v
def end ants tha t was pub lish ed in the Fre nc.h Com mun ist Par ty's
new spa per Hum anit e of Dec emb er 28, 193 4, alon g wit h a sho rt
intr odu ctor y fron t-pa ge arti cle by futu re Fre nch CP lead er Jacq ues
Duclos.

Thi s arti cle by Tro tsky con tain s a num ber of reve alin g rem ark s
tha t we nee d to exa min e care full y. I hav e obt aine d a cop y of this
issu e of Hum anit e so we can com par e Tro tsky 's rem ark s aga i.n st
the text of the arti cles upo n whi ch he is com men ting .16

Tro tsky beg ins:

1
Just as one cou ld hav e e~pected, the ind ictm ent doe sn t
me ntio n the Zin ovie v-K am ene v gro up by so mu ch as
a wor d. In oth er wor ds: the init ial ama lgam fell apa rt
into dus t.

Any one who read s the Hum anit e arti cle in que stio n can see tha t
Tro tsky is lyin g here . The ind ictm ent men tion s the Zin ovie v-
Kam ene v gro up repe ated ly. Her e are the rele van t pas sag es from
the arti cle in Hum anit e:

'' ... des par tici pan ts de l'an cien gro upe ant is·o viet iqu e
Zinoviev'' (col. 1);

'' ... par les che fs de not re organization: Zin ovie v,

Kam ene v et autr es ... '' (col. 1);

{, ... pou r cac her la par tici pati on du gro upe Zinoviev
11

(col. 3)

16Sho rt fron t-pag e artic le: jjL'ac te d'ac cusa tion de Nikolaiev mon tre la com plici te
de Trot ski dans l'ass assin at de Kirov" par Jacq ues Duclos. Sum mary and.
disc ussio n of the indic tmen t: ;;La Revo lutio n se defe nd. L'act e d'ac cusa tion cent re
Nikolaiev et ses com plice s terro rists reve le l'act ivite cont re-re volu tion nair e du
11
grou pe zino viev iste, page 3.
46 Trotsky' s Lies

'' ... les anciens membe rs du group e antiso vietiqu e Zi·

noviev ... " (col. 4);

Theref ore, Trotsk y's claim that ''the initial amalga m fell apart into
dust'' is false as well. On the contrar y: once more the ''amalg am," or
''consc iously false') story, is by Trotsky .

Immed iately after the words quoted above Trotsk y wrote the fol-
lowing :

Howev er) concur rently it has fulfilled its task by psycho -

logicall y prepa1"'it1.g for anothe r amalga m: in the indict-
ment there emerge s sudden ly - sudden ly for naive peo-
ple - the name of Trotsky . Nikolai ev, the murde rer of Ki-
rov, was - accord ing to his confess ion - in contac t with a
consul of a foreign power. During one of Nikolai ev's vis-
its to the consula te, the consul gave him 5,000 roubles
for expens es. Nikolai ev adds, ''He told me that he can es ..
tablish contac t with Trotsky} if I give him a letter to
Trotsk y from the group.' ' And that is all. Period! The in-
dictme nt d.oes not subseq uently return to this episod e ... ,
But how a11d why does my name sudde11ly appear here?
Is it, perhap s, becaus e the terror ist group was seek-
ing contac t with Trotsk y? No, even the GPU does not
dare to assert this. Perhap s Trotsk y was seeking con-
tact with the terrori st group? No, the indictm en.t does
not dare say this either. The consul himse lf was the
one to assum e the initiat ive and, while giving Niko-
laiev 5,000 roubles on the eve of the terrorist act that was
being prepared, he requested a letter addressed to Trot-
skyA
This statem ent of Trotsk y's is also untrue . The text of the Hu ..
manite article reads as follows :
J'ai ensuite deman de au. consul de nous preter une aide
materie lle, lui disant que nous lui retidrio ns l'argen t
prete aussito t que notre situatio n financi ere change rait.
Chap ter 2. Trot sky on the Kirov Assa ssina tion 47

A l}entrevue suivante, la troi siem e ou la qua trie me au

consulat, le con sul m'in form a qu'il etai t pre t a satisfaire
ama dem and e et me rem it 5.000 roubles.
II dit qu'il pou vait etab lir la liai son avec Tro tsky si je lui
rem etta is une lett re du gro upe a Tro tsky .

Tra nsla ted:

The n I ask ed the con sul to lend us mat eria l help and told
him tha t we wou ld retu rn the mon ey bor row ed as soo n
as our financial situ atio n cha nge d.

At the following inte rvie w, the thir d or fou rth at the con-
sulate1 the con sul info rme d me tha t he was rea dy to sat. .
isfy my req ues t and gave me 5,00 0 rub les.

He said tha t he cou ld esta blis h the con tac t wit h Tro tsky
if I gav e him a lett er from the gro up to Trotsky,

The firs t men tion in this text of con tact wit h Tro tsky is by the con-
sul. Nei ther the Rus sian tex t nor the abb rev iate d Fre nch tran sla-
tion explicitly specifies whi ch par ty firs t sug ges ted con tact wit h
Tro tsky . How eve r, the Fre nch text in Hum anit e say s ''la liaison'' -
''the contact', - mea nin g a con tact prev ious ly men tion ed. Since the
1
con sul then ask s Nikolaev for a lett er ''from the gro up to Tro tsky '

the mo st obv ious inte rpre tati on wou ld be tha t Nikolaev, on beh alf
of ''the group," had ask ed for the con tact wit h Tro tsky .

This pas sag e is iden tifie d as an extr act from a confession of Niko-
laye v's of Dec emb er 20. We kno w now tha t it was ind eed Nikolaev
who , in a par t of his Dec emb er 20 stat eme nt not quo ted in the in-
dict men t, ''ask ed the con sul to con nec t our gro up wit h Trotsky." 17

A little furt her on Tro tsky wro te:

See Leno e Doc ume nt 69 pp. 341~2. Osm und (Asm und) Egge, Zagadka Kiro va
1.7
(Moscow~ ROSSPEN, 2011 ), 175 quot es thes e pass ages in the Russ ian origi nal.
48 Trotsky' s Lies

The version we have adduce d, which unfailin gly flows

from the indictm ent itself, if one is able to read it, pre,..
suppos es conseq uently that the GPU itself, throug h the
medium of an actual or fake consul} was financi ng Niko-
laiev and was attemp ting to link him up with Trotsky .
This version finds its indirec t but very actual confirm a ..
tion in the fact that all the respon sible represe ntative s of
the GPU in Lening rad were kicked out immed iately after
the assassi nation.

This statem ent too is false. It is also incons istent with any logical
interpr etation of the text of the indictm ent. In reality the Lenin-
grad NKVD men who were dismis sed and later brough t to trial
were charge d with crimin al derelic tion of duty for failing to pro ..
tect Kirov. This became known only at the end of Januar y 193s.1s

Trotsk y continu ed:

The consul himsel f was the one to assume the initiati ve

and, while giving Nikola iev 5)000 rouble s on the eve of
the terrori st act that was being prepar ed, he reques ted a
letter addres sed to Trotsky .

The dismiss als of the Lening rad NKVD men in early De-
cembe r do not at all suppor t Trotsk y's 'itheory '' that ''the
GPU itself... was financi ng Nikolai ev." It is clear from the
text of the indictm ent in Humanite that it was Nikola ev
who asked the consul for money , not the consul who of-
fered it first: '']'ai ensuite demande au consul de nous
preter une aide materielle .. 1''
Trotsk y was eviden tly betting that his reader s would not compa re
his own article with the text in Humanite, much less with the origi-
nal Russia n text of the indictm ent publish ed in Pravda and in
newsp apers all over the Soviet Union. Trotsk y knew what his

1s See Lenoe 436-445.

Chapter 2. Trotsky on the Kirov Assassination 49

readers did not: that through his clandestine supporters within the
USSR, he really was in contact with the Zinovievite group that had
murdered Kirov. Therefore this is yet another ''amalgam'' of Trot..
sky's - a version of events he knew to be false. The NKVD (Trotsky
calls it by its former name, the GPU) was not financing Nikolaev
1
nor trying to 'Iink him up with Trotsky."

Trotsky's Silence about the Bloc

Towards the conclusion of his second article Trotsky makes the
following statement:

The Soviet authorities were compelled to admit openly

that the participation of Zinoviev, Kamenev and others
''was not proved'': The official dispatches generally
made no mention of me at all. The indictment refers only
to the anxiety of the ''consul'' to obtain a letter to Trotsky -
without drawing any conclusions.

Then Trotsky comments on ''the unbelievable tone of Humanite."

The lackeys of Humanite write that Trotsky's participation

in the murder of Kirov was ''proved."

The tone of Duclos' article in Humanite might indeed be consid-

ered ''unbelievable '' if, as Trotsky claimed in this article, the only
mention of his name was in the passage concerning the unidenti-
fied consul.

But Trotsky has concealed from his readers something that anyone
who reads the actual article in Humanite can see for themselves:
numerous references to the bloc of Trotskyists and Zinovievists.
The bloc and Trotsky's name is mentioned four times in Hu-
manite's summary article about the indictment~
''Ce groupe se forma sur la base d'un ancien bloc trot·
skiste-zinovi eviste.'' (col. 1)
''Nikolaiev, au cours de ses depositions, le 13 septembre,
confirma qu'il appartenait au groupe d'anciens opposi-
50 Tro tsk y's Lies

tio ne ls qu i fai sai t un tra va il co ntr e-r ev olu tio nn air e, ajo u ..
tan t qu e <<les me mb re s de ce gr ou pe ra lli aie nt la pla te-
fo rm e du bl oc trotskiste-zinovieviste.>> (col. 1)
''L 'in cu lpe Khanik, un de s me mb res act ifs de ce gro up e,
ca rac ter isa nt ses co nc ep tio ns <<ideologiques et
politiques>> rec on nu t. qu e <<ces co nc ep tio ns av aie nt po ur
po int de de pa rt la pla te- for me du bl oc Trotsky·
Zinoviev ch erc ha nt de mi ne r l'a uto rit e de la dir ec tio n
ac ute lle du Pa rti et a rem pla ce r ce tte dir ec tio n pa r de s
ch efs de no tre org an isa tio n: Zinoviev, Ka me ne v et au tre s
qu i so nt pa rti sa ns du ch an ge me nt de !'o rie nta tio n ac ..
tue lle du Parti.>> (col. 1)

''D ura nt la pe rio de 19 33 -1 93 4 les an cie ns me mb res du

gro up e an tis ov iet iqu e Zin ov iev s'o rg an ise ren t a Lenin-
gra d en gr ou pe ter ro ris te co ntr e-r ev olu tio nn air e ille ga l,
ag iss an t co mm e tel et se po sa nt co mm e bu t de de so rga n . .
ise r la dir ec tio n du go uv ern em en t so vie tiq ue au mo ye n
d'a cte s ter ro ris tes dir ige s ce ntr e les ch efs du po uv oir
so vie tiq ue et ch an ge r ain si la po lit iqu e ac tue lle da ns
1
l'e sp rit de la pla te- for me Zinoviev--Trotsky ... (col. 4) '

In its su mm ary , Hu ma nit e ac tua lly reduced the nu mb er of su ch ref..

ere nc es, Th e ori gin al pu bli sh ed Ru ssi an tex t of the ind ict me nt co n ..
tai ns no t fou r bu t six ref ere nc es to the ''Z ino vie v-T rot sky '' or
''T rot sk y . . Zin ov iev '' blo c or pla tfo rm . Th e ter m ''T rot sk yis t-
Zin ov iev ist blo c'' oc cu rs fou r tim es in the ·R us sia n ori gin al bu t on ly
thr ee tim es in the Fr en ch version.19

Th an ks to the ma ter ial s Br ou e dis co ve red in the Ha rva rd Tr ots ky

Ar ch ive we kn ow tha t the So vie t.. ba se d cla nd est ine Tr ots ky ist s

19 Obvinitelnye materialy po delu podpol'noi kontrrevolutsionnoi gru ppy

zinov'evtsev. Moscow~ Par tiz dat TsK VKP(b ), 193 5. Th is tex t wa s pub lish ed in
Pravda on De cem ber 27, 193 4, jus t bef ore the December ~trial . We hav e put thi s
ver sio n onl ine in Ru ssi an at
htt ps: //m suw eb. mo ntc lai r.e du/ ,_,fu rrg / res ear ch/ obv in_ zak _de c34 .htm 1
Ch ap ter 2. Tr ots ky on the Kirov As sas sin ati on 51

as ke d Tr ot sk y's pe rm iss io n to fo rm a bl oc wi th th e Zi no vi ev ist s,

th e St en -L om in ad ze gr ou p, Sa fa ro v, an d ot he r op po sit io n.i sts .

At th e pr es en t sta ge of ou r di sc us sio n we ca n co nc lu de th at it is
un lik ely th at th e Zi no vi ev ist s wo ul d ha ve m ur de re d Ki ro v wi th ou t
th e ag re em en t of th e Tr ot sk yi sts in th e blo c. Th e Tr ot sk yi sts wo ul d
at th e ve ry le as t ha ve ob ta in ed th e bl es sin gs of th ei r lea de r, Tr ot -
sky, be fo re co lla bo ra tin g wi th th os e wh o we re pl an ni ng th e m ur -
de r.

Th is co nc lu sio n fin ds co nf irm ati on in a pr et ria l co nf es sio n of Ge n-

rik h Jagoda , NK VD ch ief du rin g th e Ki ro v in ve sti ga tio n an d de fe n-
da nt in th e M ar ch 19 38 M os co w Tr ial , wh o co nf es se d to be in g on e
of th e ''Right'' co ns pi ra to rs in th e bl oc wi th th e Tr ot sk yi sts , Zi no ..
vi ev ist s, an d ot he rs.
coo6~H JI 6JI OK Me )Kf l;y TpO K
IJ;' liC Ta MH H
OH MH e 0 TO M, t.{TO
3H HO Bh eB I.J, aM H 01 \0H tJa Te Jib HO oc po pM Jie H op raH H3 au ;He i1

I_Q ero u;e HT pa , "Y:TO np aB hie Ta K)K e BX Off i5IT B 3T OT 6JI OK , HO

o6
cox pa H5 1lO T CBO FO caM OC TO HT eJi bH YID op raH l13 aIJ ;Hl O l:f CB OJO

oc o6 y1 0 JIH HH IO.

Bo np oc . Ka Ky IO CBOIO oc o6 y1 0 JIH HH IO?

OT Be T. no 3T OM Y Bo np oc y Mb ! c EH yK HA 3e 6e ce p;o Ba JIH

,n;oBoJTbHO ,n; on ro. He Mo ry, Ko He qH o, ce ftq ac rre pe ,n; aT b B

51
IHX Be eb Ha rn pa 3rO BO p, HO 06r .q1 1i1 CM bIC JI er a CBO,ll;HTCH
,n;e TaJ
K cJi e,n ;yr or. qeM y.

Tpo~KHCTbI H 3H HO Bh eB IJ;h I, roB op HJ I EH yK H,n ;3e , CJ IHJ IHC h

.....
OH
Te rre pb B O)J;HY op raH Ha au ;Hr o c e,n ;HH bIM ~eHTpOM H e,l\ HH
rrp orp aM MO H. TOclJK H 3p eH HH KO He tIH blX u;e Jie H:, Mh l, rrp aB bie ,

CB oe ro, ~T O OT ,n;eJIHJIO Ha e OT TpO IJ;K HC TO B H

HH t.J ero
u;e B, He HM ee M. Mb I Ta K /Ke , Ka K 11 OH H, np oT HB
3H HO Bb eB
reH ep aJ ibH OM JIH HH H na pT HH . Ilp oT HB CT aJI HH a.

u;e JIH , 3a HX ocy r.q ecT BJ ieH 11 e, 3a

B 6o ph 6e 3a Ha rnH KO He qH hie
Hx o,n ; Ha rn K BJ iaC TH Mb l np H3 Ha eM Be e cpe ,n; CT Ba 6o pb Ob I, B
np
t.JH CJie H Te pp op rrp OT HB py K.OBO ,IJ;CTBa na pT HH H
TO M
Tc Ko ro rrp aB HT eJi bC TB a. Ha 3T OH oc Ho Be 11 ffiO CT HrH yT o
Co Be
6bI JIO co rJi ail leH He np aB bIX c ~eHTpOM Tp OIJ ;KH CT CK 0-

3H HO Bb eB CK Or o 6JI OK a.
52 Trotsky's Lies

Ho qTo oT,n ;eJI JieT Hae OT 3To ro 6Jio Ka? B t:JeM oco 6eH HO CTb
Hal llel i JIHH HH? ~eJio B TOM , qTo TPO IJ;K HCT bI H 3HH OBb eBIJ ;hI,
rro, n;cT er11 Bae Mbi e Hax o,n; HBI IIHM CJI B H3r HaH HH Tpo~KHM,
TOp OIIJ IT c COB eprn eHH eM Tep pop HCT H"tf eCK HX aKT OB.

Tpo~KoMy 3a rpaHH~eH, HaB epH oe, Hec na,n ;·K o npH xo,n ;HTC .H, H
OH HCX Ol(H T 3JI0 60H , 6pb I3JK :eT CJIIDHOH 11 )Ka)l{,n;eT KpO BH. OH
He ,[\ae T OIIO MHH TbC JI CBO eMy u;eH TPY B Cor ose , OH Tpe 6ye T
Tep pop HCT H.q eCK HX aKT OB rrpo THB tIJie HOB ~K, He cqH TaR Ch c
o6~eH: CHT yau ;He H B CTp aHe H BHe ee, He cqH Ta.H Cb c TeM , qTo
v
.... .....
TaK OH OTO pBa HHb IH OT IlJia Ha 3ar oBo pa Tep pop HCT H'lf .e CKH H
aKT HH qer o KOH Kpe THO ro HaM He ,n;acT, a MO: tKeT CTO HTb HaM
u

,n;eCRTKa roJI OB HaI IIHX JIIO,n;e11.

Mb I )Ke, rrpa Bb1 e, ros opH JI EHyK11,n;3e, He Mo) KeM H He xoT HM

rryc KaT bC.H Ha aBa HTI OpH bie aKT bI, npo ,n;H KTO BaH Hbi e 60J iblll e
.JKaJK,n;OM MeC TH M 3JI0 6o.H :, He) KeJ IH pac cy,n ;KO M H pac Y:eT OM .
3To He 3Ha qHT , KOH eqH o, qTo Mbl npo THB TeppopHCTH~eCKHX
aKT OB, t:JTO Mhl IlHT aeM KaK 11e -JI1 160 CHM ilaT HH K CTa JIM HY H
era IloJ IHT oJO po. HeT ! MbI , KaK 11 Tpo u;K HCT hI, noJ IHh I

HeH aBH CTH H Her o,n; oBa HHJ I, Mb! , KaK H OHH , rOT OBh I K
.....
Tep pop HCT J1q ecK HM aKT aM, HO Ha TaK He aKT bl Mhl rro11,n;eM
Tor,n;a, Kor ,n;a 3TO COB IIa,n ;eT c o6~HM HaI IIMM ITJi aHO M. <<Ha,n,
HaM M He Kar raeT , MbI He B 3MH rpa u;H H. Bee HaI IIH JIIO,n;H
Haxo,n;.HTC.H B Cow se, Hae oco 6eH Ho He 611JIH. Mh I MO) f(eM
XJia,ZJ;HOKpOBHee rOT OBH TbC JI, roT OBH ThC fl Bce pbe 3 K 3aX BaT y
BJia CTH H HM eeM CBOH nJia HhI ," 3aK oHq J1JI EHy KHt Ji3e .

Tra nsl ate d:

He [Ave!' En uki dze ] inf orm ed me tha t the blo c bet we en

the Tro tsk yis ts and the Zinovievists wa s conclusively
for me d by the org ani zat ion of a gen era l cen ter , tha t the
Rights also ent er int o this bloc bu t have kep t the ir ow n
ind epe nde nt org ani zat ion and the ir ow n spe cia l line.

QUESTION: Wh at wa s the ir own spe cia l line?

ANSWER: Enukidze and I dis cus sed thi s que stio n for
qui te a long tim e. Of cou rse , I can not now rel ate ou r
wh ole con ver sat ion in det ail bu t its gen era l sen se com es
dow n to the following:
Cha pter 2. Trotsky on the Kiro v Assassin at.i on 53

The Tro tsk yist s and Zinovievists, said Enukidze,

hav e now ent ere d into one org ani zat ion wit h a sin-
gle cen ter and a sing le program. Fro m the view poi nt
of our final aim s we Rights hav e noth ing spe cial tha t di-
vide s us from the Tro tsky ists and Zin ovie vist s. Like
them} we are also aga inst the gen eral line of the Par ty.
Aga inst Stalin.

In the stru ggle for our final aims, for brin ging them into
bein g, for our atta inin g pow er, we reco gniz ed all mea ns
of stru ggle ) incl udin g also terr or aga inst the Par ty lead -
ersh ip and the sov iet gov ernm ent. On this bas is the
agr eem ent of the Rights was reac hed wit h the cen ter of
the Tro tsky ist. . zino viev ist bloc.

But wha t sep arat es us from this bloc ? In wha t doe s the
spe cial nat ure of our line con sist ? The fact is this: the
Tro tsk yist s and Zinovievists are spu rre d on by Trot-
sky wh o finds him self in exil e and so the y are in a
hur ry to acc om plis h terr oris t acts. No dou bt it is not
eas y for Trotsky abroad and he exp res ses malice,
foa ms at the mouth, and thir sts for blood. He doe s
not per mit his cen ter in the Sov iet Union to thin k it
over; he dem and s terr oris t acts aga inst me mb ers of
the CC and doe s not con sid er the gen era l situ atio n
ins ide and out side the country, doe s not con side r the
fact tha t suc h a terr oris t act, in isol atio n from the plan of
the con spir acy , will not yiel d us any con cret e resu lt, and
mig ht cos t us a doz en of our peo ple' s hea ds.

But we, the Rights, said Enu kidz e, can not per mit and do
not wis h to per mit adv entu rist acts dict ated mor e by a
thir st for rev eng e and mal ice than by sou nd jud gme nt
and reas on. Of cou rse tha t doe s not mea n tha t we are
aga inst terr oris t acts, tha t we har bor any sym path y to-
war ds Stal in and his Pol itbu ro. No! We, like the Tro tsky . .
ists , are full of hat red and indi gna tion ; we, like they , are
pre par ed for terr oris t acts, but we will hav e reco urse to
suc h acts whe n they suit our gen eral plan . ''We are not in
54 Trotsky's Lies

dan ger, we are not in emigration,. All of our peo ple are
insi de the Sov iet Union, we hav e not take n any seri ous
blow s .. We can pre par e our selv es mor e calmly, seri ous ly
pre par e for th.e seiz ure of pow er and hav e our own
plans," - said Enukidze. (Genrikh Iago da 169 .. 171 )

Wh at Iago da stat es her e is con sist ent wit h eve ryth ing else we
kno w abo ut the bloc and abo ut Tro tsky s sup por t for terr or. In
1

oth er pas sag es, Iago da disc usse s the bloc 's inv olv eme nt in the Ki ..
rov mu rde r in a man ner tha t is con sist ent with the con fess ions and
ind ictm ent in the Kirov mu rde r case of Dec emb er 193 4 and wit h
the confessions, bot h pre tria l and dur ing the tria l, of Kam ene v and
Zinoviev.

We do not kno w why Tro tsky did not wis h to ack now ledg e tha t
the re real ly was a Tro tsky ist-Z inov ievi te bloc or tha t the bloc in-
clud ed oth er opp osit ion gro ups . Pie rre Bra ue and Vadim Rogovin,
skil led rese arch ers but dev oted Tro ts.kyists, sug ges ted tha t Tro t-
sky told his lies in ord er to sav e his foll owe rs insi de the USSR. But
this apo loge tic exp lana tion mak es no sen se. If Tro tsky had adm it ..
ted only wha t the Soviets had alre ady mad e pub lic he wou ld hav e
put no one in dan ger who was not alre ady kno wn to the Soviets.
The refo re Tro tsky could not hav e bee n tryi ng to def end his Soviet~
bas ed followers or to fool ''Stalin'' and the NKVD.

Tro tsky may hav e beli eve d tha t he had to pre serv e ''pla usib le de . .
niability'' in ord er to fight atte mpt s by the Soviet gov ern men t to
den y him any plac e of exile. Tro tsky may also hav e beli eve d tha t
den ying only some Sov iet cha rges - for instance} inv olv eme nt in
terr or - whi le adm·ittin g to oth ers like the bloc, wou ld not be
credible. Per hap s Tro tsky fear ed tha t he wou ld lose man y of his
foll owe rs if he wer e to con ced e tha t the Soviet NKVD was tell ing
the trut h some of the time.

Wh atev er his reas onin g, Tro tsky dec ided to den y eve ryth ing the
Soviets cha rge d him and his followers with , incl udin g cha rges tha t
.J

we now kno w to be true . Given tha t the bloc was men tion ed
pro min entl y in the Kirov ind ictm ent and tha t he had dec ided to
Chap·t er 2. Trotsky on the Kirov Assassin ation S5

deny everyth ing the Soviet prosec ution said, Trotsk y could do one
of two things. He could quote those parts of the indictm ent that
mentio ned the ''Trotsk yist-Zi noviev ite bloc'' and then deny the ex-
istence of such a bloc. Or he could ignore those passag es - in effect,
act as though there were no such passag es in the indictm ent.

Trotsk y chose the latter course of action . In doing so he i ..an a con . .

siderab le risk. Anyon e who read the article in Humanite - let alone
the origina l article in Pravda - and compa red it with what Trotsk y
had written would immed iately notice Trotsk y's failure to even
mentio n, much less to deny, the repeate d allegat ions in the indict:-
ment that the Zinovievite terrori sts were in a bloc with the Trot-
skyists.

Any such reader would ask: ''Why does Trotsk y remain silent
about these, the most strikin g allegat ions in the indictm ent?'' Once
1
noticed , Trotsk y s failure not only to deny the charge of a bloc with
the Zinovievite terrori sts, but even to mentio n it - if only to call it
iiyet anothe r amalgam," etc. - would strike any reader as suspi-
cious. After all, failure to deny a serious charge is often interpr eted
as a tacit admiss ion.

Trotsk y must have believe d that the risk of openly discuss ing and
denyin g the Trotsky ist-Zin ovievit e bloc was greater than that of
simply passing over it in silence. This sugges ts that he was writing
with a sympat hetic, even credulo us, readers hip in mind, or at least
one favorab ly predisp
.
osed toward s anti-St alin propag anda, one
that would be unlikel y to compa re the Humanite or Pravda articles
with Trotsk y's accoun t. It seems clear that Trotsky's lies were aimed
above all at duping his own followers.
This is also sugges ted by his habit of inserti ng into his writing s
attacks on Stalin in the form of gratuit ous and unverif ied remark s.
Two examp les occur in the first of his two essays here. Towar ds
the end of this essay Trotsk y makes the following claim:
B 1926 ro,n;y H. K. KpyrrcKa.R, rrpHMKHYBIIIa.H Tor,n;a, BMecTe c
3HHOBh eBhIM H KaMeHe BbIM, K JieBoii orrno3Mll;Hlf, roBop11Jia:
''ecJIJ.16 ./KHB 6bJJI JleHHH, OH ceifqac, HaBepH oe, CH,n;eJI 6bI y
fTIY B TIOpbMe ."
56 Tr ots ky's Lies

Tr an sla ted :

In 19 26 , N.K. Kr up sk ay a, wh o alo ng wi th Zi no vi ev an d
Ka me ne v th en ad he re d to th e Le ft Op po sit io n, sa id ,
''W er e Le nin ali ve , he wo ul d m os t as su re dl y be in a GP U
pr iso n. "

It wo ul d be difficu lt to pr ov e th at Kr up sk ay a di d no t m ak e th is
sta te m en t. Th e bu rd en of pr oo f is on Tr ot sk y to pr ov e sh e did . Be -
sid es , it is m or e th an un lik·e ly. In 19 26 no t a sin gl e Op po sit io ni st
ha d be en im pr iso ne d - no t Zi no vie v, no t Ka me ne v, no t Tr ot sk y,
no r an y of th ei r su pp or te rs . No m at te r ho w op po se d Kr up sk ay a
wa s to St ali n's po lit ica l lin e in 19 26 , th e id ea th at sh e co ul d ha ve
sa id th at Le ni n wo ul d ha ve be en in pr iso n is no t cr ed ib le.

M or eo ve r, no on e els e ha d an y in de pe nd en t kn ow led ge of th is
pu rp or te d re m ar k. Bo ris Ba zh an ov , wh o wo rk ed fro m 19 23 as St a-
lin 's se cr et ar y un til he fle d th e US SR in 19 28 , pu bl ish ed th e fir st
vo lu m e of his str on gl y an ti- St ali n m em oi rs, I W as St al in 's Se cr e-
tary, in Pa ris in 19 30 . Ba zh an ov re co rd ed m an y in su lti ng ru m or s
ab ou t St ali n. Bu t th is on e on ly ge ts in to hi s bo ok in ed iti on s pu b-
lis he d af te r th e Fr en ch ed iti on of Tr ot sk y's bi og ra ph y Sta lin e,
wh ic h Ba zh an ov cr ed its as hi s so ur ce , th er ef or e af te r 19 48 :

He cTeCH.HJIC.H, H H3
B CB Oe M ce Kp eT ap Ha Te CT aJI HH
bH bI X .H HC HO BH Ae JI,
OT~eJi er o cpp aa, CJ IOB eqe K H HH TO Ha IJ;H M

KaK OH Ha caM OM Ae JJe OT HO CM TC H K Jie HH Hy . Bn po l.Je M, 3T O

no HH Ma JIH M ~p yr He , Ha np HM ep , Kp yncKa.H , Ko To pa.H He MH oro

crr ycT H (B 19 26 ro, l\y ) roB op HJ ia: '(EcJIH 6h1 Bo JIO A.H )KH JI, TO OH

Te rre pb CH Ae JI 6bI B TID pb Me '' ( CB IIA eT eJi bC TB O Tpou;Koro, er o

KH Hr a 0 CT aJI HH e, cppaH~. Te KC T, CT p. 523).

Tr an sla ted :

In his Se cr et ar ia t St ali n di d no t ho ld ba ck an d fro m so m e

of hi s ph·rases, re m ar ks ) an d in to na tio ns I sa w cle ar ly
w ha t he re all y th ou gh t of Le nin . M or eo ve r, ot he rs un -
de rs to od th is to o, fo r ex am pl e, Kr up sk ay a, wh o sa id a lit -
tle la te r (in 19 26 ): ''If Vo lo di a we re ali ve he wo ul d no w
Cha pter 2. Tro tsky on the Kir·ov Ass assi nati on 57

be in pri son ', (ac cor din g to Tro tsk y in his boo k abo ut
Stalin} Fre nch edi tion ) p. S 2 3). zo

An oth erw ise una tte ste d ane cdo te suc h as thi s one wo uld be be . .
liev ed onl y by per son s wh o we re acc ust om ed to acc ept ing Trot~
sky 's un sup po rte d sta tem ent s at fac e val ue - tha t is, by Tro tsk y ..
ists .

Tro tsk y als o sta ted the fol low ing as fact:

Du rin g the las t two yea rs of his life, Len in saw in ·t he bu-
rea ucr acy the pri nci pal dan ger to the rev olu tio n and in
Sta lin the mo st con sum ma te rep res ent ati ve of thi s dan -
ger . Len in fell ill and die d dur ing a fev eri sh pre par ati on
of the stru ggl e aga ins t the Sta lin ist app ara tus .

Th is is no t tru e eith er. Th ere is no evi den ce of any str ugg le by

Len in ''ag ain st the Sta lin ist app ara tus ." Th at wa s tru e at the tim e,
and we can con firm it tod ay, sin ce the pub lica tio n of the rel eva nt
doc um ent s of Len in's las t yea r of life sin ce 198 9. Unlike the pre vi . .
ous rem ark wh ich , in the ory at lea st, mig ht hav e bee n utt ere d by
Len in p~ivately to Tro tsk y alo ne, no ';fe ver ish pre par ati on' ' of
stru ggl e ''ag ain st the Sta lin ist app ara tus ' cou ld hav e bee n kep t se-
1

cre t.

Th is is par t of Tro tsk y's att em pt to por tra y him sel f as Len in's
rig htf ul succes sor} to cou nte r Sta lin 's sim ilar cla im tha t he wa s
Len in's rig htf ul successor.21 Th e gen uin ene ss of the doc um ent s
cal led ''Le nin 's Te sta me nt has bee n cal led int o ser iou s que stio n
1
'

by res ear ch bas ed upo n the originals.22 Bu t eve n if the y are gen u-

20 See Baz han ov, Vospominaniia byvshego sekr etar ia Stalina ("M emo irs of Stalin's
form er sec reta ry"), Moscow 199 0, Cha pter 7; onli ne at
http ://w ww .hro no. ru/l ibri s/li b_b /ba zha n07 .ph p The Fre nch edit ion of
Tro tsky 's bio gra phy of Stal in was pub lish ed by Gra sset (Paris) in 194 8.
21. For a brie f disc uss ion of the se issu es, tran slat ion s of som e of the rele van t
doc um ents , and refe ren ces to oth ers, see Fur r, Khrushchev Lied pp. 11- ·1 9 and
232 -23 9.
22 The mai n stud y of this que stio n is the mo num enta l wo rk by V,A. Sak haro v,
"Politic hes koe zaveshchanie'' Lenina. Rea l'nost' istorii i mif y poli tiki. Moscow:
 Trotsky's Lies
58

ti m e, L en in tr us te d S ta li n - and) ap pa r-
ine} as w as be li ev ed at th e
k S ta li n al on e to gi ve hi m po is on if
ently, only hi m - en ou gh to as
he, Lenin, sh ou ld find th e pa in of hi s il ln es s un be ar ab le .

Conclusion
st u d y is dr am at ic . T ro ts ky di d n o t on ly
The m aj or finding of o u r
in ov ie vi st s, R ig ht is ts , an d o th er op -
de ny th e bloc of T ro ts ky is ts , Z
en ce of w ho se re al ex is te nc e w as di sc ov -
po si ti on is ts , th e ve ry ev id
ar va rd T ro ts ky A rc hi ve . H e de ni ed
er ed by P ie rr e B ra ue in th e H
K am en ev , P ia ta ko v, an d R ad ek . H e al so
his co nt ac ts w it h Zinoviev,
e M os co w T ri al s th at he ha d ha d
de ni ed ac cu sa ti on s m ad e at th
po si ti on is ts , co nt ac ts th at B ra ue ha s
co nt ac t w it h still o th er op
verified.
to al l th re e M os co w tr ia ls . T hi s
T he se ac cu sa ti on s w er e ce nt ra l
's es sa ys an d ot he r di sc us si on s o f th e K i-
m ea ns th a t n o t ju st T ro ts ky
es sa ys ab ou t th e M os co w Tr ia ls co n-
rov m ur de r b u t all o f T ro ts ky 's
tain deliberate falsifications.
ed on th e pr ac ti ce of de cl ar in g th at al l
Once T ro ts ky ha d em ba rk
ss in at io n, an d th en in all th e fu tu re
th e ev id en ce in th e Kirov as sa
is ts , w as fa ke d fr om be gi nn in g
pr os ec ut io ns of fo rm er op po si ti on
ba ck . T o ad m it th at he ha d li ed w ou ld
to end, th er e w as no tu rn in g
ov em en t an d hi s cr ed ib il it y th an
ha ve do ne m or e da m ag e to his m
tr u th fr om th e be gi nn in g. U nw il li ng to
ad m it ti ng ev en a p ar t of th e
lo gi ca l th at T ro ts ky w ou ld st ic k to
ri sk th e co ns eq ue nc es , it is only
li n w ho ha d fa br ic at ed ev er yt hi ng .
th is st o ry - th at it w as Sta
e re st of hi s lif e re pe at in g an d
This m ea ns th at T ro ts ky sp en t th
M os co w T ri al s an d of S ta li n th at he
el ab or at in g a pi ct ur e of th e
e-
•

if ic an t pa rt , a li e of hi s ow n m ak in g. B
kn ew to be, at le as t in si gn
y on th e K irov as sa ss in at io n in la te
gi nn in g no la te r th an his es sa

4
.

te ta , 20 03 , A ve ry sh or t su m m ar y by th e
Izdatel'stvo Moskovskogo un iv er si
an ia vo zh di a. Kto av tor? Av <:!ilab le at a nu m be r of
au th or is Podlog zaveshch
:// st al in is m .n ar od .r u/ vi eu x/ sa ha ro v. ht m
in te rn et sites including ht tp
Chapter 2. Trotsky on the Kirov Assassinati.on 59

1 1
December 1934 Trotsky concocted a series of ' amalgams to the '

effect that the trials were nothing more than frame-ups by Stalin,
the NKVD, and the Prosecutor.

Trotsky knew what he wrote was not the truth but his own fabri-
cation. His followers and the broader readership of his articles in
the mainstream press did not know this.

A devoted Trotskyist all his life, Pierre Braue shrank from drawing
the obvious conclusions from h.is own discovery that Trotsky had
lied about the bloc and other contacts with oppositionists . For ex-
ample, Braue did not reconsider the two volumes that the Dewey
Commission published. How likely is it that the commission would
have found Trotsky ''Not Guilty'' 2 3 if its members had known that
Trotsky really had been in a bloc with the Zinovievists and Right-
ists; that he really had been in secret contact with Zinoviev, Kame-
nev, Radek, and Piatakov, whom he had publicly excoriated, and
with others whom he had denied contacting?

Still, Braue continued to defend the Commission and its findings as

though the documents he himself had discovered in the Trotsky
Archives did not exist. 24 I discuss the Dewey Commission in The
Fraud of the Dewey Commission and in the final chapters of Trot-
sky's 'Amalgams.'

Even so, Braue realized that these discoveries would necessita·t e a

complete revision of the conventional anticommuni st and Trotsky..
ist view of the Moscow Trials:

I think. that the new data concerning the ''Opposition bloc,'}

the organization of two Communist blocs of Oppositions)
the attempt to unify the Communist Opposition, definitively

23 The title of the Dewey Commission's report is Not Guilty. Report of the
Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made Against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow
Trials, John De\vey, chairman. New York, London, .H arper & Brothers, 1938.
24 See Broue, "L'historien devant la vie. Charles A. Beard et les proces de Moscou,"
CahLT 19 (1984), 68-77. B
60 Trots ky's Lies

destr oys all the legen ds and preco nceiv ed ideas abou t an al/-
migh ty, blood-thirsty, mach iavel ian [sic - GF] Stalin.
(Bra ue POS 110.)

This is a dram atic state men t from a famo us, lifelo ng Trot skyis t
scho lar. It is comp letel y igno red by all Trot skyis ts today , as well as
by virtu ally all main strea m scho lars of the Stali n perio d. It appe ars
that, like Trot sky hims elf, they are afrai d to conc ede that any part
of the Mosc ow Trial s testi mon y was true. As I have show n in Trot-
sky's 'Ama lgam s' and in The Moscow Trials as Evidence, to do so
woul d be to open a ''Pan dora 's box," a casca de of othe r disco verie s
that destr oys what I have calle d the ''anti -Stal in parad igm, " an es-
senti al part of whic h is that the Mosc ow Trial s were fram e-up s of
inno cent defen dants .

r ·rotsky and Anticommunism

Trot sky has some time s been calle d an antic omm unist . It is wort h
recal ling this epith et in light of the facts unco vere d in this essay .

On the one hand , Trot sky evid ently cons idere d hims elf to be a true
comm unist and his mov emen t the true com mun ist mov emen t. In
that sense , he was not an antic omm unist as that term is norm ally
understoodA

How ever, one unde rstan ding of ''anti comm unist ', is some one who
delib erate ly fabri cates false tales of terri ble crim es whic h he then
blam es on comm unist s. This is the sens e in whic h it is logic al to
call Nikit a Khru shch ev's ''Sec ret SpeechJ' ''anti comm unist ." It was
filled with delib erate false hood s. It prov ided amm uniti on, grist for
the mills , of pro .. capit alist antic omm unist s.

In the long run, Trot sky's ''ama lgam s, like thos e of Khru shch ev,
1
}

were more effec tive than simi lar lies inve nted or spre ad abro ad by
oppo nent s of comm unism . 25 Trot sky and Khru shch ev had spen t

25 For a sampl e of Khrus hchev 's lies about Stalin see Furr Khrus hchev Lied.
Cha.pter 2. Trotsky on the Kirov Assassin ation 61

decade s as leading commu nists themse lves. Their {irevela tions'' -

for such they claime d their deliber ate lies to be - had far more
credibi lity than those of overtly pro . . capital ist propag andists .

It appear s that Trotsk y was the very first writer to charac terize
the Soviet Union as 'totalitarian.''26 Certainly it was Trotsk y who
1

put this term in use on the Left. Prior to Trotsk y's use of the word
in his ''amalg ams about the Mosco w Trials the word ''totalit arian''
1
'

simply meant a one--party state - someth ing t.h at Trotsk y himsel f

had advoca ted.

Trotsk y extend ed the use of the word ''totalit arian'' to accomm o . .

date his ''amalg am'' that Stalin had fabrica ted all the charge s
agains t the former opposi tionists in all the trials, as well as all of
the confessions. Trotsk y knew that this was not so. He .k new that a
numbe r .... perhap s many, perhap s even all - the charge s agains t
and statem ents of the defend ants, includi ng those agains t and by
his own followers, were true. But he pretended that they were all
grotesq ue fabrica tions, and shoute d that falseho od to all the world.

Trotsk y's term ''amalg am'' has becom e commo n usage in

anticom munist Soviet histori ograph y, a term regular ly employ ed
by histori ans as though it describ ed an establi shed practic e on Sta ..
lin's part. Witnes s the following quotati on from Oleg Khlevniuk, a
promin ent anticom munist histori an of the Stalin period:

As in other political affairs of the Stalini st era, the Syrtsov. .

Lomin adze case was, to use Trotsk y's apt charac terizat ion
of the 1936--38 show trials) ''an amalgam," a peculia r com ..
binatio n of real facts and falsifications.z 7

26 See IUrii Fel'shtin skii, Georgii Cherniav skii, Lev Trotskii. Vrag No.1 . 1929~1940.
Moscow : Tentrpol igraf, 2013, 116; 195-6.
27 Oleg V. Khlevniu k, Stalin, Syrtsov, Lominad ze: Preparat ions for the 'Second
if

Great Breakthr ough.',, ·The Lost Politburo Transcripts, From Collective Rule to
Stalin 's Dictatorship. Ed. Paul R. Gregory and Norman Naimark . Stanford, CA:
Hoover Instituti on (2008)1 79.
62 Trotsky"s Lies

In re al ity , it do es de sc rib e an es ta bl is he d pr ac tic e - bu t by Tr ot sk y

ra th er th an by Stalin.

N ot th e le as t of th e co nc lu si on s w e m ay dr aw fr om th e di sc ov er y
of Tr ot sk y' s ''amal ga m sJ 1
is th is : th at th er e is no ob vi ou s lim it to
th em . We ha ve es ta bl is he d th at Tr ot sk y' s es sa y on th e K iro v as sa s-
si na tio n w as full of lie s, on e af te r th e ot he r. So m e w er e ob vi ou s, if
an yo ne ha d bo th er ed to ch ec k th em . O th er s, in vo lv in g th e tr ut h
ab ou t Tr ot sk y' s bl oc w ith th e Zi .n ov ie vi sts , Ri gh ts, an d ot he rs ,
w er e cl os el y gu ar de d se cr et s, kn ow n on ly to Tr ot sk y, hi s so n, an d
on e of hi s m os t lo ya l se cr et ar ie s) Je an va n H ei je no or t.

In th e pr es en t ch ap te r, I ha ve su gg es te d th at th e fa ct th at Tr ot sk y
lie d in cl ai m in g th at Zi no vi ev an d K am en ev w er e fa lse ly ch ar ge d
w ith pl ot tin g th e re st or at io n of ca pi ta lis m is co n.s is te nt w ith th e
hy po th es is th at Tr ot sk y re al ly di d co lla bo ra te w ith th e G er m an s
an d Ja pa ne se .

This su gg es ts th at w e sh ou ld ta ke a fr es h lo ok at th e al le ga tio n th at
Tr ot sk y co lla bo ra te d w ith th e G er m an s an d Ja pa ne se . W e kn ow
th at Tr ot sk y lie d w he n he cl ai m ed th at he w ou ld ne ve r fo rm a bl oc
w ith Zinoviev an d K am en ev , an d al so lie d w he n he rid ic ul ed th e
id ea th at he co ul d ev er ha ve re co ur se to ''t er ro r," i.e. as sa ss in at io n.
Yet w e kn ow th at he di d bo th of th es e th in gs .

er e ca n be no do ub t th at Tr ot sk y di d in de ed co l~
As it tu rn s ou t, th
la bo ra te w ith bo th th e G er m an fa sc is t an d Ja pa ne se m ili ta ris ts . I
ha ve pr ev io us ly at te m pt ed to ga th er an d st ud y th e So vi et ev id en ce
th at Tr ot sk y co lla bo ra te d w ith G er m an y an d Ja pa n. N ow th er e is
ev en le ss re as on to qu es tio n th at So vi et ev id en ce th an w e ha d be -
on e bo ok on th is su bj ec t (F ur r, Le on Tr ot ~
fore. I ha ve co m pl et ed
sky's Collaboratio n w ith G erm an y an d ]a pa n) 1 an d w ill ha ve m uc h
m or e ev id en ce in fu tu re bo ok s.

Ju st as w e ha ve di sc ov er ed th at Tr ot sk y w as ly in g, it tu rn s ou t th at ,
in ea ch ca se w he re w e ca n ch ec k) So vi et pr os ec ut or V ys hi ns ky an d
th e M os co w Tr ia l de fe nd an ts w er e te lli ng th e tr ut h. In Tr ot sk y's
'A m al ga m s' an d Th e M os co w Tr ials As Ev iden ce I ex am in e ot he r
Chapter 2. Trotsky on the Kirov Assassination 63

Moscow Trial allegations that Trotsky denied. Likewise, now that

we know Trotsky attacked Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Radek to cover
up his continuing contacts with them, it would be worthwhile to
examine whether Trotsky also remained in contact with others
with whom he had once been in open alliance but later supposedly
broke with, like POUMZS leader Andres Nin.

20This is the common acronym for Partido Obrero de Unificaci6n Marxista -

Spain.
 Ch ap ter 3. TrotskJ'" an d the Charge of
''A rm ed I.n tenTen tio n''

Introduction
.Living in Fra nce at the tim e, Leon Tro tsky followed the eve nts
con nec ted wit h the Kirov assa ssin atio n in Humanite, daily new s ..
pap er of the Fre nch Com mun ist Party.1 Hrim anit e cov ered the Ki-
rov mu rde r case closely, ofte n sum mar izin g arti cles in Pravda and
Izve stia sup plem ente d by sum mar y and ana lysi s wri tten by thei r
own staff. So1netimes Humanite prin ted t1~anslations of imp orta nt
doc ume nts ver bati m or in long excerpts.

By con sult ing the pag es of Humanite and sup plem enti ng ther n wit'h
copies of the two Moscow pap ers, I hav e read the sam e arti cles
tha t Tro tsky read and hav e com par ed his cov erag e of the Kirov
case wit h tha t of his sou rces . In doin g this I hav e disc ove red a
nu.m ber of inst anc es \Vhere Tro tsky falsified the con tent s of the
arti cles on the Kirov mu rde r and inve stig atio n. One of thes e in-
stan ces of falsification con cern s Tro tsky 's alle gati on tha t Zi11oviev
and his close asso ciat e Lev Kam ene v had bee n cha rged wit h plan--
ning ' arm ed inte rven tion .''
1

Trotsky's allegations
Tro tsky wro te abo ut the sup pos ed acc usa tion of ''arm ed inte rven -
tion'' in two issu es of his pub lica tion Biu llete n' Oppozftsii (in Eng-
1

lish) ''Bulletin of the Rus sian Opposition'') I rep rod uce Tro tsky 's
wor ds below:

1 Trot sky' s\vrit ings on the Kirov mur der cite Humanite and, once, Le Temps, as
dc)es Sedo v in the Livre rouge (Red Book). rrrot sky occa sion ally quot es Pravda and
Izvestia in a ma1111er that s uggests he had quick access to them .
Chapt er 3. Trots ky and the Charge of 'Arme d lnterv ention. 1
65

B.O. #42 Febr uary 1935 :

ITepB bie npaB HT·eJ ibCTB eHHb ie coo6r u;eHM R H 0¢111 \HaJib Hhre
...,,
CTaTb H nocJi e apecTa MOCK OBCK OH rpyrrn hl CTapbIX
6oJibU ieBHK OB rJiaCHJIH, qTo 3MHO BbeB- KaMe HeB J1 HX ,n;py3 bH
TIOCT aBHJIH ce6e qeJibIO «BOCCTaHOBJieHHe
KaITH TaJIH CTHl.J eCKO ro CTpOH ," H CTpeM HJIHC b BhI3B aTb
HHOC TpaHH YIO <<BO€HHYIO HHTepBeH~HK>>> (qepe 3
nocpeACTBOA .. JiaTb illICK oro KOHc yJia!). HM o,n;HH cepbe3HhIM
qeJIO BeK He noBepHJI 3TOM y, pasyMeeTCH.

JlaKe H CTaJI HHa, BbicTynaIOI.QHe no,n; HMeHeM <<BO)K,n;eii>>

KoMHHTepHa, He ycTaIOT, o,n;HaKo, TBep, n;HTh , 't!To 3HHO BbeB,
KaMe HeB 11 ,n;p. <<caMH npH3HaJIH cBoH rrpecTynJieH11.H.)1 KaKHe?
Tio,n;roTOBKY pecTaBpa~MM KaIIH TaJIH 3Ma? no,n;rOTOBKY
BOeH HOH MHTepBeH~MM?

Aony cTHM , qTo KpHT HKa 311HO BheBa Henp aBHJ ibHa. IlpH3 HaeM
,n;ame 3a JiaKe.HMH npaBO cqHTaTb HarrpaBJieHHYlO npOTH:B HHX
KpHT HKY <<npecTynHOH.n Ho rrpHt.JeM )Ke TYT Bce-T aKH
<<pecT·aBpa QHR KaTIH TaJIH3 Ma>> H <<BOeH Ha.H MHTepBeH~H.H >>?
KaKa.H CBH3b Me)K,n;y Tpe6 osattH eM 6oJiee peBoJI10~HOHHOH
TIOJIM THKH rrpOTHB 6ypJKyasHH M rrporpaMMOH
BOCCTaHOBJieHH.H 6ypm ya3H oro pe)Kl1Ma? r A8 TYT 3ApaBbIH
CMhICJI? OH noJIH OCTb lO rrorpe 6eH TIOA qy~oBH~HbIMH
113ae p)KeH H.HMM IIOAJI OCTH !

Tran slate d:

The first gove rnme nt comm uniq ue and official artic les
after the arres t of the Moscow grou p of Old Bolsheviks
said that Zino viev- Kam enev and their frien ds had taken
as th.eir aim ''the resto ratio n of the capit alist syste m'' and
they were tryin g to prov oke ''arm ed inter venti on'' from
abro ad (by the inter medi acy of a cons ul- from Latvia!).
No serio us pers on could belie ve it; that is unde rstoo d.

I • I

Stali n's lackeys, who cove r them selve s with the nam e of
''lead ers'' of the Com mun ist Inter natio nal, don't , how-
ever, recoi l at the asser tion that Zinoviev) Kam enev and
66 Tro tsky's Lies

the oth ers 'jhave the ms elv es adm itte d the ir crim es. "
Wh ich one s? ·P rep ara tio n of the res tor ati on of capital~
ism ? Pre par ati on of arm ed int erv ent ion ?

•••

Let us adm it tha t Zin ovi ev' s cri tici sm wa s false. Let us
eve n gra nt tha t the lac key s we re rig ht to jud ge cri tici sm
dir ect ed aga ins t the m ''cr imi nal . '' Bu t are we to see in
tha t the ''re sto rat ion of cap ital ism '' and ('ar me d interven~
tio n''? Wh at con nec tio n is the re bet we en the dem and for
a mo re rev olu tio nar y pol icy aga ins t the bou rge ois ie and
a pro gra m for ''th e res tor ati on of a bou rge ois reg ime ''?
Wh ere has com mo n sen se gon e? It is com ple tely bur ied
of inf am y. 2
ben eat h a mo nst rou s def eca tio n

B.O. #43 April 1935~

B npaBHTeJibCTBeHHOM coo6~eHHH, KaK H B 6ecqHcJieHHhIX

CTaTb5IX <<flpaBAbI>> saKJIJOqaJIOCb, KaK 113BeCTHO, rrpHMOe H
KaTeropH11ecKoe YTBepmAeHHe, LfTO 3HHOBbeB H KaMeHeB
CTa BHJ IH ceo e ~eJILIO pecTaBpa~H:lO KaITHTaJIH3Ma H
eoe HH YIO HHTepeeH~HIO.
.

- <<3aMeTKH JKypHaJIHcTa. KaK cTaJIHHI..J.bI noAphIBaJOT MopaJib

KpacHoH apMHM.>>

CeH:qac Ma:HcKHH, B caHe nocJJa, o6BHHHeT <<3HHOBheBu;eB>> H

<<TPOIJ;KHCTOB>> B CTp eMJ ieH HH Bbl 3Ba Tb BOeHHYIO
HHTepBeH~HIO ,D;JIH pecTaBpau;HH KaI1HTaJIH3Ma ...

- <<Paooqee rocy,n;apcTBo, TepM11,n;op 6oHanapTH3M

(l1cTopHKO-TeopeT11qecKaH crrpaaKa)>>

z '(IIHchMO aMepHKaHCKHM fJ,pyshRM /·' (Le tter to American frie nds )

http ://w eb. mit ,ed u/fj k/w ww/FI/ BO /B0 -42 .sht ml ; Trotsky, "Everything
Gra dua lly Fall s Into Plac e." WL T 193 4-1 935 223 -22 8. (WL T). Ori gina lly in B.Ot
#42 .
 1
Chap ter 3. Trot sky and the Char ge of 'Arm ed Int erve ntio n 67

TaK cKam yTJ Bepo RTH o, cTaJ IHHI J;hI M nptt6aBHT Ha BCH KHH
cnyq aif, qTO Mhl nepe MeH HJIH II03H I..\HI D, Aa6 bl Jier't.f:e BLI3 BaT b
BOe HHY IO HHT epB eHIJ ;HIO .

.. http :/ /we b.m it.ed u/fj k/w ww/FI/ BO /B0 -43. shtm l

Tra nsla ted:

In the gov ern men t com mun iqu e as wel l as in num ero us
arti cles in Pra vda ther e was, as is well known) the dire ct
and cate gor ical asse rtio n tha t Zinoviev and Kam ene v
had as the ir goa l the rest ora tion of cap ital ism and mili-
tar y inte rve ntio n ... 3
Tod ay Maisky, in the ran k of amb assa dor , acc use s ''Zino-
vievists'' and ''Tr otsk yist s of stri ving to pro vok e mil i-
1
'

tar y inte rve ntio n in ord er to rest ore cap itali sm ... 4

I I I

Thi s will pro bab ly be said by Stalinists, who will add for
goo d mea sure tha t we hav e cha nge d our pos itio n in or-
der the mor e easi ly to pro vok e mil itar y intervention"

Trotsky's ''Amalgam''
Tro tsky did not give any specific refe renc es to the ''fir st gov ern ..
men t com mun iqu e
1
'in Russian the wor d is in the plur al,
-

soo bsh che niia , ''co mm uniq ues '' - or ''nu mer ous '' ''official'' arti cles
''in Pra vda '' or any whe re else. This is und erst and able , for the re
wer e non e to give. The se stat eme nts of Tro tsky 's are false. Zino-
viev, Kamenev, and oth ers in the ''Moscow Center', who wer e to be
trie d in mid ·Jan uar y 193 5 wer e not cha rge d wit h plan ning ''arm ed

3 'rNotes of a Jour nalis t," WLT 1934 -193 5 323- 238, at 327. Orig inall y in B.O. #43.
Italic s in origi nal.
4 uThe Wor kers ' State , The rmid or and Bon apar tism ." WLT 1934 -193 5 240 . . 261, at
251. Orig inall y in B.O. #43.
 Tr ot sk y s Lies
1

68

th ey w er e w it h th e ''r es to ra ti on of
in te rv en ti on ', an y m or e th an
ca pi ta lis m . 's T ro ts ky w as lying.
1

es of H um an ite , th e ne w sp ap er of th e
I ha ve se ar ch ed all th e is su
rt y th at w as T ro ts ky 's so ur ce of in fo rm at io n
Fr en ch C om m un is t Pa
pr es s w as pu bl is hi ng . I ha ve re pr od uc ed
ab ou t w ha t th e R us si an
es w he re ''a rm ed '' or ''f or ei gn in te rv en ti on ," or
be lo w all th e pa ss ag
ci te d in an y ar ti cl es de al in g w it h th e
la ng ua ge to th at effect, ar e
it s af te rm at h, in cl ud in g th e ar re st s of Zi no -
K ir ov A ss as si na ti on or
rs . Zi no vi ev , K am en ev , an d ot he rs in th e
viev, K am en ev an d ot he
''M os co w C en te r'' ar e no t ac cu se d in an y of th em .

H um an ite Dec. 28 p, 1 col. 6 bo tt om :

EN 3e PAGE

A Leningrad, Ie·s ad he re nt s du gr ou pe et ai en t en lia is on

av ec le co ns ul d 'u ne pu is sa nc e ca pi ta li st e et es co m p-
ta ie nt qu e l'a ss as si na t de K ir ov pr ov oq ue ra it un e in te r·
ve nt io n etrangere.

A nd re M ar ty ar tic le , p. 2 col. 1:

<< L 'in st ru ct io n a et ab li qu e le gr ou pe n' es pe ra nt pa s qu e

le m eu rt re de K ir ov se rv ir ai t de si gn al a un m ou ve m en t
in te ri eu r, du pa ys ce nt re le Pa rt i co m m un is te de l'U . R. S.
S. et co nt re le po uv oi r so vi et iq ue , co m pt ai t su r l'a id e di -
re ct e du de ho rs , su r l' in te rv en ti on d e l,a rm ee et su r
l 'a pp ui de ce rt ai ns E tats et ra ng er s >>
•

A rt ic le on K ir ov in di ct m en t p. 3 col. 3

A id es pa r l'e tr an ge r!

of th is bo ok on th e "re st or at io n of ca pi ta lis m ch1

ar ge .
5 See Ch ap te r 4
'
Ch apt er 3. Tro tsk y and the Charge of Ar me d Intervention}
1
69

Ce pe nd an t, ne co mp tan t pa s su r la rea lis ati on de tel les

ac tio ns a<< l'in ter ieu r du pays>>, le gro up e TABLAIT DI-
RE CT EM EN T SU R L'A IDE <<D U DE HO RS ,"S UR L'I NT ER -
VENTION ARMEE ET L AIDE DE CERTAINS ETATS
1

ETRANGERS.
L esp oir de !'i nt er ve nt ion co mm e mo ye n un iqu e de
1

ren ve rse r le po uv oir so vie tiq ue ca rac ter ise ne tte me nt le

po int de vu e de l'in.culpe Nikolaiev qu i ne le ca ch ait pa s a
ses am is intimes.
L'i ns tru cti on a etabli qu e Nikolaiev, co nfo rm em en t a. un
accord pre ala ble avec Kotolynov, a ren du vis ite a plu -
sie ur s rep ris es aun ce rta in co ns ul de Leningrad ...

Hu ma nit e Dec. 29 p. 3 col. 2:

<< Detail ca rac ter ist iqu e les an ci.e n·s pa rti sa ns de Zino-
viev, qui ba sa ien t tau s leu rs pla ns an tis ov iet iqu es su r le
sec ou rs de la bo urg eo isi e int ern ati on ale pa r la voie de <<
!'i nt er ve nt ion ," ap res av oir no ue de s rel ati on s avec le
co ns ul etr an ge r, ess ay en t ma int en an t, pa r so n int er-
me dia ire de se lie r avec la co ntr ere vo lut ion .

Hu ma nit e Dec. 31 19 34 p. 3 col. 5

Les lsv est ia ec riv en t da ns un editorial<< La sen ten ce qui a

fra pp e les ass ass ins de Kirov es t !'e xp res sio n dir ec te (le
la volonte de millions de tra va ill eu rs rem pli s d'i nd ign a-
tio n et d'u ne ha ine pro fon de en ve rs Jes ter ro ris tes fas-
cis tes , res tes de !'o pp os iti on de Zinoviev, qui, sle tan t as-
su re qu e leu r activite an tis ov iet iqu e ne pe ut pa s tro uv er
de sy mp ath ie da ns les ma sse s, so nt en tre s; no n seu le-
me nt da ns la vo ie de la ter reu r, mais on t mise su r }'in-
ter ve nt ion de l'etranger. Rien ne pe ut de so rga nis er le
po uv oir so vie tiq ue ni arr ete r la ma rch e tri om ph ale du
socialisme. >>
Hu ma nit e Jan. 8 19 35 p. 2 col. 1:
70 1'rotsky's Lies

C'est Nikolai ev qui parle. << Le groupe tablait directe m.ent

sur l'aide dit dehors , sur !'inter ventio n armee et !'aide
de certain s Etats etrange rs. >>

H·uman ite Jan. 81935 p. 3 col. 7:

Les terrori stes et leurs liaison s LE CONSUL COMPLICE

DES ASSASSINS DE KIROV FUT L'ALLIE DES BLANCS .ET
L'HOMME DE HITLER

Moscou (Du notre corresp ondant particu lier).

- On sait que le consul de Lettoni e, qui eut contac t avec

les terrori stes revolu tionnai res et qui est consid ere
comme compli ce des assassi ns de Kirov, a ete rappele
par son gouver nemen t, et l'amba ssadeu r de ce pays en
U.R.S.S. a pris connai ssance des pieces de Ir.instruction.
L'activ ite du consul en questio n ne fut nullem ent une ac ..
tivite diplom atique: el1e compr enait une aide pecuni aire
aux terrori stes contre- revolut ionnair es, Ia partici pation
a la prepa.ratio11 de leur fuite a l'etrang er, le concou rs a
l introdu ction d'autre s terrori stes en U.R.S.S. et la pre-
1

paratio n d'une situatio n facilita nt une interv ention an-

tisovie tique armee.,

Or, chacun compr end qu'une interve ntion ne se fait pas

par de petits Etats: meme dans le cas OU Ies forces ar--
mees de pareils Etats envahi ssent le territo ire d'un
grand Etat, elles jouent seulem ent le role d'eclai reurs
pour les armees de puissan ces beauco up plus impor-
tantes, dont elles rempli ssent la missio n militai re1
politiq ue et sociale (

II n' est done pas difficile de suppos er que les dernie rs

actes du diplom ate si etrange de ce petit Etat cachaie nt
1
des forces de beauco up plus d enverg ure pour le compte
desque lles il travaill ait e11 realite. .:
Chapter 3. Trot sky and t·h e Charge of (Armed. Inte rven tion ' 71

The Charge of ''Armed Intervention''

The acc usa tion of atte mpt ing to pro vok e, cou ntin g upo n, or hop ing
for ''arm ed'' or ''foreign'' ''int erve ntio n'' was not app lied to Zino-
viev, Kam ene v, or oth ers of the ''Mo scow Cen ter'' at all. No Sov iet
doc ume nts cha rge Zinoviev, Kamenev, and the oth er Old Bolshe-
viks arre sted and trie d tog ethe r wit h them wit h plan ning , cou ntin g
on, etc., ''arm ed inte rven tion .'' It was app lied in new spa per arti cles
and by the Sov iet cou rts only to the mem ber s of the Len ingr ad
Cen ter of Zin ovie vist s who had con spir ed suc cess full y to mu rde r
1
Serg ei Kirov. But eve n aga inst them it was not app lied ''officially '

in any ''go ver nme nt com mun ique ." It was not men tion ed eith er in
the ind ictm ent or in the sen tenc e.

Tro tsky inv ente d this false stor y. He mu st hav e had som e reas on
for doin g so. To disc ove r th.a t reas on is the goal of the pre sen t
cha pter .

Beg inni ng wit h the Jan uary 193 7 Mo scow tria l two yea rs late r, this
sam e acc usa tion was leve led at Tro tsky himself} firs t by his own
foll owe rs and then by the Sov iet cou rt. The reaf ter the acc usa tion
of plo ttin g ''arm ed inte rve ntio n was rep eate d and elab orat ed.
1
'

This can not be mer e coin cide nce . The re mu st be som e rela tion ship
betw een Tro tsky 's false claim in 193 4 and 193 5 tha t Zin ovie v and
Kam ene v had bee n acc use d of plot ting ''arm ed inte rven tion '' and
the pub lic acc usa tion s beg inn ing in January) 1937} by the Sov iet
pro sec uto r and by Tro tsky 's foll owe rs cha rgin g tha t it was Tro tsky
him self who was plot ting ''arm ed inte rven tion .''

In the pre sen t cha pter I inve stig ate tha t con nec tion . My hyp oth esis
is as follows: Tro tsky sus pec ted tha.t, at som e poi nt in the nea r
futu re mem ber s of the bloc wou ld test ify tha t one asp ect of the
1

bloc 's acti viti es had bee n the plo ttin g of an arm ed inte rven tion .
This is in fact wha t hap pen ed, only muc h late r, in 193 6-1 937 .

The only way Tro tsky cou ld suc cess full y ''pre dict '' tha t suc h
an acc usa tion wou ld be fort hco min g is if he kne w tha t it was
true and ther efo re tha t one or mor e of the def end ants who
wer e mem ber s of the bloc was like ly to reve al it.
72 Tro tsk y's Lies

It's ve ry int ere sti ng tha t Tr ots ky us ed the ter m ''amalgam'} to

de scr ibe de lib era tel y false sto rie s th at ble nd fact an d fiction}
be ca us e it wa s so cle arl y a pro jec tio n of his ow n tac tic s. He
us ed the tru th (th at the blo c ha d be en plo tti ng an arm ed in-
ter ve nti on ) to tel l a lie (th at Zin ov iev -K am en ev an d the ir
fri en ds ha d alr ea dy be en ''falsely'' ac cu sed of the crime). At
thi s point, we see a pa tte rn of Tr ots ky pr ee mp tiv ely de fen din g
him sel f/h is co lla bo rat ors ag ain st ac cu sat ion s of wr on gd oin g by
1
'predicting )' for thc om ing allegations.

W hy Did Trotsky Run the Risk of Discovery?

This thr ea t ac co un ts for Tr ots ky 's lyi ng ab ou t the ''ar me d int erv en -
tion'' ch arg e. Tr ots ky too k a co ns ide rab le ris k in tel lin g thi s lie. It
wo uld ha ve be en ea sy for an yo ne wh o ch ec ke d eit he r the Ru ssi an
ne ws pa pe rs or Hu ma nit e to see tha t Tr ots ky wa s lying ab ou t the
ac cu sat ion s ag ain st Zin ov iev an d Ka me ne v. It is log ica l to thi nk
tha t he on ly as su me d thi s ris k ou t of so me po we rfu l mo tiv e.

Once ag ain, Tr ots ky co mp os ed a fal se sto ry. By cla im ing tha t it

was) in fac t) Sta lin wh o wa s gu ilty of de ce pti on , Tr ots ky cre ate d an
''amalgam'' wi thi n an ''am alg am ." Tr ots ky co nti nu ed to de ris ive ly
rep ea t the fal seh oo d tha t Zin ov iev an d Ka me ne v we re ac cu sed of
pla nn ing i'a rm ed int erv en tio n,, un til the Ap ril 19 35 iss ue of the
B.O. After that} he ab an do ne d it. Unlike the ''re sto rat ion of capital-
ism'' sto ry, wh ich Tr ots ky wa s sti ll rep ea tin g at the De we y Co m-
mi ssi on tes tim on y in April 19 37, his false claim tha t Zinoviev an d
Ka me ne v we re ch arg ed wi th plo tti ng ''a rm ed ins urr ec tio n'' dis ap -
pe ars fro m his wr iti ng aft er Ap ril 19 3 5. I
(. dis cu ss Tr ots ky 's ''re sto -
rat ion of ca pit ali sm '' ''amalgam', in the ne xt ch ap ter .)

In the ca se of the ''Z ino vie vit e-T rot sk yit e blo c'' sto ry, we kn ow wh y
Tr ots ky rep ea ted his falsehood. Such a blo c did ex ist an d Tr ots ky
de cid ed to de ny it co mp let ely . Th is de cis ion for ce d Tr ots ky to co n-
co ct a dif fer en t ve rsi on of the Ki rov mu rd er - on e he kn ew to be
false - an d foi st it on the ·w orl d in or de r . to co nc ea l the ex ist en ce of
the bloc. Tr ots ky arg ue d tir ele ssl y tha t the sto ry of the bloc wa s an
inv en tio n, an ''am alg am '' of Sta lin 's, wh en he kn ew tha t in rea lit y it
Chapter 3. Trotsky a.nd the Charge of 'Armed Interven tion' ·7 3
'

was he himsel f who was compo sing an ''amalg am." It was Trotsky ,
not ''Stalin,'' i.e. the Soviet prosec ution, who was lying. •

The clande stine Zinovie vists who had been arreste d for the Kirov
murde r had started to confess and had named their leader, Zino-
viev. It was a safe guess that soon they would also name Trotsky ,
whose followe rs were in the bloc with the Zinovie vists. We know
from the Harvar d Trotsk y Archiv e that Trotsk y had given his ap ..
proval for the format ion of this bloc. Theref ore, Trotsk y {'pre-
dicted11 that his name would come up in connec tion with the Kirov
investi gate. Sure enough , it did.

In the next chapte r, I sugges t that the same logic holds in the case
of the ''restor ation of capital ism'' ''amalg am." There I show that the
''restor ation of capital ism'' story more or less accura tely reflect ed
the econom ic plan that Trot·s ky had been propos ing since 1930. It
also reflect ed the ''Riutin Platfor m,'' which was really the platfor m
of the whole bloc of Zinovie vists, Trotsky ists, and Rightis ts. In ad-
dition, we have eviden ce from the Januar y 1937 and March 1938
Mosco w Trials testimo ny that Trotsk y was i.nstruc ting the leaders
of the clande stin.e Trotsk yist group in the Soviet Union that a re-
version toward s capital ism would be the price of cooper ation of
the capital ist powers , especia lly Germa ny and Japan, in connec tion
with the overth row of the Stalin regime .

As in the case of the ''Zinov ievite-T rotskyi te bloc," ''name of Trot-

11 11
sky'' and ''restor ation of capital ism'' amalga ms, once we realize
that this ''armed interve ntion'' story is false, we are left to wonde r
why Trotsk y chose to tell this lie and to tell it repeate dly. Why did
he fabrica te false accusa tions instead of simply dealing with the
real ones? Trotsk y must have though t that he had much to lose if
he did not tell this lie.6

6I use the word "lie" because Trotsky delibera tely misled his follower s, the
principa l readers of th.e B.O. and of his other essays.
74
Trotsky 's Lies

Trotsky's strategy: ''Expose the scheme in

advance."
In th e pr ev io us ch ap te r I ex am in ed Tr ot sk y' s re ac tio ns to th e Ki -
1

ro v m ur de r an d di sc us se d hi s st ra te gy of pr et en di ng to ''p re di ct '

th at w hi ch he kn ew or co ul d re as on ab ly ex pe ct w ou ld fo llo w :

Th er e is on ly on e w ay to fo re st al l en ro ut e th e am al ga m s
th at ar e in pr ep ar at io n: Ex po se th e sc he m e in ad va nc e,
Th e St al in is ts ar e tr yi ng to m ol d th e pu bl ic op in io n of
th e w or ld po lic e to w ar ds ex pu ls io ns , ex tra di tio ns , ar -
re st s an d ot he r m or e de ci si ve m ea su re s. Th e Le ni ni st s
m us t pr ep ar e th e pu bl ic op in io n of th e w or ld pr ol et ar ia t
fo r th es e po ss ib le ev en ts . In th is ca se , as in ot he rs , it is
ne ce ss ar y to sp ea k ou t op en ly ab ou t w ha t is; th at is al so
th e ai m of th e pr es en t ar tic le ,

Tr ot sk y re st at ed th is st ra te gy in hi s fin al sp ee ch to th e D ew ey
Co m m is si on in A pr il 19 37 :
Th e au th or of th es e lin es an d hi s cl os es t co -th in ke rs fol-
lo w ed at te nt iv el y th e in tri gu es an d pr ov oc at io ns of th e
GPU, an d in ad va nc e, on th e ba si s of pa rt ic ul ar fa ct s an d
sy m pt om s, w ar ne d ti m e an d ag ai n, in le tte rs as w el l as
in th e pr es s, ag ai ns t St al in s pr1
ov oc at iv e pl an s an d
ag ai ns t am al ga m s in pr ep ar at io n. (C L T 48 6)

I pr op os e th at th e on ly w ay Tr ot sk y co ul d ha ve th ou gh t th at hi s
m en tio n of th.e ac cu sa tio n in a ne w sp ap er ar tic le pr es ag ed an ''o ffi . .
cial'' ac cu sa tio n to co m e w as if th at ac cu sa tio n w er e tru e.

Th is tim e Tr ot sk y' s at te m pt ''to ex po se th e sc he m e in ad va nc e''

m is fir ed so m ew ha t. No ac cu sa tio n th at Zi no vi ev an d K am en ev ha d
be en re ly in g up on <' ar m ed in te rv en tio n' ' su rf ac ed du ri ng th e K iro v
m ur de r in ve st ig at io n, in di ct m en t, tri al , an d se nt en ci ng , no r in th e
ar tic le s or in di ct m en t co nc er ni ng th e .a rr es ts an d tri al of Zi no vi ev ,
K am en ev , an d th ei r fo llo w er s in th e ''M os co w Ce nt er ."
Chapter 3. Trotsky and the Charge of 'Armed Intervention' 75

Still, Trotsky must have ca.lculated that the {'armed intervention''

allegation might come to the fore sooner or later. Trotsky could
not prevent this from happening. The only thing he could do was
to ''get out in front of' the accusation by claiming that he had al . .
ready ''exposed the scheme in advan.ce." As I say in the previous
1
chapter, we know that this was his strategy in ''predicting that his
'

own name would surface during the investigation of the Kirov

murder by Zinovievist members of the bloc.

In the present case, my hypothesis was as follows: Trotsky calcu-

lated that future confessions would include the charge of ''armed
insurrection.' ' This is what led Trotsky to anticipate this accusation
by ''predicting'' it.

There are a number of reasons Trotsky might have believed that

the ('armed intervention', accusation would be forthcoming:

* Trotsky could have known that Zinoviev and Kamenev had been
planning for ''armed intervention," and therefore that their follow-
ers would probably expose this fact.

* Trotsky could have known that the Rights, who were also a pa.rt
of the bloc, were planning for ''armed intervention,, , and therefore
their followers too would probably expose the fact.

If any of the Zinovievists or Rights confessed, they would certainly

inculpate the Trotskyists and Trotsky himself. In either of these
cases, the Trotskyists, as a constituent part of the bloc, would have
known about and agreed to this tactic. That would mean that Trot-
sky himself must have at least approved it.

In fact} we have good evidence

* from the Moscow Trials transcripts;

*from Marshal Semion Budyonny's letter to Marshal Voroshilov;
76 Tr ots ky 's Lies

* fro m th e full tra ns cr ip t of th e tri al of M ar sh al M ik ha il Tu k-

ha ch ev sk y an d se ve n ot he r hi gh -ra nk in g So vi et m ili tar y lea de rs, a
tra ns cr ip t on ly de cla ss ifi ed an d re le as ed to th e pu bl ic in M ay ,
20 18 ;7

*a nd fro m Pi ata ko v's re ce nt ly . . de cla ss ifi ed NKVD file,

th at Tr ot sk y hi m se lf ac tiv ely pr om ot ed ar m ed in te rv en tio n ag ai ns t

th e USSR . I di sc us s th e fir st tw o so ur ce s in th e pr es en t vo lu me an d
wi ll ex am in e Pi ata ko v's NKVD file in a fu tu re vo lu me . s

*T ro tsk y hi m se lf ha d be en ad vo ca tin g 'ia rm ed in te rv en tio n'' to hi s

su pp or te rs in th e USSR . Th e Zi no vi ev ist s an d Ri gh ts wo ul d ha ve
kn ow n ab ou t th is. Ev en if th ey di d no t kn ow ab ou t it, th e Zi no -
vi ev ist s ha d na m ed Tr ot sk y. So th e ar re sts of ye t m or e Tr ot sk yi sts
wo ul d ha ve be en im m in en t an d th ey m ig ht we ll re ve al th at Tr ot ..
sk y wa s re ly in g on ''a rm ed interventionA''

Th e ev id en ce no w av ail ab le su gg es ts th e la st sc en ar io is th e m os t
likely. I wi ll pr es en t th e ev id en ce th at su pp or ts th is hy po th es is.
Bu t in an y ca se , Tr ot sk y's ''a ma lg am ,'' or lie , ab ou t ''a rm ed in te r . .
1
m us t be ac co un te d fo r. In th e re st of th is es sa y, I wi ll giv e~
ve nt io n '

11

* ev id en ce th at Tr ot sk y wa s pl an ni ng 'ar m ed in te 1
rv en tio n as a
m ea ns to ga in po we r in th e USSR;

* ev id en ce th at co rro bo ra te s or co nf irm s th is ev id en ce ;

* a co ns id er at io n of ot he r po ss ib le hy po th es es th at m ig ht be cit ed
to ex pl ain Tr ot sk y's re pe at ed lie th at Zi no vi ev an d Ka m en ev we re
ac cu se d of pl ot tin g ar m ed in te rv en tio n.

·7I wi ll ex am ine thi s tra ns cri pt in a fut ure study.

s My Mo sco w co lle ag ue Vl ad im ir L. Bo bro v an d I pla n to de vo te an en tir e stu dy to
the Tu kh ach ev sky Affair in the ne ar fut ure .
Chapter 3, Trotsky and the Charge of 'Armed Interven tion, 77

Evidence: The January 1937 Moscow Trial

We have eviden ce from the Januar y 1937 a.nd March 1938 Mosco w
Trials testimo ny that Trotsk y was instruc ting the leaders of the
clande stine Trotsk yist group in the Soviet Union that a reversi on
to capital ism might well be the price of cooper ation of the capital -
ist powers , especia lly Germa ny and Japan. Additio nally, the Trot--
skyist leaders on trial also testifie d that they might have to rely on
the militar y might of capital ist powers in order to seize power.

In his openin g statem ent at the 1937 Trial, Andrei Y. Vyshin sky,
the Soviet prosec utor, summa rized pretria l testimo ny by Karl
Radek:

The main task which the paralle l centre set itself was the
forcible overth row of the Soviet govern ment with the
object of changi ng the social and state system existin g in
the U.S.S.R. L.D. Trotsky , and on his instruc tions the par-
allel Trotsk yite centre) aimed at seizing power with the
aid of foreign states with the object of restorin g capita} . .
ist social relation s in the U.S.S.R. (5)

Procee ding from this progra m, L. D. Trotsk y and his ac-

compli ces in the paralle l centre entered in·t o negotia -
tions with agents of foreign states with the object of
overth rowing the Soviet govern ment with the aid of
armed interv ention . (6)
The investi gation has establi shed that L.D. Trotsk y en-
tered into negotia tions with one of the leaders of the
Germa n Nation al-Soci alist Party with a view to waging a
joint strugg le agains t the Soviet Union.
L.D. Trotsk y and his accomp lices in the U.S.S.R. consid-
ered it necessa ry) during the forthco ming war, to adopt
an active defeati st positio n and to do all they could to
assist the foreign interv ention ists in their fight
agains t the U.S.S.R.
 1

78 Tro tsk y s Lies

Fo r ex am ple , the ac cu sed Pia tak ov , rel ati ng the co nv er-

sat ion he ha d wi th L. Tr ots ky in De ce mb er 19 35 ne ar
Oslo, tes tif ied :

As reg ard s the wa r, L.D. Tr ots ky sp ok e of this ve ry

explicitly. Fr om his po int of vie w, wa r is ine vit ab le
in the ne ar fut ure .

He, Tr ots ky , co ns ide rs it ab so lut ely ne ce ssa ry to

ad op t a dis tin ctl y de fea tis t att itu de in thi s wa r. He
co ns ide rs tha t the blo c's co mi ng int o po we r ca n
ce rta inl y be ha ste ne d by th e de fea t of th e U.S.S.R.
in war. (Vol. I, p. 258.) (10 )

Pia tak ov 's tes tim on y

I rec all th at Tr ots ky sai d in thi s dir ec tiv e tha t wi tho ut

the ne ce ssa ry su pp or t fro m for eig n sta tes , a go ve rn me nt
of the blo c co uld ne ith er co me to po we r no r ho ld po we r.
It wa s the ref or e a qu est ion of arr ivi ng at the ne ce ssa ry
pre lim ina ry ag ree me nt wi th the mo st ag gre ssi ve for eig n
sta tes , lik e Ge rm an y an d Jap an , an d th at he , Tr ots ky , on
hi s pa rt ha d alr ea dy ta ke n th e ne ce ssa ry ste ps in es -
tab lis hin g co nt ac ts bo th wi th th e Ja pa ne se and th e
German go ve rn me nt s. (53 )
... lat er, in the mi dd le of 19 35 , So ko lni ko v him sel f tol d
me of thi s ste p an d rec ou nte d the co nv ers ati on in wh ich
he ha d sa·n cti on ed Trotsky's ne go tia tio ns wi th th e
Ja pa ne se go ve rn me nt . (53 -4)
Ab ou t the en d of 19 35 Ra de k rec eiv ed a lon g le tte r-
ins tru cti on s fro m Tr ots ky . In thi s dir ec tiv e Tr ots ky ad--
va nc ed tw o po ssi ble va ria nts of ou r co mi ng int o po we r.
Th e fir st va ria nt wa s the po ssi bil ity of ou r co mi ng int o
po we r be for e a wa r, an d the sec~nd va ria nt, du rin g a
wa r. Tr ots ky vis ua liz ed the fir st va ria nt res ult ing fro m a
co nc en tra ted ter ro ris t blo w, as he sai d ... , Th e se co nd
 1
Chapter 3. Trotsky and the Ch.arge of'Armed Intervention 79

variant, which in Trotsky's opinion was the more

probable, was a military defeat. (55)
In this connection Trotsky again said that in his opinion
war was imminent, that he knew for a fact that it was a
question not of, say, a five . . year period} but of a short
time ....The other task was a more practical one: to train
cadres for the event of war} that is to say} to train diver-
sionists and those who would engage in destruction,
helpers for the fascist attack on the Soviet Union.
(62)

In connection with the international question Trotsky

very emphatically insisted on the necessity of preparing
diversionist cadres. He rebuked us for not engaging
energetically enough in diversive, wrecking and terrorist
activities. He told me that he had come to an absolutely
definite agreement with the fascist German government
and with the Japanese government that they would
adopt a favourable attitude in the event of the Trotsky-
ite . . zinovievite bloc coming to power. (64)

First, the German fascists promise to adopt a favourable

attitude towards the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc and to
support it if it comes to power, either in time of war ...
(64)

... since Hess and Trotsky had discussed the question of

war and a military coup d'etat, accession to power, that
is to say, the defeat of the U.S.S.R. Hess, of course, quite
naturally raised the point: Well, you are fighting over
there; while in this case we are a much better organized
and a better armed force. It is clear once we negotiate
you must go the whole length. In the event of military
attack the destructive forces of the Trotskyite orga-
nizations which would act within the country must
be co-ordinated with the forces from without acting
under the guidance of German fascism. The diversive
and wrecking activity which is being conducted by the
 1

80 Tro tsky s Lies

Tro tsk yit e-Z ino vie vit e org ani zat ion wit hin the Sov iet
Un ion mu st be car rie d ou t un der the ins tru cti ons of
Tro tsk y, wh ich are to be agr eed upo n wit h the Ge rm an
Ge ner al Staff.

To wa rds the end the re wa s talk to the eff ect tha t, say,
the Tro tsk yit e .. zin ovi evi te blo c com es int o po we r wit h
the aid of cer tai n ext ern al forces, the y pu t us int o
po we r. (65)
Th e tes tim ony of Tro tsk yis t def end ant G.Y. Sok ol'n iko v add res ses
1
the que stio n of ''ar me d int erv ent ion ' mo st dir ect ly:

VYSHINSKY: An d wh at abo ut the agg res sor s?

SOKOLNIKOV~ We we re pre par ed to com e to an agr ee-

me nt wit h the m, the res ult of wh ich wo uld be tha t in the
cou rse of wa r and as a res ult of the def eat of the Sov iet
Union, the gov ern me nt of.t he blo c wo uld com e to pow er.

VYSHINSKY: It wo uld the ref ore be cor rec t to say tha t

you we re ban kin g on hel p from foreign int erv ent ion ·
is ts?
SOKOLNIKOV: You see ... per hap s it is som eth ing wo rse
•••

VYSHINSKY: I am no t spe aki ng of wh at is wo rse or of

wh at is bet ter . I am no t pas sin g mo ral jud gm ent . I am es-
tab lish ing facts. I, as the rep res ent ati ve of the Sta te
pro sec uti on, ass ert tha t you we re dir ect ly sta kin g on the
ass ist an ce of for eig n agg res sor s, on the ass ist an ce of
foreign int erv ent ion ist s. Is my ass ert ion cor rec t?
SOKOLNIKOV: It is cor rec t tha t we cal cul ate d on the hel p
of for eig n agg res sor s. Int erv ent ion ists I wo uld no t say.
(15 6)
 1
Chapter 3. Trotsky and the Charge of Armed Interven tion' 81.

The Rights Also Confessed To Plotting ''Armed

Intervention''
Genrik h lagoda was head of the OGPU and) betwee n 1934 and Oc-
tober 1936} Comm issar of Interna l Affairs and head of the poli.ce
force known as the NKVD. 9 Iagoda was arreste d at the beginn ing of
March 1937 and began to confess to being an import ant partici ..
pant in the conspi racy of the Right opposi tionists . In 1997 pretria l
confess ions of Iagoda were publish ed in a small academ ic edition
in Russia. These confess ions are routine ly cited as genuin e by
mainst ream scholar s of the Soviet period.

Iagoda testifie s about the bloc's relatio ns with German y:

CToMHIO, "tJTo Kapaxa H roBopHJ I o ,n;Byx BapHaH Tax

carJlallleHH51: O~HH, ecJl.H ~eHTp garoBop a rrpHXO)::i;HT K BJiaCTH
caMOCTOHTeJibHO 6e3 IlOMOID;H HeM~eB; BTOpOH, eCJlH
3aroeop~HKaM B npHXOA e K
HX BJiaCTH IlOMOrY T
..,
HeMe~KHe IUTLIKH BO epeMH BOHHhl .

TI pH rrepBOM BapHaHTe petrh IIIJia o cJJeAyrom;Hx ycJIOBHHx:

1. Pa3pbIB CCCP ~oroBopoB o co103e c <PpaHu;HeH: H

l.J exo en o B aKH eH:.

2. 3aKJIHJ qeHHe BOeHHO ro H 3KOHOM HqecKor o COI030B c

repMaHHeH.

3. JlHKBH,ll.aqHH KoMHHTepHa.

4. flpe~OCTaBJieHHe repMaH HH (npaBa] Ha ,l];OJlrOJieTHHe

K0Hn;ecc 1111 HCTO'l!HHKOB Xl1MHq ecKoro CbipbH CCCP
(KoJibCK Oro rroJiyocTp OB a, Hec)?TRHbIX 11CTOqH HKOB H np Ol.f ee).

S~ YcTaHOBJieHHe B TaKoro noJIHTHqecKoro H

CCCP
u

3KOHOM H"t£eCKo ro CTpOH, KOTOpb IH rapaHTH pyeT repMaHC KHM

9The initials NKVD indicate the name of the Commis sariat (=minis try) itself,
"People' s Commis sariat of Internal Affairs'~ but are common ly used to refer to the
police and investig ative section of this large organiza tion. The OGPU became a
part of the NKVD in July) 1934.
82 Trotsky's Lies

v ....,

M IIO JIH YIO B0 3M O) KH OC Tb pa 3B HT Hf l CB Oe H qa cT HO I1

cp Mp Ma
HHH~IIaTHBhI Ha Te pp HT op HM CCCP.

Ilp H BT Op OM Ba pH aH Te , T. e. np H npHxo,u;e K BJiaCTH B

e Bp eM .H np H Il OM O~ H He M~ eB , OC Ta Ba JIM Cb B CH:Jie
eo eH HO
.H, IlJ IIO C Ka KH e- To Te pp ttT·Op Ma Jib Hb ie yc Ty nK H,
Te ./Ke ycJ IO BH
HO Ka KH e HM eH HO H He IIO MH IO . 06 3T OM ~O JI )K eH IlO JIH ee H

To qH ee no Ka 3a Th caM KapaxaH.

• r '

A Ka K Mb IC JIH JJC H npH XO .Di K BJ iaC TH Ha cJ iyq aii

Bo np oc :
BO HH bI?

0 BO CC Ta HH H Ha illH X rra pT HH B T·b IJi y, ap ec Te

0T Be T: Pe qh III Jia
OB rrp aB HT eJ ihC TB a np H O) J;H OB pe Me HH OM OT Kp bI TH H
qJ ieH
<J>poHTa HenpHHTeJIIO 3aroeop~HKaMH H3 BO eH Ho ro
6JIOKa. (1 98 )

Tr an sl at ed :

I re ca ll th at K ar ak ha n ta lk s ab ou t tw o va ri an ts of th e
ag re em en t: on e, if th e ce nt er of th e co ns pi ra cy sh ou ld
co m e to po w er in de pe nd en tly , w ith ou t th e G er m an s'
he lp ; th e se co nd , if G er m an ba yo ne ts w er e to he lp th e
co ns pi ra to rs to ta ke po w er during w ar tim e.
In th e fir st va ria nt , th e fo llo w in g co nd iti on s w ou ld ap pl y:

1. Th e ca nc el la tio n by th e u·ssR of ag re em en ts ab ou t al-

lia nc e w ith Fr an ce an d Cz ec ho sl ov ak ia .

2. Th e co nc lu si on of m ili ta ry an d ec on om ic ag re em en ts
w ith G er m an y.

3. Th e liq ui da tio n of th e Co m in te rn .

4. Th e pr es en ta tio n to G er m an y of [r ig ht s to ] lo ng -te rm
co nc es si on s of so ur ce s of ch em ic al re so ur ce s
.t
in th e
USSR (th e Ko la pe ni ns ul a, pe tr ol eu m so ur ce s, an d so
on ).
Chapter 3. Trotsky and the Charge of 'Armed Intervention' 83

5. The establishment in the USSR of a political and eco . .

nomic system that would guarantee to German compa-
nies the full possibility of development of their private
initiative on the territory of the USSR.

In the case of the second variant, i.e. in the event [the

bloc] came to power during wartime with German
help, these same conditions would hold, plus some terri-
torial concessions, but I do not remember exactly what
they were. Karakhan himself should confess about this
more fully and accurately.

• • r

QUESTION: And how was the coming to power in the

case of war imagined?

ANSWER: Through an uprising of our parties in the rear,

the arrest of members of the government while at the
same time opening the front to the enemy by the
conspirators of the military bloc.
Nikolai Bukharin, along with Aleksei Rykov, was arrested and im-
prisoned at the close of the discussion of their cases at the Febru ..
ary . . March 1937 Plenum of the Central Committee. It has long been
known that Bukharin made his first confession on June 2, 1937. A
copy of that confession, which is still secret in Russia today, is in
the Volkogonov Archive in the National Archives, Washington, DC,.
Vladimir Bobrov and I have published it, together with a commen-
tary.10

In that first confession, Bukharin testifies about the bloc's, and

specific~lly Trotsky's, reliance upon armed intervention:

10 Furr and Bobrov, i'Nikolai Bukharinrs First Statement of Confession in the

Lubianka.}I Culti1ral Logic 2007. At
http://clogic<eserver.org/2007 /Furr_Bobrov.pdf The Russian original, published
in 2007 in the Russian historical journal Klio (St Petersburg) is at
https: / /msuweb.montclair.edu/ --furrg/research /furrnbo brov_bukharin_klio 07. p
df
84 Trot sky's Lies

In the sum mer of 193 4, I was at RADEK'S apa rtm ent

whe n RADEK info rme d me abo ut TROTSKY'S exte rna l
poli tica l arra nge men ts. RADEK said tha t Trotsky,
stre ssin g terror, all the sam e con side red the ma in
cha nce for the arrival in pow er of the blo c to be the
def eat of the USSR in war wit h Germany and Japan,
and in con nec tion to this was pro mot ing the idea of an
agr eem ent wit h Ger man y and Jap an at the cos t of terr i-
tori al con cess ions (Uk rain e to the Germans} the Far Eas t
to the Jap ane se). (17 )

Evidence: Tukhachevsky's confessions

Mar sha l Mikhail Tuk hac hev sky was arre sted in the fou rth wee k of
May 193 7. Wit hin two day s, he beg an to mak e deta iled con fess ions
abo ut his con spir acy aga inst the Stal in lead ersh ip. Am ong oth er
mat ters , he disc usse d the plan s for inte rve ntio n by fore ign pow ers .

... Rom m also pas sed on tha t it was Tro tsky 's hop e tha t
Hitl er wou ld com e to pow er and wou ld sup por t him,
Tro tsky , in his stru ggle aga inst Sov iet pow er. 11 (·Main
1·5 9)

Rou nd abo ut this tim e, 193 3/1 934 , Rom m visi ted me in
1
Mo scow and told me tha t he had to pas s on Tro tsky s
new inst ruct ions . Tro tsky poi nted out tha t it was no
lon ger feas ible to rest rict our acti viti es to sim ply recr uit-
ing and org aniz ing cad res, tha t it was nec essa ry to ado pt
a mor e con cret e pro gra mm e} tha t Ger man Fas cism

11 Tran slati on by Stev en J, Main, uThe Arre st and 'Tes timo ny' of Mar shal of the
Sovi et Unio n M,N. Tuk hach evsk y (May -Jun e 1937). ' Journal of Slavic Milit ary
1

Studies 10, 1(19 97), 15 1-195. Main puts scar e quotes arou nd the wor d
"test imon y" to show that he doub ts that Tuk hach evsk y mad e the conf essio n
willi ngly . This is a requ irem ent of thos e who wish to show thei r loya lty to the
({anti-St alin para digm, ' de rigeu r in main strea m Sovi et histo ry. Main has no
1

evid ence wha tsoe ver that the conf essio n is othe r than it purp orts to be. I exam -
ine the dish ones t tacti c of ({argument by scar e quot es'' in Kiro v, Cha pter 4, 87ff,
Chapter 3. Trotsky and the Charge of 'Armed Interv·e ntion' 85

would render the Tro·t skyists assista nce in their struggl e

with Stalin's leaders hip and that the militar y conspi racy
must supply the Germa n Genera l Staff with intellig ence
data} as well as workin g hand in glove with the Japane se
Genera l Staff, carryin g out disrupt ive activiti es in the
army, p1--epare diversi ons and terrori st acts agains t
membe rs of the govern ment. These instruc tions of Trot-
sky I commu nicated to the center of our conspir acy.
(Main 160-16 1)

During the winter of 1935/1 936) Piatako v told me that

Trotsk y had now asked us to ensure the [future ] defeat
of the USSR in war, even if this meant giving the Ukrain e
to the .Germa ns and the Primor 'ye to the Japane se. In or-
der to prepar e the USSR's defeat) all forces, both within
the USSR and outside [sic .. GF] the USSR would have to
be made ready; in particu lar, Piatako v stated that Trot-
sky would carry out a decisiv e struggl e to plant his peo-
ple in the Comin tern. Piatako v stated that such condi-
tions would mean the restora tion of capital ism in the
countr y... (Main 163)

Thus, develo ping our platfor m based on suppor ting the

Rightis ts in their struggl e agains t the genera l line of the
Party, adding to it, subseq uently) Trotsk yite sloga.ns, the
end result was that the anti-So viet militar y Trotsk yite
conspi racy had embark ed on the path of overth rowing
Soviet power throug h a counte r-revol ution by terror,
espiona ge, diversi onary activiti es, sabotag e, defeati st ac-
tivity [leadin g to] the restora tion of capital ism in the
USSR. (Main 163)

In the autum n of 1935, Putna came to my office and

handed over a note from Sedov, in Trotsk y's name, in-
sisting that I more energe tically attract Trotsk yite cadres
to the militar y conspi racy and more activel y use them. I
told Putna to say that this would be done. In additio n,
Putna told me that Trotsk y had establi shed direct links
with Hitler's govern ment and the Genera l Staff, and that
86 Tr ots ky 's Lies

th e ce nt er of th e an ti- So vi et m ili ta ry Tr ot sk yi te co ns pi r ..
acy sh ou ld ta sk its el f
. to pr ep ar e de fe at s on th os e fr on ts
w he re th e German Army w ou ld op er at e. (Main 16 6)

As I have al re ad y po in te d ou t in th e fir st se ct io n, du rin g

th e st ra te gi c m ili ta ry ex er ci se s ca rr ie d ou t in A pr il 19 36 ,
on th e qu es tio n of th e op er at io na l po si tio n of ou r ar ..
mies, I ex ch an ge d op in io ns w ith Y ak ir an d U bo re vi ch .
Taking in to ac co un t Tr ot sk y' s di re ct iv e to pr ep ar e fo r
de fe at on th at fr on t w he re th e G er m an s w ou ld at ta ck , as
well as G en er al R un ds te dt 's in st ru ct io n to pr ep ar e fo r
de fe at on th e Ukrainian Fr on t ... (Main 18 5)

Primakov , as qu ot ed in Bu dy on ny 's le tte r to V or os hi lo v:

0T pH I..I iaJ I OH 3T O Ha TO M OC HO Ba HM H, qT o, .H K0 6b I, eMy,

ITPI1MAKOBY, TPOQKl1M 6b IJ ia nocTaBJieHa 6oJiee
JI Ba Aa t:I a - no ~H HT b B Jl eH HH rp a~ e
ce pb e3 Ha
so op y) l\e HH oe so cc Ta HH e, ,ll;JI.H qe ro OH IT PH M AK OB ,
,ll;OJI)KeH 6b IJI CT po ro 3aKO HC ilH pH po Ba TbCR OT Bc ex
Te pp op HC TJ it.{ €C KH X rp yn n, rro pB aT b CB OH CB .H3 H co
BC eM 'H Tp O~ KH CT aM H H rrp aB blM H H Te M ca Mb IM
3aBOeBaT b aB TO pH Te T H a6 co Jil OT HO e ,D;O Be pH e co
cT op oH hI na pT HH H ap M eH cK or o Ko MaH,n;o aaHH H .... B
cB .H 3H c aT HM cne~HaJibHhIM aa~aHHeM TPO~Koro,
ITPHMAKOB o6 pa 6a Th IB aJ I 25 Ka Bf );H BH 3H lO Bo rJiaBe c
KO Ma H, n;H pO M ,D;I1B113HH 3bJBJ1HblM. Tio er a CJIOBaM,
3bIBMH ~oJIJKeH oL IJ I BcTpeTHTb Ha rpaHn~e

TPOIJ.KOfO np H oe11a~eHHH noecTaH~aMH

JleHHHrpaAOM.12

Tr an sl at ed :

JI

ru Ob or on y So iuz a SSR M ars ha lu So vie tsk og o So iuz a tov .

12 uN ar od no mu ko mm isa
K.E. v·o ro sh ilo vu ." Klio (St Pe ter sb ur g) No. 2 (2 01 2) , 21 .
Chapter 3. Trotsky and the Charge of {Armed Intervention' 87

He denied that on the basis that supposedly he, Prima-

kov, had been entrusted by Trotsky with a more se-
rious task - to raise an armed insurrection in Lenin-
grad, for which he Primakov must keep himself strictly
apart from any terrorist groups, break his ties with all
Trotskyites and Rights, and at the same time win for
himself authority and absolute trust from the party and
the army command .... In connection with this special
assignment of Trotsky's, Primakov had worked on the
25th cavalry division headed by the commander of the
division, Zybin. According to his words Zybin had been
supposed to meet Trotsky at the border once the re-
bels had taken over Leningrad.

Liushkov
The testimony of Genrikh Samoilovich Liushkov, NKVD General
and defector in June 1938 to the Japanese, represents some of the
strong evidence from outside of the USSR, and thus beyond the
reach of the NKVD, that confirms the truthfulness of some of the
testimony and charges at the Moscow Trials. Liushkov's remarks
to his Japanese handlers confirm key elements of Tukhachevsky's
confessions. It also confirms the charges at the March 1938 Mos-
cow Trial including, explicitly, Rykov's involvement in the anti-
government conspiracy and the conspiracy of some leading mili-
tary officers.13

Concerning the issue of ''armed intervention," Alvin Coox summa . .

rized what Liushkov told his Japanese handlers as follows:

According to Lyushkov, the interrogations of Deribas,

Zapadni) and Barminski established that in the NKVD
and the border guard forces, a plot centering on Ga . .
marnik had been fomented. For a long time Deribas had
been in contact with Rykov and was the latter's 'hidden
conspirator'. In concert with Lavrenty Lavrenti.ev (for--

13 Furr Kirov Chapter 17~ uLiushkov s Essay, 336-358,

1 11
88
Trotsky's Lies

m er Fi rs t Se cr et ar y of th e R eg io na l C om m it te e of th e
Pa rt y un ti l Ja nu ar y 19 37 ), w it h G ri go ry K ru to v (s ho t in
A pr il 1938)) an d w it h th e ar m y pl ot te rs Sa ng ur sk i, A r-
on sh ta m , an d ot he rs , D er ib as su pp os ed ly in te nd ed to
co nd uc t a pu ts ch in th e Fa r E as t an d to re ac h ag re e·
m en t w it h th e Ja pa ne se fo r he lp an d fo r co m bi ne d
op er at io ns ag ai ns t th e So vi et U ni on . (C oo x 1, 15 6)

sc lo su re s to hi s Ja pa ne se ha nd le rs in
I al so ex am in e L iu sh ko v' s di
Trotsky's 'A m al ga m s' an d Th e M os co w Tr ia ls as Ev id en ce .

Evidence: the March 1938 Moscow Trial

Pr os ec ut or V ys hi ns ky :

T he ex te ns iv e ap pl ic at io n of w re ck in g m ea su re s in U z-
be ki st an w as al so fu lly co rr ob or at ed by th e ac cu se d IK -
RAMOV} w ho te st if ie d th at th e ''b lo c of R ig ht s an d T ro t-
sk yi te s1' ha d se t hi m th e fo llo w in g ta sk s:

... a) to m ak e ex te ns iv e pr ep ar at io ns in U zb ek is ta n
su rr ec ti on , to be st ar te d si mu lt an e~
for ar m ed in
ou sl y w it h th e be gi nn in g of in te rv en ti on ... (1 7)

•••

GRINKO: ... A t th e be gi nn in g of 19 35 I he ar d fr om Ly ub -
ch en ko ab ou t th e cr ea ti on in th e U kr ai ne of a na ti on al -
fa sc is t or ga ni za.t io n, th e ob je ct of w hi ch w as to se ve r th e
U kr ai ne fr om th e U .S .S .R ., an d w hi ch co un te d on re ce iv -
in g as si st an ce in th e sh ap e of m il it ar y in te rv en ti on
on th e pa rt of th os e fo rc es an d el em en ts w it h w ho m I
ha d al re ad y es ta bl is he d pe rs on al co nt ac t at th at ti m e.
T he na ti on al -f as ci st or ga ni za ti on al so se t it se lf th e ai m of
un it in g w it h th e ''b lo c of R ig ht s an d T ro ts ky it es ," w hi ch
ha d es ta bl is he d co nt ac t w it h th e m il it ar y co ns pi ra to rs .
(70) ~
Chapter 3. Trotsky and the Charge of 'Armed Intervention, 89

IVANOV: We assembled insurrectiona ry groups, ch.iefly

around Archangel, so as, at the moment of interven-
tion, to cut off communicatio n between Archangel and
the central arteries of our country, and thus make it eas-
ier for the British to seize ·this timber region and most
valuable port. (124)
IVAN OV: ... During this conversation in particular, I
asked: where is the intervention, where is the attack on
the Soviet Union? Bukharin told me that measures were
being taken to induce the fascist countries Japan and
Germany to take action without fail in 1937, and the
chances of ·t his were good. (127)
KRESTINSKY: This was the question which confronted
us, and in our brief conversations with Piatakov we were
thinking) we were saying that without help from the out--
side, that is to say, without intervention , without
armed assistance from outside, we could not man-
age, and when I went abroad . ..
IKRAMOV: ... Antipov informed me about the German--
Japanese orientation and about the connections with the
Germans and Japanese. He also told me that there was a
military group, and that in the event of war they would
act by opening the front to the attacking forces of the
intervention ists. (360)
IKRAMOV: It was during the Congress of Soviets in No-
vember or the beginning of December 1936. During the
Congress of Soviets I met Bukharin on the staircase; no-
body was about, and I asked him about this. He an-
swered in the affirmative, and formulated it as follows: if
there will not be a war just now, if there will not be
intervention soon, it is all over with our business.
(361)

BUKHARIN: Tomsky considered it permissible to take

advantage of war and preliminary agreements with
90
Trotsky's Lies

G er m an y. T hi s I op po se d by th e fo llo w in g ar gu m en ts , I
sa id th at in th e fi rs t pl ac e if G er m an y w er e to in te r-
ve n e in on e w ay or an ot he r du ri ng th e w ar to he lp
th e co un te r- re vo lu ti on ar y co up , th en , as it al w ay s
ha pp en s, G er m an y, be in g ra th er a st ro ng m il it ar y an d
te ch ni ca l fa ct or , w ou ld in ev it ab ly pu t he r fe et on th e ta -
bl e an d te ar up an y pr el im in ar y ag re em en t w hi ch ha d
be en co nc lu de d. (43 1)

BUKHARIN : W he n I as ke d T om sk y ho w he co nc ei ve d th e
m ec ha ni cs of th e co up he sa id th is w as th e b u si n es s of
th e m il it ar y or ga ni za ti on , w hi ch w as to op en th e
front.
VYSHINSKY: So T om sk y w as pr ep ar in g to op en th e
fr on t?

BUKHARIN: H e di d no t sa y th at .

VYSHINSKY: Yes or no ?
BUKHARIN: I as ke d ho w he vi su al iz ed th e m ec ha ni sm
of th is in te rv en ti on .
VYSHINSKY: W ho se in te rv en ti on ?
BUKHARIN: Of ce rt ai n fo re ig n st at es . (43 3)
BUKHARIN: I sa id th at I as ke d T om sk y: ''H ow is th e
m ec ha ni sm of th is in te rv en ti on vi su al iz ed ?' ' H e an -
sw er ed : ''T hi s is th e bu si ne ss of th e m il it ar y or ga ni za -
tio n, w hi ch is to op en th e fr on t to th e G er m an s.' ' ( 43 4)

Corroborating evidence
ov e co ns ti tu te s di re ct ev id en ce th at no t on ly
T he ev id en ce ci te d ab
ig ht s an d T ro ts ky it es '' its el f, in cl ud in g
T ro ts ky bu t th e ''Bloc of R .4

''a rm ed in .te rv en ti on ' as1

a pa rt of a pl an fo r
th e R ig ht s, ad vo ca te d
se iz in g po w er in th e USSR. T he re is al so a go od de al of co rrob or at,..
g to st re ng th en or co nf ir m th e di . .
ing ev id en ce ev id en ce te nd in
Chapter 3. Trotsky and the Charge of 'Armed Intervention' 91

rect evidence in some way. The subject of the present chapter -

Trotsky,s lie that Zinoviev and Kamenev were accused of planning
''armed intervention'' - can itself be considered as corroborating
evidence that confirms or strengthens the case that Trotsky con-
spired with Germany and Japan - a case that I make more fully in
Leon Trotsky's Collaboration with Germany and japan.

Piatakov's Face-To-Face Confrontation with

Bukharin December 7, 1936
In 2002, the transcript of Iurii Piatakov's ''face-to-face'' confronta-
tion with Nikolai Bukharin was published in Voprosy lstorii, a lead-
ing Russian history journal. In it, Piatakov confirms all his previous
confessions. He does not specifically mention his charge that Trot-
sky was conspiring with Germany. If he had done so} that would
have been direct, not corroborating, evidence.

Its significance is that not only Nikolai Ezhov, People,s Commissar

of Internal Affairs (head of the NKVD), but Marshal Kliment Voro-
shilov, Commissar for Heavy Industry Sergo Ordzhonikidze, and
Stalin himself were present. I·t was never intended for publication.

There is no reason to think Piatakov,s statements were ''forced,"

and there is no evidence they were. Bukharin privately told his
wife, Anna Larina} about this meeting, as Larina recounted in her
memoirs. Bukharin told her that Ordzhonikidze had asked
Piatakov repeatedly whether his testimony were ''voluntary.''
Piatakov assured him that it was entirely voluntary.14

In his confrontation with Bukharin, Piatakov confirmed that, at

their meeting in 1931, Leon Sedov gave him Trotsky's instructions
about the formation of a Trotskyist bloc with the Rightists within
the USSR, one that was already in the process of formation. We
know this independently from Trotsky's and Sedov's own docu"'
ments in the Harvard Trotsky Archive.

14 AnnaLarina. This I Cannot Forget. The Memoirs of Nikolai Bukharin's Widow.

New York~ Norton} 1993, p. 312.
 T ro ts ky 's Lies
92

h e re w e c a n c h e c k P ia ta k o v 's co n -
T h e re fo re , in th is o n e in st a n c e w
fo rm a ti o n w e k n o w to b e tr u e fr o m a n o th e r
fe ss io n a g a in st in
w a s te ll in g th e tr u th . T h is le n d s c re d ib il it y to th e
so u rc e , P ia ta k o v
re st o f P ia ta k o v 's st a te m e n ts .i s

Sokol'nikov and Radek

d o f th e U S S R , a sh o rt e x c e rp t fr o m p re tr ia l co n- -
Ju st b e fo re th e e n
n ik o v a n d R a d e k w e re p u b li sh e d . In th e c o u rs e o f
fe ss io n s b y S o k o l'
ig a ti o n in D e c e m b e r 1 2 , 1 9 3 6 , S o k o l n1
ik o v te st i-
th e p re tr a
i_ l in v e st
se a m b a ss a d o r to th e U S S R , a sk e d
fied th a t T a m e k ic h i Ota, Ja p a n e
o n A p ri l 1 3 , 1 9 3 5 , w h e th e r h e w a s a w a re th a t
h im , S o k o l' n ik o v ,
ro p o sa ls to m y g o v e rn m e n t. " In
''Mr. T ro ts k y h a s m a d e c e rt a in p r
p t, th e id e n ti ty o f th e c o u n tr y a n d th e a m b a ss a d o
th e tr ia l tr a n sc ri
th e n e x t v o lu m e o f th e p re se n t st u d y I w il l p re -
w e re o m it te d . In
a t c o rr o b o ra te s th e v a li d it y o f S o k o l' n ik o v 's te st i-
se n t e v id e n c e th
b y th e Ja p a n e se c o n c e rn in g T ro t-
m o n y th a t he w a s a p p ro a c h e d
sk y 's c o ll a b o ra ti o n w it h them.1 6
w a s ''f a b ri c a te d '' - th a t is , fa k ed -
It is n o t likely th a t th is te st im o n y
th e tr ia l it se lf a n d in th e tr a n sc ri p t.
a n d th e n th e d e ta il s o m it te d a t
o u ld h a v e b e e n p o in tl e ss . M o re o v er , a s w e p o in t
S u ch a c h a ra d e w
'A m a lg a m s' a n d T h e M o sc o w T ri a ls
o u t in m o re d e ta il in Trotsky's -
n a n y e v id e n c e th a t th e d ef en
as Evidence, th e re h a s n e v e r b e e
a t th e M o sc o w T ri a ls w a s ''c o m p e ll e d '' in a n y w ay .
d a n ts ' te st im o n y
w e h a v e su p p o rt s th e h y p o th e si s th a t th e M o sc o w
A ll th e e v id e n c e
T ri a ls d e fe n d a n ts sa id w h a t th e y ch o se to sa y.

, 1 9 3 6 , ju st fo u r d ay s a ft e r th is te st im o n y b y
On D e c e m b e r 1 6
te a b o u t i.t in h is p ri v a te d ia ry .
Sokol'nikov, Georgi D im it ro v w ro

sK V K P( b) . D ek ab r' 19 36 go da . N o. 3.
1s ((S te no gr am m a oc hn yk h st av o k v T
ko vy m i B uk ha ri ny m v T s. K V K P( b) o t 7
S te no gr am m a oc hn oi st av ki m ez hd u P ia ta 1
ls to ri i 4 (2 00 3) 3- 12 . T he ' fa ce -t o- fa ce
de ka br ia 19 36 go da .)} Voprosy s to
st of th e a.r ti cl e is a le tt er of B uk ha ri n'
co nf ro nt at ion " is on pp. 3-7; th e re
Stalin, 1.
; F ur r, T ro ts ky 's C ol la bo ra ti on , C ha pt er
16 Se e al so F ur r Evid.ence. 66 .. 73
Chapt er 3. Trots ky and the Charg e of 'Arme d Interv ention ' 93

Dimi trov copie d or summ arize d a pass age that mus t be at the con-
clusi on of the trans cript of this inter roga tion of Soko l'niko v:

QUESTION: Thus , the inves tigat ion conc ludes that Trot-
sky abro ad and the cente r of the bloc with in the USSR
ente red into nego tiatio ns with the Hitle rite and Japa nese
gove rnme nts with the follo wing term s:

First , to prov oke a war by Germ any and Japa n again st

the USSR;

Seco nd, to prom ote the defe at of the USSR in that war
and to take adva ntag e of that defe at to achie ve the trans -
fer of pow er in the USSR or [thei r] gove rnme nt bloc;

Third , on beha lf of the futur e bloc gove rnme nt to guar -

ante e terri toria l and econ omic conc essio ns to the Hit-
lerite and Japa nese gove rnme nts.

Do you conf irm this?

REPLY: Yes, I conf irm it.17

Som e pretr ial testi mon y of Rade k's likew ise conf irms his testi-
mon y at trial, wher e cruci al detai ls were omit ted. I refer the read er
to my long er discu ssion elsew here .1s

Conclusion
Trot sky lied in stati ng that Zino viev and Kam enev had been
char ged with ''prov oking '' or othe rwis e coun ting on ''arm ed inter -
venti on." in orde r to oust Stali n et al. and bring them selve s to
powe r. The ques tion is: Why did he fabri cate this parti cular lie?
Why did Trot sky repe atedl y make state men ts that anyo ne who
took the troub le to verif y them could readi ly see were false? Why
did he take such a clear risk of expo sure?

11 The Diary of Georgi Dimitrov, ed. Ivo Banac (Yale U.P., 2003) , 43.
is Furr EvidenceT 66-73 .
 1

94 Tro tsk y s Lies

My hy po the sis i.s tha t Tr ots ky tol d thi s lie in or de r to an tic ipa te an
ac cu sat ion th at he co uld rea so na bly ex pe ct to em erg e at so me
po int : tha t he, Leon Tr ots ky , ha d be en urg ing his fol low ers to
co un t on the int erv en tio n of ho sti le po we rs to br ing him an d the
blo c to po we r. He co uld rea so na bly ex pe ct thi s ac cu sat ion wo uld
be ma de be ca us e (a) he ha d ind ee d be en do ing thi s, an d his fol-
low ers in the blo c kn ew it; an d (b) be ca us e oth ers in the blo c - zj ..
no vie vis ts an d Ri gh ts - no t on ly kn ew tha t Tr ots ky ad vo ca ted
''a rm ed int erv en tio n'' bu t we re do ing so the ms elv es. He nc e if the y
we re ca ug ht - say , thr ou gh the co nfe ssi on of on e or mo re of the ir
me mb ers - the y wo uld ha ve no rea so n no t to inc ulp ate Tr ots ky
too. Be ca us e the NK VD ha d arr es ted ma ny me mb ers of the blo c
an d on the ba sis of the ir co nfe ssi on s wa s co nti nu ing the inv est iga -
tio n an d arr es tin g mo re of the m, it wa s lik ely tha t, so on er or lat er,
on e or mo re of the se me n wo uld rev ea l wh at Tr ots ky ha d be en
doing. This is, in fact, wh at ha pp en ed .

Other possible hypotheses

No single pie ce or un it of ev ide nc e is un eq uiv oc al. W he n vie we d
individually, in iso lat ion fro m the wh ole co nc ate na tio n of evi--
de nc e, an y pie ce of ev ide nc e can be ac co un ted for in mu lti ple
wa ys . Th e ex pla na tor y po we r of cir cu ms tan tia l ev ide nc e is re-
ve ale d wh en mu lti ple pie ce s of ev ide nc e ca n all be ac co un ted for
by on ly on e hy po the sis , on e single ex pla na tor y narrative.19 In thi s
ch ap ter , I ha ve ou tli ne d tha t hy po the sis .

It is im po rta nt to as k wh at oth er hy po the ses mi gh t be ab le to ac ..

co un t for Tr ots ky 's de lib era te lies th at Zinoviev, Kamenev, an d
the ir fol low ers we re pla nn ing to ''p rov ok e arm ed int erv en tio n'' by

19 1.n pra ctic e, cir cum sta nti al evi den ce can hav e an adv ant age ove r dir ect
11

evi den ce in tha t it can com e fro m mu ltip le sou rce s tha t che ck and rei nfo rce eac h
oth er.', "Circumstantial Evidence,' Wi kip edi a, at
1

htt p ://e n.w iki ped ia.o rg/ wik i/C irc um sta nti al_ evi den ce# Va lid ity_of _ci rcu ms ta.n tia
I- evidence
Chapter 3. Trotsky and the Charge of {Armed Interven tion' 95

a hostile state. Any alterna te hypoth esis would. have to satisfy the
same require ments:

* It would have to accoun t for the obviou s ''coinci dence that, al-
11

though Trotsk y's claim that Zinoviev and Kamen ev had been
charge d with desirin g ''armed interve ntion was false, he himsel f
11

and other membe rs of the bloc were to be accuse d of exactly this

same crime two years later.

* It would also have to set forth a differe nt yet equally persua sive
reason for Trotsk y's lie. Trotsk y took a consid erable risk of being
expose d as a liar. If Trotsk y had simply criticiz ed and/or ridicul ed
the real accusa tions against Zinoviev and Kamenev, withou t lying
about the charge s against them, he would ha.ve run no such risk.
Indeed , he would have been expres sing the doubts many people
had at the time about who the real murde rers of Kirov were.
Therefore} we must assume that Trotsk y had a very compe lling
reason to lie in precise ly this way.

The hypoth esis set forth in the presen t essay satisfie s both of these
require ments: it accoun ts for both the appare nt ''coincidence}) and
Trotsk y's motive for telling such a blatant lie.

Our hypoth esis is strengt hened becaus e it sugges ts that Trotsk y

was once again relying on his strateg y of ''ex.pos ing the scheme in
advance' ~ of feignin g to predic t an accusa tion that he knew was
1

likely to be made in the future, since he knew it to be true and also

knew that at least one of those in the bloc who knew about it too
would be likely to reveal it when arreste d and questio ned. I have
shown that Trotsk y employ ed this tactic on other occasions.

The fact that Trotsk y denied the accusa tions that he was relying on
''armed interve ntion'' is not significant. Trotsk y would have denied
this accusa tion whethe r it were true or false. We know the bloc of
Trotsky ists, Zinovievists, and Rights did exist despite the fact that
Trotsk y repeate dly and stre.n uously denied it. Thanks to Broue,
Getty, and Holmst rom, we know that Trotsk y lied about other mat-
ters as well. Thanks to Getty, we also know th.a t Trotsk y's Archive
has been ''purged)" no doubt of incrim inating materia ls.
 1
Tr ot sk y s Lies
96

**** *

on ab le hy po th es is th at ca n ac co un t fo r T ro t-
T he re is no ot he r re as
sky} s false claim th at Zinovie v an d K am en ev ha d be en ac cu se d of
te rv en ti on ." M or eo ve r} ou r hy po th es is is th e
pl an ni ng an ''a rm ed in
m os t ob vi ou s one, th e on e th at w ou ld im m ed ia te ly pr es en t it se lf to
an y ob je ct iv e re se ar ch er .

D es pi te th is fact, I pr ed ic t th at ou r hy po th es is w ill be re je ct ed by
so m e pe op le on political, no t ev id en tia ry } gr ou nd s. C on te m po ra ry
on is do m in at ed by id eo lo gi ca l an -
hi st or io gr ap hy of th e Soviet Uni
ti co m m un is m . U nd er th e sw ay of th is an ti co m m un is m m an y pe o-
or ic al ex pl an at io n, no m at te r ho w w el l
ple re fu se to ac ce pt an y hi st
en ce , if it te nd s to m ak e th e M os co w T ri al s
it ac co un ts for th e ev id
or if it fa ils to re in fo rc e th e do m in an t
te st im on y ap pe ar ge nu in e,
pa ra di gm of Jo se ph Stal in as bl oo dt hi rs ty di ct at or an d fa ls ifi er .

This is tr ue of T ro ts ky is t hi st or ia ns as w el l, w ho ar e ac ce pt ed at
tr ea m an ti co m m un is t hi st or io gr ap hy . Ty pi -
th e m ar gi ns of m ai ns
cally, T ro ts ky is ts ar e un w ill in g to co ns id er th e po ss ib ili ty th at
in or de r to sa ve hi s fo llo w er s in th e So vi et
T ro ts ky lie d ot he r th an
un w ill in g to co un te na nc e th e po ss i~
Union. T he y ar e ideologically
sa ti on s of T ro ts ky 's in vo lv em en t w it h G er -
bility th at Soviet ac cu
m ig ht be ac cu ra te de sp it e al l th e ev id en ce no w
m an an d/ or Japan
av ai la bl e to su pp or t th at conclusion.

I be lie ve th at po lit ic al bi as ac co un ts fo r th e fa ct th at th e re se ar ch
re po rt ed in th is pa pe r w as no t do ne be fo re th is . In an ot he r, le ss
po lit ic iz ed field of hi st or ic al st ud y, so m e sc ho la r or st ud en t w ou ld
ha ve lo ng ago do ne w ha t I did: ob ta in th e ar ti cl es fr om H um an ite ,
co m pa re d th em to w ha t T ro ts ky w ro te .
Pravda} an d Izvestia, an d
rr ed sp ea ks to th e st ro ng po lit ic al
The fa ct th at th is ha s no t oc cu
bi as es th at do m in at e th e fi el d of So vi et st ud ie s.

ts ky ,s ''a m al ga m '' ab ou t ''a rm ed in te rv en -

The ph en om en on of T ro
tion,, sh ou ld no t be ig no re d, no m at te r ho w in cq nv en ie nt it m ay be
for po lit ic al ly -m ot iv at ed pe rs on s. It ha s to be ac co un te d fo r.
Chap ter 3. Trot sky and the Char ge of <Arm ed Intervention ~ 97

It may be tha t the re is ano ther hyp oth esis tha t bett er exp lain s
Tro tsky 's taki ng the risk he did i.n lyin g abo ut Zin ovie v and Kam e-
nev bein g acc use d of sup por ting ''arm ed inte rve nt.ion." But unti l
suc h an alte rna tive hyp othe sis is sho wn to acc oun t for the evi-
den ce bet ter than the one I hav e pro pos ed here , we mu st con side r
this hyp othe sis as pro ven by the ava ilab le evid enc e.
 C h a p te r 4. Trots k )r 's I<iro\r A s s a s s in a ti o n

article - '' T h e R e s to ra ti o n o f C a p it a li s m ''

''T h e R e s to ra ti o n o f C a p it a li s m ''
as si na ti on )} , da te d D ec em be r 30 ,
In hi s ar ti cl e i'On th e K ir ov Ass
re is su e # 4 1 of th e B iu ll et en ' Op ~
19 34 , w hi ch co m pr is es th e en ti
m en ar re st ed in th e fo ur th w ee k of D e ..
pozitsii, T ro ts ky li st ed th e
in g th e ''M os co w C en te r' ' of th e cl an . .
ce m be r an d ch ar ge d w it h be
za ti on w ho se L en in gr ad C en te r ha d ca r-
de st in e Z in ov ie vi st or ga ni
ri ed o u t K ir ov s1
m ur de r. T ro ts ky w ro te :

... th es e fi ft ee n in di vi du al s ar e im pl ic at ed , no m or e, no
io n of K ir ov an d, ac co rd in g to ex -
le ss , in th e as sa ss in at
pl an at io ns gi ve n b y P ra vd a, th ey h ad as th ei r ai m th e
se iz u re o f p o w er , b eg in n in g w it h L en in g ra d , ''w it h
th e se cr et in te n ti o n o f re es ta b li sh in g th e ca p it al is t
re gi m e. "
as im p o rt an t en ou gh to de vo te
T ro ts ky th ou gh t th at th is ch ar ge w
tw o pa ra gr ap hs to de no un ci ng it~

3. W as th e P ur po se to R es to re C ap it al is m ?

hi ch m u st in ev it ab ly ar is e in th e
T he fi rs t qu es ti on w
m in·d s of al l th in ki ng w o rk er s is th e fo ll ow in g: H ow
co ul d it co m e to pa ss th at at a ti m e li ke th is , af te r all th e
ec on om ic su cc es se s, af te r th e ''a bo li ti on '' - ac co rd in g to
of cl as se s in th e U SS R , an d th e ''c on -
official as su ra nc es -
st ru ct io n' ' o f th e so ci al is t so ci et y - h o w co u ld it co m .e to
p as s th at o ld B ol sh ev ik s, th e m o st in ti m at e co ll ab o ...
ra to rs o f L en in , th o se w h o sh ar ed p o w er w it h S ta li n,
m em b er s o f th e ''O ld G ua rd ," co u ld h av e p o se d fo r
th ei r ta sk th e re st o ra ti o n o f ca p it al is m ? D o Z in ov ie v,
K am en ev an d th e ot he rs co ns id er th at th e so ci al is t re . .
gi m e is no bo on to th e m as se s? O r, on th e co nt ra ry , do
Chapter 4. {(The Restoration of Capitalism?'' 99

they expect from capitalism personal advantages both

for themselves and their descendants? And what sort of
advantages?

Only utter imbeciles would be capable of thinking that

capitalist relations, that is to say} the private ownership
of the means of production, including the landJ can be
reestablished in the USSR by peaceful methods and lead
to the regime of bourgeois democracy. As a matter of
fact, even if it were possible in general, capitalism could
not be regenerated in Russia except as the result of a
savage counter~revoluttonary coup d'etat which would
cost ten times as many victims as the October Revolution
and the civil war. In the event of the overthrow of the
Soviets, their place could only be taken by a distinctly
Russian Fascism, so ferocious that in comparison to it
the ferocity of the Mussolini regime and that of Hitler
would appear like philanthropic institutions. Zinoviev
and Kamenev are no fools. They cannot but understand
that the restoration of capitalism would first of all sig. .
nify the total extermination of the revolutionary genera~
tion} themselves, of course, included. Consequently)
there cannot be the slightest doubt here that the accu-
sation concocted by Stalin against the Zinoviev group
is fraudulent from top to bottom, both as regards the
goal specified - restoration of capitalism; and as regards
the means - terrorist acts.

Trotsky repeated this accusation in an article dated January 26,

1935, published in the February 1935 issue number 42 of the B.O.:

The first government communique and official articles

after the arrest of the Moscow group of Old Bolsheviks
said that Zinoviev-Kamenev and their friends had taken
1
as their aim ''the restoration of the capitalist system '

and they were trying to provoke ''armed intervention''

from abroad (by the intermediacy of a consul- from Lat. .
via!). No serious person could believe it; that is under-
stood.
100 Trots ky's Lies

Stali n's lackeys, who cove r them selve s ·w ith the nam e of
''leaders'} of the Com mun ist Inter natio nal, don rt, how-
ever, recoil at the asser tion that Zinoviev, Kam enev and
1
the othe rs ''hav e them selve s adm itted their crimes. '

Which ones ? Prep arati on of the resto ratio n of capital-

ism? Prep arati on of arme d inter vent ion?

l • «

Let us adm it that Zinoviev's critic ism was false. Let us

even gran t that the lackeys were right to judg e critic ism
direc ted again st them ''criminal. But are we to see in ·
{i

that ·the· ''restoration of capitalism,, and ''arm ed inter -

venti on''? Wha t conn ectio n is there betw een the dem and
for a more revo lutio nary polic y again st the bour geoi sie
and a prog ram for ''the resto ratio n of a bour geoi s re-
gime''? Whe re has comm on sens e gone ? It is comp letel y
burie d bene ath a mon strou s defec ation of infamy.1

Trot sky cont inue d to repe at this charg e in B.0. #43, of April 1935 :
Toda y Maisky, in the rank of amba ssad or, accu ses ''Zino ~
vievi sts and ''Tro tskyi sts'' of striv ing to prov oke mili-
11

tary ·i nter vent ion in orde r to resto re capi talis m ... 2

.. )

In the gove rnme nt comm uniq ue as well as in num erou s

artic les in Prav da there was, as is well know n, the direc t
and categ orica l asser tion that Zinoviev and Kam enev

1 Trotsk y, ''Ever ything Gradu ally Falls Into Place." WLT 1934- 1935 223-2 28.
Originally in B.O. #42.
2 ((The Work ers' State, Therm idor and Bonap artism .u WL T 1934- 1935 240-2 61, at
251. Origin ally in B.O. #43.
 .

Chapt er 4. "The Resto ration of Capitalism?" 101~

had as their goal the resto ratio n of capi talis m and

mili tary intervention ...3
And in B.O. #44 of July 1935 :

Of the six cong resse s in the histo ry of the Com inter n to

date, Zino viev was pres iden t of five. Now he is in priso n,
osten sibly for havi ng wan ted to resto re capi talis m by
a terro rist act ... 4

Trot sky and his son Leon Sedov repe ated this char ge yet again in
their attac k on the Augu st 1936 Mosc ow Trial of Zinoviev, Kame--
nev, and othe rs in B.O. #52--53, repu blish ed in Fren ch as Leon Se-
dov, Livre rouge sur le proces de Moscou / Red Book o.n the Moscow
Trial (Oct ober 1937 ).

16 .. ro .HHBap51 1935 roAa B COBeTCKHX raaeT ax IIO.HB.HJIC.H

ooBH HHTe JihHh IH aKT no ,n;eJiy, Tai< Ha3b IBaeM oro,
MocK oBcK oro u;ettTpa, c 3HHOBbeBbIM, KaMeHeBbIM,
EBAO KHMO BblM H ,n;p. BO rJiaBe.... 15-1 6 .HHBa p.H
cocTO.HJICR cy,n; Ha,n; 3HHO BheB blM, KaMe HeBh IM H p;p.
scer o 19 IlOAC YAHM blMH . OHH OOBH HHJI HCh B
CTpe MJie HHH K ''pec Taep an;H H KanH TaJIH 3Ma' ' H B
KOHTp-peaoJIIOI.J;HOHHOH AeRTeJihHOCTH aoo6r u;e. HH
OAHOro KOHKpeTHoro ~aKTa HJIH AOKaaaTeJibCTBa
ooBH HeHH e He npHB eJio. (B.O. #52)

In Le livre rouge:
Le 16 janv ier 1935 , les journ aux sovie tique s publ iaien t
l'acte d'acc usati on de I 'affai re du prete ndu Cent re de
Moscou, avec Zinoviev, Kam enev , Evdq kimo v et autre s
en tete .... Les 15 et 1.6 janvi er, le tribu nal statu ait sur le
sort de Zinoviev, de Kam enev , etc.} 19 incul pes en tout.

3 ''Note s of a Journ alist.}} WL T 1934- 1935 323-2 38, at 327. Originally in B.0. #43.
Italics in origin al, boldfa ce mine, GF.
4 "The Seven th Congr ess of the Comi ntern." (June 7) 1935) . WLT 1934- 1935 406- 1

406, at 405. Origin ally in B.O. #44.

102 Trotsky's Lies

Ils etaient accuses d'aspirer au <<retablissement du

capitalisme>> et de mener une activite contrerevolu . .
·t ionnaire en general. Aucun fait concret, aucune preuve
ne furent apportes par accusati.on. (Livre rouge, pp. z3 . .
24)

In The Red Book:

On January 16, 1935, the Soviet newspapers published
the formal indictment in the case of the so . . called Mos ..
cow Center, with Zinoviev)
.
Kamenev, Evdokimov and the
others at its head .... On January 15 and 16 the court
pronounced judgment on the fate o·f Zinoviev, Kamenev~
et al., 19 defendants in all. They were accused of striv-
ing for the ''restoration of capitalism'' and of counter ..
revolutionary activity in general. Not a single concrete
fact, no proof, was introduced by the prosecution.s
This charge is again repeated in the following section (called
''chapters'' in the French and English books):
''PecTaepa~H.R KaDHTaJIH3Ma'' HJIH ''maiKAa Jil1qHQH
BJiaCTH''?
B CB.H3H. c nepBbIM rrpo~eccoM, 3HHOBbeBa KaMeHeBa H
o6BHHHJIH B TOM, qTo OHM 3a B03BpaT K KanHTaJIH3My,
1
''3a KanHTaJil1CTHqecKyEO pecTaBpaQHI0.' IlOA 3THM
npHrreBOM IllJia B COBeTCKHX ra3eTaX Toro BpeMeHH
(HaqaJio 1935 roll;a) TpaBJI.H 311HOBbeBa -- KaMeHeaa.

EcJIH H.e YAaJiocb - TOrAa - ycTaHOBHTb xapaKTepa

,n;eHTeJibHOCTH 3HHOBbeBa .... KaMeHeBa (Teppop), To no

s Leon Sedov, The Red Book on the Moscow Trials (1936), Chapter 3. At
http:/ /www.marxists. org/historyj etol/writers / sedov/works /,;red/ ch03 .htm
(Red Book)
Chapt er 4. "The Resto ration of Capitalism? 11
103

KpaifHeH Mepe TBep~o ObIJi a ycTaHOBJieHa HX ~eJih:

BOCC TaHO BJieH He KaIIH T3JIH 3Ma.

Ha BTop oM npo~ecce ''KarrHTaJIHCTHqecKaH

pecTaBpa~11.H'' 6bIJia cosep rneH HO sa6h1Ta. ~aHa 6b1Jia
HOBa H BepC HH: .... <<C HeCO MHeH HOCT bIO ycTaH OBJie Ho, tITO
e,n;11HCTBeHHhIM MOTH BOM opraHH3a~HH TpoQKHCTCKO . .
311HOBbeBCKOro 6JIOKa .HBHJIOCb CTpe MJieH He BO 'lJTO 6bI
TO HH CTaJI O 3aXBaTHTb BJiaCTb>> (o6BH HHTe JibHh IH aKT).
(B.O. #52)
From the Livre roug e:

Le <<re tabli ssem ent du capit alism e>> ou la <<soif du

pouv oir personnel>>?

En liaiso n avec le prem ier proc es, Zino viev et Kam enev
avaie nt ete accuses d'etr e pour le retou r au capitalism.,
pour la <<restauration capitaliste>>. C'est avec ce refra in
que les journ aux sovie tique s de l'epo que (deb ut ·1 935)
ant pour suivi Zino viev et Kam enev .
Si l'on ne pouv ait alors etabl ir le carac tere de l'activite
de Zino viev et de Kamenev (la terre ur), on avait du
main s nette men t etabl i leur but: le retablissement du
capitalisme.
Au seco nd proc es, le <<re tabli ssem ent du capi tal·
isme>> est tout a fait oubl ie. On appo rte une nouvelle
versi on: ,, •(• 11 est etabl i d'un e fa9on irref utab le que le
seul moti f de !'org anisa tion du bloc trotskiste--
zinovieviste fut la tend ance a srem pare r coute que cofrte
du pouv oir' (1). (Livre rouge) p. 34)
1

From The Red Book:

The ''Res tora tion of Capitalism'' or the ''Thi rst for Per-
sona l Powe r''?
104 Trotsky' s Lies

In connec tion with the first trial6J Zinovie v and Kamen ev

had been accuse d of suppor ting the return to capital ism,
''capita list restora tion. It is with this refrain that the So-
11

viet newsp apers of that period (the beginn ing of 1935)

persec uted Zinovie v and Kamen ev.

If one could not - then - establi sh the nature of the activ-

ity of Zinovie v and Kamen ev (terror ), at least their
purpo se had been clearly establi shed: the re-
establ ishme nt of capitalism.
At the second trial, the ;'restoration of capitalism''
was compl etely forgotten. A new version was given: {' ...
It is irrefut ably establi shed that the only motive for the
organiz ation of the Trotsky ist--Zin ovievis t block was the
attemp t to seize power at any cost_,, (The Indictm ent).
(Red Book, Chapte r 4)

Trotsk y continu ed to repeat this charge long after the First Mos-
cow Trial of August 1936. In the middle of his lengthy final state ..
ment at the Dewey Comm ission hearing-s in April, 1937 - a state ..
ment that occupi es 171 pages of print in the publish ed transcr ipt,
The Case of Leon Trotsky - Trotsk y made the followi ng statem ent:
In January , 1935 Zinovie v, Kamen ev, and others were
senten ced, in connec tion with the Kirov assassi nation, to
some years of impris onmen t. During the trial they con·
fessed a desire ~'to restor e capitalism:' (533.)7
In anothe r undate d article of about this time Trotsk y again repeats
the same charge :

6Trotsky is referring to the Moscow Center trial of January 1935.

7Commis sion of inquiry into the charges made against Leon Trotsky in the
.§

Moscow trials. Prelimin ary Commis sion Coyoacan, Mexico, 1937. The Case of Leon
Trotsky. Report of hearings on the charges made against him in the Moscow trials.
By the Preliminary Commission of Inquiry: john Dewey, chairman [and others]. New
York: Harper & Brothers , 1937. (CLT)
Cha pter 4. 'The Rest orat ion of Capitalism?})
1
105

T·he se que stio ns rela te abo ve all to Zin ovie v and Kam e ..
nev . Just wha t wer e thei r mot ives - and thes e mot ives
mu st hav e bee n exc epti ona lly forc eful - tha t gui ded
them in thei r pur por ted terr or? At the first trial in
January 193 5, Zin ovie v and Kam ene v, whi le den ying
thei r par tici pati on in the assa ssin atio n of Kirov} did ac-
kno wle dge , by way of com pen sati on} thei r ''mo ral re ..
spo nsib ility '' ·f or the terr oris t tend enc ies) and in doin g so
the y cite d as the ince ntiv e for the ir opp osit iona l acti vity
the ir urg e ''to res tor e capitalism." If we had noth ing
else to go by exc ept this inh uma n poli tica l ''con fess ion, ''
it wou ld be suff icie nt to exp ose the lie of Stal inis t jus-
.
t ice. 8

Trotsky's ''Amalgam''
All thes e stat eme nts of Tro tsky 's are false. No suc h c.h arg e or any -
thin g like it figu res in eith er the Dec emb er 28} 193 4, ind ictm ent of
the Len ingr ad Zin ovie vist gro up cha rged wit h the assa ssin atio n of
Ser gei Kiro v or the Jan uar y 193 5 tria l ind ictm ent (obv init el'n oe
zakl iuch enie ) pub lish ed in Pravda, Jan uary 16, 1935} on pag e 6.
Not hing at all abo ut rest orin g cap ital ism , or eve n the wor d ''capi--
talis m'' itself, can be fou nd amo ng the cha rges as liste d in the ''re-
hab ilita tion '' doc ume nt pub lish ed in the official Gor bac hev. . era
Par ty jou rna l Izve stia Tse ntra l'no go Kom itet a KPSS in 1989.9 Eve n
the arch ival cop y of the cou rt's sen tenc e aga inst the def end ants in
this case fails to men tion any thin g abo ut rees tabl ishi ng cap ital -
ism.10 Indeed} the wor d ''cap itali sm', doe s not occ ur in any of the se
doc ume nts at al1.11

11
s Trot sky, azin ovie v And Kam enev (193 7). At
http ://w ww. mar xists .org /arc hive /trot sky/193 7 /xx/ kam zino v.ht m
9 "Od ele tak nazi vaem ogo <<mo skov skog o tsentra,
1111
Izvestia TsK KPSS 7 (198 9), p.
65. Rep rinte d in book form in R.. pp 149.
10 Volk ogon ov Pape rs (LOC) Reel 3 Con taine r 4 Fold er 16.
11 Trot sky does not ident ify the pass age from Pravda wh ere he supp osed ly foun d
the phra se 'with the secr et inten tion of rees tabli shin g the capita.list regim e.}} I
1

have not been able to find it anyw here in the Dec emb er 1934 page s of that
106 Tr ots ky 's Lies

Th e tra ns cr ip t of th is Ja nu ar y 19 35 tri al ha s ne ve r be en pu bl ish ed ,

so I ha ve no t se en it, an d Tr ot sk y di d no t re ad it ei th er . Ho we ve r>
so m e qu ot at io ns fro m th e wo rd s of a few of th e de fe nd an ts we re
re pr od uc ed in a ne ws pa pe r ar tic le wh ic h I di sc us s be lo w. Tr ot sk y
qu ot ed fro m it in 19 36 , as we sh all se e. Bu t in it no ne of th e ac -
cu se d co nf es se d to de sir in g i'to re sto re ca pi tal ism .''

Th e pa ss ag e fro m Ch ap te r 3 of th e Re d Bo ok qu ot ed ab ov e co r-
re ctl y id en tif ies th e da te, Ja nu ar y 16 , 19 35 , th at th e in di ct m en t
(obvinitel'nyi akt) ag ai ns t Zi no vie v, Ka me ne v) an d th ei r M os co ww
ba se d su pp or te rs wa s pu bl ish ed in So vi et ne ws pa pe rs , in clu di ng
Pr av da . Bu t no th in g ab ou t th is ch ar ge or an yth .in g lik e it ca n be
fo un d th er e.

Th er e is no qu es tio n ab ou t th e us e of di ffe re nt tex ts. In th e pa ra -

gr ap hs im m ed ia te ly be fo re th e se cti on su bt itl ed ''T he 'R es to ra tio n
of Ca pi tal ism ' or th e 'T hi rs t fo r Pe rs on al Po we r'' ' (q uo te d ab ov e)
Tr ot sk y/S ed ov qu ot e fro m th e sta te m en ts of fo ur of th e Ja nu ar y
19 35 de fe nd an ts: Ka me ne v, Ba ka ev , Zi no vie v, an d Ev do ki mo v. Th e
qu ot at io ns fro m th e fir st th re e ar e ta ke n . di re ctl y fro m th e te xt of
th e in di ct m en t wh ich , as Tr ot sk y/ Se do v co rre ct ly no ted , wa s pu b-
lis he d in Pr av da an d ot he r So vi et ne ws pa pe rs on Ja nu ar y 16 , 19 35
(in Pr av da on pa ge 6).
18. Ka Me He B JI.B ... Ilp H3 Ha JI, qT o <<He,n;ocTaTOl.JHo ai< TH BH O H
3HeprHqHo 6opoJICH c TeM pasno*eHHeM, KO TO po e 6bIJIO
IlO CJi e)J ,CT BH eM 6opb0bl c napTHeH H Ha IJQqBe KO To po ro
MO rJi a B0 3H HK HY Tb H oc y~ eC TB HT b CB Oe npecTynJieHHe
>
rna if Ka 6aH ,n;H TO B H3 ITO)J,OHKOB aH TH na pT Hl1 HO R OTIIl03HQHH.>

Translated~

ne ws pa pe r. Of co urs e, ev en if it sh ou ld be fou nd the re so me wh ere it wo uld no t

ch an ge ma tte rs. 11
Th is1 by the wa y, is a leg itim ate ex am ple of ''ab sen ce of ev ide nc e co nst itu tin g
"ev ide nc e of ab sen ce}u be ca us e Pr avd a of De cem be r 19 34 to Jan ua ry 19 35 is a
finite sea rch field.
Ch ap ter 4. "T he Re sto rat ion of Ca pit ali sm ?'> 107

Ka m en ev ac kn ow le dg ed th at he ''d id no t fig ht ac tiv ely or

en er ge tic all y en ou gh ag ai ns t th e de m or al iz at io n wh ich
wa s th e co ns eq ue nc e of th e str ug gl e ag ai ns t th e pa rty
an d up on wh ic h gr ou nd a ba nd of br ig an ds (N ik ol ae v
an d ot he rs ) co ul d sp rin g up an d ca rry ou t th ei r crime."
I OK OH \.fa Te Jib HO c 3H HO Bb eB blM CB OH X CB R3 eH ,,.
•.. He no pB aJ
(col. 3)

Tr an sla ted :

''[ ac kn ow led ge d] ... th at he di d no t br ea k all tie s wi th Zi-

noviev."

3~ecb 6b IJi a TO Rb KO 3J I06 Ha H Bp alK 'Ae 6H aH Kp HT HK a

Ba JK He Hrn Hx MeporrpR.HTHH rra pT HJ 1 •.. (col. 1, bo tto m)

Tr an sla ted :

[B ak ae v de cla re s th at ] ''h er e [a m on g th e Zi no vi ev ist s]

th er e was on ly m al ev ol en t an d ho sti le cr iti cis m of th e
m os t im po rta nt m ea su re s ta ke n by th e pa rty ."

••. na pT HR COBep~eHHO np aB a B TO M, qT·O OH a. fO BO pH T no

Bo rrp oc y o noJIHTHtfecKoii OTBeTCTBeHHOCTH ob IBI IIe H.
v ...., '-'
«3 HH OB be BC KO H» rp yn nh l sa
aH TH rra pT HH HO H
CO Be pllI HB IIIe ec. H y6H HC TB O. (col. 3)

Tr an sla te d:

[Z in ov iev sa ys th at ] '' A•• th e pa rty is ab so lu tel y co rre ct

wh en it sp ea ks of th e po lit ica l re sp on sib ili ty of th e ol d
'Z in ov iev ist ' an ti ~p ar ty gr ou p fo r th e as sa ss in at io n
wh ic h ha s ju st be en accomplished."12

Th e qu ot at io n fro m Ev do ki mo v is ta ke n di re ctl y fro m th e se pa ra te

ar tic le pu bl ish ed on th e sa m e pa ge op po sit e th e te xt of th e in di ct- .
m en t an d tit le d ''F ro m th e Ha ll of th e Su pr em e Co ur t of th e US SR .

12· See · e rouge , 33 .

L zvr
108 Trotsky's Lies

Declaration of the defendant Evdokimov to the court of January 15

of this year.}'13

<<... Mbl /J;OJI./KHbI HeCTH OTBeTCTBeHHO CTH, 1160 TOT .H,ZJ;,

KOTOpbIM Mbl OTpaBHJIH OKpymaro~HM Hae B Te'tleHHe
)J;eCRTKa JieT, crroco6cTBOBaJ I COBeprneHHID npecTynJieHHH -
y611iicTBY K11p0Ba.>> (col. 6, top)

Translated.:

('We must bear the responsibility [for Kirov's murder],

because it is the venom with which we poisoned those
around us during a 10--year period which made possible
th.e realization of this crime." 14

The article quoting Evdokimov is summarized in Humanite of

January 18, 1935.15 Trotsky and Sedov had read either the Russian
original in Pravda or the briefer French summary. In Pravda, the
Evdokimov article and the text of the Indictment are on the same
page.

Therefore Trotsky and Sedov knew that Zinoviev, Kamenev and

the other defendants, arrested in December 1934 and put on trial
in mid--January 1935) were not charged with conspiring to ''restore
1
capitalism'' or ''provoking armed intervention. ' They did not con ..
fess to it, nor did the issue arise in any way.

Rogovin's ''AmalgamJ'
Vadim Z. Rogovin was a historian whose works constitute the most
sustained Trotskyist interpretatio n of Soviet history of the Stalin

13 ''Iz zala verkhovnogo suda SSSR. Zaiavlenie podsudimogo Evdokimova na sude

15 ianvaria sego goda." Pravda January 16 1935, page 6, cols 5-6.
1

14 See Livre rouge, 34.

1s ''Les contre .. revolutionnaires devant le tribunal supreme.'~ Humanite January
18, 1935, p. 3 cols. 6 .. 7, More quotations from Evdokimov are translated in an
article the following day: {({Ennemis dangereux le Tribunal les met sous les
verrous,' ecrivent Ies 'Izvestia.'n Humanite Jan. 19, 1935, p. 2 col. 1.
Chapter 4. "The Restoration of Capitalism?'·' 109

period. In his books, Rogovin always cited Trotsky prominently

and positively. But Rogovin could not find any evidence of the ''res-
toration of capitalism'' charge that Trotsky claimed was in news-
paper accounts. Rather than acknowledge this fact, however, Ro-
govin just repeated Trotsky's claim without any footnote or cita-
tion.

In the newspaper commentarie s accompanyin g the trial

transcript, the desire to restore capitalist society in the
USSR was given as the incentive for these terrorist
moods and for oppositional inclinations in general.16

Rogovin realized that the ''restoration of capitalism'' charge was

not mentioned in the August 1936 trial. But instead of noting the
fact that Trotsky (and Sedov) lied about this, Rogovin himself con-
cocted a lie. We may call ''Rogovin's amalgam'' a story according·
to which Zinoviev and Kamenev made a deal with Stalin to with-
draw this charge, in return for which they would plead guilty to
terrorist activity. Rogovin cites no evidence for such a deal, and we
have none today. Rogovin then refers to ''the shift from the version
about wanting to restore capitalism to the one about the naked
thirst for power'' (28).

In this way, Rogovin avoided exposing Trotsky's lie through. a lie of

his own. Perhaps he believed he was saving Trotsky's reputation.
After all, how many people would scour the Soviet press to see
whether the ''restoration of capitalism'' charge was actually raised
in it?

Even nineteen months later, at the First Moscow Trial of August

1936, this charge was not part of the indictment, or charges
against the defendants, including Zinoviev and Kamenev. In fact,
nothing about the ''restoration of capitalism'' was mentioned in
any way during that trial. Zinoviev, Kamenev, et al. did not confess
to anything even remotely resembling this. They were not charged

16 Rogovin, 193 7. Stalin's Year of Terror. Oak Park) I L~ Mehring Books, 1998, p. 2 6.
110 Trotsky's Lies

with supp ortin g any ''retu rn to capitalism," ''rest orati on of capital-

ism,'' etc.

This char ge is a fabri catio n by Trots ky. Once again} to use Trot-
sky's own term , this story is an ''amalgam.'' It is not true that, as
Trot sky/Sed ov claimed, '''the resto ratio n of capitalism, was com-
plete ly forgo tten'' at the First Moscow Trial of Augu st 1936 . Ther e
was noth ing to ''forget." This accu satio n had neve r been made in
the first place.

Wh y Did Tro tsky Lie Abo ut This?

Pierr e Brou e and Vadim Rogovin wrot e that Trot sky and Sedo v
lied abou t the bloc with the Zinovievists, Rights, and othe r oppo si·
tioni sts, and abou t Trot sky's conta cts with some of the othe r peo-
ple with who m he publ icly and repe ated ly deni ed havi ng had any
conta ct, beca use they did not wan t to enda nger supp orter s in the
Sovi et Union who m the NKVD had not yet identified. I·n a previ.ous
chap ter I have argu ed this cann ot be the corre ct expla natio n.

Moreover, this expl anati on does not appl y to Trot sky's claim that
Zinoviev) Kamenev, et al. were accu sed of, and conf essed to, plot-
ting to resto re capit alism . Anyo ne who both ered to obta in and
read the issue s of Prav da could have discove.r ed that Trot sky was
lying. Ther efore , Trot sky had to know that by maki ng this claim he
was takin g a serio us risk of bein g expo sed as a liar.

Once again, Trot sky mus t have had some very comp ellin g reaso n
for takin g such a risk. A state men t attri bute d to psyc hoan alyst Al-
fred Adle r runs: ''A lie wou ld have no sens e unles s the truth were
felt to be dang erou s." Trot sky woul d not have lied if the truth had
been on his side. It follows that he was hidin g some thing . Wha t
dang erou s truth was Trot sky conc e.aling?

''Expose the Sch eme In Advance'J

Tow ards the end of his Dece mber 30, 1934 , artic le on the Kirov
Assa ssina tion Trot sky inser ted a secti·o n titled ''The Inev itabi lity of
Chapter 4. <<The Restorat ion of Capitalism?" 111

New Amalg ams Had Been Foretol d." In it, he claime d to have ''pre-
dicted'' that his own name would soon be raised ''alongs ide Zino-
viev' s."

When the first dispatc h appear ed in which Nikolai ev was

said to have been a membe r of the Lening rad Opposi tion
in 1926, there was no further room for doubt. The new
campai gn agains t Zinovie v and Kamen ev was not long in
followi ng. At that momen t, in a conver sation with a
friend (I apolog ize for these person al details, but they
are necess ary for the unders tandin g of the psycho logical
underc urrents in the case), I said, ''The matter will not
rest long on this plane. Tomor row they will bring Trot-
skyism to the fore." To be able to make such a predict ion,
it was really not necess ary to be a prophe t. The Decem -
ber 25 issue of the Temps which I receive d two or three
days later contain ed in a telegra phic dispatc h from Mos-
cow the followi ng item: ''We must point out ... that as the
days go by, Trotsk y's name is being mentio ned more and
more often alongsi de Zinoviev's." Kirov's corpse and the
Zinovie v group thus becom e prepar atory steps for a
much wider and bolder scheme : to deal a blow at. inter-
nationa l Leninism.17

We know now how Trotsk y was able to ''predic t'' this. In 1980, Pi-
erre Braue found proof in the newly- opened Harvar d Trotsk y Ar-
chive that Trotsk y and his Soviet- based followe rs really were in a
bloc with the Zinovie vists. Once the Zinovie vists had inculpa ted
their own leaders by name there was no reason for them not to
also name Trotsky . Theref ore it was ''predic table'' that they would
do so.

Trotsk y chose not to reveal that he and his followe rs in the USSR
were in a bloc with the Zinovie vists, the Rights, and some other
opposi tionists . That meant he had to accoun t for the progre ssive

"The Stalinist Bureauc racy and the Kirov assassin ation." Decemb er 28, 1934.
17
WLT 1934-19 35 175-197, at 194.
112 Trotsky's Lies

rev ela tio ns by the NKVD an d Soviet pro sec uti on in so me oth er
wa y.

So he cre ate d an ''am alg am . 1

Ac
' co rdi ng to thi s fal se sto ry, the
''ca mp aig n'' ag ain st the Zinovievists wa s a ''p rep ara tor y ste p'' to ''a
mu ch wi de r an d bo lde r sch em e na
1
': me ly, an att ac k on Tr ots ky
him sel f an d his ne w mo ve me nt. Tr ots ky claimed th at his na me
wa s br ou gh t up be ca us e of So vie t ala rm at ''th e gr ow th of int ern a . .
tio na l Leninism),, as he called the Tr ots ky ist mo ve me nt.

Of co urs e, Tr ots ky kn ew be tte r. Since Br ou e's 19 80 article, we

ha ve kn ow n be tte r too.

Th en Tr ots ky wr ote :
Th ere is on ly on e wa y to forestall en ro ute the am alg am s
tha t are in pre pa rat ion : Expose the scheme in advance.
The Stalinists are try ing to mo ld the pu bli c op ini on of
the wo rld police tow ard s expulsions, ex tra dit ion s) ar-
res ts an d oth er mo re decisive me asu res . The Leninists
mu st pr ep are the pu bli c op ini on of the wo rld pr ole tar iat
for the se po ssi ble ev en ts. (19 5; italics in the original.)

Here, Tr ots ky ex pli cit ly cla im s th at he ''p red ict ed '' his na me wo uld
co me up so tha t he co uld ''forestall fut ure fab ric ati on s - sh ow
11

the m to be fal se be ca us e ''pr ed ict ab le. " In rea lity , the tru th ap pe ars
to be tha t Tr ots ky wa s ab le to ''p red ict '' thi ng s tha t he kn ew wo uld
co me to lig ht be ca us e the y we re tru e.

Hypothesis
This su gg est s an ex pla na tio n for Tr ots ky 's cla im th at Zin ov iev ,
Kame ne v, an d the res t we re ch arg ed ''w ith the se cre t int en tio n of
ree sta bli sh ing the ca pit ali st reg im e," an d his pe rsi ste nc e in rep ea t-
ing it ov er an d ov er ag ain . Ou r hy po the sis is tha t he did so be ca us e
the ch arg e wa s tru e - no t on ly ab ou t Zinovi'°ev an d Ka me ne v but,
mo re im po rta ntl y, ab ou t Tr ots ky him sel f, Ac co rdi ng to tes tim on y
in the 19 37 an d 19 38 Moscow Trials} Tr ots ky rea lly ha d in.s tru cte d
Ch ap ter 4. ''T he Re sto ra tio n of Capitalism?'' 11 3

hi s fo llo w er s th at re -e st ab lis hi ng ca pi ta lis m w ou ld be ne ce ss ar y in

or de r to pl ac at e th e G er m an s an d Ja pa ne se .

Tr ot sk y m ay ha ve be en pr om pt ed to an tic ip at e th is ch ar ge by a
pr es s re le as e pr in te d in H um an ite of D ec em be r 23 } 19 34 (p . 5 co l.
7) w hi ch st at es th at th e re st or at io n of ca pi ta lis m w as th e go al of
th e K iro v as sa ss in s, th e Le ni ng ra d Ce nt er : 'Ia 1
pr eo cc up at io n se . .
cr et e de re st au re r le re gi m e a
c. pi ta lis te . Th 1
is' ac cu sa tio n is no t le v-
el ed at Zinoviev, K am en ev , et al. , w ho se ar re st s ar e si gn al ed in a
br ie f ar tic le im m ed ia te ly be lo w th e fo rm er .

A n ar tic le in Humanite th e fo llo w in g da y (D ec. 24 , p. 3) tit le d ''L e

gr ou pe te rr or is te zi no ve vi st -tr ot sk is te es t le re su lta t de la pe rs is -
1
te nc e da ns l op po si tio n a la lig ne du pa rti '' qu ot es Iz vestia of De -
ce m be r 22 or 23 as follows:

Le se ns en tie r de le ur ac tiv ite et de le ur s as pi ra tio ns

et ai t la re st au ra tio n du re gi m e capitaliste.

Tr an sl at ed :

Th e w ho le se ns e of th ei r ac tiv ity an d ho pe s w as th e re s-
to ra tio n of th e ca pi ta lis t re gi m e.

Th is to o is st at ed of th e K iro v as sa ss in s) no t of Zi no vi ev an d K am e-
nev. Tr ot sk y ci te d Hu m an ite as a so ur ce fo r hi s ea rl y ar tic le on th e
K iro v murderK

Th es e ar tic le s co nc er n on ly th e Le ni ng ra d . . ba se d Zi no vi ev is ts w ho
w er e ch ar ge d w ith m ur de ri ng Ki ro v. M or eo ve r, it on ly cl ai m s th.at
th e ''s en se '' of th ei r pr og ra m w ou ld be a re ve rs io n to ca pi ta lis t
fo rm s of pr od uc tio n an d di st ri bu tio n ch ar ac te ris tic of th e N ew
Ec on om ic Po lic y - w hi ch , of co ur se , th ey w er e. is Th er e is no in di -
ca tio n in th is ar tic le or an y ot he r th at Zi no vi ev , K am en ev , an d th e

e ma ke s it cle ar th at th e So vie ts kn ew th at th e ec on om ic
1s Th e Hu ma nit e art icl
pr og ra ms of the Zi no vie vis ts wa s clo se to th at of Tr ots ky , Tr ot sk y's 19 29
ec on om ic cri tiq ue of th e co lle cti viz ati on -in du str ial iza tio n ca mp aig n an d th at of
th e Ri gh t's Ri uti n Pr og ra m of 19 32 ar e sim ila r, an d Tr ot sk y's ca me fir st.
114 Trotsky's Lies

Moscow-base d Zinovievists, under arrest by December 22, were to

be charged with plotting to restore capitalism.

Trotsky must have assumed this charge would be brought forth

quickly, just as he assumed his name would be mentioned very
soon. In the latter case, he was correct - Trotsky's name came up
almost immediately. In the former case, though, Trotsky miscalcu ..
lated. In 1935 Zinoviev and Kamenev did not expose the bloc and
1

the ''parallel,'' or secret, leadership( The charge of ''plotting to re-

store capitalism'' was not brought up against Trotsky until some . .
time after the First Moscow Trial of August 1936.

However, Trotsky could reasonably have anticipated that this

charge against him might be still brought up at some future time.
Once Zinoviev and Kamenev had been arrested it was possible that
they would name Radek, Piatakov, and Sokol'nikov. But Trotsky
could not have known in advance when this might happen or when
the charge against him would be made public_

If this was Trotsky's plan it made a good deal of sense. If the names
11
of the leaders of the ''parallel center Radek, Pi-atakov, and
Sokol'nikov did not come up or if, when interrogated, these men
did not reveal Trotsky's plans, Trotsky could simply continue to
claim that Stalin had made the ''restoration of capitalism'' charge
and then abandoned it. Trotsky could then cite this as further
''proof' of Stalin's duplicity. In fact, Trotsky and Sedov did make
this claim, as we have seen:

.At the
second trial, the ''restoration of capitalism'' was
completely forgotten.

But if, as eventually did happen, the charge of plotting ''the resto ..
ration of capi.talism}' was raised ·against him Trotsky would have
the option of claiming that he had once again refuted an ''amalgam
1
in preparation'' by ''exposing the scheme in advance. So Trotsky
'

continued to repeat the baseless charge that Zinpviev and Kame--

nev had been accused of plotting to ''restore capitalism."
Chap ter 4. uThe Rest orati on of Capi talis m?,, 115

Acc ordi ng to this hyp oth.esis , ther efo re, Tro tsky was able to mak e
this assu mpt ion wit h som e con fide nce because he had inde ed in~
stru cted his foll owe rs in exa ctly this way - to restore capitalism.
Tro tsky 's rep eate d clai m in Dec emb er-J anu ary 193 4-5 tha t the
Sov iet gov ern men t had cha rge d Zin ovie v, Kam ene v, et al. wit h
plo ttin g to ''ree stab lish the cap ital ist regi me'' can be exp lain ed as
Tro tsky ,s atte mp t to anti cipa te acc usa tion s tha t he assu med wou ld
pro bab ly be mad e aga inst him self som etim e in the futu re.
1
Und er this hyp oth esis Tro tsky 's ''pre dict ion' tha t the def end ants
wou ld be cha rge d wit h rees tabl ishi ng cap ital ism is like his ''pre dic-
tion '' tha t his own nam e wou ld soo n be rais ed in the Kiro v assa ssi-
nati on case . In bot h inst anc es ·Tro tsky kne w the cha rge aga inst
him was true and wou ld alm ost cert ainl y be mad e soo ner or late r.
By anti cipa ting this cha rge - by ''ex pos ing the sch eme in adv anc e''
- Tro tsky hop ed to pre par e pub lic opin ion - or, at any rate , his
own sup por ters , the peo ple who read his Bul letin - for the tim e
whe n the Sov iets real ly did mak e it, and so to ''ref ute'' it in adv anc e
by mak ing it loo k all too ''pre dict able '' and ther efo re fals e.

Radek's and Piatakov's Testimony

Thi s acc usa tion tha t Tro tsky was ove rtly pro pos ing the ''res tora ..
tion of cap itali sm' ' did fina lly s.urf ace dur ing the Sec ond Mo sco w
Tria l in Jan uar y 1937A It was a maj or, and sho ckin g, feat ure of the
tria l. Tro tsky , wid ely con side red a fier y rev olu tion ary mor e ''left''
tha n Stal in, was acc use d of pro mot ing the re-e stab lish men t of
cap itali sm, or at leas t man y asp ects of it, sinc e tha t see med to be
the only way to get the help of the cap ital ist pow ers to ove rthr ow
Stal iny

Iuri i Piat ako v, one of the chie f def end ants (the tria l is ofte n call ed
1
''the Rad ek-P iata kov tria l' test ifie d;
)

As for the retreat, Tro tsky wro te tha t Rad ek and I wer e
mis take n in thin king tha t the retr eat wou ld be inco n-
side rab le ,.._ we wou ld hav e to retr eat ver y far, and on
this was bas ed the bloc , not only wit h the Zin ovie vite s,
but also wit h the Rig hts. (19 37 Tria l 38- 39)
116 Trotsky's Lies

... In this connection also it would be necessary, for con ..

siderat ions of home policy, to effect a fairly big retreat ,
in addition to concessions to foreigners. Radek quite
justly menti.o ned this retrea t in town and country, such
as permit ting capitalist trade and so forth. To pu·t it sim-
ply, Trotsky explained that it would be a very serious re-
treat. This is exactly what he said: you and Radek are
still under the sway of the old ideas of 1925-2 6 and you
are unable to see that in essence our coming to power
will mean that we will have to retrea t very far in the
directi on of capital ism. (1937 Trial 65)
Karl Radek outline d how Trotsky's views change d betwee n 1934
and 1935:
VYSHINSKY: Three facts : the April letter of 1934, the De ..
cembe r letter of 1935 and Piatakov's meetin g with Trot-
sky in December 1935. How was the questio n put in
Trotsky s letter in 1934? War, working for defeat?
1

RADEK: Yes.
VYSHINSKY~ A return to capitalism in substan ce?

RADEK: No, a return to capitalism is not raised in the let. .

ter.
VYSHINSKY: No? What then?
RAD EK: A retrea t which. we then though t ....
VYSHINSKY:
.
To where?

RADEK: To the positio·n.s of the NEP, with industr y

strengt hened in compa rison with wh·a t it had been be-
fore 1928.
$

VYSHINSKY~ A retrea t toward s strengt hening what ele ..

men ts?
Chapter 4. ''The Restoration of Capitalism?'
1
117

RADEK: A retreat which was to restore a part of the

capitalist elements as well, but this retreat, if compared
with the state of things in 1927 - there would be a pos-
sibility during this retreat, on the one hand, of admitting
capitalist restoration} but at the same time of strength ..
ening industry, thanks to the First Five-Year Plan, the
state farms and part of the collective farms - that is to
say, we would have an economic base on which in my
opinion a proletarian government could have main-
tained itself.

VYSHINSKY: So a proletarian government could still

have maintained itself? But the tendency was to go
backward?

RAD EK: The tendency was to go backward.

VYSHINSKY: In 193 5 this stood out more clearly in com-

parison with 1934?

RADEK: In 1935 the question was raised of going back

to capitalism.
VYSHINSKY: To what limits?

RADEK: What Trotsky proposed was without any limits.

To such limits as the enemy might require. (122)

According to Sokol'nikov the Trotskyists understood that they had

no choice; it was retreat.or be crushed:

SOKOLNIKOV: ... We considered that fascism was the

most organized form of capitalism, that it would tri._
umph, would seize Europe and stifle usl It was therefore
better to come to terms with it, it was better to consent
to a compromise in the sense of retreating from social·
ism to capitalism. (151)
The hypothesis that Trotsky did advocate the ''restoration of capi-
talism'' as Radek, Piatakov, and others asserted, is consistent with
much other evidence we now possess.
118 Trot sky' s Lies

Radek, Piat ako v and Sok ol'n ikov also test ifie d tha t Tro tsky was
dire c·t ly con spir ing wit h the Ger man s and Jap ane se. Suc h neg otia -
tion is a logical coro llar y to the assu mpt ion tha t the USSR wou ld be
def eate d in a war and the Stalin lead ersh ip ove rthr own . The Ger-
man s and Jap ane se wou ld hav e to be per sua ded to allo w the opp o-
sitio n to take pow er rath er than sim ply to dism emb er the USSR by
them selv es. Tro tsky alle ged ly eith er assu med or kne w for a fact
tha t Ger man y and Jap an wou ld dem and con side rab le terr itor ial
con cess ions - the Ukr aine and the Pacific Coa st regi on - as wel l as
eco nom ic con cess ions , as thei r pric e.

Tha nks to the par tial ope nin g of som e form er Sov iet arch ives , we
pos sess a gre at dea l of Sov iet evid enc e to cor rob ora te the Moscow
Trial test imo ny tha t Tro tsky was con spir ing wit h the Ger man s and
Jap ane se. The re is no indi cati on tha t this evid enc e was faked.
Mo reov er, the re app ears to be no reas on to sus pec t it was fake d
sinc e it was all sec ret unti l the part ial ope·n ing of Sov iet arch.ives
afte r the end of the USSR.19 Thi s evid enc e is con sist ent with the
test imo ny tha t Tro tsky was plan ning to ''res tore cap itali sm' ' in the
sen se of mak ing seri ous eco nom ic (as wel l as terr itor ial) con ces-
sion s to the fasc ist pow ers.

Trotsky's 1930 Program

The pro gra m of ''res tori ng cap itali sm' ' that , acc ord ing to Rad ek
and Piatakov, Tro tsky outl ined to them , is clos ely sim ilar to wha t
Tro tsky had ope nly adv oca ted whe n the coll ecti viza tion ..
indu stri aliz atio n cam paig n was und er way. Her e are som e of Tro t-
sky 's pro gra mm atic pro pos als from issu e #10 of the Bulletin of the
Russian Opposition 20 date d Mar ch 23, 193 0, in the arti cle title d

19We exam ine this evid ence in Leon Trotsky's Collaboration with Germany and
japa n) and will exam ine yet mor e evid ence in a subs eqtJ ent book to be publ ishe d
i.n 2.020.
zo This is the title Trotsky used in translation. In Russ ian it is just "Bulletin of the
Opp ositi on."
Chap·t er 4. aThe Restorat ion of Capitalism?" 119

<'Open Letter to the Comm unist Party of the Soviet Union. The
State of the Party and the Tasks of the Left Opposi tion'':

A retrea t is inevita ble in any case. It must be carried out

as soon as possibl e and as orderly as possibl e.

Put an end to ''complete,, collectivization, replaci ng it

with a careful selectio n based on a real freedom of
choice .... Put an end to the policy of admini strativ e aboli-
tion of the kulak. Curbin g the exploit ing tenden cies of
the kulak will remain a necess ary policy for many years.

Put an end to the l'racetr ack-gal lop'' pace of industr iali-

zation. Re .. evalua te the questio n of the tempos of devel-
opmen t in the light of experie nce, taking into accoun t the
necess ity of raising the standa rd of livi.ng of the masses .
Pose point. . blank the questio n of the quality of produc -
tion, as vital for the consum er as it is for the produc er.
1
Give up the ''ideal of a closed econom y. Work out a new
'

varian t of the plans based on as much interac tion as pos ..

sible with the world market .

To make the necess ary retrea t, to renew its [the u·ssR's ]

strateg ic arsena l withou t too much damag e and withou t
losing its sense of perspe ctive ... 21

The abando nment of collectivization, of the destruc tion of the ku-

laks as a class, and of crash industr ializati on, a greatly increas ed
role for foreign trade, and what Trotsk y termed the ''necess ity}' of
raising the standa rd of living - these policie s (if they were possibl e
at all) would have meant a greate r relianc e on market s and a
smalle r role for the state. Trotsk y was advoca ting a form of state-
regulat ed capital ist commo dity produc tion similar to that of the
New Econom ic Policy. Trotsk y justifie d this as an ''inevit able'' and
a ''neces sary retreat. ,,

21 WLT19 30135-1 50, at 147) 150.

120 Trotsky's Lies

1
This 1929 program of Trotsky s is similar to the Rights' ''Riutin
Platform'' of 1932.22 Arch Getty noted that Trotsky's program in
the 1930s was not essentially different from that of the Rights .

... Trotsky's spirited defence of the smychka and rural

market relations, his criticism of the ultra-leftist cam-
paign against the kulaks, and his advocacy of planning
on the basis of ''real potentials'' were similar to the stric-
tures of Bukharin's ''N ates of an Economist." (Getty TIE
34 note 21)

Although the Riutin Platform originated in the right wing

of the Bolshevik Party, its specific criticisms of the Sta-
linist regime were in the early 1930s shared by the more
leftist Leon Trotsky, ... Like the Riutin group, Trotsky be·
lieved that the Soviet Union in 1932 was in a period of
extreme crisis provoked by Stalin's policies. Like them,
he believed that the rapid pace of forced collectivizatio n
was a disaster and that the hurried and voluntarist na-
ture of industrial policy made rational planning impos-
sible, resulting in a disastrous series of economic ;'im-
balances." Along with the Riutinists, Trotsky called for a
drastic change in economic course and democrat.i zation
of the dictatorial regime within a party that suppressed
all dissent. According to Trotsky) Stalin had brought the
country to ruin.23

The economic section24 of the ''Riutin Platform'' shows clear simi ..

larities to Trotsky's proposals:

22 We now know this was composed not by Riutin but by Bukharin, Tomsky, and
other leaders of the Rights. See also Furr, Stalin Waiting, Chapter 8, ({The 'Riutin
Platform' Was Really the 'Bukharin Platform."'
23 Getty and Naumov Road 61, $

2 4 The full title of the document known as the "Riutin Platform'' is "Stalin and the
Crisis of the Proletarian Dictatorship. Platform of the 'Union of Marxist-Leninist s'
(the 'Riutin Group')." It was first published in R-PP 334-443. There is now an
Chapter 4. {{The Restoration of Capitalism?}J 121

III. In the field of industrialization.

1. The immediate cessation of anti~Leninist

methods of
industrialization and growth in the game of pace by rob--
bing the working class, civil servants and village through
direct and indirect, overt and concealed unbearable
taxes and inflation. Industrialization on the basis of the
actual and the steady growth of the welfare of the
masses.

2. Reduction of investment in capital construction in ac-

cordance with the general condition of all the available
resources of the countryl

IV. In the field of agriculture.

1. Immediate dissolution of all the inflated collective
farms (kolkhozy) formed by force. Truly voluntary col ..
lectivization on the basis of machine technology and all
possible assistance to collective farms.

2. Immediate creation of all necessary conditions and

real support for the development of individual poor and
middle peasant farming.

3. Elimination of all unprofitable collective farms. Reten-

tion in our hands only of that number of the best callee,..
tive farms that we are actually able to make truly exem-
plary socialist enterprises.

4. Transmission of large-scale machine inventory of liq-

uidated state and collective farms into the hands of local
agricultural machinery associations.

English translation~ Sobhanlal Datta Gupta, ed. The Ryutin Platform, Stalin and the
Crisis of Proletarian Dictatorship. Platform of the ''Union of Marxists-Leninists. ''
Translated by Pranab Ghosh and Susmita Bhattacharya. Kolkata: Seribaan, 2010.
The economic section of the Riutin Platform is extremely skimpy. It takes up
fewer than two pages in a document 112 pages long in the printed edition.
122 Trotsky's Lies

TI r

6. The im me dia te cessation of grain, and har ves tin g sei-

zur e campaigns and sei zur es of oth er agr icu ltu ral pro d ..
ucts, [which are] mo der n me tho ds of rob bin g the village.
Land dev elo pm ent and consolidation of individual farm-
ers and confirming the ir long .. ter m use of the allocated
land.
V. In the are a of tra de.
1. Cessation of exp ort s of agr icu ltu ral pro duc ts at ver y
low prices.
2. Cessation of exp ort s of con sum er goods at ver y low
•
prices.

3. Re tur n to the Leninist policy of pri ces . A decisive de .

cline in prices. Re sto rat ion of coo per ati on. and its rig hts .

VI. In the field of finance and tax.

I. The ter mi nat ion of inflation, heavy tax bu rde n on the
pro let ari at and all wo rke rs.
2. Te rm ina tio n of the end les s exactions of eve ry kind in
the form of loans pla ced by virtually ma nda tor y con tin u . .
ing inc rea se in pay differentials in cooperation, etc,

3. A maximum and effective red uct ion of taxes on work-

ers, employees and wo rke rs of the village.

VII. In the field of legal ma ter ial living conditions of

wo rke rs and pea san ts.
1. Restore all of the rig hts of wo rke rs to clothing, ma r-
riage pay me nt, etc., of wh ich the y have~ bee n dep riv ed
dur ing the pas t 4 years.
Ch apt er 4. ((The Re sto rat ion of Capitalism?" 1.23

2. Re sto re the old rul es of lay off s tha t ex ist ed 4 ye ars

ag o.

3. Re sto re the old rul es an d a Le nin ist po lic y in the wo rk

of the tra de un ion s.

4. Im me dia tel y sto p the ad ve ntu ris t po lic y of de ku lak iza -

tio n in the co un try sid e, wh ich is in fact aim ed ag ain st the
en tir e ba sic po pu lat ion of the vil lag e. (R~PP 441-3.)
1
Th e sim ila rit ies be tw ee n the Ri uti n Pla tfo rm an d Tr ots ky s ''O pe n
Le tte r'' of 19 30 are ob vio us. At the Se co nd Mo sco w Tr ial i.n Jan u-
ary 19 3 ·7 So ko l'n iko v sta ted :

As reg ard s the pri nc ipl es of the pro gra m) as ea rly as

19 32 the Tr ots ky ite s, the Zin ov iev ite s, an d the Ri gh ts
ha d all co me to ag ree in the ma in on the pr og ram wh ich
pre vio us ly ha d be en de scr ibe d as the pr og ram of the
Ri gh ts.

Th is wa s the so .. cal led Ry uti n pla tfo rm . As ea rly as 19 32

it ex pre sse d to a lar ge ex ten t jus t the se pri nc ipl es of
pr og ram wh ich we re co mm on to all thr ee gro up s. (1 93 7
Tr ial 150--1)

Th e sim ila rit ies be tw ee n the ''R iut in Pla tfo rm '' an d Tr ots ky 's pro ~

po sal s ca nn ot be a co inc ide nc e, In 20 04 , an int err og ati on -

co nfe ssi on of Va len tin As tro v wa s pu bli sh ed . As tro v wa s a stu de nt
of Bu kh ari n's an d a me mb er of his un de rg ro un d gro up of Ri gh ts.
He rev ea led tha t the so~ cal led ''R iut in Pla tfo rm '' wa s no t rea lly
wr itt en by Ma rte mi an Ri uti n at all , bu t by the lea de rs of the Ri gh ts,
Rykov, Bu kh ari n, To ms ky , an d Ug lan ov .

PIO TH HC KaH nJi aTc pop Ma no cy~ecTBY .HB HJi acb ,n;o KyM eHT OM
He PIO TI1 HA , a n;e ttT pa rrp aB hIX ... CJIEITKOB ~aJ iee coo 6~1 1JI ,
tfTO r Jia BH hIM H aB TO paM H pIO TH HC KO H IIJl aTc pop Mb l 6bI JIH
PbIKOB, EYXAPHH, TOMCKI111 11 Yr JIAHOB a tJT o ob1 JI0

o6y cJI OB Jie HO B cJiyT.Iae rrp oB aJi a H3 o6p a3H Tb 3TO T ,lJ,OKyMeHT
Ka K ,n;oKyMeHT TOJihKO PIOTHHA, ,n;a6b1 He noc Ta BH Th noA
y,n;ap pyK0Bo,nHrn,y10 Be pxy lllK Y npa Bb IX.
124 Trotsky's Lies

Translated:
The Riutin Platform was in essence not RIUTIN'S docu-
ment but that of the center of the Rights. ... SLEPKOV
even stated that the main authors of the Riutin platform
were RYKOV BUKHARIN, TOMSKY, and UGLANOV and
1

that it had been agreed, in the event of our failure [i.e.

exposure, arrest] to depict this document as a document
of RIUTIN alone, so as not to endanger the top leader-
ship of the rights. (Lubianka 1937-1938 86.)
During the March 1938 Moscow Trial, Rykov confirmed what As-
trov had stated in January 1937, that the Riutin Platform was com-
posed by the leadership of the Rights: himself, Bukharin, Tomsky,
Uglanov, and Vassilii Shmidt. Rykov also confirmed that it had
been named after Riutin in order to provide cover for the leader-
ship of the Rights.
The platform was called after Ryutin, because it was
published by supporters of the Rights/ the Ryutin group,
from Uglanov's Moscow organizationK During the inves-
tigation instituted in connection with this platform, this
group took the whole responsibility upon itself. This had
been decided on beforehand, so that we ourselves
should not be called to account for the platform._. And to
make it easier to do this, the program itself contained a
phrase which expressed a certain sense of aloofness
from Bukharin, Tomsky and myself; it said something to
the effect that these three were waste steam. This was
done from motives of double~dealing.
(1938 Trial 163)
Bukharin confirmed what Astrov had testified:
BUKHARIN: The Ryutin platform was adopted at the no·
torious conference held in the autumn of 1932, or in the
summer, and it was approved at the meeting of which
Alexei Ivanovich Rykov spoke.
Chapter 4. aThe Restoration of Capitalism? 11
125

VYSHINSKY: That means 1932?

BUKHARIN: The autumn of 1932. (1938 Trial 168)
1
Rykov's and Bukharin s testimony here is important to us since we
•

know that Astrov was not subject to any kind of compulsion at his
January 1937 interrogation. We also know that he testified truth~
fully because he had the chance to withdraw his testimony in 1989
and 1993, but instead he confirmed it. This constitutes further evi-
dence that the confessions in the Moscow Trials are not fabrica-
tions forced upon innocent, unwilling defendants by the investiga-
tors or the prosecution but genuine confessions that represent
what the defendants wished to say.zs

Astrov testified that the Rights considered that the Trotskyists had
adopted the economic program of the Rights:

At the beginning of 1932 in a meeting of the activists of

our organization in his apartment, SLEPKOV justified the
necessity of concluding a bloc with the Trotskyists. He
said that ''the Trotskyists have accepted the economic
platform of the Rights, and the Rights - the internal
party program of the Trotskyists. The tactic of terror
unites us. The disagreements between ourselves and the
Trotskyists are insignificant." (32)

Bukharin confirmed this too in his testimony at the March 1938

trial:

Much has been said here about the Ryutin platform, and
perhaps there is no need to dwell upon it. It was called
the Ryutin platform for reasons of secrecy, as an insur-
ance against exposure; it was called the Ryutin platform
in order to conceal the Right centre and its top leader-
ship. Furthermore, I must say in addition: I think that the
Ryutin platform that is why I permit myself to hold

25I study this question in detail in the first section of Trotsky's 'Amalgams' and in
The Moscow Trials as Evidence.
 1
126 Trots ky s Li es

your attention for a few minutes longer the Ryutin

platform, as far as I can remember during the trial} the
platform of the Right counter revolutionary organi-
zation, was perhaps already actually a common plat·
form of the other groupings, including the Kamenev-
Zinoviev and Trotskyite groupings.
It was just at this very moment that the situatio·n became
such that Trotsky had to throw off his Leftist uniform.
When it came to exact formulations of what had to be
done after all, his Right platform came into evidence at
once, that is, he had to speak of decollectivization, etc.

VYSHINSKY: That is, you equipped Trotskyism ideologi-

cally too?
BUKHARIN: Quite true. (1938 Trial, 388-389)
Pierre Braue agreed that the Rights ·were part of the bloc.26 Writ-
ing in 1980, Braue did not know that behind Riutin and Slepkov,
whom he named, were Rykov, Bukharin, and Tomsky.

La lettre a l'encre sympathique de Leon Sedov fait ap-

paraitre !'existence des groupes suivants : le groupe
trotskyste d'U.R.S.S. ( << notre fraction >>), les << zino ..
vievistes , le groupe d'I. N. Smirnov, le groupe Sten ..
11

1
Lominadze) le groupe << Safar(ov)-Tarkhan(ov), << les '

droitiers >> et << les liberaux ." Bien entendu, tous ne par-
ticipent pas au << bloc ,'' mais taus en connaissent l'exis ..
tence et, selon Sedov, ont des contacts avec lui,. (7)

Le groupe appele par Sedov << les droitiers >> pose en re-
vanche plus de problemes. Le terme designe habituelle-
ment, on le sait, les elements du parti qui ont, depuis l'e-
poque de la Nep jusqu a l autocritique de leurs chefs de
1 1

26Broue, {(Trotsky et le bloc des oppositions de 1932."CahLT 5 (Jan~ Mar 1980), 7,

12, 14.. 16, 18,20, 28.
Chapter 4. uThe Restoration of Capitalism?'' 127

file, suivi le trio Boukharine/ Rykov, Tomsky (26) .... les

comptes rendus de reunions du secretariat international
de !'Opposition de gauche et quelques lettres de Leon
Sedov font appara!tre qu'il designe systematique ment a
l'epoque par le terme de << droitiers >> ce que les histo--
riens designent par<< groupe Rioutine ,'' un groupe origi-
nal apparu precisement en 1932. (12 .. 13)

Translated:

The letter from Leon Sedov in invisible ink reveals the

existence of the following groups: the Trotskyist group
in the USSR (''our fraction''), the ''Zinovievists, " the group
of I. N. Smirnov, the Sten-Lominad ze group, the ''Sa ..
far(ov)-Tarkh an(ov)'' group, ''the Rights'' and ''the liber-
als." Of course not all took part in the bloc but all of them
knew of its existence and, according to Sedov, were in
contact with him (7)

The group Sedov called ''the Rights,'' by contrast, poses

more problems, We know that the term usually means
those elements of the Party who, since the NEP period
until the self--criticisms of their leaders} had followed the
troika of Bukharin} Rykov, and Tomsky (26) .... The ac ..
counts of the meetings of the international secretariat of
the Left Opposition and a few letters from Leon Sedov
reveal that at that time what the historians call the ''Riu-
tin group," an original group that appeared precisely in
1932, was systematicall y designated by the term ('the
Rights.''

Braue goes on to name Galkin} Maretsky, Uglanov, and Kaiurov.

The real history of the ''Riutin group'' was unknown to Braue} writ-
ing in 1980.

It is noteworthy that Braue recalls that Ante Ciliga, a dissident who

was released and left the USSR, stated the relationship between
the Rights and the Trotskyists in virtually the same words as As~
trov:
128 1
Trotsky s Lies

Ante Ciliga dit qu'il y affirmait : << Les droites ant eu rai ...
son dans le domaine economique et Trotsky dans la cri-
tique du regime du parti (31). >>27

Translated:

Ante Ciliga said that said it was affirmed: ''The Rights

were correct in the economic arena) and Trotsky in the
criticism of the regime of the Party."

Ciliga had this information at first hand, for he was imprisoned for
a time in the political {'isolator'' at Verkhneurals k where a number
of Rights and Trotskyites, including both Astrov and I. N. Smirnov,
were also imprisoned and where the opposition conspiracy of the
bloc continued.ZS

Evidence and Proof

I have proposed the hypothesis that Trotsky did) in fact, advocate
as a ''retreat'' the re.s toration of many or ·most aspects of capital-
ism, as Radek, Piatakov, and Sokol'nikov testified at the January
193·7 Moscow Trial. I believe this hypothesis is the only one that
can satisfy the following conditions:

* It explains why Trotsky again and again took the risk of exposure
as a liar by falsely claiming that Zinoviev and Kamenev had been
accused of, charged with, confessed to) and been convicted of

27 Braue 14. Broue s reference is to A. Ciliga, Au pays du grand mensonge. Paris:

1

Gallimard, 1938. Published in English as The Russian Enigma. London: Ink Links
Ltd., 1979.
za {(Arrested (in Russia) in 1930, he was imprisoned in the isolator at
Verkhneuralsk where he participated in the life of the 'Bolshevik.. Leninist
collective' of which he offered a caricatural description after he was freed.,,
$

Stephen Schwartz, ''Ante Ciliga (1898-1992); A Life at History's Crossroads."

Revolutionary History: Unpublished Articles, 34, at
https://web.arch ive.org/web/20 010411013259 /http~//www.revolutionary-­
history.eo.uk/su pplem.htm
Chapter 4. "The Restoration of Capitalism? 11 129

''plotting to restore capitalism'} and that this could be verified

through articles in Pravda.

* It isconsistent with the Riutin Platform of the Rights. We know

that Trotsky approved the bloc with the Rights and other opposi-
tionists in 1932, which was also the year that the Riutin Platform
was adopted.

* It is consistent with the other evidence we now possess about the

deliberate falsehoods Trotsky invented and repeated throughout
the period under question. I examine them elsewhere in the pre-
sent work.

* It is also consistent with the evidence we have collected from So-

viet sources that Trotsky was indeed conspiring with Germany and
Japan. 29

* I have shown elsewhere3o that Moscow Trials testimony is valid

as evidence in that, whenever we can check it from independent
sources, it turns out to reflect what the defendants chose to say
rather than fabrications forced upon innocent defendants.

The defendants in the January 193 7 Moscow Trial made it clear

1 1
that Trotsky s plan to ''retreat ' to capitalism was motivated by his
belief that the opposition could only come to power in one of two
ways: either through a war with the fascist powers - which they
assumed the USSR would lose - or through a coup against the Sta-
lin leadership, which would only succeed in establishing itself with
cooperation from other imperialist countries. In either case, Ger ..
man and Japanese cooperation would only be purchased at a very
stiff price. According to them, Trotsky realized this and drew the
necessary conclusions.

29 See Leon Trotsky's Collaboration with Germany and]apan. l will publish much
more evidence of Trotsky's collaboration in the next volume of studies of Trotsky
during the 1930s.
30 In the first part of Trotsky's 'Amalgams', and in The Moscow Trials as Evidence.
130 Trotsky's Lies

Considered dispassionately, the views these three defendants at-

tributed to Trotsky make sense. Whether by assassination or by
defeat in war at the hands of invaders, the removal by force of Sta-
lin would certainly evoke a violent reaction, probably leading to
rebellion and serious social instability. The Soviet Union's major
capitalist enemies would likely try to take advantage of this situa-
tion, possibly by invading and attempting to dismember the enor..
mous country and by setting up one or more capitalist regimes
with political and social policies approved by them~ To any Opposi ..
tion that hoped to take the reins of power during such a crisis, it
was obvious that some kind of agreement would have to be ar ..
ranged, in advance, with these aggressive imperialist capitalist
powers.

A Hypothesis Must Account for the Evidence

We have a lot of evidence) in the form of testimony at the 1937 and
1938 Moscow Trials, that Trotsky did advocate the ''restoration of
capitalism.''

* His denial can be disregarded, because he would deny the charge

whether he had advocated it or not, and because we know Trotsky
lied when he thought it expedient~

*Trotsky's archive has been ''purged," so the absence of evidence

there of this or other conspiratorial aims can bear no weight.

Let us review the options:

1. That Trotsky did advocate ''restoration of capitalism." This is the

hypothesis that represents the most straightforward explanation
in that it accounts for all the evidence.

2. That some other hypothesis can account for Trotsky's ''amal-

gam'' under consideration here: that Zinoviev and Kamenev were
charged with} and confessed to, plotting ''the restoration of capital-
ism.1' $
Chapt er 4. uThe Resto ration of Capitalism?'' 131

This essay has laid out the evide nce in supp ort of hypo thesi s #1.
As far as I can deter mine , there is no evide nce to supp ort any othe r
hypo thesi s.

This leads us to an impo rtant conclusion. On the evidence, Trot sky

did advo cate the ''rest orati on of capit alism '' as Rad.ek, Piatakov,
and Soko l'nik ov testified.

Wha t does this mean for the furth er hypo thesi s that Trot sky con . .
spire d with Germ any and Japan?

Evidence Internal to Trotsky's Writings

Trot sky was highly intelligent, a prolific write r, a skilled theorist}
and a dedi cated revo lutio nary activist. How then is it poss ible that
Trot sky was an inco mpe tent liar? Yet again and again he com-
pose d false hood s that anyo ne could have disco vere d and expo sed
simp ly by checking the sour ces Trot sky hims elf cited.

But perh aps he wasn 't an inco mpe tent liar after all. Maybe he was
intel ligen t enou gh to recog nize that his acolytes were too devo ted
to chec k the verac ity of his claims. His lies were ''hidd en in plain
sight,'' as it were . Even so, it's take n a long whil e to unco ver them .
That woul d not spea k to his inco mpet ence as a liar quite the op ..
posite, really. All thing s cons idere d, his care er as a braz en phon y
was a grea t success!

The ''rest orati on of capitalism)' claim is one of these lies. Duri ng

the perio d from Dece mber ..Janu ary 1935 to Janu ary 1937 Trot sky
invo ked it repea tedly . It was a lie that could easil y be expo sed by
anyo ne who took the troub le, as I have done here, to com pare
wha t Trot sky claim ed was in the artic les in Hum anite and Sovi et
news pape rs with wha t Trot sky claim ed was in them . Ther efore
Trot sky took a signi fican t risk in tellin g this ''amalgam.'' Moreover)
he told it repe atedl y. It follows that this 'iamalgam'' had to be very
impo rtant to him for some reaso n.

The only expl anati on I can find that woul d acco unt for his repe at-
ing this lie over and over again is Trot sky's state d tacti c to ''exp ose
the sche me in advance." Trot sky mus t have raise d this issue as a
132 Trotsky's Lies

pre-emptive strike to ward off the charge that he believed would

come sooner or later by making it appear ''predictable'' and there-
fore ''obviously'' false At length, Trotsky was indeed charged with
it by Radek, Piatakov, and Sokol'nikov, and these men linked Trot. .
1
sky's advocacy of 'restoring capitalism'' to his view that the oppo,..
sition would have to make serious concessions to aggressive capi-
talist states in order to be able to take and hold powerl

Trotsky vehemently denied having been in touch with Radek,

Piatakov, and Sokol'nikov. But we know that here too Trotsky was
lying - he had indeed been in contact with them. We know that
Radek was telling the precise truth when he described receiving a
letter from Trotsky at the end of February or beginning of March,
1932. 3 1 There is no reason to think that Radek did not tell the truth
in the rest of his testimony as well.
1
Radek, Piatakov and Sokol nikov linked Trotsky's alleged state-
ments that they would have to ''restore capitalism'' to the need to
collaborate with Germany and Japan. And it stands to reason that
no plans to replace the Stalin leadership would make any sense
without making some kind of advance agreement with Germany
and Japan. These were the policies that were described in the
11
January 1937 Trial as constituting a <'restoration of capitalism1

We have a good deal of other evidence that Trotsky conspired with

Germany and Japan.32 I will identify and discuss yet more of this
evidence in future books on Trotsky during the 1930s. Trotsky's
1
'''restoration of capitalism' amalgam' is consistent with such a
conspiracy. I conclude that this ''amalgam'' of Trotsky's corrobo-
rates the other evidence I have that Trotsky conspired with the
Germans and Japanese.

31 See Furr, Trotsky's Amalgams, Chapter 4; Furr, Moscow Trials, Chapter 4.

32 See Furr, Leon Trotsky's Collaboration with Germany and japan.
Chapter 4. "The Restoration of Capitalism?}' 133

Conclusion
In raising time after time the false claim that Zinoviev and Kame--
nev had been accused of, confessed to, and been convicted of ''plot-
1
ting the restoration of capitalism, Trotsky was doing his best to
'

defuse, through anticipation} the accusation he knew would sooner

or later be leveled at himself. He knew this would be alleged
against him because he himself had been advocating exactly the
''restoration of capitalism'' to the leadership of his Soviet,..based
followers for some time - at least since 1935, according to Radek,
perhaps as early as 1933, according to Piatakov and Krestinsky.
This hypothesis is consistent with a great deal of other evidence
we now possess.
We have no reason to doubt the Soviet and non .. soviet evidence
that Trotsky collaborated with Germany and Japan. Trotsky's de . .
nials cannot be taken seriously. Thanks to the research of Braue,
Getty, and Holmstrom, we now know that Trotsky routinely lied
1
whenever he thought it advantageous to do so. Trotsky s lies went
far beyond denying the involvement in his conspiracy of individu-
als. He also lied about important issues of principle such as his
willingness to enter a bloc with other oppositionists and his will-
ingness to employ ''individual terror," or assassination against Sta-
lin and others.
Any demand that ''conclusive evidence," a ''smoking gun, be pro ..
1
,

duced is simply a form of denial. In the case of a deeply conspira ..

torial organization as the opposition underground in the USSR
necessarily had to be, one whose goal was to leave no evidence
behind, we are forced to be content with composing a mosaic of
circumstantial evidence. We possess even this circumstantial evi ..
dence only because (a) the Soviet Union came to an end and some
documents from Soviet archives have become public, and (b) the
''purging'' of incriminating documents from the Harvard Trotsky
archive was done imperfectly.

Absent these archival materials, Trotsky would still have formed a

bloc with the Zinovievists and other opposition groups, would still
have written Radek, Sokol'nikov, and others, and - I argue - would
134 Trotsky's Lies

still hav e con spir ed wit h Ger man y and Japa n. The def end ants in
the Mo sco w Tria ls wou ld still hav e bee n tell ing the trut h, and
Tro tsky wou ld still hav e bee n lying, in tho se case s we can now ver--
ify. But we wou ld not hav e had the evid enc e tha t this was so. We
wou ld hav e only the test imo ny from the Mo sco w Tria ls.

Thi s is yet mor e evid enc e tha t the Mo sco w Tria l test imo ny sho uld
be take n far mor e seri ous ly whe n we cannot cor rob ora te it, con ..
side ring tha t it turn s out to be trut hfu l in tho se few exa mpl es
where) by acc iden t of hist ory , we can che ck it. It also mea ns tha t
not hin g Tro tsky wro te dur ing the 193 0s abo ut his own acti viti es
or the USSR sho uld be acc epte d as true unle ss it can be ind epe nd-
entl y veri fied . The stan dar d of evid enc e sho uld be unif orm ly ap-
plie d, not adju sted in acc ord anc e wit h wha t sup por ts dom inan t
anti com mun ist nar rati ves .
 Chapter 5. Trotsky in Biulleten) Oppozjtsii

Trotsk y dated issue #42 of the Biullet en' Oppozitsii Februa ry 19 3 5,

only one month after the Ki.rov assassi nation issue #41 of Januar y
1935. After the first few years of publica tion, it had becom e un ..
usual for Trotsk y to publish back-to .. back issues of the B.O. For ex-
ample, there had been only two issues during the whole of 1934.
So why did Trotsk y do so this time?

Three articles, compri sing about two--thirds of this issue, were de-
voted to the Kirov murde r and related matter s, especia lly the
Januar y 1935 indictm ent and trial of Zinoviev, Kamenev, Safarov,
and the rest of the men whose arrests Trotsk y had mentio ned in.
the previo us issue. These three articles have been publish ed in
English transla tion in the volume Writing s of Leon Trotsky [1934-
1935}. I will analyze them here. They a·re:

*''Som e Results of the Stalin Amalgam." (Janua ry 12, 1935)1

* '(The Case of Zinoviev, Kamen ev and Others.'' (Janua ry 16 -

18, 1935)

*''Ever ything Gradua lly Falls Into Place." (Janua ry 26, 1935)

Like the whole of the Kirov murde r issue #41, these articles set
forth Trotsk y's ''amalgam}'' what he claime d was his theory about
what was really going on. In reality, they repres ent Trotsk y's
cover-u p, his ''smoke screen. " At the very least, Trotsk y and his So--
viet.. based suppor ters were in allianc e with the Zinovievists who
murde red Kirov.

In fact, we now have eviden ce that they were much more deeply
involve d in the murde r than that, and Trotsk y knew almost every-

1 This article is also online at

https://w ww.mar xists.org /archive /trotsky/1935/0 1/amalg am.htm where it is
titled A Trial Balance of the Stalin Amalgam.n
11
136 Trotsky's Lies

thing about the Kirov murde r. I will explore this questio n further
in the third volume of my work on Trotsk y in the 1930s.

Trotsk y had decide d not to reveal his ties to the Zinovievists, and
throug h them to the Lening rad-bas ed Zinovievist group that had
murde red Kirov or to the bloc of Rights and Trotsky ists, and Zino-
vievists. So he had to invent a fictitious version of events. While
claiming that he was trying to deduce the truth of what was hap ..
pening inside the USSR around the Kirov murder , in reality Trot--
sky was creatin g a false story that might accomp lish several aims.

First, it would stand as his claim that he and his Soviet.. based fol-
lowers were innoce nt of Kirov's murde r and of any though t of .r e ..
sorting to {'terror." Second, it would demon ize Stalin and his col-
league s as bloodt hirsty thugs who not only were using Kirov's
murde r to suppre ss anyone they consid ered a threat to their
power but also may even have killed Kirov themse lves.

Trotsk y's alterna tive narrati ve would also serve to misdir ect rea.d . .
ers, get them to begin asking not, ''Why is the Opposi tion using
'terror' ?', but ''Why is Stalin using iterror'? Theref ore, it would
1
'

serve as Trotsk y's ''cover for the real conspi ratoria l activities of
11

his Soviet- based followers.

It is worth noting that Trotsk y never refers to anythin g his Soviet--

based adhere nts really were doing. After all, if the ''Left Opposi-
tion,}' the ''Bolshevik-Leninists'' (as Trotsk y referre d to his follow . .
ers) were viewed by Stalin as such a threat, the.n they must have
been doing someth ing! But Trotsk y never mentio ns any activity at
all by Soviet~based Trotsky ists. A discern ing reader at the time
would have wonde red whethe r Trotsk y's silence about his follow-
ers' activiti es might sugges t that those activities - obviou sly clan-
destine ones -- were indeed what the Soviet prosec ution alleged.

Ironically, therefo re, it was not Stalin and the NKVD but Trotsk y
himsel f who had to fabrica te what Trotsk y liked to call ''am.al-
gams." Trotsk y's ''amalg ams'' are structu red in a numbe r of ways:
Chap· ter Sixteen. Trotskv in Bi11i!e.tett.iObbr;'\:::ritrii
,I ... ..L
137

* He seve rely disto rted wha t he has foun d in the Sovi et or othe r
comm unist pres s acco unts.

* Som e of his false hood s serve as ''stra w men' ' - state men ts he
false ly attri bute s to Sovi et sour ces and whic h he can easil y claim
to ''refu te."

* Som etim es these false hood s serv e as ''red herri ngs," perm ittin g
Trot sky to defle ct his read ers' atten tion from the real deve lop-
men ts in the USSR and to fabri cate imag inary ''amalgams,'} fictio ns
in whic h Stali n and his men are the villai ns whil e the Oppo sitio n
are inno cent of any unpr incip led acts and are in fact doin g noth ing
at all.

* Som etim es Trot sky simp ly lied outri ght abou t wha t these ac-
coun ts say.

Trot sky also lied abou t his own activ ities and princ iples :

* He claim ed that he alwa ys brok e comp letel y with ''cap itula tors. "
We know today , from mate rials Getty disco vere d in the Harv ard
Trot sky Archive, that this was a lie: he did not brea k off with them .
(Getty, TIE)

* He prete nded to attac k these same ''cap itula tors'' in prin t in wha t
we now know was an attem pt at a ''cov er'' to disgu ise cont inue d
secre t colla bora tion with them .

* He supp resse d the truth abou t his real ties to the Zino vievi sts
who were the subje cts of the arres ts and trials .

* He salte d his pres enta tion with anti .. Stalin rumo rs and lies whic h
he repo rted as fact.

''Some Results of the Stalin Amalgam'' (January

12, 1935)
It is in this issue that Trot sky begi ns to set forth an ''ama lgam '' that
was desti ned to beco me for man y year s the ''mai nstre am," or stan-
138 Trotsky's Lies

dard, version of the Kirov assassination: that it was Stalin who had
had Kirov killed.
1. TairHcTBeHHbIH KoHcyJI o:KasaJic.H JiaThiillCKHM KOHCYJIOM~
Harne npe,a;rroJioJKeHMe, 'tJTO ,LJ.JI.H aMaJibraMhI BhI6paH
v v
MaJieHbKHH KOHCYJI MaJieHhKOI1 CTpaHbl IIOATBep~IiJIOCh

TIOJIHOCTbIO. Ho Heo6xo~HMOCTb Ha3BaTh KOHCyJia -

oqeBHf];HO, no~ ~HilJIOMaT11qecRHM ~aBJJeHHeM - rpo3HJia
onpoKHHYTb aMaJihraMy: KTO JKe IIOBepHT, l.!TO KOHCYJI
JlaTBHH opraHH3yeT MHpoeyio HHTepBeHD;HIO npoTHB
CCCP?

Translated:

1. The mysterious consul has now turned out to be a

Latvian consul; our supposition that a petty consul of a
tiny nation would be chosen for the amalgam has been
fully confirmed. However, it became necessary to name
the consul - obviously because of diplomatic pressure -
and this necessity threatened to blast the amalgam, for
who would believe that a consul of Latvia is the orga·
nizer of world intervention against the USSR? (208)
In an essay titled ;'The Indictment'' (<<06BHHH:TeJihHhIH aKT>>) in
B.O. #41 Trotsky had indeed said:

... KOHCYJI rrpeACTaBJIRJI, Ha~o AYMaTh, KaKoe ... HHOYAh coBceM

MaJieHhKOe H 3axoJiycTHoe rocy.niapcT·Bo: 3To 6e3orracHee).

Translated:

... the consul represented, I suppose, some very small

and provincial state: that would be safer).

The fact that even before the Latvian consult had been publicly
1
identified Trotsky had ''predicted the consul would be from a very
'

small country suggests that Trotsky knew this in advance. Trot-

sky's words ''that would be safer'' do not explain his remark. After
all, the consul could easily have been Polish or German. We know
today that Nikolaev, Kirov's assas-sin, had the address and phone
Chap ter Sixteen. Trotsky in Bi11/lete:11-'0ppozjtrii 139

num ber of the Germ an cons ulate in his noteb ook. (Len oe 258)
Aside from the Baltics, there were simp ly no othe r {'very smal l and
prov incia l state s anyw here near the USSR. Inde ed, the Latv ian
11

cons ul may have alrea dy initia ted cont act with Trots ky, as he told
Leon id Nikolaev, Kirov's assassin) that he woul d.

Then come s a ('stra w man," desig ned to conf use and distr act the
read er. The Hum anite text of the indic tmen t men tions the word
''con sul nine times, but neve r accu ses him of bein g ''the orga nizer
1
'

of worl d inter vent ion again st the USSR." It is easy for Trot sky to
ridic ule this alleg ation as thou gh the Sovi et indic tmen t had stu-
pidly mad e it - unles s some read er both ered to chec k the text of
the indic tmen t.

But any read er who did so woul d imm ediat ely see that Trot sky
was lying. And that impl ies that Trot sky belie ved. he had some ..
thing impo rtant enou gh to hide to be wort h the risk of expos~re.
2. rpyn na 3HHO BbeBa 6bIJia apeCT OBaH a TIO .n;eJiy 06 y6HH CTBe
KMpo Ba. 06BH HHTe JibHh IH aKT He 3aHKa eTc.H , MeJK.n;y TeM, HM
06 O~HOM H3 apecT oBaH HbIX B MocKBe 3HHOBbeB~eB. noqe My
)Ke Bce-T aKH OHH 6bIJIH apeCT OBaH bI?

Tran slate d:

2. The Zinoviev grou p was arres ted in conn ectio n with

the Kirov assas sinat ion. Yet the indic tmen t does not so
muc h as let out a peep conc ernin g a singl e one of the Zi--
novi evist s arres ted in Moscow. But why then are they
arres ted? (208 -209 )

This too is a straw man, a distr actor . The indic tmen t Trot sky men-
tions is that of the Leningrad grou p of Zinovievists who were tried
for murd ering Kirov. The Moscow Zino vievi st grou p, Zinoviev,
Kamenev, and othe rs, had been arres ted beca use the Leni ngra d
grou p of Zino vievi st that had plan ned and carri ed out Kirov's
murd er was in touc h with them . The Moscow . . base d Zinovievists
were not indic ted for the murd er beca use the NKVD had foun d no
evide nce they were awar e of it. (Such evide nce was even tuall y
found, but not until muc h later .)
 1
140 Trotsky s Lies

3. B tJeM MO/KHO o6BHHH Tb 3HHOBb eaa, KaMeHe Ba H HX ApyseH:

llOJIHTHqecKM? B TOM, qTo OHH KaITHTY JIHpOBa JlH.

Transla ted:

3. What charge, politically, may be brough t agains t Zino-

viev, Kamenev, and their friends ? Their capitul ation.

This too is a distrac tor - in this case, a ''red herring ." Trotsk y is
discuss ing the indictm ent of the Lening rad Zinovie vist group for
the Kirov murde r. Then he asks this rhetori cal questio n about the
Moscow--based Zinovi evist group who were not indicte d and so,
logically, were not mentio ned in the indictm ent.

Trotsky , of course} knew that Zinoviev, Kamenev, Safarov, and

other leading membe rs of the bloc that he himself, Trotsky , had
approv ed in 1932, had ''capitu lated'' dishon estly. Their ''capitu la ..
tions renunc iation of opposi tional views and oaths to follow the
1
' -

Party line - were falsea In the langua ge of the Soviet investi gators,
they were guilty of ''two-fa cednes s'' or ''doubl e-deali ng." (dvulichie,
dvurushnichestvo). Pierre Braue firmly stated that this was a com ..
mon practic e and that ''every body had known '' that Smirno v and
1
his group had been lying in their <'capitulation and that Safarov
'

had been the first one to sugges t this as a necess ary tactic. (Braue
POS 104) Naturally, Trotsk y hid ·this fact from his readers .
CBR3aTh
IlOIIbITK a 60JibllleBHKOB-JieHHH~eB c H~eeH:
...., ...,
HHTepBeH~HH HMeeT oqeHb onpe~eJieHHbIH HCTOpHqecKHH

3anax.

Transla ted;
Chap ter Sixte en. ·Trotsky in .Bi11llete1.1 -'0t>1Jr;;;rit.'7.i
~.L ..L. \,
141

The re is a spec ific historical sten ch to this atte mp t at

con nec ting the Left Opp osit ion wit h the idea of inte rve n-
tion.2

Tro tsky 's acc usa tion is a ''str aw man ," The Len ingr ad Zin ovie vist
gro up was ind eed acc use d in the Sov iet pre ss (bu t not by the
Pro secu tion ) of tryi ng to pro vok e fore ign inte rven tion :

Cep end ant} ne com ptan t pas sur la real isat ion de telle s
acti ons a<< l'in teri eur du pay s >>,le gro upe TABLAIT DJ ..
RECTEMENT SUR L'AIDE << DU DEHORS ,"SUR L'INTER-
VENTION ARMEE ET L'AIDE DE CERTAINS ETATS
ETRANGERS.3

Tra nsla ted:

How eve r, not cou ntin g on. the real izat ion of suc h acti ons
''ins ide the cou ntry '' the gro up WA S COUNTING DI-
RECTLY ON AID ''FROM OUTSIDE,'' ON ARMED INTER--
VENTION AND THE HELP OF CERTAIN FOREIGN
STATES.
But Tro tsky can not poi nt to any clai ms in the Sov iet pre ss link ing
11
the Lef t Opp osit ion - Tro tsky and his foll owe rs - to ('int erve ntio n.
In a pre vio us cha pter , I exa min ed in mor e deta il Tro tsky 's ''amal~
gam '' or fals e alle gati on tha t the Sov iet inve stig ator s and pro sec u-
tion - ';Stalin'} - wer e tryi ng to con nec t him , Tro tsky , wit h ''for eign
inte rven tion .''

The eve nts of 19 26 and 191 7 con sum e all of poin ts 4 and 5 of this
arti cle whi le say ing not hin g abo ut the mat ter at han d. Per hap s
Tro tsky pre ferr ed to turn his read ers' atte ntio n to thes e yea rs,
whe n he him self play ed an imp orta nt role.

z At this poin t two para grap hs conc erni ng the 1926 Opposition platf orm have
been inse rted into the English vers ion. They are abse nt from the Russian original
in B.O, #42.
3 Humanite, Dec emb er 28, 1934, p. 3 col. 3,, subh ead' '" Aides par l'etra nger rn
 1

142 Trotsky s Lies

Bee 14 o6Btt HHeM bIX no AeJiy 06 y611l icTBe K11p0 Ba oKa3a JIHCb
paccT peJIH HhI. Bee JIH OHH yqacT BOBa JJH B Teppo pHcT 11qec KoM
aKTe? OoBH HHTe JihHb lH aKT OTBe qaeT Ha 3TOT Bonp oc
YTBep JJ;HTe JihHO , HO He npHB OAHT H TeHH AOKa 3aTeJ ibCTB a.

Tran slate d:

The fourt een who were accu sed in conn ectio n with the
Kirov assas sinat ion were all shot. Did they all parti cipat e
in the terro rist act? The indic tmen t answ ers this ques -
tion in the affirm ative , but it does not addu ce even the
semb lance of proo f.

This is a lie. Both the origi nal indic tmen t in the Kirov murd er case,
whic h had been publ ished in Pravda on Dece mber 27) 1934 , and
even the abbr eviat ed vers.i on in Hum anite of Dece mber 28 whic h
Trot sky expli citly cited , summ arize d a lot of evide nce, as anyo ne
who read them wou ld know . This evide nce is the conf essio ns of
seve ral of the defe ndan ts, parti al conf essio ns of othe rs, and mutu al
accu satio ns by some defe ndan ts of othe rs. I have put both the Rus-
sian text of the Indic tmen t and the abbr eviat ed Fren ch text from
Hum anite onlin e. Matt hew Leno e has trans lated most of it into
English, and I have publ ished a critic ism of Leno e's omis sions .4

As in the prev ious issue of 8.0., Trot sky is takin g a risk - namely}
that his read ers will not think to comp are wha t he is writi ng with
the text of the indic tmen t.

Mbr BH;J;eJIH, c KaKoH HarJio H: H BMec Te TpycJ IHBOH

v

TeHA eHil;H 03HO CTblO OH BITYT bIBae T B CBOH TeKCT HM.fl

Tpou;Koro, co3Ha TeJJb HO yMaJI 'lHBaH o TOM, KaKH e
IlOCJi eACTB H.H HMeJ ia npoBO Kall;H .H KOHC yJia Hact.I eT ''rrHCb Ma. ''

4Russian text of the Indictment:

https: //msu web.m ontcl air.ed u/ rv furrg /resea rch/ ofuvin_zak_dec34.html; Lenoe's
partia l text of the Indictment, in English transl ation, is in Lenoe, The Kirov Murder
and Soviet History. New Haven; Yale University Press, 2010, 345 .. 352, My critiq ue
of Leno e's omissions is in Furr Kirov 210--217. For a hyper link to the French te.x t
see note 6, below.
 143

Tra nsla ted:

We hav e see n wit h wha t bra zen and cow ard ly tend en-
tiou sne ss it has inje cted the nam e of Tro tsky into its text
and how deli bera tely it pas ses ove r in sile nce wha t hap -
pen ed to the con sul' s pro voc atio n reg ard i.n g the ''let ter."
(21 0)

The re are two fals eh·o ods in this sen tenc e:

* As in the pre vio us issu e of B.O.) Tro tsky say s not hin g abo ut the
''Tr otsk yite -Zin ovie vite bloc)'' alth oug h it is men tion ed thre e tim es
in the abb rev iate d indi ctm ent. Thi s is a tran spa ren t, eve n an in-
crim inat ing omi ssio n. Any one who rea d bot h text s wou ld noti ce it
and mig ht won der wha t the reas on for this omi ssio n cou ld be.
Tro tsky mu st hav e felt tha t rem aini ng sile nt abo ut the bloc was
wor th this risk . So the clai m tha t ''the nam e of Tro tsky '' was men -
tion ed ''wi th bra zen and cow ard ly tend enti ous nes s'' is des igne d
only to con fuse the read er.

* The Ind ictm ent doe s not ''de libe rate ly pas s ove r in sile nce '' the
issu e of the con sul and lett er to Tro tsky at all. On the con trar y,
they are men·t ione d pro min entl y:

<<11 dit qu il pou vait etab lir la liai son ave c Tro tsky si je
1

lui rem etta is une lett re du gro upe aTrotsky.>>

Tra nsla ted:

He said tha t he cou ld esta blis h the con tac t with Tro tsky
if I gav e him a lett er from the gro up to Tro tsky .s

The Fre nch text clea rly imp lies tha t the con sul was not the firs t
one to men tion con tact wit h Tro tsky ( The con sul doe s not say ''liai ..
son '' (con tact ) but ''la liais on'' - ''the con tact ," a con tact prev ious ly

s "La Revo lutio n Se Defend. L'ac te d'ac cusa tion cont re Niko laiev ... /) Hum anite
Dec emb er 28, 1934 , p. 3 col. 2.
 1
144 Trotsky s Lies

ment ione d. The origi nal Russ ian text of the indic tmen t cont ains
the same impl icati on:
npH 3TOM CKa3a JI, Y:TO ycTaH OBHT b CBH3b c Tpo~KHM OH
MO)Ke T, eCJIH .fl Bpyq y KaKo e .. JIH60 TIHCb MO OT rpyrrr rbl K
Tpo~KoMy.

Tran slate d:

He [the cons ul] also said that, as for estab lishi ng cont act
with Trots ky, he could do so if I shou ld give him some
kind of lette r from the grou p to Trots ky.

The indic tmen t neve r state s that Niko laev actua lly gave the cons ul
such a lette r. If the inve stiga tors had know n that he did, the in-
dictm ent wou ld certa inly have ment ione d it. And the inve stiga tors
coul d not inter roga te or searc h the cons ul of a forei gn coun try, as
Trot sky knew . Here , as elsew here , Trot sky was hopi ng that no. one
wou ld both er to chec k wha t he wrot e again st the text of the in-
dictm ent avail able in Humanite.
AeJio H~eT He o 6opb 6e coBeT CKOH 010po KpaT HH npoTH B
Tpo~Koro H ''Tpo~KHCTOB." ~eJio H,n;eT o Mopa JibHO H
aTMo ccpep e MMpO BOrO pa6o qero ,ll;BH) KeHHH . rHyCH aH
aMaJ ibraM a BOKp yr ''KOH CyJia, " CJIYJ KHBII Iero, BH,ll;HMO,
O,ll;HO BpeMe HHO TpeM npaBH TeJib CTBa M, np11H a,n;Jie JKHT HhIHe
K q11cJ iy 06b1q HbIX, HOpM aJihH bIX rrpMe MOB CTaJIH HCKO H
610po KpaT HH B oopb 6e 3a ee KaCT OBbie il03H~HH.

Tran slate d:

Wha t is here invo lved is not so much the strug gle of the
Sovi et bure aucr acy again st Trot sky and the ''Tro tskyi sts''
but the ques tion of the mora l atmo sphe re of the worl d
work ing class mov emen t. The vile amal gam cons truct ed
arou nd the 'cconsul," who appa rentl y was in the simu lta-
neou s empl oy of three gove rnme nts, stand s toda y as one
of a num ber of ordin ary and norm a'l meas ures utiliz ed
by the Stali nist bure aucr acy in the strug gle for its caste
posit ions.
Chapter Sixteen. T.rotsk:y in Bittl!etf.ti-'Oppozjtsii 145

Understandably, Trotsky wanted to direct his readers' attention

away from discussion of his and his followers} involvements with
the Leningrad Zinovievist terrorists, This is the most likely expla-
1
nation for his silence about the ''Trotskyite . . zinovievite bloc.'
Clearly, it was not in Trotsky's interest to focus the readers' atten-
tion on the bloc.
The sentence about the consul is another ''straw man." Trotsky
later claimed that the Latvian consul had ''given 5000 rubles for
the organization of Kirov's murder." (227) This is a lie_ What the
indictment really stated was something quite different: that it was
Nikolaev who asked the consul for money for the Leningrad Zino-
vievist group:
<<J'ai ensuite demande au consul de nous preter une aide
materielle, lui disant que nous lui rendrions }'argent
prete aussitot que notre situation financiere changerait.
1
<<A l entrevue suivante, la troisieme ou la quatrieme au
consulat, le consul mrinforma qu'il etait pret asatisfaire
a ma demande et me remit 5.000 roubles.
Translated:
I then asked the consul to lend us material help and told
him that we would return the money loaned to us as
soon as our financial situation changed.
At the next interview; the third or fourth at the consu-
late) the consul told me that he was ready to satisfy my
request and handed me 5,000 rubles.

Nor does the indictment say anything at all about the consul being
aware of an attempt to kill Kirov.
The ''three governments'' alleged by Trotsky would have been, be~
sides Latvia, Hitler's Germany and the USSR, since Trotsky pro--
posed that Kirov's murder was organization by the NKVD:

IloHaA0611nacb HOBa.H BepcH.H: KOHCYJI JlaTBHH .HBJI.HJIC.H

Ha caMOM ,qene areHTOM fHTJiepa.
146 Trotsky's Lies

- ''HeK OT·Op hie HTOr H CTaJI HHCK OH aMaJihraMhI,"

Tran slate d:

A new versi on was nece ssary : the cons ul. of Latv ia was at
the same time an agen t of Hitle r.

- ('Some Resu lts of the Stali n Ama lgam ," B.O. #42

Anyo ne who read the Indic tmen t or the abbr eviat ed Fren ch ver-
sion in Humanite wou ld know that neith er the Sovi et pres s nor the
Indic tmen t again st the Kiro v defe ndan ts accu sed the Latv ian con-
sul of work ing with or for Germ any.

Mean while , the notio n that Stali n was invo lved in Kiro v's murd er
was anot her ''red herri ng." Blam ing Stali n for killin g Kiro v was yet
anot her exam ple of ''exp osing the sche me in adva nce," of ''gett ing
out in front '' of the accu satio n that Trot sky could be reaso nabl y
certa in woul d be aime d befo re long at hims elf.
1
Trot sky inclu des his ''pep pery dishe s tale here :
'

B 1921 r., npeAyrrpem,n;aH 6JIHJKaHIIIlfX TOBapH~eH:rrpoTHB

1136paHHR CTaJIHHa reHepaJihHhIM ceKpeTapeM, JleHMH
roBop HJI: ''3TOT TIOBa p 6y,n;eT roTOB HTb TOJib KO OCTp bre
6JIIO,n;a."

Tran slate d:

In 19 21} warn ing his most intim ate comr ades again st
elect ing Stali n as gene ral secre tary, Leni n said, ''This
cook will prep are only pepp ery dishe s."

As I show ed in Chap ter One, this story too is a lie.

''The Case of Zinoviev, Kamenev and Others."

(January 16 18, 1935)
Trot sky cont inue s cons truct ing his own ''ama lgam ," or delib erate ly
false acco unt, of the even ts in the USSR:
Ch.a pter Sixteen. ·T rotsky in Bi11/lef&l1·'0ppozjt1ii

I1x apecToB aJIH .LJ;JIH aMaJibr aMhI, T.-e. AJIR ycTaHOB JieHHH
CBH3H MeJKf);Y TeppopH CTHtJeC KHM yoHHCT BOM H OilII03H~HeH,
BC.HKOH BOo6rn;e OilIT03H QHeH, BCRKOH BOo6rn;e KpHTHK OH,
rrpolllJIO H, HaCTOHrn;e:H H 6y~yrn;eli. lix peIIIHJIH Cb apeCTOB aTb)
noToMy 'lfTO Bee KasaJio ch 3apaHe e pacc1!H TaHo.

Transla ted:

They [Zinoviev, Kamen ev and 14 of their associa tes]

were arreste d with a view to an amalga m, that is to say,
in order to establi sh a connec tion betwee n the terrori st
assassi nation and the Opposition, all opposi tion, all criti-
cism in genera l, past, presen t or future. It was decide d to
arrest them when everyth ing seemed to have been al--
ready settled . (213)

Trotsk y knew from reading the abbrev iated indictm ent as pub--
lished in Humanite that the Kirov murde r defend ants had reveale d
the existen ce of the Trotsky ist-Zin ovievis t bloc. 6 Theref ore the
connec tion betwee n the terrori st murde r and both the Zinovi evist
and the Trotsk yist opposi tions had already been establi shed. But
althoug h he had person ally approv ed its format ion, Trotsk y had
decide d to deny that the bloc existed . Conseq uently, we are dealing
with Trotsk y's own ''amalgam," or false story, here.

Trotsk y continu es by elabora ting his own ''amalgam'' of Stalin's

involve ment, via the GPU (NKVD), with Kirov's murde r:
rnY ObIJIO B Kypce rro,r.i;roTOBJieHHH TeppopHCTHtJeCKoro aKTa
1
B JleHHHr paAe. ''KoHcyJ 1 ' BbIIlOJIH .HJI ,n;aHHOe eMy nopy'tfet t11e;
oH npeACTa BJIHJI coeAHH HTeJibH Oe 3BeHo aMaJihr aMw . Ho
f];eHCTB HTeJibH blH TeppopM CT, HHKOJia eB, B IIOCJieA HHH
MOMeHT .. - no coo6pai KeHHHM KOHCn11pa~HH -- OTOpBaJIC.H,
BH,D;HMO, OT CBoeH: COOCTB 8HHOH rpynnhI , B TOM tJHCJie H OT
BXO,[.l;MBllIHX B Hee areHTOB fIJY. Paa,n;aJICH pOKOBO H BblCTpe JI.
OH He BXOAMJI B nporpaM MY CTaJIHH a. Ho 3TO 6bIJI pHCK

6I have put the text of the abbrevia ted Kirov indictme nt, from Humani te,
Decemb er 28, 1934, p.3, online here:
http: / /msuwe b.montc lair.edu /·- -furrg/re search/k irov_ind ict_hum anite122 8.pdf
148 Trotsky's Lies

npel,n;rrpHHT·Hfl. KH pO B naJI :tKepTBOH. Are HT bI rnY

noc Tpa ,n;a JIH : CT apr nH X CM eCT HJI H, MJ iaA lllH X pac cTp eJI HJI H

BMeCTe c Tep pop HC TaM M.

Tr an sla ted :

Th e NKVD wa s co nv ers an t wi th the pr ep ara tio ns for the

Le nin gra d ter ro ris t act. Th e ''consul', ha d ca rri ed ou t the
tas k ass ign ed to him; he wa s the lin k in the am alg am .
Th e rea l ter ror ist , Nikolaev, ho we ve r, it ap pe ars , at the
las t mo me nt for co ns pir ato ria l rea so ns de tac he d him ..
sel f fro m his ow n gro up , inc lud ing the ag en ts of the
NKVD wh o we re pla yin g a pa rt in it Th e fat al sh ot ran g
ou t. It wa sn 't in Sta lin 's pro gra m. Bu t th at wa s the ris k in
the en ter pri se. Kirov fell victim. Th e NKVD ag en ts pa id
for it: the hig he r off ici als we re dis mi sse d, the low er on es
we re sh ot tog eth er wi th the ter ror ist s. (''The Case of Zi-
noviev, Ka me ne v an d Others," WLT 1934--35, 21 3)

Th is is all inv en tio n, mo re ''sm ok esc ree n'' an d ''re d he rri ng s." No
low er- ran kin g NK VD wo rk ers we re sh ot tog eth er wi th Ni ko lay ev 's
gro up (''t he ter ror ist s'') . Th ere wa s ne ve r an y ev ide nc e of co nta ct
be tw ee n the NKVD an d the La tvi an consul. Th ere wa s ne ve r an y
ev ide nc e of Sta lin ,s inv olv em en t in Ki rov s 1
mu rde r. Tr ots ky , of
co urs e, kn ew tha t it wa s no t Stalin bu t the blo c th at ha d be en
pla nn ing the ass ass ina tio ns of Kirov, Stalin, an d oth ers .

It is tem pti ng to hy po the siz e th at Tr ots ky ma y ha ve kn ow n ab ou t

Iag od a's ind ire ct inv olv em en t wi th the Kirov mu rde r, of wh ich we
kn ow fro m lag od a's pr etr ial co nfe ssi on s of 19 37 as we ll as fro m
his tes tim on y at the Ma rch 19 38 Mo sco w Tri al.7 Iag od a dis cu sse d
wi th Ra de k his att em pts to sto p or at lea st mi nim ize the rep res -
sio n of the un de rg ro un d Tr ots ky ist s in the aft erm ath of the Kirov

7Iagoda's im por tan t pre tria l and tria l confessions are fully dis cus sed in .F urr ,
Kirov, Chapters 14 and 15.
Cl1apter Sixteen. Trotsky in .Bi11/lete1; )Oppozjtsii 149

murder. It is possible that Radek conveyed to Trotsky whatever he

knew himself.

Trotsky repeats a falsehood from his article in B.O. #41:

DpHlllJIOCb 3HHOBbeBa-KaMeHeBa H 11x ~pyaeli BbI~eJIHTh 113

rrpo:qecca. 06BHHRTeJihHhrii aKT no ~eJiy H11KoJiaeBa He
yrroMHHaJI 0 H.HX HM CJIOBOM; •.•

Translated:

It was necessary to leave out from the trial the case of

Zinoviev, Kamenev, and their friends. The indictment in
the Nikolaev case said not one word about them ... (214)

This is a lie. The Kirov indictment, including the abbreviated ver-

sion in Humanite, did indeed mention Zinoviev, Kamenev, and the
''groupe antisovietique Zinoviev'' numerous times. I have studied
this lie of Trotsky's in a previous chapter.

Under the heading ''17 January'' Trotsky asserts that Bakaev, one
of the defendants, ''must have,, testified under threat of being tried
as one of Kirov's assassins. (217) This is an interesting statement
by Trotsky.

Bakaev was indeed involved in Kirov's murder, as were Zirioviev

and Kamenev. But Trotsky does not claim that Zinoviev and
Kamenev had testified out of a threat of being tried as among Ki,..
rov,s killers. Bakaev was in Moscow, as were Zinoviev and Kame-
nev. Along with Zinoviev, Kamenev, and others Bakaev was to be a
defendant in the First Moscow Trial of August 1936. There Bakaev,
like Zinoviev and Kamenev, admitted to involvement in the plan to
kill Kirov. All three had been named by so many of their accom-
plices that further denial was pointless.

In the present study I demonstrate that Trotsky, whose strategy

was to deny all accusations, sometimes made a statement that did
not fit his fictive narration. A statement of this sort is a ''tell,"
something that revealed more than he intended. In the light of
150 Trotsky' s Lies

what we know now about Trotsk y's strateg y of falsification, we

can see that this remark of Trotsk y's about Bakaev is such a ''tell."

Under ('18 January,,, Trotsk y discuss es the abbrev iated text of the
indictm ent agains t Zinoviev, Kamen ev, Safarov et al. publish ed the
previo us day, Januar y 17) in Human ite. 8 Safarov began to testify,
albeit in a veiled manne r, about the format ion of the Trotsky ist-
Zinovi evist bloc in 1932, while not calling it a bloc. This was a
1
threat to Trotsky , and he describ es Safarov s quoted testim·o ny as
follows:
r JiaBHhIH CBHAeTeJih o6BHHeHH.H, C·acpapoB, rroqeMy TO
BbI,D;eJieHHhIH H3 npo~ecca (poJib 3Toro cy6'heKTa B ,n;eJie
npe,n;cTaBJI.HeTC·H Kpai!He 3ara,n;oqHo:H) rroKa3bIBaeT, '1TO
({ KOHTp-peB OJIIO~HOHHa.H,, ,n;eHTeJibHOCTh 3 H H OBbeBa ...
KaMeHeBa H ,n;pyrHx 6hIJia oco6eHHO aKTHBHOH B 1932 ro,n;y!
Ho Be,n;h 3a STY HMeHHo ,n;e.HTeJibH.OCTh OHH H 6bIJIH
HCKJilOt.{eHhI B 1932 fOAY H3 rrapTHH H COCJiaH bl.

Transla ted:

The chief witnes s for the prosec ution, Safarov , whose

case - we don't know why - was examin ed separa tely
(the role of this individ ual in the affair appear s most en ..
igmatic ), s·h ows that the ;'count errevol utionar y'' activity
of Zinoviev, Kamen ev, and the others was particu larly
intense in 193 2 I Yet it was precise ly for this activity that
in 1932 they were expelle d from the party and deport ed,
(218)

Trotsk y's ''deduc tions'' here are pure misdire ction. The fact that
Safarov named the year 1932 must have been especia lly alarmi ng
to Trotsky . Sedov' s 1932 letter to Trotsk y explici tly identif ies Sa-
farov as someo ne who has not yet joined the bloc as it was being

s I have put the text of this abbrevia ted. indictme nt, from Humanit e January 17~
1935, p. 3 online at http://m suweb.m ontclair .edu/ .-furrg/r esearch /zin·
kam_ind ict_hum anite011 73S.pdf
Chap·t et Sixteen. Trotsk y in .Bi11!Jetfi11:0ppozj.t"·ii 151

form ed in 1932 but who se joini ng is expe cted short ly. But Safa rov
was not a Trots kyist , Perh aps Trot sky thou ght that Safa rov migh t
be more likely to ident ify Trots ky, Zinoviev) and othe rs in orde r to
save hims elf.

06BH HHTe JihHb IH aKT HH CJIOB OM He yrroM HHae T 0 CB.H3I1 3THX

o6BH HHeM hIX c H11Ko 11aeB bIM.

Tran slate d:

The indic tmen t does not ment ion by a singl e word the
conn ectio n of the accu sed with Nikolaev. (2 20)

Anot her false state ment . The abbr eviat ed indic tmen t in Hum anite
cites the cont act betw een the Mosc ow grou p of Zino vievi sts and
the Leni ngra d grou p that kille d Kiro v and of whic h Niko laev was a
part, as illus trate d by this passage~

L'ins truct ion preli mina ire etabl it que Zinoviev, Evdoki-
mov, Guertik, Bakaev, Koukline, Kam enev , Charaov, Fe-
doro v et Garc henin e adhe raien t au <<Centre de Moscou>>,
reun issan t auto ur d'eux nom bre des mem bers les plus
actif s de l'anc ien grou pem ent antis ovie tique Zino viev et
entr eten ant des rapports regu liers avec les mem--
bers du grou pe de Leningrad, cond amne s par le
College milit aire du Trib unal supr eme de l'U.R.S.S. (af-
faire de l'ass assin at de Kirov).

Le << Cent re de Mosc ou >> ne se born ait pas seule men t a

lrent retie n de rapp orts avec le grou pe illegal de Leni n-
grad et de certa ins de ses parti sans dans 'd'au tres villes,
mais joua it un role de centr e polit ique dirig eant
syste mati quem ent/ au cour se d)un certa in nom bre
d'ann ees, l'acti vite cont re-re volu tionn aire secre te, tant
du grou pe de Moscou que de celu i de Leningrad.
Tran slate d:

The preli mina ry instr uctio n has estab lishe d that Zino-
viev and Gors henin belo nged to the ''Mos cow Cent er''
 Trots ky s Lies
1

152

and brou ght toge ther unde r them a num ber of the most
activ e mem bers of the old Zinoviev anti- Sovi et grou ping
and main tain ed regu lar cont act with the mem bers of
the Leningrad grou p cond emn ed by the Military Colle-
gium of the Supr eme Cour t of the USSR (the Kirov assas~
sinat ion case) .

The ''Mos cow Cent er'' did not limit itself only to the
main tenan ce of cont act with the illegal Leni ngra d grou p
and with certa in of its mem bers in othe r town s, but
playe d the role of the political center that systematically
directed} for a num ber of years , the secre t coun terre volu -
tiona ry activ ity of both the Mos cow grou p and of that
of Leningrad.

Once again, it appe ars that Trot sky was so inten t upon co.n struc t-
ing an ''amalgam') that wou ld direc t atten tion away from the accu-
satio ns of the Sovi et cour t that he did not worr y abou t the re-ac ..
tions of any read er who migh t comp are wha t he wrot e with the
texts them selve s.

Trot sky ment ione d that the Kirov murd er indic tmen t cited the
''plat form '' of 1926 :
06BH HHTe JihHh IH aKT no AeJiy HHKO JiaeB a ITbITa JicH, KaK MbI
v
IlOMH HM, CB.H3 aTb Teppo pHCT OB c OI1Il0 3HIJ;H OHHO H
''rrJia Tcpop Moii'' 19 2 6 roAa.

Tran slate d:

The indic tmen t in the Nikolaev case tried) as we recall, to

conn ect the terro rists with the ''plat form '' of the 1926
Oppo sition . (150 )

So it did - but, as I have show n in an earli er chap ter, it also men ..

tione d the ''Tro tskyi te-Zi novi evite bloc four time s (thre e in the
1
'

Fren ch abbr eviat ion). Trot sky rema ined silen t abou t that.
-I
Chapter .S.ixtee.n. Trotsky in .Bi1tl!r:te1i }Oppozj.tsii' 153

Once again Trotsk y falsely claime d that he has always broken with
'' capitul ators'':

ITpo6os aJI JIH CTaJIHH np11 noMo~H BOeHHo ro cyAa

~OITOJIHHTb pa6oTy KOHCyJia M BblpBaT h IIOKa3aHHR rrpoTHB
TpOI.\KO ro? JI He COMHeB aIOCb B 9TOM. Ycrrexa OH BO BC.HKOM
cJiyqae He HMeJI. IlpHHI.\H ilOM cppaK~HH ooJihIIIe BHKOB-
JieHMH~eB BcerAa ohIJio pBaTb tterrpHMH:pHMO c
KaTIHTY JI51HTaM H. ,ll;BOHHOH 6yxraJIT epHH Mbl He JJiOIIYCKaeM ....
MbI nopBaJI H B csoe BpeMR c 3HHOBb eBI.\aMH TaK me
pellIHTe JihHO, KaK B npolllJIO M ro~y - c PaKoBCKMM.

Transla ted:

Did Stalin try to comple te the consul 's work by means of

the militar y tribuna l in order to extract declara tions
agains t Trotsky ? I don't doubt it. In any case, he didn't
succee d. The consta nt princip le of the Bolshe vik.. Leninis t
faction is: break irrecon cilably with capitul ators. We do
not allow double bookke eping ... We broke in the past
with the Zinovievists as resolut ely as last year we broke
with Rakovsky. (221)

Thanks to Broue' s and Getty's discove ries in the Harvar d Trotsk y

Archive, we know that this is a lie. Trotsk y did not ('break irrecon -
cilably with capitul ators." On the contrar y: some, perhap s even all,
such. cases were a decepti on, design ed to facilitate the continua~
tion of clande stine opposi tion work inside the Party. Theref ore, in
his own words, Trotsk y did indeed ''allow double bookke eping.' '
His claim of princip led opposi tionism was a pose) undoub tedly es-
sential for him to retain his non-So viet followe rs and those Soviet
followe rs who were not ''in the know.J,

The following paragr aph raises an interes ting exampl e: that of

Khristi an Rakovsky. At the March 1938 Mosco w Trial, Rakovs ky
testifie d that he too had remain ed with Trotsk y after making a
false ''capitu lation'' :

This took place in July or August 1932. One and a half years
later, in Februa ry 1934, I sent a telegra m to the Centra l
154 Trotsky's Lies

Comm ittee of the C.P.S.U., saying that I had cornp.l etely dis-
armed myself both ideologically and organiz ational ly and
asked to be reinsta ted in the Party. This telegra m was in~
sincere , I was lying. It was my deliber ate intenti on to hide
from the Party and the govern ment my associa tion with
the Intellig ence Service ever since 1924, and Trotsk y's as ..
sociati on with the Intelligence Service ever since 1926.
(1938 Trial 288--289)
,

Braue has admitt ed that ''every body unders tood these ''capitula-
1
'

tions', to be a smoke screen. (POS 104) Trotsk y's mentio ning

Rakovsky in the same breath as Zinoviev and Kamen ev strongl y
sugges ts that Trotsk y's suppos ed ''break,' with Rakovsky in 1934
was also a ''cover for the latter)s continu e·d secret Trotsk yist
1
'

workl Trotsk y confirm s that his phony ''break' ' with the false ''ca ..
pitulat ors'' is his best defense :
3TOT IIOJIHblH paspbIB CB.H3€H) IIOJIHTH '-leCKHX H JIHqHbIX,
C,L\eJiaJI HeB03M O)KHblM - HeCMOT p.H Ha ITOMO~b KOHCyJi a H
BOeHHo ro cyAa - ycrrelllH Oe pasBMT He aMaJibr aMbI B cTopoH y
60JibllI eBHKO B-JI eHHH~eB.

Transla ted:

This comple te ruptur e in person al and political relatio ns

has made imposs ible - despite the help of a consul and a
militar y tribuna l - future success in develo ping amal--
gams from the side of the Bolshevik-Leninists. (221)

This, of course, is anothe r lie. Thanks to the researc h of Pierre

1
Broue and others, we know that there was no ''break with Zina . . '

viev, Kamenev, and the others in the bloc formed in 1932, or with
Radek and others to whom Trotsk y wrote the same year.

This confirms Rakovsky's testimo ny that his ''break' ' too was a
smoke screen . We now have much more primar y source eviden ce
about Rakovsky's role in Trotsk y's conspir acy, includi ng about his
role as Trotsk y's agent to the Japane se govern ment. I discuss some
of it in Chapte r 4 of Leon Trotsky 's Collaboration with Germany and
Cha.pte:r Sixteen. Trotsk;r in .Bi11ilef.e11,..qppozj.tJ·ii 155

japan, and will include much more in a future book on Trotsky's

• •
consp1rac1es.

''Everything Gradually Falls Into Place." (January

28, 1935)
Here Trotsky continues the misdirection, or ''amalgam," of his own.
He writes:

30-ro ,n,eKa6pR 1934 ro,n;a H BbICKa3bIBaJI TBePAYIO

yBepeHHOCTb B TOM, qTQ filY 6bIJ10 C CaMOfO HaqaJia B Kypce
no.z:i;roTOBJI.HBillerocH TeppopHCTHt.{eCKOro aKTa. 06 3TOM
11
HeonpoBepJK:HMO CBH,n;eTeJibCTBOBaJIO yt.IaCTHe KOHCyJia,"
KOTOpbIH Mor 6h1Tb TOJibKO areHTOM rITY. Tenepb Mbl HMeeM
rrpoBepKy. 23 HHBap.H BOeHHhIH Tp116yHaJI npHrOBOpHJI 12
OTBeTCTBeHHblX JieHHHrpa,D,CKHX npe,n;cTaBHTeJieH rTIY, BO
r JiaBe c H:X rne<f>oM Me,n;se,n;eM K cypoBhIM KapaM; saKJIK>l.f:eHHe
OT 2 ,n;o 10 JieT! Ilp11r0Bop BMeH.HeT HM B BMHY He 6oJiee He
MeHee, KaK TOT cpaKT, qTo ''oHH 6bIJIH OCBe,D,OMJI8HbI 0
IIO,lJ,rOTOBJI5IBilleMC5I noKyrneHHM Ha KHpOBa HO
o6Hapyi:KHJIHH npecTynHyIO He6peJKHOCTb (!) If, He rrpHHHB
Heo6XOf\I1MblX Mep oxpaHbI."

Translated:

On December 30, 1934, I expressed the firm conviction

that the GPU from the outset knew about the terrorist
act that was being prepared. The participation of the
''consul'' who could only be an agent of the GPU, was the
irrefutable evidence. Now we have the proof. On January
23, a military tribunal condemned twelve responsible
representatives of the GPU in Leningrad, with, at their
head, their chief, Medved, to hard labor: two to ten
years' imprisonment! The sentence on them was for the
charge that, no more} no less, ''they were aware of the at-
tempt being prepared against Kirov but showed criminal
negligence (f) in not taking the necessary security meas-
ures." (223)
156 Trotsky's Lies

Tr ots ky
1
s tex t is so clo se to the tex t in Pr av da tha t Tr ots ky mu st
ha ve ha d ac ce ss to the So vie t pa pe r. I ha ve rep ro du ce d be low the
wo rd s in Pr av da of Jan ua ry 23 , 19 35 } co nc ern ing the sen ten cin g of
the NKVD me n wi th Tr ots ky 's wo rd s in his art icl e da ted Jan ua ry
26. Tr ots ky wr ote :
... OH H 6bI J1H O,CBe,AOMJleHbl 0 noµ _ro TO BJI RB IIJe MC .H no Ky ille HH H
Ha J\H pO B(! .•.

Th e tex t in Pravda of Jan ua ry 23, 19 35 rea ds thu s:

•.. pac noJ iara .H CB e)le HH .HM M 0 rOTOB.H~HXC.H noK y!Il eH H.H X Ha

TO E. Ce pre .H MH pO HO BH t.ia K}f .po Ba ...

Tr ots ky 's lan gu ag e:

.•• HO o6H apy m.H J1M H npe cry nH yID , He 6pe JKH OC Tb .••

Th e tex t in Pravda:
..• rrp OR BH Jili ..• np~cTynHyID xaJ iaT HO CT b ..•

Tr ots ky 's lan gu ag e:

... He n:p HH HB He0 6XO JJ.H Mh IX Me p oxp aH bI.

Th e tex t in Pravda:
... He npH HR JJH He o6X OJ ll1M bIX Me p oxp aH bI.

Th ese pa ssa ge s pro ve th at Tr ots ky ha d ac ce ss to Pr avda wi thi n a

da y or tw o of its pu bli ca tio n in the US SR . Tr ots ky 's wo rd s eit he r
ec ho· tho se of the Pr av da art icl e pre cis ely or are a ve ry clo se pa ra-
ph ras e. Tr ots ky mu st ha ve rea d the Pr av da art icl e him sel f or ha d
so me on e rea d it to him wh ile he ma de no tes .

He re Tr ots ky wa s co nti nu ing his att em pt to de fle ct att en tio n aw ay

fro m the inv olv em en t of the ''T rot sk yit e .. zin ov iev ite blo c'' on to an . .
oth er - an y oth er - tar ge t, by falsely as·s ert ing th at NKVD me n
e

we re am on g the 14 ex ec ute d for the Ki rov mu rd er; tha t the NK VD ,

an d by ex ten sio n Stalin, we re inv olv ed in the Kirov mu rd er.
Chapter Sixteen. ·T.rotsky in Bit1JJete11. )0 ppo zjtJii 157

Trot sky conc ludes with phra ses that are full of irony for us today :

PeBOJ IIOD;H OHHh IH Tepp op He HYIK~aeTcH B MacK HpoB Ke, H6o

OH HaXO AHT Herro cpeAC TBeH HOe onpaB AaHH e B C03H aHHH
HapO f];HbIX Mace.

Tran slate d:

Revo lutio nary terro rism does not need a mask beca use
it finds its imm ediat e justi ficat ion in the cons ciou snes s
of the popu lar mass es. (228 )

We know from sour ces outsi de the USSR that Trot sky did inde ed
sanc tion the use of ''terr or," both from Sedo v's word s to Zbor owsk i
and from Trots ky's bloc with the Righ ts, who acco rding to Jules
Humbert~Droz were alrea dy plan ning Stali n's assas sinat ion in
1928 . Like his decla ratio ns of perm anen t ''brea k'' with ''cap itula -
tors', Trot sky's insis tence in deno unci ng ''terr or'' is more ''cov er''
for his mach inati ons.

Conc ernin g Stali n's ''ama lgam s'' Trot sky wrot e:

IloTp e6HO CTb B aMaJ ihraM ax B03HHKaeT c Toro MOMe HTa,

KOf Aa oIDpO KpaTH .H IIO~HHMaeTCH HaA peBOJ IIOl.J; HOHH hIM
KJiaCC OM, KaK npaB.H ID;aH KaCTa , co CBOHMH oco6b IMl1
v
HHTe pecaM H, TaHH aMH If MaXH HaD;H HMH.

Tran slate d:

The need for amal gams emer ges when a bure aucr acy
rises abov e the revo lutio nary class as a privi leged caste ,
with its spec ial inter ests, secre ts, and mach inati ons.
Fear ing for its pow er and its privi leges , the bure aucr acy
is comp elled to dece ive the peop le. (228 )

What becomes of this analysis when we realize that it was not Stalin
who was forging ''amalgams'' - false stories - but Trotsky himself?
More over , on the evide nce we now have , Stali n and the Sovi et
pros ecut ors had not fabri cated anyth ing. They were reall y tryin g
to find out wha t was goin g on, tryin g to solve the crim e.
158 Trotsky' s Lies

Posing as a champ ion of the truth, Trotsk y denoun ces Stalin's

'{amalgams,' or deliber ate falsifications. Meanw hile, it was Trotsky
1

who was creatin g ''amalg ams ' to disguis e his real activiti es. Irani . .
1

cally, it was not Stalin but Trotsk y himsel f who fe.lt ''compe lled to
deceive the people.') Trotsk y really held a mirror up to himsel f
with that analysi s.

On the eviden ce we have today, it is clear that the Stalin- era Soviet
investi gators did solve the Kirov murde r. 9 Furthe r investi gation
into the murde r eventu ally led the NKVD to discov er the bloc of
Opposi tionists - Zinovievists, Trotsky ists, Rightists, and others -
who were the defend ants in all three of the public Mosco w Trials
of 1936, 1937, and 1938.

With the following words, Trotsk y was also positio ning himsel f to
declare any future revelat ions by the NKVD and Soviet prosec utors
as even larger fabrica tions:
CmaJZuHy Heo6xoau.Mo npuKp&Lmb copeaewuec.R GMG.ll&z aMbL
HOBbLMU , 60.1Zee wupoKoao M.acwma6a u 60.11ee ycneWHbIMU.
Hy)J{HO BCTpeT HTh 11x BO Bceopy) KHH! Bopb6a npoTHB AHKHX
pacrrpaB HaA MapKCHCTCKOH onrro3H~He:H B CCCP HeOT,LTyeJIH:Ma
OT 6opb6h r 3a ocBo6om,n;eHHe MHpoBoro npoJieT apcKoro
aBaHrapAa OT paCTJie BaIOrqe ro BJIH.HHH.H cTaJIHH CKHX areHTOB
11 cTaJIHHCKHX MeTO)J;OB. HM OAHH qecTHbIH npoJieTapcKHH
peBOJIID I..\HOHep He CMeeT MQJiqaT b. J13 Bcex IIOJIHTH.qecKHX
4;>11ryp caMoH npe3peH HoH: .HBJIHeTcH <P11rypa IloHTH.H DHJiaTa.

Transla ted:

Stalin is forced to cover up the unsuccessful amalgams

with new, broader and more successful ones. We must
meet them well armed. The struggl e agains t the fero ..
cious repress ions agains t the Marxis t opp-o sition in the
USSR is insepa rable from the struggl e for the liberat ion

9See Fu.r r}Kirov. This is the inescapa ble conclusi on from a careful study of all the
evidence now available.
Chap ter Sixteen. Trotsky in .Bi11/lete11 .iOppozj,tJ·ii 159

of the wo rld pro let ari an va ng ua rd fro m the inf lue nc e of

Sta lin ist ag en ts an d Sta lin ist me tho ds . No t on e ho ne st
rev olu tio na ry pro let ari an ou gh t to be sil en t. Of all politi--
cal fig ure s, the mo st de sp ica ble is Po nti us Pil ate . (22 8;
Em ph asi s in the ori gin al. )

At thi s po int we sh ou ld rec all th at Tr ots ky 's pri nc ipa l tac tic in cov--
eri ng up the blo c an d his ow n ac tiv itie s wa s to ''ex po se the sch em e
in advance.') In his fir st art icl e on the Ki rov mu rd er in B.0. #4 1
Tr ots ky ha d wr itt en :

Th ere is on ly on e wa y to for est all en ro ute the am alg am s

tha t are in pre pa rat ion : Expose the scheme in advance. Th e
Sta lin ist s are try ing to mo ld the pu bli c op ini on of the wo rld
po lic e tow ard s ex pu lsi on s, ex tra dit ion s, arr es ts1 an d oth er
mo re de cis ive me asu res . Th e Le nin ist s mu st pr ep are the
pu bli c op ini on of the wo rld pr ole tar iat for the se po ssi ble
ev en t.s. In thi s cas e, as in oth ers , it is ne ce ssa ry to sp ea k ou t
op en ly ab ou t wh at is; th at is als o the aim of the pr es en t ar-
ticle. (''T he Sta lin ist Bu rea uc rac y an d the As sas s
· ina tio n of
1
Ki rov ')

Tr ots ky kn ew the n - an d we kn ow no w - tha t it wa s he him sel f,

no t the So vie t pro sec uti on (''S tal in' ,), tha t wa s co ok ing up a fal se
sto ry or ''am alg am '' co nc ern ing Ki rov 's mu rd er. Tr ots ky als o su s-
pe cte d th at the NK VD inv est iga tio n wo uld un co ve r mo re de tai ls of
his ow n fol low ers ' act ivi tie s, an d the ref ore tha t mo re ac cu sat ion s
ag ain st him wo uld be for thc om ing in the fut ure .

On ce he ha d be gu n to de ny tha t the blo c wi th Zinoviev, Ka me ne v,

an d oth ers ex ist ed , Tr ots ky ha d no ch oic e bu t to co mp os e a fal se
ac co un t of the Ki rov mu rd er wh ile pr ete nd ing to be de du cin g wh at
ha d rea lly ha pp en ed . Th e ob vio us tac tic wa s to tur n the tab les an d
bla me Sta lin for Ki rov 's mu rd er, an d the n bla me Sta lin ag ain for
try ing to pin Ki rov 's mu rd er on the rea l cu lpr its , the blo c, inc lud ing
him sel f, Tr ots ky .

Fo r the res t of his life , Tr ots ky co nti nu ed to fal sel y cla im tha t the
Mo sco w Tr ial s we re a fra me -up an d th at all the de fen da nts inc lud -
160 Trotsky's Lies

ing himsel f were its innoce nt victims. In a great historic al irony,

Trotsk y's ';amalgam'' was to becom e the most influential accoun t
of Kirov's murder . Of course, Trotsk y's followers accepte d it. But
the central event in its furth.er develo pment was Nikita Khrush ..
1
chev s ''Secret Speech'' of Februa ry 25, 1956, when Khrush chev
said:

It must be asserte d that to this day the circum stances sur-

roundi ng Kirov's murde r hide many things which are inex-
plicable and myster ious and deman d a most careful ex-
aminat ion.
In. 1963 the Shvern ik Commission appoin ted by Khrush chev to
find eviden t for the ';rehab ilitatio ns'' of the Moscow Trials victims
and many others, sugges ted that Stalin was behind Kirov's murder .
In confor mity with Khrush chev s goals, the Commission con-
1

cluded:

H11KaKoro <<AHTHCOBeTcKoro npaBo-Tpo~KHCTcKoro

6JioKa>> B ~eHCTBHTeJihHOCTH He cymecT BOBaJI O ...
(RKEB 2, 630)
Transla ted:

No ''Anti-Soviet Right-T rotskyi st bloc'' existed in reality ...

This report was not publish ed until 1994, after the end of the So-
viet Union. But in the late 1980s it was studied and used by Gor . .
bachev 's men.

Aleksa ndr Iakovlev, a Politbu ro membe r and Gorbac hev's chief for
ideology, ordere d an attemp t to find eviden ce that Stalin was be-
hind Kirov's murder . Iakovlev's high-level commi ssion relucta ntly
conclu ded that there was no such evidence. So they settled for a
compro mise solutio n: they claime d that Nikolaev had been a ''lone
gun.man," that there had never been a bloc, and that Stalin had
used Nikolayev's crime to ''frame'' innocen·t people whom he
though t were against him.
Chap· ter Sixtee.n . T rotskv in .Bzl1!lete11-'0t;bt;nf.sii
.I ..A. J.. . \,
161

Than ks to the Harv ard Trot sky Archive, we know toda y that the
bloc did exist. The Shve rnik Commission,s} and Iakovlev's, repo rts
are as phon y, as delib erate ly disho nest, as the versi on by Trot sky
on whic h, throu gh Khru shch ev, they were ultim ately base d. This
story , whic h origi nated in Trots ky,s need to deny and conc eal his
cons pirac y, has beco me the cano nical versi on of the Kirov murd er.
 Con clus ion

Our researc h concer ning Leon Trotsk y has produc ed signific ant
and comple mentar y results :

* In The Moscow Trials as Evidence we determ ined that the defen-

dants in the Mosco w Trials were not innoce nt person s compe lled
to falsely testify by the investi gation (NKVD) or prosec ution. They
said what they intend ed to say.

We determ ined this by verifying, with indepe ndent primar y

source evidenc e, a numbe r of the statem ents made in testimo ny by
Mosco w Trials defend ants. In the few cases where we can prove a
defend ant lied, he did so to further the conspi racy of which he was
a part and/or in an attemp t to protec t himself , not to incrim inate
himsel f or to placate the prosec ution.

* In the presen t book we have demon strated that Leon Trotsk y

lied a great deal during the 1930s. It is fair - accura te ... to say that,
concer ning the Soviet Union and the Stalin leaders hip) Trotsk y
wrote little else except lies. Many of those lies are directly related
to the accusa tions made against him by the defend ants and the
prosec ution at the three Mosco w Trials.

Other of Trotsk y's lies concer n the afterm ath of the murde r of Ser~
gei Kirov in Decem ber 1934, an event that eventu ally led investi ..
gators to uncove r the bloc of Trotsky ists, Zinovievists, Rightists,
Conclusi on 163

and other Oppositionists1 which Trotsk y had approv ed and in

wh.ich his secret Soviet- based suppor ters partici pated along with
other opposi tionists , includi ng those who had killed Kirov.

We have determ ined that Trotsk y lied so frequen tly and about
so many things that nothing he wrote about the Soviet Union
after the end of 1934 - the date of his first essays on the Kirov
murde r - represe nts what he himsel f really though tr

Trotsk y lied in two basic ways. First, he denied any role in the con-
spiraci es of which he was accused: with his own followe rs and
other opposi tionists within the Soviet Union; with foreign gov-
ernmen ts; with the Germa n military; with the Red Army leaders .
He denied the existen ce of the bloc of Trotsky ists, Zinovievists,
Rights, and other opposi tionists . He denied having conta.c t with a
numbe r of person s with whom we now know he did hav·e contact .

Second, Trotsk y chose the strateg y of claiming that he would ''ex-

pose the scheme in advance.'' It is asking too much of coincid ence
to think that Trotsk y really did ''predic t'' that the bloc membe rs,
includi ng his own suppor ters and himself, would be accuse d of
these things. The only explan ation for these so-call ed predict ions
that is consist ent with the eviden ce we now posses s is that Trot-
sky knew that these accusa tions would eventu ally be forthco ming.
Sooner or later, some of the bloc membe rs would confess to them.
So he anticip ated them in order to make them seem so false they
were ';predictable."

Trotsk y's declare d strateg y of ''expos ing the scheme in advance}' is

a ''tell." His suppos ed ''predictions,, actuall y ''telegr aph'' to us con ..
firmati on of some of the actions that Trotsk y really had engage d in.
Just as we know that the confess ions of the Moscow Trials defen-
dants are genuin e, so we also know that Trotsky}s denials are not
reliable , becaus e we can disprov e many of his denials , and becaus e
Trotsk y lied whene ver he consid ered it expedi ent to do so.

During the investi gation of the Kirov murde r Trotsk y claime d that
he could ''predic t'' that his name would be raised, when he knew
 1
164 Trotsky s Lies

that it would be because of his and his supporters' participation in

the bloc with the Zinovievists.

Trotsky claimed that Zinoviev and Kamenev were charged with

plotting ''armed intervention'' and the ''restoration of capitalism."
In reality, they were not charged with either. But Trotsky had ad-
vocated both. He could reasonably assume that he himself and his
followers would be charged with these crimes sooner or later, as
eventually happened.

In a conspiracy such as Trotsky's we can expect to find little or no

material evidence. Conspirators do their best to leave no physical
trace of their conspiracy. We have long had a great deal of testimo-
nial evidence in the confessions of the Moscow Trials defendants.
Having verified many details of the Moscow Trials confessions
from independent sources, we can now accept the Moscow Trials
testimony concerning Trotsky,s conspiracies with a high degree of
confidence. As additional confirmation we now have Trotsky's
1
''predictions. ' They dovetail nicely with the later accusations
against him.

It appears that in lying Trotsky acted from several motives:

* to cover up the activities of his followers in the Soviet Union;

*to preserve his image before his followers and on the world stage
as a principled revolutionary and the true follower, by rights the
heritor, of Lenin;

* to maintain a posture of non-involvement in politics, necessary

to preserve his ability to find countries which would let him live
there as an exile;

* above all,to maintain and continue his conspiracies against

the Soviet leadership, in hopes of returning to power within
the USSR.

The reality was very different from Trotsky's false accounts. His
former followers testified at the Moscow Trials that Trotsky was
Conclusion 165

*ad voc atin g the mu rde r of Stal in and oth er Sov iet lead ers;

* org aniz ing the sab otag e of Sov iet ind ustr y and tran spo rtat ion ;
* con spir ing wit h Ger man y and Jap an eith er to sup por t a cou p
d'et at aga inst the Stal in reg ime or to stim ulat e mut iny wit hin the
Sov iet mil itar y in sup por t of German and Jap ane se atta cks , ther eby
faci litat ing the ove rthr ow of the Stal in regi me and the assu mpt ion
of pow er by the bloc and by Tro tsky him self .

In the pre sen t vol ume we hav e cite d goo d evid enc e of the se activi~
ties by Tro tsky , incl udin g evid enc e tha t cor rob ora tes the Mo sco w
Tria ls test imo ny. We will exa min e yet mor e suc h evidence in a fu~
ture stud y.

Denial
Sov iet hist ory is so poli ticiz ed, and opin ions abo ut Sov iet hist ory
so imp assi one d, tha t man y read ers will reje ct the resu lts of this
stud y not out of rati ona l eva luat ion and crit icis m of the evid enc e,
but out of sim ple den ial thin ly disg uise d by faul ty reas onin g.

For anti com mun ists and Tro tsky ists it is unt hin kab le tha t the
Moscow Tria ls test imo ny sho uld hav e turn ed out 't o be, on the
who le, reli able . Thi s fact inva lida tes wha t we hav e call ed the ''ant i-
Stal in para digm '' of Sov iet and wor ld hist ory . In the serv ice of an"
tico mm unis m, and of the cult aro und the figu re of Tro tsky , an ..
tico mm uni sts and Trotskyists will con tinu e to den y the trut h as
dem ons trat ed by prim ary sou rce evid enc e and sou nd ana lysi s.

Nev erth eles s, we loo k forw ard to crit icis m from all qua rter s. Dis ..
hon est or inco mpe tent crit icis m will exp ose the dish one sty and
inco mpe tenc e of tho se who emp loy it. Good, inci sive , logical, and
abo ve all, evidence-based crit icis m will help to adv anc e the cau se of
disc ove ring the trut h abo ut Sov iet hist ory . Hop eful ly, suc h hon est
and com pete nt crit icis m will also pro vid e corr ecti ves tha t we can
use to imp rov e sub seq uen t edit ions of this wor k.

In 201 7 I pub lish ed Vol ume Two of my Tro tsky stud ies: Leon Trot-
sky's Collaboration with Germany and japan. In tha t boo k I exa min e
166 Trotsky's Lies

som e of the larg e bod y of prim ary sou rce evid enc e now ava ilab le,
mai nly from form erly clos ed Sov iet- era arch ives , tha t bea r on
Tro tsky 's con spir acie s, incl udin g: imp orta nt con firm atio n of Tro t-
sky 's con spir acie s wit h Japa n; furt her deta ils of Tro tsky 's pro mo-
tion of ''ter ror' , (ass assi nati on) and sab otag e wit hin the Sov iet Un ..
ion; deta ils con cern ing; som e deta ils abo ut Iuri i Piat ako v's sec ret
flig ht to Nor way in Dec emb er, 1935} to con sult wit h Tro tsky ; and
muc h else.

My plan is to wri te mor e boo ks in whi ch I will an.a lyze rece ntly..
rele ase d doc ume nts from the form er Sov iet arch ives tha t bea r on
Tro tsky 's con spir acie s) incl udin g imp orta nt con firm atio n of Tro t-
sky 's con spir acy wit h Japa n; furt her deta ils of Tro tsky 's pro mot ion
of ''terror~' and sab otag e; mor e deta ils con cern ing Piat ako v's sec ret
flight to Nor way in Dec emb er 193 5; and muc h else. I will aga in
dra w upo n prim ary doc ume nts, crit ical ly ana lyze d wit h app rop ri-
1
ate sch olar ly ske ptic ism , to furt her exa min e Tro tsky s lies abo ut
his own acti viti es and tho se of his adh eren ts.

Rec ogn itio n of the fact tha t Tro tsky was ind eed guil ty of the seri . .
ous cha rges mad e aga inst him at the Mo sco w Tria ls nec essi tate s a
radi cal rein terp reta tion of the high poli tics in the Sov iet Uni on
dur ing the 193 0s. I hav e beg un to re-e xam ine this hist ory in a
num ber of rece nt boo ks, incl udin g Khrushchev Lied, The Murder of
Sergei Kirov, Yez hov vs Stalin 1 and Stalin Wai ting For··~ The Truth.
Appendix: Document 167

Appendix: Docu men ts

(Nate; I had origina lly intende d to put many of the import ant ar-
chival docum ents cited in this book into this Appen dix. But doing
so would make this book, already longer than I had planne d, much
longer still.

I plan to include more docum ents in a followi ng volume ) to be pub-

lished in late 2019 or early 2020.)

Document 1. Sedov to Trotsky 1932 Trotsky Arch.

4782
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 1
168 Trotsky s Lies

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Appendix~ Document 169

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rroKa He Tpy,n;Ho: 400-600 (maxim) MapoK, - HO HeT ,n;eHer.
Tpy,n;HOCTH
B ycTaHoBKe, B rroMemaHHH. HaHTH ero Hama r JiaBHa.H 3a6oTa.
I1oTo[My]
HY:>I<Hbl ,n;eHhrH. (TaKJKe CTOHT Borrpoc c KOHcpep. HeMeD;Kw - no[Ka]
HeT ,n;etter; HO napHiK o6ell.\aJI). 2) HelleraJibH. 610po (~eHTp) [B]
EepJIHHe y,n;acTCH ycTpOHTb xoporno. MhI HMeeM a6coJIIOTHO
q11cToro T-~a Kaufmann'a H3 R.1 KOTOphIH OTKpoeT KoMepq,
610po c npe,n;cTaBHTeJihCTBOM pa3HhIX HHOCTpaHH. cpHpM. OH
co6HpaeT
ceiit.tac 3TH npe,n;cTaBHTeJibCTBa. Etopo, cJie,n;oB., He 6yr7J;eT ,n;a)Ke
¢11KTHBHhIM. O,n;ttH 113 qneHoB ~eHTpa 6y,n;eT pa6oTaTh B 610po,
KaK cJiyJKam;. 3,n;ecb 6y,n;eT .HBKa, 11 np. (AJIH caMoro Y3KO Kpyra
pa3yMeeTc.H)

3) B cMhICJie aarpaHH9:HOH 6a3hI MhI opHeHTHpyeMcH Ha R

(Pe:HxeH6epr). 3 ~ ~ 4 qaca e3AbI oT Brl, rpynna a 7 .. s
oqeHb npe.n,aHHhIX JIIO,ne:H:, COCTO.HTeJihHbIX. JlerKa.H rpaHH~a
(aBTOM06HJIH y coqyBCTByIOrn;Hx). TaM MO'.IKHO cKpbITbCH,
H3,n;aBaTb ra3eTy ~JI.H ,ZJ;OCTaBKH Bf epM. H np.

Tipo.HBJI.HHTe XHMHI() YTIOfOM - 3TO CKOpee

Tiporny IlO,[\TBepAHTb IIOJiyt.IeHHe XHMHH - ITHCbMa.
 .

170 Trots ky's Lies

English Translation:
[The bloc] has been orga nized . In it have ente red the Zinovievists,
the Sten -Lom inadz e grou p and the Trots kyist s
(form er ''cap itula tors'' ). The grou p of Safar.
Tark han. has not form ally ente red yet - they
stand on too extre me a posit ion; they will ente r
in a very shor t time . - The decla ratio n of Z. and K. conc ernin g their
enor mou s mist ake in '27 was mad e durin g
nego tiatio ns with our peop le conc ernin g the bloc, imm ediat ely be-
fore the exile of Z and K. -

The down fall of the grou p of l.N., Preo br. and Uf. (thes e ·t hree
were the cente r) was done by some half--
insan e, sick perso n. They arres ted him
by chance, - he bega n to name name s. It is unlik ely that they
foun d mate rials (''Trotsk. litera ture' ') on IN and othe rs. Seve ral
days befo re his arres t IN said to our infor mer:
X has begu n to nam e names, I awai t arres t any day.
He was prep ared than ks to the prese nce of his
Morkovkin, who brou ght all the informat~
Unfo runa tely IN did not have time to trans fer it. -

Infor mer says that no down falls of thos e who are goin g abro ad) of
thos e conn ected gene rally with abro ad, have taken place.
If there are very impo rtant ques tions - then
by teleg raph befo re Thur sday (the same instr uctio ns),

The down fall of the ''form er'' is a grea t blow, but facto ry
cont acts are being prese rved .

Lette r No. 2 recei ved by mail (chem).

2. Big informatr - perso nally . Both
from Vett er (rem emb er). Grea t guy!
Appendix: Documen·t 171

Recent ly three have depart ed for R. I await

1
2 soon. The ''small ones' have been transfe rred. The organiz . of
these trips, their use, transfe r etc. deman ded
in each case many hours of discuss ion and work,
someti mes the post of ''the jewelry'' (I'll tell you when I have a
chance ).
Often I had not only to ''instru ct," but also
above all to convin ce. No one (with one excep-.)

1 excepti on) went alone, it was necess ary to find and re-
recruit . I now have a perma nent ;'agent' '
in Berlin, who someti mes travels . I trust
him absolut ely.

Of all the trips there not one was comple ted

11
''by itself. I write about all this for the
sole purpos e of definin g the questio n
of my own future from this point of view.

My depart ure from Eur. will i.n reality mean

the liquida tion of my contact s; the maxim um that could
be preserv ed is a part of the one-sid ed corres-
ponden ce from there. That is the opinion of the Mose.
friends who are dejecte d. They
''consid er,'' that it is essenti al for me to stay in E.

The situatio n that is being created places before me the questio n

of whethe r I need to try to remain illegall y in Eur. (Brl or Paris
with easy travel to Brl), if they
do not grant me visas. Opinio n. I do have a passpo rt.

In any case the absenc e of any kind of

serious connec tions in Fr. and Vienna , obviou sly
poses the proble m thus: Turk. or illegal.
172

The illeg . qu es tio ns of th e Ge rm . Or ga ni za tio n. 1) th e m os t im po r-

tant: creation
of an ill eg al ty po gr . in Be rli n (in Le ipz . an d Ha mb . th er e ar e) . To
bu y one
is for th e tim e be in g no t ha rd : 4Q Q .. 60 0 (m ax im ) m ar ks , - bu t
th er e's no money. Difficulties
in ar ra ng em en t, in liv in g qu ar te rs . To fin d it is ou r m ai n co nc er n.
The ref.
we ne ed m on ey . (sa m e sit ua tio n wi th qu es tio n of Ge rm . Co nf er. -
for no w
th er e's no m on ey , bu t Pa ris ha s pr om ise d) . 2) Illeg . bu ro (c en ter )
[in]
Berlin has be en su cc es sfu lly se t up . W e ha ve an ab so lu tel y
pu re c-rad Kaufmann from R., who will open a commerc.
•

bu ro with re pr es en ta tio n of va rio us fo re ig n fir ms . He is no w pr e-

•
pa rin g
th es e re pr es en ta tio ns . Th e bu ro , co ns eq ue n. , wi ll no t ev en be a
fictional one. One of th e m em be rs of th e ce nt er wi ll wo rk in th e
bu ro
as an em pl oy ee . He re th er e'l l be a hi de ou t, etc . (fo r a ve ry na rro w
circle, of course)

3) In th e se ns e of· a ba se ab ro ad we ar e fo cu sin g ou r at te nt io n on
R. (Reic he nb er g) . 3 1/2 -4 ho ur s of tra ve l fro m Br l, a gr ou p of 7 -8
ve ry devoted, well-off people. An easy bo rd er
(s ym pa th iz er s ha ve au to s). Th er e pe op le ca n be co nc ea led ,
publish a ne ws pa pe r for delivery to Germ. etc.

Bring ou t th e chemical wi th an iro n - it's faster

Please confirm re ce ip t of th e chemical - le tte r.
Appendix: Document 173

Document 2. Zborowski - Sedov on Killing Stalin,

on Sedov's dissolution - Russian
Costello & Tsarev, Deadly Illusions p. 283 - Jan 22, 1937, & Feb 11,
1937, dispatches translated. Jan 23, 193·7} remark translated inn.
44} p. 469.

Exactly the same texts, with Russian original, in Tsarev & Kostello,
Rokovye Illiuzii, p. 169/322-3, and n. 44 p. 273/531

8 cpeBpan.H 193 7

22 HHBap.H JI. Ce,n;oB BO BpeM.H HallJeH 6ece~hl, y Hero Ha KBapTHpe, IIO

Bonpocy 0 2-M MOCKOBCKOM npo~ecce .H pOJIH B HeM OT,D;eJibHbIX
TIO;J;CYAHMhIX (Pa~eKa, IT.HTaKoBa H ;:i;p.) 3a.HBHJI: .Tenepb. KQJI.e.6aTbCH,
HeqerQ._CTaJIMHa HYJKBO y6HTb."

~JI.H MeH.H sTo 3a.HaJieHtte ohIJio HaCTOJibKO HeO'.IKHf\aHHhIM, '4:TO .H He

ycrreJI Ha Hero HHKaK pear11poBaTh. JI. Ce,n;oB TYT JKe nepeBeJI pa3roBop
Ha ,n;pyrHe BOilpOCbI.

23 .HHBap.H JI. Ce,n;oa, B npttcyTcTBHH MOeM a TaKme JI. 3cTpI1HOH, 6pocHJI

¢pasy TaKoro iKe co,n;epJKaHH.H KaK H 22-ro. B OTBeT Ha sTo era
3a.HBJieHHe, JI. 3cTpHHa cKa3aJia <<Aep:>KH .H3bIK 3a 3y6aMM>>. BoJibllle K
3TOMY BOnpocy He B03Bpall\aJIHCb.

M Zborowski

C 1936 r. <<ChIHOK>> He aeJI co MHOH pagroBopoB o Teppope. lIHnrh He,n;eJIH

,n;Be-TpH TOMY Ha3a;i;, nocJie co6paHMH rpynnhl <<CbIHOK>> CHOBa
3aroBOpHJI Ha 3TY TeMy. B nepBbIH pa3 OH TOJibKO CTapaJICH
<<TeopeTHqeCKH>> ,LJ.OKa3aTb, qTQ TeppopH3M He npoTHBOpeqHT
MapKCH3My. <<MapKCH3M - ITO CJIOBaM CbIHKa - OTpHri;aeT TeppopH3M
IlOCTOJibKO, TIOCKOJibKO ycJIOBH.H I<JiaCCOBOH 6opb6bI He
6JiaronpHII.HTCTByeT TeppopH3My, HO 6bIBaIDT TaKHe TIOJIO/KeHH.H, B
KOTOpbIX TeppopH3M Heooxo,n;HM.'' B CJle,n;yIO~HH pas <<CbIHOK>>
sarOBOpHJI 0 TeppopH3Me, Kor,n;a H npHilleJI K HeMy Ha KBapTHPY
174 Trotsky's Lies

pa6oTaTb. Bo BpeM.H 'C{HTKH raseT <<CbIHOK>> CKa3aJI, qTo TaK KaK Beeb
pe:>KHM B CCCP )J;epJKHTCH Ha CTaJIHHe, TO ,n;ocTaToqHo y6HTh CTaJIH:Ha,
qTQObI BCe pa3BaJIH:JiaCb. 3Ty MbICJib OH BbICKa3bIBaJI l1 paHbllle, HO ,n;o
nocJieAHero pasa OH HHKor,n;a ee TaK qeTKO He ¢opMyJIHpOBaJI. B 3TOT
IIOCJieti;HHH pas OH Heo,n;HOKpaTHO B03Bparn;aJICR K 3TOMy, H oco6eHHO
T~aTeJibHO rroAqepK11BaJI Heo6xo.n;ttMOCTb y6HttCTBa TOB. CTaJIHHa.

B CB.H3H c STHM pasroBopoM <<CbIHOK>> cnpocHJI MeHR 6oIDCh JIH .H cMepTH

Boo6rn;e H crroco6eH JIH .H DbIJI coBeplliHTh TeppopHCTHqecHH aKT. Ha
MOH OTBeT qTo OT He06XO;\HMOCTH H
BCe 3TO 3aBHCHT
~eJiecoo6pa3HOCTH, CbIHOK CK'.a3aJI, qTo .H He COBCeM BepHO IlOHHMaIO,
qTo TaKoe <<HaCTORIIJ;HH>> TeppopHCT H HaqaJI MHe o6bHCHHTh KaKHMH
)l;OJI)KHbI 6bITh JIIDf);H no,n;xo,n;R~He )l;JIR HCilOJIHeHHH TepaKTOB.

ilepeXO,ZJ;H K TaKTHKe Teppopa OH OCTaHOBHJIC.H Ha Ka,n;pax, Ct.JHTaR, qTo

3TO ocHOBHoe. TeppopHCT - ITO cJioBaM CbIHKa - ,n;oJI)KeH Bcer,n;a obITh
fOTOBbIM K CMepTH, CMepTb )J;OJiiKHa 6bITb )J,JIR TeppopHCTa eJKe,n;HeBHOH
peaJibHOCTblO, rrpHtieM 3TY Te3y OH HJIJilOCTpHpOBaJI npHMepoM
IlCHXOJIOrHH Hapo,n;oBOJibII;eB. Ilp11qeM npH 3TOM OH 6pocHJI peIIJIHKy,
v
'tJTO .H - ITO ero MHeHHlO - qeJIOBeK CJIHIIIKOM MHrKMH )J;JI.H TaKoro pop,a
'AeJI.

Pa3roBop Ha 3THM BHe3anHo obIJI npeKpa~eH noHBJieHHeM coce;:i;KH, 11

IlOCJie OH He B0300HOBHJIC.H.

M 36opoBCKHH

11.II. 1938

BbIITHCKA 113 ITHCbMA rAMMbI

OT 23-ro HI-OJIH 1937 rop,a.

MaK If CbIHOK. no CJiyqa!() poJK,n;eHHH CBoero CbIHa, MaK rrpHrJiaCH:JI

CbIHKa K ce6e Ha o6e,n;. CbIHOK npocHp,eJJ Beeb ,n;eHh sa 6yTbIJIKOH y MaKa,
H KpenKo .BhIIIHJI. B 3TOT Beqep CoceAKa m,n;aJia CbIHKa AJIH pa6oThI y
Hero Ha ,ll;OM. nocJie MaKa, c 6-TH H /liO 11 qacoB Bet.Jepa, CbIHOK TaCKaJI
MaKa no pasHhIM Ka6aKaM MoHrrapHacca, 11 KOr'Aa MaK c HHM
rronporn;ancH, CbIHOK BMecTo Toro, qTODbI noexaTh ,n;oMo:H, KpenKo
Appendix: Document 175

BblilHBllIHH TIOllleJI B ny6JIHqHblH AOM, rrpeiK'Ae qeM BepHyThC.H ~OMOH,

r ~e era )K):\aJia Coce,n;Ka.

CbIHOK, BbIIlHB He Tep.HJI cosHaHHH} HO cHJihHO pact.iyBcTBOBaJICH. Ott

YI3BHHHJICH nepe,n; MaKOM H rroqTH co cJie3aMH npocHJI y Hero npo~eHMH
3a TO, -Y:TO B HaqaJie HX 3HaKOMCTBa OH no,n;o3peBaJI ero B TOM, tfTO OH
areHT fTIY. 3TH CBOM ITO,lJ;03peHHH OH o6nHCHHJI TeM, l:.fTO B npOllIJIOM, B
CBOH 6epJIHHCKHH rrepHOIJ;, K HeMy rrrY H€0,l.J;HOKpaTHO IIOACbIJiaJIO
CBOMX areHTOB ll np.

Ilo)J; KOHe~ B npo~ecce CBOHX <<OTKpoBeHHH>>, CbIHOB roBOpHJI, qTo

6opb6a onrro3HL\HH e~e c caMoro Haqana B Co103e ObIJia 6e3HafJ.eiKHa, 11
qTo B ycnex 3TOH 6opbbl HHKTO He BepHJI. lfTO OH ell\e B 1927 r. TIOTepHJI
BCHKYIO Bepy B peBOJIK>L\HIO, H Tenepb OH HH BO qTo He BepHT BOOom;e,
"tITO OH Boo6rn;e neCCHMHCT. Pa6oTa H 6oph6a, KOTOpbie BeAYTCH Tenepb,
.HBJIHIOTCH npocTbIM MexaHHqecKHM rrpo,n;oJI11<eHtteM nporuJioro. B
)KH3Hll AJI.H Hero OCHOBHOe - 3TO /K€Hlll,HHbI H BHHO. OH TaK/Ke JII06HT
11rpy Ha 'AeHhrH.

PaccKa3hIBaJI, KaK Haxo~Hcb B MoHTeKapJio )KaHHa He ;:i;aaaJia eMy

6oJibllle50 cppaHKOB B AeHb, KOTOpbie OH cpasy me npottrpbIBaJI B
pyJieTKy. Y Hero Met.ITa noexaTb c ;i;eHhraMH: B MoHTe-KapJio

HaKaHyHe aToro Beqepa CbIHOK '.>KaJioBaJICH MaKy, qTo Tpy,n;Ho c

AeHhraMH. KorAa OHM noIIIJIH seqepoM B Ka6aK, CbIHOK, yJKe CHJihHO
BbirIHBIDiHM, pacnJia-Y:HBa.Hcb, BhITa~11JI 6yMa)KHHK, H MaK yBu,n;eJI, qTo B
HeM JiemHT coJIHtJ,HaH rraqKa TbIC.H'llecppaHKOBbIX 6ttJieTOB - CbIHOK
pa3MeH.HJI TbIC.Hqy cppaHKOB_, qTo6bI pacnJiaTHTbC.H.

nocJie 3TOro cJiyqa.fI CbIHOK Hat.IaJI TaCKaTh Il011TM e'.IKe,n.HeBHO MaKa

BhITIMBaTh. Ka)f{ti;hIH paa, KaK MaK BcTpeqaJICH c ChIHKOM, ,n;a11<.e y Hero Ha
):\OMY> CblHOK BbITaCKH.BaJI 6yTbIJIKY BHHa, He CTeCHR.HCh; KaK 3TO 6bIJIO
paHbllle. KaK BH,n;Ho oH peILIHJI c,n;eJiaTh MaKa CBOHM co6yThIJIHHKOM.
MaK Be,n.eT ce6.R OCTOpOJl\.HO B BpeM.H 3THX BhIIlHBOKJ OH B006~e KpenoK
B 3TOM OTHOllleHHM, H KpOMe Toro - BbIIlHBaH caM proMKy, HaJIHBaeT
CbIHKY Tpll.

BepHo: (AJieKceeB)
176 Trots ky's Lies

English Translation:
Febr uary 8, 1937

On Janu ary 22 L. Sedov} in our conv ersat io·n at his apar tmen t on
the ques tion of the Seco nd Moscow Trial and the role in it of indi-
vidu al de·f enda nts (Radek, Piata kov, et al.) state d: ''Now there is no
rea~on to hesit ate. Stalin mvs t be killed.}'

For me this state men t was so unex pecte d that I did not mana ge to
reac t to it in any way. L. Sedo v imm ediat ely· turn ed the conv ersa-
tion on to othe r ques tions .

On Janu ary 23 L. Sedov, in my prese nce and also that of L. Estri na,
said some thing of the same cont ent as that of the 22nd . In answ er
to his state men t L. Estri na said: ''Keep your mou th shut. " We did
not retur n to this ques tion any more .

Since 1936 , ('Sonny'' has not talke d with me abou t terro r. Only two
or three week s ago, after a meet ing of the grou p, ''Sonny'' bega n to
spea k again on this them e. The first time he tried only to ''theo reti-
cally'' prov e that terro rism does not cont radic t Marxism. ''Marx-
ism'' - in ''Sonny's'' word s - rejec ts terro rism only insof ar as the
cond ition s of the class strug gle are unfa vora ble for terro rism , but
there exist cond ition s unde r whic h terro rism is essential." The
next time ''Sonny'' bega n to talk abou t terro rism when I arriv ed at
1
his apar tmen t to work . While he was read.ing news pape rs ''Sonny '

said that since the whol e regim e in the USSR is held up by Stalin, it
wou ld be enou gh to kill Stalin for it all to fall apar t. He had ex-
pres sed this idea earli er as well but until this last time he had
neve r form ulate d it so clearly. This last time he retur ned repe at-
edly to this subje ct, and emph asize d the nece~sary of the murd er
of com[ ra.de] Stalin with espe cial care.
Appendix: Document

In connection with this conversation ''Sonny'' asked me whether I

feared death in general and whether I would be able to carry out
an act of terror. At my answer that this all depends on whether it is
essential and expedient, Sonny said that I did not understand cor-
rectly what a ''real'' terrorist is and began to explain to me what
kind of qualities people suitable for carrying out terrorist acts
should be.

As far as the tactics of terror he stopped at the question of cadre.

He considered that the fundamental thing. A terrorist, in Sonny's
words, must always be prepared for death, death must be a daily
reality for a terrorist, and he then illustrated this thesis by the ex--
ample of the psychology of the Narodovoltsy. Thereupon he threw
out the remark that I, in his opinion, am too soft a person for this
kind of business.

The conversation on this subject was suddenly cut short by the

appearance of Neighbor, and it did not start up again afterwards.

M. Zborowski

II.II. 1938

Excerpt from Letter of Gamma of July 23, 1937

Mak and Sonny [= Zborowski and Sedov]. On the occasion of the
birth of his son Mak invited Sonny to his place for dinner} Sedov
sat the whole day drinking at Mak's and got seriously drunk. That
evening Neighbor [ = Estrine] was expecting Sonny at his home to
do workl After Mak, from 6 till 11 in the evening, Sonny dragged
Mak around to various bars in Montparnasse, and when Mak said
goodnight to him Sonny, instead of going home and seriously
drunk went into a brothel rather than return home where Neigh-
1

bor was waiting for him.

178 Trotsky's Lies

Sonn y dran k heav ily with out losin g cons cious ness, but beca me
very senti ment al. He apolo gized to Mak) and almo st in tears aske d
for forgi vene ss for the fact that at the begi nnin g of their acqu ain-
tance he susp ected him of bein g an agen t of the GPU. He expl ained
his susp icion s by the fact that in the past, in his Berli n perio d, the
GPU had repe ated ly tried to send its agen ts to him, etc.

Tow ards the end in the proc ess of his ''reve latio ns', Sonn y said that
the strug gle of the oppo sitio n had been hope less from the very be . .
ginni ng, and that no one belie ved that this strug gle wou ld succ eed.
That he had lost all belie f in the revo lutio n alrea dy in 1927 , and
that now he did not belie ve in anyt hing at all, that he was a pessi -
mist abou t every thing . Th.e work and the strug gle that was goin g
on now were a simp le mech anica l cont inua tion of the past. The
main thing in life for him was wom en and wine . He also liked to
gamb le for mone y.

He told a story abou·t how, when they were in Mon te Carlo Jean·n e
[Sed ov's wife] wou ld not give him more than 50 franc s a. day,
whic h he woul d alwa ys lose imm ediat ely playi ng roule tte. He
drea med of goin g to Mon te Carlo with mone y.

The day befo re this parti cular even ing Sonn y comp laine d to Mak
that he was hard up for mone y. Whe n they wen t in the even ing to a
bar Sonny, alrea dy serio usly drun k, pay the tab and took out a wal-
let, and Mak saw in it a solid pack et of thou sand -fran k notes .
Sonn y chan ged a thou sand -fran k note in orde r to pay the ta·b.

After that time Sonn y bega n to drag Mak out to drink with him al-
mos t ever y even ing. Ever y time Mak met with Sonny} even in his
own hous e, Sonn y woul d bring a bottl e of wine with out any hesit a-
tion, like befor e. He had obvi ously decid ed to make Mak his drink. .
ing partn er. Mak beha ves hims elf caref ully durin g these drink ing
bout s, he is stron g gene rally in relat ion to drink , and besid es that -
he wou ld drink one wine glass and pour Sonn y three .
Copi ed accu ratel y

(Alek seev)
 Bib lio gra phy

'Mi/a la moia resnichka'. Serg ei Sedov. Pis'ma fz ssylki. Sbp: ''Nits''

Mem orial ; Hoov er Insti tutio n Archives (Stan ford Univ ersity ),
2006 , p. 133. Online at http: / /www .sakh arov --
cent er.ru /asfc d/ auth /?t=p age& num =148 1

''' ... Ni razu ne govo rilos ' otno siltel 'no terro r.' Sten ogra mma ochn oi
stavk i N.l. Bukh arina s V.N. Astro vym v Polit buro TsK VKP(b) 13
ianv aria 1937 g.'' Istoc hnik No. 2, 2001 , 89 .. 101.

'',Poslednii Polk ovni k lmpe rii''' lnter v'iu j'Elementov s naro dnym
1
}

depu tatom SSSR Vikt orom Alksnisom." Elem enty No.3 (200 0). Also
at
http :// arcto gaia. org.r u/ modu les. p hp ?nam e= News&fil e=ar ticle& si
d=42 3 (Alksnis)

''Het proc ess te Moskau. Wie Niet Wil Bek.e nnen Al Dood gesc ho-
ten? Trots ki Jr. uit zijn opva tting ." (''The Mosc ow Trial. Not all who
wan t to confe ss are shot? Trot sky Jr. abou t its conc eptio n.'' Het
Volk, Haar lem editi on, Janu ary 28, 1937 , p. 5.

''Inte rroga tions of Niko lai Ezhov, form er Peop lers Commissar for
11
Inter nal Affairs, at
http s: / / msuw e b.mo n tclai r.ed u/""' furrg /rese arch / ezho vinterro gs.
html
''Ispo ved' terro rista ." Voenno.,Jstoricheskii Arkh iv No. 6 (200 2), z5 ..
59. Abou t Jako v Bliumkin.

''Iz zala verk hovn ogo suda SSSR. Zaiav lenie pods udim ogo Evdo ki ..
mov a na sude 15 ianv aria sego goda. Pravda Janu ary 16, 1935 ,
1
'

page 6, cols 5-6.

1
''Leon Trotsky: On the Kirov Assa ssina tion (Dec embe r 1934 ). At '

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Thur ston, Ro be rt. Life and Terror in Stalin's Russia} 1934 -194 1.
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 1

192 Tro tsk y s Lies

Vo lko go no v Pa pe rs, Li bra ry of Co ng res s.

Wr iti ng s of Leon Tr ots ky {1934--1935]. znct ed iti on . Ne w· York: Pa.th-

fin de r Pr ess , 19 74 .

XX/I s''e zd Ko mm un ist ich esk oi Pa rti i So vet sko go So iuz a. 17~ 31

ok tia br ia 19 61 go da . Ste no gr afi ch esk ii otc hio t. Mo sco w: Gos, Izd.

Po liti ch esk oi Li ter atu ry, 19 62 .

Zb oro ws ki arc hiv e, F.3 16 60 d. 90 67 Pa pk a No . 28 . In Vo lko go no v

Ar ch ive , Li bra ry of Co ng res s. At
ht tp :/ /m su we b.m on tcl air .ed u/ ,_f ur rg /re se arc h/z bo r_s ed ov _st ali n
02 38 .pd f

Zh uk ov , IU. lno i Stalin. Mo sco w: Va gri us, 20 03 .

Zh uk ov , IU. Stalin: Ta iny Vlasti. Mo sco w: Va gri us, 20 05 .

Zh uk ov , Iur ii N. Ta iny Kremlia. Stalin, Molotov, Beriia, Malenkov.

Mo sco w: TERRA, 20 00 .
"ar gum ent by sca re quo tes, "
dis hon est me tho d of
arg um ent atio n ........................ 84
"ca pitu lato rs" .................... 137, 140
rt res tor atio n of cap ital ism " ..... 98,
109 ,11 4,1 17, 129 ,13 1
''Am alg am , rr Tro tsk y's term for a
lie or par tial l'ie.29, 43, SS, 61,
67, 74, 105 ,10 8,1 12, 135 ,
136 ,14 7)1 55, 157
''anti--Stalin par adi gm n ....... 60, 84
''Ex pos e t.he Sch em e In
Ad van ce, u Trotskyr s
11
stra teg em tha t is also a tell"
con cer nin g his activities .... 44,
74, 110 , 112 ,15 9,1 63
''Ho tel Bri stol '' affa ir .................. 41
''Riutin Platform,', pol itic al
sta tem ent of the Bloc of
Op pos itio ns ..... ,.... 73, 12 0, 12 5
Ast rov , Val ent in N..................... 123
Avtorkhanov, Ab dur akh ma·n .. 18
Bak aev , Iva n P., Zin ovi evi st .10 6,
149
Bazhanov, Boris G., Stalinrs
sse cre tary 192 3-2 7, defected
to the We st.............. .................. 5 6
Ber ma n-Y urin , K.B., def end ant
in 1st Mo sco w Tri al ............... 36
Bes sler , Mike ............. ..................... 2 7
Bloc of Op pos itio ns ..... 30, 41, 42,
49, 54, 58, 71, 72, 83, 84, 90,
95, 111 ,12 5,1 36, 143 ,14 5,
150 ,15 6,1 60, 163
Bo brov, Vla dim ir L. ~ ......"181 , 184
Braue, Pie rre ...... 5, 41, 54, 58, 59,
111 ,12 6,1 33, 140 ,15 3
Bud yon ny, Sem i on M................. 7 S
Buk har in, Nikolai I...... 83, 89, 91,
123
cha rge of ''ar me d inte rve ntio n''
....................... 64, 74, 77, 96, 141
Ciliga, An te, Yugoslav
rev olu tion ary , Op pos itio nis t
Com inte rn, the Co mm uni st
Int ern atio nal ........ 8, 16, 82, 85,
101
Coax, Alvin D., Am eric an
pro fes sor .................................... 87
Dew ey Commission .. 59, 7 4, 104
Dim itro v, Georgi, lea der of the
Com inte rn .................................. 92
 1

194 Tro tsk y s Lies

Egge, Asmund, No rw egi an Kamenev, Lev B.. 45, 64, 93, 10 0,

his tor ian of the Kirov mu rde r 10 6,1 35
Ka rak han , Le v M., go ve rnm en t
Enukidze, Avel' S., go ve rnm en t off icia l an d Op po sit ion ist .... 82
official, on e of lea de rs of the Khrushchev, N·i kit a S....... 6, 7, 60,
Rightist con spi rac y ............... 52 16 0
Es trin a, Lilia (Dallin) ................. 35 Kirov As sas sin ati on (D ece mb er
.
Evdokimov, Gr igo ri 1, 19 34 ) 33 , 45 , 54, 58) 64, 98,
(zinovievist) .....,.... 43, 10 6, 10 7 10 5,1 35 ,13 8,1 49 ,15 8,1 63

Ezhov, Nikolai I..... ,............ 91, 17 9 Kirov, Sergei M...................... 28, 98

Fel'shtinsky, Yuri .................. 17, 24 Krestinsky, Nik ola i N.................. 89
Furr, Grover C.................................. 2 Krupskaya, Na dez hd a K.,
Ru s·si an rev olu tio nar y, wife of
Getty, J. Arch .5, 33, 41, 12 0, 133, V.I. Lenin........ 56 l(.w ... , ...... ...... ...... .. , ..... ,

15 3
Larina, Anna, wi do w of
Gorbachev} Mi kha il S.......... 7, 16 0 Bu k ha ri n ~ f Jl II: )I l( . . . . r. 'l' rI . . . . ll • , . . . . l .1 JI It I JI, l ' 1 •• 91
Gorshenin, Ivan S., Zinovievist Lenin, Vladimir I....... 9 17, 21, 5 7 J

1s 1
••••11 •11•t• •• ... i,)lk'fA 'l••f:tt :•t1)lt lll•••lJ .lrlilll ••1•.lll
llt ... •

Lenoe, Ma tth ew , Am eri can

Grin'ko, Grigori F......................... 88 his tor ian of the Kirov mu rde r
Hitler, Adolf ......................... 84, 14 6 ............................................... 47, 14 2

Holmstrom, Sv en- Eri c 7, 41, 13 3 Liu shk ov, Ge nri kh S.................... 87

Hudson, Ar thu r, lib rar ian ........... 4 Livre rouge sur le proces de
Moscou ................................ 40, 10 1
Hu ma nit e . . Fre nc h Co mm un ist
Pa rty ne ws pa pe r .. 45, 64, 10 8, Maretskii, D.P ......................... t •••• 12 7
11 3,1 31 ,13 9,1 47 ,15 0> 18 7 Marty, An dre ................................... 6 8
Humbert-Droz, Jules ........ 41, 15 7 Ma tla ck, Effie .............................. ..... 4
Iagoda, Genrikh G....... 51, 81, 14 8 Molotov, Vyacheslav M.............. 19
Iakovlev, Al eks and r N............. 160 Moscow Trial, 1s t (A ug ust
Ikramov, Akmal' I., de fen da nt in 19 36 ) .. 36, 10 4, 10 9, 114, 14 9
3rd Moscow Tri al ................... 88 Moscow Tri al, 2n d (Ja nu ary
Iva nov , Boris A., de fen da nt at 19 37 ) ..... 33, 35, 11 5, 123, 12 8
3rd Moscow Trial ................... 8 9
Ind ex 195

Moscow Trial, 3rd (March 193 8) Safarov, Georgi I...... 30, 135} 150
........................................... 124, 148 Sedov} Leon 30, 34, 85, 109 , 127 ,
Nikolaev, Leonid V., Zinovievist, 150
ass ass in of Kirov46, 111, 138, Se rvi ce, Ro b e rt .............................. 2 3
145 ,15 1,1 52, 160
Shmidt, Vassili V........................ 124
Nin, A·ndres .................................... 63
Shv ern ik Commission ............. 160
Not Guilty, rep ort of the Dewey
Co·m mis sio n .............................. 59 Slepkov, Ale ksa ndr N.............. 124
Ordzhonikidze, Sergo (Grigori Sm i rn ov, Ivan N......................... 14O
K.) ........... '........ ''........ 91
Sokol'nikov, Grigori Ya..... 80, 92,
f •••••••••••• I • • • • •

Ota Tamekiti, Jap ane se 93, 117 , 123

am bas sad or to the USSR ..... 92 Sotillo, Dr. Sus ana M................... 2 7
Par ty Congress, 10t h ................. 11 Stalin, Joseph .. 11, 21, 2 2, 28, 2 9,
Par ty Congress, 11t h. 11} 12, 17, 39, 42, 91, 99, 135 ,13 8,1 53,
23 158
Pre nde rga st, Kevin, libr aria n .... 4 Thu rsto n, Ro ber t W................. 191
P·reo bra zhe nsk y, Evgeny A..... 18 Tomsky, Mikhail P............. 89, 123
Primakov, Vitali M...................... 86 Tro tsk y Archive, Ha rva rd ... 5, 30,
58, 73, 91, 111 , 133, 137, 153 ,
Putna, Vitovt K.............................. 85 161
Pyatakov, Georgi L. (Yuri) 76, 78, Tro tsk y, Leon .. 11, 23, 35, 42, 64,
85, 89, 91, 115 ,11 6,1 66 85, 90, 93, 98, 109 , 118 , 126,
Radek, Karl B....... 32, 92, 93, 115 , 130 ,13 5,1 62
148 Tukhachevsky, Mikhail N......... 84
Rakovsky, Khristian G., Uborevich, lero nim P................. 86
Tro tsk yis t, def end ant. at 3rd
Moscow Trial ......................... 15 3 Uglanov, Nikolai A.......... 123, 127
Reingol'd, Isa ak I......................... 36 van Heijenoort, Jea n ................... 62
Rogovin, Vadim Z.... 54, 108 , 190 Volkogonov Archive ................... 3 6
Romm, Vladimir ........................... 84 von Ru nds ted t, Gerd, German
gen era l ........................................ 86
Rykov, Aleksei ! .................. 83, 123
Vo·roshilov, Kliment E........ 7 5, 91
Sacks, Bill ........................................ 2 7
196 Trotsky's Lies

Vyshinsky, Andrei Ya....... 88, 116 Zb orowski, Mark .................. 34, 3 7

Yaki r, Ion a E............,.. ........ ...... ..... 8 6 Zinoviev, Grigori Y....... 28, 42, 45,
93 ,1 00 ,1 06 ,1 35
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