New Evidence of Trotsky's Conspiracy [1 ed.] 9780578649764

Table of contents :
Chapter 1. Documents published in Politbiuro i Lev Trotskii, Kniga 2 (Prague, 2013)
Chapter 2. Trotsky and the Nazis, Fascists, and Ukrainian Nationalists
Chapter 3. Defeatism, Terrorism, Assassination, Collaboration
Chapter 4. Piatakov's Statement to Ezhov, December 19-20, 1936
Chapter 5. Trotsky in the Transcript of the Tukhachevsky Affair Trial of June 11, 1937
Conclusion

Citation preview

B y G ro v e r F u rr

E ry th ro s Pr es s an d Media, LLC A pr il 20 20

New Evide11ce of Trotsky , s Co11spiracy April 2020

Pt1blish.e d by Eryth1~6s P1"ess ancl Medi.a, LLC PO Box 294994 Kettering, OH 45429- 0994 [email protected]

© Grover Ftll l 2020 1

1

Publish ed and printed with per111ission of the author, vvho assun1es all 1~espor1sibility for ·tl1e co11t.e11t 11erein.

Locally Assigned LC-typ e Call Numbe1": DK254 .T6 F8686 2020 ISBN: 978-0- 578-64 976-4

270 pp. In.cl1.1cles index. 1.. Trotsky , Leon, 1879--1940. 2. Revolution.a1--ies - R·ussiaBiogra phy. 3. Stali11, Joseph , 1878--1953. 4. Soviet Union - History 1925-1 953. 5. Tria1s (Co11spiracy).

Tab le of Con tent s Ackn owIedgem ents a·nd Dedi cation., ....... ,, ... ~·· .............................................. 4 5 ~ ~. Intro duct.ion Ch.apte r 1. Documents publish ed in Politbiuro i Lev Trotskii, Kniga 2 (Prag·ue, 2013) ·~····· · ············ ... ~ ........................ ~ .........,. ........................................... 3 9 Chapter 2. Trotsk y an.d the Nazis) Fascists, and. Ukrainian National.ists ·············~···········-·····-····· . ····················~··········l······································86 Chapte r 3. Defeatism, Terror ism, Assass ination , Collab oration .. 103 Chapte r 4. Piatako v's Statem ent to Ezh.ov Decem ber 19-20 .......... 119 Chapte r S, T1--otsky in. the Transc ript of the Tukhachevsky Affair Trial of Ju.ne 1.1, 193 7 ······················~········~···· .................................................. 152 Con cl usion.~A······~··················· . ·~····································~·"···························t········ 178 188 Appendix: Docum ents ................ ,.. 2 51 Bib li ograph y .......... ~ ......... ,...... ,............ ,.. ,..... A . . . . . . . . . . . . . k ••• _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

- ••••••••••• , ••••••••••.•••• •••••••••••••• ••••••

••••••••••••••

l< . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

K • . • • • • • • • • • , • • , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . " • • , • • • • • • • •

In.dex ............ ·-··················~·····················~·································································2 59

Acknow ledgeme nts and Dedicati on J wish to express n1y gi:atit.u de to Kevin Prendergast, Artl1ur Hudson - Arthur, may you enjoy your well-deserved reti1.. ement! --

and Siobl1an McCarthy, the skilled and ti1~e1ess I11ter-Library Loan librarians at I-Iarry S. Sprague Libr~ary, Montclair State lJniversity. W'ithout their help, 1ny r·esearch wot1ld stm.ply not be possi.l1le. Witl1 their co11tint1ed help, I can pe1. severe. I agair1 exte11d my heartfelt t.hanks to my skilled, wonderful Moscow colleague Vladimir L vovich Bobrov, for all his tireless and brilliant help during the twenty-one years of ot1r research together. 1

***** l would like to recog11ize Mo11tc'lai1 Ste:1te u·niversi·ty t·or givi.-r1g me a sabbatical lea·ve i11 the fall sem.ester of 2015, anci special research travel funds in 2017 and 2019, wh.ich have bee11 invaluable in my research on this book. 1

*****

Dedication I dedicate this book to Ellen and 1·011n Mur1-- ay, of Oakland, CA, and Raj Sal1ai, of Berkeley, CA. You have lJeen infallibly supportive of my work, in every way.

Encourageme nt and help such as you1-; s ca11 neve1 be repaid. But it ' can be ack11owledged, and I gladly do so here, with thanks and humility. 1

I:

Introduction Thi s boo k is a stud y of Soviet.-era doc ume nts, rece ntly dec lass ifie d, tha t bea r on Leo n Tro tsky and his con spir acie s aga inst the Sov iet gov ern men.t and Par ty d.uring the 193 0s. These doc ume nts are: Yuri Piata.kov's stat eme nt to Nikolai Ezhov, ch.i ef of the NKVD, of Dec emb er 1.9 .. 20, 193 6; the tran scri pt of the tria l of Ma.rshal Mikhail N. Tuk hac hev sky and sev en acc omp lice s of Jun e 11, 193 7; and a collection of inve stig ativ e mat eria ls from the form er NKVD arch ive con cern ing the Firs t and Sec on.d Mo sco w Tria ls of Aug ust, 193 6, and Jan uary , 193 7, I obt aine d P:iatakov's stat eme nt to Ezh ov som e yea rs ago from m.y Moscow colleague and skilled hist oria.n Vladimir L. Bobrov, from the FSB (for mer ly NKVD) a.rchive in Mos cow . It has sinc e bee n dec lass i·fied a.n d pub lish ed onli ne from. the Rus sia·n Stat e Arc hive of Soc ial-P oliti cal His tory (RGASPI), also in Mos cow . The text s are the sam e, tho ugh they wer e typ ed at differen·t tim es and hav e 1 ion. diff eren t paginat The 172 .. pag e text of the tria l of t'h e ''Tu kha che vsk y Affai:r'' def end ants was sile ntly declassified from the Rus sian Stat e Arc hive of Soc io-P olit ical His tory (RGA.SPI) in May, 201 8, and pos ted on the Rus sian hist oric al site istm at.i nfo. It is in ·p rint ed form, per hap s ·t o be circ ulat ed in a limited manner~ The thir d set of doc ume nts are from the two--volun1e wor k 2 edit ed , 940 3-1 192 Politbiuro i Lev Trotskii (sbo rnik dokume11tov), by Oleg V. Mo zok hin and pub lish ed i11 201 3 in Pra gue , Czechoslovakia.; by Soc iosf era. . cz. Thi s two -vo lum e wor k .is esse ntia lly uno btai nab le. As o·f Nov emb er) 201.9, the Wo rldc a.t

give n the pagination for both vers ions in the text of Piata kov' s state men.t prin ted in the App endi.x to this book·. 2 Engl ish tran sla.t ion: :''Th.e Poli.t.bu.ro a.nd Leon Trot sky (collecti.o n of docu.m ents ),

1 I have

1923'"' 1940."

6

Trotsky' s Lies

meta-d atabase of world researc l1 librarie s contain s an entrv for . t'his work w·l1ich states that ''110 librarie s with tl1e specified i·t.e m we1 e found.'J :-3 ~

4

In 2017 a one-vo lume version of this work was publish ed in Russia. But this volume omits some of' the most interes ting docum ents from the two-vo lume wo1.,k( 4 My C()lleague Vladimi.1~ Bobrov obtat11ed a copy of the two-volume, 2013 vvorl< at the FSB archive . I have used this copy f'or the presen t book. Mozokhin is a histori an employ ed by the FSB, th.e succes sor to the KGB and NKVD, and au.thor of n1any books a11d articles on the ''special services." The two-vo lume 2013 worl 'lComplements aun article sur Jes trotskys tes e·n ·u.R.S.S,i' CahLT 24 (1.985), Here, Broue concludes that Sedov had n1et with Gaven.

9

49

Chapter One: ·oocuments i·n Politbiuro i Lev Trotskii, Kniga 2

8. The Bloc of Trotskyists and other Oppositionists We know about the bloc of Trotskyists, Zinovievists, Rightists, and other oppositionists from the Sedov ''bloc') letter and the Sedov. . Trotsky correspondence in the Harvard Trotsky Archive) Pierre Broue dates this exchange to 1932. The Sedov ''bloc'' letter refers to the bloc as something that had been in the planning for some

time. This bloc is mentioned in numerous documents publi.shed in PiLT2. In late 1.932 or very early January 1.933 Vasil.ii Ivanovich Dzhoev .informed the GPU of a conversati.on he had had with childhood friend and current Trotskyis·t Ilia K. Gassiev. Gassiev informed Dzhoev a·bout the Trotskyists' desire to ''remove'' (ubrat) the Party leadership. 1 '

Dzhoev stated that Lominadze, one of the ''other oppositionists, was also a member of the group and ·that Zinoviev and Kamenev 11 were leading the ''Trotskyist (sic) group. Each of these details is confirmed in the Sedov-Trotsky correspondence in the TA originally identified by Broue in the Sedov )

1

Trotsky's 'Lies

52

f:The bloc] has been organized. In it have entered the Zinovievites, the Sten-Lominadze group and the Trotskyists (former''[capitulators]''. (Broue 1980,

Terror On February 28} 1936 Trotskyist Ivan K. Fedotov testified that 'n on the firs t floo r of the hot el the re \Vas a new spa per kios k.

Questi()ll:_How soo n did you go to TR01,SK.Y? Ans wer : SEDOV and I spe nt c.:1lJout an hou r in the cafe, ha.cl brea kfas t, and the n called a taxi and wen t to TR01.,SKY. I do not rem eml Jer the add ress of the buil ding whe·re I met with TROTSKY.

Appendix: Docume nt

229

Writte n down accurately from my words, read throug h by me. GOL'TSMAN

Chief of th.e first section of the Secret-Political Division of the GUGB Major of State Security: / SHTEIN / Interro gators: Assistant Chief of the 7 th section of the Secret Political Division of the GUGB Capta.in of State Security:

I KOGAN I

230

Passages about Trotsky in the Transcript of the Tukhachevsky Trial Source: CTeHorpaMMa cyµ;e6Horo

C11el\HaJibHoro Cy~e6Horo CCCP OT 11 HK)HJI 1.937 roAa rro

3ace)J;aHHH

I1p11cyT-CTBHH BepxoBHoro Cy,z~a.

f);eJiy 1.,yxaLJeBcKoro ·M,H., 5JI{Hpa 11.3.( H ;:i;p.

PrACTIH ct>. 17, Orr. 171) f-(.3 92 JI.1 .. 172

http://istmat.info/11ode /59108 Transcript of the judicial l1earing of the Special Juclicial Sessior1. of the Sup1 eme Court of' the lJSSR in the case of M.N. Tt1k.h.achevs1 Japanes e ambass ador to the USSR} 108, 110,13 6,137,1 38,146 ,212

Peshekho11ov, Russian fascist conspir ator, 91, 921 93 Peterso n, R.A., 2 5, 26

Pia·takov, Georgii L. (Yuri), Trotsky ist conspi1. ato1.., defendan·t in. Second Moscow Trial) 5 9, 11, 53, 86, 87, 88, 1

89,93; 95,96, 99, 101, 102, 104,105,107, 110,113,114, 115, 116, 118,119, 120,122, 123, 124,125, 126,127,128, 130,13 1,132, 133,135,137, 138 139,140,141)142,143, 145, 146,14 7,148,1 49,1501 151, 160, 161,162)165,167, 1.71,17 2,188,1 89,193 ,196, 206,22 4,230,2 31, 232,233, }

.

234, 240} 241, 243

Primakov, Vitalii M., Soviet n1ilitary co1nmander, coconspi11ato1. of Tukhachevsky,

128,148,150} 152,16 1,162, 163, 165,167, 170,171,172, 173, 174, 223, 232, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 248 Putin, Vladi·m ir V., Preside nt of Russian Federa·t ion, 178_ , 179

Putna, Vitovt K., Soviet mili·t ary comma nder, co,..co·n spirato r of Tuk.hachevsky, 128, 148,

150,15 2,159,1 60,1.61,165, 166,167, 168, 169)171, 172, 173, 223, 230, 233) 236, 237, 238,23 9,240,2 44,245 .248 Radek, Karl B., Trotskyist, defenda nt in the Second Moscow Trial of January, 193 7, 9, 46, 58, 70, 72, 90, 100,10 2,105,1 15,116 ,118,

127, 130,131,132, 134,138, 144, 145,148, 149,15 0,151, 205, 206, 207} 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 216, 223, 224 R.ako·v, Vasilii N., Tro·t skyist conspirato1 101 1

1

Rakovsky, Khristia n G·., Trotskyist, defe~.dant in Third Moscow Trial of August, 1938, 100, 11,0, 128,

131,148, 149,223

265

Index

Rappaport. . Dar' in, Boris S., T1. otskyist con,spsirator,, 5 9>

941103

Rehabilitations,27,152 Reingol, d, Isaak I., Zinovievis·t conspirato1.., defenda11t in First Moscow Trial of August)

1936,99 ·Ribbentrop, Joachim vo11, German Nazi political figure, 173,239 Rogovin, Vadi1n Z., 47 Rogovin, Vadin1 Z.) Russian

Tro·tskyist historian, 30, 47

Science & Society, Marxist jou·rnal, ·191 20, 251 Sedov_, Leon) T·ro·tsky' s son and chief political assista11t_j 101 40141,43,45,48151,53,64, 71,83,88,100, 120)121,140} 142, 1.65, 166, 195, 200, 202, 204 She111elev, Aleksand1. I,, TI·otskyist conspi·rato.r, 43,

47,55,61,67,68,69 Shestov, Aleksei A., Trotskyist conspirator, defe11dant in Second Moscow T1"'ial of January, 1.937, 87, 91., 93 94, 1

101,102,104,150,198}199, 200) 201, 203

Romm, Vladimir G., Soviet journalist, conspirator, 164}

165,171.,173,207,232 Rozenfel' d, Boris, nephew of Lev Kamenev, conspirator, 47

Rundsted·t} Gerd von, German general, 158, 168) 233

Rykov_, Aleksei I., Rightist co11spi.rator} defendan·t in Third Moscow T·rial, 22, 28,

49,S0,53187,148,1.49,163, 168, 182,188, 190,196,205, 223,224,234,235,244 Sa.hai, Raj, 4 Sayers, Michael, co-author of

The Great Conspiracy, 180, 257 Schleicher, Kurt von, German

gen.eral a·nd chancellor, 166, 167,169,236)237

Shteinbe1~g,

Elia A., T1,o·tskyist conspirator, 95

Sokolrnikov Grigori Ia., Soviet official, conspirator! defend.ant in ·the Second Moscow T1~ial of January, 1

1937,9,11.,52,53,90,108, 109,110,111,112,113> 114, 115, 116) 11.7) 136, 1.37, 138,

144,145,146,148,149,188, 189,192,205,2061208,209, 211, 212, 223 Stalin, Joseph Vissarion.ovic.h} 25, 26

St1 oilov, Mikhail S., Tro·tskyist conspirator·, defendant in Second Moscow T1"ial of Jan·uary, 1937, 87, 91, 93 1

Trotsky's Lies

266

B., Tsari st poli·tician, 139, 216

St.1~uve, Pet1~

Sugiyama, Hajime, Japan ese gene1~a1,

22

Talbot, Stafford C., Brit'ish p1 ofessor, 111, 112, 188, 189, 190, 191., 1.92 1

Ter.. Vaganian, V.A.> defe11dant i11 Fi1~st Moscow Tria.l of August, 1,936, 71, 7 4

T1. otsky A1"chive, Harv ard, 46 Trotsky, Leon DK, passim., 5 Tuga11 .. Baranovsky, Mikhail I.} Tsari st politician, 139, 216 Tukh achev sky, Mikhail N.,. Soviet n1arshal, confe ssed to conspiri.n.g with Trotsky} Germany, and Japa.n, 5, 23, 24, 36, 37.r 50, 128, 129, 147, 148,

150, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157,158,159,160,1.61,162, 163,164,165,166,167,168, 169, 170}171, 173, 175, 176, 177,180, 182,183,229,230} 231) 232, 233, 234, 235, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245,246, 252,253,.256,258 Uborevich, Ieronin1 P., Soviet n1ilita1·y con1mande1. , coconspirato1" of Tukh achev·sky,

152,1.59,1 63,1 70,1 71,2 33, 234) 246

Ugla11ov, Nikolai A., R.ightis·t conspi1. ator, 52, 62, 63, 98,

148, 223, 224 Ul'rikh> Vasilii VA, Soviet ju1~ist, 161, 1. 66 167} 16 8 169} 172) 1.73} 233, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 241, 242 J

J

Ve1~kh·neural' sk politi cal

isolator, 8, 54, 55, 58 Vinogradov, Zinovievist conspirato1~,

104

V01.. oshilov, K1in1ent E., Soviet mars hal, comm issar of defense, close assoc iate of Stalin, 26 36, 52, 99, 122, 1

128, 147, 153, 171, 244 Vyshinsky; Andr ei la. Soviet

.Pl"'osecutor, 108, 1.09, 116) 132, 133, 134, 145 Wheatcroft, Steph en G.1 Austr ialian historian) 31} 32, 37, 258 Zbor owsk i, Mark, Soviet agen t in Leon Sedov's circle in

Paris) 8, 64, 65, 68, 127 Zhdanov, 1st secre·t ary of Leni·n grad party» close assoc iate of Stalin, 80, 83, 84 Zhukov, IUrii N~, 24, 25, 26) 2 58

Zinoviev, Grigorii E. defen dant in First Moscow T1. ial of 19361 49)50, 52,53157,6 6,72, 73, 74,85 , 97,9 9,1.04,188 ,195, 1961 204, 223

ISBN' 97805786 49764

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