Prison Diary and Letters

Table of contents :
Foreword
Autobiography
Pages from a Prison Diary 1908-09
Letters to Relatives 1898-1902
Escape from Exile
Letters to Relatives 1902-26

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AN D

FOREIGN LANGUAGES PUBLISHING HOUSE Mosc ow 1959

THE RUSSIAN TEXT OF THIS BOOK WAS COMPILED AND PREPARED FOR THE PRESS BY DZERZHINSKY'S WIDOW.

TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN

BY

J 0 H N

G I B B 0 N S

CONTENT S FOREWORD .

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AUTOBIOGRAPHY

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PAGES FROM A PRISON DIARY 1908-09

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LETTERS TO RELATIVES 1898-1902

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ESCAP.E FROM EXILE LETTERS •

TO RELATIVES

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1902-26

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F 0 REW 0 R-D

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Felix Edmund.ovich Dzerzhinsky, discipl·e and comradeir1-arms of the great Lenin, ·valiant son of Poland, was an ardent fighter for communism. · ,D zerzhinsky was k·n own as the ''Iron Felix." He is spoken and written of as a -knight of the Revolution a knight with,o ut fear or repr,o·ach. His own liking was -t·o be known as a soldi·e r of the Revolution. The poet Mayakovsky, addr-essing the youth of his day,. wrote: 1

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To the young man pondering over his life, wondering whom to take as his model, I sayDon't ponder, model it · on Comrade Dzerzhinsky.

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Dzerzhinsky's whole life serves as an inspiring example of struggle for the .h·a_ppir1ess of the people. At the a.g e .of seventeen Felix solemnly vowed to fight to the last breath , against o.ppres:s.ion .arid exploitati·on. And this vow was sacredly kept. Nearly a · quarter of his life ·eleven years w~_s spent in tsar·i_s t gaols.,. it). exile and p.~nal . servitude. S-h a·.c kled, 5

and immured for years in prison, he always found strength for life and struggle. ''The more terrible the hell of our present life, the clearer and louder I hea1~ the eternal hymn of life, the hymn of truth, beauty and happiness .... Life can be joyful even when one is in chains,'' he wrote on June 2, 1914, after being sentenced to penal servitude. rD zer'z hinsky's prison diary and th·e letters t·o his relatives published in this volume sh·o w how the will of the revolutionary was steeled by severe trials, how his courage grew in the struggle to ,emancipate the people from exploitation and slavery. Dzer·zhinsky's diary and letters are not a chronicle of his life. 10n the other hand, their every line is evidence of the great mind and ideological probity of their vvriter, who had a deep love for the working man ai1d a boundless hatred for the opp1~ess.o.rs. The diary and letters reveal the integr iity of Dzerzhinsky, a man thoro11ghly d·evoted to the Party, a man whos e faith in the i1eople and the future triumph of communism was unshakeable. They reveal those traits of character which made him a true servant of the people, ctnd an embodiment of the finest qualities of a Comn1unist. The diary entries were made during his imprisonment in the Warsaw Citadel, a notorious tsarist prison in which the autocracy detained the more dangerous revolutionaries. The first entry was made on ·A pril 30, 1908, the last on August 8, 1909. This was the time when, after the def eat of the 1905 Revolution, reaction was 011 the rampage throughout Russia. 1M any pages in the diary are devoted to the bloody terror unloosed by the tsarist authorities the humiliations to which prisoners vvere subjected, the torture and hangings. All the foulness of the tsarist regime and its stooges gendarmes, spies, agents-provoc ateurs and 1

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traito rs is laid bare. At the same time not a few page s tell abou t the heroe s who coura geou sly withs tood the suffe1·ings impo sed by priso n life and vvho went to the g·allo ws with head s unbo wed . Dzer zhins ky's diary was first print ed in Polis h in 1909-10 in the journ al Prze glqd Socja l-dem okrat yczny (Soci al-De mocr atic Revie w), an under g·ro.u nd pu.b lication of the Socia l-Dem·ocrat ic Party of Pola nd and Lithuania a Mar·x ist party . A bri ef forewo1·d point ed out that the diary , in addit ion to being a movi ng huma n documen t, was o·f 110 little impo 1·tanc e for the histo ry of the Revo lution . The diary and most of the letter s cover the perio d spen t by Dzer zhins ky in priso n, exile, pena l servi tude and, partl y, abroa d, that is, when contr ary to his will, he \Vas cut off from direc t parti cipat ion in the revol utiona ry strug gle. For this reaso n they do not reflec t the tirele ss and multi fario us activ ity of the revol ution ary figl1ter. But they do show that ·even duri11g the hard times of enfor ced inact ivity Felix Dzer zhins ky lived \Vith but o·n e thoug ht, O·n e desir e to furth er the cause of the Revo l·u tion. Desp ite priso n bars, he, in his diary , react·e d to the socia l deve lopm ents of those days. Since there was alwa ys the dang·e r that the diary migh t fall into the hand s ·of his gaole rs, Dzerz hinsl< y could not open ly expre ss his view s on Party matte rs or on the curre nt devel opme nts in the wo·rk ing-c lass move ment . This is parti cular ly true of the letter s. He was restri cted to writi ng abou t perso nal and famil y affair s. His corre spon denc e was censo red eithe r by the priso n autho r·i ties or by the gend arme s, at times it was sub· jecte d to chem ical analy sis. Only .o n rare o·cca sions was he able to get a letter smug gled out. And even then he was neve r sure that it \voul dn't fall into the hand's of •

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the police. So that even in the smug·g·led lette rs ther e are man y alle gori c and agre ed exp ress ions . The lette rs exp ress con cern for his fello w com rade s, for his frie nds and rela tive s, and espe cial ly for the chil dren . He was pass io·na tely fond of chil dren , seei ng in them the men and wom en of the mor row for whi ch he foug ht. In the lette rs to his sist er he writ es in the mos t tender vein abo ut the upb ring ing of her chil dren , and advise s her how to incu lcat e in th·e m a hea lthy and stro ng spir it, t·o teac h them to be trut hful and sinc er·e, not ego ists, but peo ple cap able o·f livi ng and figh ting for othe rs. ''To be a brig ht tor·c h for othe rs, to be able to shed ligh t that is the . supr eme hap pin·e ss whi ch man can achi eve. He who achi eves this fear s neit her suffering, pain , sorr ow nor need . Dea th no long er h·o lds terrors fo·r him , alth oug h it is only then that he lear ns re a 11 y to 1ov e Ii f e." (Let t er of Jun e 16, 1913.) Feli x's lette rs to me w·er e ofte n dev oted wh·o lly to our boy. Eve ry line brea thes the deep est pate rnal love. Wit h pris on bars betw e·e n him and his f ami ty, Dze rzhi nsk) ' nev er saw his son unti l he was s even . But the love he bore his son was sub·o rdin ated to a basi c idea that of edu.c atin g the grow ing gen·e rati on in the spir it of sel.fless stru ggle for the ema ncip atio n of the wor king peop le. ·H ere is how he pict ured the upb ring ing of his son: ''J asie k shou ld not be a h,o thou se plan t .... .H'e sho11ld be able to figh t for trut h, for our idea . He shou ld cher ish a broa der and stro nge r feel ing than the sacr ed feel1 ea1~ d and r nea nes o · d love the for or her ing for his mot to him . He shou ld be able to cher ish the idea that whi ch unit es him with the mas ses, that whi ch for him will be a torc h thro ugh out life .... This sacr ed feel ing is stro nge r than all othe rs, stro nge r by virt ue of its mor al co·m man dme nt: 'Tha t is how you shou ld live, that . js wha t you shou ld be.' '' (Le tter of Jun e 24, 1914.) 1

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With his burning energ·y, Dz·erzhinsky had difficulty at times in attuning himself to the isolation ai1d the senseless vegetative life behind bars. But h·e drew strength fr·o·m his clear understanding of the noble aims of the struggle, and he dr eamed of the bright future, of com · • mun1sm. 1Sometimes he had the fe·e ling that prison was sapping his st1·ength and that after r.e lease from the long years of penal servitude h~e w·o uld be unable ''to do anything us·e ful." But always came the r eassuring thought: ''He who has an idea and-who is alive cannot but be useful . As lon·g as I have life in me ... I will wield pick and shovel, perf·orm the most humdrum task and do my very best .... I shall do my duty, shall go right on to the ei1d of the road .... " (1Letter of January 19, 1914.) In th·e letters writt en in 19·15 and 1916, he ·o ften writes about being r·e united sho 1·tly with his n·e ar ones, express· ing thereby his faith in the ·c oming victo1·y of the Rev· olution. Liberated ·b y th·e February Revolution of 1917, Dzerzhinsky immediately found himself in his revolutionary ''element." He threw himself into the struggle for the Great 0 1ctober, and afterwards into the fight against the counter-revo,l utionaries, into the \vork of rehabilitating the shatterie d transport system, building the industry of the U.iS.rS .R., reinf·o·r cing the unity and might bf the Party. . The lette1·s written between 1918 and 1926 refl·e ct only to a very insigni1ficant degree Dzerzhinsky's tireless a·ctivity after the victory of the 0 ·c tober Revoluti·on. 'T he l etters wr·i tten in Moscow ·during 1918 throw light on his w,o rk while holding the difficult and responsible post of Chairman ·o·f the All-Russian ,E xtraordinary 1C ommission for Combating Counter-·Revolution and Sabotage and his faith in the victorious o·u t.co·m e ·Of 'the struggle to mai·n tain and conso·l idate Soviet power: 1

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r te sis s hi to n te rit w r tte le e th so al d an , Th es e le tte rs y sk in zh er Dz st, po is th g in ld ho ile wh at th ow sh , 19 19 in g in be llwe e th d an ce sti ju r fo e sir e d· s hi by w as gu id ed of th e pe op le. n rli Be in n te rit w , 18 19 , 23 r b·e to Oc d te da r Th e le tte d 11 ln er itz Sw m fro k c · ba ay w s hi on e er th as w (D ze rz hi ns ky e th r fo ily m fa s hi ith w ys da w fe a t en sp d ha wh er e he 1·Ge in n io at tu si e · th s e · rib sc de , s) ar ye t gh ei n i· e tim fir st n io ut l · vo re tic ra oc em d· e th of ys da st fir e th g m an y du rin ry na tio lu vo re e th of ity ar lid so e th es iz as ph em It e. th er so e th ith w , ht ec kn eb Li rl Ka , er ad le iri the d wo rk er s an ci al ist Re vo lu tio n in Ru ss ia . t ou ab ll e t· 0 2· 19 in n te rit w v ko ar Kh m · fro rs Th·e le tte e th of es lin e th nd hi be r to tra is in m ad ief ch hi s wo rk as be e, ain {r Ul e th in e tim is th At t. n o· Fr rn te es W So ut ht ns ai ag g in ttl ba en th y m Ar d Re e th of hi nd th e lin es rte un co of s nd ba , el ng ra W d an s le Po d ar gu e t· hi th e w vra d an n tio la pu po e th g in iz or rr te re we s rie 1·,ev ol ut io na dan b · t ou g in ot ro ith w sly ou ne ta ul m Si s. ge lla vi ag in g on d ie rr ca ky 1s i1 zh er Dz g, in er ite of pr g tin ba itr y an d co m la rg e- sc al e po lit ic al w or k a1 no ng th e pe op le. ay M d te da r tte le e th d an d, rio pe is th f 0 rs Th e le tte nu · Co e em pr Su e th of n na r1 ai Ch as w he n he (w 26 19 20, in zh er Dz l ca pi ty a al ve re , y) om on Ec l na cil of th e Na tio e th ," er l< oo nl ''o an be to ty ili ab in tic ris te ·ac ar ch sk y e m· co be to s, se as m e th to e os cl be to s ay w st riv in g al e th in irs fa af of e at st e th ith w ly al on rs pe ed nt ai ac qu em th e se to d an gs in th to in ly ep de e lv de to l·o ca lit ie s, th ro ug h. e th of ll te t on Fr rn te es W e th m fro rs tte le 20 Th e 19 n sio va in e th ed at fe de ng vi ha y, m Ar d Re e da ys wh en th e th by ) sia us or el By d an ne ai kr (U ry ito rr te et vi of So d an s rd lo nd la h lis Po e th f 0 s p o· tro ry na io ut co un te r-r ev ol d re te en y, em ·en g in at tre r·e e th ng ui rs pu d an ts, lis ca pi ta l ria st du in h lis Po st fir e th l{ sto aly Bi In . ry P·o lis h te rri to l ca lo e th es rc fo d ar gu te hi w e th m fro ed at er lib ce nt re 1

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m Co ry na io ut ol ev R l na io is ov Pr a ed rm fo s ist CommL111 t en m rn ve go nt sa ea -p er l< or w st fir e th nd m itt ee fo r Po la rze D lix Fe as w rs be em m its of ne O · ~)' to1 in Po lis h his zhinsl