INDIVIDUAL TERROR—THE WEAPON OF FASCISM
WHILE in the fascist dungeon, Comrade Dimitroff, smashing ” Hitler’s provocative charge against the Communist Party of Germany, loudly and categorically expressed the Communists’ opposition to individual terror. In his very first written statement to the police authorities, and later, in his first speech at the trial he, as a follower of the teachings of Marx and Engels, Lenin and Stalin, declared himself to be emphatically opposed to individual terror and putschist adventures. Such tactics are incompatible with the fundamental Communist principles and methods of class struggle, wTith the economic and political mass struggle; they merely injure the movement for the emancipation of the proletariat and the cause of Communism.
At the Seventh Congress of the Communist International, Comrade Dimitroff, with all the ardor of a fighter for Communism, attacked all those, and primarily the German fascists, who resort to individual terror as a political weapon for the achievement of their designs against the people.
The Trotsky-Zinoviev gang, however, smashed to atoms in the open class struggle, and standing no chance whatever of extricating itself from its counter-revolutionary underground, in its desperation and hatred clutched at the most despicable method of struggle against the Soviet government and the leaders of the Communist Party, the method of political assassination.
What arguments did the contemptible chiefs of the Trotsky- Zinoviev bloc put before their henchmen in support of the necessity of resorting to individual terror? This question was answered by the accused Reingold, who, in his evidence, said the following:
“In 1932, Zinoviev, at Kamenev’s apartment, in the presence of a number of members of the united Trotskyite-Zinovievite Center, argued in favor of resorting to terror as follows: Although terror is incompatible with Marxism, at the present moment these considerations must be abandoned. There are no other methods available of fighting the leaders of the Party and the government at the present time. Stalin combines in himself all the strength and firmness of the present Party leadership. Therefore Stalin must be put out of the way in the first place. Kamenev enlarged on this theory and said that the former methods of fighting, namely, attempts to win the masses, combinations with the leaders of the Rightists, and banking on economic difficulties, have failed. That is why the only method of struggle available is terroristic acts against Stalin and his closest comrades-in-arms, Kirov, Voroshilov, Kaganovich, Orjonikidze, Postyshev, Kossior, and the others.” {Ibid., p. 55; italics ours.)
Particularly furious activity in organizing terroristic acts against Comrade Stalin and his comrades was organized abroad by the scoundrel Trotsky. The following are a few facts established at the trial:
The summer of 1931. Smirnov went to Berlin and, as we have seen above, brought back an instruction from Trotsky, received through his son, Sedov, couched in the following words: “Until we put Stalin out of the way, we shall not be able to come back to power.” In fulfillment of his instruction Trotsky’s center instructed Mrachkovsky and Dreitzer to choose “reliable” people to form terrorist groups. In his evidence Mrachkovsky said: “That period, 1931 and 1932, was spent in inducing and preparing people to commit terroristic acts.” {Ibid., p. 41.)
Beginning of 1932. Nathan Lurye received from Trotsky, through Moissei Lurye, instructions to go to the U.S.S.R. and there to carry on terroristic work. In his evidence at the trial Nathan Lurye said: “This instruction did not come as a surprise to me. It logically followed from all the preceding work.” {Ibid., p. 102.) And Mrachkovsky said: “For this purpose I recruited Yatsek and Yudin. Dreitzer recruited another group of people including Schmidt, Kuzmichev and some others whom I don’t remember.” {Ibid., p. 41.)
The summer of 1932. Trotsky asked Holtzmann, a representative of the Trotskyist terrorist center who had gone from Moscow to Berlin for instructions, to visit him in Copenhagen. There Trotsky asked Holtzmann to convey the categorical demand that individual terror against the leaders of the Communist Party and the Soviet government be made the principal method of the Trot- skyite struggle.
Autumn, 1932. Receiving from Smirnov a request to express an opinion on the expediency of amalgamating with the Zinoviev- ites, Trotsky replied through his agent Gaven that such an amalgamation must without fail have for its basis the employment of terror, and he emphasized that it was necessary in the first place to kill Stalin, Voroshilov and Kirov.
End of November, 1932. The Berlin Trotskyite, Berman-Yurin, after negotiations with Sedov in Berlin, was called to Copenhagen, was met at the station by Grishevich and taken to meet Trotsky. Dealing with this meeting with Trotsky in his evidence at the trial, Berman-Yurin stated:
“Trotsky said: The principal question is the question of Stalin. Stalin must be physically destroyed. He said that other methods of struggle were now ineffective.” {Ibid., p. 94.)
After Berman-Yurin had agreed to go to the U.S.S.R. for terroristic purposes, Trotsky gave him detailed instructions concerning the circumstances under which he considered it necessary to kill Comrade Stalin.
Autumn, 1932. At about the same time, Trotsky invited Fritz David to meet him in Copenhagen. In his evidence on the nature of the conversation he had with Trotsky at that time, Fritz David stated that Trotsky had said that the only way by which the Trotskyites could come into power in the U.S.S.R. was the physical destruction of Stalin.
One of the prospects that Trotsky held out was to take a defeatist attitude in the event of war, but he stressed the point that “there is a closer prospect of the Trotskyites coming to power— the prospect of the physical removal of Stalin”. {Ibid., p. 113.)
In accordance with Trotsky’s instructions, Fritz David went to Moscow in March, 1933, and established contact with Berman- Yurin in conjunction with whom he made preparations to kill Comrade Stalin at the Seventh Congress of the Comintern. After the Seventh Congress messengers arrived from Sedov, Trotsky’s son, on two occasions and, in Sedov’s name, accused the terrorists of being insufficiently active and urged them to expedite the terroristic acts in accordance with Trotsky’s instructions.
End of March, 1933. On Trotsky’s instructions, Sedov sent Valentine Olberg to the Soviet Union for the purpose of organ- izing terroristic acts. In his evidence at the trial Olberg said on this point:
“The first time Sedov spoke to me about my journey was after Trotsky’s message in connection with Trotsky’s being deprived of citizenship of the U.S.S.R. In this message Trotsky developed the idea that it was necessary to assassinate Stalin. This idea was expressed in the following words: ‘Stalin must be removed’.” (Ibid., p. 87.)
Before leaving for the Soviet Union, Olberg intended to visit Trotsky in Copenhagen together with Sedov. This journey did not take place, but Sedov’s wife, Suzanna, was sent to Copenhagen instead. On her return she brought a letter from Trotsky addressed to Sedov in which Trotsky gave his consent to Olberg’s journey to the U.S.S.R. and expressed the hope that Olberg would succeed in carrying out his mission. Sedov showed this letter to Olberg.
March, 1933. At about the same time, M. Lurye received an instruction from Trotsky through Ruth Fischer and Maslov to go to Moscow and to convey to Zinoviev Trotsky’s instruction on the necessity of expediting the organization of terroristic acts, primarily against Stalin.
October, 1934. Dreitzer’s sister brought him from Warsaw a German cinema magazine given to her for Dreitzer by an agent of Sedov. In this magazine Dreitzer had no difficulty in finding a message in Trotsky’s own handwriting, written in invisible ink —this method of communication had been arranged with Sedov in Berlin beforehand. The message was an instruction immediately to prepare for and carry out terroristic acts against Stalin and Voroshilov. Dreitzer immediately passed this message on to Mrachkovsky. At the trial Mrachkovsky admitted that in December, 1934, while in Kazakhstan, he received from Dreitzer Trotsky’s message written in invisible ink, couched approximately in the following terms:
“Dear friend, the task that confronts us today is to accelerate the assassination of Stalin and Voroshilov. In the event of war, it is necessary to adopt a defeatist position and take advantage of the confusion. Nuclei must be organized in the Red Army.” (Ibid., p. 43.)
The latter was signed “Starik” (old man).
Mrachkovsky emphasized that he knew Trotsky’s handwriting
very well and had not the slightest doubt that the letter had actually been written by Trotsky.
The whole of the work of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite gang in the Soviet Union and abroad, all its attention and all its efforts were concentrated on “killing . . . killing as quickly as possible”. Terror was everything, all the rest was mere scribbling, repentance, speeches, declarations—all camouflage.
“Remove Stalin” is the slogan which Trotsky hurls forth openly, in the press, considering himself safe beyond the reach of Soviet justice. “Heads are peculiar in that they do not grow on again”, [ibid., p. 16) is the aphorism which the scoundrel Kamenev, surrounded by his gang, utters in response to Trotsky’s call for the murder of Comrade Stalin. The more socialism flourishes in the Soviet Union, the more furious becomes the rage of the despicable terrorists against the Soviet government and the Soviet people, the more desperate are the attempts of the Trotskyite fascist murderers to strike their blow against the great leader of the people, Stalin, against his comrades-in-arms, against the Central Committee of the Leninist-Stalinist Party. Thus they aimed at the very existence of the Soviet state, at the life of the Soviet people, at the fate of socialism in the Land of Soviets and throughout the world.
.jpg)
