A note on a direct wire on the further course of the investigation in the case of L. Nikolaev

A source: "Top secret": Lubyanka to Stalin on the situation in the country (1922-1934)
Archive: F. 3. Op. 1.D. 711.L. 23-26. Copy

 A note on a direct wire on the further course of the investigation in the case of L. Nikolaev

December 5, 1934

Top secret

Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) t. Stalin

Copy: NKVD t. Yagoda

I inform you about the further course of the investigation in the case of Leonid Nikolaev:

1. According to the testimony of Leonid Nikolaev, the Trotskyists Shatsky, Bardin and Katalynov were terrorist-minded. Nikolayev testified: "Nikolay Bardin is definitely terrorist, he had the same moods as me, I even think that Bardin has much stronger moods than me."

Further, Nikolaev, when asked whether Katalynov was involved in the preparation of the terrorist act against Comrade Kirov, testified: “I did not involve Katalynov, because wanted to be, by his convictions, the only perpetrator of the terrorist act over Kirov; secondly, Katalynov, I thought, would not agree to the murder of Comrade Kirov, but would demand that he be taken higher, that is, to commit a terrorist attack on Stalin, to which I would not agree. "

Nikolaev also testified that he accidentally met a mint worker whom he intended to attract to observe Comrade Kirov. Nikolaev did not give the surname of this woman, indicating only her omens. Nikolaev's interrogation protocols will be sent to you today.

2. A Browning revolver was found on the arrested Katalynov during a search, which he kept without permission.

3. The interrogated Pyotr Nikolaev stated that he considers himself a convinced enemy of the Soviet regime. He testified that he kept in touch with the German colonist Beldug, who lives in the suburb of Leningrad Citizen, where the German colonists live.

4. The interrogated father of Peter Nikolayev's wife, Maksimov, testified that both Peter and [and] Leonid Nikolaevs had a connection among the German colonists near Leningrad. Maksimov also spoke about the kulak and a / c sentiments of Pyotr Nikolaev.

5. According to the testimony of Olga Draule, sister of Leonid Nikolayev's wife, the latter maintained acquaintances with N. Kuznetsov, the former secretary of the Komsomol in Luga, a Trotskyist exiled to Siberia.

6. According to Volkova's reports, Seliverstov, an electrician of the Leningrad Philharmonic Society, testified that Odahovsky, the foreman for the repair of the Philharmonic's elevator, who in the past worked at the Polish concession "Yan Serkovsky", repeatedly asked Seliverstov about the upcoming visits to the Philharmonic by members of the Soviet government, and in particular Kirov. Upon learning of the murder of Comrade Kirov and the arrest of the murderer, Odahovsky said: "There are, after all, brave people, because in order to undertake such a thing, one must have a lot of courage." And he expressed regret at the arrest of the killer.

According to the NKVD of the USSR, the Jan Serkovsky concession, liquidated in 1930, was an agent of the 2nd department of the Polish General Staff.

In Odahovsky's brigade, former staff captain Ivanov works as a locksmith, who is being arrested by us today. Odahovsky was hired to work in the philharmonic society with the assistance of a fitter Duchnitsky, with whom in the past Odahovsky worked together in the Jan Serkovsky concession. Dukhnitsky, as already reported, has already been arrested.

7. We have arrested Kornev, a freelance engineer of the economic department of the NKVD of the Leningrad Region, named in Volkova's messages as a person who promised to help former Colonel Kamensky in illegal border crossing.

8. Kamensky's relatives - Sophia and Cleopatra - have been identified by us.

Kamensky has not yet been found. Korsunsky will be arrested today.

The forensic medical examination commission (the names were named in the message dated December 4, 1934), in its conclusion on the cause of Borisov's death, established that Borisov's death was an accident in connection with a car accident.

Copies of the act and conclusion will be sent to you today.

Interrogations in the case of Borisov's death continue at an accelerated pace.

I will inform you about the progress of the investigation additionally.

Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Agranov

F. 3. Op. 1.D. 711.L. 23-26. Copy .