Report of Court Proceedings
The Case of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite Terrorist Centre Heard Before the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R.
August 19-24, 1936 (Moscow)
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N.I. Bukharin’s Last Plea - 1938
Extracts
Espionage against the Soviet State
The Trotskyite-Zinovievite United Terrorist Centre
The Counter-Revolutionary Terroristic Activities of the Trotskyites-Zinovievites are Fully Proved
Murder of Kirov, Maxim Gorky, Menzhinsky, Kuibyshev and Plot against Lenin
Examination of accused Evdokimov
Assassination of Comrade S. M. Kirov
Terroristic Acts Against Comrades Voroshilov, Zhdanov, Kaganovich
Examination of the accused Kamenev
Examination of the accused Dreitzer
Examination of the accused Mrachovsky
Examination of the accused Zinoviev
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On August 24, at 2:30 p. m., the president, Comrade Ulrich, reads the verdict.
THE VERDICT
In the name of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics the Military Collegium of
the Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R., consisting of:
President: the President of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the
U.S.S.R., Army Military Jurist, Comrade V. V. Ulrich;
Members: the Vice-Presidents of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of
the U.S.S.R., Army Corps Military Jurist, Comrade I. L. Matulevich, and
Divisional Military Jurist, Comrade I. T. Nikitchenko;
Secretary: Military Jurist of First Rank, Comrade Kostyushko;
State Prosecution being represented by the State Attorney of the U.S.S.R.,
Comrade A. Y. Vyshinsky, in an open court session in the city of Moscow, on
August 19-24, 1936 heard the case against:
1. Zinoviev, Grigori Evseyevich, born 1883, employee, sentenced on January 16,
1935, in the Zinovievite "Moscow centre" case to imprisonment for ten years in
accordance with Articles 17 and 588 of the Criminal Code of the R.S.F.S.R.;
2. Kamenev, Lev Borisovich, born 1883, employee, sentenced on January 16, 1935
in the Zinovievite "Moscow centre" case to imprisonment for five years, in
accordance with Articles 17 and 588 of the Criminal Code of the R.S.F.S.R., and
again sentenced on July 27, 1935, to imprisonment for ten years, in accordance
with Articles 17 and 588 of the Criminal Code of the R.S.F.S.R.;
3. Evdokimov, Grigori Eremeyevich, born 1884, employee, sentenced on January 16,
1935, in the Zinovievite "Moscow centre" case to imprisonment for eight years in
accordance with Articles 17 and 588 of the Criminal Code of the R.S.F.S.R.;
4. Bakayev, Ivan Petrovich, born 1887, employee, sentenced on January 16, 1935
in the Zinovievite "Moscow centre" case to imprisonment for eight years in
accordance with Articles 17 and 588 of the Criminal Code of the R.S.F.S.R.;
5. Mrachkovsky, Sergei Vitalievich, born 1883, employee;
6. Ter-Vaganyan, Vagarshak Arutyunovich, born 1893, employee;
7. Smirnov, Ivan Nikitich, born 1880, employee all seven being charged with
having committed crimes covered by Articles 588 and 5811 of the Criminal Code of
the R.S.F.S.R.
8. Dreitzer, Ephim Alexandrovich, born 1894, employee;
9. Reingold, Isak Isayevich, born 1897, employee;
10. Pickel, Richard Vitoldovich, born 1896, employee;
11. Holtzman, Eduard Solomonovich, born 1882, employee;
12. Fritz David, alias Kruglyansky, Ilya-David Israilevich, born 1897, employee;
13. Olberg, Valentine Pavlovich, born 1907, employee;
14. Berman-Yurin, Konon Borisovich, alias Alexander Fomich, born 1901, employee;
15. Lurye, Moissei Ilyich, alias Emel, Alexander, born 1897, employee;
16. Lurye, Nathan Lazarevich, born 1901, employee all being charged with having
committed crimes covered by Articles 19 and 588, 5811 of the Criminal Code of
the R.S.F.S.R.
The preliminary and court investigations have established that:
In the autumn of 1932, on the instructions of L. Trotsky received by I. N.
Smirnov, leader of the Trotskyite underground organization in the U.S.S.R., a
union took place between the Trotskyite and Zinovievite underground
counter-revolutionary groups which formed a "united centre" consisting of
Zinoviev, Kamenev, Evdokimov and Bakayev (representing the Zinovievites), and of
Smirnov, Ter-Vaganyan and Mrachkovsky (representing the Trotskyites).
The union of these counter-revolutionary groups was achieved on the basis of the
use of individual terror against the leaders of the C.P.S.U. and the Soviet
Government.
The Trotskyites and Zinovievites, on the direct instructions of Trotsky,
received by the "united centre" through the accused Smirnov, Holtzman and
Dreitzer, in this period (1932-36) concentrated all their hostile activities
against the Soviet Government and the C.P.S.U. on the organization of terror
against their leaders.
The Court has established that the "united centre," on the direct instructions
of L. Trotsky and Zinoviev, organized and carried out on December 1, 1934,
through the medium of the underground terrorist Leningrad Zinovievite group of
Nikolayev-Kotolynov, the foul murder of the member of the Presidium of the
Central Executive Committee of the U.S.S.R. and member of the Central Committee
of the C.P.S.U., Comrade Sergei Mironovich Kirov.
Not confining themselves to the assassination of Comrade Kirov, the Trotskyite-Zinovievite
centre prepared a number of terroristic acts agains Comrades Stalin, Voroshilov,
Zhdanov, L. M. Kaganovich, Orjonikidze, Kossior and Postyshev.
The materials of the court investigation and the confessions of the accused
Zinoviev, Kamenev, Evdokimov, Bakayev, Mrachkovsky and Dreitzer have established
that L. Trotsky, from abroad, and Zinoviev within the country, expedited by
every means the preparations for the murder of Comrade S. M. Kirov. For the
purpose of expediting the murder of Comrade S. M. Kirov, Kamenev, in June 1934,
on the instructions of the united Trotskyite-Zinovievite centre went to
Leningrad where he conducted negotiations with the leader of one of the
Leningrad terrorist groups, Yakovlev, whose case has been set aside for a
separate trial, about the organization of this terroristic act against Comrade
Kirov.
The Court has also established that on the instructions of the "united cetre"
the accused Bakayev, in November 1934, also made a special journey to Leningrad
to check up on the preparedness of the Leningrad terrorist group of Nikolayev-Kotolynov
for the carrying out of the assassination of Comrade Kirov. At a secret meeting
of the members of this Leningrad terrorist group, Bakayev heard the report of
Leonid Nikolayev, the murderer of Comrade Kirov, and in the name of the united
Trotskyite-Zinovievite centre, gave him and his accomplices a number of
practical instructions concerning the organization of the assassination of
Comrade S. M. Kirov. It was in conformity with these instructions that L.
Nikolayev and his accomplices committed the foul murder of Comrade S. M. Kirov
on December 1, 1934.
The Court has also established that in 1934, the accused Bakayev, Reingold and
Dreitzer, in accordance with the decisions of the "united centre," twise tried
to make an attempt on the life of Comrade Stalin.
In order the more successfully to commit the terroristic acts planned by the
"united centre" it organized in 1933 in the city of Moscow, the so-called
"Moscow terrorist centre," consisting of the accused Reingold, Pickel and
Dreitzer, under the direct guidance of the accused Bakayev, a member of the
"united centre."
The "united centre" instructed the accused Bakayev to make practical
preparations for the assassination of Comrades Stalin and Kirov, and it
instructed Dreitzer, a member of the "Moscow terrorist centre" to organize a
terroristic act against Comrade Voroshilov.
Not confining himself to the organization of a number of terroristic acts
against the leaders of the Soviet Government and the C.P.S.U. under the
immediate direction of the "united centre," L. Trotsky, in the period of
1932-36, was systematically sending a number of terrorists into the U.S.S.R.
from abroad for the same purpose.
In November 1932, L. Trotsky sent to the U.S.S.R. Berman-Yurin and Fritz David;
and before leaving, the latter received from L. Trotsky personal instructions
with regard to the organization of the assassination of Comrade Stalin.
In the same year, 1932, L. Trotsky sent to Moscow from Berlin the terrorist
Nathan Lurye. In conjunction with Franz Weitz, agent of the Gestapo and a person
trusted by Himmler, now chief of the Gestapo (Franz Weitz was then living in
Moscow under the guise of a foreign specialist), Nathan Lurye made preparations
for attempts on the lives of Comrades Stalin, Voroshilov, Kaganovich and
Orjonikidze.
In the winter of 1932-33, after the departure of Franz Weitz from Moscow, Nathan
Lurye and his terrorist group continued the preparation of these terroristic
acts jointly with the accused Moissei Lurye who arrived in Moscow from Berlin in
1933, and who had also received from Trotsky instructions to expedite
terroristic acts against the leaders of the Soviet Government and the C.P.S.U.
In 1934, while at Chelyabstroi, Nathan Lurye tried to make an attempt on the
lives of Comrades Kaganovich and Orjonikidze. Finally, the said Nathan Lurye, on
May 1, 1936, on the instruction of, and by previous agreement with, Moissei
Lurye, tried to make an attempt on the life of Comrade Zhdanov during the First
of May demonstration in Leningrad.
In the summer of 1935, L. Trotsky, through his son L. Sedov,sent to the U.S.S.R.
from Berlin the terrorist V. Olberg who used a false passport issued in the name
of a subject of the Republic of Honduras. V. Olberg obtained this passport with
the aid of the German secret police, the Gestapo, having first received the
consent of L. Trotsky, through the latter's son Sedov, to utilize the assistance
of the German secret police in this matter.
On arriving in the U.S.S.R., V. Olberg established contact with the
counter-revolutionary Trotskyite terrorist group in the city of Gorki, and
trained a number of terrorists who were to commit a terroristic act against the
leaders of the Soviet Government and the C.P.S.U. in the Red Square in Moscow on
May 1, 1936.
The court investigation has also established that simultaneously with the
preparation of terroristic acts against Comrades Stalin, Voroshilov, Zhdanov,
Kaganovich and Orjonikidze, the Trotskyite-Zinovievite terrorist centre made
preparations for terroristic acts against Comrades Kossior and Postyshev through
the medium of the Ukrainian terrorist group operating under the direction of the
Trotskyite Mukhin, whose case has been set aside for separate trial.
Thus it is established that:
1) G. E. Zinoviev;
2) L. B. Kamenev;
3) G. E. Evdokimov;
4) I. P. Bakayev;
5) S. V. Mrachkovsky;
6) V. A. Ter-Vaganyan; and
7) I. N. Smirnov
are guilty of:
a) Having organized the united Trotskyite-Zinovievite terrorist centre for the
purpose of assassinating the leaders of the Soviet Government and of the C.P.S.U.,
b) Having prepared, and on December 1, 1934, perpetrated the foul murder of
Comrade S. M. Kirov through the medium of the Leningrad underground terrorist
group of Nikolayev-Kotolynov and others sentenced on December 29, 1934, by the
Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R.,
c) Having organized a number of terrorist groups who made preparations to
assassinate Comrades Stalin, Voroshilov, Zhdanov, Kakanovich, Orjonikidze,
Kossior and Postyshev - i.e., crimes covered by Articles 58 and 58 of the
Criminal Code of the R.S.F.S.R.
8) E. A. Dreitzer;
9) I. I. Reingold;
10) R. V. Pickel;
11) E. S. Holtzman;
12) Fritz David (Kruglyansky, Ilya-David Israilevich);
13) V. P. Olberg;
14) K. B. Berman-Yurin;
15) M. I. Lurye (Emel, Alexander) and
16) N. L. Lurye
are guilty of having been, while members of the underground
counter-revolutionary terrorist Trotskyite-Zinovievite organization, active
participants in the preparations for the assassination of the leaders of the
Party and the Government, Comrades Stalin, Voroshilov, Zhdanov, Kaganovich,
Orjonikidze, Kossior and Postyshev, i.e., crimes covered by Articles 19 and 588,
5811 of the Criminal Code of the R.S.F.S.R.
On the basis of the above, and guided by Articles 319 and 320 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure of the R.S.F.S.R., the Military Collegium of the Supreme
Court of the U.S.S.R.
Sentences:
1) Zinoviev, Grigori Evseyevich
2) Kamenev, Lev Borisovich
3) Evdokimov, Grigori Eremeyevich
4) Bakayev, Ivan Petrovich
5) Mrachkovsky, Sergei Vitalevich
6) Ter-Vaganyan, Vagarshak Arutyunovich
7) Smirnov, Ivan Nikitich
8) Dreitzer, Ephim Alexandrovich
9) Reingold, Isak Isayevich
10) Pickel, Richard Vitoldovich
11) Holtzman, Edouard Solomonovich
12) Fritz David (Kruglyansky, Ilya-David Israilevich)
13) Olberg, Valentine Pavlovich
14) Berman-Yurin, Konon Borisovich
15) Lurye, Moissei Ilyich (Emel, Alexander) and
16) Lurye, Nathan Lazarevich
all to the supreme penalty - to be shot, and all property personally belonging
to them to be confiscated.
Lev Davidovich Trotsky, and his son, Lev Lvovich Sedov, now abroad convicted by
the evidence of the accused I. N. Smirnov, E. S. Holtzman, Dreitzer, V. Olberg,
Fritz David (I. I. Kruglyansky) and Berman-Yurin, and also by the materials in
the present case as having directly prepared and personally directed the
organization in the U.S.S.R. of terroristic acts against the leaders of the
C.P.S.U. and the Soviet State, are subject, in the event of their being
discovered on the territory of the U.S.S.R., to immediate arrest and trial by
the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R.
Presiding: [Signed]
V.V. ULRICHPresident of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the
U.S.S.R.; Army Military Jurist
Members of the Court: [Signed]
I. MATULEVICH Vice-President of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of
the U.S.S.R.; Army Corps Military Jurist
I. NIKITCHENKO Vice-President of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of
the U.S.S.R.; Divisional Military Jurist
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