Towards a Return of Stalinism?

[p045] lowards return Of Stalinism? A letter to leaders of art, science and culture in the Soviet Union by Piotr Yakir, Yuli Kim and |. Gabai Documents frqm the Soviet Opposition

[p046] fowaris return Of Stalinism? A letter to leaders of art, science and culture in the Soviet Union by Piotr Yakir, Yuli Kim and |. Gabai Documents frqm the Soviet Opposition 27

[p047] Pavil Litvinov: Wrote letter of protest about Ginsburg trial. Yuri Galanskov: Very sick man, sentenced to seven years. Alexander Ginsburg: Sentenced to five years hard labour. — Yuri Daniel: Imprisoned for saying what he thought to be true. Andrei Sinyavsky: Condemned to long years of suffering. Fourth International, Summer 1970 28

[p048] WE, the signatories of this letter, turn to you with words of deep alarm over the destiny and honour of our country. In the last few years the menacing symptoms of a return of Stalinism have mul- tiplied. This is particularly evident in the proliferation of trials of men who have dared defend their dignity and their liberty, who have dared to protest. These are the most terrible fruits of our epoch. Of course, the repression hasn’t reached the level of earlier years. But we have ample reason to fear that among the leadership of the state and the Party there is a nostalgic group who want to reverse the course of our development. If we allow this to continue, we will have no guarantee that the year 1937 will not return ... It will be a long time before we see Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuri Daniel again; they are condemned to long years of suffering because they dared write what they thought to be true. Young people like Viktor. Khusatov and Vladimir Bukov- sky were torn away from their normal lives for three years. Their only ‘crime’ was having publicly expressed their dis- agreement with the Draconian laws and repressive measures which once again ravage our country. Ilegality The kangaroo court which tried them is a model of cynical illegality and falsifica- tion. The recent trial of Ginsburg and his comrades _ surpassed all limits in its scorn for human rights. Vyshinsky! himself would have envied the organization of this trial. He, at least, extorted con- fessions from the accused and statements from witnesses. Procuror Terekhov and Judge Mironov did not even feel the need to go through the empty formality of presenting proof. Yuri Galanskov, physically a very sick man, was sentenced to seven years of hard labour. The sole and very fragile proof of his guilt was the deposition of an ignoble coward named Dobrovolsky. Alexander Ginsburg was sen- tenced to five years hard labour in spite of the statements of witnesses and the most obvious facts. Even the life of Alexis Dobrovolsky, who played the sinister role of a Kostomarov? at this trial, was ruined. If he has even the shadow of a conscience, his 30 pieces of silver will be far from sufficient recompense for the contempt and rejection that await this slanderer. : Our organs of repression bear the heaviest responsibility for the moral mutilation of Dobrovolsky, now marked as a scoundrel who has destroyed and slandered his comrades out of vile self-interest. Vera Lashkova® was guilty of having typed texts which the court considered criminal. Similar crimes And under the prevailing conditions in our country, as exemplified by the cases of others sentenced for similar crimes (L. Rendel, A. March- enko and others), she will pay dearly for this offence. Her conviction will be marked in her passport and she will lose the right to live and study in Moscow. The atmosphere surrounding the court was another link in the chain of illegality. The official services shame- fully lied to the Western Com- munist press. On the first day of the trial it was announced that its date had not yet been fixed. Asked about it a few days before the trial, the Deputy Chairman of the Moscow “We still hear the long list of wrecking activities organized by the man who was People’s Commissar for Armed Forces and chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, L. D. Trotsky.’ Documents from the Soviet Opposition Municipal Court, Mironov, said that the court had not yet been informed of the case. People who tried to enter the courtroom were subjected to brutal blackmail and con- temptuous treatment: they were photographed, contin- uously spied on, their papers were checked, their conversa- tion was recorded... . and this is far from a complete list of the honourable deeds _ that marked the memorable days of the Ginsburg trial. Without a doubt the most frightening thing about it was the number of young people (boys and girls) among the police spies; they spied instead of studying, they denounced instead of trying to grasp and understand, and, from. the KGB’s point of view, their work as informers was the epitome of youthful morality in contrast to Ginsburg’s ‘immor- ality—Ginsburg who dared to intervene in favour of men convicted although innocent. You are, of course, familiar with Larissa Bogoraz-Daniel’s and Pavel Litvinov’s letter. With full responsibility we declare that not only is every line of that letter true, but it is only a small part of the truth about the outrages and mockery of which the accused were victims. Savage cries The organization of the trial and the conduct of the judge, whose job it is to be absolutely impartial, in fact deprived the accused of the right to defend themselves and the savage cries of the ‘public’ created an un- bearable climate of hostility for them. In the public gallery people read the newspaper or slept, only waking up to demand a severer sentence. The authorities once again organized a so-called ‘public trial’ by exploiting the vilest characteristics of specially chosen yes-men endowed with @ a solid indifference to the fate of others and too blind to worry about informing them- selves or analysing the facts. 1 Ex-White Guard and Men- shevik; prosecutor under Stalin. 2 A militant in the time of Alexander II who betrayed his comrades when arrested by the police. 3 Lashkova typed the ‘White Book on the Sinyavsky-Daniel Case’ written by Ginsburg. 29

[p049] Theodorakis: Greek composer imprisoned by the military junta. While in the public gallery the hysterical goodwives and Black Hundreds slept or in- sulted the accused, in the corridor, and later outside in the cold, the real public milled around; friends and relatives of the accused were there, but the majority were people who didn’t know them, but wanted to discover the truth—writers, students, teachers. Falsifications Our newspapers concocted a series of falsifications either based purely and simply on lies or they presented carefully selected facts designed to mis- lead uninformed people. Those who pretend to the role of ideological mentors have forgotten something very important: ‘It is essential to take not single facts, but the whole complex of facts bearing upon the question under examina- tion, without a single exception, since otherwise the suspicion— and a wholly justified suspicion —inevitably arises that instead of an objective nexus and inter- relationship . . . a subjective concoction is perhaps being offered for the justification of a dirty business. That, after all, occurs . . . more often than it would seem.’ These are the words of V. I. Lenin. The pogrom against intel- lectuals is only the logical outcome of the atmosphere that has prevailed for several years in our country. The naive hopes for a puri- fication of our public life that we nourished after the decisions of the 20th and 22nd Congresses have not _ borne fruit. 30 Stalinism is being restored slowly but surely. This process is fundament- ally supported by our passivity, by our too short memory and by the basic truth that we are used to an absence of freedom. Here are some signs of the rebirth of Stalinism in recent years. ] The name of J. V. Stalin has been cited by the highest authorities in a com- pletely positive way. The news- papers have drawn attention to the applause that has greeted his name. Justify conduct They have neglected to mention that this applause comes from people who ser- vilely wish to serve ‘strong’ men, from people who want to justify their own conduct in the not too distant past or from people rotten with rem- nants of perverted nationalist sentiments. For how long was it neces- sary to corrupt human nature to the extent that men could applaud the murderer of hundreds of thousands of people and the organizer of tortures and torments? 2 The reappearance of Stalin’s name could be explained by a wish to treat history objectively. An objective at- titude towards a hangman is a fact of moral pathology of course, but still it could be understood. But objectivity doesn’t yet allow the truth to be told about the political leaders of the first decade of Soviet power. It would after all be pos- sible, without transgressing the limits of internal Party dis- cussion, to honestly say of some individuals that they did not engage in any espionage and that they did not put broken glass in food. It would also be possible to explain what they did while they held important posts. But we are still crushed under the great deeds of Stalin when he was People’s Com- missar for National Minorities and under the long list of wrecking activities organized by the man who was then People’s Commissar for the Armed Forces and Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, L. D. Trotsky. 3 As a result, the term ‘cult of the individual’ has been banned. Literary and_ historic works in which Stalin and the crimes of the Stalinist period are criticized, are refused or not printed, even if they’re already set in type (the memoirs of B. Vannikov, L. Slavin’s book on Mar- shall Yegorov, the front-line memoirs of C. Simokov, the memoirs of Y. Ginsburg and many others). Recommended This has gone so far that the powerful ideological official Fedoseyev has recommended that we don’t use the term ‘cult of the individual’, except in reference to the Latin American dictators and Mao Tse-tung. 4, To this day no democratic principle has been put into practice. The literary or artistic tastes of the parasites is still the law for writers, artists, publishers, readers and viewers. Films that would be a credit to us rot in the cinema archives; marvellous paintings lie in studios and tiny attics. In literature there is only room for the shabby works of the Kozhetovs and Smirnovs— above all those works which glorify Stalin—and only a privileged few have been able to read Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Cancer Ward’, The attempts to stop what is called ‘Samizdat’, or un- censored literature, is doomed to fail. If there had not been a ‘Samizdat’ in Russian literature we would have lost Radischev’s novel, Griboedov’s play “Woe From Wit’, and numerous poems by Pushkin. Even today the _ interest shown by a series of readers in unpublished works will pre- serve the truth about the thought and creative spirit of our contemporaries for better times. There is nothing the para- sites can do about it: the Zhdanovs pass into oblivion and the work of the Akhma- _tovas conquers generation after generation‘. Understanding this, the organs of repression will con- tinue to resort to outright forgeries, as in the case of the absurd attempt to associate Ginsburg, editor of the White Book on the Sinyavsky-Daniel Trial, with the NTS emigré organization. In the humanist sciences simplistic and pernicious dik- tats of political opportunism still reign. The seeker who strays from the truth condemns himself to death but our historians, our philosophers and our econom- ists are now obliged to do this every day. If, by some chance, a bit of the truth finds its way into print, the authors of it are persecuted. There are many famous examples of this. The Crimean Tartars have just been rehabilitated. But the Soviet public knows little about this as it knows little about this people, victims of a monstrous crime, who still cannot return to its homeland. The Crimean Tartars who try to do so are sent back or subjected to various repressive measures. 6 But most degrading is the constant surveillance in all its forms that has become an integral part of the daily life of many Soviet citizens. We have cited only a few examples of our public life here. 4 Akhmatova was condemned by a decree of the Central Com- mittee of the CPSU in 1946. This decree was drawn up by Zhdanov. 5 A White-Russian, pro-Nazi organization which publishes numerous documents of the com- munist opposition for provocative reasons. It receives these docu- ments from the KGB via the CIA. Bukharin: Accused at the third Moscow Trial of espionage and putting broken glass in workers’ butter. Fourth International, Summer 1970

[p050] Once more we remind you: Silent complicity with the Stalinists and the bureaucrats who deceive our people and with the leadership that stifle every sign, every complaint and every protest, leads logic- ally to the worst result — illegal reprisals against human beings. It is under these conditions that. we appeal to you as creative labourers in whom our nation places unlimited con- fidence. Raise your voices against the imminent danger of the appearance of new Stalins and new Yezhovs.® The fate of the _ future Vavilovs and Mandelshtams’ js on your conscience. You are the heirs of the great humanist traditions of the Russian intelligentsia. You have before you the courageous example of the progressive intelligentsia of the West. We understand very well that you are in conditions that require an act of courage on your part every time you are called upon to fulfill your duties as citizens. But in the end there is no other choice: either courage or cowardly complicity with infamous actions; either the acceptance of risks or an alliance with the Vasilevs and Kedrins; either sacrifice or. Yezhov: Stalin’s police chief responsible for the purges. joining the ranks of the yellow hack journalists who dirty the columns of ‘Izvestia’ and ‘Komsomolskaya Pravda’ and who consider it morally justi- fiable to publicly slander the men they help to condemn. We only want one thing: that our people have the moral right to protest against the imprisonment of Theodo- rakis® for six months. We remind you again: men who have dared to think lie in hard labour camps. The silence of each one of you will be one more step to- wards the trial of another Daniel or another Ginsburg. Then slowly, with your silent consent, a new 1937 will advance. 6 Yezhov: Stalin’s police chief responsible for purges. 7 Mandelshtam: Soviet poet deported in 1937 who went mad and then died in a Siberian camp. 8 Greek composer imprisoned by the Colonels. Reprinted from the ‘Workers Press’ of Saturday, December 6, 1969. BUY NOW MOSCOW TRIALS ANTHOLOGY Including the report to the 20th Congress of the CPSU in 1956 by N. S. Khrushchev Price 12s. 6d. Available from New Park Publications 186a, Clapham High Street, SW4 Documents from the Soviet Opposition PROBLEMS OF THE CHINESE REVOLUTION by Leon Trotsky The tempestuous events which have trans- formed China and the world situation in the past 40 years and the tasks with which Marxist revolutionaries are confronted today have enhanced the importance of this book. This volume is invaluable for the light which it sheds on a crucial and tragic episode in the history of the Chinese working class and peasantry. But its principal concern is with the tactics and strategy of worid revolution. It forms part of a continuous struggle for theory waged by Trotsky and the Left Opposi- tion which began in the early 1920s and is continued today by the International Com- mittee of the Fourth International. 354 pps. including glossary and chronology. Price: 22s. 6d. (soft cover); 37s. 6d. (hard cover) NEW PARK PUBLICATIONS LTD. 186a Ciapham High Street, London, S.W.4 ¢€ PROSLENG OF Int CHINESE REVOLUTION 31

[p051] Once more we remind you: silent complicity with the Stalinists and the bureaucrats who deceive our people and with the leadership that stifle every sign, every complaint and every protest, leads logic- ally to the worst result — illegal reprisals against human beings. It is under these conditions that. we appeal to you as creative labourers in whom our nation places unlimited con- fidence. Raise your’ voices against the imminent danger of the appearance of new Stalins and new Yezhovs.® The fate of the future Vavilovs and Mandelshtams’ is on your conscience. You are the heirs of the great humanist traditions of the Russian intelligentsia. You have before you the courageous example of the progressive intelligentsia of the West. We understand very well that you are in conditions that require an act of courage on your part every time you are called upon to fulfill your duties as citizens. But in the end there is no other choice: either courage or cowardly complicity with infamous actions; either the acceptance of risks or an alliance with the Vasilevs and Kedrins; either sacrifice or. Yezhov: Stalin’s police chief responsible for the purges. joining the ranks of the yellow hack journalists who dirty the columns of ‘Izvestia’ and ‘Komsomolskaya Pravda’ and who consider it morally justi- fiable to publicly slander the men they help to condemn. We only want one thing: that our people have the moral right to protest against the imprisonment of Theodo- takis* for six months. We remind you again: men who have dared to think lie in hard labour camps. The silence of each one of you will be one more step to- wards the trial of another Daniel or another Ginsburg. Then slowly, with your silent consent, a new 1937 will advance. 6 Yezhov: Stalin’s police chief responsible for purges. 7 Mandelshtam: Soviet poet deported in 1937 who went mad and then died in a Siberian camp. 8 Greek composer imprisoned by the Colonels. Reprinted from the ‘Workers Press’ of Saturday, December 6, 1969. BUY NOW MOSCOW TRIALS ANTHOLOGY Including the report to the 20th Congress of the CPSU in 1956 by N. S. Khrushchev Price 12s. 6d. Available from New Park Publications 186a, Clapham High Street, SW4 Documents from the Soviet Opposition PROBLEMS OF THE CHINESE REVOLUTION by Leon Trotsky The tempestuous events which have trans- formed China and the world situation in the past 40 years and the tasks with which Marxist revolutionaries are confronted today have enhanced the importance of this book. This volume is invaluable for the light which it sheds on a crucial and tragic episode in the history of the Chinese working class and peasantry. But its principal concern is with the tactics and strategy of world revolution. It forms part of a continuous struggle for theory waged by Trotsky and the Left Opposi- tion which began in the early 1920s and is continued today by the International Com- mittee of the Fourth International. 354 pps. including glossary and chronology. Price: 22s. 6d. (soft cover); 37s. 6d. (hard cover) NEW PARK PUBLICATIONS LTD. 186a Clapham High Street, London, S.W.4 THE GHINESE REVOLUTION 31

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