Stalin (65 page)

[New York, 1997], pp. 566–572). Here I make use of all three publications.

2

. Here and below, on the topic of the Main Guard Directorate, see RGASPI, f. 17, op. 166, d. 858, ll. 2–20. It is unclear from the documents in question whether this information applies to all of Stalin’s dachas or only to the one in Volynskoe. In any case, the guards and servants were primarily concentrated at the Volynskoe dacha, where Stalin lived.

3

. S. V. Deviatov et al.,

(Moscow, 2011), pp. 162–163.

4

. RGASPI, f. 17, op. 162, d. 9, l. 54; V. N. Khaustov et al., comps.,

(Moscow, 2003), pp. 255–256.

5

. According to a report by senior officials of the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) to Stalin, the agent was prevented from making an attempt on Stalin’s life by an undercover OGPU agent who had infiltrated the organization and was accompanying the foreign agent. Under interrogation, the foreign agent stated that during an initial attempt he was simply unable to grab his revolver, which was hidden deep under his clothing. The rather large security detail accompanying Stalin prevented him from making a second attempt. (“Zapiska OGPU Stalinu. 18 noiabria 1931 g.,”

no. 3 [1996]: 161–162; Khaustov et al.,

p. 286.)

6

.

(exhibition catalogue) (Moscow, 2006), pp. 47–49.

7

. Sergei Mironovich Kirov (1886–1934) was a Russian revolutionary and Civil War figure. In 1921–1926 he served as party chief in Azerbaijan. His career benefited from his years as one of Stalin’s clients in Transcaucasia and the personal friendship that developed between the two. In 1926, after the crushing of the opposition, Kirov was appointed to replace Zinoviev as head of the Leningrad party organization, a position that led to his elevation to candidate member of the Politburo. On 1 December 1934 he was killed by a lone gunman. It was long believed that Kirov’s murder was arranged by Stalin, but most historians have since rejected this possibility.

8

. Nikolai Sidorovich Vlasik (1896–1967) was born into a peasant family in Belarus, received an elementary-school education, and later supported himself as an unskilled laborer. He fought in the tsarist army during World War I and later joined the Red Army. In 1919 he went to work for state security, where he rose through the ranks. The numerous vacancies created by the mass arrests of 1937–1938 accelerated Vlasik’s career. In 1952 he was arrested, and two years after Stalin’s death he was sentenced to ten years in exile. He was pardoned in 1956.

9

. After a lengthy investigation, the soldier was shot in 1950.

10

. S. V. Deviatov et al.,

(Moscow, 2010), pp. 161, 164–167.

11

. Figures are for 1950. E. Iu. Zubkova et al., comps.,

(Moscow, 2003), p. 501; V. P. Popov,

(Moscow, 1993), p. 146.

12

. N. V. Petrov,

(Moscow, 2005), pp. 87–89.

13

. From Vlasik’s testimony at his 1955 trial; V. M. Loginov,

(Moscow, 2000), p. 152.

14

. RGASPI, f. 17, op. 166, d. 858, ll. 2–8.

15

. Semen Denisovich Ignatiev (1904–1983) was born into a peasant family and began his career in the Komsomol (Communist Youth League). After studying at the Industrial Academy in 1935, he landed a job in the Central Committee apparat. For many years he headed various regional party organizations. In 1950 he was placed in charge of the Central Committee department that handled party personnel matters, an important post. In 1951, after a wave of arrests within the leadership of the USSR Ministry of State Security, Stalin appointed Ignatiev to head this institution. Under Stalin’s orders, Ignatiev falsified a number of political cases. After Stalin’s death this action almost cost him his career or even his life, but Khrushchev’s support saved him. Ignatiev was sent to work in the provinces and, in 1960, into retirement.

16

. Russian State Archive of Contemporary History (RGANI), f. 5, op. 29, d. 3, l. 2; d. 16, ll. 94, 108.

17

. On the sources of the statistics offered here, see O. Khlevniuk,

(Moscow, 2011), pp. 63–65.

18

. In early 1937 the total population of the USSR was 162 million, and in early 1953 it reached 188 million. The adult population was, of course, much lower, totaling in 1937, for example, approximately 100 million.

19

. Soviet security services have gone through numerous reorganizations and renamings. By tradition, they continued to be called by their initial acronym—ChK (

or extraordinary commission). This is the origin of the term “cheka” or “chekist.” Stalin himself often used this designation.

20

. Grigory Ivanovich Kulik (1890–1950) fought alongside Stalin during the Civil War. With Stalin’s patronage, he enjoyed a successful military career and in 1940 was elevated to marshal. During the war with Germany, like many other Civil War–era commanders, he did not acquit himself particularly well. In 1942 he was tried and stripped of his rank and given a series of junior command positions. Stalin’s lack of trust in Kulik was reciprocated. In 1947 he was arrested along with several other generals who had criticized Stalin in frank discussions with one another. In 1950 he was shot.

21

. May 1940 letter from the chairman of the Party Control Commission, Andrei Andreev, to Stalin in regard to the Kulik case; K. A. Stoliarov,

(Moscow, 1998), pp. 272–276. RGASPI, f. 73, op. 2, d. 17, ll. 128–148.

22

. Stoliarov,

pp. 267–271.

23

. Solomon Mikhailovich Mikhoels (1890–1948) was a stage director, actor, and leader of the Jewish community. During World War II, he headed the Soviet Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, which mobilized strong support for the Soviet Union in the West. The fact that he was awarded the Stalin Prize (the highest honor granted to cultural figures) immediately after the war testifies to the importance of his services. Nevertheless, soon thereafter Mikhoels became one of the first victims of Stalin’s changing foreign policy priorities and the launching of an anti-Semitic campaign in the USSR.

24

. G. V. Kostyrchenko,

(Moscow, 2001), pp. 388–392.

25

. N. V. Petrov,

(Moscow, 2011), pp. 66–68.

26

. Ignatiev related this statement during testimony given on 27 March 1953, after Stalin’s death (ibid., p. 307).

1

. Lev Borisovich Kamenev (1883–1936), the son of an engineer, studied law at Moscow University before being expelled for revolutionary activities. He was one of Lenin’s closest associates. Kamenev first met Stalin when they were both engaged in revolutionary work in Transcaucasia. After the 1917 revolution, Kamenev held a number of senior posts within the Soviet government and was among those contending for power after Lenin’s death. He became an opposition leader in the 1920s. Once Stalin solidified his victory over the opposition, he dealt brutally with his old friend. In late 1934, Kamenev and his fellow oppositionists were arrested on fabricated charges that they had been involved in Kirov’s murder. In August 1936, Kamenev was convicted of espionage and terrorism in the first of a series of major show trials and put to death.

2

. Lars T. Lih, Oleg V. Naumov, and Oleg Khlevniuk, eds.,

(New Haven, 1995), pp. 101–103, 131–132.

3

. There is a vast body of literature on Bolshevik activities during the Russian revolutionary period, including the following: E. N. Burdzhalov,

trans. and ed. D. J. Raleigh (Bloomington and Indianapolis, 1967); Alexander Rabinowitch,

(Chicago and London, 2004); Richard Pipes,

(New York, 1990). For Stalin’s role in the revolution, see Robert M. Slusser,

(Baltimore and London, 1987), and Ronald Grigor Suny,

(Oxford University Press, forthcoming), chs. 18 and 19.

4

. Cited in A. V. Kvashonkin et al., comps.,

(Moscow, 1996), p. 16.

5

. V. I. Lenin,

vol. 31 (Moscow, 1969), pp. 11–22, 504.

6

. Ibid., pp. 103–112.

7

. Cited in N. N. Sukhanov,

vol. 2, bk. 3 (Moscow, 1991), p. 16.

8

. Cited in

(Moscow, 1958), p. 323.

9

. Grigory Yevseevich Zinoviev (1883–1936) was one of Lenin’s closest comrades-in-arms. After the revolution, he headed the Leningrad party organization and the Comintern. Failing to take over leadership of the party after Lenin’s death, he became an opposition leader and suffered persecution as the opposition was routed. In 1934, Zinoviev, along with Kamenev, was arrested based on fabricated evidence of complicity in Kirov’s murder. In August 1936, he and Kamenev were convicted at the first Moscow show trial and shot.

10

. Speech by Stalin, 3 August 1917, at the Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party (RSDRP) Sixth Party Congress;

(Moscow, 1958), p. 250.

11

. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 890, l. 8.

12

. For a detailed investigation of these events, including evidence based on recently discovered documents, see V. T. Loginov,

(Moscow, 2010), pp. 261–264.

13

. Statements by Zinoviev and Kamenev on 11 October 1917;

(Moscow, 1958), pp. 87–92.

14

. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 1, d. 66, l. 1.

15

.

p. 115.

16

. R. W. Davies, Mark Harrison, and S. G. Wheatcroft, eds.,

(Cambridge, 1994), pp. 62–64.

17

. Protocols of Politburo meetings; RGASPI, f. 17, op. 3, dd. 1–125.

18

. Letter from Stalin to Lenin and Trotsky, 22 June 1918; RGASPI, f. 558, op. 1, d. 5403, l. 1; Kvashonkin et al.,

p. 40.

19

. Letter from Stalin to Lenin, 7 July 1918; RGASPI, f. 558, op. 1, d. 248, l. 1; I. V. Stalin,

vol. 4 (Moscow, 1954), pp. 120–121.

20

. Telegram from Stalin to Trotsky and Lenin, 11 July 1918; RGASPI, f. 558, op. 1, d. 1812, ll. 1–2; Kvashonkin et al.,

p. 42.

21

. Letter from Stalin to Lenin, 3 October 1918; RGASPI, f. 558, op. 1, d. 5410, l. 1; Kvashonkin et al.,

p. 52.

22

. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 1, d. 5718, ll. 177, 178, 191, 195, 197.

23

. Ibid., ll. 196–198.

24

. Speech by Voroshilov at the Eighth Party Congress in March 1919;

no. 11 (1989): 160.

25

. Letter from Stalin to Lenin, 31 August 1918; RGASPI, f. 558, op. 1, d. 5408, l. 4; Kvashonkin et al.,

p. 46.

26

. I. S. Rat’kovskii,

(St. Petersburg, 2006), pp. 151, 170.

27

.

no. 11 (1989): 157, 168.

28

. Cited in Kvashonkin et al.,

p. 54.

29

. Ibid., pp. 52–53.

30

. I. V. Stalin,

vol. 4 (Moscow, 1947), p. 271.