The complete renewal of the entire party-state apparatus almost did not affect its very top - people who, since the beginning of the 20s, grouped around Stalin, supported him in the struggle against all oppositions, were connected with him by close ties of many years working together and personal, domestic proximity. Keeping them at the helm of power was due to several reasons. First, Stalin had to create the impression that he was relying on the old Bolshevik party. To do this, at the top of the party it was necessary to preserve a group of old Bolsheviks, whom official propaganda created the image of “loyal Leninists” and outstanding political figures.

Secondly, without these people, who possessed considerable political experience, Stalin would not have been able to ensure the leadership of the country in the conditions of the total destruction of party, state, economic and military personnel.

Thirdly, these people were necessary for Stalin so that, relying on their personal authority and the authority of the "Leninist Central Committee", they carried out with their own hands reprisals against the party leadership of the republics, territories and regions. After 1928, Stalin himself never went on working trips around the country. As in the period of collectivization, he sent his closest henchmen there to carry out punitive measures on the ground.

Fourthly, these people shared with Stalin not only political, but also ideological responsibility for the mass terror. Having outlined at the February-March 1937 plenum of the starting principles for the "liquidation of Trotskyist and other double-dealing", Stalin over the next two years did not speak publicly on these issues. His few articles and speeches of 1937-1938, on the contrary, contained statements about the value of every human life, etc. the need for special care and solicitude with the most precious thing that we have - human lives ... These lives are dearer to us than any records, no matter how great and loud these records may be ”. Stalin "entrusted" the ideological substantiation of mass repressions to his "closest associates".

All these considerations explain the fact that the share of repressed members of the Politburo was lower than the share of repressed members and candidates for members of the Central Committee, apparatchiks of all levels and rank-and-file party members.

To ensure the unquestioning obedience of the "closest associates", Stalin collected a dossier on each of them, containing information about their mistakes, blunders, and personal sins. This dossier was replenished due to testimony against the Kremlin leaders obtained in the dungeons of the NKVD. On December 3, 1938, Yezhov sent to Stalin "a list of persons (mainly from among the members and candidates for members of the Politburo - VR), with a description of the materials stored on them in the secretariat of the NKVD." Stalin's personal archive also contains files on Khrushchev, Malenkov, Beria, Vyshinsky prepared by Yezhov's apparatus.

In addition, Stalin "put every member of the Politburo, whenever possible, in a position where he had to betray his yesterday's friends and associates and speak out against them with furious slander." Stalin also tested the obedience of his henchmen by their reaction to the arrests of their relatives. Guided by the same Jesuit goals, he sent people from his inner circle to face-to-face confrontations with their recent colleagues who had been arrested.

Not all members of the Politburo were privy to the most pressing issues associated with the Great Purge. As Molotov recalled, the Politburo always had “a leading group. For example, under Stalin, neither Kalinin, nor Rudzutak, nor Kosior, nor Andreev were included in it. " Officially, this non-statutory "leading group" was formalized by a Politburo decree of April 14, 1937 in the form of a "permanent commission" of the Politburo, which was instructed to prepare for the Politburo, and "in case of special urgency" to resolve "secret issues" itself.

Only the members of this commission (Stalin, Molotov, Kaganovich, Voroshilov and Yezhov) developed the strategy and tactics of the great purge and had a complete idea of ​​its scale. This is confirmed by journals in which the names of all persons who attended Stalin's reception and the time of their stay in his office were recorded. Based on the publication of these records, the historian O. Khlevnyuk calculated that in 1937-1938 Molotov spent 1070 hours in Stalin's office, Yezhov - 933, Voroshilov - 704 and Kaganovich - 607 hours. This time is several times longer than the time allotted for the receptions of the other members of the Politburo.

Stalin allowed Molotov, Kaganovich and Voroshilov (much less often to other members of the Politburo) to get acquainted with the reports sent to him by Yezhov. The first a group of such reports presented lists of people whose arrest required the personal sanction of Stalin. On one of these lists, which included the names of persons who are "being checked for arrest," Stalin left a resolution: "It is not necessary to" check ", but to arrest."

Adjacent to this group of reports were the protocols of interrogations of the arrested, sent to Stalin, with testimony about persons who were still at large. On one of these minutes, Stalin wrote: “T. Yezhov. The persons I have marked in the text with the letters "ar." Should be arrested, if they have not already been arrested. "

The second the group of reports included reports on the progress of the investigation. On such documents, Stalin, Molotov and Kaganovich often left instructions like: "Hit and hit." Having received the testimony of the old Bolshevik Beloborodov, Stalin sent it back to Yezhov with a resolution: “Isn't it time to press this gentleman and force him to tell about his dirty deeds? Where is he sitting: in a prison or a hotel? "

The third the group included lists of persons whose sentences were to be sanctioned by Stalin and his closest henchmen. Some of these lists were called "albums." In the albums, which included 100-200 names, the cases of the accused were summarized on separate sheets. Under each case were imprinted the names of the members of the supreme "troika" - Yezhov, Ulrich and Vyshinsky, as yet without their signatures. Stalin put the number "1" on these sheets, which meant execution, or the number "2", which meant "10 years in prison." The fate of the persons about whom Stalin did not leave such marks, the "troika" disposed of at their own discretion, after which its members signed under each verdict.

In August 1938, Yezhov sent four lists for approval, which included 313, 208, 208 and 15 names (the last list included the names of the wives of "enemies of the people"). Yezhov asked for sanctions for the condemnation of all these people to be shot. On the same day, a laconic resolution of Stalin and Molotov was imposed on all the lists: “For”.

As Khrushchev reported at the XX Congress, only 383 lists were sent to Yezhov, which included thousands of names of persons whose sentences required confirmation by members of the Politburo. Of these lists, Stalin signed 362, Molotov - 373, Voroshilov - 195, Kaganovich - 191, Zhdanov - 177. The 11 volumes of the lists approved by members of the highest party and state leadership include the names of 38848 communists sentenced to death, and 5499 - to imprisonment to prisons and camps.

Thus, the fate of a significant part of the repressed was predetermined by Stalin and his henchmen, and then their decisions were formalized by the verdict of the Troika, the Special Conference or the Military Collegium.

Fourth a group of reports and summaries sent to Stalin by Yezhov and Ulrich contained the results of an accurate bureaucratic account of the number of repressed. So, Ulrich reported that from October 1, 1936 to September 30, 1938, 36,157 people were convicted by the Military Collegium of the USSR Supreme Court and field sessions of the military collegiums on the ground, of which 30514 were sentenced to death.

Stalin personally communicated with the leaders of local party organizations. So, having received a message about a fire at the Kansk mill, he sent a telegram to the Krasnoyarsk Territory Committee: “The arson of the mill, should be, hosted by enemies. Take all measures to disclose the arsonists. The perpetrators are to be judged expeditiously. The verdict is execution. To publish about the execution in the local press (italics mine - V.R.) ”. It is clear that having received such a telegram in the incandescent atmosphere of 1937, the party secretaries, together with the ranks of the local NKVD, did everything to confirm Stalin's "assumptions." In this case, two months later, on charges of setting the plant on fire, its former director, chief mechanic and a group of ordinary workers - only 16 people - were sentenced to death. Three months later, the regional press reported that these persons received 80 thousand rubles from foreign intelligence for setting fire to the plant.

Similar telegrams from Stalin were sent to the regional committees in encrypted form, under the heading “Strictly secret. Making copies is prohibited. Refundable within 48 hours. "

At first, some party secretaries did not believe in the most monstrous directives and turned to Stalin for clarification about them. So, the first secretary of the Buryat regional committee, Erbanov, having received a directive on the establishment of "troikas", sent a telegram to Stalin: "I ask you to clarify whether the troika approved by the Central Committee for Buryat-Mongolia enjoys the right to pass a sentence." Stalin immediately replied: "According to the established practice, the troikas pass sentences that are final."

Thus, only a narrow circle of top party secretaries knew about Stalin's real role in organizing the mass repressions, most of whom soon burned out themselves in the fire of the great purge. Before the party activists in the localities, the “closest comrades-in-arms” sent there by Stalin appeared in the role of supreme punishers.

Describing the moral and political appearance of Stalin's henchmen, Barmin wrote in 1938 that they all “admitted the accusation of espionage and treason, and then the murder one after another of their three or four deputies and their best main employees, not only without trying to protect them, ... but cowardly praising these murders, glorifying the executioners who perpetrated them, preserving their post at the cost of this betrayal and humiliation, buying them their career and their position as the first people in the state ... To our shame and shame, a number of Soviet people's commissars are still in this position, more precisely, those 3-4 of them who at this price bought their re-election to the new cabinet "formed" by Molotov. Only in this way did they escape the fate of their 25 liquidated colleagues. "

Even so, the people who organized and directed the great purge were not originally bloodthirsty monsters. Even Yezhov, as many people who knew him noted, until the mid-30s gave the impression of a gentle and ingenuous person. But all of them were distinguished by spinelessness and obedience, which were not properties of their character, but the inevitable consequence of the breakdown caused by the incessant pressure of Stalin's ruthless will.

Stalin's relations with those close to him fully affected psychological characteristics“Master”, vividly described by Trotsky: “Cunning, restraint, caution, the ability to play on the worst sides of the human soul are monstrously developed in him. To create such an apparatus, it was necessary to know a person and his secret springs, knowledge is not universal, but special, knowledge of a person from the worst sides and the ability to play on these worst sides. You needed a desire to play them, persistence, indefatigability of desire, dictated by a strong will and irrepressible, irresistible ambition. I needed absolute freedom from the principles and needed the lack of historical imagination. Stalin knows how to use the bad sides of people immeasurably better than their creative qualities. He is cynical and appeals to cynicism. He can be called the greatest demoralizer in history. "

These features, which allowed Stalin to organize the greatest judicial forgery and mass murder in history, were, in Trotsky's opinion, inherent in his nature. But "it took years of totalitarian omnipotence to give these criminal features truly apocalyptic dimensions."

Stalin played on the worst sides not only of people who belonged to his inner circle, but also people whom he did not personally know, but who became the executors of his sinister plans. During the years of the Great Purge, an atmosphere of permissiveness was created in the country in the search for "enemies of the people", denunciations and provocations. Anything could be used here - slander, speculation, public insults, settling of personal scores, everything that meant freedom from political principles and moral norms, the absence of moral brakes, the loss of human appearance. People capable of this were personally raised by Stalin on a pedestal. This is evidenced, for example, by his attitude to the Kiev graduate student Nikolayenko, who was glorified by him at the February-March 1937 plenum as “ little man", Who knows how to fearlessly" expose enemies. "

Inspired by Stalin's words, Nikolaenko finally unbelt. So, after a conversation with one of the old Bolsheviks, she locked him with a key and called the NKVD: "An enemy of the people is sitting in my office, send people to arrest him."

Sending Khrushchev to Ukraine, Stalin advised him to use Nikolayenko's help in the fight against the enemies of the people. Having met this person, Khrushchev came to the conclusion that she is a mentally ill person. When, during his arrival in Moscow, he told Stalin about this, he "boiled over and repeated:" 10% of the truth is already true, this already requires decisive action from us, and we will pay the price if we do not act like that. " Only after Stalin received new denunciations from Nikolayenko with accusations against Khrushchev as an "unarmed Trotskyist" did he allow her to be transferred from Ukraine to another place. But even then Stalin "joked", listening to the stories of Khrushchev about the fear that the Kiev communists experienced before Nikolayenko.

As evidenced by Stalin's correspondence with Molotov, even in personal confidential communication between the Kremlin leaders, a kind of tacitly established cipher operated. With indisputable confidence and efficiency, the "leaders" informed each other about the testimony received by the NKVD as absolutely reliable and unquestionable evidence of the guilt of those arrested.

State educational institution higher professional education

SAINT PETERSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY OF SERVICE AND ECONOMY

Institute of CiUSP

Department of "History and Political Science"

ESSAY

DISCIPLINE: National history

TOPIC: Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin and his entourage

Specialty: Social work.

Work completed:

1st year student 30505,З / О

Zhuchkova N.V.

Saint Petersburg

1. Introduction

2. Biography of Dzhugashvili - Koba - Stalin

3. Official reference to a member of the Central Committee

4. Joseph as a child and his first education. Gori Theological School

6. Georgian social democratic organization "Mesame-dasi" in 1898.

7. I.V. Stalin heads the work of the Caucasian Union Committee of the RSDLP

8.In 1917-1922, the People's Commissar for Nationalities

9. The new Secretariat of the Central Committee, formed after the XI Congress of the Party. Lenin Guard

10. Stalinist terror with henchmen

11. Red Army. The Great Patriotic War

12. History reference

13. Opening of the second front in Europe

14. Tehran - 43

15. Victory

18. Strengthening totalitarianism

19. Struggle for power surrounded by Stalin

20. Stalin and the creation of the atomic bomb

21. Death of Stalin.

22. Historical background. General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party 1922 - 1953

23. List of sources used

Introduction

The largest historical personality of the past century Joseph Vissarionovich STALIN, whose life and state activities left a deep imprint not only on the fate of the people of the USSR, but also of all mankind, will be the subject of careful study by historians for more than one century. The biography of Dzhugashvili - Koba - Stalin, a political long-liver of the 20th century, contains an uncountable number conflicting each friend characteristics: where cruel, but also the father's own; the leader of the communist party, authoritarian and ruthless, the leader of a great communist country.

No one can give a better characterization than his contemporaries. His personality spoke for itself.

Stalin's Russia is not the old Russia that perished along with the monarchy. But the Stalinist state without successors worthy of Stalin is doomed ...

Stalin spoke there (in Tehran - Ed.) As a person who has the right to demand an account. Without revealing the Russian plans to the other two participants in the conference, he made sure that they presented their plans to him and made amendments to them in accordance with his requirements. Roosevelt joined him in rejecting Churchill's idea of ​​a broad offensive by Western military forces through Italy, Yugoslavia and Greece to Vienna, Prague and Budapest. On the other hand, the Americans, in agreement with the Soviets, rejected, despite the insistence of the British, the proposal to consider at the conference political issues related to Central Europe, and especially the question of Poland, where the Russian armies were about to enter.

Benes informed me about his talks in Moscow. He described Stalin as a man with restraint in his speeches, but firm in intentions, having in relation to each of European problems his own thought, hidden, but quite definite.

Wendel Wilkie made it clear that Churchill and Harriman returned from their trip to Moscow unsatisfied. They faced the mysterious Stalin, his mask remained impenetrable for them ". (D e Gol l'Sharl. Military memoirs. Book. II. M., 1960, pp. 235-236, 239, 430).

Charles de Gaulle (France).

"Brave, but cautious, easily angry and suspicious, but patient and persistent in achieving his goals. Able to act with great decisiveness or expectant and secretive - depending on the circumstances, outwardly modest and simple, but jealous of the prestige and dignity of the state ... Principled and ruthlessly realistic, decisive in his demands for loyalty, respect and obedience. Sharply and unsentimentally studying people - Stalin could be like a real Georgian hero, big and good friend or an implacable, dangerous enemy. It was difficult for him to be somewhere in the middle between the two. "(Dialogue, 1996, No. 10, p. 74).

George Cannon (USA).

"Stalin preserved Russia, showed what it means to the world. Therefore, as an Orthodox Christian and a Russian patriot, I bow low to Stalin."

Archbishop Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky).

“I came to know JV Stalin close after 1940, when I worked as Chief of the General Staff, and during the war as Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief. JV Stalin made a strong impression. Deprived of posturing, he bribed the interlocutor with the simplicity of communication. Free manner of conversation, the ability to clearly formulate thoughts, natural analytical mind, great erudition and rare memory, even very sophisticated and significant people were forced during a conversation with I.V. . Stalin internally to gather and be on the alert. (...) He knew the Russian language perfectly and liked to use figurative literary comparisons, examples, metaphors. (...) He wrote, as a rule, by hand himself. his amazing efficiency, ability to quickly grasp the material allowed him to view and assimilate so many different facts in a day. ological material that only an extraordinary person could do. It is difficult to say which character trait prevailed in him. A versatile and talented person, he was not even. He had a strong will, a secretive and impetuous character. Usually calm and judicious, he sometimes became irritated. Then his objectivity changed, he literally changed before his eyes, paled even more, his gaze became heavy and hard. I did not know many daredevils who could withstand Stalin's anger and parry the blow. (...) I worked a lot, 12-15 hours a day.

As a military leader, I studied Stalin thoroughly, since I went through the whole war with him. JV Stalin was in control of the organization of front-line operations and operations of front groups and led them with full knowledge of the matter, well versed in major strategic issues ... In the leadership of the armed struggle as a whole, JV Stalin was helped by his natural mind, rich intuition ... He knew how to find the main link in a strategic situation and, seizing on it, counter the enemy, conduct one or another major offensive operation... Undoubtedly, he was a worthy Supreme Commander-in-Chief. " (Zh u to about in GK Memories and reflections. M., 1969, p. 295-297).

Marshal G.K. Zhukov.

“It was a great happiness for Russia that during the years of the hardest trials the country was led by the genius and unshakable commander Stalin. He was the most outstanding person, impressed by our changeable and cruel times of the period in which his whole life passed.

Stalin was a man of extraordinary energy and unbending willpower, harsh, cruel, merciless in conversation, to whom even I, brought up here in the British Parliament, could not oppose anything. Stalin, above all, had a great sense of humor and sarcasm and the ability to accurately perceive thoughts. This power was so great in Stalin that he seemed unique among the leaders of states of all times and peoples.

Stalin made the greatest impression on us. He possessed a deep, non-panic, logical wisdom. He was an invincible master of finding ways out of the most hopeless situation in difficult moments. In addition, Stalin in the most critical moments, as well as in moments of triumph, was equally restrained and never succumbed to illusions. He was an unusually complex person. He created and subjugated a huge empire. This was a man who destroyed his enemy with his own enemy. Stalin was the greatest unparalleled dictator in the world who took Russia with a plow and left it with nuclear weapons. Well, history, people do not forget such people "

Winston Churchill (Great Britain).

“Stalin,” wrote Trotsky, after Lenin’s death, was the main weapon of this coup. He is gifted with practical meaning, endurance and perseverance in pursuing the set goals. His political horizons are extremely narrow. The theoretical level is completely primitive. His compilation book "Foundations of Leninism", in which he tried to pay tribute to the theoretical traditions of the party, is teeming with student errors. Unfamiliarity with foreign languages forces him to follow the political life of other countries only from hearsay. By his mentality, he is a stubborn empiricist, devoid of creative imagination. To the upper layer of the party (in broader circles they did not know him at all), he always seemed to be a man created for second and third roles. And the fact that he is now playing the first role characterizes not him, but rather a transitional period of political slide. " (Leon Trotsky. In memoirs, events covering the period up to 1929. "My life"). Lev Davidovich Trotsky.

2. Biography of Dzhugashvili - Koba - Stalin

Stalin (real name - Dzhugashvili) Iosif Vissarionovich, (born 12/21/1879, Gori, now the Georgian SSR - died 03/05/1953, Moscow). One of the leading figures of the Communist Party, the Soviet state, the international communist and workers' movement, a prominent theoretician and propagandist of Marxism-Leninism. Born into the family of a handicraft shoemaker. In 1894 he graduated from the Gori Theological School and entered the Tbilisi Orthodox Seminary. Under the influence of Russian Marxists who lived in the Transcaucasus, he became involved in revolutionary movement; in an illegal circle he studied the works of K. Marx, F. Engels, V.I. Lenin, G.V. Plekhanov. Since 1898 member of the Central Committee. While in the social democratic group "Mesame-dasi", he propagated Marxist ideas among the workers of the Tbilisi railway workshops. In 1899. expelled from the seminary for revolutionary activities, went into an illegal position, became a professional revolutionary. He was a member of the Tbilisi, Caucasian Union and Baku committees of the RSDLP, participated in the publication of the newspapers "Brdzola" ("Struggle"), "Proletariatis Brdzola" ("Struggle of the Proletariat"), "Baku Proletarian", "Gudok", "Baku Worker". He was an active participant in the Revolution of 1905-1907. in the Caucasus. From the moment the RSDLP was created, he supported Lenin's ideas of strengthening the revolutionary Marxist party, defended the Bolshevik strategy and tactics of the class struggle of the proletariat, was a staunch supporter of Bolshevism, exposed the opportunist line of the Mensheviks and anarchists in the revolution. Delegate to the 1st Conference of the RSDLP in Tammerfors (1905), the 4th (1906) and 5th (1907) Congresses of the RSDLP. During the period of underground revolutionary activity, he was repeatedly arrested and exiled. In January 1912. at a meeting of the Central Committee, elected by the 6th (Prague) All-Russian Conference of the RSDLP, he was co-opted in absentia into the Central Committee and introduced to the Russian Bureau of the Central Committee. In 1912-1913, while working in St. Petersburg, he actively collaborated in the newspapers Zvezda and Pravda. Participant of the Krakow (1912) meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP with party workers. At this time, Stalin wrote the work "Marxism and the National Question", in which he elucidated the Leninist principles for solving the national question, criticized the opportunist program of "cultural-national autonomy." The work was positively assessed by V.I. Lenin. In February 1913. Stalin was again arrested and deported to the Turukhansk region. After the overthrow of the autocracy, Stalin on March 12 (25), 1917. returned to Petrograd, was introduced to the Bureau of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) and the editorial board of Pravda, took an active part in developing the work of the party in the new conditions. Stalin supported Lenin's course towards the development of the bourgeois-democratic revolution into a socialist one. On the 7th (April) All-Russian conference RSDLP (b) was elected a member of the Central Committee (from that time he was elected a member of the Central Committee of the party at all congresses up to and including the 19th). At the 6th Congress of the RSDLP (b), on behalf of the Central Committee, he delivered a political report to the Central Committee and a report on the political situation. As a member of the Central Committee, Stalin actively participated in the preparation and implementation of the Great October Socialist Revolution: he was a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, the Military Revolutionary Center - the party organ for leading the armed uprising, in the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee. At the 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets on October 26 (November 8) 1917. elected to the first Soviet government as People's Commissar for National Affairs (1917-1922); At the same time in 1919-1922. headed the People's Commissariat of State Control, reorganized in 1920. ... People's Commissariat of the Workers 'and Peasants' Inspection (RKI). During Civil war and foreign military intervention 1918-1920. Stalin carried out a number of important assignments of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and the Soviet government: he was a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, one of the organizers of the defense of Petrograd, a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Southern, Western, Southwestern Fronts, a representative of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee in the Council of Workers 'and Peasants' Defense. Stalin proved himself to be a major military-political worker of the party. By decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of November 27, 1919. awarded the order Of the Red Banner.

After we published excerpts from Leon Trotsky's book "Stalin" ("AiF" N 34), the editors received letters with a request to continue publication. We have chosen the part where the characteristics of those who were included in the inner circle of the "leader of all times and peoples" are given. In our opinion, these assessments are of interest not only for professional historians, but also for a wide range of readers.

WHO Nominated the General

VEZ ZINOVIEV'S INITIATIVE Stalin would hardly have become the General Secretary "sup" 1 "/ sup". Zinoviev wanted to use the episodic discussion about trade unions in the winter of 1920/21 "sup" 2 "/ sup" for further struggle against me. Stalin seemed to him, and not without reason, the most suitable person for behind-the-scenes work.

Stalin "sup" 3 "/ sup" is negotiating during this period with representatives of those various national organizations that have recognized the authority of the Soviet People's Commissars and expressed a desire to establish the right relationship with him. For the most part, these were hostile or semi-hostile organizations that maneuvered for the time being, trying to extract for themselves benefits from the regime change. In these negotiations with Muslims and Belarusians, Stalin could not be more in place. He maneuvered against the maneuvers, responded with cunning to cunning and generally did not allow himself to be fooled. It was this quality that Lenin valued in him.

When, at the 11th Congress (March 1921), Zinoviev and his closest friends were running Stalin's candidacy for General Secretaries, with the back thought of using his hostile attitude towards me, Lenin, in a close circle, objecting to Stalin's appointment as General Secretary, uttered his famous phrase; "I don’t advise, this chef will only cook spicy dishes." What prophetic words!

The victory, however, was at the congress, led by Zinoviev, by the Petrograd delegation. The victory was given to her all the more easily because Lenin did not accept the battle. He did not complete the resistance to Stalin's candidacy only because the post of secretary had a completely subordinate significance under the conditions of that time. He himself did not want to attach exaggerated importance to his warning: as long as the old Politburo remained in power, the General Secretary could only be a subordinate figure.

Lenin's health broke down sharply at the end of 1921. For five months he languished, half removed from constant work by doctors, in struggle and anxiety over the disease that was undermining him. In May 1922, Lenin was struck by the first blow "sup" 4 "/ sup". After Lenin's illness, the same Zinoviev took the initiative to openly fight me "sup" 5 "/ sup". He hoped that the ponderous Stalin would remain his chief of staff.

The secretary general went very carefully in those days. The masses did not know him at all. He enjoyed authority only with a part of the party apparatus, but they did not like him there either. In 1924, Stalin hesitated greatly. Zinoviev pushed him forward. For political cover for his behind-the-scenes work, Stalin needed Zinoviev and Kamenev: the mechanics of the "troika" were based on this. Zinoviev invariably showed the greatest ardor: he was towing his future executioner in tow.

In 1926, when Zinoviev and Kamenev, after more than three years of a conspiracy with Stalin against me, went over to opposition to the apparatus, they sent me a number of very instructive messages and warnings.

Do you think, - said Kamenev, - that Stalin is now pondering how to object to you about your criticism? You are wrong. He thinks about how to destroy you, first morally, and then, if possible, physically. Slander, organize a provocation, plant a military conspiracy, or stage a terrorist act. Trust me, this is not a hypothesis; the troika had to be frank with each other, although personal relations even then more than once threatened to explode. Stalin is fighting on a completely different plane than you are "sup" 6 "/ sup". You don't know this Asian ...

Kamenev himself knew Stalin well. Both of them began in their young years, at the beginning of the century, revolutionary work in the Caucasian organization, were together in exile, returned together to St. Petersburg in March 1917, together they gave the central organ of the party an opportunistic direction, which held until Lenin's arrival.

Lenin's arrival prevented Stalin from bringing his policy to the end, that is, to the defeat of the proletariat and the "sup" 7 "/ sup" revolution. Subsequently, Stalin in very ambiguous terms admitted the incorrectness of his position in 1917.

FIRST COMPANIES

Stalin found his most loyal comrades-in-arms, his first comrades-in-arms, in Ordzhonikidze and Dzerzhinsk "sup" 8 "/ sup". Both of them were in their own way under Lenin's disgrace. Ordzhonikidze, with an undoubted will, courage and firmness of character, was a man essentially uncultured and incapable of self-control. While he was a revolutionary, his courage, resolute selflessness outweighed. But when he became a high official, unbridledness and rudeness came to the fore. Lenin, who treated him very warmly in the past, increasingly moved away from him. Ordzhonikidze felt it. The case ended with Lenin proposing to expel Ordzhonikidze for a year or two from the party for abuse of power.

Cooling also occurred between Lenin and Dzerzhinsky. Dzerzhinsky was distinguished by deep inner honesty, passion of character and impulsiveness. Power did not spoil him. But his qualities were not always enough for the tasks that fell upon him. He was a permanent member of the Central Committee, but in the era of Lenin there could be no question of including him in the Politburo. In 1921 or, perhaps, 1922, Dzerzhinsky, extremely proud, complained to me with a note of resignation to fate in his voice that Lenin did not consider him a political figure. I tried, of course, as best I could, to dispel this impression. "He does not consider me an organizer, a state person," Dzerzhinsky insisted. "How do you conclude this?" "He stubbornly refuses to accept my report as People's Commissar of Railways." Lenin, apparently, was not delighted with the work of Dzerzhinsky in this post.

Dzerzhinsky was really not an organizer in the broad sense of the word. He tied employees to himself, organized them with his personality, but not with his method. This was clearly not enough to put the communication lines in order. In 1922, Ordzhonikidze and Dzerzhinsky felt dissatisfied and largely offended. Stalin immediately picked up both of them.

Yenukidze lived in the same Cavalry Corps as we do. An old bachelor, he occupied a small apartment, which in the old days housed a minor official. We often met him in the corridor. He walked overweight, aged, with a guilty look. With my wife "sup" 9 "/ sup", with me, with our boys "sup" 10 "/ sup", unlike other "initiates", he greeted with double friendliness. But politically, Yenukidze followed the line of least resistance. He was equal to Kalinin. And the "head of state" was beginning to understand that power now lies not in the masses, but in the bureaucracy, and that the bureaucracy is against the "permanent revolution", for banquets, for " happy life", For Stalin.

Kalinin himself by this time had become a different person. Not that he greatly expanded his knowledge or deepened his political views; but he acquired a routine " statesman", developed a special style of a cunning simpleton, ceased to be shy in front of professors, artists and, especially, artists.

Kalinin, who knew the recent past too well, did not want to recognize Stalin as the leader for a long time. In other words, he was afraid to associate his fate with him. "This horse," he said in a close circle, "will bring our cart into the ditch someday." Only gradually, groaning and stubbornly, did he turn against me, then against Zinoviev, and, finally, with even greater resistance, against Rykov, Bukharin and Tomsky, with whom he was most closely connected by his moderate tendencies. Yenukidze went through the same evolution, following Kalinin, only more in the shadows and, undoubtedly, with deeper inner experiences. By all his character, the main feature of which was soft adaptability, Yenukidze could not help but find himself in the camp of Thermidor. But he was not a careerist and even less a scoundrel.

To bind Yenukidze tighter, Stalin introduced him to the Central Control Commission, which was called upon to monitor party morality. Did Stalin foresee that Yenukidze himself would be prosecuted for violating party morality? Such contradictions, in any case, never stopped him. Suffice it to say that the old Bolshevik Rudzutak, arrested on the same charge, was for several years the chairman of the Central Control Commission, that is, something like the high priest of party and Soviet morality.

Through a system of communicating vessels, I knew in last years my life in Moscow, that Stalin has a special archive, which contains documents and evidence discrediting rumors against all, without exception, prominent Soviet leaders. In 1929, during an open break with the right-wing members of the Politburo, Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsk. Stalin managed to keep Kalinin and Voroshilov on his side only with the threat of defamatory revelations.

As soon as Stalin concentrated the party springs in the army in his hands, he hastened to transfer Voroshilov from the North Caucasian Military District to Moscow, to Muralov's place. So he got in Moscow the most devoted military commander to him.

CANDIDATES FOR SUCCESSORS

The question of a successor is undoubtedly very active in the Kremlin circles. According to the official position, Molotov is the first candidate. He has stubbornness, narrow-mindedness and hard work. In the last quality he differs from Stalin, who is lazy. Molotov's ambition stems from his origin: it began to unfold after he unexpectedly climbed to a great height in Stalin's tow. He writes like a senior clerk and speaks like that; and he stutters a lot. But he managed to work out a big administrative routine and knows how to play the keyboard of the device.

The Leningrad governor of Stalin, Zhdanov, was also named abroad as a candidate for successor. This new person without the traditions of the Stalinist school, that is, from the category of administrative dodgers. His speeches, like his articles, have traits of banality and cunning. If Stalin created an apparatus, then one cannot expect his own thoughts from him. If Stalin was created by the apparatus, then Zhdanov was created by Stalin.

Hardly anyone seriously thinks of Voroshilov as Stalin's successor. An old Bolshevik, member of the Politburo and head of the army, Voroshilov is still a decorative figure, like Kalinin. Both of them have mastered the turns of speech and gestures corresponding more or less to their position. Voroshilov is more resolute and firmer, Kalinin is more flexible and cunning. Both are devoid of political physiognomy and do not enjoy authority in the upper layer of the apparatus.

It is also impossible to see a successor in Lazar Kaganovich, who has the main qualities of the Stalinist school: decisiveness, narrow-mindedness, cunning. But in his face, perhaps, the banality of the present Politburo finds its complete and vulgar expression.

"sup" 1 "/ sup" Stalin's candidacy was proposed by Kamenev, although it is possible that he discussed it with Zinoviev.

"sup" 2 "/ sup" The discussion about trade unions, which, incidentally, was initiated by Trotsky, was by no means "episodic", but was extremely important in the transition of the party, the country as a whole, from the military to a peaceful track.

"sup" 3 "/ sup" As a People's Commissariat.

"sup" 4 "/ sup" In modern terminology - stroke.

"sup" 5 "/ sup" Trotsky is clearly flattening his personal responsibility for aggravating the situation within the Political Bureau and the Central Committee.

"sup" 6 "/ sup" And here Trotsky deliberately "ennobles" the means and methods of his counter-activity against Stalin. In addition, behind references to Kamenev, who had already been shot by that time, Trotsky tried to transfer to the 1920s the methods that Stalin began to use in the 1930s.

"sup" 7 "/ sup" Stalin did not set such a goal for himself neither in March - April 1917, nor later, in the 1920s.

"sup" 8 "/ sup" The following characterization of the two leading figures of our party is a typical example of Trotsky's falsification technique, which he used to cast a shadow on those whom he considered his opponents.

"sup" 9 "/ sup" N. I. Sedova (1882-1962).

"sup" 10 "/ sup" From his marriage to Sedova, Trotsky had two sons: the eldest, Lev, who helped him in his third emigration (he died in 1938 after stomach surgery in a Paris hospital). and the youngest - Sergei, who remained in the USSR (he was arrested in 1935 and soon shot; now he is rehabilitated).

N. VASETSKY, Doctor of Historical Sciences.

Roy Medvedev

Stalin's inner circle

FOREWORD

This book sets out seven short biographies, seven political portraits of people who were at different times in Stalin's inner circle: Molotov, Kaganovich, Mikoyan, Voroshilov, Malenkov, Suslov and Kalinin.

One may ask - why, out of the multitude of people who at different times stood in close proximity to Stalin and had great power, did I choose the above seven names? Why don't I paint portraits of R.K. Ordzhonikidze, S.M. Kirov, A.S. Yenukidze and others who, with all their shortcomings, were the best part of Stalin's inner circle in the late 1920s and the first half of the 1930s? Why, on the other hand, do not I include in my book political biographies such people as N.I. Yezhov, L.P. Beria, R.G. Yagoda, A.N. Poskrebyshev, L.Z. Mekhlis, A. Ya. Vyshinsky and others, who constituted the worst part of Stalin's assistants and close associates?

My answer is simple. All of the people listed above, whose portraits are absent in our essay, died or died during Stalin's life, or survived him for a short time. I wanted to trace the political and personal fate of those who joined the party and began their political career during Lenin's lifetime, successfully continued it under Stalin, but survived the terrible Stalinist era and was an active political figure during Khrushchev's time. Some of these people still lived during the Brezhnev era, and some of them even survived Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko. All of them have played an important role in our history. Two at different times headed the Soviet government (Molotov and Malenkov). Two at different times headed the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (Voroshilov and Mikoyan). Three occupied at different times the second place in the party hierarchy (Kaganovich, Malenkov and Suslov). All of them sat for decades in the Politburo, in the Council of Ministers of the USSR, and their decisions directly or indirectly affected the fate of millions of people. But their own destiny also reflected history, reflected the various epochs experienced by our country. It was precisely these people that Stalin relied on, they were necessary for him to establish a totalitarian dictatorship, but they also needed him in order to retain their share of influence and power. This makes them typical representatives of the Stalinist system.

None of the people depicted in this book can be called, in fact, an outstanding political figure, although they played important roles on the stage of the historical stage. But they were not the directors or scriptwriters. Molotov was not a diplomat - I wanted to say: a real diplomat - although he held the post of foreign minister for many years. Voroshilov was not a real commander, although he commanded armies, fronts, and even groups of fronts. Suslov was not a real theorist or ideologue of Marxism, although he held the position of the party's “chief ideologist”. Malenkov was highly experienced in hardware intrigues, but inexperienced in real state activities... Kaganovich changed many of the highest positions, but he never learned to write competently - not even a simple letter or note. Only Mikoyan can be ranked somewhat higher in intelligence than others. However, he was only a semi-intellectual, who knew the limit better than others, going beyond which meant death for him.

In addition, it was a very unfriendly team, they were all at enmity with each other. But Stalin did not want to have a friendly team around him. He appreciated other things than people from his immediate circle possessed. Almost everyone we will talk about here were not only diligent and energetic workers themselves, but also knew how to make their subordinates work, using mainly methods of intimidation and coercion. They often argued with each other, and Stalin encouraged these disputes, but only following the principle of "divide and rule." He allowed some "pluralism" in his environment and benefited from mutual disputes and hostility among members of the Politburo, as this often allowed him to better formulate his own proposals and ideas. Therefore, at discussions in the Politburo or the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the party, Stalin was usually the last to speak. His closest assistants only learned to assent to him and could carry out any, even the most criminal order of the leader. Anyone who was not capable of crimes was not only removed from power, but also physically destroyed. It was a special selection, and the seven people we have listed passed it more successfully than others. These people embarked on the path of rebirth at a time when revolutionary firmness was turning into cruelty and even sadism, political flexibility into unscrupulousness, enthusiasm into demagoguery.

All these people were corrupted by Stalin and the conditions of their era. But they were corrupted not only by the tremendous power that they themselves possessed and from which they could no longer refuse, but also unlimited power the leader, in whose submission they were and who could at any time destroy each of them. Not only ambition, vanity, but also fear drove them from crime to crime. None of the people in the book were born criminal or villainous. However, the conditions in which the Stalinist regime set them do not absolve these closest aides of Stalin from responsibility.

The selection of people to govern the country did not depend on just a whim or a whim of Stalin. These people tried to distinguish themselves in front of him and provide the "product" that he needed so much. But it was a special "sport" or competition, because these people had to walk over the corpses of other people - and not only the real enemies of the party and the revolution, but also those whom they falsely represented as enemies.

In many ways, people from Stalin's entourage were similar. But in many ways they were different. Some of them could carry out any, the most unjust and inhuman order, realizing its cruelty and "not experiencing pleasure from it." Others gradually became involved in crimes and turned into sadists who received satisfaction from their monstrous orgies and bullying of people. Still others turned into fanatics and dogmatists, forcing themselves to sincerely believe that everything they do is necessary for the party, the revolution, or even for a "happy future." But whatever the types, forms and motives of behavior of people from Stalin's entourage, in any case, we are talking here about those whom neither our country, nor the Communist Party, nor mankind can be proud of.

And yet their fate is instructive and therefore of considerable interest to the historian, who cannot choose his characters only out of a feeling of sympathy or antipathy. In addition, it is necessary to draw some lessons from history, the main one of which is, of course, that in the Soviet Union such democratic mechanisms should finally be created under which people like Stalin and most of the leaders from his entourage will never could be in power.

Compiling a biography of even the most famous political figures in our country is not an easy task, because the most important aspects of their activities are kept in deep secrecy. They wanted fame and fame, they encouraged their "small" personality cult, but did not want the public to know the real facts of their political biography and personal life. They made politics in offices behind many doors, they rested behind the high fences of state mansions, they tried to leave as few documents as possible, which would make it easier for a historian to reconstruct the past. Therefore, I apologize in advance to the readers for possible inaccuracies and thank you in advance for any comments and additions. I am especially grateful to those who helped me in the most early stages this work, materials for which I had to collect for many years.

The first edition of this book was published in 1983 in England, then it was translated into

06-07-2008

[Short review"Forbidden" literature]

Oddly enough, but it was the Russian "reformers" in the 90s that revived interest in the figure of Stalin. And this is despite the fact that most Russians know that the social experiment started by the Bolsheviks cost the peoples of the country millions of human lives.

Especially a lot of controversy is caused by the question of the attitude of the "leader of the peoples" to the Semitic tribe. Meanwhile, Stalin's position in relation to the Jews is not as simple as it seems at first glance. To say that Stalin was simply an anti-Semite and wanted to destroy the entire Jewish people is to say nothing. Moreover, this is not true. But the current reasoning in the media is just that. In reality, everything was far from so and much more complicated than it seems at first glance. But in order to at least a little bit to understand what was happening, one should turn not only to the “canonical” literature, but also to works that for some reason are classified as “anti-Semitic”.

In particular, I have in mind the publications of Sergei Semanov, Vladimir Bondarenko and some other authors, the reaction to whose works by some researchers is sharply negative. Thus, it turns out that the majority of ordinary readers have no idea what is being published in the world today on issues of interest to them, and are entirely guided only by the opinions of those who consider themselves the only "interpreters" of these problems. And these people are sometimes merciless. I personally experienced their anger in connection with the publication of discourses about the books of Burovsky, Vikhnovich, Strelnikov and some other researchers who consider the history of the Jews of Russia from somewhat different positions that do not coincide with their opinion, and therefore they are classified as “anti-Semitic” by them. However, let's turn to some of these books and articles, and the reader will determine for himself whether they can be considered "seditious."

The list of sources is given in the text.

EXTRACT FROM TWO DOCUMENTS.

FROM THE INTERVIEW OF THE WRITER SERGEY SEMANOV WITH THE CONSUL GENERAL OF ISRAEL IN MOSCOW ARIE LEVIN. JULY 1991

Two words about you and your family.

In 1924 my parents left Ukraine for Israel, then it was Palestine. But the circumstances were such that they ended up in Iran.

I was born there. We lived in Tehran, in the Russian - Jewish community, and had many Russian friends. Everyone in our family spoke Russian. I was taught the Russian language from childhood, instilled a love of Russian literature ...

What are the main areas of your activity in Moscow?

It is important to understand that Israel has never been an enemy of the USSR, an enemy of the Russian people. On the contrary, in spite of everything, hostility towards the USSR was never shown in Israel. Israel did not participate in alliances against the USSR. It seems to me that there is no second country where such sincere feelings to the USSR, as in Israel. Come to visit us, and you will be able to make sure of this….

Queues at the Consulate: what does it mean, what are the results?

In the USSR, the Jews, it seems to me, feel the absence of their own national culture. Jewish culture was banned for many years, it was a long period semi-official anti-Semitism. All this creates a collective memory among the people, Jews think about the future of their children. Israel is an independent Jewish state, where a Jew is a full-fledged citizen ...

What is the impact of Russian culture on the culture of your country?

Russian culture deeply influenced the formation of the Israeli intelligentsia. The works of the largest Russian writers have been translated into Hebrew, they are studied at school. National Israeli poets Bialik and Chernyakhovsky, immigrants from Russia, worked under the great influence of Russian culture. Our political system has absorbed the ideas of leaders who came from Russia. These are President H. Weizmann, premieres Ben - Gurion, Sharet (Chertok), L. Eshkol (Shkolnik). Habima, our national theater, was created under the influence of Vakhtangov, Stanislavsky. A. Beck's book "Volokolamsk Highway" was a reference book and textbook in our military schools. Israeli culture has close contact with the culture of Russia. This connection is emotional and deep ... ”.

More than a decade and a half have passed since the publication of this interview.

I think that ties with Israel have become even larger and closer.

DATA OF SOCIOLOGICAL SURVEYS ON THE ROLE OF STALIN IN THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA.

Famous Russian historian Kirill Aleksan
Drov, a leading expert on the history of anti-Stalinist movements in Russia, in one of his articles for the American newspaper Russkaya Zhizn published the data of a sociological survey on the role of Stalin in the history of the country. According to these data, Stalin is considered "the most outstanding politician in the history of Russia in the twentieth century" by up to 48% of the respondents - all other political and historical figures are left far behind, including Marshal Zhukov. In the mass consciousness, Aleksandrov notes, Stalin is perceived as a political leader who “took the country with a plow and left with atomic bomb”And ensured the victory in 1945. Only 31% of citizens perceive Stalin as a cruel and inhuman tyrant, 29% of respondents believe that Stalin's main deed is victory in the war, and it is through the prism of victory that the role of the Generalissimo in history should be assessed.

21% of those polled called Stalin a "wise leader" who led the USSR to power and prosperity.

One of the Duma deputies, Vladimir Ryzhkov, commented on the results of the poll very succinctly: "This is sheer madness." For what I have brought these two different documents, which at first glance are not connected at all. This was done on purpose. First of all, in order to show those who today are trying to confront Israel and Russia that this attempt is simply hopeless. The connections between them are so deep that it is simply impossible to separate them. These countries are part of a single cultural whole. This is the first thing. Now, secondly. As Kirill Mikhailovich Aleksandrov quite rightly notes, the growth in society of an unconscious longing for "the leader and father" should be considered not only as a consequence of the historical illiteracy of the majority of citizens Russian Federation... No and no again! This is an indicator of complete alienation from everything that the so-called. "Right-wing forces" in Russia. It is also an indicator of the attitude towards inconsistency and Putin. But in fairness, we note that this inconsistency can be explained by the obstacles to reforms that he encountered inside the country, including those of the very "right-wing forces", and in the international arena - with those who support them there. And if in historical memory of the people, Stalin remained just like that, then, most likely, there was something that contributed to this. Therefore, it makes sense to pay attention to one of the most painful problems - Stalin's attitude to Jewry.

The examples and facts below show that not everything was as simple as they are trying to explain to us today. For this purpose, we use the work of Sergei Semanov "Russian - Jewish showdown", the publication of AS Chernyaev "On the Old Square. From the diary entries ", the article by A. V. Golubev" Welcome or entry for strangers is prohibited ": on the question of the closed nature of the interwar Soviet society", and a number of other studies.

JEWS IN THE STALINIAN LEADERSHIP

Analyzing the composition of Stalin's entourage from the very early period of his activities, you notice a very interesting detail: most of those with whom he had to work were either Jews or were married to Jewish women. An amazing thing, actually! Moreover, in the family of the leader himself and many of his associates there were many persons of Jewish origin. Here is some very interesting data. As of April 26, 1923, members of the highest sovereign body in the country - the Politburo - were G. Zinoviev, L. Kamenev, V. Lenin, A. Rykov, I. Stalin, M. Tomsky, L. Trotsky - candidates N. Bukharin, F. Dzerzhinsky, M. Kalinin, V. Molotov, J. Rudzutak. In total, twelve people. There were only three Jews, so to speak, "according to the passport" Zinoviev, Kamenev, Trotsky .. Dzerzhinsky, according to Semanov, was a Pole.

His mother was a Polish noblewoman. The father is a Jew baptized into Catholicism.

His wife is Sofia Muskat, a Warsaw woman from a wealthy Jewish family. Lenin's grandfather was a baptized Jew - Alexander Dmitrievich Blank. Molotov was married to a Jew. She was an influential party dame with whom he lived all his difficult destiny. Rykov and Kalinin married Jewish women in a second marriage.

(According to my information, Kalinin's wife was an Estonian V.L.). All three of Bukharin's official spouses (from two of them he had a son and a daughter) were Jewish (According to my information, Bukharin's first wife was Russian). Subsequently, a significant number of people close to Stalin were also linked by marriage with representatives of the Jewish tribe. Many of these wives were modest housewives (Voroshilova - Gorbman), others were notable at one time active
Itzami (Markus - Kirov, Pearl - Molotova, Kogan Kuibysheva, etc.). Interesting story happened to Stalin's personal secretary and assistant Poskrebyshev. The famous writer Galina Serebryakova told A.S. Chernyaeva about her.

She said: “In the 30s,“ his own story ”happened to him. Suddenly, his wife was arrested - Bronya, a beautiful woman who worked as a doctor in the Kremlin hospital. Poskrebyshev rushed to Stalin - on his knees ... He told him: “Give it up. Forget it, otherwise you will feel bad. " Returning home, Poskrebyshev found a "huge Latvian" in the apartment. She rose to meet and said: "I am commanded to be your wife." And he lived with her for about 30 years, had a daughter. "

Add to this the fact that Poskrebyshev's first wife was the sister of the wife of Trotsky's son Sergei. Sergei and his wife were killed .. Such a relationship with Trotsky was clearly not to the liking of the leader. Y. Sverdlov was very close to Stalin before his early death, then L. Kaganovich, E. Yaroslavsky, Mekhlis and many other political figures. But for others, he began to harbor a fierce hatred, which was especially clearly manifested in the era of the so-called. fight the opposition. And Semanov believes that it was not Stalin's anti-Semitism, but a fundamentally different approach to the problems being solved.

Analyzing the documents related to the tyrant's activities, you begin to understand that from a certain time he began to highlight not the interests of the so-called. world revolution, and the Soviet Union. Consequently, patriotic politicians began to be promoted to leading positions. Trotsky's supporters - Ioffe, Pyatakov, Radek, Rakovsky and many other companions-in-arms of Lenin viewed Russia only as a springboard for the world revolution. “In the minds of these people, even the question of“ homeland ”did not arise, only the place of residence changed (“ the proletariat has no homeland! ”) While the goal remains unchanged (“ world revolution ”). Their leader Trotsky, having traveled half the globe, wherever he lived! For him to move from Europe to Canada or then from Norway to the then inconceivably distant Mexico, etc. - all this was just a movement in space and nothing more ... Yes, the difference between rivals in the struggle for power ... it was impossible not to notice ... ", - Sergei Semanov notes .. Because of this alone, Stalin and his supporters, who had never been in exile, were very suspicious of those who spent half their lives abroad.

Already at the beginning of the 1930s, there were practically no Bolsheviks who had emigrated either in the Politburo or in key positions in the government. The exception was Litvinov. Stalin, in a conversation with the German writer E. Ludwig (making an exception for Lenin), said that the Bolsheviks who did not emigrate, "of course, had the opportunity to bring more benefits to the revolution than the emigrants who were abroad" and added that out of 70 members of the Central Committee no more than three or four lived in exile. In 1935, at a meeting with the leadership of the Institute of World Economy and World Politics, the Chairman of the Party Control Committee Yezhov said bluntly, “he does not trust political emigrants and those who have traveled abroad.” But the Jews Kaganovich, Mekhlis and others, like Molotov and Andreev, considered Russia their homeland and did not think of themselves outside of it. So they became allies of the new leader. It was by order of the head of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army LZ Mekhlis on October 10, 1941, the slogan in the military newspapers "Workers of all countries, unite" was replaced by another "Death to the German invaders." And the definition of the Soviet - German war as "the great patriotic" (and it was written in the beginning - with a small letter) belongs to E. Yaroslavsky.

So he called her on the second day of the war.

It should be noted that already in the pre-war period, this turn led to the flourishing of national culture, to the development of which patriotic Jews made a huge contribution. It was then that the song of Lebedev - Kumach - Dunaevsky sounded "The song helps us to build and live", "He who seeks, he will always find." The song "Kakhovka" by Svetlov (Shenkman) has become a classic. And Blanter's lovely Katyusha, which sounds to this day!

The list goes on and on. Patriotic representatives of a number of other professions were also in demand. “In this field,” Semanov writes, “Jewish energy has generally found a worthy application. Let us recall Vannikov, Zaltsman, Ioffe and many and many others, they, together with the Russian people, built ... an industry. Stalin, as it were, switched the destructive spirit of revolutionary Jewry in Russia to
positive deeds in the economic sphere. " But at the same time, during the war there were enough cases of anti-Semitism. So, in 1943, its legendary editor David Ortenberg - Vadimov and many journalists were removed from the "Krasnaya Zvezda" - the central newspaper of the army. In the same year, a mass purge of Jews began in the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army. This happened in the same year, when the Comintern was disbanded and the "Internationale" was no longer the anthem of the USSR. Apparently, Stalin was haunted by the international ties of Jewry, which especially expanded with the creation of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. But this is still an assumption. It still needs to be proved. But the events of the post-war period were explained by other reasons.

POST-WAR ANTI-JEWISH POLICY OF STALIN.

After the war, Stalin's anti-Jewish policy reached its climax. In part, this was due to the rise of Jewish patriotism in connection with the creation of the State of Israel. As Semanov notes, this manifested itself even among the Jewish elite. Pearl Karpovskaya - Pearl, Molotov's wife, maintained a very close relationship with Golda Meir, who called her the faithful daughter of the Jewish people. Even Voroshilov's wife, Golda Gorbman, who has never been featured anywhere, said that "Now we have a homeland." This became known to the leader of the peoples. And then the author of the cited book reports on the peculiar environment of E. Alliluyeva, Pavel's wife, brother of Stalin's late wife Nadezhda: “I. Goldstein, theater critic L. Shatunovskaya and her husband, physicist Tumerman, wife of Deputy Defense Minister Khrulev E. Gorelik, assistant to Mikhoels, philologist Z. Grinberg, and others ... " were her friends. Naturally, Jewish issues were raised repeatedly in conversations. In addition, Stalin's daughter was also married to a Jew and had a son from him. Yes, and the wife of the deceased Yakov, the leader's daughter-in-law, turned out to be Jewish and gave birth to a granddaughter to Stalin even before the war.

Malenkov had an interesting relationship. His only daughter was married to V.M.Shomberg, the grandson of the famous revolutionary, and then the head of the Profintern, the Sovinformburo, Deputy Foreign Minister, a member of the EAC A. Lozovsky (Dridzo), who was then involved in the EAC case. Malenkov, after the arrest of Lozovsky, insisted on the divorce of his daughter from the arrested politician's grandson. On December 10, 1947, E. Alliluyeva was arrested. A little later, the Deputy Minister of the Textile Industry D. Khazan, the wife of a Politburo member and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers A. Andreev, was removed from his post. A number of top executives were removed from their posts Jewish origin... At the same time, for some reason, today they name only Zaltsman, the director of the Chelyabinsk Tank Plant. although he was not the largest figure. There were more significant ones. In June 1950, the director of the aircraft plant in Saratov I. Levin, the deputy minister of the aviation industry S. Sandrets, the director of the aircraft engine plant Zhezlov, the director of the Institute of rocket technology L. Honor, the director of the Moscow plant "Dynamo" N. Orlovskaya and many and many others were fired. The cultural sphere has also been "cleaned up". Semanov tries to explain this by the growing sympathy of Jews for the state of Israel. For law enforcement and political bodies, he notes, this testified to the unreliability of Jewry in general. This was one of the reasons for the massacre of the remaining Jews.

After Stalin's death, there was some liberalization. And first of all, this was evidenced by the termination of the investigation and rehabilitation in the "case of doctors", who had previously been tried to blame not only the preparation of terrorist acts, but also the connection with world Zionism (that is, the indictment was prepared with a nationalist motive). The rehabilitation of doctors was a signal to end the anti-Semitic campaign Khrushchev, who replaced Stalin, according to Semanov, also did not like Jews. He unconditionally supported the Arabs in their "struggle against world Zionism." There were no longer any Jews in the highest party and government positions under him. Moreover, there were unspoken, but well-known to everyone, and rather strict restrictions on the admission of Jews to scientific or educational institutions related to the defense industry, some military schools, as well as to the ideological faculties of Moscow State University, Leningrad State University and a number of other major universities. Even the “fifth point” declared in the questionnaire was sometimes checked with considerable care. This, naturally, was a violation of human rights. And many Russian people, especially among the intelligentsia, sympathized with the Jews. The era of Brezhnev is considered liberal. His wife, Victoria Pinkhusovna Goldberg, according to Semanov, may have even been a relative of Zinoviev. It was rumored that it was at her request that the Secretary General canceled the collection of fees for education from Jews leaving for Israel. The cited author also claims that Suslov, Ponomarenko and Kapitonov (the entire ideological elite of the party) were also married to Jewish women. Regarding Suslov, I was told the same by G.V. Kostyrchenko, a prominent specialist in the history of Russian Jewry, whom I absolutely trust. Andropov, who came after Brezhnev, as his biographers now claim, is undoubtedly of Jewish origin. I would like to conclude the article with the arguments of the famous Russian writer Vladimir Bondarenko, who was also ranked among the host of “anti-Semites”.

So, in an article under the shocking title "A Jew is not a Jew, a Russian is not a cattle" he writes: chemistry, in the creation of yarrow weapons. History connects the incompatible, and unexpectedly for the peoples themselves, the red Jewish messianism ... created the best intelligence in the world ... and Russia was placed at the center of this world system, acquiring an unprecedented sovereignty and the role of a superstate ... We cannot find a new idea of ​​world domination could, the Russian national idea does not need "the Turkish coast and we do not need Africa". With the rejection of the Jewish red superstate, perhaps, Russia began to roll back to regional positions. But this leap into the future, this breakthrough into the world space was carried out by Russia, precisely by the Russian people involved in Jewish space messianic projects. It was carried out on Russian blood and on Jewish blood ... Jewish boys lit the fire of the world revolution to establish the Russian superpower. And this was not a deception of either the Jews or the Russians. It was the most ambitious project in world history ... ".

Note that this tirade followed the words of Mark Rudinstein, a famous Russian filmmaker, who said: “I have a sense of guilt towards this state. Jewish sense of guilt. " This is how the editor of Literaturnaya Rossiya speaks, whom some Russian leaders undoubtedly refer to the host of “anti-Semites”. I will keep my opinion to myself. Although the reference to the works of the named authors speaks for itself. But the last word must be said by the reader. I understand that this is not easy. The arguments of the authors that I have cited are more complicated, more ambiguous than those that their opponents operate on. Therefore, they are perceived more difficult. But all the same, they encourage discussion, the search for truth. And this is important. And there is no need to be afraid that much of what the researchers cited by me write about is rejected by us. It's not scary. It is more important to find something that contributes to the unification of people, the growth of their mutual understanding. After all, the fate of Jews and Russians was and is still common. This should be the starting point. So the Jewish problem is so complex that we will have to return to it more than once if we want to get acquainted with the true history of Russian Jews.