DOCUMENT 59

Letter and supporting materials from Dimitrov to Merkulov requesting a review of the cases of E. O. Valter, A. L. Khigerovich (Razumova) and seventeen arrested political emigres.

 

TO COMRADE MERKULOV.[i]

(To the commissionof c[omrades] Merkulov, Bochkov, Shkiriatov.)

 

Dear comrade Merkulov,

I entreat you to have the commission review, along with the list of arrested political émigrés submitted by me, the cases of Valter, Elena Osipovna, and Khigerovich, Anna Lazarevna (Razumova). Both are the former ECCI workers. [Please review] as well the case of Drenowski, Emil Dragovich (he was a commander in the Inter[national] Brigade in Spain), and Cavalli, Adolf (an Italian political émigré, f[ormer] member of the CP of Italy).

Attached to this letter please find information on 16 [sic--15] more political émigrés, whose cases should be reviewed based on what we know about them.

 

With comradely greetings,

/G. DIMITROV/.

 

28 February 1941.

71

Enclosure:  1) Information about Valter, E. O., Khigerovich [Anna Rzumova], A. L., Drenowski, E. D. and Kavalli, A.

2) Information on 15 arrested political émigrés.

 

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VALTER, Elena Osipovna.[ii]

(maiden name – BRAVERMAN).

Born in 1898 in Minsk, she is a white-collar worker. She joined the VKP(b) in 1919. Between 1919 and 1922, she worked as a chief clerk in the Gubrevkom,[iii] the headquarters of the 16th Army, the Political Department of the Western front and in the NKID.[iv] Between 1922 and 1930, she stayed abroad with her husband. From 1931 to October 1938, she worked in the ECCI, including 4 years in the Secretariat of the ECCI’s General Secretary.

She was arrested by NKVD organs in October 1938. On 17. 1. 1940, she was sentenced by the Special Council of the NKVD of the USSR and exiled for 3 years to the Krasnoiarsk krai.

On 25. 6. 1940, c.c. G. DIMITROV and D. MANUILSKY forwarded Valter’s letter to c. BERIA and petitioned to review her case.  There has been no reply.

 

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Secret.

INFORMATION.

KHIGEROVICH, Anna Lazarevna (RAZUMOVA)[v] –

She was born in 1899 in Minsk into the family of a military conductor (he died in 1932 while holding this position in the RKKA[vi]), Jewish, a white-collar worker. She graduated from high school in 1917. In 1929-1930, she attended courses of Marxism. She joined the VKP(b) in 1918.

WORK EXPERIENCE:

In 1917 and early 1918, she was a librarian in the Society for Spreading Enlightment among the Jews in Leningrad. She was fired for refusing to boycott the October Socialist revolution.

In 1918-1919, she was a head of the agit[ation] and recruitment department of the Gatchina military commissariat. After the merging of Gatchina with Detskoe Selo, she was head of the Department of Agitation and Education of the Political Department of the Gatchina zone of the Northwest RR [railroad]. Before the liquidation of the Yudenich front, she was an intelligence officer for the special detachment of the 6th Division, 7th Army. She was a member of the bureau of the railroad party cell of the Gatchina goods yard, later of the repair shops of the Gatchina-Warsaw [line].

In 1920-1921, she was in Leningrad as the head of the Cult[ural] Department of the local committee of the Railroad Workers Union of the N[orth]w[estern] RR, a member of the rev[olutionary] com[mittee] during the Kronstadt  rebellion, [and] a mem[ber] of the bureau of the [party] cell of the Petrograd railway repair shops (the Warsaw RR).

In 1921-1922, she worked as an instructor and later as a head of the Cult[ural] Department of the Railroad Workers Union of the N[orth]w[estern] r[ail]w[ay] in Leningrad.

In 1922-1923, she was elected a mem[ber] of the local committee of the Railroad Workers Union in Rybinsk and sent to Rybinsk as a head of the Cult[ural] Department. At the guberniia congress of Soviets, she was elected a mem[ber] of the Guberniia Executive Committee and the deputy Chairman of the commission to fight famine. Later she was named head of the Gub[erniia] Women’s Department where she worked until the liquidation of Rybinsk guberniia.

In 1923-1924, she worked in Orel as the head of the Cult[ural] Department of the guberniia union and the Union of Educational Workers. She was elected a member of the Gub[erniia] Council of the Educational Workers Union, and later elected a mem[ber] of the Regional Committee of the VKP(b) and named the head of its Agitation and Propaganda Department, [and] a member of the Regional Committee’s bureau. At the same time, she was member of the bureau of the [party] cell of the twine factory.

In 1924-1925, she worked in Ufa as a deputy head of the Agitation and Propaganda Department of the VKP(b) oblast committee, a member of the oblast committee, a member of the bureau of the [party] cell of the r[ail]r[oad] of the Ufa repair shops. She was elected a member of the purge commission for the [party] cells of the ser[vice] railroad.

In 1925-1926, she worked in Moscow as a head of Political Department for schools in the Agitation and Propaganda Department of the Sokolnichesky district committee of the VKP(b). At the same time, she was a member of the bureau  and later secretary of the SONO[vii] [party] cell.

In 1926-1927, she worked in Tashkent as a deputy head of the APO for Propaganda of the Central Asian Bureau of the CC VKP(b), a member of the bureau of the railroad [party] cell.

In 1927-1928, she worked in China on assignments for the ECCI’s Intern[ational] Women’s Secretariat[viii] as an instructor on women’s work.

VII. 1928 – 1931, she worked in Moscow as an analyst in the ECCI apparatus, first, in the International Women’s Secretariat, later as an organizational analyst in the Eastern Secretariat. She was a member of the bureau of the [party] cell, a women’s activist, [and] the chair of the Inspection Commission.

VI. 1931 – II. 1936, she was in France on assignment for the ECCI.

III. 1936 – XI. 1936, she worked in Moscow in the ECCI as an analyst in the Secretariat of com. Manuilsky, and conducted work in KUTV in 2 national groups.

            XI. 1936 – IV. 1937, she was in France and Spain on assignment for the ECCI.

V. – IX. 1937, she worked in Moscow in the ECCI apparatus as a political assistant in the Secretariat of com. Manuilsky. She also conducted party propaganda work.

X. 1937 – IV. 1938, she was a secretary of the editorial board of the “Kom[munistichesky] Internatsional” magazine.

She conducted work on the liquidation of the SRs in Rybinsk in 1922-1923. She struggled actively against the Trotskyist opposition in Orel in 1923-1924, against the Leningrad opposition in Moscow in 1925-1926, [and] against the Trotskyists and the rightists in the ECCI apparatus in 1929.

In 1937, her former husband (in the years 1923-1925), RAZUMOV, M. O., who was a former secretary of the East-Siberian oblast committee of the VKP(b), was arrested by NKVD organs. In connection with this, the VKP(b) party committee of the ECCI apparatus reviewed the case of KHIGEROVICH, A. L. and in VIII. 1937 resolved that there was no evidence that she had been connected to or shared the Trotskyist ideas of the now exposed and arrested enemies of the party.

In its decision, the party committee, basing itself on the unverified information that ABUROV[ix] was a Trotskyist and was arrested by NKVD organs, resolved that KHIGEROVICH, A. L.,  while having intimate relations with him in 1928 in China and in the USSR, failed to assist in the unmasking of ABUROV.

Later it turned out that that this information was incorrect and that ABUROV, a VKP(b) member, was still a propaganda worker in the Rostokino district committee of the VKP(b) in Moscow.

In late December 1937, KHIGEROVICH, A. L. wrote a statement to the VKP(b) party committee of the ECCI apparatus regarding  her relations with MITKEVICH, O. A. (a former member of the party committee, and later Director of the Plant No. 22), who was arrested by the NKVD. She got to know her in 1928, during their work in China, and later, in III. 1936 – V. 1937, she lived in her apartment in the government house. She also informed [the party committee] that, in late 1937, her brother’s wife was arrested by the NKVD for allegedly crossing the border illegally.

All her brothers and sisters are still members of the VKP(b) and the Komsomol.

KHIGEROVICH, A. L. was arrested by the NKVD in IV. 1938.

 

DEPUTY HEAD OF THE ECCI’s CADRES DEPARTMENT:

Belov /BELOV/.

“27” February 1941

3 cop[ies] ak.

<…> Blagoev<…>

 

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Secret

INFORMATION.[x]

DRENOWSKI, Emil Dragovich (Iovanovich, Yanko Pavlov; Uroshevich, Dushan; Daskal; Yankovich; Dragutin) was born in 1901 in Serbia in the family of an artisan (village blacksmith), a Serb by nationality. He has a higher education, graduated from the Higher Pedagogical school in Yugoslavia, studied for one year in the KUNMZ graduate school, and for several months in the MLSh. He joined the CP of Yugoslavia in 1922. From 1919, he was a member of the Komsomol of Yugoslavia.

The ECCI’s Cadres Department possesses the following information about the work of Drenowski, E. D. in the CP of Yugoslavia.

From 1919 to 1922, he worked in student organizations in Yugoslavia, distributed flyers and other revolutionary literature for the Young Commun[ist] League.

In 1922, being a school teacher, he joined the CPYu and worked among teachers and peasants in the countryside.

Between 1923 and 1925,  [because he had] a high school education, he served in the Yugoslav army in the school of the reserve officers.  After 6 months, he was expelled from this school for a lack of discipline and was transferred to a mounted regiment as a rank-and-file soldier. In the army he continued his work as a communist, although he did not maintain connections with the party.

Between 1925 and 1927, he worked as a teacher in the countryside and disseminated communist literature among teachers and the peasantry. In 1927, he was removed from teaching [after being] accused of insulting the king and of anti-governmental activities. He was not tried for lack of evidence.

Between 1928 and 1935, he was re-established in the teacher’s position (after an appeal), and worked to rebuild the party organization in the countryside. He was a party organizer, secretary of the regional [party] committee, member of the district[xi] committee (in the towns of Bogatich and Shabats).

In 1935, he went underground and was sent to study in the USSR. Going underground and coming to the USSR were caused by the exposure of the party organization in Shabats and Bogatich. This exposure resulted from him (Drenowski) passing on [information on] addresses and secret meeting places to a person who was later arrested. [He did this] with the sanction of the party organization, while in Belgrade in 1933.

In 1932, Drenowski, E. D. met with S. Markovich[xii] (from the group of the rightists in the CPYu, arrested by the NKVD), [and] received from him materials on the agrarian and national question for distribution. Drenowski, E. D. explains that he did not know that, at that time, S. Markovich had already been working against the CPYu, [and that] he thought that he had connections with the CC CPYu.

Com. Shpiner[xiii] (currently working in the International Publishing House[xiv]) confirmed that the CC CPYu was aware of this fact, but nobody accused Drenowski of being tied to Sima Markovich.

Between 1935 and 1936, Drenowski studied in the USSR. He received a positive reference from the KUNMZ.

In the late 1936 (in October), he was assigned to group “A.”[xv] In Spain, he was a commander of the Slovenian company, participated in battles, was injured and lost his right arm.

He received a positive reference from Spain. In 1937, on 16 May, Drenowski, E. D. returned to the USSR where he worked in the ECCI’s Cadres Department and later in the International Publishing House.

In 1938, Dragachevaz[xvi] (expelled from the CPYu and arrested by the NKVD) sent a statement to the ICC accusing Drenowski of sympathizing with the f[ormer] rightists in the CPYu[xvii] and, in particular, of friendly relations with Kreschich[xviii] [and] Sandanskij[xix] ([both] arrested by the NKVD). Drenowski declared this statement by Dragachevaz [to be] slander. Belich Milan[xx] and Shpiner also confirmed that this was a slander. Regarding this statement, the latter wrote to the ECCI’s Cadres Department the following: “The statement of Dregachevats against Drenowski reflects the dissatisfaction of Dregachevaz himself, as well as that of Berger[xxi]  and Richter[xxii] with their situation (both were expelled from the CPYu and arrested by the NKVD) which they, for some reason, relate to Drenowski. Second, it reflects the continuing factional struggle in the CPYu, whose center is represented by Andrej[xxiii] (also arrested by the NKVD).”

In 1938, Drenowski, E. D. was arrested by the NKVD.[xxiv]

 

DEPUTY HEAD OF THE ECCI’s CADRES DEPARTMENT:

Vilkov /VILKOV/[xxv]

HEAD OF THE BALKAN COUNTRIES GROUP:

Vladimirov /VLADIMIROV/.[xxvi]

“21” February 1941

2 cop[ies] gm.

 

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Secret.

INFORMATION.[xxvii]

CAVALLI, Gaetano (alias Partelli, Adolfo Domenico, Gino Spartaco) was born in 1898 in Vallstania, Vichenza province (Italy), in a worker’s family. He himself was a mason.

From 1919, he was a member of the Socialist Party of Italy.

In 1921, he joined the CP of Italy.

In 1922, he emigrated to France for economic reasons. In Meurthe et Moselle,[xxviii] he was a leader of the group of Italian political émigrés.

In 1924, he went to Switzerland for economic reasons. There he also conducted work among the political émigrés.

In 1927, he returned to France from which he was expelled in 1929 for revolutionary activities. After that he lived in Belgium for some time and, in 1931, he went to Luxemburg from which he was also expelled. In 1932, he lived for 7 months, until his departure for the USSR, in Zurich, Basel and in Germany.

In November 1933, with the consent of the CP of Italy, he went to the USSR and was sent to conduct work in the Crimea. In the Crimea, he worked in the kolkhoz “Sacco and Vanzetti.” During his work in the kolkhoz, he received bonuses several times. In [his] personal file there is a recommendation by c. Gallo[xxix] for his transferal to the VKP(b).

In July 1938, Cavalli was arrested by NKVD organs.[xxx]

 

SOURCE: MATERIALS FROM THE P[ERSONAL] FILE.

/BLAGOEVA/

/BOGOMOLOVA/.

__. II. 1941.

 

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KURSHNER, Karl Filippovich (GARAI, Karl).[xxxi]

He was born in 1899, a Hungarian, a Soviet citizen, an economist-journalist by trade.

He joined the CP of Hungary in 1918. Between 1921 and 1923, he was a member of the CP of Czechoslovakia; between 1923 and 1929, he was a member of the CP of Germany. After 1929, again [became] a member of the CP of Hungary.

Until 1923, he conducted Komsomol work. Between 1923 and 1929, he worked in the Berlin embassy. In 1929, he was sent to conduct work in the country [Hungary]. In July 1929, he was arrested and sentenced to 2 y[ears] and 2 m[onths] in prison. After being released, he conducted underground work as a Secretary of the Budapest committee of the CP of Hungary and later, as a member of the Secretariat of the CC CP of Hungary. In 1932, he went to the USSR with the party’s consent.

While in Moscow, he worked in the Institute of the World Economy and as an editor-in-chief of the DZZ.[xxxii]

Com. GERE has given him a positive reference.

In February 1938, [he] was arrested by NKVD organs and accused of being part of the counterrevolutionary organization of E. VARGA (a candidate ECCI member and a member of the Academy of Sciences).

In March 1940, the Procurator of the M[oscow] M[ilitary] D[istrict] closed the case for the lack of evidence, and Kurshner was released. However, in July 1940, he was arrested again, since the Procurator of the USSR annulled the decision of the Procurator of the MMD and re-opened the old case.[xxxiii] In September 1940, the Special Department of the NKVD of the USSR sentenced Kurshner to 8 years in the corrective labor camp. The indictment again mentions participation in the counterrevolutionary organization of E. Varga.

 

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INFORMATION

ROZVAN, Evgeny Georgievich[xxxiv] was born in 1878 in Transylvania in a petty-bourgeois family, a lawyer.

He was a member of the Soc[ialist] Party of Hungary in 1903 – 1919, a member of the Socialist Party of Romania in 1919 – 1921, and member of the CP of Romania from 1921.

In 1929, he was expelled from the CP of Romania for opportunist mistakes, however, after his appeal, the ICC decided, on 16. IV. 1934, to readmit [him] “for lack of grounds for expulsion.”

In the country [Romania], he conducted active revolutionary work. He was arrested several times.

He came to the USSR in 1931 and worked in the Institute of the World Economy and the World Politics in Moscow.

A representative of the CP of Romania in the ECCI gives a positive evaluation of Rozvan’s revolutionary activities.

On 14. V. 1939, we forwarded to the Procurator of the USSR (under our No. 465) a statement by Rozvan’s wife, in which she asked for a review of her husband’s case, along with information from the ECCI’s Cadres Department.[xxxv]

On 7. V. 1940, in its letter No. 50, the Cadres Department sent materials about Rozvan in response to an inquiry from the Head of the 3rd Department of the GUGB[xxxvi] of the NKVD of the USSR.

On 23. V. [19]40, we sent under No. 465/30, in addition to the materials forwarded by the Cadres Department to the Head of the 3rd Department, nine references about Rozvan, including one by c. VARGA, a member of the Academy of Sciences and a candidate member of the ECCI. All of them give the most positive evaluation of him as an honest and loyal worker. There has been no reply.

 

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SHALAI-PAL[L]OSH, Margarita Frantzevna.[xxxvii]

She is a widow of c. Imre SHALAI,[xxxviii] one of the founders and prominent leaders of the CP of Hungary, who was hanged in 1938 [sic--1932] in Hungary.

She joined the CP of Hungary in 1918, and the VKP(b) in 1935. During the Soviet power in Hungary, she worked as a secretary to the leader of the Cheka.[xxxix] Later she worked as a Secretary of a communist newspaper in Vienna and in the Foreign Bureau of the CC CP of Hungary. In 1934, she came to the USSR. Here she studied and worked in the ECCI’s Press Department, [as well as] in various Soviet organizations and in the Political Department in Ukraine.

In February 1936, she was arrested by NKVD organs in the Odessa region.

Com. GERE gives her the following evaluation:

“…Judging from [our] common work with Pallosh (in 1920-1921) and my personal knowledge of her and c. Shalai, I have the impression that Pallosh is an honest Communist. I never had the slightest reason to suspect her of being an enemy, or even of disagreeing with the party line. On the contrary, I knew her as a person completely loyal  to the cause of Communism, to the cause of the party.” Com. Gere also points out that she conducted a systematic struggle against B. Kun.

On 19. X. [19]39, we forwarded to the Procurator of the USSR a letter by cit[izen] Lantos,[xl] asking to review the Pallosh’s case, accompanied by information from the ECCI’s Cadres Department. There has been no answer.

 

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28 February 1941

Kelen, Iosif Sigizmundovich.

A Hungarian, he was born in 1892. A Soviet citizen. He joined the S[ocial] D[emocratic] Party of Hungary in 1916, the CP of Hungary in 1918. In 1922, he was admitted to the VKP(b) retroactive to 1917. After the fall of Sov[iet] power in Hungary, he was sentenced to life in prison. He came to the USSR in 1922, after an exchange of political prisoners.

Kelen is a highly qualified engineer of electrical power stations. For his work in this area, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in Labor.

In January 1938, he was arrested by NKVD organs and sentenced to 10 years [in prison] without the right to correspondence.[xli] The materials that the Cadres Department possesses on Kelen characterize him positively.[xlii] Kelen is positively characterized by c.c. Rakosi,[xliii] Feinberger, [and] Zoltan.[xliv] E. Varga [and] Gere gave him an excellent reference on 26. 12. [19]40, No. 1018. The Secretariat of G. Dimitrov forwarded to the Procurator of the USSR a letter from his mother accompanied with the information from the ECCI’s Cadres Department. There has been no reply from the Procurator.[xlv]

 

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POLONI Franz.

He was born in 1899[xlvi] in Hungary. A Hungarian, he was a metal worker. He joined the CP of Hungary in 1918, and the VKP(b) in 1922.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for Komsomol activities.

He came to the USSR in 1922 after an exchange of political prisoners.

In March 1938, he was arrested by NKVD organs.

On 29. XI. [19]39, we forwarded to the Procurator of the USSR a letter from cit[izen] Miklosh, who petitioned for a review of the case of [her] husband, Poloni, and information about him from the Cadres Department (our No. 858).

On 17. XII. [19]39, we received an answer from the Secretariat of the Office of the Procurator of the USSR (No. 1/1097) informing [us] that the case of F. Poloni was being held for verification by the Procurator of the MMD, and that they would inform us about the result [of this verification] when appropriate.[xlvii]

Until now, there has been no reply.

 

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SHAFRANKO, Emanuil Stepanovich.

He was born in 1890 in the Carpathian Ukraine. A Slovak, a worker. He joined the CP of Slovakia in 1920, [and] was a member of the CP of Czechoslovakia between 1921 and 1931. In 1931, he joined the VKP(b).

He was an active party and trade union worker, worked as a Secretary  of the red trade unions of the Carpathian Ukraine, was a secretary of a CPCz regional committee, a communist deputy in the Czechoslovak Parliament, and a member of the CC CPCz. For his revolutionary activities, he was arrested and imprisoned several times. In 1930, the CC CP of Czechoslovakia sent him to the USSR. Here he was admitted as a political émigré.

K. GOTTWALD,  Secretary of the CP of Czechoslovakia and an ECCI Secretary, gave Shafranko a positive reference as an active party member.

While in the USSR, [Shafranko] studied in the Institute of Red Professors of the World Economy and World Politics.

In 1938, he was arrested by NKVD organs and sentenced to 8 years [in prison].

On 28. XII. [19]39, we forwarded a letter a letter from Shafranko’s wife, who petitioned for a review of his case, and information from the ECCI’s Cadres Department to the Procurator of the USSR. There has been no answer.

 

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Rudnitsky, Kalman Noevich.

He was born in 1904 in Latvia. He is a Jew, a worker. He was a member of the Russian Komsomol between 1918 and 1920, a member of the CP of Latvia from 1929. In 1920, he and his family moved to Latvia. He was arrested two times for his communist activities. He spent 4 years in prison.

In 1934, he returned to the USSR. He worked in the auto plant in Gorky.

In 1937, he was arrested by NKVD organs and condemned to the supreme penalty. In his letter, No. 42434 of 31. 8. 40, the Deputy Procurator, in response to the letter from Dimitrov’s Secretariat, No. 110 of 23. II. 40, conveyed that “he was sentenced on the basis of unverified and unconfirmed information.” The Office of the Procurator of the USSR sent the case of Rudnitsky to the Latvian SSR for verification. There has been  no answer.

 

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FALK, Franz (RAITMAN, Heiza).[xlviii]

He was born in 1901, worked as a white-collar worker. Between 1918 and 1932, he took an active part in the communist movement of Austria and Germany. He was a member of the CC of the Komsomol of Austria in 1923-24; from 1925 to 1932, he worked in the foreign [department] of the MOPR. Between 1932 and 1933, he was a member of the CC CP of Austria.

In July 1935, in accordance with the decision of the CC CP of Austria, he came to the USSR. He worked as an editor in the DZZ in Moscow.

In February 1938, he was arrested by NKVD organs and sent to a corrective labor camp for 10 years.

On 27. IV. [19]39, we forwarded, under No. 432, a letter from his wife,[xlix] who petitioned for a review of  Falk’s case, and information from the Cadres Department to the Procurator of the USSR.

On 28. X. [19]39, in his No. 27133, the Procurator of the USSR requested information about Falk, F. F.

On 29. X. [19]39, under No. 432, com. DIMITROV sent a reply to the Procurator of the USSR with the information from the Cadres Department attached.

On 31. I. [19]41, on the orders by com. DIMITROV, a positive reference for Falk, F. F., given by the representative of the CP of Austria,[l] was sent to the Procurator of the USSR under No. 53.

Reportedly, the case of Falk is being held by the Chief Military Procurator.[li]

 

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SILADYI, Emil Albertovich.

In 1919, being very young, he actively participated in the Komsomol movement, and later in the Independent Socialist Workers’ Party of  Hungary.[lii] He came to the USSR in 1927. He worked on a number of enterprises as a worker-designer.

In 1936, his documents and the party card were stolen, for which he was demoted from a VKP(b) member to a candidate member.

The ECCI Cadres Department’ file on Siladyi contains rather positive references [for him] by comrades VARGA, GRAINER, I.[liii] (a VKP(b) member from 1925, deputy head to the editor-in-chief of “Socialist Transport” magazine), and by GERE.

Com. VARGA characterizes Siladyi as absolutely honest and devoted to the revolution and the Soviet Union.

Com. GRAINER was with him in prison in Budapest in 1919 and points out that Siladyi, despite harsh torture, behaved impeccably and served as an example to other inmates. After 1927, Grainer met him several times in Moscow and characterizes him as an honest and good Soviet citizen.

On 11. V. 1940, we forwarded a statement by Siladyi’s sister, accompanied by information from the ECCI’s Cadres Department, to the Military Procurator of the M[oscow] M[ilitary] D[istrict] c. Ankudinov.[liv]

On 15. X. 1940, we received a reply from the Military Procurator of the MMD informing us that Siladyi had pleaded guilty.

 

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Volmero, Alceo (Fattori, Luigi)[lv]

He was born in 1896 in Italy. He is an Italian, a worker.

A member of the Soc[ialist] Party of Italy from 1920?

He joined the CP of Italy in 1921.

In 1931, he worked in the underground apparatus of the CP of Italy.

In 1932, he was arrested by the police.

In 1933, the leadership of the CP of Italy sent him to the USSR.

Between 1933 and 1938, he worked at the auto plant in Gorky.

The delegation of the CP of Italy and the ECCI S[ecreta]ry, com. Ercoli, gave a positive reference for Volmero. He was arrested by NKVD organs of the USSR in January 1938.[lvi]

On orders from c. Dimitrov, a letter from Albertini, L. P.,[lvii] who petitioned for a review of Volmero’s case, was forwarded [to the Procurator General of the USSR] on 15. 8. 40 under No. 734. According to the reply from deputy Pr[ocurato]r [General] of the USSR of 24. X. 1940, under No. 50745, Volmero, A. was convicted of espionage. He pleaded guilty. His guilt is confirmed by the accomplices. There are no grounds for reviewing the case.

 

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VAGI, Stefan Frantsevich.

He was born in 1883 in Hungary. A Hungarian, he is a construction worker. He joined the S[ocial] D[emocratic] Party between 1902 and 1924. A member of the CP of Hungary from 1925.

[He was] an active participant in the Hungarian revolutionary movement. During Soviet power in Hungary, he was a member of the directorate and a political commissar in the Red Army. He was arrested several times for his revolutionary activities, and spent 7 1/2 years in prison altogether.

He came to the USSR in 1932. He worked in the Profintern until its reorganization.

The representative of the CP of Hungary in the ECCI, c. Gere, wrote in his reference of 18. 1. [19]40 that “Stefan Vagi is a prominent figure in the Hungarian workers’ movement. He played an especially prominent role in the years following the fall of Soviet power in Hungary… He was a leader of the Hungarian workers’ movement… Vagi is still one of the most popular figures in the Hungarian workers’ movement, the most popular after com. Rakosi. B. Kun hated Vagi, persecuted and badgered him. It is not impossible that Vagi became a victim of B. Kun’s intrigues.”

Vagi, Stefan, was arrested on 21. III. [19]38 by NKVD organs and convicted.[lviii]

On 31. II. [19]39, we forwarded a letter from Vagi’s wife, along with information from the Cadres Department to the Procurator of the USSR.

Given the existence of a number of positive references Vagi, com. DIMITROV addressed the Procurator of the USSR on 4. II. [19]40 asking for a review of the case of Vagi, Stefan.

In a letter of 25. VII. [19]40, under No. 4-55382, the Procurator of the USSR comunicated that “The case of Vagi, S. F. has been reviewed. Vagi pleaded guilty. Besides, his guilt is confirmed by the evidence [given] by Rakowitch[lix] and Koroli-Mat. I find no grounds to review the case.”

 

 

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SEIKELI, Ludwig Mikhailovich.

He was born in 1901 in Hungary. He was a member of the S[ocial] D[emocratic] Party between 1917 and 1919. In 1919, he joined the CP of Hungary and, in 1927, the VKP(b). He is a worker-shoemaker. He worked most recently in the foreign censorship department in Glavlit.

C. Gere, the Representative of the CP of Hungary in the ECCI, knows Seikeli from his work in Hungary and, in his reference of March 1940, wrote that Seikeli worked actively, that there was no basis to doubt his personal and political honesty, and that at that time, he accomplished several party assignments in which he could be tested. He [Gere] knows nothing about his work in the USSR.

In the files of the Cadres Department, there is a positive reference [for Seikeli] written by the secretary of the Glavlit party committee on 21. V. [19]37.

In March 1938, Seikeli was arrested by NKVD organs, accused of c[ounter]r[evolutionary] activities, and sentenced to 5 years in a labor camp.[lx]

On 17. II. [19]39, on orders from c. DIMITROV, a letter from Seikeli’s wife, along with information from the Cadres Department, was forwarded to c. Vyshinsky. On 5. IX. [19]39, a reply was received from the Procurator of the USSR, c. Pankratiev, stating that Seikeli had been exposed by the testimony of witnesses, and that there was no reason for reviewing his case.

On 15. III. [19]40, a letter from Seikeli, L. M., was received, in which he writes about his innocence, and that he had signed the examination record after being subject to physical methods of pressure.

In connection with this statement, a letter signed by c. DIMITROV was sent to the Procurator of the USSR asking to review again the case of Seikeli. In his reply of 12. XII. [19]40, com. Bochkov informed that the case had been reviewed again and that he found no reason to contest the OSO decision. He based it [his decision] on the fact that Seikeli had connections to foreigners most of whom were later arrested, and that he was repeatedly engaged in anti-Soviet conversations.

 

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ELLINEK, Hans.

He was born in 1906 in Vienna. A radio engineer, he joined the CP of Austria in 1927. Between 1931 and 1934, he worked on special assignment from the CP of Austria in the special apparatus in Vienna.

In late 1934, he came to the USSR with the party’s consent. Between 1934 and 1938, he worked in factory No. 203 in Moscow.

The CC CP of Austria gave a positive reference of G. Ellinek’s activities and considers him to be a reliable party member who fought for the CC line against the factionists and Trotskyists.

On 10. X. 1938, he was arrested by NKVD organs and sent for 6 years into administrative exile to a corrective labor camp.[lxi]

On 14. XII. 1938, [we] sent a letter, No. 1165, to com. Beria, L. P., along with a letter from Erna Ellinek and information on Ellinek, Hans, from the ECCI’s Cadres Department.

On 31. I. 1941, on orders from com. G. M. DIMITROV, a letter, No. 53, was sent to the Procurator of the USSR with a reference for Ellinek, Hans, by the leaders of the CP of Austria asking to review his case.[lxii]

There has been no answer.

 

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KOMOR-KATSBURG, Imre Maksimovich.[lxiii]

He was born in Hungary. He is a Soviet citizen, a journalist. He was a member of the CP of Hungary between 1918 and 1925, a member of the VKP(b) between 1925 and 1933, and a member of the CP of Hungary in 1933-1935.

In the country [Hungary], he conducted active revolutionary work. He was arrested several times and, in 1922, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. In 1924, he came to the USSR after an exchange [of political prisoners].

Between 1926 and 1927, Komor worked for the Foreign Committee of the CC CP of Hungary in Moscow. In 1927-33, Komor again worked in Moscow.

In 1933-1935, Komor worked for the CC CP of Hungary which was dissolved in 1936 by the decision of the ECCI’s Secretariat for sabotaging the implementation of the decisions of the VII Comintern Congress, for gross violation of the rules of conspiracy, for clamping down on self-criticism, and for the presence of Hungarian police agents in the CC.

However, it is clear, from ECCI apparatus documents, that when KOMOR learned about the behavior of the Hungarian delegation (Kun and Gross) at the VII Congress and about [their] sabotage in implementing the decisions of the VII Congress, he informed the ECCI leadership about it.[lxiv]

The representative of the CP of Hungary in the ECCI thinks that “Komor has serious shortcomings, that he is a rather light-minded and somewhat superficial man…, but an honest communist and a talented person… He conducted a decisive struggle against the Trotskyist-Bukharinist gang.”

He was arrested in July 1937[lxv] by NKVD organs and, on 23. X. 1939, the Special NKVD Council sentenced him to 8 years in a corrective labor camp for participating in the rightist-Trotskyist organization.

For more than two years, the case of Komor-Katsburg was under investigation. The Military Board of the Supreme Court of the USSR heard this case three times, and each time it remitted it for further inquiry. As stated in the letter from the Deputy Procurator of the USSR of 19. IX. [19]40, No. 61419, Komor-Katsburg “has been exposed by testimony of Kreichi,[lxvi] Bela Kun, Ersh,[lxvii] Magyar, and others.”

The reference letter from the Cadres Department of 15. IV. 1940 points out that Komor-Katsburg “in his speeches at the sessions of the CC CP of Hungary in December 1935, and at the meetings with c. Ercoli in March 1936, criticized the sectarian policies of Kun and Gross in the CP of Hungary, and their unscrupulous behavior at the VII ECCI Congress.”

We sent exhaustive information about Komor-Katsburg on 14. XI. [19]39, 21. XI. [19]39, and on 17. IV. [19]40 under No. 991.

In his reply of 19. XII. [19]40, No. 61419, the Deputy Procurator of the USSR indicated that there was no reason to review the case, and the complaint remained uresolved.[lxviii]

 

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KUTLU, Ali-Geidar Yusufovich (EROL)[lxix]

He was born in 1909 in Turkey; he is a worker. Between 1927 and 1935, he lived in the USSR. A member of the CP of Turkey from 1935. In 1937, the party leadership sent him again to the USSR.

In his letter of 16. 5. [19]40, the Representative of the CP of Turkey in the ECCI, characterized Kutlu as a good conspirator and as an honest person devoted to the proletariat’s revolutionary cause.

In 1937, he was arrested by NKVD organs and, on 20. V. [19]38, sentenced by the Military Tribunal of the Transcaucasian Military District to 20 years in a corrective labor camp.

In our letter of 4. 6. [19]40, No. 448, to the Procurator of the USSR, we raised the question of the possibility of reviewing the case of Kutlu, A. G.[lxx]

The Procurator of the USSR, in a letter, No. 52671, of 30. X. [19]40, communicated that, after the protest by the Office of the Procurator, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the USSR reversed the verdict of the Transcauc[asian] M[ilitary] D[istrict] and closed the case. However, despite this decision, Kutlu still remains in prison.

 

RGASPI, f. 495, op. 73, d. 107, ll. 23-24, 27-34, 36, 41-56.

Original in Russian. Typewritten.

 

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[i] Vsevolold Nikolaevich Merkulov (1895-1953).  A VKP member from 1925 and of its CC from 1939-1952.  After 3 February 1941, he was the USSR People's Commissar of State Security.  From 20 July 1941, he was the First Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, and head of the Chief Administration of State Security (GUGB).  Between 14 April 1943 and May 1946, he was the USSR People's Commissare of State Security.  Arrested following Beria's fall in 1953, on 23 December 1953, he was sentenced to death by the Special Board of the Supreme Court of the USSR.

[ii] This reference was written, at Dimitrov’s request, by the ECCI’s Cadres Department, and was sent, along with E. Valter’s letter, to L. Beria on 25 June 1940.

[iii] Gubrevkom – Russian abbreviation of Gubernsky revolutsionny komitet (Gubernia Revolutionary Committee). (Trans.)

[iv] NKID – Russian abbreviation of the Narodny Commissariat Inostrannykh Del (People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs). (Trans.)

[v] Information about A. Khigerovich (Razumova) was prepared, at Dimitrov’s request, by the ECCI’s Cadres Department in three copies. Two copies were sentto the Secretariat to be sent to V. Merkulov.  For more on her case, see "The Case of Anna Razumova" below.

[vi] RKKA – Russian abbreviation of the Raboche-Krestianskaia Krasnaia Armiia (the Worker-Peasant Red Army). (Trans.)

[vii] SONO – probably, Sokolnichesky otdel narodnogo obrazovaniia (the Sokolnichesky District Department of Education).  Sokolnichesky was a district of Moscow. (Trans.)

[viii] International Women’s Secretariat (renamed the ECCI Women’s Department on 15 May 1925) existed between 1920 and November 1935.

[ix] Mikhail Zakharovich Aburov. Born in 1901, he joined the RKP(b) in 1919. In 1918-1919, he served in the Red Army. After 1926, he worked in the Comintern as the deputy head of the Eastern Department. A member of the KIM’s Executive Committee, he was its representative in China between 1927 and 1928. After 1933, he worked in the Far East as the head of an MTS and was the secretary of the VKP regional committee.

[x] Information about Drenowski was prepared, at Dimitrov’s request, by Vladimirov (V. Chervenkov),  the ECCI Cadres Department’s analyst for the Balkan countries, and was sent to Dimitrov’s Secretariat.

[xi] Okrug in the text. (Trans.)

[xii] Sima Markovich.  Born in 1888 in Serbia, he had a Ph.D. in mathematics, and was a professor. He joined the Social Democratic Party of Serbia in 1907, and the CPYu in 1919. In 1919-1923 and in 1926-1928, he was the First Secretary of the CPYu. In 1920, he was a deputy in the parliament. He was a delegate to the 3rd Comintern Congress; at the 5th Congress in 1924, he was elected a candidate member of the ECCI. In 1929, he was removed from the CC CPYu and expelled from the party; in 1935, he was readmitted. He was arrested several times. In 1930, he was banished forever to Sandzhak. In August 1935, he entered the USSR illegally using an Austrian passport. After 1 November 1935, he worked as senior researcher in the Institute of Philosophy of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. On 20 July 1938, he was arrested; on 19 April 1939, the Military Board of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced him to be shot.

[xiii] Boian Shpiner (real name – Ivan Kara-Ivanov) (1889-1960). A member of the CPBul from 1918, and a member of its CC from 1923. He participated in the 1923 armed uprising. After the suppression of the movement, he emigrated to Vienna, where he was a member of the Foreign Bureau of the CPBul. In 1926, he emigrated to the USSR and joined the VKP. Between 1927 and 1937, he worked in the ECCI apparatus. In 1929-1934, he conducted underground work for the ECCI’s OMS. In 1935-1937, he was an analyst in the ECCI’s Cadres Department. After the arrest of his brother and sister, Khristo Genchev and Nevena Gencheva, he went to work in the Foreign Workers Publishing House as head of the Bulgarian section. Between 1943 and 1945, he conducted underground work in Iraq. In 1945, he returned to the USSR and later left for Bulgaria. On 1 May 1945, following a dispute with the CPBul leadership, he emigrated to Yugoslavia. In Yugoslavia, he was elected member of the CC CPYu and a member of parliament.

[xiv] The Cooperative Foreign Workers Publishing House was located in Moscow on the 25-letia Oktiabria (now Nikolskaia) street. It was financed by the Comintern.

[xv] Refers to the Comintern-sponsored training and transit to Spain of political émigrés from different countries who served in the International Brigades that defended the government of the Spanish Republic during that country’s civil war.

[xvi] Dragochevaz (real name – Kosta Novakovich) was born in 1881, a journalist. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Serbia from 1907; he was a member of the CPYu between 1919 and 1932. He was the CPYu representative in the ECCI in 1927-1928. In the 1930s, the worked in Berlin on various Comintern assignments. In 1932, he was expelled form the party for factional struggle and violations of the rules of secrecy (the expulsion was confirmed by the ICC on 28 December 1932). Despite his repeated appeals to the ICC and to Dimitrov, his requests for readmission to the party were denied. He worked in the MOPR Executive Committee as an analyst in the Balkan sector. At the 7th Comintern Congress, the CPYu delegation appealed for his readmission to the party. On 9 April 1938, Dimitrov asked V. Florin to speed up the review of Dragochevaz’s case. At the 27 February 1938 ICC meeting, Dragochevaz’s expulsion was re-confirmed. He was arrested on 19 July 1938. On 19 April 1939, the Military Board of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced him to be shot.

[xvii] On 28 March 1938, Dragochevaz sent a statement to the ICC regarding Drenowski (a worker in the Organizational Committee (OC) of the ECCI). On 3 April, the ECCI Secretary, V. Florin, sent a note to the head of the OC: “We are sending you Dregochevaz’s statement regarding the OC worker Drenowski.” On 14 May 1938, the OC head Andreev replied to Florin: “Regarding Dragochevaz’s statement about the OC worker Drenowski, we have conducted an investigation which did not prove the accusations brought by Dragochevaz.”

[xviii]Kreschich (real name – Georgij Zviich).  Born in 1906 in Zagreb. A journalist, he joined the Social Democratic Party of Yugoslavia in July 1917. He was a member of the CC of the CPYu (in 1919-1920, 1923, 1926). After 1921, he conducted underground work. Between 1924 and October 1926, he worked as an analyst for the Balkan countries (Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Albania) in Vienna’s TASS office. In 1928, he returned to Yugoslavia and was arrested. In 1935, he was relieved of his party job. In 1938, he was arrested and later repressed.

[xix] Nikolai Sandanskij (real name – Orovchanov).  Born in 1903 in Macedonia. A house-painter, he joined the Yugoslav Komsomol in 1923, and the CPYu in December 1923. In 1925, he emigrated to the USSR, joined the VKP and entered the KUNMZ.  In 1929, he was expelled from KUNMZ and received a harsh reprimand from the CCC of the VKP for conducting factional struggle. In 1933-1934, he conducted underground work in Yugoslavia as an instructor in the CC CPYu. In June 1934, he again went to the USSR with the party’s consent. Between 31 October 1935 and 3 June 1937, he worked in the MLSh as a researcher, and later as director of political work and education in the Moscow Medical Pharmaceutical Plant. On 25 June 1937, he was expelled from the VKP(b); he was readmitted in January 1938. He was arrested in February 1938. On 2 April, the Military Board of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced him to be shot.

[xx] Milan Belich (real name – Wilhelm Chorday) (1901-1939). Born in Vojevodina, he joined the Romanian Komsomol and, in 1923, the Communist Party. Arrested in Belgrade, he was in prison between 1927 and 1928. After his release, he was soon arrested again. In 1929, he escaped from the courtroom. Between 1929 and 1932, he worked on KIM assignments. In 1932-1933, he conducted underground work for the CPYu. In 1933, he emigrated to the USSR. Between 1934 and 1938, he worked in the Balkan Secretariat of the KIM Executive Committee, and later (in 1935-1937) in the KUNMZ and MLSh as the head of the Yugoslav section. In 1938, he worked in the Foreign Workers Publishing House. On 3 November, he was arrested. On 19 April 1939, he was executed on orders from the Military Board of the Supreme Court of the USSR.

[xxi] Karl Berger (real name – Akif Sheremet) (1899-1938). A member of the CPYu, he worked as a high school teacher until 1929 when he was arrested. Following the decision of the CPYu, he emigrated to Vienna. There he worked as secretary of the émigré commission of the CC CPYu, and as a TASS correspondent. Between 1930 and 1931, he lived in Paris and was a member of the Yugoslav section of the CPFr. After being arrested, MOPR assisted in transporting him to Belgium and later to Berlin. In February 1931, he was sent to Vienna where he was made the head of technical support for the CPYu’s underground network. In July, he was removed from this job. Later he was arrested and deported to Berlin. In October 1931, he went to the USSR. On 14 July 1932, he was expelled from the CPYu, later arrested by the NKVD and banished to Alma-Ata for three years. In 1935, he moved to Dnepropetrovsk. In May 1936, he was called to Moscow where he worked in the ECCI. On 19 July 1938, he was arrested. He was shot on 19 April 1939.

[xxii] Richter (real name – Ernest Abrus) was born in 1906, a radio engineer by trade. In 1928, he graduated from the Electrotechnical Institute in Toulouse. In France, he was a member of the Komsomol and of the Yugoslav group in the CPFr (after 1926). Between 1931 and 1933, he worked in the technical apparatus of the CC CPYu. In 1932, the French police arrested him on suspicion of espionage, but he was soon released for lack of evidence. After that, he went to the USSR with the approval of the CPYu. In 1936, he  worked in Sverdlovsk, and later as a radio engineer in the Aerosnabstroi plant in Moscow. On 19 December 1938, he was arrested. On 19 April 1939, he was sentenced to be shot.

[xxiii] Andrej (real name Stejepan Stjepan) (1905-1938). Born in Zagreb, he joined the Komsomol of Yugoslavia in 1919, and the CPYu in 1921. He worked as a secret courier for the party. In 1922-1924, he was a member of the CC of the Yugoslav Komsomol. In 1924, he went to the USSR to study at Sverdlov Communist University and joined the VKP. In 1928, he left for Yugoslavia following the decision of the Political Bureau of the CC CPYu. After 1929, he worked on the KIM Executive Committee. Between 1932 and 1934, he was a member of the CPYu delegation in the ECCI. After the 7th Comintern Congress (1935), he left for Yugoslavia following the decision of the CC CPYu. He worked in Austria, Germany, France, and China on ECCI assignments. In November 1936, he returned to Moscow to report to the ECCI. Between December 1936 and July 1937, he stayed in the USA recruiting volunteers for the International Brigades in Spain. On 20 June 1938, he was arrested; he died in prison on 27 December 1938.

[xxiv] Drenowski was arrested on 3 November 1938. The Military Board of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced him to be shot on 19 April 1939. He was executed that same day.

[xxv] Konstantin Fyodorovich Vilkov (1905-1947). A member of the RSDRP from September 1905, he graduated from a machinist school in 1929. After 1939, he worked in the ECCI apparatus. After 17 September 1939, he was deputy head of the ECCI’s Organizational Committee.

[xxvi] Vladimirov (real name – Vylko Chervenkov) (1900-1980). A member of the CPBul from 1919, he participated in the September 1923 uprising in Bulgaria. After its defeat, he worked in the underground. After the 1925 explosion at the Sofia cathedral, he and his wife (Dimitrov’s sister) escaped to the USSR. He was sentenced in absentia to death. In the USSR, he graduated from the MLSh and worked full-time in the Comintern apparatus. In 1936, he became the director of the MLSh. He was a member of the Political Bureau of the CPBul. During WW II, he worked on the radio station “Khristo Botev.” In 1944, he returned to Bulgaria. After 1948, he was a secretary of the CC CPBul and, in November 1950, was elected General Secretary. In 1950, he became prime minister, and in April, chairman of the Patriotic Front of Bulgaria. In 1961, he was removed from the Political Bureau of the CC CPBul and from the government; in 1962, he was removed from the CC CPBul.

[xxvii] Information about Gaetano Cavalli was prepared by Blagoeva and Bogomolova, workers of the ECCI’s Organizational Committee and sent to Dimitrov’s secretary, A. Stern, on 21 February 1941. Along with this document, a letter from Cavalli to Stalin of 25 July 1940 is stored in the Dimitrov’s Secretariat files. The letter states that Cavalli was arrested on the basis of an accusation that he was engaged in espionage.  He was sentenced, on 20 July 1940, by the OSO of the Crimean Board of State Security, to five years in the labor camp. The letter also discusses the NKVD's methods of investigation and interrogation.

[xxviii] Refers to the Department in France, Muerthe et Moselle.

[xxix] Gallo (real name – Luigi Longo) (1900-1980) studied in the Turin Technological Institute, and later served in the army. In 1920, he joined the Socialist Party of Italy in Turin. In 1921, he became a member of the CPI. In 1924-1926, he was a member of the CC of the Italian Komsomol and editor of its newspaper Avanguardia. He was a delegate to the 4th Comintern Congress and the 3rd KIM Congress. At the 3rd CPI Congress in 1926, he was elected to the CC CPI and sent to Moscow as the representative of the CPI in the EC KIM; he was elected a member of the EC KIM. He was a delegate to the 4th Comintern Congress and the 5th KIM Congress. He worked in the Foreign Bureau in France. In 1931, he was elected member of the Political Bureau of the CPI. In 1932, he became Chairman of the CPI in the ECCI and a candidate ECCI member. In 1935, he went to France as a plenipotentiary representative of the CC CPI among Italian political émigrés. During the civil war in Spain (1936-1939), he was (under the name of Gallo) Inspector General in the International brigades. After the defeat of the Republicans, he went to France and was interned in a concentration camp in Vern. In 1941, he was extradited to Italy, where, until 1943, he remained in prison. In 1943-1945, he was one of the organizers of the guerrilla movement and a member of the Central Committee of the National Liberation Movement, chairman of the Military Collegium, and deputy commander of all the resistance units. At the 5th CPI Congress in 1946, he was elected deputy General Secretary of the CPI. In August 1964, he was elected General Secretary of the CC CPI; after 1972, he was the Chairman of the CPI.

[xxx] Cavalli was arrested (according to his letter) on 22 June 1938, not in July 1938.

[xxxi]For more on Kurshner, see "The Case of Karl Kurshner" below.

[xxxii] Deutsche Zentralzeitung was the daily newspaper of the Central Bureau of the German sections in the CC VKP. It was published in Moscow by the Mezhdunarodnaia kniga publishing house from 1926 to 12 July 1939. Between 1926 and 1927, it was published as Deutsche Zentralzeitung fur Stadt und Land, in 1931, 1933-1928, as DZZ, in 1939, as Deutsche Zeitung.

[xxxiii] On 14 January 1941, the Military Procurator of the Moscow Military District sent a request to the ECCI’s Cadres Department in connection with the second verification of K. Kurshner. In that letter, he asked about the relations between B. Vago, A. Kreigi, and I. Fodor. The reply by head of the Cadres Department, Guliaev, was sent to the Office of the Procurator on 19 February 1941. Kurshner died on 20 March 1942.

[xxxiv] Rozvan was arrested on 16 December 1937 and sentenced to ten years in a corrective labor camp.

[xxxv] Information on Rozvan was compiled on 5 May 1939 by the representative of the CP of Romania in the ECCI, Draganov. The handwritten original in Russian is stored in Rozvan’s personal file.  On 16 July 1938, Dimitrov sent to Ezhov fifteen requests to review the cases of arrested political émigrés on whose behalf appeals had been sent to the Secretariat, among them were requests to review the cases of Rozvan and Kelen (see below). These requests were accompanied with a note in which Dimitrov wrote: “As agreed, I am sending you some of the requests received in June of this year. Some [of them] merit attention, it may be practical that you order an investigation of them.”  In connection with the appeal by E. Rozvan’s wife, a reference (signed by Belov) was written in the ECCI’s Cadres Department on 10 May 1939, and sent to Dimitrov.  On 4 May 1940, the deputy head of the Balkan countries group Vladimirov prepared a new letter of reference for E. Rozvan, which included the information from Draganov’s reference.

 

[xxxvi] Abbreviation of Glavnoe upravlenie gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti (the Chief Administration of State Security). (Trans.)

[xxxvii] Information about M. Shalai-Pallosh was prepared, at Dimitrov’s request, by the senior analyst of the Cadres Department, E. Provorotskaia, and two copies were sent to the Secretariat on 16 October 1939.

[xxxviii] Imre Salai (1837-1932) was one of the founders of the CPH. He was the deputy to the head of the Cheka of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, Otto Korvin. After the collapse of the Republic, he emigrated to Vienna. In 1923, he went to the USSR.  In 1928, the party sent him to conduct underground work in Hungary. He was head of the party printing press in Budapest. He later went to Vienna as a member of the Foreign Bureau of the CPH. In 1929, he went to the USSR and worked in the Volga German Republic. In 1931, he was again sent to Hungary to conduct underground work as a CC instructor. He was arrested and, on 29 June 1932, the Hungarian military court martial sentenced him to death. He was hanged on the same day.

[xxxix] The head of the Cheka of the Hungarian Soviet republic, Otto Korvin, was executed on 29 December 1918, following the collapse of Soviet power.

[xl] Albert Lantos.  Born in 1892 in Hungary, a physician, he was a member of the CPH between 1918 and 1921. In 1921-1928, he was a member of the CPG. In 1928, he joined the VKP. In 1936, he was expelled from the party for connections with the arrested Margarita Shalai-Pallosh. On 16 October 1939, E. Gere sent a positive characteristic of Lantos to Dimitrov’s Secretariat. No further information is available about Lantos.

[xli] Kelen was actually arrested on 4 February 1938. The formulation “ten years without the right to correspondence” usually meant execution.

[xlii] On 29 November 1940, Dimitrov’s Secretariat sent a request about Kelen to the ECCI’s Cadres Department. On 20 December 1940, information about and a characteristic of Kelen were prepared by the senior analyst in the Cadres Department, E. Privorotskaia, and forwarded to the Dimitrov’s Secretariat on 24 December.

[xliii] Matias Rakosi (1892-1971). During the WW I, he was captured and sent  to the Chita POW camp. In 1918, he joined the CPH After 22 March 1919, he was Deputy Minister of Trade of the Hungarian Soviet Republic. After the collapse of the Republic, he went to Vienna, where he was arrested and sent to a camp for internees. On 1 May 1920, he was released and went to Moscow.  In 1922-1924, he was a member of the VKP, a delegate to the 2nd and 3rd Comintern Congresses. Between 1923 and 1925, he conducted underground work in Vienna, Prague, and Budapest. In September 1925, he was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison. In 1928, after an exchange of political prisoners, he went to the USSR and re-joined the VKP. He was a representative of the ECCI in Italy, France, and Germany. In 1935, he was again arrested in Hungary and sentenced to life in prison. At the 7th Comintern Congress, he was elected (in absentia) a member of the Presidium of the ECCI. In October 1940, he was released from prison in response to a petition by the Soviet government. Between 1940 and 1944, he headed the Foreign Bureau of the CC CPH in Moscow. In December 1944, he left for Hungary. After 1945, he was General Secretary of the CC CPH. Between June 1953 and July 1956, he was First Secretary of the CC of the Hungarian Workers’ Party. In July 1956, he was removed from that position and from the Political Bureau of the HWP. In August 1962, he was expelled from the party. After July 1957, he lived in Krasnodar, and later in Tokmyk, Kirghiz SSR.

[xliv] Presumably Zoltan Szanto.

[xlv] On 19 March 1938, the Military Board of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced Kelen to be shot.

[xlvi] Actually, Franz Poloni was born on 21 June 1898 in Budapest.

[xlvii] Poloni was arrested on 4 March 1938 and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was held in the Northeastern camp on the Kolyma River from 1938 to 1946.

[xlviii] This information was compiled on the basis of the materials provided by the ECCI’s Cadres Department at Dimitrov’s request in October 1939. Franz Falk (real name – Geza Retmann, alias Karl Kunert) was arrested on 15 February 1938. On 28 March, the OSO NKVD sentenced him to ten years in prison.

[xlix] Roza Falk wrote a letter to Dimitrov on 5 July 1938. Following a 29 August 1946 decision by a CC VKP commission, she left for Austria.

[l] On 1 February 1940, at the urging of representatives of the CP of Austria, the head of the ECCI’s Cadres Department, Guliaev, forwarded materials about Falk to the Procurator of the USSR Pankratiev.

[li] In a July 1947 letter to the CC VKP, the leaders of the CP of Austria, I. Kopeling and F. Furnberg, asked the Soviet government to release Falk and send him to Austria. This request was refused in a 26 August 1947 letter from the Deputy Procurator General of the USSR, on the grounds that it was considered undesirable that Frank leave for Austria. In 1948, Frank was held in Ukhta, Komi ASSR. On 21 January 1948, he was finally released and, on 25 July, he left for Austria.

[lii] The Independent Socialist Workers’ Party of Hungary was proclaimed on 14 April 1925. It consisted of the Communist group of Vaga and the left Socialists who had split away from the Social Democratic Party. It was an attempt to create a legal pro-Communist party in Hungary. By late February 1927, as a result of police persecution and the frequent arrests of party leaders, the party virtually ceased to exist.

[liii] Iosof Grainer.  Born in 1901. In 1917-1919, he was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Hungary; in 1919-1925, a member of the CPH. In 1922, he was sentenced to thirteen years in prison for revolutionary activities. In November 1924, he went to the USSR after an exchange of political prisoners. In 1925, he joined the VKP(b). In the 1930s, he was an editor of and contributor to several newspapers. He was arrested on 17 October 1942.

[liv] No information is available regarding the results of this request.

[lv] On 31 July 1940, Dimitrov’s secretary, P. Tatarenko, asked the ECCI’s Cadres Department to provide information about Alceo Volmero. This information was prepared by the Cadres Department’s worker, Bogomolova, on 14 August 1940 and sent to the Secretariat of G. Dimitrov.

[lvi] Luigi Fattori was arrested on 18 January 1937 in Gorky.

[lvii] Laura Albertini (real name – Amelia Fattori) was born in 1902 in Udino. She joined the CPI in 1930, and worked in its apparatus until 1933. After living in France, she and her husband emigrated to the USSR. Between 1933 and 1936, she worked in Gorky in the Italian community canteen, and later at the auto plant there. From 1944, her illness prevented her from working and she received compensation from MOPR. In December 1946, she petitioned, via the CPI Representative, to send her to Italy. In a 19 March 1947 note, the head of the ECCI’s Cadres Department wrote: “Regarding our inquiry with the Ministry of State Security (MGB) of the USSR, they informed us on 1 March 1947, that [Albertini’s] departure from the USSR is considered undesirable. Taking into consideration the MGB’s opinion, I consider inexpedient to send Albertini to the country [Italy].” Albertini died in Gorky on 24 October 1948.  The undated handwritten original of Albertini’s letter to Dimitrov in Italian is stored in RGASPI in the personal file of Alceo Volmero.

 

[lviii] On 29 July 1938, Stefan Vagi was sentenced to be executed.

[lix] Zsigmond Rakowitch.  Born in 1882. In 1903, he joined the Social Democratic Party of Hungary, and in 1919, the CPH. After the collapse of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, he was arrested and convicted. In 1922, he went to the USSR after an exchange of political prisoners. There he worked as an electrician. In 1933, he retired. He was arrested in 1938.

[lx] On 21 June 1938, the OSO NKVD sentenced Seikeli to five years in a corrective labor camp. Between 1938 and July 1946, he was held in the Karlag labor camp in Ertsevo, Arkhangelsk region.

[lxi] G. Ellinek (a husband of the sister of F. Furnberg, who was the CP of Austria Representative in the ECCI) was held in the Butyrskaia prison until May 1939. On 20 April 1939, the OSO NKVD sentenced him to eight years in a corrective labor camp. He spent his term in Norilsk, Krasnoiarsk region. On 22 May 1947, he left for Austria.

[lxii] In 1942, the CC of the CP of Austria sent a petition to the ECCI’s Cadres Department to review cases of G. Ellinek  and of some other Austrian political émigrés, since the previous petition from Koplening and Furnberg to the Procurator General of the USSR remained unanswered. The petition urged that department again send materials about Ellinek to the Procurator General of the USSR.

[lxiii] Information about Komor-Katsburg (real name -- Yungs Bacskai) was provided at Dimitrov’s request by the ECCI’s Cadres Department on 5 January 1939.

[lxiv] Komor (Bacskai), although not present at the 7th Comintern Congress, wrote a statement to the ICC in which he condemned the behavior of the Hungarian delegation qualifying it as the “rebellion of Gross and Kun against the Comintern leadership.”

[lxv] He was arrested on 23 July 1937.

[lxvi] August Kreichi (1893-1938). An economist, a member of the CPH from 1918, he emigrated to Prague in 1922, and later to Berlin. From 1923 to 1929, he was a member of the CPG. Between 1922 and 1928, he worked as an analyst in the Soviet Embassy in Berlin, and between 1930 and 1933, in the Soviet trade delegation. In August 1933, he was deported from Germany and went to the USSR. In 1934, he joined the VKP. Between 1934 and 1935, he worked in the ECCI apparatus. In 1937, he was arrested and, on 8 April 1938, sentenced to be shot.

[lxvii] Probably, Iosif Ershov. He was born in 1895 in Budapest. In 1915, he was held in Eastern Siberia in a POW camp. Between 1918 and 1924, he was a sailor of the Red Black Sea fleet and was a member of the special units (ChON). In 1931-1934, he was the chairman of a kolkhoz; later he worked in different factories in the Gorky region. He was arrested in 1938. After the investigation was completed, he was released in 1939.

[lxviii] Between 1937 and 1947, Komor stayed in a corrective labor camp. After 1947, he worked at a metallurgical plant in Temir-Tau, Karaganda region.

[lxix] According to the head of the ECCI’s Cadres Department, Guliaev, Kutlu was arrested when he was crossing the Soviet border after being  sent by the party to study. After his arrest, he was kept in Orlovskaia prison. In May 1940, he wrote a letter to Dimitrov asking for a review of his case.

[lxx] In reply to Dimitrov’s letter, the Procurator of the USSR, Bochkov, communicated that Kutlu had been released on 3 March 1941, and that his case had been closed. After March 1941, Kutlu lived in Moscow. In 1942, he left for Turkey.