DOCUMENT 63
M.
G. Szanto's letter to Dimitrov regarding the arrest of her husband, Bela
Szanto. 29 February 1938.
Comrade
Dimitrov, [i]
I
have learned from the procurator that the case of my husband Szanto, Bela
Aleksandrovich, arrested by the NKVD on 24 February 1938, has been transferred
to the Military Board of the Supreme Court.
I
know [my] husband, and I have worked with him for 34 years, and I am convinced
that he is an honest fighter of the Bolshevik party.
I
know that you, comrade Dimitrov, are a very busy person and yet I am asking you
very, very much to find time to read my letter to the Military Board in which I
described the struggle of [my] husband against Bela Kun, and also to review
the attached materials[ii]
in order to satisfy yourself that my belief in my husband’s honesty is
well-grounded.
For
10 years my husband has been conducting underground work for the Comintern and
the Profintern. Therefore, I believe, com. Dimitrov, that your opinion will
make a difference in evaluating my husband’s case. I beg you to take an
interest in my husband’s case and, if you find it possible, to say some words
on his behalf.
Moscow
29/II 1938.
Szanto
M. G.[iii]
5
Kaluzhskaia, Vystavochnyi per[eulok] 16/a kv[artira] 55, Szanto Maria
Germanovna.
RGASPI, f. 495, op. 199, d. 184(II), l.
67.
Original in Russian. Handwritten.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[i] M. Szanto’s handwritten letter to Dimitrov is dated 29 February 1938, that is five days after her husband’s arrest. On 24 June, she sent a letter to the Chair of the Military Board of the Supreme Court of the USSR regarding her husband’s arrest. The handwritten original of this letter is also located in the RTsKhIDNI collection. This document is published from the handwritten original and retains the author’s style.
[ii] The materials referred to in the letter have not been found.
[iii] Maria Szanto (Kramer). Born in 1883 in Hungary, she graduated from the Budapest University as a teacher of physics and mathematics. In 1903-1918, she was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Hungary; in 1918, she joined the CPH. After the fall of the Hungarian Socialist Republic, she emigrated to Germany. Between 1921 and 1926, she was a member of the CPG. In 1926, she emigrated to the USSR and joined the VKP. From December 1926 to March 1932, she worked in the Institute of Marx-Engels-Lenin. She retired in March 1932. On 28 August 1945, she and her husband left the USSR for Hungary.