DOCUMENT 65
Z.
Szanto's statement about Bela Szanto’s ties with Bela Kun. 15 November 1939.
Secret.
16. XI. 1939.
1
copy ak.
Trans[lation]
from Ger[man] Za.
About
Bela Szanto’s ties with Bela Kun.[i]
From
1919 to 1928, Bela Szanto belonged to Bela Kun’s narrow circle of friends. In
Bela Kun, he saw a leader of Bolsheviks, a VKP(b) representative. This
relationship continued until approximately 1928.
Bela
Szanto committed mistakes in the CP of Hungary and was criticized for it. Kun
refused to support him. As a result, relations between them
cooled.
In
studying the history of the Hungarian workers’ movement and the history of the
CP of Hungary, Bela Szanto came to the conclusion that the party’s policy under
Bela Kun’s leadership, before and after the proletarian dictatorship in
Hungary, was incorrect and unBolshevik. Bela Szanto wrote a book about the
history of the Hungarian revolution, in which he criticized Bela Kun. This
sharpened disagreements between Bela Szanto and Bela Kun and hostile relations
developed. Kun stood in the way of publishing this [book].
When
I came to Moscow in 1935, Bela Szanto told me about his conflicts with Bela
Kun. He talked about the “fatal” role of Kun in the CP of Hungary. I had no
reason to doubt Bela Szanto’s sincerity.
In
1935, Bela Szanto gave a report, “Remembering the Hungarian
Revolution,” at the Hungarian Club in Moscow. In his speech, Bela
Szanto criticized the foreign policy and military policy (strategy) of the
Hungarian Soviet Republic, i. e. Bela Kun. Kun and some of his supporters
harshly and rudely attacked Bela
Szanto, but this speech was not considered as “Trotskyist” and had
nothing to do with Trotskyism.
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[i] Zoltan Szanto (Bela Szanto’s brother) wrote this note in German on 15 November 1939 in response to the ECCI’s Organizational Committee’s inquiry regarding Bela Szanto’s arrest and his wife’s petition, an inquiry begun at Dimitrov’s request. This document is published from the text of typewritten Russian translation which contains handwritten editing made in the ECCI. The style of the translation is preserved.