From International Press Correspondence, Vol. 2 No. 70, 18 August 1922, pp. 529–530.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive.
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Moscow, August 10
On August 2nd, the Rote Fahne made public the principal material derived from the documents seized by the Soviet Government from Kerensky. This material proved that the Social Revolutionary Party had been, during the whole of 1921, in the service of the French and Czecho-Slovakian governments, and with their help, had conducted espionage in Russia and plotted armed uprisings. The Foreign Delegation of the Social Revolutionary Party answered this charge in the Freiheit of August 4th, with an explanation which shows just how far the shamelessness of these spies of the Entente has gone. The Foreign Delegation declares that the Administrative Centre whose archives were confiscated by the Soviet Government, has no connection whatever with the Social Revolutionary Party, and that therefore the Party has to responsibility for its actions. This then, is the explanation of the Foreign Delegation of the S.R. Party, among whom we find the citizens Zenzinov and Tchernov.
We ask Citizen Zenzinov the following; Have you taken part in the counsels of the Administrative Center, and have you been its agent and carried on negotiations with Benesh in its name? Yes or not? Zenzinov’s signature, appearing on the letter dealing with his parley with Benesh, on the matter of financial support from the Czecho-Slovakian government, has been declared genuine by Gotz. The photograph of this letter is found in the Officially published documentary collection entitled, The Work of the S.R.’s Abroad. The Foreign Delegation, which was
quick to answer, is speculating on the fact that the German reader does not know who this delegation really is.
We further ask Citizen Tchernov, member of the Central Committee of the S.R.P., and member of the Foreign Delegation of that Party, whether he has received money from the Foreign Delegation, and also, whether he passed it on to the White Guard organizations of Karelia and Ingermanland? Yes or no? Let him try to answer it with “Nor we state further that, in the Administrative Centre, and among the leading agents of the Administrative Centre are found only the principal members of the S.R. Party: Kerensky, Zenzinov, Avksentieff, Brushvit, Minor, Machin and Tchernov. We would like the Foreign Delegation of the S.R. Party to name just one person among the leaders of the Administrative Centre who was not a member of the S.R. Party. When the gentlemen of the S.R.P. assert the non-party character of the Administrative Centre, they are gambling on the chance that we do not possess all the documents of the Administrative Centre. They are mistaken. On the ground of these documents, we claim that the Administrative Centre was the chief coordinating machine of the S.R.’s abroad. Through the secretaryship of the Administrative Centre, the Social Revolutionaries, Fabrikant and Rogovsky, the S.R.P. obtained all visas for their members from the French Foreign Office, and from the Czecho-Slovakian and German embassies in Paris. The code telegrams of the S.R. Party were sent through the Administrative Centre, and it was through the Administrative Centre that the Social Revolutionary Party received the moneys from foreign governments which secured the existence of the Party for the year 1921. With the money obtained from the Czecho-Slovakian government through the Administrative Centre, appeared the official organ of the S.R.’s, Volya Rossii. All the disavowals of the Foreign Delegation, that is, of Citizens Tchernov, Zenzinov, Russanof, and Rubanovitch are nothing more than cheap lies. These gentlemen are the souteneurs of the Czecho-Slovakian government, and the helpmates of the Csecho-Slovakian and French governments. This present article appears not only in the Moscow Pravda, but also in the German Communist press. Let these gentlemen present charges before the German courts, let them call to account not only myself – and I pledge myself to appear before the Berlin court but also the central organ of the German Communist Party. If they do not do this, it will be evidence that they admit having willfully lied, in order to deceive (he German workers and German public opinion.
Messrs. Tchernov and Zenzinov declare that the documents of the Administrative Centre were stolen by monarchists. On this point, the organ of the Russian monarchists, the Belgrade Novoye Vremya, has answered them with the very reasonable question: Why then does the leader of the S.R.’s, Kerensky, employ monarchists for the guarding of the secret archives. We do not know whether Kerensky’s secretary who aided in the passing of the documents info the hands of the Soviet Government, was or was not a monarchist. We regret greatly that Kerensky did not install a Communist as secretary. That would greatly have aided the Russian government in securing legal control over the Russian citizen Kerensky who has rendered himself liable before the Russian Tribunal for his criminal outrages. But, whether Kerensky’s secretary is a monarchist or not the documents which are now in the hands of the Soviet Government will stand any test at the hands of the “legal democratic courts” of Berlin. These documents were published in the Rote Fahne of Berlin. Now let citizens Tchernov, Zensinov, Kerensky and the other spies of the Entente who have been exposed through these documents, appeal to the German courts and prove, that these documents are falsified.
The mendacious reply of the S.R. Foreign Delegation, a reply in which every word is a known lie – has much pleased the Mensheviki, who published an article relative to this document in the Berlin Freiheit of August 5th. Messrs Martov, Dan & Co. and their Steins from the Freiheit have revived the old legend, fabricated by the S.R.’s, io the effect that the documents were stolen by the monarchist counter espionage department and then handed over to the Bolshevik counter espionage section. And because the documents have passed through “many dirty hands”, say they, therefore Messrs. Martow, Dan & Co. do not know what is true in them and how much is false. Messrs. Marlow and Dan know only too well the handwriting of the heroes of these documents, (which appear partly in photographic reproductions in the pamphlet) and also the whole method of their workings, to doubt for a moment, their authenticity. If they hypocritically pretend that they are not convinced of the genuineness of the documents, then they are the conscious aids of Tchernov and Zenzinov. But all these tricks on the part of Martov and Dan are but a child’s game in comparison with the lie which follows this statement.
The Mensheviki wish to show that Gotz, Timofeyev, and the other defendants in the S.R. trial in Moscow, cannot be legally held responsible for the actions revealed by these documents of the Administrative Centre. We will not quarrel on this point, but we would like to ask the following question: are they politically responsible or not for the actions of their Foreign Delegation and Administrative Centre? To this, the Mensheviki answer: “we are dealing now with foreign emigrants, separated from the mass, and out of control by the Party and its central body.” That is an obvious lie. Tchernov and Zenzinov are the plenipotentiaries of the Central Committee of the Social Revolutionaries. They have been working the whole time, under the direction of the Central Committee of their party. The Central Committee of the party knew of their activities, knew, at least, of their open activities at the time of the Kronstadt uprising. And the S.R.Party has never disavowed them. Further, the party has received large sums of money from the Foreign Delegation. And since the Central Committee knew that the Foreign Delegation had no resources from membership contributions, and also as appears in the report – that it received no money from the Second International, the Central Committee must certainly haw asked itself this question: from what financial sources is it able to maintain its existence? The defendants Gotz, Timofeyev, Gendelmann and others were in closest touch, (from prison) with the Central Bureau, as may be learned from the documents. They assumed responsibility for the Central Bureau and for the Foreign Delegation, and therefore, for the Administrative Centre. Further, the Mensheviki lie when they assert that Gotz and his comrades - in open letters, which were sent from prison and were published in the S.R. press – protested many times against attempts at armed struggle against the Soviet power, and against any new interventions. There are no such documents from prison, with the signatures of Gotz and his comrades, and the Mensheviki cannot point to such letters.
The Mensheviki cannot show such documents. On the other hand, we are in the position to prove the complete opposite. The tenth congress of the Social Revolutionary Party took place in August, 1921. In its resolution, it declared that: “The question of the revolutionary overthrow of the dictatorship of the Communist Parly, should be included in the agenda.” This resolution was answered from prison by the present accused leaders of the Social Revolutionary Party, Gotz, Gendelmann, Donskoy, Lichatch, Morozov, Ratner, Timofeyev. In a letter dated September 5, 1921, which is at present in the hands of the authorities, and in which they specially welcomed this resolution, and declared their fulled approval. We maintain that the Mensheviki are the conscious assistants of the S.R. Party, in their attempts to hush up the counter-revolutionary White Guard espionage of the S.R. leaders, Kerensky, Avksentieff, Machin, Zenzinov, Tchernov, Brushwit and Minor.
This attempt at rehabilitation is anonymous, having been printed over no signature. The Mensheviki do not dare, any more than does the Social Revolutionary Foreign Delegation, to support their statements with their signatures. They assign the role of defenders of the Entente espionage to the editorial staff of the Freiheit, whom we congratulate on the assumption of this new part. But their attempt to hide behind the Freiheit is vain. We demand from the foreign delegation of the Menshevik Party, from Dan, Martov and Abramovich, a clear and distinct answer: how do they stand, with regard to the documents which unmask the S.R.’s? We also ask this question of the Central Committee of the Mensheviki. We trust that these honorable bodies will realize that we ask, not out of curiosity, nor out of the desire for know ledge, how it is that they, the knights of truth and morality, have lent themselves to flunkeying to the S.R. Party and its disgraceful actions? The question is, with whom, in the Menshevik Party, has the Soviet power to deal: with a political party which stands in opposition to the Soviet power, or with the allies of the Entente spies.
We know the howls and insults with which Martov and his confrères and the woeful Freiheit will answer these question. But that will not get them far. All their hysterical outbursts will not release them from the duty of telling us what their position is with regard to the fact that the Foreign Delegation of the S.R.’s, through its secret organization, the so-called Administrative Centre, asked for, and received money from Entente governments, and with this money maintained their machinery in Russia and abroad, and published papers; also how, with the help of Entente governments, they organized spying systems against Russia, set on foot uprisings and asked for the military aid of France. We confess to Dan, Abramovich and Martov that we are very bad fellows, they need not bother to prove that; all they have to do is to answer us, concisely and clearly, how they stand with regard to the above facts.
Last updated on 5 May 2020