It's time, it's time Blumkin has come to "kill". Well, how much can you write about him, right? But you need an appropriate mood. And read a little more about him. And all this took time, so I had to delay the end of the history of this extraordinary person. Obviously outstanding, albeit with a minus sign. So, the previous material ended with the fact that everything seemed to be good for Blumkin.
Participants of those events: L. D. Trotsky with his wife Natalya and son Lev in Alma-Ata in 1928.
In fact, the clouds over Blumkin were already thickening … And it all started with the fact that when he was returning from a "business trip" back to Moscow, he stopped in Istanbul, and there, it seemed, he accidentally met with Trotsky's son, Lev Sedov. Trotsky himself later wrote that their meeting was accidental. But after all, Blumkin had worked for Trotsky since 1921 and earned his approval, and it was not at all easy to achieve him. Be that as it may, the son brought him to his father. The meeting of the former "boss" with his former subordinate took place on April 16, 1929.
Blumkin confessed to Trotsky that he doubted "Stalin's line" and asked for advice: should he continue to work in the OGPU, or leave them and become an underground member. It is clear that, being in the OGPU, Blumkin could bring the opposition a lot of benefits. True, Trotsky could not understand how an obvious Trotskyist in his views could continue his career in the organs, and in such a way that no one suspected him of anything. Blumkin replied to him in such a way that his superiors did not pay attention to his past, since he was an irreplaceable specialist in terror.
Here a kind of "fork of circumstances" arises, the possibility of which should not be forgotten. Blumkin's meeting with Trotsky could - And it could be a provocation of the OGPU, and then whatever he didn’t speak at it didn’t matter, since he was on a mission and was trying to win Trotsky’s trust. And circumstance B could have taken place - he really was on the positions of Trotskyism and wanted to fight the Stalinist regime.
But here it is clearly worth interrupting our story about Blumkin and talking a little about Trotskyism, primarily because for some reason this term is very popular in VO. I am sure that many of those who speak and write here about Trotskyism have no idea what it is. At best, we looked at what it is on Wikipedia, which can already be considered a "gift of fate." Meanwhile, in fact, everything is very, very simple. One should not think that "Trotskyism" is some kind of revolutionary theory and that Trotsky is its author. There was no such theory. Trotsky also did not write any "works" substantiating it. What happened? And it was that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels at one time came to the conclusion that the socialist revolution cannot win in one country, that even if this happens, its defeat is inevitable.
Trotsky believed in exactly the same way. That is, he assumed that a revolution could take place in one country. First … But then, one way or another, it will have to embrace the whole world, that is, have a permanent character, and it was her idea (and not Trotsky at all!) Put forward by K. Marx and F. Engels. And by the way, V. I. Lenin thought the same at first. But after the October Revolution took place, he was forced to reckon with the realities of harsh everyday life and began to say that … and it can happen in one, separately taken country, and can win.
By the way, such a person as A. Bogdanov, a scientist, writer, author of the sensational novel "Red Star" (1908), did not agree with him at all. In 1903 he joined the Bolsheviks, but already in 1909 he was expelled from the party for engaging in factional activities. Moreover, Bogdanov considered a socialist reorganization of society possible, but was convinced that after the October Revolution, people were still not ready to live under socialism, and that it would take a long time to prepare them. Otherwise, the new state and the form of government that will be established in it have more chances to go over to a totalitarian regime with the most severe form of despotism.
Participant of those events: Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov (real name - Malinovsky, other pseudonyms - Werner, Maksimov, Private; Russian scientist-encyclopedist, author of the visionary novel "Red Star". Ideological opponent of VI Lenin. Born in 1873, died in 1928, putting on a blood transfusion experiment on himself.
In his novel, he wrote that: ““not one, but many social revolutions are foreseen, in different countries, at different times, and even in many ways, probably, of a different nature, and most importantly - with a dubious and unstable outcome. The ruling classes, relying on the army and high military equipment, in some cases can inflict a destructive defeat on the insurgent proletariat that in entire vast states will throw back the struggle for socialism for decades; and examples of this kind have already happened in the annals of the Earth. Then individual advanced countries, in which socialism will triumph, will be like islands in the hostile capitalist, and partly even pre-capitalist world. Fighting for their own domination, the upper classes of the non-socialist countries will direct all their efforts to destroy these islands, will constantly organize military attacks on them, and will find among the socialist nations enough allies ready for any government, from among the former owners, large and small. The outcome of these collisions is difficult to predict. But even where socialism holds on and emerges victorious, its character will be deeply and permanently distorted by many years of siege, the necessary terror and military clique, with the inevitable consequence of barbaric patriotism. " Well - that's how it all happened in our country. And it is precisely this kind of patriotism, by the way, that we have enough today. So we can say that Bogdanov "looked into the water." But Lenin did not like his views at all, and that is why the paths of Bogdanov and Lenin parted forever. And it so happened that Bogdanov, who was close to him at the beginning, began to move further and further away from Lenin's vision of the "new world". And then close friends and like-minded people, Bogdanov and Lenin parted as real enemies.
And exactly the same thing happened with Trotsky and Stalin. After Lenin's death, Trotsky continued to assert that everything that happens in the USSR must follow one goal - a permanent revolution, in line with the views of Marx and Engels. Well, Stalin adhered to a different point of view: that since history has given us a chance, then we need to take advantage of it. Roughly speaking, Trotsky demanded to put the workers at the machines and the peasants at the plows in order to forge and feed the world revolution, and Stalin demanded the same … but only for the sake of strengthening a separate state, and to help the revolutionary movement around the world insofar as. But when the USSR gets stronger … then it will be possible to seriously think about the world revolution. And then there was the important question of power. That is, who is to lead the country. And those who supported Trotsky on this issue were called Trotskyists (that is, "Trotsky's supporters"), and those who were Stalin's supporters - Stalinists. That's all. Two ways. Two leaders. Two groups of supporters. And no new theories, except for the two already created: K. Marx and F. Engels, and V. Lenin. In this regard, Trotsky was a real Marxist, but Lenin took up the fact that he subjected Marxism to revision and, therefore, can be fully called … a revisionist, although it is clear that no one called him such a rude word, since it was said that “Marxism not a dogma, but a guide to action."
That is, Trotsky, who was defeated in an open battle with Stalin (who wants to live in a military camp, and even an indefinite time ?! understood that he was doomed to defeat in the future. It was necessary to start with the delivery of illegal literature to the USSR, entrusting this mission to the crews of Soviet merchant ships sailing abroad. But Blumkin said that they had only one contraband on their minds and they would not sell it for a penny. It would be better to load a fishing felucca with such literature in Turkey and deliver it to Transcaucasia. And from there to send it all over the USSR.
In addition, Trotsky told Blumkin that the Stalinist regime would fall apart in three months, and that then he, Trotsky, would again be returned to Moscow, where he would outline the "general" path of the country's future development. That is, it was simply necessary to put together the majority of supporters in leading positions, and then, they say, everything will work out, by itself.
Trotsky then asked Blumkin to his son's wife, or Platon Volkov, the husband of his eldest daughter, two books in which instructions to his supporters were written in sympathetic ink. But Blumkin never gave these books to anyone, although he kept them with him. This was his first mistake on the way to the execution wall, and the second he made in October 1929, telling about his meeting with Trotsky to Radek, Preobrazhensky and Smigla.
A participant in those events: Karl Berngardovich Radek (pseudonym Radek - chosen in honor of the character of the Austrian humorous press, real name Karol (Karl) Sobelson, - Soviet politician, secretary of the Comintern, employee of the newspapers Pravda and Izvestia. In Verkhneuralskiy political isolator on May 19 1939, beaten to death by I. I. Stepanov, the former commandant of the NKVD of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, who was imprisoned there for official sins, but was immediately released.
However, these people were the least worthy of his trust. Let's just say, being considered Bolsheviks, they did not have high moral merit.
Radek was so frightened that he immediately advised Blumkin to immediately report everything to the "leader." And Blumkin was horrified. That is, apparently, his meeting with Trotsky was deliberate and not accidental. He even decided to get poison in order to be able to poison himself in the event of … "critical circumstances."
And then Blumkin completely "lost his mind" and "shared" his secret with his mistress and "colleague" at work in the OGPU Lyubov Gorskaya, well, and she immediately reported this to the right place. That is, the poor fellow forgot two very wise proverbs at once: German - "what two know, the pig knows", and Arabic (and he lived in the East!) - "The guilty tongue is cut off with his head!" Then he told her that he realized the mistake and began writing a letter of repentance to the Central Control Commission (Central Control Commission) of the CPSU (b), and seemed to have decided to surrender to the mercy of the party court. But for some reason this letter remained unsent.
Blumkin's immediate boss and his great patron Trilisser decided not to take any action against Blumkin. That is, “circumstance A” seems to be looming on the horizon here. But then Blumkin himself began to act - he cut his hair, shaved off his mustache, and sent the luggage to the Kazan station.
Participant of those events: Elizaveta Yulievna Gorskaya - Elizaveta Yulievna Zarubina (also known as Esther Ioelievna Rosenzweig; December 31, 1900, Rzhaventsy, Khotinsky district, Bessarabian province - May 14, 1987, Moscow) - Soviet intelligence officer, lieutenant colonel of state security.
On October 15, 1929, he met with Gorskaya and went with her to the station. There it turned out that the train to Georgia was only going tomorrow. Then Gorskaya invited Blumkin to spend the night at her apartment, and he again agreed ("like a fool" by the way), and he also told her that he had decided to "lay low" until the passions with Trotskyism settled down and sit out this time with friends in the Caucasus.
It was then that the Chekists "tied" him, since Lizonka Gorskaya worked not only in the OGPU, but also at the OGPU, and entered into an intimate relationship with Blumkin on direct instructions from "above", and even at the same time playing a man disappointed in the Stalinist regime …
But there is another version, the essence of which is that Blumkin confessed to Radek even before leaving for Istanbul that he wanted to meet with Trotsky. Radek immediately reported this to Stalin and Blumkin was under surveillance, in which Liza Gorskaya, an OGPU agent, participated.
The news that Blumkin was arrested literally stunned those who had seen the views of the Chekists and the entire party elite. So, G. S. Agabekov, who was Blumkin's immediate superior, then wrote that he could not understand how he, being a recognized favorite of Dzerzhinsky and having so many friends in high positions, could have been arrested at all. And it is clear that only Stalin himself could have given this order.
A participant in those events: Georgy (Grigory) Sergeevich Agabekov (real name - Arutyunov, 1895-1937) - an employee of the NKVD of the USSR, a defector. The first in a series of high-ranking Soviet foreign intelligence officers who fled to the West in the 30s of the XX century. In August 1937, he was killed by a special group of the NKVD in France.
Again, there is a version that Blumkin lived before his arrest in the apartment of the People's Commissar of Education A. V. Lunacharsky, a well-known, albeit repentant Trotskyist. Moreover, when the Chekists put him in the car, he tried to escape: he pushed the driver away, jumped into the car and rushed on it at breakneck speed, but the OGPU cars blocked him in one of the narrow Moscow lanes. "How tired I am!" - Blumkin allegedly declared when he was brought to the Lubyanka prison.
During a search at Blumkin's house, they found a letter from Trotsky to his supporters, which spoke about organizing an anti-Stalinist underground and proposed distributing the Trotskyist "Bulletin of the Opposition" in the USSR.
When the interrogations began, Blumkin, hoping to get out and that “friends would help,” joked and acted as if he had fallen into the cell by a misunderstanding. But after he was interrogated with the use of fists and clubs, he immediately confessed to everything …
The process was not very long. After eighteen days, Blumkin was sentenced to death, which was carried out immediately. Moreover, Menzhinsky and Yagoda voted for the execution, but the head of the INO OGPU Trilisser voted against.
Participant of those events: Vyacheslav Rudolfovich Menzhinsky (Polish: Wacław Menżyński, Mężyński; August 19 (31), 1874, St. Petersburg - May 10, 1934, dacha "Gorki-6" FE Dzerzhinsky as head of the OGPU (1926-1934) In 1938, at the Third Moscow Trial, it was announced that Menzhinsky was killed by Yagoda's order on the instructions of the Right Trotskyist bloc through improper treatment.
Participant of those events: Genrikh Grigorievich Yagoda (birth name - Enokh Gershenovich Yagoda, November 7 [19], 1891, Rybinsk, Yaroslavl province - March 15, 1938, Moscow. Russian revolutionary, head of the Cheka, GPU, OGPU, NKVD), People's Commissar internal affairs of the USSR (1934-1936).
Participant in those events: Meer Abramovich Trilisser - Russian revolutionary, one of the leaders of the Soviet state security agencies. Shot on February 2, 1940 at the Kommunarka shooting range, Moscow region.
Trotsky tried to do everything to make the "Blumkin case" analogous to the case of Sacco and Vanzetti in the USSR. But he did not succeed in arousing revolutionaries in the West against Stalin, as soon as they found out that they had shot Mirbach's murderer, all their sympathy for the victim of the “Stalinist regime” vanished like smoke. And no one could even imagine that it was his execution, carried out in 1929, that is, long before the trials and executions of 1937, that would become a kind of prologue to the “great terror”.
Interestingly, before his death, Blumkin did not write any letters. And when he was being shot, he seemed to have shouted: "Long live Trotsky!"
Sadly, the fate of one villain was shared by people who were completely innocent, except for … biological kinship. So, Blumkin's brother, Moisey, lived in Odessa, where he worked in a newspaper. In 1924, he quarreled with his fellow journalist over a typewriter and killed him with a shot from a revolver that his brother had given him. For this murder of an innocent person, Blumkin Jr. received four years in prison, but he did not serve this term either - through the intercession of his brother, his term was reduced to a year. Life cost him something completely different. In 1930, Moisei Blumkin was arrested and shot. Just because brother!
The fate of Blumkin is probably the best illustration of how the Moloch of the revolution devours its own children. True, it remains a mystery how and why such a talkative neurasthenic and swindler for such a long time was "highly trusted". Maybe he knew too much? But then why hadn't he been killed earlier? Would his comrades in leather jackets put his head under the train and that's it … But no, they “endured” for a long time, although then they still “finished”. And it is possible that if he had not worshiped Trotsky, he would have lived until 1937, although he certainly would not have survived if, like Lyushkov, he had not been able to escape abroad …
