People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs [NKVD] organs have recently exposed a number of enemies of the people, and a wide-ranging espionage organization in the Comintern apparatus has been revealed. The Communications Service, the most important department in the Comintern apparatus, turned out to be the one most saturated. It is now necessary to completely abolish this [Communications Service] and to proceed without delay to organize this department anew with fresh, carefully selected and verified workers. Other units of the Comintern apparatus also proved to be saturated, although to a lesser degree: the Cadres Department, political assistants to the ECCI secretaries, analysts, translators, etc.

In addition, the Comintern leadership conducted a verification of the whole apparatus that resulted in the firing of about one hundred people as individuals who were not sufficiently trustworthy politically.

In the past, the Comintern apparatus was usually staffed with the cadres from foreign, especially illegal Communist Parties who made up the large émigré reserves in the USSR. Experience has shown that such a method of staffing the Comintern apparatus is, in the current conditions, dangerous and harmful, because a number of CI sections—for example, the Polish—turned out to be completely taken over by the enemy. Therefore, we will not be able to overcome this serious crisis without the help of the CC VKP(b). We ask the CC VKP(b) to help us with cadres, members of the VKP(b), a request that we have presented to c. Malenkov. The most urgent and pressing need is for CC VKP(b) help in staffing the Communications Service, since the suspension of its work has completely cut us off from abroad. In light of this, we request a Polit[ical] Bureau resolution to satisfy the request [that we] sent to com. Malenkov.