16 November 1939.

1 copy ak.

Trans. from German yes.

From 1919 to 1928, Béla Szántó belonged to Béla Kun's narrow circle of friends. In Béla Kun, he saw a leader of Bolsheviks, a VKP(b) representative. This relationship continued until approximately 1928.

Béla Szántó 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, Béla Szántó came to the conclusion that the party's policy under Béla Kun's leadership, before and after the proletarian dictatorship in Hungary, was incorrect and un-Bolshevik. Béla Szántó wrote a book about the history of the Hungarian revolution, in which he criticized Bela Kun. This sharpened disagreements between Béla Szántó and Béla Kun and hostile relations developed. Kun stood in the way of publishing this [book].

When I came to Moscow in 1935, Béla Szántó told me about his conflicts with Béla Kun. He talked about the “fatal” role of Kun in the CP of Hungary. I had no reason to doubt Béla Szántó's sincerity.

In 1935, Béla Szántó gave a report, “Remembering the Hungarian Revolution,” at the Hungarian Club in Moscow. In his speech, Béla Szántó criticized the foreign policy and military policy (strategy) of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, i.e., Béla Kun. Kun and some of his supporters harshly and rudely attacked Béla Szántó, but this speech was not considered “Trotskyist” and had nothing to do with Trotskyism.