… Meanwhile the enemy is wide awake. The facts in our possession show that counterrevolutionary clergymen and sectarians are very actively preparing for the elections, agitating in their communities and preparing to submit their candidacies for the secret ballot. And we must not forget that our region included, in its time—as is well known—important church and sectarian centers of old tsarist Russia. These centers continued to exist right up until very recently. The underground counterrevolutionary activities of clergymen and sectarians in our region are still significant, and antireligious work in our region has been abandoned by everyone. As has been established by our evaluation of the situation, our party organizations take no interest in these matters… .

Let me now speak about the lessons to be learned from wrecking, sabotage, and espionage activities of Japanese-German-Trotskyist agents… .

The first warning was the villainous murder of Comrade Kirov. In its secret letter of 18 January 1935, the CC warned the entire party and all party organizations of the duplicitous activities of enemies of the party. The CC pointed out that “the stronger the USSR becomes and the more hopeless the position of our enemies, the sooner will our enemies, precisely because of their hopeless situation, slide down into the mire of terror, in view of which it is necessary for us, with all the means at our disposal, to raise the vigilance of our officials.”

The Central Committee has issued a stern warning in its letter against repetition of the errors committed in the Leningrad party organization and by organs of the Leningrad NKVD.

At the plenum, Comrade Stalin said that the case of the villainous murder of Comrade Kirov speaks loudly for itself.

We received a second warning from the Central Committee in connection with the uncovering of terrorist activities perpetrated by the Trotskyist-Zinovievist bloc… .

Even after this grave warning, the comrades in the local organizations got busy only with difficulty. They did not ascribe sufficient importance to the development in oneself of the qualities of a Bolshevik—namely, the ability to recognize the enemy.

The party organizations and their leaders did not put into effect the necessary policy change which would have led to the intensification of party and political work. They did not fully utilize the verification of party documents and the overhauling of party machinery for the purpose of purging the party of its enemies.

And not only that—if we take our Azov-Black Sea party organization as an example, vile double-dealers, having wormed their way deceitfully into the leadership of party organizations, used the verification of party documents and the exchange [of party documents] for their counterrevolutionary aims… .

Sergo [G. K. Ordzhonikidze] suffered from a certain amount of excessive trust. Comrade Stalin said that Sergo was one of the best members of the Politburo, a man who had helped thousands of outstanding people grow to maturity. However, when it came to trusting people, he was weak, on account of which bad things had been overlooked. Comrade Stalin said that we all love Sergo, but the truth and the party are more precious to us than he is.

People often allege that the fulfillment of the economic plan in this or that sphere of the economy is a guarantee that this sphere is free of sabotage. But this is not true. This theory is not true and we must combat it. We must not forget that our plans are minimalist. They have been set excessively low in many places, and our enemies have taken advantage of this in order to conceal their activities… .

And now a few words about the right deviationists. As early as the last Plenum of the CC of the VKP(b), it had been clearly and completely proven that Bukharin and Rykov knew of the activities of the Trotskyist-Zinovievist bloc. They themselves espoused these positions. A thorough investigation into their case was conducted after the last plenum. Nearly all of the followers of the so-called “school” of Bukharin already under arrest were interrogated. This includes the man closest to Bukharin, his secretary Tseitlin,

Spelled Tsetlin in Documents 118, 138, and 141—Trans.

some of Rykov's people (i.e., the economic managers) who were associated with him, his secretary Radin, then Uglanov. All of this testimony has established the direct complicity of the right deviationists—that is, of Bukharin and Rykov, in counterrevolutionary activities against Soviet power, against socialism, and for capitalism. In drawing up their indictment, we could use the same formula that had been applied to the Trotskyists-fascists… .

How did they conduct themselves at the plenum? Disgustingly. The testimony was circulated to all members of the CC. Bukharin addressed the CC and members of the plenum. He called his speech “Against the slanderers” and accused all of his friends and all of his underlings [lychniki] of slander. Moreover, he analyzed his case in a manner that made it appear that all of this had been contrived by the NKVD, and he attacked the CC. The following legitimate question was posed to him: “All right. You have been slandered, but why then has the man closest to you, Yefim Tseitlin, your secretary, slandered you; why have your followers, whom you have trained and brought up, why have they slandered you?” Bukharin explained that he had had a quarrel with Yefim Tseitlin. But what about the others? The others—he doesn't know why. If they had slandered you, then why are they slandering themselves by confessing to their own counterrevolutionary actions, such as preparations for terror, etc.? Why? He is at a loss. Bukharin had had many meetings with Trotskyists, Zinovievists, and his confederates. The record shows that. He had to acknowledge all these meetings and conversations, but he tried to describe them in a way that made it look as if he had had these conversations for purposes of edification, in order to lead his confederates away from the path of counterrevolution… .

Why did the Plenum of the CC spend nearly three days hearing and investigating every aspect of this case? [Because] these people have done the party certain services. The party undertook every measure to correct them, to put them on the right path. [The case of] Bukharin and Rykov is self-evident in and of itself. Their case was placed before the plenum and discussed for so long because there are enemies among us. Enemies remain not only outside the party but also within it. The speeches of Bukharin and Rykov are speeches by people who have not laid down their arms. They are appealing to those who have not as yet been unmasked, who have not as yet laid down their arms, saying: “Follow in our path, do not confess, do not lay down your arms.” The meaning of all this lies in the fact that capitalism and communism are at war with each other.

… chto idet bor'ba kapitalizma i kommunizma; the word bor'ba has a very wide range of meanings, including wrestling, a fight, a struggle as in “class struggle,” combat, or campaign. My use of war is more figurative than literal—Trans.

And this is one form in which the class struggle manifests itself.