Terror was the basis of all their activities, it was the basis of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite union. This was quite unanimously testified to by people who were not directly connected with each other in their underground work. This was not only admitted here by Zinoviev and Kamenev, Smirnov and Ter-Vaganyan, Reingold and Pickel; it was stated also by Berman-Yurin, Fritz David and Valentine Olberg, that peculiar citizen of the Republic of Honduras, paid agent of Trotsky and simultaneously of the German secret police - the Gestapo.
All these persons, under the weight of evidence against them, could no longer deny and had to admit that the main, in fact the only means of struggle against the Soviet government and the Party which united their criminal activity was terror, murder.
Reingold said: "The Trotskyites and all the members of the bloc insisted and agreed on this." It was precisely the removal through violence of the leaders of the C.P.S.U. and the Soviet government that was the fundamental aim of this Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc, which can be quite fairly called, as I called it in the indictment, an association of political assassins.
These terroristic sentiments which formed the basis of the organization of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc in 1932-36 were perhaps most distinctly and characteristically expressed by the accused Mrachkovsky, who stated both at the preliminary investigation and at this trial:
"Hopes for the collapse of the policy of the Party must be regarded as doomed. The methods of struggle applied up to now have not produced positive results. Only one path of struggle remained, and that was the path of removing by violence the leaders of the Party and the Government."
Mrachkovsky said: "The principal task is to put Stalin and the other leaders of the Party and the Government out of the way."
All their bestial rage and hatred were directed against the leaders of our Party, against the Political Bureau of the Central Committe, against Comrade Stalin, against his glorious comrades-inarms.
It was upon them, headed by Comrade Stalin, that the main burden of the struggle against the Zinovievite-Trotskyite underground organization lay. It was under their leadership, under the leadership of Comrade Stalin, that great executor and keeper of Lenin's will and testament, that the counter-revolutionary Trotskyite organization was routed. It was under their leadership, amidst fierce battles against Trotskyite counter-revolution that Trotskyite counter-revolution was finally crushed.
In the fighting against this Trotskyite counter-revolution, Comrade Stalin developed and undeviatingly carried out Lenin's teachings on the building of socialism in our country, having armed the vast millions of workers and collective farmers with these teachings.
That is why the Trotskyites and Zinovievites, as well as the other most frenzied counter-revolutionry elements, concentrated all their efforts and their hatred and rage against socialism on the leaders of our Party. That is why in March 1932, in a fit counter-revolutionary fury, Trotsky burst out in an open letter with an appeal to "put Stalin out of the way" (this letter was found between the double walls of Holtzman's suit case and figured as an exhibit in this case).
Trotsky addressed this despicable appeal with still greater frankness to number of his diciples abroad whom he had recruited as assassins to be sent to the U.S.S.R. for the purpose of organizing terroristic acts and attempts on the lives of the leaders of our Soviet state and our Party. This was related in detail here by the accused Fritz David. he stated that in November 1932 he had a conversation with Trotsky during which Trotsky said literally the following: "Now there is no other way out except the removal by violence of Stalin and his adherents. Terror against Stalin - that is the revolutionary task. Whoever is a revolutionary - his hand will not tremble." (Vol. VIII, p. 62.) For this purpose Trotsky recruited high-strung persons, impressing upon them that they must commit this counter-revolutionary act as if it were some sort of "historic mission."
Berman-Yurin testified here that Trotsky systematically and repeatedly said: "Until Stalin is removed by violence, there will be no possibillity of changing the policy of the Party; in the fight against Stalin we must not hesitate to adopt extreme measures - Stalin must be physically destroyed."
Fritz David and Berman-Yurin discussed with Trotsky the assassination of Stalin. They accepted Trotsky's commission and took a number of practical steps to carry it out. Does not this in itself deserve the sternest punishment provided for by our law - death by shooting?
Fritz David, Berman-Yurin, Reingold, V. Olberg, and I. N. Smirnov himself have in fact utterly exposed Trotsky's role in this matter. Even Smirnov, who stubbornly denied that he took any part in the terroristic activities of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite centre, could not help admitting that he personally had received the directions on individual terror against the leaders of the Soviet government and the C.P.S.U. in 1931 from Trotsky's son, Sedov, that these directions on terror were confirmed by Trotsky in 1932 in the instructions brought from abroad by Gaven and conveyed to Smirnov. Smirnov tried to alleviate the gravity of his own position by stating that the instruction on terror which he had received from Sedov was Sedov's personal attitude. But this is a worthless explanation. It is obvious to everyone that Sedov was no authority whatever for Smirnov. Ter-Vaganyan and Mrachkovsky corroborated this here when they said that had they thought that the direction on terror came from Sedov they would have spat upon it with supreme contempt.
The accused Ter-Vaganyan, one of the principal organizers of the united centre, confirmed that Smirnov, while abroad, really did receive from Trotsky instructions to adopt terror. Ter-Vaganyan merely veiled his evidence by substituting for the word terror the phrase: "sharp struggle against the leaders of the C.P.S.U." Later, however, he had to decipher this and to admit that these were instructions, the content of which was terrorism and terrorism alone.
Finally, you heard the witness Safonova whose confrontation with the accused has probably left a deep impression upon the memories of everyone present in this court. At this confrontation, Safonova, whose case is being taken up separately because the investigation is still continuing, fully confirmed that Smirnov received from Trotsky instructions on individual terror through Sedov in 1931, and later through Gaven.
On the basis of these facts we can take it as absolutely established that it was precisely Trotsky's instructions on terrorism that served as the basis for the development of the terroristic activities of the united centre. Trotsky's instructions to organize a united centre and to adopt terrorism were accepted by the Trotskyite underground organization. Zinoviev and Kamenev, the leaders of the Zinovievite section of the bloc, arrived at the same idea and also accepted Trotsky's instructions as the basis of the activities of the united centre and underground organizations.
These bitter and ingrained enemies could not look calmly on the growing prosperity of our people, of our country, which had emerged onto the highroad of socialism.
The U.S.S.R. is achieving victory. The U.S.S.R. is building socialism, in the U.S.S.R. socialism is triumphant, and because of that their hatred towards the Central Committe, towards Stalin and the government to whom the country owes this victory, of whom the country is proud, grows more and more.
From their gloomy underworld Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev issue the despicable call: Put out of the way, kill! The underground machinery begins to work, knives are sharpened, revolvers are loaded, bombs are charged, false documents are written and fabricated, secret connections are established with the German political police, people are sent to their posts, they engage in revolver practice, and finally they shoot and kill.
That is the main thing! The counter-revolutionaries not only dream of terror, they not only devise plans for a terroristic plot, or for terroristic attempts, they not only prepare to commit these foul crimes, they commit them, they shoot and kill!
The main thing in this trial is that they transformed their counter-revolutionary thoughts into counter-revolutionary deeds, their counter-revolutionary theory into counter-revolutionary terroristic practice; they not only talk about shooting, they shoot, shoot and kill!
That is the main thing. They killed Comrade Kirov, they were getting ready to kill Comrades Stalin, Voroshilov, Kaganovich, Orjonikidze, Zhdanov, Kossior and Postyshev. This is what we are trying these people for, these organizers of secret murder, these certified murderers.
And that is why we demand that the Court judge them as severely as our Soviet law commands, judge them as our socialist censcience demands.
Murder - this is the whole "program" of the home policy of these people.
What was their foreign policy?
Here the shades of the dead arise, here the old "Clemenceau theses" are revived, here the cloven hoof of Trotsky again becomes visible.
Trotsky's letter received by Dreitzer contained three brief points: 1) put Stalin and Voroshilov out of the way; 2) unfold work of organizing nuclei in the army; 3) in the event of war, take advantage of every setback and possible confusion to seize the leadership.
This is avowed banking on defeat.
This is the old Clemenceau thesis, but in a new version, edited by the united centre of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite terroristic bloc.
Fritz David stated during the preliminary investigation and confirmed it in this Court (and it fully conforms with a number of historical documents, the evidence of other accused and the very nature of the task which confronted Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev), that in one of his conversations with Trotsky the latter asked him: "Do you think this discontent will disappear in the event of a war between the Soviet Union and the Japanese?" (He referred to the discontent which he thought existed in our country.) "No, on the contrary," said Trotsky, "under these conditions the forces hostile to the regime will try to unite, and in that case our task will be to unite and take the lead of these discontented masses, to arm them and lead them against the ruling bureaucrats"(Vol. VIII, p. 61).
Trotsky repeated this in his letter of 1932 (evidently this is his idée fixe) and in a conversation with Berman-Yurin.
Berman-Yurin stated: "In connection with the international situation at that time Trotsky told me that the task of demoralizing our military forces was of particular importance, for in the event of a war against the Soviet Union large masses would be called up to the army." Trotsky and the Trotskyites together with the Zinovievites calcylated on being able to influence these masses very easly. "Trotsky said to me literally the following, " added Berman-Yurin: " 'We will defend the Soviet Union provided the Stalin leadership is overthrown' " (Vol. IV, p. 100).
Such was their program in foreign policy!
Perhaps this is all an invention? Perhaps Fritz David and Berman-Yurin just gave rein to their fantasy? Perhaps this is all a pack of lies, an invention, the irresponsible chatter of the accused who are trying to say as much as they can against the others in order to mitigate their own ultimate fate? No! This is not an invention, not fantasy! It is the truth! Who does not know that Trotsky,together with the accused Kamenev and Zinoviev now in the dock, several years ago proclaimed the "Clemenceau thesis," that they said that it was necessary, in the event of war, to wait until the enemy had got within a distance of 80 kilometers of Moscow and then to rise in arms against the Soviet government, to overthrow it. This is an historical fact. It cannot be denied. And that is why it must be admitted that the evidence given by Berman-Yurin and Fritz David in this onnection corresponds to the truth.
Such was the "foreign policy" program of these people. For this program alone our Soviet people will hang these trailors on the very first gates! And it will serve them right!