A great misfortune has befallen our Party. On December 1, by the hand of a villainous assassin, dispatched by the class enemies, Comrade Kirov perished. Not only for us — his close friends and comrades — but for all who knew him through revolutionary work, who knew him as a fighter, comrade, and friend, the death of Kirov is an irreplaceable loss. By the hand of an enemy perished a man who gave his entire brilliant life to the cause of the working class, to the cause of communism, to the cause of the liberation of humanity.

Comrade Kirov was an exemplary Bolshevik who knew neither fear nor difficulties in attaining the great goal set by the Party. His directness, his iron steadfastness, his extraordinary qualities as an inspired tribune of the revolution were combined in him with that warmth and gentleness in personal comradely and friendly relations, with that radiant tenderness and modesty, which are inherent in a true Leninist.

Comrade Kirov worked in different parts of the USSR, both during the days of the underground and after the October Revolution — in Tomsk and Astrakhan, in Vladikavkaz and Baku — and everywhere he held high the banner of the Party and won millions of toilers to the Party cause through his tireless, energetic, and fruitful revolutionary work.

For the last nine years, Comrade Kirov led our Party's organization in the city of Lenin and Leningrad Oblast. In a brief letter of mourning, it is impossible to give an assessment of his activity among the toilers of Leningrad. It would be hard to find in our Party a more suitable leader for the working class of Leningrad, one who so skillfully welded together all Party members and the entire working class around the Party. He created throughout the entire Leningrad organization that atmosphere of Bolshevik organization, discipline, love, and devotion to the cause of the revolution which distinguished Comrade Kirov himself.

You were close to all of us, Comrade Kirov, as a faithful friend, a beloved comrade, a reliable fellow fighter. To the last days of our lives and our struggle, we shall remember you, dear friend, and shall feel the bitterness of our loss. You were always with us in the years of hard battles for the triumph of socialism in our country; you were always with us in the years of vacillation and difficulties within our Party; you lived through with us all the difficulties of recent years, and we lost you at the moment when our country had achieved great victories. In all of this struggle, in all of our achievements, there is much that is your share, much of your energy, strength, and ardent love for the cause of communism.

Farewell, our dear friend and comrade Sergei!

I. STALIN.

S. ORDZHONIKIDZE.

V. MOLOTOV. M. KALININ. K. VOROSHILOV. L. KAGANOVICH. A. MIKOYAN. A. ANDREYEV. V. CHUBAR. A. ZHDANOV. V. KUIBYSHEV. Ya. RUDZUTAK. S. KOSIOR. P. POSTYSHEV. G. PETROVSKY. A. YENUKIDZE. M. SHKIRYATOV.

Ye. YAROSLAVSKY.

N. YEZHOV.

Pravda. December 2, 1934.