Letter to L.M. Kaganovich, 11 August 1932

Source: Tom 17

Greetings, Comrade Kaganovich!

I received your letter of 9/VIII.

1) The decree on the protection of public property is, of course, good, and it will soon take effect. The decree against speculators is also good and timely (it should be issued soon). But all this is not enough. It is also necessary to issue a special letter-directive from the CC to Party and judicial-punitive organizations on the meaning of these decrees and the methods of implementing them. This is absolutely necessary. Tell the appropriate people to prepare a draft of such a letter. I will be in Moscow soon and will review it.

2) On the questions of the ECCI plenum, the use of grain and fodder crops, and diesel locomotives, we will talk upon my arrival in Moscow.

3) The most important thing right now is Ukraine. The situation in Ukraine is extremely bad. It is bad along Party lines. They say that in two oblasts of Ukraine (apparently Kyiv and Dnepropetrovsk) about 50 raikoms have come out against the grain procurement plan, declaring it unrealistic. In other raikoms the situation, they claim, is no better. What does this look like? This is not a party, but a parliament, a caricature of a parliament. Instead of leading the districts, Kosior kept maneuvering between the CC VKP(b) directives and the demands of the raikoms -- and has now maneuvered himself into a dead end. Lenin was right when he said that a man who lacks the courage to go against the current at the necessary moment cannot be a real Bolshevik leader.

It is bad along Soviet lines. Chubar is not a leader.

It is bad along GPU lines. Redens is not up to leading the struggle against counter-revolution in such a large and distinctive republic as Ukraine.

If we do not take steps now to correct the situation in Ukraine, we may lose Ukraine. Bear in mind that Pilsudski is not idle, and his agents in Ukraine are many times stronger than Redens or Kosior think. Bear in mind also that the Ukrainian Communist Party (500 thousand members, ha-ha) contains not a few (yes, not a few!) rotten elements -- conscious and unconscious Petliurites, and ultimately direct agents of Pilsudski. As soon as things get worse, these elements will not hesitate to open a front inside (and outside) the Party, against the Party. The worst thing is that the Ukrainian leadership does not see these dangers.

This cannot continue any longer.

It is necessary:
a) to remove Kosior from Ukraine and replace him with you, while retaining you as secretary of the CC VKP(b);
b) subsequently to transfer Balitsky to Ukraine as chairman of the Ukrainian GPU (or Plenipotentiary Representative in Ukraine, since the post of chairman of the Ukrainian GPU apparently does not exist), while retaining him as deputy chairman of the OGPU, and to make Redens Balitsky's deputy in Ukraine;
c) several months after this, to replace Chubar with another comrade, say Grinko or someone else, and to make Chubar a deputy of Molotov in Moscow (Kosior could be made one of the secretaries of the CC VKP);
d) to set as our goal the transformation of Ukraine in the shortest time into a genuine fortress of the USSR, into a truly model republic. Money should not be spared for this.

Without these and similar measures (economic and political strengthening of Ukraine, first and foremost of its border regions, etc.) -- I repeat -- we may lose Ukraine.

What do you think about this?

This matter must be taken up as quickly as possible -- immediately upon my arrival in Moscow.

Greetings!

I. Stalin

11/VIII-32

P.S. Regarding Balitsky and Redens, I have already spoken with Menzhinsky. He agrees and wholeheartedly welcomes it.

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Source: Stalin and Kaganovich. Correspondence. 1931-1936, pp. 273-274.

RGASPI. F. 81. Op. 3. D. 99. L. 144-151.

NOTE: In November 1932, V.A. Balitsky was appointed special plenipotentiary of the OGPU in Ukraine (S.F. Redens at that time remained head of the GPU of Ukraine). In February 1933, Balitsky officially replaced Redens as chairman of the GPU of the Ukrainian SSR and plenipotentiary representative of the OGPU in Ukraine.