Translated from: ru/1912/1912-12_pismo_lb_kamenevu_dekabr_1912_goda.txt

Greetings, my friend!

I kiss you on the nose, Eskimo-fashion. Devil take me. I miss you terribly. I miss you -- I swear by the dog! I have no one, no one to have a heart-to-heart talk with, devil take you. Will you really not move to Krakow?

There are five of us here: three deputies (Petrovsky, Malinovsky, Badaev; of them, Petrovsky represents the Six in the faction). I was alone. A sixth is coming. Despite the stupidity committed by four of the six regarding Luch (I learned about this afterward), the Six remains a cohesive group. One need only give them time to get their bearings, to familiarize themselves with party affairs, to work seriously with them. Stavsky will make a capable worker. Of Malinovsky, there is nothing more to be said. Yes, one cannot say everything in a letter, and there is much to talk about. Ilyich recommends a "firm policy" by the Six within the faction, a policy of threats to the majority of the faction, a policy of appealing to the rank and file against the majority of the faction; but Ilyich will yield, for it is self-evident that the Six is not yet mature enough for such a firm policy, not yet prepared, that one must first consolidate the Six and then use it to beat the majority of the faction, as Ilya Muromets beat the Tatars with a Tatar. Besides, it is quite possible that within a month or two there will already be a majority in the faction (there is hope of winning over one or two), and then we will have the opportunity to beat the liquidators with the faction as such -- this is far more advantageous. Therefore, we must work and wait just a little for the firm policy. The latest blunder with the participation in Luch shows once more that we must, above all, consolidate the Six itself, which wants to be Bolshevik but is not yet fully Bolshevik. The Six at every step needs a guide in a leader: I happened to be absent from one of the faction meetings, and that was enough for the Six to commit the blunder with Luch. In short -- we must wait a little... Well then, for now, I firmly shake your hand.

Koba.

Bolshevik Leadership. Correspondence. 1912-1927. Moscow, 1996. p. 16.

RGASPI. F. 558. Op. 1. D. 5391. L. 3.