September 23, 1929

Tatka!

Received your letter about Kovalev. I am not very familiar with the case, but I think you are right. If Kovalev is guilty of anything, then the editorial bureau, which is the master of the operation, is three times more guilty. Apparently, they want to make Kovalev a "scapegoat." I will do everything I can, if it is not already too late.

The weather here keeps shifting around.

I kiss my Tatka firmly, very firmly, firmly.

Your

Joseph.

September 23, 1929.

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Source: Joseph Stalin in the Embrace of His Family. From the Personal Archive. P. 27. AP RF. F. 45. Op. 1. D. 1550. L. 25.

NOTE

Kovalev was head of the party department of the newspaper Pravda; from June 10, 1929, he was a member of the newspaper's editorial board, and on July 28 he was elected secretary of the party cell of the newspaper Pravda.

On September 1, 1929, Pravda published a selection of articles under the general heading "Direct Effective Self-Criticism Against Distortions of the Party's Proletarian Line, Against Concrete Manifestations of the Right Deviation," with the subheading "Communards of Leningrad, Develop Self-Criticism More Boldly, Strike at Concrete Manifestations of Right Opportunism." One of the articles gave the names of party members who had suffered for criticism and committed suicide.

The letter is a reply to the following letter from Alliluyeva, between September 16 and 22, 1929:

"Dear Joseph.

I received your little letter. I am very glad that your affairs are getting into shape. For me too everything is going well so far, except for today, which upset me very much. I will write you about everything now. Today I was at the Pravda cell for a transfer coupon, and of course Kovalev told me about all his sad news.

The matter concerns the Leningrad affairs. You, of course, know about them, i.e., that Pravda printed this material without prior agreement with the CC, although this material had been seen by N.N. Popov and Yaroslavsky and neither of them considered it necessary to point out to Pravda's party department the need to agree it with the CC (i.e., with Molotov).

Now, after the mess was stirred up, all the blame fell on Kovalev, who in fact had agreed the question with the editorial bureau. The other day they were all summoned to the CCC. Comrades Molotov, Krumin (who, knowing Kovalev's authority in Pravda, dislikes him, purely personally, since he himself enjoys no authority), Yaroslavsky, and Kovalev were there.

Sergo chaired the session. Kovalev told me how the session proceeded, namely: Krumin spun out everything along the lines that Kovalev had not shown this material to the editorial board, and so on; Molotov declared that Pravda's party department was not carrying out the CC line and in general was distorting the party line in self-criticism.

Kovalev spoke with his explanations of how the matter had happened, but Sergo did not let him finish, 'traditionally' banged his fist on the table and began shouting about how long Kovalevism would continue in Pravda, that the CCC would not tolerate this, and in that spirit.

Kovalev told me that after such a reply to his explanations, he understood in general that the ground here had been prepared by Krumin, that neither Sergo nor Molotov had absolutely any idea who had carried out all the work in Pravda on the state of the apparatus, and that Krumin, of course, was passing it all off as his own work.

Besides this Kovalev told me that he had worked very well together with N.N. Popov, while Krumin, on the contrary, has an itch against Popov, and this especially caused the personal aggravation on Krumin's part. At a session of the editorial board, Krinitsky made a statement that Kovalev was a Zinovievite, and so on and so forth. In short, it is possible that Kovalev committed an error, one that Yaroslavsky and Popov also committed, but that does not mean that the matter should take such a tone and turn.

Do not be angry with me, but seriously, it became endlessly painful for me on Kovalev's account. After all, I know what colossal work he carried out, and suddenly, on Krumin's proposal, the editorial board adopts a decision 'to relieve Comrade Kovalev of the post of head of the party-life department as an unstable party member.' This is simply monstrous.

Moreover, generally speaking, only the Organizational Department of the CC, which sent him to this work, can remove him, not Krumin. It is a pity that you are not in Moscow. I personally advised Kovalev that he must go to Molotov and defend the question from the principled side, i.e., if they consider that he must be removed, then this should be done without accusations of party instability, Kovalevism, Zinovievism, and so on. One cannot speak with such workers by such methods.

Generally speaking, he now considers that he really must leave, since under such conditions one cannot work.

In short, I in no way expected that everything would end so sadly. He has the look of a crushed man. Yes, at this commission of Sergo's, Krumin declared that he is not an organizer, enjoys no authority, and so on. This is a pure lie.

I know that you very much dislike my interventions, but still it seems to me that you ought to intervene in this patently unjust matter.

I am living well. I am studying. Contrary to expectation, political economy has been introduced in the first year; of all the subjects this frightens me most, but never mind, somehow I must scramble out. Yes, at the Industrial Academy there turned out to be another Alliluyev, as it turned out, my Siberian relative.

The children are healthy. Yes, as for the letter, you accused my mama undeservedly. It turned out that the letter had indeed not arrived; they took advantage of the fact that they were handing in one registered letter in O.E. Alliluyeva's name and confused it with the letter in my name.

O.E. is not even in Moscow and has not been there yet (she is in Tiflis), so this is a bureaucratic brush-off by the post office, and the letter is still missing. I looked through all the letters received at her apartment. It is very, very sad that the letter was lost, and you did not even tell me what you wrote in it. Do not be angry that I have written at such length; it is just very offensive for such a good comrade and worker.

Goodbye, I kiss you firmly, firmly. Answer me this letter.

Your Nadya.

P.S. Yes, all these Pravda affairs will be discussed in the PB on Thursday. 26/IX.

Joseph, send me, if you can, 50 rubles. I will be given money only on 15/IX at the Industrial Academy, and right now I am sitting without a kopeck. If you send it, it will be good.

Nadya."

See also: Letter to V.M. Molotov, December 25, 1929.