Date: 1905
Source: ru:PSS/v47

Source: PSS, Volume 47

Statement. In issue No. 24 of the newspaper “Berner Tagwacht” (Thursday, January 30), there appears
a statement by L. Martov concerning the case of the Russian comrade Dr. Semashko, who had been arrested in Geneva. In this statement, Martov strangely refers to Semashko merely as one of the journalists who had attended the International Socialist Congress in Stuttgart; at the same time, he himself describes himself as “a delegate of Russian Social-
Democracy to the Stuttgart Congress.”

Such a formulation on Martov’s part would undoubtedly be interpreted by Swiss
workers in such a way that it would suggest Russian Social-Democracy had no connection whatsoever with Semashko.

In order to ensure that this utterly unreliable manner of expression on Martov’s part does not mislead anyone, I, as a representative of Russian Social-Democracy within the International Socialist Bureau, hereby declare that Dr. Semashko is
an old member of our party—and that at the International Congress he participated both as a member of our party and as a journalist for the party press.

I consider this clarification necessary, for our Swiss comrades are undoubtedly showing considerable interest in Semashko’s arrest. All Russian

To A. M. GORKY. February 2, 1908.

comrades who know him are firmly convinced that he was in no way involved in the Tiflis “expropriation” and could not possibly have been implicated in it. Not only because the most recent congress (the London Congress) of our party had decisively rejected this

“means of struggle,” but also because, since February 1907, Dr. Semashko had continuously resided in Geneva, devoting himself to literary work.

We express our firm conviction that the press of international Social-
Democracy will, in the very near future, greet the release of the comrade arrested in Geneva with just as well-founded joy as, in their day,
“Vorwarts!” (in Berlin) and “L’Humanité” (in Paris) welcomed the release of comrades who had been unjustly arrested in Paris.

Representative of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party
in the International Socialist Bureau

N. Lenin

Printed in German

“Berner Tagwacht,” No. 29

Published in Russian

for the first time, based on the newspaper’s text

Translated from German

---

Written between January 30

and February 2, 1908.

Sent from Geneva to Bern

February 5, 1908, in the newspaper