Note: From 19 XI 1900

17.
V. I. LENIN — P. B. AKSELROD.
19/XI — 00 [Munich].
Dear P. B.! I just received your letter of 17/XI, and I read your remarks with great interest.
Of course, we will definitely try to send you as many articles as possible, so that it is beneficial for the publications in all respects,
not to mention your natural interest. One thing is a pity, that
our secretary is überarbeitet *): this should still change soon, because serious reforms are being undertaken in the matter of Kinderpflege 2).
Dapevnch [Gurevich] sent a note for the newspaper about the French] national] congress, about 12,000 letters long 3): I hesitate
to say whether it is fully suitable.
It is very possible that we will do without it with your chronicle: we await your chronicle
with impatience.
Dapevnch is writing a big article for the journal about French affairs.
The attached letter is for Rolau: my colleague is writing to him
about our business of "tea" 4), because we think that my correspondent, Skubik 5), is not in the city. Please be kind enough to forward this letter to Rolau and ask him to answer us immediately
(excuse me for bothering you with such a request: I hope you
can entrust this to Gursvpch 6).
If Rolau is not in the city, then would you be kind enough to read [this] letter to him
and talk on the subject of [its] contents, at least with Skubik's wife: the thing is, we need to get a definite answer
as soon as possible, and if neither Rolau nor Skubik is there, then only through personal
negotiations between you and someone from their company can this
be achieved.

P. B. AKSELROD.
11 1
Regarding L. Akselrod's 7) article, I fully agree with you that it must first be sent to Georgy Valentinovich Plekhanov].
I shake your hand firmly and apologize for the too hasty
letter.
Your Petrov.
*) Überarbeitet – overworked.
a) Kinderpflege - childcare.
I. G. Smidovich had a child at this
time.
3)
There is no article by Danevich about French affairs in the first issue of "Iskra"; there are two articles about foreign affairs: P. B. Akselrod "Results
of International Social Democracy" and H. G. Rakovsky "International
Socialist Congress in Paris." There are also no articles by Danevich in "Zarya".
The first article on French affairs was published in No. 6 of "Iskra".
4) "Tea" is the transport of illegal literature.
5) Ernst Chr. Rolau and Eduard Skubik were Latvian students, living at this
time in Zurich. The "Iskra" group entered into relations with Rolau and Skubik,
who undertook to set up the transport of illegal publications
to Russia.
As can be seen from the "Overview of the most important investigations carried out
in the Gendarme Administration for 1901" (see Russian Historical Library, No. 2, published by the "Don Speech" printing house in Rostov-on-Don, 1905,
pp. 48-50), as well as from Menshikov's book "The Past" (p. 146), the gendarmes knew about the existence of this transport group, apparently,
through internal agents.
In December 1900, the first transport of Iskra publications was detained on the border of the Courland province
(on the Degge estate), with 11 of the 12 bales containing Russian books (one
with Latvian literature).
A total of 6,472 copies were confiscated; these included the first issue of "Iskra", Martov's brochure "Red
Banner", V. I. Lenin's "Explanation of the Law on Fines", "What every worker needs to know
and remember", "The urgent question of the revolutionary cause",
"After the coronation", "Underground Russia" and "On the Eve". After this failure, Rolau himself went to Russia, but on June 21, 1901, together with the émigré Iv. Klyava, he was arrested, and many bales and suitcases of illegal literature were taken). (A total of 3,883 copies were confiscated, including the first issue of "Zarya", issues of "Iskra", the brochure
"May Days in Kharkov".)
Rolau received a sentence of exile to Eastern Siberia for 6 years in this case.
In 1905-6 he worked in the "Latvian Social Democratic Union",
in 1907 he was killed by the convoy for attempting to escape. Skubik continued to work
on transport and was implicated in the Königsberg trial in 1904 (see the above-mentioned "Overview", the book
Menshikov "The Past" and "Letters of P. B. Akselrod and Yu. O. Martov", p. 18, note 3).

11 2

The Iskra transport was properly established only in the middle of
1901, as Martov says in his "History of Russian Social Democracy" (Published by Kinga 1918, p. 58] mainly through the efforts of I. Bassovsky
(Dementiev).
I. Bassovsky
(Dementiev)
(party nickname "Oval") - a Social Democrat from the 90s, one of the most active professionals of "Iskra", after the split - a Menshevik.
After the first Russian revolution, he finally moved away from Social Democracy. Currently non-partisan.
6)
Gurevich - Abram Grigorievich Gurevich, Akselrod's son-in-law, who worked on the expedition and transport of "Iskra".
7) Regarding Akselrod's article - see letter 16, note 6.

18.
V. I. LENIN — P. B. AKSELROD.
26/XI — 00 [Munich].
Dear P. B.!
A letter has just arrived from our mutual friend *), who
writes that everything is arranged. Finally, the work will "firmly"
get underway! He very much asks you to send (me) as soon as possible
the Nusperli passport *) (or Khusperli? It is not clear, but you, of course,
know).
Tomorrow, 27/XI, he begins typesetting, and, consequently, it can
be hoped that in about two weeks (or a little more) everything will be
completely ready.
Therefore, it would be very important that in a week all the material is at hand, including your foreign chronicle. I hope that this deadline will not force you to cut something short, because you probably have little left. Vera Ivanovna Zasulich] is writing today to G. V. [Plekhanov] to urge the writer about the Parisian Congress 2).
References to his article (if you make them), of course, can be made even before receiving his article.
I shake your hand firmly and wish you full health.
Your Petrov.
P. S.
Today I am sending the manuscript (G. V. [Plekhanov] 3)
to Dietz.
Maybe things will go decisively there too.
It's time!
1) I. S. Blumenfeld-Tsvetov - a typesetter in the illegal printing house
of "Iskra" in Leipzig.
The task of preparing the publication of "Iskra" and "Zarya" abroad was entrusted
to A. N. Potresov, who for this purpose went abroad back in April
*) He writes: "I will send it back as soon as I arrive here."
Lenin Miscellany, III.

LENIN MISCELLANY.
1900.
According to Potresov, he turned to the German Social Democrats for help in organizing the publication
of "Iskra" and "Zarya".
The German Social Democrat Adolf Braun provided him with particularly great assistance in this regard.
With his help, it was possible to establish the typesetting of "Iskra"
first in Leipzig, and then in Munich in German Social Democratic
printing houses.
The excellent typesetter I. S. Blumenfeld was typesetting "Iskra."
"Zarya" was published legally in Stuttgart by Dietz.
A passport in the name of Nusperli was required for Blumenfeld, apparently, for registration in Leipzig.
2) The writer about the Paris Congress is Christian Georgievich Rakovsky.
His article about the Paris Congress was published in the first issue
of "Iskra."
3) One of Plekhanov's articles, placed in No. 1 of "Zarya."