TELEGRAMS REGARDING R. V. MALINOVSKY1

9-10 (22-23) May 1914

Telegram to G. I. Petrovsky2

9 (22) May 1914

The news is shocking3. We await details. We do not understand anything. Explain it as overwork. In any case, do not lose heart. It can be explained by a personal crisis.

Fund 2, op. 1, f. 23823, l. 2 - autograph.

Telegram to V. L. Burtsev

Not earlier than 10 (23) May 19144

116. Glaciere. Paris. Burtsev1*.

Improbable. Existing indications [of] personal crisis2*. Awaiting3* information.

Fund 2, op. 1, f. 25777 - autograph.

Translation

116. Glaciere. Paris. Burtsev

Unlikely. There are signs of a personal crisis. Awaiting information.

Telegram to G. E. Zinoviev

10 (23) May 19144

From4* Paris they telegraph that Malinovsky "is accused of provocation."

Verrez. L'affaire bien urgent5*.

Fund 2, op. 1, f. 27133 - autograph.

Telegram to A. E. Badaev

10 or 11 (23 or 24) May 1914

To Badaev. Shpalernaya 44D. St. Petersburg.

Russian newspapers telegraph to Burtsev: Malinovsky is accused [of] provocation. Burtsev has heard nothing. One deputy5, having gathered information from seven Poles, should arrive. Do not get nervous, slander is possible.

Choose a chairman6, state: the Muscovites will choose a worthy one.

Fund 2, op. 1, f. 27131 — autograph.

1* The following is crossed out: Kousnetzoff (Kuznetsov — French).

2* The following is crossed out: Questionnez (ask — French).

3* The following is crossed out: pepeesow (p-p-s — French).

4* Initially, V. I. Lenin wrote and then crossed out: "Comprenons rien" (We do not understand anything — French).

5* See. The matter is becoming urgent (French).

1 Documents 59-68, 70, 71, 76 regarding R. V. Malinovsky — a member of the Central Committee of the RSDLP, Chairman of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party faction in the Fourth State Duma, arising from suspicions of his collaboration with government security agencies. On 8 (21) May 1914, Malinovsky unexpectedly for the faction and the Central Committee of the RSDLP resigned from his deputy powers and left St. Petersburg the next day. The St. Petersburg newspapers immediately published reports accusing him of being a provocateur. These accusations were fully confirmed only after the February Revolution of 1917, as a result of the investigation by the Extraordinary Investigative Commission of the Provisional Government, where testimonies of the heads of the tsarist Russia's security agencies, and figures of the Russian Social Democracy who knew Malinovsky, including A. E. Badaev, N. I. Bukharin, I. P. Goldenberg, G. E. Zinoviev, N. K. Krupskaya, V. I. Lenin, V. P. Nogin, E. F. Rozmirovich, and others, were heard (See: The Case of the Provocateur Malinovsky. Moscow, 1992, pp. 31-136). It was also revealed that Malinovsky's departure from the Duma was initiated by the Department of Police, which feared that the scandal of exposing a secret agent (compromising rumors about Malinovsky had reached the Duma) would cause greater moral and political damage to the government than the loss of the information provided (see: Rosental I. S. The Provocateur Roman Malinovsky: Fate and Time. Moscow, 1996, pp. 145-147).

In 1914, Malinovsky managed to mislead the leadership of the Bolshevik party. He voluntarily submitted himself to the judgment of the Foreign Bureau of the Central Committee of the RSDLP and requested an investigation into the accusations of being a provocateur. The investigative commission, consisting of Ya. S. Ganetsky — chairman, Lenin, and Zinoviev, which met in Poronin from 15 (28) May to 11 (24) July 1914, was unable to uncover his crime. The Central Committee of the RSDLP, in its resolution, stated that Malinovsky, by leaving a responsible party post, had placed himself outside the party, but at the same time, the Central Committee found no grounds to suspect him of political dishonesty (see doc. 76, note 2). The following main reasons for the failure of the Bolshevik party investigation can be named: the insufficiency of direct, objective evidence presented by witnesses to the commission, as well as by Menshevik and other newspapers; Malinovsky's significant contributions to the party, active work in the Duma, which seemed too valuable to the commission members to risk for the sake of infiltrating a provocateur; Malinovsky's skill in conducting his game, adapting to the situation and the people around him, self-control, and the convincingly played sincerity during the investigation; the acute political confrontation between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, which influenced the Bolshevik commission's assessment of the accusatory testimonies against Malinovsky, which mainly came from the Mensheviks. (See the protocols of the commission: Questions of History, 1996, No. 9-12).

After the commission's work, Malinovsky made his way to Warsaw, where he was mobilized into the Russian army. He participated in combat, was wounded in November 1914, and fell into German captivity. Based on reports in Russian and foreign newspapers about his death, Lenin and Zinoviev wrote the obituary "Roman Vatslavovich Malinovsky" and published it in the newspaper "Social-Democrat" No. 33 on 19 October (1 November) 1914, but in the next issue (No. 34 on 22 November (5 December) 1914), a note "Malinovsky is alive" was printed. From the prisoner-of-war camp, Malinovsky corresponded with Lenin, Zinoviev, and the Committee of the Foreign Organization of the RSDLP (see docs. 80, 81, 89, 95). Malinovsky returned to Petrograd with a group of prisoners of war on 22 October 1918 and turned himself in to the authorities. He appeared before the Supreme Revolutionary Tribunal of the VTsIK, and after a brief trial, was executed by firing squad on the night of 5 to 6 November 1918.

2 The telegram by V. I. Lenin was written at the end of the second page of his article "On the Resignation of R. V. Malinovsky" (see doc. 59).

3 This likely refers to the telegram from G. I. Petrovsky to G. E. Zinoviev, sent on 8 (21) May 1914 at 14:10: "Malinovsky, without warning, resigned his powers, refused to give an explanation, and left for abroad. Petrovsky." (RGASPI, f. 17, op. 1, d. 1474). The telegram was received at 8:10 the next day, which is the date of V. I. Lenin's response.

4 Dated according to the telegram from A.I. Lobov, sent from Paris on May 10 (23), 1914, at 4:49 PM, addressed to: [Biały Dunajec]. Ulyanov. Villa Teresia Skupień (received the same day at 10:05 AM): "Russian newspapers are telegraphing to Burcev — Malinovsky has resigned his deputy powers, fled, is accused of provocation. Burcev has heard nothing. He requests detailed instructions on what to do. Telegraph him immediately. Alexei" (RGASPI, f. 2, op. 5, d. 386).

5 It was not possible to establish which deputy was given the assignment.

6 On May 12 (25), 1914, the newspaper *Pravda* reported: "Comrade Grigory Ivanovich Petrovsky, a deputy for the workers of Ekaterinoslav, was elected as the Chairman of the Russian Social-Democratic W[orkers'] Fraction."