Date: 1918-11-29
Source: ru:PSS/v50
Source: CW vol 50

WITH B. M. VOLIN ON NOVEMBER 29, 1918
On the line is Comrade Volin, Chairman of the Oryol Gubernia Executive Committee and Gubernia Party Committee.

We have just received a telegram from Surazh with the following content: "On November 29, a congress of German Soviets in Ukraine will be held in Gomel. It is necessary to send representatives. We have dispatched the head of information and others. We are conducting negotiations with the large German Soviet in Ukraine. We are recruiting volunteers from the German army into the Red Army. Send directives for our representatives in Ukraine. Our representatives are guaranteed safety and are under German protection. The mood of the German army is purely Bolshevik." I have decided today to send a communist, the Chairman of the Sovdep, and a German, Comrade Mayer, from the international detachment, to Gomel. Should the Chairman of the Oryol Sovdep only give a greeting or can he also take on political assignments? I am asking for your directives. If you know about this congress and have sent your own representatives, then perhaps our delegation is unnecessary.

Lenin: I know nothing about this congress. I advise you to immediately establish contact with the Ukrainian communists and their Central Committee through Kursk. It is necessary to carefully verify the reports that the majority of the German Soviets are on the side of the Bolsheviks. If this is not the case, then it is necessary to make a detailed and well-founded principled speech at the congress about Bolshevism and its tasks. If, however, the German soldiers are already Bolsheviks or Spartacists, then it is essential to propose an immediate alliance with us for the quickest restoration of Soviet power in Ukraine and for the arrest not only of the White Guards but also of the Petliurites. In any case, people must be sent to the congress who are capable of giving the most accurate report on all the debates and decisions.

If it is too late to send new representatives to the congress, then try to telegraph my note to those whom you have already sent. I await your reply.

Volin: Vladimir Ilyich, I informed you that I have decided to send the Chairman of the Sovdep to Gomel. He will leave there tonight. For this, I asked for your directives. At the same time, I will try to get in touch with Kursk.

Lenin: I am very glad that you are sending the Chairman to the congress. I hope you are satisfied with my advice. Arrange for me to be informed about each day of the congress 221.

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First published in 1942 in Lenin Miscellany XXXIV

Printed from the typescript