NOTE TO V. D. BONCH-BRUEVICH

[1918, January, no earlier than 7 (20)]
Of course, it is necessary to arrest.
And to convene the Central Executive Committee, it is necessary to send this note to Sverdlov
2.
Lenin
1 V. D. Bonch-Bruevich in his note informs V. I. Lenin about the anarchist actions of a group of sailors — participants in the murder of the ministers of the Provisional bourgeois government A. I. Shingarev and F. F. Kokoshkin in the Mariinsky hospital on the night of January 6 to 7, 1918, requests V. I. Lenin's opinion on the arrest of the sailors and proposes to convene a meeting of the Central Executive Committee in connection with these events (see V. I. Lenin. Complete Works, vol. 50, pp. 25—2K, 411).
2 Ya. M. Sverdlov — Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.

NOTE TO V. D. BONCH-BRUEVICH
8 (21). I. 1918
To V. D. Bonch-Bruevich
Dash off, how is the case with the arrest of the murderers. Is it true that Kreys
1 does not want to be handed over?
Lenin
1 Kreys — an anarchist sailor, one of the participants in the murder of the ministers of the Provisional bourgeois government A. I. Shingarev and F. F. Kokoshkin.

ORDER TO L. N. STARK

8 (21). I. 1918
Comrade Stark!
On the basis of the communication from Comrade Radek
 
2, I request you to contact Comrade Shotman (member of the telegraph board)
3 on the issue of providing radio for the most important messages of the PTA
4.
Lenin

1917 (DECEMBER) - 1918

1 L. N. Stark — employee of the press bureau under the Council of People's Commissars, from 13 (26) January 1918 — commissioner of the Petrograd Telegraph Agency.
2 R. M. Radek — assistant secretary of the international department of the Council of People's Commissars.
3 V. I. Lenin signed A. V. Shotman's certificate of appointment as a member of the board of the People's Commissariat of Posts and Telegraphs on the same day, January 8, 1918.
4 Petrograd Telegraph Agency.

EXCHANGE OF NOTES WITH F. E. DZERZHINSKY

[January 9 (22), 1918]
Why don't you give the draft decree (1) on the complete prohibition of the export
of machine oil and the like to Finland?
(2) on the audit commission for control?
(3) on sending agents to Torneå to catch sellers?

1 V. I. Lenin's correspondence with F. E. Dzerzhinsky took place at a meeting
of the Council of People's Commissars on January 9 (22), 1918, during the discussion of the issue of import
and export of goods from Finland.
F.
E.
Dzerzhinsky — Chairman of the All-Russian Extraordinary
Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Sabotage and Speculation under
the Council of People's Commissars (VChK).
3 This refers to the fight against smugglers and speculators on the Swedish
border in
Torneå — the only, at this time, place of communication between the Soviet
Republic and the outside world.
We came to you today with a report on this matter.

NOTE TO THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSARIAT
OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
16 (29). I. 1918
Russian citizen
Samuel
Hatkin (Samuel
Hatkin)

who lived in Riga in 1906 and met Platten there
 
2,
who vouches for him, asks permission to enter Russia.
I ask you to allow him entry.
Lenin

1 No other materials about him could be found.
2 Friedrich (Fritz) Platten — at this time the secretary of the Swiss
Social Democratic Party.
INTERVIEW WITH A CORRESPONDENT
OF THE SWEDISH NEWSPAPER "FOLKETS
DAGBLAD POLITIKEN"

[January 20 (February 2), 1918]
Petrograd, Sunday.
(Petrograd bureau
Folkets
Dagblad. Telegram received with delay).
Yesterday in the afternoon Lenin received your correspondent and had a long conversation with him.
He
reported that for two days Smolny has had no connection
with Brest-Litovsk
2. No information has been received from there during this time. Trotsky
3 is sitting there, as in the Petrograd
Fortress. This proves that the Germans want to hide something.
For sure, the internal situation in Germany is critical. It is possible that by such behavior
they also want to influence the Russians, but they are mistaken.
Trotsky will not allow himself to be seduced by such methods. We will also take
measures to change this situation.
Regarding the internal situation in Russia, Lenin was especially
full of hope.
On
the Don we are masters of the situation.
Kiev is ours. News has just been received that Orenburg
has been taken by Bolshevik troops
4 and that the Cossacks under the command of General Dutov
5 have suffered a heavy defeat. 40 Cossack regiments have declared
war on Kaledin.
One fine day he will possibly be delivered here as a prisoner
 
8.
In military terms, we thus have the upper hand everywhere in the country. Even sabotage by the bourgeoisie is
receding. The organization of all groups of employees has just decided
to start negotiations with Smolny in order to resume work
at all state enterprises. In addition, work is underway
on
the nationalization of the means of production.
Most recently, the leather industry was nationalized, just as metallurgy was nationalized before,
they are managed jointly by workers and capitalists with
the decisive influence of the former. And the question of bread seems to be clarifying. Yesterday a Siberian dele-