Statement by G.E.Zinoviev

September 18, 1919

To the P[[olitical] and Organizational] Bureau of the CEKA of the RCP

I have received an extract from the minutes of the Politburo of September 11 (regarding my appeal to Estonia).

I cannot reconcile myself with the morals that are being established in our CEKA.

When I received news of what had happened in Estonia (expulsion etc.), I contacted Comrade Lenin by telephone. It was he who suggested that I address such a radio to the Estonians. To my remark that this should be done to Chicherin, Lenin said that it would take too long1* and that he would inform Chicherin of what had been agreed between me and him. Having sent the agreed radio to the Estonians, I at the same time sent at once a telegram to Chicherin that this had been done at the suggestion of T. Lenin. All this will be confirmed to you, of course, by Tov. Lenin.

And now the Politburo is giving me an official instruction that it is "inadmissible" and so on! Tell me for yourselves - what does it look like?

I demand that this question be transferred to the plenum, which, by the way, it is high time to convene (the Congress obliged us to convene it at least once every two weeks, but it has not been held for three months). I declare to you, comrades, that I am tired of receiving undeserved remarks and flicks. If you find that I am doing a bad job here, transfer me to another job.

G. Zinoviev.

I respectfully request that a copy of this letter of mine be forwarded to all those members of the Central Executive Committee to whom a copy of the extract from the minutes of the Politburo meeting of September 11]1 has been forwarded.

I warn that if the Politburo does not take back this nagging, I shall be forced to resign.

After writing this letter I had a chance to have a word with Vladimir Ilyich, who came to Moscow for a few hours.

Vadimir Ilyich, of course, confirmed to me that the radio had been sent in agreement with him. He told me that he had warned Chicherin about the same thing. Vladimir Ilyich made the assumption that I had in addition sent some radio to the Estonians. But this is absolutely untrue: I did not send any radio to anyone, except the one that was verbally edited over the telephone by t. Lenin, I did not send any radio.

G. Zinoviev.

Statement by Lenin

I quite confirm that I gave my consent to Zinoviev by telephone and told Chicherin about it. If this is a fault, I quite take2* it upon myself. I understood that Zinoviev had a second step on the subject. If he had not, I think the matter is over.

21/IX.

Lenin.

Fond 2, op. 1, d. 11187 - autographs.

1* It was a matter of the lives of 26 people - the best of my brothers-in-law. Every delay was dangerous. - Note by G.E. Zinoviev.

2*V.I.Lenin crossed out: "it is on".

1At a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) on September 11, 1919, the question of G.E.Zinoviev's appeal to the government of the Republic of Estonia was discussed; a resolution was adopted: "In view of the decision taken by the Central Committee to enter into negotiations with the Estonian government, the Central Committee reminds Comrade Zinoviev of the inadmissibility of any negotiations with the Estonian government. Zinoviev about the inadmissibility of individual councils addressing foreign governments and asks him to refrain henceforth from any public statements that might give the governments of Finland, Estonia, Lithuania an excuse to disrupt the peace negotiations" (RCCHIDNI, f. 17, op. 3, d. 26, l. 2).