MEMORANDUM TO V. M. MOLOTOV
15/IV [1921] To Comrade Molotov! I have persuaded Sheinman today to agree to serve as the NKVT’s authorized representative in Batumi. I believe Sheinman will be quite at home there. He is requesting a month-long leave of absence to go to Berlin for medical treatment. Is it possible to combine these arrangements? First, send Sheinman there for one month, and then transfer him to Batumi.
Lenin
1 This memorandum was written on a letter from People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs G. V. Chicherin to the Central Committee of the RCP(b), dated April 14, 1921. In his letter, Chicherin proposed sending A. L. Sheinman to Berlin as a special envoy tasked with conducting negotiations for the conclusion of a treaty with Germany; once the head of the delegation was appointed pursuant to the treaty, Sheinman could remain in Berlin as a member of the delegation.
On April 14, 1921, the Politburo convened to discuss Sheinman’s work—and decided to instruct Lenin and Stalin to hold talks with him regarding his duties in the Caucasus.
On April 20, 1921, it was resolved to grant Sheinman a three‑week leave of absence to travel to Berlin, after which he was to be dispatched as a trade representative to Georgia.
A. L. Sheinman had been a party member since 1903. Beginning in 1920, he worked in the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Trade. In early October 1921, he was confirmed as a member of the Collegium of the People’s Commissariat of Finance and of the Board of the State Bank.
B. M. Molotov was, at that time, Secretary of the Central Committee of the RCP(b).