Date: 1922-04-27
Source: ru:PSS/v54

Source: PSS, Volume 54

27/IV.

Comrade Shklovsky!

I have received your letter dated March 15. It is deeply, profoundly distressing to learn that you are feeling so unwell. I have been pondering for a long time how I might be of assistance to you. Since I am ill, not actively engaged in official duties, and do not reside in Moscow, the only course of action I could devise was to forward your letter to the Secretary of the Central Committee (Comrade Stalin) and, on my own initiative, to write to him about you**. I would advise you to write to him yourself—directly to the Secretariat of the Central Committee—and to elaborate at length, to go into great detail, offering a series of concrete, practical proposals. You might also consider writing to Zinoviev, as he is based in Petrograd; given Petrograd’s customary “independence,” it is quite possible that Zinoviev will come up with some new ideas—or perhaps even implement a few practical arrangements.

Someone once told me that you had either reached an understanding with Karakhan or had discussed with him the possibility of shifting your position closer to Russia. If immediate progress proves impossible, we must strive to move eastward, however gradually. (Bear in mind: I may well be leaving; if matters become urgent, please address your correspondence directly to the Secretariat of the Central Committee—and not to me, nor solely to me.)
Please accept my warmest greetings and heartfelt regards to your entire family.

Yours, Lenin

* See also this volume, Document 113. Ed.

** See the following document. Ed.

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Written on April 27, 1922.

Sent to Berlin.

First published here, from the manuscript.