V. I. Lenin

Source: ru:PSS/v49;es:MT
Translated: machine translation (DeepSeek) from the Russian; AI-translated.

Dear Friend, Received the clippings. Merci!

We recently had two escaped prisoners-of-war here. It was interesting to see “live” people, not eaten up by the emigre spirit. Types: one—a Jew from Bessarabia, a man who had seen life, a Social-Democrat or almost a Social-Democrat, his brother a Bundist, etc. He had knocked about, but is not personally interesting, being of the usual sort. The other—a Voronezh peasant, from the land, from an Old Believer family. Black-earth strength. It was extremely interesting to see and hear him. He spent a year in German captivity (generally speaking, there are horrors galore there) in a camp of 27,000 Ukrainians. The Germans form camps by nationality and do their utmost to split them off from Russia; they sent slick lecturers from Galicia to the Ukrainians. The results?

Only 2,000 were for “independence” (self-government in the sense of more autonomy rather than separation) after a month of the agitators’ efforts!! The rest flew into a rage at the very thought of separating from Russia and going over to the Germans or Austrians.

A significant fact! It cannot be disbelieved. 27,000 is a large number. A year is a long time. The conditions for Galician propaganda were most favourable. And yet the feeling of closeness to the Great Russians prevailed! It does not follow from this, of course, that the “freedom to secede” is in any way wrong. On the contrary. But it does follow that, maybe, fate will spare Russia the “Austrian type” of development.

On the defence of the fatherland our Voronezh man is like Troyanovsky and Plekhanov. He sympathises with socialism, but “if the German comes at you, how can you not defend yourself?” He does not understand. He is deeply hurt (both he and the Jew!!) by the way the Germans are mercilessly beating “our men”. As for the tsar and god, all the 27,000 have completely finished with them, and with the big landowners too. They will return to Russia bitter and enlightened.

The Voronezh man’s whole inclination is back, home, to the land, to farming. He wandered about working in German villages; he observed, he learned.

They praise the French (in captivity)—good comrades. “The Germans, too, curse their Kaiser.” They hate the English: “proud fellows; they won’t give you a crust of bread unless you wash the floor for them” (that’s the sort of scum imperialism has corrupted!).

Another tune: what a magnificent row the referendum raised, especially its motivation! Delightful! If you had seen the articles by Grimm and Co. in the *Berner Tagwacht* and in the “provincial” Social-Democratic press! What a howl, what a groan! We hit these scoundrels right between the eyes. I urged Radek with all my might (he is here and, would you believe it, we are on the best of terms, as always against the “Centre”, when there is no ground for Radek’s vacillations, his game about “rights”, etc.) to write a pamphlet; we walked for hours in Zurich and I egged him on. He sat down and wrote it. Our “Lefts”, frightened by Nobs and Platten (these heroes were frightened by Grimm, who was frightened by Greulich and Co.!!), listened to it and turned it down (!!): not to print it, or they would be expelled from the party (!!). We shall print it separately.

The moment is such that interest is heightened, when all internationalists not in words must help the Swiss workers and Lefts. And we shall help!

Another tune again. I reread Engels’s *Zur Wohnungsfrage* with the 1887 preface. Do you know it? Delightful! I am still “in love” with Marx and Engels, and cannot bear to hear them abused in any way. No, they are real people! We must learn from them. We must not depart from this ground. The social-chauvinists and the Kautskyites have departed from it. (By the way, have you seen the resolution of Loriot-Rappoport, Saumoneau? Also three-quarters Kautskyite. I want to write for the French, to tear it and all pacifism to pieces. I’ll ask Grisha whether he will publish it. He hasn’t answered about my reply to Souvarine!*) Well, all the best, I’ve chattered a whole heap.

Shake hands! Yours, Lenin