Testimony of Gitlow
TESTIMONY OF COMRADE GITLOW TO THE PLENUM
OF THE ALL-UNION COMMUNIST PARTY (Bolshevik)
(April 22, 1929)
[?] 12
secret, urgent
Comrades! Inasmuch as a resolution of the VI Congress
of our American Communist Party concerning Comrade Bukharin's
situation has become the subject of debate at this session of the
plenum of the Central Committee of our fraternal party of the
Soviet Union; and inasmuch as Comrade [Philip] Dengel has issued
a statement on that subject which needs further elucidation, I
consider it necessary to give the following information about the
facts in this matter.
- The Central Committee of our party has more than
once made clear and, in precise language, formulated into
resolutions the fact that our Central Committee unreservedly
follows the line of the Central Committee of the All-Union
Communist Party (Bolshevik) [VKP(b)]. ....
- Despite these repeated unanimous declarations by
the Central Committee, the opposition in our party has mounted a
campaign throughout the whole party--a campaign led by the chief
All-American Bureau of the League of Trade Union Propaganda--
whereby they accused our Central Committee of supporting Comrade
Bukharin in his fight against the policies of the Central
Committee of the VKP(b). Our opposition asserted itself as the
only "true supporters of Stalin" in America.
- At our congress, Comrade [Earl] Browder, speaking
for the opposition, brought forward that same accusation and
announced that they (the opposition) "will not let this congress
off with just a declaration on this political question, but will
force it to submit to an open vote the question of Comrade
Bukharin's condemnation, naming him by name." We could not fail
to understand the meaning of this announcement, for we knew that
representatives of the ECCI [Executive Committee of the Communist
International] served in fact as an integral part of the
opposition faction, controlling its strategy at the congress.
- The same day that Comrade Browder made his
disclosure, leaders of the Central Committee held an all-night
meeting with representatives of the ECCI. At that meeting,
Comrade Dengel told us openly that that the ECCI considered us
adherents of Bukharin and that that fact influenced the ECCI in
its assessment of the American question. We were informed that
our repeated political declarations refuting that persuasion were
insufficient to absolve us from this suspicion. We were told
that our statements should be much more concrete, and that
specific names should not be included.
- At the same time, the opposition at our Congress
prepared a statement, publication of which was later demanded by
the ECCI representatives. In that statement, for the first time
in our party, the names of Stalin and Bukharin were specifically
mentioned in a document concerning disputes in the VKP(b). The
relevant passage said:
"Loyalty with regard to the Comintern demands at the
present time rejection of the openly opportunistic viewpoint of
right-wing elements in the German CP and in the VKP(b)
represented by [Otto] Brandler, Frumkin, etc., and also the most
energetic struggle against the pacifist viewpoint (Ewert, Ember-
Dro, etc.) which are based on the interpretation given by
Bukharin to the decisions of the VI Congress and on his article
"Notes of an Economist" and on his speech at the Moscow
conference dedicated to Lenin's memory, also titled "Lenin's
political testament". Loyalty with regard to the Comintern
demands unconditional support of the line of the ruling party of
the Comintern, the VKP(b) and of its Central Committee, led by
Comrade Stalin."
- Comrade [William W.] Weinstone, who worked under
the direct supervision of Comrade Dengel and has never taken a
single step without Dengel's approval, presented the statement,
which further said:
"The Congress supports the Central Committee of the
VKP(b), under the leadership of Comrade Stalin. Further,
inasmuch as Comrade Bukharin has been estranged for the last few
months from the the Comintern leadership, in view of his
position, in view of his vacillating stance in the struggle with
right wing and pacifist groups in the Comintern; insomuch as
Comrade Bukharin's position hinders the development of the
ruthless struggle against right wing and pacifist groups, we
therefore propose that the Comintern make a final decision on
Comrade Bukharin's leadership of the Comintern."
- Given this situation, leaders of the Central
Committee finally recommended that the Presidium of the Congress
present the Congress with a resolution on the question of Comrade
Bukharin's future work in the Comintern. Comrades Dengel and
[Harry] Pollitt were both present at that session of the
Presidium and at that session of the Congress at which the
resolution was unanimously adopted; they absolutely did not
protest it nor raise any question in conjunction with that
resolution. Likewise neither of the two Comintern
representatives made any remarks or posed any questions when the
statements of Comrade Weinstone and the Opposition were presented
to the Congress.
I offer these facts for the information of your Plenum.
With communist greetings,
Benjamin Gitlow
translated by
[?] Reinshten and
[?] Mikhailov
______________________
TRANSLATOR'S COMMENTS: This document was translated into Russian
from English. It was supposed to prove to the Plenum that the
famous resolution against Bukharin adopted by the American CP
was, despite his protests to the contrary, a direct result of
pressure on the part of Philip Dengel. ("I Confess," by B.
Gitlow, p. 546.)
