The Stalin school of falsification - Marxists Internet Archive

Stalin School of Falsification -- Chapter 9
speeches at the session of the Central Committee named Jan- son as one of those who had participated in
the functioning of the anti-party septemvirate. Nobody has refuted this statement. Janson himself has
kept mum. Although there are others equally guilty of the same crime, in Janson's case we have recorded
testimony. At the present moment Janson is about to sit in judgment upon me for anti-party conduct. I
demand the removal of Janson from the judges' bench.
CHAIRMAN ORDJONIKIDZE: That is impossible. You are doubtless joking, comrade Trotsky.
TROTSKY: It is not my custom to joke in important and serious questions. I realize that the Presidium
may possibly be placed in a somewhat awkward position by my proposal, because I am afraid that among
the personnel of the Presidium there may be others who likewise participated in the work of the
septemvirate. But it was never my intention to turn my proposal into a joke. The fact is that I, a member
of the Political Bureau, knew nothing of these meetings at the time, even if they did take place under the
guise of "drafting notices." At these meetings were elaborated the ways and means of conducting the
fight against me. In particular, it was there decided and made binding upon members of the Political
Bureau not to polemicize against each other, but for all to polemicize against Trotsky. The party was not
informed of it. Neither was I. This went on for a long time. . . . I did not say that comrade Ordjonikidze
was a member of the septemvirate, but that he participated in the work of this factional septemvirate.
ORDJONIKIDZE: It may have been Janson, but not Ordjonikidze. Aren't you making a mistake?
TROTSKY: I beg your pardon, although I do believe that the mistake is purely of a formal character. I
did in fact refer to Janson. I did not say that comrade Janson was a member of the septemvirate itself. No,
but he did participate in the work of this factional septemvirate, for which there is no provision made in
the party statutes, and which functioned against the statutes and the will of the party-other wise it would
have had no reason for hiding. Should it prove that other comrades present here participated like Janson
in the work of this factional septemvirate, then I humbly ask that my request for removal be extended to
include them also.
[The proposal to remove Janson from the judges' bench is instantly rejected by the Presidium.]
TROTSKY: The comrades wish to picture matters as if it is necessary to remove us from the Central
Committee be cause of the incident at the Yaroslav railway station, because of Zinoviev's speech over the
radio, and my "conduct" at the E.C.C.I.[49] All this might have seemed very plausible, but not in the light
of our declaration which we, the Opposition, presented to the Central Committee as far back as the
beginning of last July. In this declaration we forecast with complete clarity and in detail all the paths of
your struggle against us. We predicted that you would seize upon the slightest pretext in order to achieve
the program of reconstructing the party leadership, conceived by your factional tops long ago, even prior
to the July Plenum, prior to the Fourteenth Party Congress.
You have brought me up on two charges. First -- my speech at the E.C.C.I. I have maintained, and still
maintain, that the Central Control Commission can in no case sit in judgment upon me for a speech I
delivered at the Plenum of the E.C.C.I., which is a higher body. If this still remains incomprehensible to
comrade Janson, he should ponder the matter and re-read the statutes of the Communist Inter national
and the statutes of our party. He would then understand that I am right, just as I would be absolutely right
in denying a District Control Commission the right to sit in judgment upon me for any speech I may have
made as a member of the Central Committee of the party.
http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1937-st2/sf09.htm (2 of 21) [06/06/2002 15:07:02]