To Comrade Kaganovich. Pay attention to the attached documents and do not let our communists torment Ehrenburg.

I. Stalin

Istoricheskiy arkhiv. 2001. No. 3. P. 51.

RGASPI. F. 558. Op. 11. D. 710. L. 24.

Note: This refers to the following text by N.I. Bukharin:

"To Comrade Stalin. July 20, 1935. Dear Koba. I am sending you a copy of part of a letter from Ehrenburg, which provides confidential information on the work of the international writers' Congress. At the end he complains bitterly and asks to be relieved of the burden of organizing writers, given the position in which, according to him, he has been placed. The letter, in my view, is of interest to you, which is why I am forwarding it."

During 1935–1936, Bukharin repeatedly appealed to Stalin on the most varied occasions, striving as a whole to prove his loyalty to the Party line and his renunciation of former oppositional views. On a number of his letters, eloquent remarks by the addressee have been preserved.

For example, on December 2, 1935, Bukharin wrote: "Dear Koba! I was in great confusion when you dressed me down over Ehrenburg. Among other things, you said that I supposedly spend little time in the editorial office. Yet I am there every day, and recently I would leave only after sitting through the whole night (that is, until 7 or 8 in the morning!). The last 2 days I really was not in Moscow. I was assigned to write a pamphlet on Kalinin in three days (of which one was lost because of the jubilee celebrations). I wrote it for two days and two nights (until 4 in the morning) in Morozovka (and during that time was not in the editorial office). I am sending you the just-completed pamphlet as material evidence. For you are evidently being informed by such 'friends' of mine who have some special interest. I am writing to you openly and directly, do not be angry. If you think that I am being 'familiar' and that I am not behaving toward you as I should, tell me so.

Yours, N. Bukharin." On the text there is the notation: "An eccentric. St" (Istoricheskiy arkhiv. 2001. No. 3).

In another letter, which appeared later than February 10, 1936, Bukharin lamented: "Dear Koba! Returning from Leningrad, I was simply stunned and deafened by the article in Pravda against me. After all, I had asked that any corrections whatsoever be made: after all, I did not want by one iota any disagreements or 'nuances.' I understand very well that you are conducting enormous, great politics, preparing the country for military victory too, and want to rely on everything worthy, including great national traditions. That is why the 'nation of Oblomovs' especially jarred you. But I, as I explained, wanted especially to emphasize the national-liberation role of Bolshevism and the working class. I did badly. But I asked that I be corrected not by being run through the gauntlet before the whole country. You cannot imagine how stupid it is when one has to suffer because of 'disagreements' that do not exist. Can it be that you cannot believe me, that for many years now I have been carrying out the Party line 100 percent, without a shadow of doubt?..

"...There are several legends that make it terribly hard for me to live: as if in my soul I exalt myself terribly, for example. What nonsense all this is, if you really knew my present 'soul'! One thing I know is that no worse than other comrades... I can carry out the policy that you guide. I acknowledged you not in the way any official acknowledges you, who can chant a hundred akathists, but genuinely, wholly, in a big way. And this was long, long ago. But the curse of 1928/9 still weighs on me. I do not conceal it: as a mere parrot I am completely without talent, a downright log. But do you need parrots?...

"...Some time ago I asked you about your attitude; you said: 'As before.' If you feel even one hundredth as before, then somehow tell me whether more blows await me; in that case just appoint me director of the zoo, by God!..

"You see, every person has years when he must think seriously about his further fate, of course not from the point of view of 'comfort,' but of what he is still capable of. People always said of me: 'A little dog is a puppy even in old age.' This is partly true. But I want to do something good still. And here I must tell you directly: I have one hope, you. If not for you, I assure you, they would have devoured me long ago; of this I have not the slightest doubt. Some would devour me, while others would look on with a tear, and that would be all. That is why I appeal to you so often. And I ask you to understand that I have no reason to be cunning or put on some kind of mask before you."

On the first page of the letter there is the inscription: "A big child. I. St."