In the pre-trial of Pidakov, the cruel interrogators once again resorted to the usual unconscionable trick of forcing Pidakov’s wife and close friends to falsely accuse him. This tactic was “authentic Stalinist”. Since Dzerzhinsky’s death, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was practically under Stalin’s authority. On more than one occasion, Stalin “taught” the NKVD staff that the most effective weapon against those on trial was the denunciations provided by their friends and relatives. Readers will remember the Smirnov case, when it was his wife Safonova and close friend Murachkovsky who “denounced” Smirnov. What Stalin valued most and did best was to force or induce the accused to fight against husband and wife, father and son, or brothers. In doing so, he was able to break the morale of the person on trial and destroy his spiritual support, and he felt a sincere pleasure in seeing his enemies’ families broken up and separated from each other. It cannot be denied that Stalin was indeed a master of the means and methods of revenge against his political enemies.
The “organ” did not take much effort in dealing with Pidakov’s wife, and soon broke up her resistance. She had heard many rumors about the “disappearance” of the children of the defendants in the case of the “Toddy headquarters”. She feared for her son’s life, and finally, in order to save him, she agreed against her will to falsely accuse her ex-husband.
Pidakov’s secretary Kolya Moskalev had a young daughter. If he was still a semi-literate and naive rural youth, as he was when he first stepped into Pidakov’s office, then he would have refused all requests to falsely accuse his chief and friends. However, now he has accumulated a wealth of political experience. Through his contacts with the secretaries of other important party officials, he had learned a lot about the current “style” of the Politburo and the temperament of the big shots who controlled the destiny of the people. He knew very well that since Stalin had given Pidakov a sex appeal, the Ministry of Internal Affairs would get the necessary material out of him, Moskalev, and they would not rest until they had achieved their goal. From another point of view, forcing him to testify falsely was a completely pointless ploy, since Stalin had already prepared his sentence long before Pidakov’s arrest. Nevertheless, Moskalev was very cautious. He told Molchanov that he agreed to sign the materials framing Pidakov, but on the condition that Agranov himself, whom he knew very well, would be present (at that time, Agranov was Yerov’s deputy). When Agranov came, Moskalev again declared that he had decided to abide by party discipline and give confessions against Pidakov, but that the confessions themselves were completely false.
Pidakov was a very principled man, and sharp-eyed, strong-willed and fearless. I am almost certain that if there was anyone among the old Bolsheviks arrested in the “Second Wave” who dared to stand up to his own executioners, it was Pidakov. So I was surprised to hear that he had surrendered so easily. Later, I learned what happened.
After his arrest, Pidakov simply refused to speak to the interrogators and resisted in this way for quite some time. One evening Serguei Ordzhonikidze suddenly entered the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and asked to talk to Pidarkov. At this time Yerev, who had replaced Yagoda, was precisely absent from the office. Deputy People’s Commissar Agranov hesitated for a while before calling the Ministry of Internal Affairs prison and bringing Pidakov to it. As soon as Pidakov crossed into Agranov’s office, Ordzhonikidze immediately greeted him and tried to embrace him, but Pidakov dodged to the side and blocked the other man’s hands.
“Yuri! I came to visit you as a friend!” Ordzhonikidze, for his part, shouted excitedly. “For you I have been struggling. And never stop this struggle. I told him about you ……”
Ordzhonikidze finished this opening speech. Then he asked Agranov to go out and leave him alone with Pidakov for a while. The rest of the conversation was clear only to the two of them.
Did Ordzhonikidze really want to help Pidarkov, or was he pressured by Stalin to deceive him? This can be answered by subsequent events.
I met Ordzhonikidze in 1926 in Tiflis. At that time I was the commander of the Transcaucasian Border Guard and he was the secretary of the Central Committee of the Federation of the Transcaucasian Soviet Socialist Republic. Knowing him as I did, I can well imagine that during the conversation with Pidakov alone, Ordzhonikidze must have been even more excited, dancing with his hands and telling his opponent how he fought for his life and how he persuaded Stalin not to send Pidakov to court ……
A few days later, Ordzhonikidze once again appeared in the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and once again had a separate conversation with Pidakov. After the conversation, Ordzhonikidze, before leaving, conveyed to Agranov in the presence of Pidakov Stalin’s instructions that in the forthcoming trial Pidakov’s wife and Moskalev could not be prosecuted, and they could not even testify. Undoubtedly, Ordzhonikidze must have persuaded Pidakov to agree to Stalin’s request that the latter should take part in the farce of the trial, of course, in the role of the defendant. I am sure that Ordzhonikidze personally assured Pidarkov during the conversation that he would not be sentenced to death.
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