Despite this, Stalin had no problem ordering Yakoda to “process” Smirnov and put him on trial as one of the cabal’s main leaders.
Even Hitler did not dare to be so bold. He had also planned a farce of a trial in which Dimitrov was falsely accused of setting fire to the Reichstag, but when he found that the charges he had brought against him were not legally tenable, he immediately thought it was time to stop staging the farce. But Stalin was extremely domineering. Every whim of his had a natural legal effect, and he was used to it. He knew that smirnov would be sentenced to death and executed immediately.
Among the “Old Guards” there are few who can match Smirnov in revolutionary feats. Born into a working-class family, he was actively involved in the revolution at the age of seventeen. He was one of the earliest members of the Bolshevik Party. Before the October Revolution, he risked his life to establish groups of The Bolshevik underground, and after that, he became a prominent leader of the Red Army.
In 1905, Smirnov was actively involved in the armed uprising in Moscow. He spent many years in the czar’s prison and penal colony, and served out his sentence twice in the Arctic Circle.
During the civil war, he led the armed struggle of the Bolsheviks of Siberia and provided support for the Red Army’s fifth Army’s victory over Goltak. December 4, 1919. He called Lenin and mentioned this decisive victory in the civil war.
“Goltak is a fugitive… The battle is going well, and by the 20th of December we shall have taken Both Barre and Novnikolayevsk.”
After the victory over Galtak, Smirnov was appointed chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of Siberia. From 1923 to 1927, he served on the People’s Committee of posts and Telecommunications. After Lenin’s death, Smirnov joined the anti-Stalinist opposition and was expelled from the party. Although he was reinstated in 1929; But he was soon arrested and exiled. And from the first day of 1933, as we know, Stalin ordered Smirnov to be put in prison.
The preparations for putting Smirnov on trial were entrusted to Abramslutsky. He is also in charge of the trial of another defendant, Cherge Mlazkowski. The latter had been Friends of Smirnov during the civil war. As mentioned earlier, Slutsky is the director of the Bureau of Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs. He is typically lazy and likes to put on AIRS, but he is very respectful to his superiors. Although slutsky character is weak, timid, two-faced, but is still a tolerable psychologist, a lot of so-called “face” the ability. He had a particularly vivid imagination, and a great capacity for affectation, and for performing to perfection the part which he thought would be in his favour under the circumstances. His eyes were very expressive, and they were very kind and gentle, giving an impression of great sincerity that could deceive even those who did not know him well. Knowing his strengths, Slutsky often used them smartly to “process” people on trial.
In the interrogation, in addition to the use of a large number of internal affairs staff through the above acquiescence of torture means, but also used their own original “kung fu”. Some of them worked so brutally and rudely that they were like robbers who rob people on the road. Place the knife directly around the victim’s neck. Some people set a variety of traps, deception, rhetoric to exaggerate the “benefits of honesty.” It is not hard to imagine That Abramslutsky falls into the latter category of interrogators.
Instead of dressing up as a gruff interrogator, he initially acted as a go-between between the Politburo and Mr. Smirnov, and as a go-between sympathetic to the accused.
Smirnov knew that the Politburo would accuse him and other opposition leaders of killing Kirov and attempting to murder Stalin, so. He called the accusation “Stalin’s new trick”.
“I should like to know,” he said, “since everyone knows That I have been in prison since January 1933. How can you prove that I organized the assassination of Kirov and prepared to carry out terrorist acts against Stalin?”
“We don’t have to prove it.” Slutsky was ashamed to reply. “The Politburo wants you to come forward and confess everything. If you refuse to confess, you will not be brought to court at all. ‘
Slutsky communicated to Smirnov that Stalin had promised that anyone who wanted to save his life would agree to admit all crimes in court, and that those who refused to meet the politburo’s demands would be sentenced to death without trial by a special committee of the Interior Ministry.
Slutsky did not use the “tough” tactics used against Smirnov by other interrogators. He believed, and not without reason, that “tough” means were, in the end, incapable of subduing a man like Smirnov. More often, he tried to persuade Smirnov that there was no other way to be saved than to accept the terms of the Politburo. If you resist, you will only destroy yourself. But. The man on trial turned a deaf ear to his exhortations. He stood before Slutsky with a straight face, watching him calmly as he repeated the same old story again and again and tried to find new tricks.
Convinced that he could get nothing out of Smirnov, Slutsky decided to leave him alone for a few days and turn all his attention to Mlazykowski. He believed that the confessions he had received from Mlazykowski would help him conquer Smirnov.
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