Meanwhile, Mironov continued interrogating Kamenev. In front of Yezhov he analyzed the case aloud, trying to convince him that there was no other way out than to accept Stalin’s conditions and save himself and his family. I am sure that Mironov was sincere: like most leaders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he believed that Stalin would not dare to shoot people like Zinoviev and Kamenev, and was sure that Stalin could only humiliate the leaders of the former opposition in public.
One night. Kamenev was being interrogated in Mironov’s office when Yenov came. He had another unbearably long conversation with Kamenev, exhorting each other one after another that no matter how much Kamenev resisted, he could not escape the court’s trial, and that only by submitting to the will of the Politburo could he save his life and that of his son. Kamenev did not say a word. Then Yerev took off the phone and ordered Morchanov to put Kamenev’s son in the Ministry of Internal Affairs prison in front of him and to bring him to the court together with some other defendants in connection with the case of the “To-Dj Joint Headquarters”.
During that time, Yagoda kept a close watch on Zinoviev and Kamenev, while at the same time not letting down his guard on Yezhov. As I have already mentioned, the fact that Stalin had entrusted Yezhov with the task of examining the trial had deeply stung Yagoda’s heart. After carefully analyzing the records of Yerev’s conversations with Zinoviev, he finally realized that Yerev was trying to tame Zinoviev through regular interrogation methods. In this way, sooner or later, Denoviev and Kamenev would come to the conclusion that resistance was futile. Yagoda could not tolerate that the honor of the victor was taken away from Yerev. In the eyes of Stalin, he, Yagoda, should be the eternally irreplaceable NKVD member. For this reason, he had to personally force Zinoviev and Kamenev to surrender and ensure the smooth start of the biggest trial farce in history.
In fact, Yagoda’s entire future was embraced on this card. He knew that the Politburo members both hated and feared him. It was under their influence that Stalin sent Akulov, a member of the Central Committee, to the “organ” in 1931, with the aim of making him the head of the State Political Security Directorate. It is true. Yagoda soon succeeded in destroying Akulov’s prestige, and after convincing Stalin, he was swept out of the Organ. But this Yerov was a real favorite of Stalin, and therefore a great threat to him, Yagoda could not estimate.
While closely monitoring the preparations for the trial, Yagoda also gave his assistant an order to report to him as soon as he saw the slightest sign of wavering on the part of Zinoviev and Kamenev.
Such signs finally appeared in July 1936. On that day, Zinoviev had a heated conversation with Yerev and Molchanov, which lasted all night. After the conversation, Zinoviev went back to his cell, but suddenly asked someone to call the prison director and ask him to take him to Morchanov again. After meeting Morchanov, he again asked the latter to allow him to have a separate interview with Kamenev. This was the first time he made such a request to the interrogation team. Based on the tone of Genoviev’s voice and some other signs revealed in this demeanor of his, Molchanov guessed that Genoviev was already planning to surrender and wanted to discuss his decision with Kamenev.
When Yagoda learned of this, he immediately ordered that Zinoviev be brought to his office. He said to Zinoviev that he would comply with his request to meet with Kamenev. The sycophancy that Yagoda showed this time was simply nauseating. He went so far as to call the prisoner by his usual honorific – Grigory Yevseyevich. He said he hoped that the two prisoners, after discussing their situation, would come to the only reasonable conclusion: that they could not help but submit to the will of the Politburo. Just as Yagoda was talking with Zinoviev, the deputy head of the Department of Operational Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs set up a tape recorder in another cell: it was there that the meeting between Zinoviev and Kamenev would take place.
Their interview lasted almost an hour. The leaders of the NKVD did not intend to limit the time of their talks. Yagoda and others, relying on the presence of a tape recorder, assumed that the longer they talked, the more their true thoughts would be revealed.
Zinoviev spoke his mind that it was necessary to appear in court, but on one condition: Stalin must personally confirm the promises made by Yerev in his name. Although he was hesitant and dissatisfied, Kamenev finally agreed with him and proposed a condition for the negotiations: Stalin had to confirm his promise in front of all Politburo members.
After this “individual” interview, Zinoviev and Kamenev were again brought into Yagoda’s office. Kamenev affirmed that they agreed to give their confessions to the trial on one condition: Stalin had to confirm his promises to them in front of all the Politburo members.
Stalin was simply ecstatic to learn that Zinoviev and Kamenev intended to surrender. When Yagoda, Molchanov and Mironov reported to him in detail how this had happened, he could not hide his smugness and stroked his moustache with pride. After hearing the report, he stood up, rubbed his hands vigorously, and praised his men: “Bravo, guys! Well done!”
The next day, towards nightfall, I passed by the NKVD building and met Mironov standing by gate number one, which only Yagoda and his cronies could enter and exit. “I’m waiting for Yagoda,” Mironov said. “He’s in the Kremlin at the moment, but he should be here soon. I drove Zinoviev and Kamenev to Stalin’s office with Molchanov and have just returned. Hey, they were arguing a lot in there! Come back to my office in an hour or so.”
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