Communism; Industrial Workers of the World; Socialism
"We know a great deal about the terror in Petrograd, and
considerably less about Moscow. The reason is plain. We find the
curtain dropped on the activities of the All-Russian Extraordinary
Commission which had its seat in Moscow. In a report of the meeting
of the Executive Committee of the Moscow Soviet, which took place
on October 16, we read:
"'The report of the work of the All-Russian Extraordinary
Commission was read at a secret session of the Executive Committee.
But the report and the discussion of it were held behind closed
doors and will not be published.' ['Izvestia,' October 17, 1918.]
"The kind of decisions adopted by the Moscow Bolsheviki behind
closed doors and the mass terror practised in Moscow and all over
Russia under the direction of the All-Russian Extraordinary
Commission are well illustrated by Eugene Trupp, a prominent
Socialist-Revolutionist and a member of the All-Russian Constituent
Assembly, who wrote the following in the Socialist-Revolutionary
daily, 'Zemlia i Volia' (Land and Freedom) of October 3, 1918:
"'After the murder of Uritzky in Petrograd, 1,500 people were
arrested; 512, including 10 Socialists-Revolutionists, were shot.
At the same time 800 people were arrested in Moscow. It is unknown,
however, how many of these were shot. In Nizhni-Novgorod, 41 were
shot; in Yaroslavl, 13; in Astrakhan, 12 Socialists-Revolutionists;
in Sarapool, a member of the Central Committee of the Party of
Socialists-Revolutionists, I. I. Teterkin; in Penza, about 40
officers; in Kooznetzk people are daily shot in masses; all this is
only a drop in the ocean. I have no exact information as to the
number of people shot in other cities.' ...
"'Despite all these and other outrages, a demonstration of Red
Guards took place in Moscow on September 6. Their main demands were
"deeds for words" and "relentless red terror in the fight against
the bourgeoisie." ...
"'The last days of my stay Moscow and Soviet-Russia in general were
filled with red terror. A gray, silent and dejected crowd, with
pale, terrified faces and eyes full of excitement, was moving along
the streets. "Such or such people have been arrested today." "This
or that number has been shot." "Do not sleep at home, they are
looking for you." "You are still alive?" "Why do you not go away
from here?" were expressions hastily exchanged.
"'No conversations were heard; only silent whispering in corners.
All were trembling. All were filled with horror of the wild terror.
Spies were all over. At the proper places you could see their
familiar figures.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account