Chapter 30: Call him to Moscow

In addition to inventing the oxygen top blowing converter for steelmaking, he also invented a prefabricated apartment. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoThis kind of apartment is not only beautiful and functional, but also easy to build, saving time and labor.

At present, the housing supply problem in Moscow has been tight, and it is believed that the construction of such apartments can effectively alleviate the housing supply problem in Moscow. ”

Stalin took another puff of his cigarette and then said with satisfaction: "Good! It seems that I have awarded this Lenin Medal. Also, I have good news for you, about Yezhov. ”

Good news? Yezhov? When Kaganovich heard these two words, he probably guessed what was happening. Just a few months earlier, Yezhov's comrade, the former secretary of the Novosibirsk regional party committee, Ekh, had been arrested and implicated, but due to insufficient evidence of Yezhov's involvement in anti-party activities, he was appointed by Stalin as People's Commissar for Water Transport, and Beria took over real power in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

As Yezhov's political enemy, Kaganovich was very keen to see Yezhov's arrest. At that time, Yezhov's real power had already been taken over by Beria, and his arrest was a matter of time, but there was not enough evidence.

And just a few days ago, Kaganovich learned that Manturov was carrying Yezhov behind his back and secretly released some cadres who had been purged by Ekh. Those cadres knew that there was an ulterior secret between Yezhov and Ekh, and as soon as they were released, they exposed their crimes to Stalin through special channels.

The night before, when Lazar Kaganovich was still in Novosibirsk, a cadre who had been purged by Ekh went to the hotel where Kaganovich was staying and confessed Yezhov to him, hoping that Lazar would reach Stalin's ears. By this time, he already knew that Yezhov's arrest would be a foregone conclusion.

"Comrade Kaganovich, over the years, I have noticed that there are a little conflicts between you and Yezhov from time to time, and you don't seem to like him very much, do you?"

Kaganovich hesitated for a while, then plucked up the courage to say, "Yes." Comrade Stalin, I learned from reliable sources that there was a special relationship between Yezhov and Ekh, an anti-Soviet element. ”

Stalin smiled sarcastically and said, "I know too." A few days ago, a group of cadres who had been purged by Ekh were released by Comrade Manturov, and they wrote to me through relatives and friends to confess more about the Yezhov-Ekh anti-party clique.

Since Yezhov took office as NKVD, he has arrested and shot a large number of innocent cadres. In fact, these cadres are loyal to the party and the people, and they all have a certain amount of ability. However, Yezhov, who was secretly engaged in anti-party conspiracy, shot them and purged them in order to purge them of talented people in the party in order to achieve the goal of sabotaging the party organization.

Fortunately, we found out quickly, Comrade Beria had already taken over the Ministry of Internal Affairs in January, and Yezhov had already been arrested yesterday and confessed to the serious crimes he had committed.

Just before the arrest, Yezhov also submitted to me black materials about Comrade Manturov. You want me to wash him off. But Comrade Manturov was so innocent that he couldn't fabricate reasonable evidence to frame him at all, so I wasn't fooled.

The next day, I arrested Yezhov on charges of 'framing comrades and participating in anti-party activities.' ”

"Comrade Stalin, I have always felt that Yezhov is very problematic. Many of the cadres he purged were loyal to you, just like me. ”

Stalin suddenly frowned and said: "Comrade Kaganovich, you said that you are loyal to me, this is probably a sentence blurted out by chance.

But if this is not just an accidental remark, but is genuine, then I would advise you to abandon those who are loyal to certain big names, including my 'principles'. This was not the proper behavior of the Bolsheviks, who should not be loyal to an individual, but to the working class, to the party and the state.

As Bolsheviks, these allegiances to the working class, to the All-Union Communist Party were necessary. But please do not confuse this loyalty with loyalty to certain big men, with the boring pedantic tendencies of the old intellectuals. ”

If you are familiar with the history of the Soviet Union, you may have a certain impression of these words.

As recently as August 1930, Stalin said something similar.

In fact, Stalin himself did not like the cult of personality and made similar statements on several occasions, indicating his dislike for these cults. This is not just a subjective speculation by the author, but an objective fact. There is ample evidence that Stalin was vehemently opposed to the cult of himself for many years.

In 1938, it was proposed to change the name of Moscow to Stalin Nodar. But the proposal was soon met with strong opposition from Stalin, and as a result, Moscow was still called Moscow.

As early as 1934, the All-Soviet Association of Old Bolsheviks proposed to hold a series of propaganda and celebrations on Stalin's 55th birthday, but Stalin made this instruction: "I am against it! Because such initiatives will exacerbate the cult of personality, which is harmful and not in line with the spirit of our party! ”

We can see this in some of Stalin's letters, speeches, and colloquiums, but I will not quote them because there is so much information. Let's continue the story.

As soon as Kaganovich left, Stalin called the secretary in.

"Comrade Stalin, is there any work to be given to me?"

"It's very simple, help me inform the first secretary of the Novosibirsk regional party committee, Comrade Viladimo Manturov, and ask him to come to the Kremlin."

"Why?"

Stalin took another puff of his cigarette, smiled, and said: "Just ask him to come to Moscow without giving a reason." ”