Chapter 381
The Central Committee's appointment of Andrianov was issued on the same day that the Central Control Commission's investigation team went to Leningrad. The reason announced to the public was that Comrade Popkov could not continue to perform his duties due to health problems, so Moscow arranged for someone to replace him.
Only three days after the investigation team arrived in Leningrad, the corresponding investigation made great progress. The investigation team pried open the mouth of Kapustin, the former second secretary of the Leningrad Municipal Party Committee, and admitted in his confession: "They" had begun planning to organize a hostile group to engage in sabotage activities since 1938, with the aim of turning the Leningrad Party organization into a pillar of struggle against the Party and the Central Committee like the Zinoviev elements.
Afterwards, Comrade Abramov, who led the Ministry of Internal Affairs, rushed to Leningrad without the approval of the Central Control Committee and personally directed a large-scale arrest operation. Including Popkov, more than 50 cadres who had served as district party secretaries or chairmen of the district executive committee in Leningrad during the war were arrested and thrown into prison.
Abramov's overstepping of authority angered Komarov, a member of the Central Supervisory . Komarov, who served as the first secretary of the Moscow Red Guards District Committee in 1937 and was thrown into prison and nearly executed during that storm, directly drafted a report to Comrade Stalin to complain about Abramovich, but the report was submitted but received no feedback.
The so-called investigation quickly evolved into a large-scale arrest operation. The originally targeted tornado was rapidly turning into a hurricane that swept away everything. Those malicious speculators and opportunists, like wild dogs that smelled blood, rushed to bite. All kinds of real-name and anonymous reports poured in. Almost every letter pointed out one or even several cadres as members of the anti-party activity group. At most, the Central Supervisory Committee could receive more than 1,500 reports in one day.
In the third week of the investigation, the Central Committee decided to cancel the investigation team sent to Leningrad. Of course, this did not mean that the investigation of the case had come to an end, but the level of the investigation was upgraded. The Central Supervisory Committee abolished the initial investigation team, but established two ministerial committees specifically responsible for handling the case.
The Central Committee defined the two ministerial committees as having the power to investigate or even summon any suspected official throughout the Soviet Union without the approval of the Central Control Commission. At the same time, the Central Committee also defined the principles for investigating and handling cases: suspects can be convicted if two conditions are met: the first is the confession obtained during the interrogation, and the second is the testimony provided by relevant witnesses.
Regardless of how unreliable such principles of handling cases are and how many false and wrongful convictions they will create, fundamentally speaking, it is equivalent to confiscating the power of the Central Supervisory Committee. Yuri, the chairman of the Central Supervisory Committee, has become a figurehead, and he no longer has any say in the investigation of the entire Leningrad case.
…
Sochi, waterfront.
The black Volga sedan drove slowly on the wide and flat "Stalin Avenue Highway".
In the back seat of the car, Yuri, wearing a casual summer outfit, crossed his legs, unfolded a newspaper in his hand, and was reading it with great interest.
A political storm, which is carried out in the name of justice but is actually aimed at defeating opponents or enemies, is spreading throughout the Soviet Union with Leningrad as its center. However, Sochi, a holiday resort, seems unusually calm. The weather here is fine, and it is the best time for a leisure vacation.
The power of the Central Supervisory Committee has been hollowed out, and he, as the chairman of the Supervisory Committee, has lost his say in the investigation of the case. Be it the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Security Committee, or even the General Political Department of the Army and Navy, everyone is busy looking for targets and taking the opportunity to defeat their opponents. Yuri himself is happy to be free, as he never thought of getting involved in such things anyway.
Comrade Stalin has become increasingly difficult to figure out now. Although Yuri believes that he has been acting cautiously, it is obvious that this leader with an iron will is still dissatisfied with him.
In fact, Yuri had never thought about taking a vacation at this time, but Comrade Stalin specially arranged for Poskrebyshev to find him and ask him for his opinion on the conflict that was taking place in Germany. It was obvious that he hoped that he would temporarily put aside his work on the Central Supervisory Committee and go to Berlin to deal with the matter.
What was that incident? It was very simple. Just last week, the Soviet troops stationed in Germany clashed with the European Allied troops stationed in Berlin. Soldiers from both sides opened fire on each other on Friedrichstrasse in Berlin, which then developed into a military standoff. Tanks and armored vehicles were even used on both sides. It was a bit of a big deal.
On this matter, Konev, who was now the commander-in-chief of the Soviet Army in Germany, took a tough stance. On the one hand, he reported to Moscow, on the other hand, he issued an emergency mobilization order to the Soviet troops stationed in Germany, and even ordered the air force stationed in Hungary to move to Germany within a week. This approach was equivalent to pouring fuel on the already tense situation.
Today, Berlin has become a huge powder keg, and a war seems likely to break out at any time.
The Soviet Union has just recovered from the trauma of the war, and has not even fully recovered yet, so Moscow does not want such a war to break out. Similarly, Western European countries have just recovered from the war and do not want a war to break out either. After all, the Soviet Union’s troops stationed in Germany and throughout Eastern Europe are too amazing, and even the Americans dare not guarantee that they can stop the Red Army’s steel torrent.
As a result, the two sides, who had no real intention of starting a war, became entangled in the issue of Berlin. Yuri was not interested in joining in the fun. Therefore, when facing Comrade Stalin's inquiries, he expressed his full support for Comrade Konev's position that a tough stance must be taken in front of the European Allies.
In this way, Yuri turned down the work that Comrade Stalin specially arranged for him to transfer away from the Leningrad case. However, he also knew Comrade Stalin's intentions. At the same time, he did not want to continue to soak in this cesspool, so he proposed the idea of taking a temporary vacation.
As a result, everything went smoothly. His request for vacation was approved by Comrade Stalin. The vacation was for 20 days in the sanatorium of Sochi. In order to show his trust and concern for him, Comrade Stalin even arranged the "Svetlana Sanatorium" for him.
"Svetlana Sanatorium" is a very small sanatorium, right on the seashore, with only one independent two-story building, and it is very old, and it is a legacy of the Russian Empire. However, this small sanatorium is not ordinary, it can be named after Comrade Stalin's daughter. In the past, it was also Comrade Stalin's exclusive sanatorium villa. It can be said that Yuri was the first Soviet official to live here.
Yuri knew very well why Comrade Stalin made such an arrangement. To put it bluntly, it was a kind of comfort or appeasement to himself. Comrade Stalin was telling him in this way that he still trusted him, and the reason why he was transferred from Moscow now was not to deal with him, but because of work needs.
The newspaper in his hand was today's Pravda, and the front-page headline contained a piece of news directed at Mikhail Ivanovich Rodionov.
Rodionov is also an official of the Leningrad faction. He once served as secretary of the Gorky Regional Party Committee and chairman of the Executive Committee. His current position is member of the Central Organization Bureau and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Federation.
According to Pravda, this young cadre, born in 1905, was the backbone and protector of the anti-party activity group in Leningrad and an accomplice of Kapustin. After careful investigation by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he confessed to all the crimes.
Throwing the newspaper aside, Yuri turned his gaze to the window. His tightly pursed lips curved downward, magically outlining a hint of sneer on his handsome face.
These days, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been in the limelight, while the State Security Council has become a supporting role. In order to please his former master and avoid being purged by him, Comrade Abakumov has completely let himself go. He is like a sharp knife, and he stabs wherever Beria looks, without caring about the future .
Does he think it is still 1937? Or has he forgotten what happened to Yezhov?
Today, the core of power in Moscow is dead silent. Even those who started this storm behind the scenes, including Malenkov and Beria, have remained silent. So has Comrade Stalin. Khrushchev is hiding in Ukraine and will not come back. Andreyev is also sick. Bulganin believes that there are no problems with the Leningrad Military Region or the border guard system. Therefore, only two ministerial committees were sent to Leningrad, and the General Political Department of the Army and Navy was not involved.
Anyone with political wisdom should be able to see what this means. Only those with something missing in their brains would rush forward in a hurry at such a time.
When talking to Anjelia on the phone, his wife advised Yuri to resign from the post of Chairman of the Central Control Commission, but Yuri refused. The reason for this was that on the one hand, he did not want to anger Comrade Stalin and let the other party think that he was playing a confrontation. On the other hand, Yuri was waiting for this farce to end, and then personally signed the order to send a group of executioners including Abakumov to the execution ground.
