Lev Kvitko

Yiddish poet. Born in Ukraine. Lived in Germany from 1921. Returned to the USSR in 1925. Author of numerous children's poems. Member of the Presidium of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC), established in 1942 to raise support for the Soviet Union from 'Jewish brothers throughout the world'. The JAC's activities helped advance the opening of the Second Front.

Arrested in January 1949, he was accused of Jewish nationalism, organising an anti-Soviet underground, maintaining ties with American intelligence, and committing high treason. His testimony was fabricated, and he was subjected to beatings and torture. The trial was held behind closed doors–without the public and without the participation of either the prosecution or the defence. In July 1952, he was sentenced to death by firing squad with confiscation of property. He was executed on 12 August 1952. His ashes were interred in Common Grave No. 3 for Unclaimed Ashes at the New Donskoy Cemetery in Moscow. He was rehabilitated in 1955.

1950s

Reading time: 6 minutes

The Final Statement

‘This fabricated accusation has descended upon me and causes me terrible anguish.’

Mr Chairman, Honourable Judges!

For decades I appeared before the happiest of audiences–children wearing Young Pioneer neckerchiefs–and celebrated the happiness of being a Soviet citizen. Yet I now end my life by appearing before the Supreme Court of the Soviet people, accused of the gravest of crimes.

This fabricated accusation has descended upon me and causes me terrible anguish.

Why is every word I speak here in court filled with tears?

Because this terrible accusation of treason against my Motherland is unbearable for me–a Soviet citizen.

There would not have been such lengthy discussions and repetitions during these proceedings if I had been shown the specific materials which, according to the prosecution, I had transmitted abroad as a spy, along with the documents allegedly proving that I had acted against the Party.

During the preliminary investigation I was told that the espionage charge against me had been dropped, yet I later saw my name once again in the indictment among those accused of such grave crimes.

After all, no one has ever heard me utter a single improper word about the Party or the Government. You may be certain that if I ever had, it would undoubtedly have emerged here in court. Everyone knew me as a Soviet citizen, and none of the defendants sitting here could have shared any criminal plans with me.

For a long time, while in prison, I tried to discover what crime I had committed, but I could not. One must ask: why would I have chosen to throw away my happiness–to betray the Motherland that had given me everything–and cast myself into the arms of the imperialists?

I have nothing whatsoever in common with them. I never belonged to any anti-Party group, I never had any connection with Zionists, and all my speeches, poems, and articles supported the Party’s policy.

The Soviet state gave me everything. I was materially well provided for and never chased after royalties. My family and I lived modestly and wanted for nothing more.

What possible reason could I have had to betray my Motherland? There was none–just as there was no betrayal itself.

I ask that if the investigating authorities accuse me of anything, they present material evidence. If they claim that I wished to exchange my honoured title of Soviet writer and poet for that of an American spy, then let them produce proof.

While my mind has not yet completely failed me, I maintain that an accusation of treason against the Motherland requires an actual act of treason.

I ask the court to specify precisely what secret documents I allegedly transmitted abroad. The case file contains no such evidence because no such act ever existed.

Perhaps I am a poor worker, or simply a bad person who ought to be isolated from society, and that is why such grave charges have been brought against me?

I declare before the court that I am guilty of nothing–neither espionage nor nationalism. I made certain mistakes, but I harboured no malicious intent. I feel that I caused offence to my Motherland, but I committed no crime. Every charge brought against me is a monstrous falsehood invented by malicious slanderers.

What a profound joy it is to help educate Soviet children in the spirit of Leninism. I know with absolute certainty that if creative work is not imbued with the ideas of our own time, it will soon wither. Therefore, although I am in prison, in my heart I still feel myself to be among the great Soviet people. I have never ceased to commune in my thoughts with children, and it was here in prison that my new collection of poems, ‘The Sun’, was born.

The Party is my family and my faith, and no one will ever be able to take from me that mighty strength of a communist.

I ask the court to take into account that the indictment contains no documentary evidence of my alleged hostile activities against the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) or the Soviet Government, nor any proof of criminal connections with Mikhoels or Fefer. I also ask the court to note that there is no evidence that I instructed JAC correspondents to collect intelligence or that I myself travelled to Crimea for that purpose.

Nor is there any evidence that I passed secret information about the Soviet Union to Goldberg.

I believe that all these accusations have been completely disproved during the trial. It seems to me that the investigators and I have exchanged roles: they are supposed to accuse on the basis of facts, while I, a poet, am supposed to create works of imagination. Instead, the opposite has occurred.

I must also state that I was so little acquainted with the defendants present here that I cannot recall having had any conversations with any of them. I was not their accomplice. Nevertheless, this does not mean that I deny my share of responsibility for the abuses committed within the JAC, and if the court upholds the experts’ conclusions, I ask it to bear in mind that although I do not disclaim responsibility for the activities of the JAC, I do not believe that I committed any criminal offence. I did not betray my Motherland, and I do not admit guilt on any of the five charges brought against me. Painfully aware that I failed to show sufficient foresight, I ask the Party for forgiveness and for the opportunity to atone through honest labour.

I would rather be in prison on Soviet soil than ‘free’ in any capitalist country.

I am a citizen of the Soviet Union. My Motherland is the homeland of the great geniuses of the Party and of humanity–Lenin and Stalin–and I believe that I cannot be accused of grave crimes without evidence.

I hope that the court will give my arguments the consideration they deserve.

I ask the court to restore me to honest labour among the great Soviet people.

11 July 1952
Military Collegium of the Supreme Court, Moscow, Soviet Union.
Source: Unjust Trial. The Last Stalinist Execution.
For more information: Wikipedia.
Photo: Jewish.ru.