by **JOSEPH E. DAVIES**
Former United States Ambassador to Soviet Russia

Told here for the first time:
How the Red Army held out against the Nazi blitzkrieg.
The real secret behind the bloody Russian purges.
How Stalin got the jump on Hitler.
New clues to the mysterious assassination of
Leon Trotsky in Mexico.

# How Russia blasted HITLER'S SPY

A FEW days after Hitler's attack on Soviet Russia, I was asked the question, "What about Fifth Columnists in Russia?" Off the anvil, I replied, "There aren't any—they shot them."

There is, when you think about it, a unique feature in this latest Nazi stab-in-the-back. Not a word has appeared about any inside work for the Nazis behind the Russian lines. There has been no so-called "internal aggression" in Russia, co-operating with the German High Command. There were no Sudeten Henleins, no Czechoslovakian Hachas, Berans, or Chvalkovskys, no Slovakian Tiso, no Belgian Degrelles, no Norwegian Quislings, in the Soviet picture.

With this thought in mind I recently went through my diary and, with the permission of the State Department, re-

read some of my reports as American Ambassador to Moscow in 1937 and 1938. Suddenly I saw the picture as I undoubtedly should have seen it at the time in Russia. Much of the world construed the famous treason trials and purges from 1935 to 1938 to be outrageous examples of barbarism, ingratitude, and hysteria. But it now appears that they indicated the amazing far-sightedness of Stalin and his close associates.

In the light of present facts, and after an examination of the record, there can be no doubt that those defendants were, directly or indirectly, in the employ of the German and Japanese High Command. Practically every device of the German Fifth Column, as we now know it in Europe, South America, and even in the United States, was disclosed in the

testimony of the Soviet Quislings. But the Russians were acutely aware of the menace as early as 1935. As fast as the Germans and Japanese built, the Russians destroyed. That, in brief, is the real story behind the Russian purges— and one of the chief explanations for the magnificent Russian resistance to the Nazi juggernaut.

I attended the treason trials probably more assiduously than any other member of the Diplomatic Corps. But all of us there in Moscow at the time, including the diplomats and the able newspaper correspondents, seem to have "missed the boat." I certainly did. There were two counts in the indictments in these trials. The first had to do with the internal revolutionary activities of the defendants, and the second charged that they had conspired and co-operated with

80

The author

## MACHINE

Germany and Japan to betray Russia and acquire power themselves through a successful military attack upon the Soviet Union. In my reports, I find that I referred to the second charge quite casually and as of comparatively little importance.

One reason was that the phrases descriptive of the Nazi technique, such as "Fifth Column" and "internal aggression," were unfamiliar to our thoughts then. These terms came to have a meaning for us only after we saw these activities in the conquest of one after another of the victims of Hitler's diplomacy and military prowess.

It was only after the taking of Prague that we began to recognize the fact that there had existed in Germany, as a part of the Foreign Office under the administration of a man named Ernst Bohle, a

huge organization for "Fifth Column" instruction. It was, in fact, a school for the purpose of instructing Germans and German agents in the methods and technique of propaganda for the breakdown of morale, and undoubtedly in the even more sinister methods of destruction of industrial and military facilities in the various countries marked for German aggression. All were designed to weaken the victim before attack and to supply centers of traitors' help back of the lines. This school was the campus for Fifth Columnists, but not many of us knew of it and relatively few paid any attention to it at the time.

It was only recently that Secretary of State Hull, with characteristic bluntness, served notice upon the Hitler government that the Fuhrer's statement that Nazi Germany demanded first

allegiance from those of German blood wherever they might be, regardless of whether or not they had become naturalized citizens of other states, could not be applied to German citizens of the United States. Mr. Hull stated forcibly that any such insidious assumption would meet with vigorous action by the United States. It was only recently that the Dies Committee uncovered the activities of these German organizations in this country.

Another reason why we in Moscow failed at the time to grasp the full significance of the treason trials was that we all seemed to be thinking in terms of the struggle for power that was going on within Russia between the "ins" and the "outs"—between Stalin, on the one hand, and, on the other, the late Leon Trotsky, who (Continued on page 110)

EVERY nation which has succeeded to Hitler has first been softened up by Nazi spies, saboteurs, and Fifth Columnists, who actively supported the invaders. To the amazement of most military authorities, only Russia was able to stand up against the initial blitzkrieg. Why?

Ex-Ambassador Davies, who spent two crucial years in Moscow, supplies the surprising answer—the purge of traitors and Fifth Columnists working to undermine the Red Army.

Here are startling facts of treachery and treason, serving as a warning that Americans, who gave only passing notice to recent Nazi spy trials, may well heed.

—The Editor

81

110

THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE

in Bulgaria, but in Greece and in the former
Greek Aegean islands that hug Turkey's
western coast. We saw Axis-occupied islands
so close to Turkish beaches that a man could
swim across.

On the other side, at Turkey's back door,
there were Anglo-Russian armies on the
Turkish frontiers in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and
the Caucasus. Turkey was completely
ringed by desperate belligerent armies. Still
a neutral, but in an increasingly precarious
position.

In the leading Istanbul newspaper that
evening I read: "Turkey may well be thank-

ful that the Germans continue to pile up suc-
cesses in southern Russia. For, if the Germans
did not win steadily there, advancing ever
nearer to their goal in the oil fields of Baku,
they would have only one road left to pursue
—namely, the road through Turkey. The
most casual glance at the map will show that
Turkey sits astride the only route by which
they can outflank and encircle the Russian
forces. Turkey is a land bridge that leads
from Nazi-controlled Bulgaria to the gap of
blue water, the Bosporus and the Dar-
danelles, then north through Asiatic Turkey
to the Caucasus. It is a fine road for Hitler

to take, because it leads not only to the oil
of Baku, but also to the oil of Iran and Iraq,
and even southward by easy stages through
Syria and Palestine to the treasures of
Egypt and Suez."

In war, anything can happen. There are
no longer any hard and fast rules. All that is
certain, in this terrible conflict, is that every
day brings sacrifice and suffering, slavery
and death, to thousands of innocent human
beings—and that the circle of those who
must suffer and die is constantly widening.

THE END ★★

How Russia blasted
HITLER'S
SPY
MACHINE

*(Continued from page 81)*

had been exiled early in 1928 and was mys-
teriously murdered in Mexico last year.

One of the primary issues between Trotsky
and Stalin was the question of which policy
the Soviet Union should pursue. Stalin, the
practical realist, was convinced that his
primary job was to develop a socialist de-
mocracy and make Communism work within
Soviet Russia. Trotsky, on the other hand,
was an extreme advocate of world revolution
and held that Communism could not be suc-
cessful if surrounded by capitalist states.
We knew that Trotsky had a great many
followers in Russia, and we regarded the
treason trials as Stalin's methods of destroy-
ing his internal enemies. Talk of co-opera-
tion with the German and Japanese High
Commands seemed like so much bizarre
window-dressing, a façade to cover the
liquidating of counterrevolutionaries.

BUT, like everybody who discounts the
devilish ingenuity of the Germans in wag-
ing war within the borders of their enemies, we
were mistaken. The testimony at the trials
revealed that Trotsky had been planning to
take advantage of a general European war
to foment revolution within Russia and oust
Stalin. But when the war didn't come in
1936 and 1937 he grew tired of waiting, and
played into the hands of the Nazis by con-
tacting the German General Staff. Working
through Red Army leaders inside Russia,
Trotsky agreed to co-operate with the Ger-
mans and pave the way through espionage
and sabotage for an effective invasion.

Indicative of the degree to which the
Soviet Government was alarmed by these
subversive activities is the fact that Stalin,
at that time, completely reversed a policy
laid down in 1926. Prior to the banishment
of Trotsky in 1928, many of Stalin's associ-
ates urged that Trotsky be tried for treason.
To this Stalin replied, in effect:

"No, we must not do that. When the
leaders of the French Revolution began to
kill each other, it was the beginning of the
end. The Soviet Revolution must not 'chew
up its own children.' We will not do it."

From 1927 to 1935 that policy was sus-
tained. But it was changed suddenly when
the Russian leaders learned of the activities
of the Fifth Column, and there followed the
trials, purges, and executions, which were
pressed with the greatest vigor and relent-
lessness. When they were over, the Fifth
Column had been smashed once and for all,
and the road was clear to build up the mag-
nificent morale and the military machine
that is checkmating the Germans today.

The fireworks started in December, 1934,
with the murder of Stalin's personal friend,
a man by the name of Sergei Kirov, who
was the Soviet party leader for the Len-
ingrad district. The result was the trial of
the murderer and a group of prominent Soviet
leaders, formerly associated with Trotsky,
who were charged with aiding and abetting
in the crime and in a conspiracy to over-
throw the Stalin government. They were
adjudged guilty and 16 were shot.

Subsequently, in January, 1937, appar-
ently as the result of investigations arising
out of this trial, 17 men, including five or six
prominent leaders, as well as a number of
engineers and professional killers, were tried
on similar charges of conspiracy and treason.
This was the so-called Radek trial, named for
one of the best-known prisoners, Karl
Radek, a brilliant Communist and editor of a
great Moscow newspaper. Thirteen of the
defendants were shot, and three were given
terms of ten years.

Another year passed, and in March, 1938,
came the Bukharin trial, in which the chief
defendant was N. I. Bukharin, another
prominent intellectual and editor. Eighteen
of these defendants were shot (among them
Bukharin), one was given a term of 25
years, and two others were given terms of
15 years.

It was these last two trials that I at-
tended. The Radek trial, which lasted six
days, was drenched with drama. The ses-
sions were held in a long, high-ceilinged room
which had formerly been part of a fashiona-
ble Moscow club of the old regime. I sat
with the Diplomatic Corps, just in front of
the newspapermen, not more than 12 feet
from the prisoners' dock. The testimony
and confessions of these defendants were

startling. They all pleaded guilty, literally
beating their breasts as they heaped guilt
upon themselves. But, as a trained lawyer,
not without experience in testing the credi-
bility of witnesses in criminal trials, I
watched the defendants' faces, studied their
conduct on the stand, and I arrived at the
conclusion that the state had unquestiona-
bly proved its case.

As a matter of fact, on the record, it would
be difficult for me to conceive how any court
could have done other than judge the de-
fendants guilty as charged. To have as-
sumed that the proceedings were staged as
political fiction would be to presuppose the
creative genius of Shakespeare.

THE indictment at the Bukharin trial was
similar to that of the preceding trial. It
charged conspiracy to overthrow the Stalin
government by the defendants, but charged
with much greater detail the alleged treason
of the defendants in conspiracy with Ger-
many and Japan. The conspirators confessed
that, under the leadership of Trotsky, they had:
1. Agreed to aid Germany and Japan in a
military attack on Russia.

2. Co-operated in plans to assassinate
Stalin and Molotov.

3. Planned a military uprising against the
Kremlin, to be led by General Tukhachevsky,
then second in command of the Red Army.

4. Directed sabotaging of industries,
blowing up of chemical plants, destruction of
coal mines, wrecking of transportation fa-
cilities; and other subversive activities.

5. Taken orders from the German General
Staff.

6. Passed on military information to the
German and Japanese intelligence services.

7. Co-operated with the German repre-
sentatives in espionage and sabotage.

The plan, in short, contemplated com-
plete co-operation with Germany. The con-
spirators, as a reward, were to be allowed to
take over a smaller but technically inde-
pendent Soviet state, which would turn over
White Russia and the Ukraine to Germany,
and the Maritime Provinces and the Sakhalin
oil fields to Japan. Further, after the Ger-
man conquest, German firms were to receive
concessions and favors in connection with
the development of iron ore, manganese, oil,
coal, timber, and other great resources of
the Soviet Union. If these original Fifth
Columnists had succeeded in their plans,
Germany would be poised today for the final
attack upon Great Britain—with the natural
wealth of the Russian territory behind her.

To appreciate fully the character and
significance of this testimony it should be
borne in mind that the confessions came, not
from obscure, impoverished citizens ready to
betray their country for a few marks, but
from such prominent personalities as two

DECEMBER 1941

111

Cabinet members, the Commissar for the Treasury, the Commissar for Foreign Trade, a former premier of the government, two former ambassadors who had served in London, Paris, and Tokyo, a former Under-Secretary of State, and the Acting Secretary of State of the government, as well as two of the Soviet Union's foremost editors.

It was as if Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau, Secretary of Commerce Jones, Under-Secretary of State Welles, Ambassador Phillips, Ambassador Winant, and Secretary to the President Early confessed to conspiring with Germany to co-operate in an invasion of the United States.

HERE are a few excerpts from the testimony in open court which are revealing:

**Krestinsky, Under-Secretary of State:**

"I established espionage connections with the Germans on the direct instructions of Trotsky. . . . We came to an agreement that we would help the Reichswehr create a number of espionage bases on the territory of the USSR by permitting the unhindered entry of spies sent by the Reichswehr, and that we would supply the Reichswehr with espionage materials—that is, to put it plainly, that we would be German spies. In return, the Reichswehr undertook to pay us 250,000 marks a year. . . ."

**Rosenglotz, Commissar of Foreign Trade:**

"I handed various secret information to the Commander-in-Chief of the Reichswehr, Seeckt, and to the Chief of the German General Staff, Hasse. . . . I received instructions from Trotsky through Krestinsky to carry on wrecking activities in the sphere

of foreign trade with the object of rendering direct assistance to Germany and Japan...."

Bessonov, Councilor of the Soviet Embassy at Berlin:

"Krestinsky told me that the agreement reached by the Trotskyites with the German National Socialist Party on the possibility of hastening war, which would facilitate the coming to power of the Trotskyites, must be expedited at all costs."

**Grinko, Commissar of Finance:**

"One of the organizers of the Ukrainian national Fascist organization, I operated particularly in the Ukraine, at the main gates through which German Fascism is preparing its blow against the USSR."

Minor defendants confessed they had direct connection with the German and Japanese Intelligence Services and co-operated with them in systematic espionage and sabotage. For instance, one official stated that he had organized two explosions at fertilizer plants which entailed enormous property losses as well as the loss of human life. Another assumed responsibility for disasters at a chemical plant. A third described the manner in which cadres, or centers, were organized for the purpose of co-operating with the German invaders when they arrived. Still another told how he had planned and wrecked troop trains, on the express directions from foreign intelligence services. Among the routine orders which this last conspirator had received were instructions not only "to organize incendiarism in military stores, canteens, and army shipments," but also to use "bacteriological means in time of war, with the object of contaminating

troop trains and army camps with virulent bacilli."

From the testimony, it was disclosed that contact between the German High Command and General Tukhachevsky had been established through Trotsky. The names of some of the highest general officers of the Red Army Command were brought into the case with testimony that they had been corrupted or otherwise induced to enter the conspiracy.

THE Russian leaders proceeded to clean house, and acted with the greatest of energy and precision. Voroshilov said later, "It is easier for a burglar to break into the house if he has an accomplice to let him in. We have taken care of the accomplices."

It was suddenly announced in April, 1937, that General Tukhachevsky, who had been designated by the government to attend the coronation in London as the representative of the USSR, would not go to London. He was reported to have been sent down to command the army of the Volga District, but it was understood at the time that he had been removed from the train and arrested before he arrived at his command. Within a few weeks thereafter, on June 11th, along with 11 other officers of the High Command, he was shot after a court-martial.

Many commentators have concluded that the purges seriously weakened the Red Army. I believe that the exact opposite is the truth. The house cleaning of traitors eliminated some of the higher commanders, but it brought about the promotion of younger and frequently more imaginative men who, while lacking the experience of their predecessors,

DUMB DORA—SHE'S NOT SO DUMB

IT'S
BITE SIZE
NO MUSS, NO CRUMBLING

Uncle Sam Turns Spotlight on Importance of Whole Wheat for You and Your Family!

Uncle Sam wants civilians as well as Army to be properly fed. Recently, more nourishing diets were held to be a national need. Leading authorities have long recommended whole wheat breakfast cereals—for their wealth of energy, minerals and precious vitamin B1. Shredded Ralston is such a

cereal... nourishing whole wheat... ready-to-eat... in the convenient bite size... with a truly delicious flavor! And Shredded Ralston is surprisingly economical, costing less per ounce than most nationally advertised ready-to-eat cereals—only half as much as some!

Shredded
RALSTON

112

THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE

made up for it in initiative and loyalty.

The purges also gave the average soldier a greater sense of security, and the conviction that his fate was now in the hands of more trustworthy officers than "the Trotskyite traitors who met the fate they deserved." In connection with morale, you must remember that most soldiers are less than thirty years old. Thus, in Russia, the average soldier would not have been more than six years old when the Communists seized the government in 1917. During all his youth he is taught blind, unquestioning loyalty to the Soviet regime. The result is that he doesn't

dream of analyzing the acts of his government. When the government brands a man a traitor, the man is a traitor, and nobody bothers his head about the details.

THE extensive military and industrial preparations that were launched immediately after the smoke of the purges cleared away, go far to explain the Russians' resistance today and their ability to withstand German science and German panzer divisions.

But this "all-out" program could easily have been nullified if Stalin and his associates had not cleaned out all treasonable

elements within the country three years before the invasion was launched. Today, when the Russian generals order a bridge blown up or a section of earth scorched, the bridges are blown and the earth is scorched. There are no saboteurs, secret agents, or Fifth Columnists to co-operate with the invaders, because the Russians were sufficiently farsighted to eliminate them before it was too late.

That is a fact which other liberty-loving nations might well ponder.

THE END

HITTING THE
Highs IN COOKING

(Continued from page 48)

housewife, with a little care, can do the same.

Camille, the chief decorator of the food, told me of a custom job he did on caramel and pistachio mousse for Edward G. Robinson, whom Camille had never seen on the screen. Under the mousse was a thin cake with brandy on it. Stuck around it were tiny éclairs with rum filling and white frosting on top. With a pastry bag, handsome crescents of whipped cream were spotted in just the right places, and dabs of white currant jelly were dotted here and there. Mr. Robinson was awed at the sight of this masterpiece but quickly pulled himself together and had two helpings. Since then Camille has never missed a Robinson picture, and feels, sort of, that he really ought to see each of them twice.

YOU can be a showman without so much trouble. M. Maurice Chapuis, of Chambord's, a famous New York French restaurant, gave Kostelanetz an easy way to startle the guests. It is "Flaming Peaches." You cook the peaches in a 30 per cent sugar sirup, put them in a chafing dish, add a glass of brandy, and set it on fire. Let the brandy burn for a while, blow it out, serve the peaches with a spoonful of the sirup. It's a great act if performed in the dining-room, particularly if you haven't forgotten to renew your fire insurance. Another dramatic burning dish is crêpes Suzette, easier to make than most housewives realize.

Miss Pons is a housewife at least part of the time. Like all good girls in France, she learned to be a good cook, an expert on foods and meats, and an artist in proper service and table decoration. In a recent interview, giving advice to young married women, Miss Pons, who has been married to Kostelanetz three years, said, "A wife should arrange to have her husband's favorite dishes." When

the interview was published Kostelanetz did not point out—as most husbands would have—that he hadn't had Russian borsch (beet soup) or shchi (cabbage soup) since heaven knew when.

But he does frequently have pojarski cotletki, which is made in Russia with hazel hens, but chicken is used in America, for the very good reason that hazel hens are unknown not only to American markets but even to American dictionaries. Even Kostelanetz doesn't remember what a hazel hen looks like.

Now, pojarski cotletki is a violently unm American dish, for it is a sort of chicken croquette made deliberately from meat stripped from uncooked, or slightly cooked, chickens. Every American housewife knows that croquettes should be made only from leftovers.

The Lily Pons-Kostelanetz romance was a famous one, with Kostelanetz flying back and forth across the United States to plead his cause between his concert dates. They are a devoted couple. I asked him what they ate the first time they dined together. Just another husband, alas, he couldn't remember. But Miss Pons did. For he came to dine with her and her mother, and Miss Pons cooked dinner with her own hands. The main dish was steak, and Miss Pons put butter in a black skillet with a long handle and cooked the butter "unteeet eel was ready to go sffft!" Then she put in the steak, with no cover on the skillet, with "jus' a leetle, leetle parsley, an' when he ees jus' medium, put in a leetle more parsley, and serve ver-ee hot, with leetle peas."

Chagrin, Kostelanetz breathed, "How could I ever have forgotten!"

Miss Pons's steak was a simple dish, which proves that *gourmets* don't have to have fancy food. But Kostelanetz admits that he also gets a kick out of M. Chapuis's chicken *au vin rouge* and veal kidney *flambé* and other exotic creations.

When Miss Pons sang and Kostelanetz conducted in Grant Park, Chicago, a few summers ago, it was a thrill that probably no other artists have ever experienced, for there were about 300,000 persons in the audience. Such a stunning tribute was good reason for an elaborate celebration afterward, and they went to one of Chicago's best restaurants.

"What did you eat?" I asked them, pençol poised.

"A green salad," said Miss Pons, hanging her pretty head.

"A chicken sandwich—half of it," confessed Kostelanetz. "And we drank water."

When one is under an emotional strain, they believe, a heavy meal is practically poison.

On the mornings after concerts they have

big breakfasts—grapefruit, fried eggs, bacon or ham, cereal, and toast. Their usual breakfasts are fruit, toast, with coffee, for Kostelanetz; for Miss Pons, *maté*, the South American tea which she learned to like on a trip down there.

For luncheon they usually have tomato juice, a little meat, and always a green salad. They have salad twice a day—what the Russians call "tired salad." Miss Pons likes to mix the dressing, and she does this thirty minutes or more before the salad is to be served. The dressing goes on the salad; it stands at room temperature while the dressing soaks in, the crispness vanishes, and the flavor comes to the surface. Thus, the salad is "tired," but tasty. She uses no sugar, "pos-ee-teev-ly," in her dressing. Sometimes she likes merely olive oil and lemon juice, a little tarragon "for perfume," and a wipe of garlic on the bowl; sometimes she adds vinegar which has been mixed with tarragon mustard. Like the salads, the fruits usually are at room temperature, although some may be slightly cooled. Miss Pons believes that chilling kills the flavor.

One of their favorite simple desserts is fresh strawberries in red wine and lemon juice. An elaborate one is Paris-Brest, named from the two French cities, given them by Madame Maude, whose French restaurant is well known in New York. It is made with cream-puff dough and coffee mousse.

I ASKED Miss Pons to tell me what menu she would select for a very special dinner. Here it is, far more simple than those dinners selected by professional *gourmets*:

Turtle soup; sole Marguery, with a Sauerne or Barsac; squab, with wild rice and mushrooms; little peas braised with hearts of lettuce; small potatoes, with parsley and a Burgundy wine, "good vintage." Then would come French salad of lettuce and romaine, and Paris-Brest for dessert. After that, cheese and fruit.

Miss Pons and Kostelanetz like Italian dishes every now and then, but have wondered whether it is exactly patriotic to eat them, for they are devoted to Free France. They haven't given them up, but here's what happened recently in Salt Lake City: Photographers found Miss Pons in a restaurant, eating spaghetti, and they cocked their cameras. She gladly co-operates with photographers, but this time surprised them by saying, "No, please, not now."

They wanted to know why. She pointed to the spaghetti and smiled, "Weeth theeungs the way they are in Europe, spaghetti ees politics." So they waited, and photographed her eating ice cream.

THE END