INTERROGATION REPORT OF R.G. ALMOND
(KREMLIN BUSINESS)
March 16, 1935.
Mindel R.G., 1906, Jewish, daughter of a small mountain bush cobbler. Gomel, with incomplete secondary education, was not under court and investigation. Before her arrest, she worked in the Kremlin as a secretary of the Secretariat of the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR and a protocol assistant; in the Kremlin she worked since 1926.
Q: In what year did you move permanently to Moscow?
Answer: I moved to Moscow in 1926.
Q: Did you immediately go to work in the Kremlin?
A: Yes.
Q: Who employed you in the Kremlin?
A: ITIN, an IKP(b) member who worked at the time in Narkomfin, became my husband.
Q: To whom you were directly subordinate by the nature of your work.
Answer: Senior Referee to THEREHOV, Head of the Secretariat of the Presidium of the USSR CEC to THEREHOV and his deputy SOTSKOV.
Q: Why did you divorce ITINA?
*A: Because I began to live with SOTKOVA, who also lived with me, and Irina GUGUA, an employee of the Budget Commission of CIK.
Q: By the nature of your work, did you have access to secret materials from the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR?
*ANSWER: Yes, I also had the right to use the state seal and facsimile, i.e. Kalinina, Yenukidze, Medvedev, Tadzhiyev, Terekhov and SOTSKOV.
Q: The investigation has data that while working in the Kremlin, you’ve been among suspicious people who have nothing to do with the Kremlin, visited restaurants with them, participated in drinking with them, etc. Do you confirm this?
Answer: I categorically deny it. I admit that rumors about my visits to restaurants are explained by the fact that I lived in “Metropol”.
Q: And who visited you in Metropolis?
*ANSWER: Yenukidze is very rare, three times during my stay in a hotel; once I had a GUUGUA together with Yenukidze, who also lived in Metropol; except Yenukidze, there were some: my sister and husband, my brother, ITIN with my friend Magidin, SOTSKOV, TRESHCHALIN, KHVOSHEVSKAYA, ROGACHEV, EPHIMOV, etc.*.
Q: So you deny the fact that you’ve been involved in assaults with suspicious people who have nothing to do with the Kremlin?
Answer: Yes, categorically.
Q: In that case, I’ll show you a photograph of you in a society of obviously suspicious people and intoxicated. What can you say about it?
*A: This picture shows me and SOTSKOVA visiting a friend of Dr. BESSONOVA.
Q: BESSONOV is a party member?
ANSWER: No.
Q: Does he have anything to do with the Kremlin?
A: No.
Q: Does the rest of the people in the photo card have anything to do with the Kremlin?
A: No. I don’t know who they are or their names. One of them is some small Soviet employee.
Q: I’m showing you another photo card that shows you with the Order of the Red Banner. What can you say about it?
*ANSWER: On this photo I’m taken from AVANESOV. The order was his. He put the Order on me as a joke.
Q: And why did you keep a few copies of this picture for?
I had an ex, and the rest was handed over to me from AVANESOV’s archive after his death.
Q: The investigation has data that you’ve been spreading rumours among non-partisan Kremlin employees about your closeness to responsible workers. What can you show on this issue?
A: I deny it. In particular, I carefully concealed my closeness to SOTSKOV from everyone. However, there were rumours about me that I was a “favorite” of ENUKIDZE.
*In particular, these rumors were spread about me by GAMILTON, a member of the Secretariat of the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR, who was then dismissed. I was told about it by Irina GUGUA. Indeed, YENUKIDZE’s external attitude to me gave a reason to suppose that YENUKIDZE lived with me. Especially such rumors started to spread about me after I went with ENUKIDZE in his carriage from Moscow to Leningrad. Apart from me, the following members of the Secretariat travelled with ENUKIDZE in the carriage: Khvoshevskaya, Makarova Galina, Kuznetsova and Koch. We went to the CEC session. I add that I personally repeatedly pointed out to ENUKIDZE that his external attitude to me compromises me. I remember that back in 1927, when ENUKIDZE came to the CEC vacation home – “Tetkovo”, where at that time I was resting, I told him that his arrival was extremely unpleasant for me and gave me a reason to spread gossip about our relationship with him*.
Q: The investigation has data that you’ve been spreading various slanderous rumours of anti-Soviet content among non-partisan Kremlin employees. What can you say about this?
A: I categorically deny it.
Q: Which of the so-called former people among Kremlin employees do you know?
**Answer: Exclusively on official business, I’ve come across people like that: KOTLEREVSKY – former Minister, consultant to the Budget Commission of the CEC; IGNATYEV – former Minister of the Northern Government, editor and consultant to the Secretariat of the Presidium of the CEC; ROSENFELD N.A., mother of a princely family, employee of the Kremlin Library; PANTOVICH*** – former Menshevik or Eser, consultant of the Secretariat of the Presidium of the CEC; GAMILTON – daughter of the b. tsarist prosecutor, typist of the Secretariat; Irina Guguia – technical secretary of the Budget Commission, daughter of a Menshevik, who was repeatedly arrested under the Soviet power; ROGACHEVA O. M., former Minister of the Northern Government. *** – secretary of the secret part of the Secretariat of the Presidium of the CEC, former daughter of a factory worker or merchant and wife of an officer of the tsarist time; Efimova – consultant of the Commission for Citizenship, sister of R0GACHEVA; AVSENEV – former officer of the tsarist army, senior referent of the Commission; RAEVSKAYA – b. Princess, a Kremlin Library employee, a woman of easy virtue; Minerva, daughter of a pope, personal secretary of ENUKIDZE; Davydova, sister of the former Minister Ignatieva, a Kremlin Library employee.
QUESTION: During your work in the Kremlin, hasn’t anyone from the party part of the Secretariat of the Presidium of the Central Election Commission raised the issue of contamination of the apparatus?
Answer: MASHCHENKO raised this question.
Q: And what has he achieved?
A: MASHCHENKO was taken off the job and left the Kremlin.
QUESTION: Which of the Kremlin’s employees listed above did you have conversations with of anti-Soviet and slanderous nature?
A: I’ve never had such conversations with anyone.
QUESTION: What do you know about the anti-Soviet sentiments of these individuals?
A: Nothing is known. But I’ve heard rumours that all sorts of gossip were circulating among the Kremlin’s non-partisan employees.
Question: Please develop this testimony.
A: The gossip was mainly confined to domestic and everyday issues. Gossip about who lives with whom, who takes advantage of opportunities to get the best rations, apartments, vouchers to holiday homes and resorts, etc..
Q: You are clearly trying to fool the investigation. We know for a fact that among the anti-Soviet elements of the Kremlin’s non-partisan employees, there were also smearish rumours of counterrevolutionary nature circulating in addition to gossip, in the spread of which you also took part.
A: I categorically deny my participation in the spread of any counter-revolutionary rumours. I can add the following about gossip: Elizaveta Ishchukova****, a young, pretty woman, works as a typist in the office of the Secretariat of the Presidium of the CEC. ENUKIDZE treated her well, and she visited his house in Moscow and his summer cottage. Ishchukova in every way advertized her attitude to Yenukidze. She was very talkative in general, so as Khvoshevskaya told me about it, Ishchukova went so far as to openly tell me in the tram that she was at Enukidze’s house, dancing there a foxtrot, etc. On this issue I spoke personally with Yenukidze. I told him that I was talking to him about Ischukova not because of jealousy, but because I care about his authority, and Ischukova clearly compromises him. After that, ENUKIDZE stopped hosting Ischukov. I also know the following fact: GVILDIS**** and BUTOVSKAYA****, both Komsomol members, employees of the Secretariat of the CEC Presidium, also announced their acquaintance with ENUKIDZE and openly told that they are at ENUKIDZE’s summer house and have fun there. One of them is GWILDIS, she is a shooter from Voroshilov, ENUKIDZE presented a small caliber rifle. About these komsomols, GWILDIS and Butovka, I told Treshchalina in this form: “These girls talk too much about our old man.” As a result, ENUKIDZE also stopped taking GWILDIS and Butovsky at home.
I also remember such a case. Ishchukova said that she will definitely get an apartment in the new house of the Government Cooperative, making it clear that “our old man”, i.e. ENUKIDZE, will arrange the apartment for her.
I immediately reported it to the TRESCHALINA, who abruptly broke off her gossip on the phone by Ischukova.
Gossip was also spread from the Bureau of the Secretariat of the CEC Presidium, among whose typists there were women who were rumored to be prostitutes. One of them is DMITRIEVA.
QUESTION: The investigation is interested in data on anti-Soviet activities and the anti-Soviet sentiments of the Kremlin’s non-partisan employees who you know from their joint work with them.
What can you show on this issue?
A: Once again, I categorically deny any participation in these conversations.
Q: Have you had such conversations?
A: I don’t know anything about such conversations.
Q: Do you know N.A. ROSENFELD?
ROSENFELD: I do.
Q: What can you say about her?
A: N.A. ROSENFELD is very nervous, exhausted and with increased excitability. She is a very strange person. She’s an angry person. I have the impression of her that her whole life is closing in on her son.
Q: And N.A. ROSENFELD’s political face?
Answer: I don’t know him. I have met her very rarely.
Question: Do you know Mukhanova?
A: No. I know that MUHANOVA works in the library, but I don’t know her personally and I don’t disagree with her.
Q: Did ROSENFELD ask you to meet a foreign woman?
ROSENFELD ANSWER: No.
Q: List all the foreigners you know, including where you met them.
A: I categorically declare that I do not and have never met any foreigners I know.
Q: What else can you add to your statement?
A: I believe the source of gossip in the Kremlin, particularly about ENUKIDZ and the women who visited him at home, is YEGORA Shura. Yegorova works with ROSENFELD in the Kremlin library. She lives in the Kremlin, as her husband is the *** head of VTsIK*** school. VORONETSKAYA, who visited ENUKIDZE at home, personally told me that in the Kremlin library and among the Kremlin staff in general it was becoming known who visited ENUKIDZE. According to Voronetska, this is due to the fact that cadets of the VTsIK school, who are at their posts in the lobby of the house where Yenukidze, Kalinin and other members of the government live, tell Yegorov who visits members of the government, and Yenukidze in particular. According to Voronetska, Yegorov talked about it to his wife, who in turn passed it on to her colleagues in the Kremlin library and other Kremlin employees.
Thus, the Kremlin employees learned about who came to the apartment of ENUKIDZE and when those who came to him left.
Q: Are you personally familiar with YEGORA?
A: No. She has been working with us recently, since about the spring of 1934.
Q: Which member of the Kremlin Library staff was Yegorova’s closest friend?
A: As I remember, with RAEVSKA and BURKOVA, and with GORDEEVA.
Q: Did ROSENFELD N.A. talk to you about YEGOROVA?
Answer: No, never.
Q: Which member of the Kremlin Library’s staff besides YEGOROVA had ties to Kremlin security?
A: I don’t know.
Q: Were there any members of the Kremlin staff?
A: I know that the typist of the Secretariat of the Presidium of the CEC SKOLKOVA lived with an employee of the Kremlin Komendatura Ivan Andreevich Polyakov. They talked about it in our Secretariat.
Q: How long has SKOLKOVA been working in the Kremlin, and what do you know about it?
A: She has been working at the Presidium’s Secretariat for four years, and before that she worked in the reception room of Comrade Kalinina, so she has been working in the Kremlin for 10 years. SKOLKOVA was engaged in distribution of gossip of the same order as YELCHANINOVA, BURKOVA, etc., i.e. told about who lives with whom, said that ENUKIDZE had weakness to women, etc. SKOLKOVA worked at the Presidium Secretariat as a typist on secret work. She was close to NIKITINSKA.
Q: And what is a POLYAKOV?
Answer: Someone, I don’t remember who, told me that Polyakov is a b. officer, I’m not familiar with him.
Q: Was SKOLKOVA engaged in spreading slanderous rumours of anti-Soviet nature?
Answer: I haven’t heard about it.
Q: Throughout the investigation you’re clearly trying to disorient the investigation. You claim that during all your work in the Kremlin you’ve never heard of any anti-Soviet rumours coming from the non-partisan Secretariat staff you’ve shown above. You claim that you did not participate in any anti-Soviet conversations either. The investigation states that you are giving false testimony. Can you add anything to what you have shown?
Answer: No.
The testimony is recorded from my words correctly and I have read it.
Р. MINDEL
DOPROSIL: DOM. OBJECTIVE. INO GOOGLE SLAVATINSKY
APRF. F. 3. Oop. 58. Д. 233. Л. 131-142. Original. The typewriting.
*-* One line of Stalin’s manuscript litter is underlined in the fields and in the margins: “Hamilton. Guagua. Find out.”
**-** Sharpened in the margins with two lines.
** In the fields Stalin’s manuscript litter: “There is the Secretariat of the CEC Presidium and there is also the Bureau of the CEC Secretariat”.
*** The names are circled; besides, in the fields there are Stalin’s handwritten notes: “Has Pantovich been arrested? Find out”; opposite the other names in the paragraph: “Also.”
**** The surnames are circled and in the margins opposite the mentioned surnames there are the numbers: “1), 2), 3)” and “xx, x”.
***-*** It is circled and in the margins there is Stalin’s handwritten note: “Who is this. Last name?”
****-****Circulated, and in the fields there is Stalin’s handwritten litter: “Check”, also “xx”.
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