A Death in Washington: Walter G. Krivitsky and the Stalin Terror

498 Pages·2004·5.457 MB·English

by  Gary Kern

Enigma Books
2
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Gary Kern
A Death in Washington
Walter G. Krivitsky
and the Stalin Terror
Introduction
by Nigel West
Enigma Books
5
All rights reserved under the International
and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
Published in the United States by
Enigma Books
New York
www.enigmabooks.com
Copyright © 2004 Enigma Books
eISBN 978-0-9824911-5-7
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the written
permission of Enigma Books.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kern, Gary.
A death in Washington : Walter G. Krivitsky and the Stalin terror / Gary Kern introduction by
Nigel West.
p. : ill. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Krivitsky, W. G. (Walter G.), 1899–1941. 2. Stalin, Joseph, 1879–1953. 3. Soviet Union.
Obçdinennoe gosudarstvennoe politicheskoe upravlenie. 4. Defectors—Soviet Union—Biography. 5.
Military intelligence—Soviet Union—Biography. 6. Spies—Soviet Union—Biography. 7. Soviet Union
—Politics and government. I. West, Nigel. II. Title.
UB271.R92 K758 2004
327.1247/0092 B
6
In memory of Helen Bates Yakobson and those evening classes at GWU a�er
Sputnik.
7
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction by Nigel West
Abbreviations and Terms
Preface to the Paperback Edition
PART I
�e Killing Machine: Lies, Torture and Execution
(June 1899–October 1937)
1.New Songs of Freedom
2.Legal and Illegal
3.�e Counterfeiting Caper
4.Fascism on the March
5.Antiquarian in �e Hague
6.�e Other War in Spain
7.�e Gemini Defectors
8.New Year in Moscow
9.�e Stalin Terror
10.How Heroes Were Broken
11.One Gigantic Madhouse
12.�e NKVD Loyalty Test
13.A World Gone Forever
14.�e Last Straw
PART II
No Man’s Land: Spies, Betrayal and Assassination
(October 1937–November 1938)
15.Kruzia
16.TULIP, SONNY BOY and RESENTMENT
17.�e Doomed World
18.A Checklist of Assassinations
PART III
�e New World: Friends, Bureaucrats and Fellow Travelers
(November 1938–November 1940)
19.Man Without a Country
20.Comrades on Times Square
21.�e Odd Couple
22.�e Adventures of Shmelka Ginsberg
23.Aliens
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24.�e Fantastic Falsehood
25.�e Committee, the Crook and Cultural Freedom
26.Empowerment and Expulsion
27.In Transit
28.In His Majesty’s Service
29.�e Life of a File
30.Promotion to No. 1
PART IV
End of the Line: Hope, Despair and Suicide
(November 1940–February 1941)
31.Homo Sovieticus
32.In Search of a Good Chicken Farm
33.Last Visits
34.Last Days
35.A Botched Job
36.Who Killed Krivitsky?
37.�e Suicide Notes
38.�e Impossible Suicide
PART V
A�ermath
(February 1941–February 1996)
39.Running Amok
40.�e FBI File
41.Fates
42.Conclusion
Selected Bibliography
Notes
Index
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“If they ever try to pro�e that I took my own life, don’t believe it.”
Walter G. Krivitsky, quoted in
�e New York Times, February 11, 1941
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