Quicker. Hurry up. Am waiting copy of his letter already sent to
Vink. Greetings. Yours, Lenin.

P.S. If he is able to go to Russia now for 2-3 weeks, then wait for a
telegram from me: one word "must" will signify Samoilov should
immediately come to us here.

One of the baffling figures among the pre-i^i-j revolutionaries who
were closest to Lenin was Malinovsky, a Bolshevist leader in the
Fourth Duma. When the Bolsheviks came to power in i <//';, the open¬
ing up of the Tsarist police records revealed that Malinovsky had been
a police agent and provocateur over many years—a fact which had
been repeatedly alleged by colleagues and opponents of Lenin at an
earlier date. Returning voluntarily to Russia in if)iS, he was executed
after a swift and secret trial.

In the maze of revolutionary conspiracy and factional strife within
the Social Democratic party, Lenin's relations with Malinovsky have
baffled observers and historians. Lenin appears not to have recognized
Malinovsky's "treachery"; or he may have chosen to ignore it for
complex reasons of revolutionary i7itrigue.

Vladimir Burtsev, referred to by Lenin, was a talented journalist
and historian of the revolutionary movement, generally respected by
all factions as its "conscience" because of his unremitting and sharp-
witted struggle against the too frequent "double agents" who infil¬
trated its ranks. Btirtsev had previously played a leading part in the
exposure of Azeff, who was for vmny years simidtaneously a leading
organizer of terrorist acts and a police-spy. Although Burtsev had,
prior to May 1^14, passed on to Lenin rumors of Malinovsky's double-
dealing, Lenin remained unconvinced of his guilt until if)i~l, when
he was able to study the files of the Tsarist Okhrana. "Zgrapen" and
"Vink" are code-names, referring apparently to members of the un¬
derground railway which linked the revolutionary centers in Russia
and abroad.

As can be seen from the letter, the only "p-ovocatio?i" which Lenin
recognized was the suspicions and doubts raised by his opponents,
whom he lumps together as "liquidators." By this term Lenin de¬
scribed all those Social Democrats who refused to accept the orders
of a hand-picked "Central Committee" the election of which he had
engineered at a rump-conference in 1(112 and in which he had in¬
cluded Malinovsky as a key-member! The strong emotional reaction
which Lenin's letter displayed at a crucial moment in the life of the
Bolshevist Party makes this a document of great significance for the
history of Russia. (Note based in large part on Three Who AIade a
Revolution by Bertram D. Wolfe, New York, 11)48.)