L. Smirnov, Material for Talks: Untiringly Raise the Political Vigilance of Soviet People. January 1953
Original Source: Bloknot agitatora, No. 3, 30 January 1953, pp. 10-22.
The Soviet people, imbued with unshakable confidence in their powers, are successfully meeting the majestic tasks of building communist society in our country. Comrade Stalin’s work of genius, “Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR.” and the historic decisions of the 19th Party Congress brightly light the way for the Soviet people’s advance to communism.
The world-historic triumphs of the Soviet Union and the successes of the entire camp of peace, democracy and socialism, headed by our motherland, throw the accursed enemies of mankind-the magnates of world imperialism and, above all, of American imperialism- into a fury. The imperialists, headed by the United States of America, that chief center of reaction and aggression, are intensifying the preparation of a war against the Soviet Union and the people’s democracies. In preparing armed aggression, the bosses of the capitalist world try to send as many of their agents, spies and saboteurs as possible into our country and other countries of the socialist camp.
In the struggle against the Soviet Union and the people’s democracies, the imperialists employ any means, including the most cruel, cunning and inhuman ones. There is no crime they would not commit in their efforts to hamper the building of communism in our country and to halt the inevitable course of history, a. course that spells ruin for capitalism.
Each day brings fresh confirmation of V. I. Lenin’s words that “the bourgeoisie is prepared to resort to any barbarity, bestiality and crime to defend dying capitalist slavery.”
From the very first days of the Soviet state’s existence, the intelligence services of the imperialist states have sent hundreds and thousands of secret agents-spies, wreckers, saboteurs and murderers-to our country. International imperialism has sought to use for its aims domestic counterrevolution, the remnants of the routed exploiter classes, the Bolsheviks, the Social-Revolutionaries and the Trotsky-Zinoviev riffraff.
Back in 1937 Comrade Stalin pointed out that as long as the Soviet Union existed amid capitalist encirclement we would have wreckers, spies, saboteurs and murderers sent to our home front by foreign states.
In developing subversive activity against the Soviet Union now, the predatory imperialists are trying to make use of routed anti-Soviet groups, morally corrupt people, the bearers of survivals of capitalist ideology and morality. In trying to set up their networks of agents in the Soviet Union and the people’s democracies, the American-British warmongers count heavily on persons infected by bourgeois nationalism.
In October, 1951, the US Congress adopted a law-unprecedented in relations among states- allocating $100,000,000 for subversive work and sabotage against the Soviet Union and the people’s democracies. Even before adoption of this law, American imperialists had expended hundreds of millions of dollars on subversive activity against the democratic camp; in particular, on financing and supporting the criminal operation of bourgeois nationalist organizations and groups.
As far back as the first months after the war, comfortable camps were established in resort areas of Western Germany for Yugoslav Ustasi, Ukrainian bourgeois nationalists-Banderites’ and Petliura men-and former S.S. men: war criminals saved by American imperialists from deserved retribution. American imperialism bought the Gestapo agent Tito and his clique for a low price. The American intelligence service and the capitalist magnates of the USA do not spare dollars for financing all kinds of Jewish bourgeois nationalist, Zionist organizations …
It has been established that all the participants in the terrorist group of murderer-doctors were in the service of foreign intelligence agencies. Most of the criminals-Vovsi, B. Kogan, Feldman, Grinshtein, Etinger, et al.-were recruited by a branch of the American intelligence service- “Joint,” the International Jewish bourgeois nationalist organization. This vile Zionist spy organization concealed Its criminal work for the American intelligence service under the guise of “philanthropy.” The professional murderers and spies of “Joint” developed subversive terrorist activity in our country by using a group of decadent Jewish bourgeois nationalists whom they bought over…
Soviet people are responding to the villainy of the predatory imperialists and their agents by raising their political vigilance. Political vigilance is a mighty weapon in the struggle against the cunning intrigues of the American-British warmongers.
“Our task,” Comrade Stalin teaches, “is to maintain the utmost vigilance and to be on guard. And if we are vigilant, Comrades, we will surely beat our enemies in the future just as we are beating them at present and have beaten them in the past.”
Speaking at the February-March plenary session of the Communist Party Central Committee in 1937, Comrade Stalin pointed out the full danger of the idiotic disease of heedlessness, complacency and political shortsightedness. Comrade Stalin cited the sources of this disease, which lie in complacency under the influence of our successes, in forgetfulness of the fact that our entire construction goes on amid capitalist encirclement-not an empty phrase, but a very real and unpleasant phenomenon.
“Successes and accomplishments are great things, of course,” said Comrade Stalin. “Our successes in socialist construction are truly tremendous. But successes, like everything else on earth, have their dark side, too. Among persons of little experience in politics, great successes and great achievements often give rise to heedlessness, complacency, self-satisfaction, exaggerated confidence, conceit and boastfulness.”
Elimination of the exploiter classes in our country does not mean that the class war “dies down;’ it does not dull the sharpness of class resistance. It is precisely because the class enemy has been routed in open battle and deprived of an economic base within the country and senses his inevitable end that he is ready to resort to any, the most vile, cunning and inhuman crimes.
In his speech at the February-March plenary session of the Party Central Committee in 1937 Comrade Stalin showed how the new type of subversive and wrecker arises-a person who does not dare come forth openly against the Soviet state and the Communist Party but, on the contrary, tries to lull the vigilance of Soviet people by false assurances of his devotion to our cause.
This cunning tactic of the enemy who operates by “undermining,” who tries to inveigle himself into the confidence of Soviet people in order to use this confidence for a sudden blow, requires particular vigilance and determination in the struggle against violations of Party and state discipline that are discovered, against cases of deception of the Party and state.
The ability to expose the enemy is indivisible from strict and undeviating fulfillment of one’s civic duty, from high and exacting requirements of oneself and others, from irreconcilability with any violations of state discipline and Soviet laws.
V. I. Lenin pointed. out that “the slightest illegality, the slightest violation of Soviet law and order, is a loophole which the enemies of the working people promptly utilize.”
Criminals-be they agents of foreign intelligence services or plunderers of socialist property, bribe-takers, swindlers-can commit crimes with impunity only where vigilance has been blunted, where there is no intolerance of violations of the law but where complacency, tolerance and lack of inclination to “wash dirty linen in public” flourishes …
It is the duty of every Soviet citizen and patriot of the socialist motherland to exhibit political vigilance on every sector and under all circumstances, to fight mercilessly against any manifestations of political carelessness and gullibility, to safeguard state secrets strictly, to expose chatterers, careless persons and plunderers of state property.
Gullibility is nourishing soil for sabotage. Gullible persons and duffers who allow the enemy to deceive them belong with spies and saboteurs, wreckers and deliberate plunderers of socialist property. The enemy succeeds in committing crimes as a result of the complacency and carelessness of gullible persons.
Some of these gullible persons consider political vigilance necessary everywhere except in “their” field of work, “their” institution, which they think does not present anything of interest to the enemy and spy.
Nevertheless, even information about an individual and apparently insignificant part being produced by a feeder plant may constitute a find for the enemy who wishes to gain some idea of the new output of a defense plant. Garrulousness as to the nature and volume of freight shipments can tell a spy the location of military objectives.
The gossiper who broadcasts a state secret, a secret entrusted to him in his job, helps the enemy, helps the spy.
Gullibility in selection and assignment of personnel, selection of personnel not on the basis of work qualifications and political qualities but on a chance basis, on the basis of philistine considerations opens the way to an enemy.
Here is one such example.
A gang of plunderers of socialist property was active for a long time in Moscow and Smolensk Provinces. It was headed by a certain Sviridov-Riabov, chief accountant of the Viazma Butter Factory. The criminals plundered goods from the factory worth more than 1,000,000 rubles and sold them through trade officials in Moscow and in Zagorsk District, Moscow Province, who were connected with them.
Who is this Sviridov-Riabov? A criminal who had been sentenced to ten years’ deprivation of freedom. After serving his sentence he turned up at the Russian Republic Chief Administration of the Butter and Fats Industry and was promptly appointed to the post of a chief factory accountant. Thus the gullibility of officials provided the criminal with the opportunity to commit a grave crime.
One might cite numerous examples which show how criminals were enabled to plunder socialist property with impunity as a consequence of gullibility in selection of personnel and toleration of violations of the law. Popov, former manager of the Moscow Footwear Trade Organization, calmly looked on while swindlers who had penetrated the organization plundered state property. Panfilov, former director of this organization’s Store No. 11, retained his job after a 100,000 -ruble shortage of commodities was exposed in his accounts, and he continued in this post until he had embezzled 200,000 rubles. Taking advantage of the dulled vigilance of management and officials of the Moscow Footwear Trade Organization, criminals stole a total of more than 1,000,000 rubles in this organization.
The Communist Party calls upon all Soviet people to exert the utmost vigilance in the cause of safeguarding socialist property. ‘To permit theft and embezzlement of public property-whether it be state property or cooperative and collective farm property -to overlook such counterrevolutionary outrages is to encourage undermining of the Soviet system, which rests on public property as its foundation.”
Criticism and self-criticism constitute a mighty weapon in the struggle against gullibility and heedlessness. The Soviet people’s ardent love for the motherland and the concern of Soviet man for its flourishing and strengthening find reflection in self-criticism, and particularly in criticism from below. Criticism and self-criticism raise the vigilance of Soviet people and help to bring to light and eliminate shortcomings.
It is necessary to give careful and attentive heed to checking on the warning signals of working people, particularly to reviewing complaints against the incorrect deeds of individual persons who commit arbitrary and illegal acts. A bureaucratic attitude to the complaints of the working people is incompatible with political vigilance.
Ideological training of our cadres is of tremendous importance in heightening vigilance. Study of the Marxist-Leninist theory arms Soviet people with the ability to orient themselves correctly in domestic and international political events, helps them to fight against any intrigues of hostile elements. It is necessary to educate Soviet people in boundless devotion to the interests of our Soviet socialist state, in life-giving Soviet patriotism. The role of agitators is particularly important, lofty and noble in this regard. The agitator carries the truthful word- of the Communist Party to the masses of the working people …
There is no doubt that the Soviet people will be able to expose and rout the hostile agents, under whatever disguise they may hide.
For our construction to proceed still more successfully it is necessary to close every loophole for the enemy, for spies, for plunderers of sacred socialist property; and this can be done only by putting and end to the idiotic disease of gullibility, carelessness and complacency.
Inspired by the genius-like program of building communism outlined in Comrade Stalin’s work “Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR” and in the historic decisions of the 19th Party Congress, Soviet people will successfully meet tasks which have no equal in the history of man. No intrigues of our enemies can halt the Soviet country’s triumphant advance to communism.
Source: Current Soviet Policies (New York: F. A. Praeger, 1953), Vol. I, pp. 244-246.