On the opposition within the Central Committee
At the end of December, I want to give a fundraising concert at the Paris Opera for the Italian Red Cross. I would like to ask you to make a sketch of the set design for Scarlatti. Prepare the sketch. I will be in Paris in 10 days. My address is Russian Consulate in Madrid.
I tried to convince those people close to me to flee. I did not have to persuade my personal assistant, N.V. Vinner: we were determined to not give ourselves in alive. We intended, as soon as the Cossacks and sailors were going to search for us in the front rooms, to shoot ourselves in the back rooms. See more
Kerensky fled, having betrayed his comrades, his army, and Russia.
Verkhovski came to see me to-day. He said that Kerensky had not wanted the Cossacks to suppress the rising by themselves, as that would have meant the end of the revolution. See more
I went to the State Bank to see the new Commissar, a redhaired Ukrainian Bolshevik named Petrovitch. He was trying to bring order out of the chaos in which affairs had been left by the striking clerks. See more
Confusion reigns in Kiev, just like in the capital. Rifle fire comes from everywhere, such that people are killed by stray bullets. Machine gun fire rages off and on. I pretty much crawl around the city. See more
Verkhovski came to see the Ambassador, and I interpreted. Incidentally, he said that Kerenski had not wanted to let the Cossacks suppress the rising “ on their own,” as he knew that would be “ the end of the Revolution.” I suggested that “ perhaps it would have saved Russia.” See more