An Interesting Fact, Incidentally

Dear Mr Editor,

It was with great interest that I read the article ‘Death of Ilyich’ by Mr Vishnyak in your esteemed newspaper. I’ve also read his book and a substantive review of it. A. G. Vishnyak is a very ‘objective’ historian who doesn’t ignore a single detail if it’s even remotely relevant to his subject. He reveals quite a few of the Kremlin’s secrets. He hasn’t forgotten to tell us, for instance, that a special edition ‘newspaper’ was made for the deranged leader. This was, of course, a strictly kept secret, as were many other things. And yet, as Mr Vishnyak has touched upon the relationship of the people surrounding the invalid to his person, it seems strange that he has completely ignored another ‘secret that came to light’, an interesting fact, incidentally, because from that exact moment, Lenin was put under close surveillance and strictly controlled. I’m talking about an event, which, with obvious Schadenfreude, was discussed in the circles of the enemies of the Bolsheviks. It came to light, and eventually all of Moscow knew, that having invited Trotsky, Stalin, Zinovyev, Ordzhonikidze, Krasin, Litvinov, Voroshilov and some others to dine, Lenin fed them his excrement, artfully prepared in a dish by his chef… A stomach-churning perversion, one of the ‘ingenious’ expressions of a sick brain, which is being studied and sweated over by Soviet ‘scientists’ and which left an indelible impression on the Great Leader’s dinner guests.

Yours most sincerely,

B. Polyansky

If the above does not find a place in the pages of your newspaper, it might be useful to Mr Vishnyak whose address, unfortunately, is unknown to me. 

5 February 1934