The document published below, dated 1938 and stored in the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (RGASPI, f. 532, op. 1, ed. ch. 373, l. 25-33), is the autobiography of a Palestinian communist of Arab origin - Taher bin Al - Hajj Ahmed Al - Farhi1, known in the Russian Federation for his work on social and political issues. In the Soviet Union under the pseudonym "Ali Lieberman". The definition of "autobiography" here means a special genre of bureaucratic document that has developed in the Soviet Union, a kind of"confessional self-report". Such a document was important because it determined the status and future of a person, the opportunity for him to get an education and a job, in other words, his whole life. This applied not only to Soviet citizens,but also to the foreigner A. Lieberman.

At the time the autobiography was compiled, he was already 28 years old. He was the husband of a Soviet citizen and the father of her daughter. On his second visit to Moscow, A. Lieberman learned that new horizons might open up for him: he was studying at the graduate school of the Research Institute for the Study of National and Colonial Problems (NIINCP), which was patronized by the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ICCI). Coming from a poor Arab-Palestinian family (and illiterate until his first stay in Moscow in 1930-1932), he could not even dream of becoming a communist. Admission to graduate school adequately rewarded A. Lieberman, who devoted ten years of his life to the "class struggle" in his native country.

But how long it took to check (this is what the "autobiography" was needed for), to clarify and supplement the "self-report" presented by him (everything that is highlighted in italics in it is the inserts again made by A. Lieberman after reprinting). On March 19, 1938, the "autobiography" was finished by a typist, on April 1 of the same year it was signed by the applicant, and only on June 15 it was approved by the personnel department of the NIINCP. A. Lieberman finally became a graduate student of this Institute, a citizen of the USSR and joined the CPSU (b), taking into account the experience in the Palestinian Communist Party. In the end, everything was resolved safely. The fate of a man who had previously studied at the Communist University of the Workers of the East (KUTV), who was apparently well known in the IKKI, where his brother, Mahmoud Maghrabi Al - Jazairi (Salim Aboud 2), represented the Syrian Communist Party, was determined. And yet, wasn't the reason for such a lengthy verification of A. Lieberman that before joining the Union of Communist Youth of Palestine, he was a supporter of the Istiklal party during 1924-1926 (which was not mentioned in the article)?

1 The name of the author of the autobiography is given in accordance with the current Russian transcription of Arabic names. The application form in Lieberman's personal file states that his full name is "Tager bin Al-Hajj Ahmed Al-Farhi" [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. ch. 247].

Here and further on, the lack of sorting out the personal files of Communists mentioned in the introductory article and in the autobiography makes it impossible to indicate the sheet numbers of the cited documents.

2 Hereafter, the names and surnames in parentheses are party pseudonyms.

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his "autobiography" 3 )? Maybe. But almost all Communists in the Middle East were going through the stage of participation in the national movement, and the staff of the eastern department of the ICCI knew about this. Readers of this document were also not interested in the "tainted" past of A. Lieberman's wife, which was connected with her personal relationship with a former student of KUTV who was declared a "provocateur".

The Comintern, and to a greater extent the Soviet special services behind it, needed information. The Autobiography of A. Lieberman provided such information. But what was this information? Was it a question of learning something new from an eyewitness (albeit a superficial one, judging by the language and manner of expressing his thoughts) about the situation in the Arab-Palestinian national movement or in the institutions of the Yishuv4? The text of the document makes us doubt this. Any non-communist political structure or political figure mentioned in it is just a hint that is clearly not interesting to readers of this document. Similarly, they were not interested in the activities, but rather in the adventures of a still very young man, which appear in his " self-report "as a kind of"party work". The picture of the real situation in the party, which was presented to Soviet citizens as one of the detachments of the "powerful and influential" force of our time - the international communist movement-remained out of their field of attention. Moreover, the autobiography once again confirmed that the Comintern (at least at the level of political decision-making) deliberately ignored the details necessary for understanding the local situation. How easy it was for its author to exaggerate his role in the development of the Palestinian communist movement, declaring himself, for example, the "general secretary" of the party; how easy it was for him to mislead those to whom this document was intended by announcing his participation in the opposition to the seizure of Arab lands (events in Wadi Al-Hawares). Then what were the decisions of the ECCI worth if they were based on political expediency, which was determined not by the situation in the country where the members of the Palestinian "section" of the Comintern operated, but by what was happening in the Soviet Union?

The " autobiography "was needed only in order to obtain additional details confirming the previously made conclusion about the" treacherous behavior "of people infected with" bourgeois ideology " (then in the USSR, the struggle against Trotskyism was on the agenda, with which Zionism was successfully combined in the Palestinian case). These people were recent associates of A. Lieberman in the party, his yesterday's comrades in the joint struggle for communist ideals. Now the ECCI (and the "dedicated communist leader" A. Lieberman) considered them enemies. Information about them is the main content of the document. But this information was provided by a person who knew that in the early 1930s, the ECCI strictly demanded that the Palestinian Communist Party (PKK) solve the problem of "Arabization" (the term of the ECCI, similar to the Soviet concept of that time - "korenization") of its ranks. Moreover, he was interested in solving this problem and was directly involved in its practical implementation.

Which became a section of the Comintern in 1924, the PKK emerged as a result of internal divisions in the ranks of the Palestinian "offshoot" created in 1907. World Jewish Socialist Union-Poalei-Zion (Workers of Zion) [see: Kosach, 2001, pp. 145-187]. In this process

3 An indication that A. Lieberman was a supporter of the Istiklal party is contained in the questionnaire of his personal file [see: RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. ch.247].

Hizb Al-Istiklal - The Independence Party-was originally one of the pan-Arab political action groups. It was founded in late 1919 and early 1920 in Damascus by nationalists from Syria, Palestine, and Iraq - supporters of the Hashemite Emir Faisal. It demanded the complete independence "of Syria within its natural borders (the territory of Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan and Palestine. - G. K. U., not burdened by any form of" trusteeship, protectionism or mandate management"," the union of Syria with other Arab countries within the framework of an independent unified Arab state"," the abolition of the Balfour Declaration "and"the cessation of Jewish immigration to Palestine". Created in August 1932, the Palestinian Istiklal (represented, among others, by its leader Aouni Abdel Hadi, formerly the personal secretary of Emir Faisal, as well as Hamdi Al-Husseini - see <url>). more on it below) set out the task of countering Zionist claims to Palestine, as well as gaining national independence, which implied (in contrast to the time of the pan-Arab party) the elimination of English mandate management [see: Al - Khut, 1981, pp. 263-278].

4 The Jewish population of Palestine, as well as the totality of the political, economic and social institutions created by it before the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

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A significant contribution was also made by supporters of the left-wing socialist factions of the Poalizionist movement in Russia who emigrated to Palestine in the first half of 1920.5 . Throughout its existence, the PKK was by no means a significant political force in its own country6 . However, in the system of communist coordinates, the size of the party or its socio-political influence was not significant. The source of legitimization of its existence was the recognition of an external force - the Soviet Union. But in any case, up until the early 1930s, the Jewish Communists were the supporting structure of the party.

Arabization also changed the party's national structure (in 1934, for the first time in the party's history, Radwan Al-Helu7, a native of the Arab-Palestinian milieu, became its general secretary), and, accordingly, its political credo and practical activities. Of course, the party retained its "international" character. But its formal basis, the principle of "internationalism" - just an instrument of its operation-was radically revised by its new, this time Arab leaders.

Speaking about the situation of those years, the most prominent Arab-Palestinian communist of the 1930s, M. Al-Atrash (Saadi), mentioned by A. Lieberman in his "autobiography", noted: "The Arab communists of Palestine were supporters of the national idea. They were driven by national motives. If they dressed themselves in communist garb, it was only to achieve their national goals. They should not be called "communists" or "internationalists" in view of the scientific and social significance of both terms. " 8

In the second half of the 1930s, the PKK sought to coordinate its actions with the Arab-Palestinian national movement, led by the Grand Mufti of Palestine and the head of the Executive Committee of the Supreme Arab Committee representing the Palestinian Arabs, Al-Hajj Amin Al-Husseini, considering it necessary to conduct a joint anti-Zionist (and, to a lesser extent, directed against the rule of the British mandate country) the struggle. Thus, the Arabized PKK applied the idea of an "anti-imperialist popular front"put forward by the ECCI in the conditions of Palestine. And its " internationalism "meant only that Jewish members of the party should unconditionally support the" Arab liberation movement " (the pogromous nature of its practice was obvious) and fight against the Yishuv, using methods of open terror for this purpose. A. Lieberman's" Autobiography " is a document that says, among other things, that this position was not alien to him at all.

Jewish associates of the Arab communists also started from the national idea (their social-Zionist, most often poaleizionist, past, as well as the fact that this past prompted them to emigrate to Palestine, was a clear confirmation of this). However, in their case, the national idea colored the "internationalist" character of the PKK that was created and initially led by them in a different way. Their understanding of "internationalism" (as they call it).-

5 One of them was Wolf (Vladimir Borisovich) Averbukh (Abuzyam, Haidar, Daniel, the Old Man, or in Arabic Ikhtiyar), the first PKP leader, who in February - March 1924 held negotiations with the ECCI on the entry of the party he represented into the Comintern [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. xr .182].

6 According to the reports of the PKP leaders received by the ECCI, the number of its members apparently reached the maximum level of 150 only at the beginning of 1936. about this: Kosach, 2001, p. 243].

At the time of the initiation of the Arabization process (1929), the PKK, according to data received from its leadership in the ECCI, looked like this: the Jerusalem party organization consisted of 30 members, five of whom were Arabs; the Haifa organization had 25 communists, including five Arabs; the Tel Aviv organization had 25 people (all Jews Finally, the Jaffa organization has 20 members (all Arabs) [see Kosach, 2001, p. 216].

7 Radwan ibn Hasan Al-Helu (pseudonyms-Musa, Mukhtarov, at the VII Congress of the Comintern - Yusef Ibrahim). Born in 1908 in Jaffa to a working-class family, a construction worker. In 1927 he joined the Union of Communist Youth, and in 1928 - the PKP. In 1928-1930, he was secretary of the Jaffa and later Haifa organizations of the party. In 1930, he was sent to study at the Moscow KUTV, and after his return to Palestine in 1933, he was co-opted into the secretariat of the PKK Central Committee. The following year, he became General Secretary of the party. He represented the" class trade unions " of Palestine at the V Congress of the Profintern and the PKP at the VII Congress of the Comintern (1935), where he was one of the participants in the discussions on V. Pik's report on the activities of the ECCI [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. chr. 265].

8 Recording of a conversation between B. N. Al-Khut and M. Al-Atrash dated February 16, 1973 [Al-Khut., 1981, p. 488; about M. Al-Atrash, see note 35].

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interpreted the instructions of the ECCI of the 1920s), it assumed the creation of a unified Jewish-Arab "workers ' front" in Palestine, opposing both the "bourgeois Zionist parties" and the " Arab feudal lords-Efendi "(almost the most prominent representative of which was proclaimed the same Grand Mufti of Palestine), who were equally accused and rejected by the United Arab States. in provoking ethnic hatred, and in alliance with imperialist Great Britain. For this group of Communists, it was a question of adapting the initial incentive that had driven them to political activity - finding ways to solve the Jewish question on the basis of preserving national identity (Palestine was declared the field of such a solution), as well as to the communist ideology.

The process of this adaptation led the Palestinian Jewish Communists to conclude that a "revolutionary" transformation of the Histadrut 9 was necessary and that "class" Jewish-Arab trade unions were formed. As a result, the combined actions of both national groups of the Palestinian "proletariat" would create a "socialist" Palestine, where the solution of the Jewish (as well as the Arab) national question would be carried out by the most appropriate methods. But there was an important and fundamental circumstance that colored the activities of the Palestinian Jewish communists in specific tones of patronage and cultural regerstvo in relation to their few Arab comrades until the first half of 1930 (but all communists of European origin who worked in the countries of the colonial East also acted in the same way). There were formal grounds for this - the anti-Zionism of the leaders of the national movement of Palestinian Arabs in practice degraded to the level of anti-Semitic excesses. This situation, as it seemed to the Palestinian Jewish communists, could only be corrected by the consistent dissemination of the idea of "internationalism", introduced to Palestine by communists of Jewish origin. However, much more significant was the external circumstance: the legitimacy of this position was based on the point of view promoted by the Comintern until the early 1930s. Moreover, the very realization of the ECCI's idea of the need to create an "international workers' front "required finding a certain point of support in the colonies - an already established "proletarian core" around which it would be possible to group and "revolutionize", to use the usual communist term in those years, the "native" peasantry and the "native" one, hardly the established working class. In Palestine, such a" core " could only be the creators of the PKK.

A. Lieberman's "Autobiography" is the testimony of a man who found himself, as it were, between two epochs in the activity of the Comintern in one of the Eastern countries. He joined the Palestinian communist movement at a time when the ICCI's idea of an "international workers 'front" was still relevant, and left it when the policy of creating an "anti-imperialist popular front"became a reality. This meant that the author of the autobiography was directly involved in the implementation of both lines of the Comintern. However, in the late 1930s, as far as possible, he had to put into practice the idea that already in the second half of the 1920s, it was he, and not his fellow Jews, who defended the idea of an alliance with the Arab-Palestinian national movement. It is fair to say that the "self-report" presented by him does not contain the odious attacks of a whistleblowing nature that were characteristic of the Arab (Palestinian and Middle Eastern) communists of this time of transition, which were openly unfair, justified by the needs of "Arabization" and crossed the line in relations not only between comrades, but also between people. But could he exclude them altogether, if the natural instinct of self-preservation, the desire to restore the human race, demanded it?-

9 In the currently accepted Russian transcription - Histadrut, Federation of Jewish Workers of Palestine-Hahistadrut haklalit shel haovdim haivriim be Eretz Yisrael (now the word "Jewish" is excluded from the name of this trade union association). In his autobiography, A. Lieberman calls this organization "Histadrut". Established in December 1920, the largest trade union association in the Middle East in the 1920s and 1930s. At the time of its formation, the Histadrut united in its ranks almost five thousand members organized in autonomous trade unions. His goal was to promote "nation-building" in the " historical homeland of Jewry." Naturally, this goal precluded the possibility of Arab workers joining its ranks in advance [see Eidus, 1922, p. 83].

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take advantage of the new career opportunities and opportunities to lead a relatively secure life?

The fate of many of his former party comrades (including the leaders) was already predetermined - I. Berger (Barzilai), A. Kosoy (Avigdor), Y.-G. Koltun and V. Rosenberg-Burman, mentioned by him, were recalled to Moscow and arrested. The list of Jewish Palestinian communists who were subjected to repression in the Soviet Union was not limited to them. But A. Lieberman's information provided those to whom it was intended with new details of their "Zionist-Trotskyist" past. It was also important that this "autobiography" informed those who read it about the "betrayal" of those who were outside the Soviet Union at that time.

In this connection, another story inevitably arises, closely related to the question of the Arabization of the PKK and the internal party confrontation between its Jewish and Arab members. If the very possibility of the party's existence and activity was determined primarily by the external conditions of its legitimation, to what extent was the phenomenon of Arabization and, as a consequence, the repression of Palestinian Jewish communists related to the processes that took place in the Soviet Union in the 1930s?

The Soviet model of social organization did not arise as a constructed model once and for all, but evolved through many stages. This, in turn, meant that the PKK could not be a simple cast from this model, especially since it developed in an environment of fierce confrontation between two national movements. The evolution of the central link of the model - the Soviet original-inevitably entailed the evolution of its peripheral copy. Both variants of evolution were determined by the implementation of a single model of social mobility (although, of course, the scale and consequences of this mobility in the Palestinian case were incomparable with its Soviet counterpart). Awakened by this mobility ,the "masses" destroyed their former leaders, those who initiated the creation of the model itself. However, the extermination process was subject to the principles of "democratic centralism", when participation in it was inevitably ranked - the peripheral copy only provided information about" traitors", and the function of their punishment was the prerogative of the central link.

But in the face of such sharp fluctuations in the Comintern's course, which were determined by the needs of Soviet foreign policy and hardly adequately reflected the situation in Palestine, could a political force have been formed that acted on the basis of higher principles than the "mundane" aspirations of the Zionists and Palestinian Arab nationalists? Of course not. The PKK, which claimed to be such a force, turned into just an arena of Jewish-Arab confrontation, largely repeating the general Palestinian situation. In the late 1930s, it moved more and more consistently towards a split determined by inter-party interethnic contradictions. After the decision taken in Moscow to dissolve the Comintern in the spring of 1943, this split became a reality. In Palestine, the Jewish Hamiflag Harez-Yisrael haakommunistit - the Communist Party of Eretz Yisrael 10 and the Arab Usbat at - taharrur al-wataniy fi Philistine-the League for the National Liberation of Palestine emerged. How eloquent are the names of both organizations! The idea of "internationalism" that united the PKP was not a quality inherent in the "proletarian" class, but only a means of external pressure, which disappeared with the liquidation of the "headquarters of the international communist movement".

And what about A. Lieberman? He remained in the Soviet Union forever. Has he completed his post-graduate studies at NIINCP and written his dissertation? There is no doubt about it - in 1942 the Comintern and its educational and research centers were liquidated. But it wasn't just that. In 1940, A. Lieberman became a teacher at the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies (MIV), because he was a native speaker of the living Arabic language and could be useful for students who were preparing to become intelligence officers. During the war, he was evacuated to Central Asia along with the MIV staff. After returning to Moscow, A. Lieberman continued to work in the MIV, and since 1943 also in the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on Radio Broadcasting (his Arabic language was again needed). Then he was needed as an editor in a publishing house.-

10 The Hebrew name of Palestine, derived from the Bible. Previously, Palestinian Jewish Communists did not use Hebrew and biblical geographical terminology, considering them one of the tools for implementing the Zionist project. In 1920-1930. The Palestinian Communist Party was called partay in Yiddish, the Palestinian Communist Party.

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ve of eastern literature 11 . His only published work was the Pocket Russian-Arabic Dictionary, prepared by him (this time his last name was Il-Farkhi) in collaboration with V. N. Krasnovsky (Krasnovsky and Il-Farkhi, 1962). Finally, after the liquidation of the Moscow Institute of International Relations, he began working as a teacher at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. In 1967 (1968?) 12 he died.

Znk

Scientific Research Institute

Classified

for the study of national and international standards

19.3-38 g.

colonial problems

Vx. N 91/s

June 15, 1938

AUTOBIOGRAPHY*

THAYER Ahmed Elfarhi (Lieberman). I was born in 1910 in Jaffa, Palestine. From a poor family. The family had no property (land, house, capital). My father's profession is a shoemaker. He is approximately 60 years old. A few years ago, he became blind.

I have two brothers-one Salim 13, the other Mahmoud Elfarhi. The second one is now in Palestine. He works on a construction site. Poor. He has a family of 7 people. When the three of us were in Palestine, we helped my father and now we think that my father is a beggar.

My education is secondary 14 (currently). In the country, he graduated from the lowest religious school 15 . My profession is a construction worker. He worked from 1922 to 1930 as a hired worker.

My entry into the Palestinian CP. I contacted the party with some of my friends through Salim. Salim and I joined a semi-legal party club in 1927. After Salim's trip to Sov. Union police closed this club. And she started stalking all the T. T.'s. As a result of the police harassment of the party, we contacted the Komsomol organization and had an illegal connection with it.

In 1928 I joined the Communist Party; I was an active party worker. My Arab comrades elected me to the local committee in Jaffa. In 1928, I received a directive from the party through Ishaq 16 to organize a demonstration of Arab comrades against the Belfort Declaration. This demonstration should take place in the same area where I lived and where other T. T.'s live - i.e. in Manga 17 . I informed the Communist Party that 5 party members could only go to the demonstration, and the Communist Party offered to organize a demonstration even if there were 5 party members. I was part of these 5 people.-

-----

* When publishing the Autobiography, scanty details were removed from it, but the author's style, spelling and punctuation were completely preserved.

11 RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. hr. 247.

12 Unfortunately, the author of the publication was not able to establish the exact date of A. Lieberman's death. At the same time, he expresses his sincere gratitude to the well-known Russian Arabist, Professor of the Moscow State Institute (University) of International Relations N. V. Stepanova for her assistance in obtaining information about the last years of this person's life.

13 Liberman's maternal brother is Mahmoud Maghrabi Al-Jazairi (Salim Aboud, Marat, Abu Dawud, Kayser Shuestri). Born in 1905 in Jerusalem. He was a "construction worker" and worked in a construction workshop in Jaffa from 1918 to 1927. In 1926 he joined the Komsomol Organization of Palestine, and from 1927 to 1929 he studied at the KUTV. In 1930, he returned to Palestine, became a member of the Palestinian Communist Party (PKK) and headed its Jerusalem City Committee. Since 1931 - member of the PKK Central Committee and secretary of the Jaffa City Party Committee. After being expelled from Palestine in the USSR, in 1934 he was sent to work in Syria [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. chr. 2].

14 Lieberman was referring to his studies at KUTV.

15 Hereafter, the same information (with the exception of some details) is contained in Lieberman's personal file [See: RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. ch. 247].

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Licia arrested me because of the treachery of one who lives in the area. I was sentenced to a month in prison. After that, the police raided our house several times. She followed me around.

In January 1930, the construction workers selected me as a delegate to the first workers ' conference. The conference was held in Haifa. The Communist Party helped organize this conference, where I was the party's representative18"

In 1930, the Communist Party sent me to the Soviet Union. Union, for studying at KUTV. At that time, there was an Arab group in KUTVA, which was dominated by a chauvinistic spirit, there was fragmentation, thanks to the method of the old leadership. 19 Several times I went to Magyar 20 with Saidov 21 and explained to him the situation in the group. We required to establish order in the group. Magyar replied that you are lawyers on behalf of the group; you are responsible only for yourself.

Before my trip to Palestine, I wrote a statement and gave it to Frain 22, who worked in the Eastern Department of the Comintern. The content of this letter is the need to separate from the group of Mukhamedov 23 and Saburov 24, to take the group in an iron hand in order to improve the situation in the group.

16 Pseudonym of Boris Grigoryevich Khovshi (Tanin). His other pseudonym is Petka. Born in 1902 in Warsaw. In 1919, he joined the "left Poalei Zion", and in 1921, in Palestine, where he joined the Communist Party. In 1928-Secretary of the Jaffa party organization, and in 1929-Secretary of the Haifa organization and a member of the PKK Central Committee. After his arrest in 1932, he arrived in the USSR, where he studied at the KUTV until 1934. He was accused of committing numerous "ideological and organizational mistakes" - "ignoring Arabization, a great-power Jewish bias, and not understanding the significance of the 1929 uprising." After KUTV, he was sent to work in Kramatorsk, where he became " an instructor to the head of the trade union committee of the Kramatorsk Machine-building Plant. Stalin" [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. hr. 170].

17 At the time, a working-class suburb of Jaffa with a mixed Jewish-Arab population.

18 This refers to the First Congress of Arab Workers of Palestine held in Haifa in January 1930, prepared and held by "left - wing Arab nationalists", in whose ranks the leading role was played by the group of Hamdi Al-Husseini, who was close to the Communists at that time. The congress resulted in the creation of the All-Palestinian Federation of Arab Workers ' Trade Unions (WFTU). Lieberman's participation in this congress is not confirmed by the PKK documents, nor by the materials of the conference itself, although several Arab PKK members were among its participants. [Kosach, 2001, pp. 227-231].

19 The QUTB Arab group at the time of A. Lieberman's first visit to Moscow consisted of Palestinian, Egyptian and Syrian listeners. In turn, its leaders (and often teachers) were Jewish Palestinian communists (for example, I. Berger). Those who studied there were well aware of the changes that were taking place in the leadership of the ECCI and resulting from the evolution of the internal situation in the USSR, becoming perhaps the most consistent advocates of the "Arabization" of their parties. As a result of their position, teachers and managers were constantly accused of "chauvinism", that they (due to their "Zionist" past) prevented and continue to prevent (working in the Comintern) the promotion of Arab communists to the leadership of the Middle Eastern communist parties. At the same time, it was also about the sometimes brutal persecution of communists of non-Arab origin (Jews and Armenians) who do not agree with the idea and practice of "Arabization".

20 Magyar Ludvig Ignatovich (Milgorf Lajos) - Hungarian-born Soviet Communist. Born in 1891, in 1922-1926 he was a TASS employee, in 1926-1928 he worked in China, and in 1929-1934 he served as Deputy Head of the Eastern Secretariat of the ICCI, responsible for its Middle East section. He was unreasonably repressed [VKP (b), Comintern and China, p. 1548].

21 Pseudonym of the Egyptian Ali Hassan Hussein, who studied at KUTV in 1930-1933.

22 Apparently, one of the employees of the IKKI apparatus at that time.

23 Pseudonym (and also-Adil Sarhan, Nazim) of the Syrian communist Muhammad Jassin Ahmed Sotheby, who studied at KUTV in 1932-1933 [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 258, ed. ch. 96].

24 Pseudonym of Naaman Taj Mir, a Palestinian, since 1927 a member of the Union of Communist Youth of Palestine, who studied at the KUTV in 1927-1931. N. Taj Mir was born in 1905 in Palestine, in 1917 - 1921 was a laborer, and then became a "port clerk" in Jaffa. He claimed that he "comes from the peasants", although his father was a "merchant", and according to his social status is an "intellectual". While studying at KUTV, he was accused of "nationalism and anti-Semitism" and was not sent "to the country". He remained in the USSR, was initially " sent to work in Pyatigorsk, then in Stalinabad (Dushanbe. - G. K.)" [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. chr. 163].

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During my stay in Moscow, I met a Russian woman through Saidov 25 and still have a connection with her. She used to live with one-Azis 26 . In 1932, I heard from T. T. that Azis was a provocateur working with the police in Egypt. The first and last name of this woman is..., she works as a typist at the Kauchuk Trust in Moscow. She has a child with me; the girl is now 5 years old. She is not a party member, not in the Komsomol, she is a trade union member.

At the end of 1932, the Comintern sent me and Davidson 27 to the country via Odessa. In Odessa, approximately 12 days after our stay there, the person in charge of our trip came to us. He told us the trip plan. According to this plan, we will take a Soviet steamer to Muhammerah (Iraq) 28 without documents, without communication. We rejected this plan. And we told him that we wanted to write a letter to CI about this plan; he was worried and said that he had no more relations with us, go wherever you want. On this very night, at about 9 o'clock, 2 policemen and one head of the GPU came, searched our room and asked us - who are you, what kind of people, how did you come here? We've told you everything. After that, they took us. They took foreign money from us and let us go, saying-go wherever you want. We went back to the hotel, and the hotel manager told us that we had to vacate the room; if not, I would throw all my things out on the street. We demanded that he leave us for two days, after which we would leave.

The next day, the person responsible for our trip came and said-write to the CI why you don't want to go. Two days later, he told us that you were going back to Moscow. We went back and went straight to the Comintern. At that time, Barzilai 29 was working in the Eastern Department, and he showed us the decision of the Comintern, which said that our refusal to use the software was based on the following principles:-

25 One of the aliases (also Hasan Khalil Akhmedovich) of a member of the Syrian Communist Party, Mohammed Wahib Abdel Fattah Malek. In 1928, he represented the UPC at the VI Congress of the Comintern and was left to study at the International Lenin School, which was patronized by the ICCI, from which he graduated in 1931. In the same year, he was sent to Palestine, where he was supposed to become secretary of the PKP, but was immediately arrested and sent to the USSR. [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 258, ed. xr. 80].

26 Pseudonym of the Egyptian communist Mohammed Abdel Aziz [see about him: Kosach. 2002, pp. 74-77].

27 The prototype is not installed.

28 Mukhammara is the historical Arabic name for the city and port of Abadan in Iran. A. Lieberman is wrong when talking about Iraq. Here and further, A. Lieberman reports on the channels of sending graduates of KUTV for further work in the Middle East-regular flights of Soviet transport ships from Odessa to Abadan, as well as through Europe. Of course, these channels were supervised not only by the Comintern, but (as follows from his further story) by the security agencies as well.

29 Pseudonym of one of the most prominent leaders of the Palestinian Communist Party of the 1920s and 1930s. Joseph (Isidore) Mikhailovich (Montsovich) Berger. Born in 1904 in Cracow (Austria-Hungary) in a "bourgeois family", "the son of a large manufacturer from Galicia". In 1920, he left for Palestine, where he was initially a laborer, and then an "office worker". In 1922, he became a member of the Socialist Workers ' Party of Palestine - Poalei Zion, and after its collapse in the same year, he headed one of the local communist groups that emerged on its basis-the Communist Party of Palestine. After the entry of the Palestinian Communists into the Comintern in 1924, until 1931, he was secretary of the Central Committee of the PKK and a correspondent for TASS and IKKI publications in the Middle East (usually published under the pseudonym Bob, J. B. (Jerusalem), Bob). He initiated the creation and entry into the Comintern (as a section of the Palestinian Communist Party) of the first Syro-Lebanese communist group. In 1931-1932, by the decision of the ECCI, I. Berger became a member of the secretariat of the Anti-Imperialist League, which was affiliated to the Comintern and had its headquarters in Berlin. In 1932-1933, after joining the CPSU(b), and. Berger served as Deputy Head of the Middle East Section of the Eastern Secretariat of the ICCI. In 1933, "as a bourgeois element", he was expelled from the CPSU(b) and until 1935 worked as a "linotype artist of the 7th printing house in Moscow". In 1935, he was accused of "Zionism and Trotskyism" and arrested by the NKVD. The only surviving member of the cohort of the first leaders of the Palestinian Communists. He was rehabilitated in 1956 [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. chr. 59]. After rehabilitation, he went to Poland and then Israel, where he publicly denounced his communist past and turned to religion, becoming the author of several works in Hebrew and English on life in the USSR and his stay in GULAG camps.

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rides on such a plan are correct. Two comrades, one Gold 30 and the other Hanna 31, left by this road , they could not get off in the Muhammer and came back.

After some time, the Comintern sent me to the country via Europe. I arrived in Palestine in early 1933 and contacted the party directly; I met Rosenberg, 32 who told me that I was a member of the party's secretariat. After some time, I noticed and felt that Rosenberg was not connected with the organization and was deviating from meetings with active party workers. He stayed in Haifa for about 6 months. before I arrived there, and in fact during this time, he did not contact either the local committee or the party comrades. His connections were only through letters. At the Central Committee meeting, I criticized Rosenberg for his connection with the organization and suggested to the Central Committee that Rosenberg and others should enter the organization not through letters, but directly themselves.

Rosenberg had a monopoly on all the work. He was a secretary himself, wrote a report on the situation in the country, on the situation of the party, sent it to the Comintern, and received directives from the Comintern. He wrote directives, he wrote party leaflets, he reorganized the party organization without a secretariat, without a Central Committee. But when there were political and organizational mistakes, he said that the secretariat was to blame, and not just him.

As a result of this situation, disputes arose between him and me. At the Central Committee meeting, I raised these questions and suggested limiting Rosenberg's activities. In this regard, I made the following suggestions:

- reports that the party sends to the Comintern on the situation in the country and on the work of the party must be discussed by the party secretariat and Central Committee and approved;

- directives received from the Comintern in connection with party work, they must be discussed in the Central Committee in order to be implemented.

- Rosenberg has no right to reorganize the organization alone without a discussion and decision of the secretariat; if the reorganization is of great importance, the Central Committee must give its consent to it.

"Rosenberg doesn't have the right to write circulars without a decision from the secretariat, at least.

- Rosenberg has no right to decide on the demands of party, trade union and Komsomol organizations without the consent of the secretariat.

The Central Committee voted in favour of these proposals. But Rosenberg did not comply with this decision and continued his old position. It is characteristic that some members of the Central Committee called Rosenberg a dictator. Rosenberg co-opted Semenova 33, appointing her secretary

30 Pseudonym of a Palestinian communist (as well as Mayer Slonim, Golt) Yakov Maerkin. Born in 1910 in Hebron to a working - class family (his father was a laborer), the family moved to Jaffa in 1918. He completed five classes of school in Jaffa, a construction worker. Member of the Union of Communist Youth since 1927. In 1930-1933 he studied at the KUTV. Since 1933 he was a member of the PKP, and in 1934 he was appointed to the party secretariat. He directed the underground printing house of the party and the distribution of illegal literature [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. chr. 12].

31 The prototype is not installed.

32 Willy (Wolf) Izrailevich Rosenberg-Burman (Roz, Saad). Born in 1902 in Czestochowa (Austria-Hungary) in the family of a handicraftsman. In 1920, after becoming a member of the Kibbutzian movement, he came to Palestine. In 1921, he joined the Socialist Workers ' Party of Palestine. In 1926-1929 , he was one of the leaders of the PKK, consistently heading the largest organizations of the party - its Jaffa and Haifa Committees. In 1929-1932, he studied in Moscow at the International Lenin School of the Comintern, and in 1933-1935, after returning from the Soviet Union, he was actually general secretary of the party. In 1935, he was recalled to Moscow to work in the central office of the Profintern and study at the graduate school of the NIINCP, took Soviet citizenship and joined the CPSU (b). In 1938, he was repressed. In 1955, he was posthumously rehabilitated [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. cr. 208].

33 Pseudonym of the Palestinian communist Simha Tsabari, and also-Yamina. She was born in 1913 in Jaffa to a working-class Communist family. She graduated from high school in Jaffa. My main profession is "cartoner". In 1929, she joined the Union of Communist Youth, and in 1933 - the PKP. In 1930-1933, she studied at KUTV, then returned to Palestine. In 1935, she participated in the work of the VII Congress of the Comintern [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. chr. 4].

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local committee in Jerusalem. This committee was supposed to work in Arab areas. Despite my protests against the appointment of Semyonova (she had Trotskyist and Zionist vacillations, as I knew her from KUTV), Rosenberg nevertheless carried out this appointment.

Rosenberg went to an illegal party printing house several times, and stayed there for 4 to 6 days in a row, without going anywhere. And that was a conspiracy violation. I was against it, saying that he should not go to the printing house. To this, he said that the law of the party secretariat - each of us gets 7 pounds a month and meet once a week. This suggests that he denied self-criticism.

I informed Avigdor 34 and also informed Saadi 35 about this. Despite the fact that Avigdor and Saadi criticized him and the entire Central Committee criticized him, he did not pay any attention, continued. It is characteristic that Rosenberg was inattentive to illegal work and appointed one girl to work in the party secretariat, her last name is Pnina 36 . This Pnina told Rosenberg that the police were watching her, but Rosenberg did not pay attention and she was left to work in the secretariat. He instructed her to take the typewriter to the watch shop, which was a turnout for visitors from Moscow (this turnout was organized with party funds). She met the watchmaker on the road and handed him the typewriter. When they dispersed, after 5-10 minutes, the police caught the watchmaker, searched the shop and asked him where this typewriter came from, etc. The secretariat found out that the turnout was failed and the secretariat asked Pnina how this turnout was failed, Pnina replied, I announced to Rosenberg when I joined the secretariat that the police were after me Yes, but Rosenberg insisted on my work in the secretariat, and there was a discussion between them about this issue-

34 Pseudonym of Alexander (Khil) Mikhailovich Kosoy, a Palestinian and Egyptian communist, an employee of the ICCI and a Soviet military intelligence officer in the Middle East. Born in October 1895 in Yekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk. - G. K.) in the family of "philistines". He emigrated to the United States. He joined the left - wing Poalizionists, and in 1918 arrived in Palestine as a member of the Jewish Legion of the British Army (in his autobiography, he wrote that "as a private in the British army"). In 1919, he returned to Soviet Russia, joined the RCP (b), and was a delegate to the Third Congress of the Comintern and the Third Congress of the Profintern. In 1923, he was "mobilized against Basmachism" - he fought in the "Ferghana region", where he was"a political instructor and a member of the military tribunal". In 1924, as a military intelligence officer, he was sent to Egypt, where he took an active part in the underground activities of the local Communist Party, was arrested and from 1925 to 1928 was in a local prison. In 1929-1931, he worked in the Arab cabinet of the KUTV and was the "political leader" of the Communists from Arab countries who studied there. Later, from December 1931 to July 1933, he was "on the line of military intelligence" in Palestine and Syria, where he was officially the "chief instructor of the IKKI". In 1933, he entered the Moscow Institute of the Red Professorship. Repressed in 1936. Rehabilitated in 1956 [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. ch. 51].

35 Pseudonym (sometimes-Sadi) of the Palestinian communist Mahmoud Al-Atrash, whose ancestors were natives of Algeria. Other aliases are Najati Sidki, Hamdi Alai Amin, Mustafa Kemal, Saadi, Sadi. After I. Berger was recalled to Moscow, he was the most famous Middle East correspondent for various publications of the Comintern. He was born in 1905 in Jerusalem in the family of an officer of the Turkish army, who joined the "Arab army" of Emir Faisal. In 1924, he joined the Union of Communist Youth and was a member of its Executive Committee. In 1925-1928 he studied at KUTV. In 1928, he joined the PKP and was co-opted into its Central Committee. He represented the Palestinian Workers ' Group, the Class unions, at the Fifth Congress of the Profintern (1930). The development of the process of "Arabization" contributed to the promotion of M. Al-Atrash to the post of General Secretary of the PKK during its seventh Congress held in 1931. In the same year, he was arrested, and after his release went to France, where he became editor of the Communist-run Arabic newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Arabiy ("Arab East"). In 1936, as a member of the French Communist Party and a representative of its Colonial section, he was in Spain, and then in Algeria. In 1937. he returned to Syria and later to Jaffa, where he again became close to the nationalists [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. ch. 284].

36 We are talking about Pnin (Fina) Finehouse. Born in October 1897 in the town of Varkovichi, Volyn province. A member of the left Poalei Zion, she came to Palestine in 1921 as a housekeeper ("employee in private homes"). She joined the PKK in 1925, but had previously worked for the communist-affiliated Red Aid Organization (MOPR) and the Haifa Workers ' Council. Since 1927, she was secretary of the Haifa Party Organization, and in 1932, at the suggestion of Avigdor, she was co-opted to the Central Committee, responsible for work among women [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. chr.1].

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this one. I suggested that Pnina should be immediately separated from the party apparatus, but Rosenberg was against it. I put this question to the Central Committee. The Central Committee decided to release Pnina from working in the desks and apparatus. Despite this decision, Pnina continued to work in the secretariat.

I have heard that Hamdi Hussein 37 wrote a letter to the Comintern to organize a national revolutionary party. Hamdi gave Rosenberg this letter to send to the Comintern. I don't know if he sent it or not.

Rosenberg and I once had a discussion about progressive nationalists. Rosenberg told me that Hussein wants to organize a national party, but I am against organizing such a party. Why? - Because this party will dominate the progressive movement and the Communist Party will be at the tail end of this movement. This was Rosenberg's view of the national movement. And when the Zionists from the British police went to expel the Bedouins from Wadi Al-Haouaret 38 from their land, the Central Committee instructed me to go there. I went with a group of Arab and Jewish T. T.'s.

After this action, we wrote a report on the situation of the Bedouins and the position of the national organization among the Bedouins, about our mistakes and our success there. This report was considered by the Central Committee. The Central Committee decided to send this report to the Comintern, but Rosenberg did not send it. He wrote and sent his point of view. There was an argument between us about why he didn't send our report, but sent his own. I put the question to the Central Committee and demanded that if Rosenberg continued to act in this way, I should be released from my work in the secretariat. The Central Committee did not agree. I wrote a letter to the Comintern about Rosenberg's actions in the secretariat, demanding to be relieved of my work in the secretariat, or to send me to another country. I gave this letter to Rosenberg, I don't know if he sent it or not.

In connection with this whole story, Rosenberg spread a rumor among Arab and Jewish TTS that Lieberman wants a girl, if we give him a girl, he will work in the party, if we don't give him a girl, he will leave the party .39 He also said that Lieberman is weak theoretically and politically. I want such party comrades who will be able to work in the secretariat. When I heard about this dirty rumor, I met with Rosenberg and I told him how he could say such things, and he said that he didn't say it and didn't mean to say it. I put this question to the Central Committee. The Central Committee pointed out to him the inadmissibility of such things, but all this did not affect Rosenberg.

After Rosenberg's arrest, the Central Committee chose me as general secretary 40 . After Rosenberg's arrest, several Jewish and Arab T. T.'s came to demand a trip to Moscow, for example, Shushana and Aliza and Ali and Hussein and Muhammad Said and a friend. They came because Rosenberg promised them that after 10 months of working for the party, he would be able to-

37 Hamdi Al-Husseini is an Arab nationalist who collaborated with the PKK. He was a member of the leadership of the Anti-Imperialist League controlled by the Comintern. A native of Gaza. He joined the" Arab army " of Emir Faisal. After the collapse of the Hashemite Kingdom of Syria, he returned to Palestine, where he helped organize the first political societies in the Arab-Palestinian environment - "Islamic Christian clubs", operating primarily in Jaffa. In the 1930s, he became one of the founders of the Palestinian branch of Istiklal (Al-Khut, 1981, p.56, 186; Kosach, 2001, p. 223-226).

38 More precisely, Wadi Al-Hawares, the coastal strip between Haifa and Akka in Palestine, where in June 1933 the most famous episode of the expulsion of Arab peasants from land purchased by Zionist colonization trusts during an auction organized to repay the debts of its former Arab owners - absentee landlords. Thanks to the purchase of this land, the Zionists were able to close the ring of Jewish agricultural settlements that they had already established in the north and south of Palestine, establishing control over the most fertile lands of the Mediterranean coast of the country [Al-Khut, 1981, pp. 280-282].

39 Accusations of sexual promiscuity as an effective means of combating political opponents were commonplace in the life of Middle Eastern communist parties during the 1920s and 1930s.

40 None of the Comintern documents (including Liberman's personal file) contain any indication that he was ever acting General Secretary of the PKK.

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He sends them to Moscow. Neither the secretariat nor the Central Committee knew about Rosenberg's promises .41 Party work in Haifa stopped, as Ali and Hussein worked in the local party committee.

The Central Committee sent me to Haifa to find out the situation. In Haifa, I met Kamel Al-Odeh, 42, a member of the Central Committee. We discussed the issue of Haifa, especially party work. We outlined a plan for future work. At that moment, we noticed two people approaching us. I was surprised at their approach on a road where you can only go for special purposes. I asked Kamel who these people were, and he said they were spies. They were already standing in front of us, asking what we were doing. They stood in front of us for about five minutes and then left. Then we split up. I didn't have a room in Haifa. I was sleeping at a friend's house, where I could only go at 10 o'clock. in the evening and leave there at 6 o'clock. in the morning, the rest of the time I spent on the street or in the mountains. I once met a friend who told me that there were two letters, one in German and the other in Arabic. I read the Arabic and tore it up; I wanted to give the German to a party comrade who would read it to me. This person is Yasha 43 . I went to meet them, and on the street I met with spies, who grabbed my hands, searched and found this letter, and took me to the police. This police force was located near the square where the cabs are parked. One of them went to the house to find out what to do with me, and the other stayed with me. I told the other one that I was tired and wanted to sit up, and I sat down on the stairs outside the house. At that moment, a portrait dealer was passing by, such as Antar and Abu Zeid and Burak, etc. This spy started looking at these portraits one by one. I noticed that he was looking at the portraits and started walking back and forth, he was looking at these portraits very carefully, I went on, turned into an alley and went up the mountain and stayed on the mountain until nightfall.

At night I went to a friend and told him the whole story. This comrade is Miriam, she was close to the Central Committee. Through her, the secretary of the local committee in Haifa found out, and they decided that I should go to Jaffa. I went to Jaffa, met with a member of the Central Committee, and told him what had happened to me in Haifa. Bem Mardhai 44 and two arrived from Haifa that night. They told a member of the Central Committee that Lieberman was a provocateur, connected to the police. They were asked, do you have any material that he is connected to the police? They said that when Lieberman is captured by the police, he flees when others fail, and Lieberman gave the police a letter-this shows that he, Lieberman, is connected with the police. Prior to Bem Mardhai's trip to Jaffa, he spread the rumor in Haifa. Members of the Central Committee in Jaffa told him that he had no right to spread such rumors, he should remain silent. But Bem Mardhai, on the contrary, spread this rumor in Tel Aviv among Jewish comrades. And now the Central Committee began to discuss this issue; the discussion showed that Bem Mardhai and others were wrong, lying. The Central Committee decided to expel Bem Mardhai ... left the party and gave a reprimand with a warning for

41 Episodes described by A. Lieberman in his "autobiography" are almost a vivid confirmation of the practice of personal protectionism characteristic of all communist parties in the Middle East, which turned out to be their leading figures to one or another member of these parties. In this context, the question of studying in Moscow as a means of acquiring loyalty on the part of party members played perhaps the most significant role.

42 Kamel Al-Odeh-Palestinian communist (Aris, Tarek). A native of Haifa. In 1925 he joined the Palestine Communist Youth Union, and in 1927 he joined the PKK. Member of the secretariat of the Palestinian Communist Party. Member of the First Congress of Arab Workers of Palestine, member of the Supreme Council of the All-Palestinian Federation of Arab Workers ' Trade Unions, K. Al-Odeh continued to work among Arab nationalists. In the mid-1930s, he studied at KUTV [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. chr. 246].

43 Apparently, we are talking about Yakov Maerkin. See note 30.

44 The prototype is not installed.

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Moishe Goy 45 and ... Semyonova Street. All of these people have recently been expelled from the party as Trotskyists.

Two months later, the police caught Youssef (Bakir) 46 in Haifa. They started hitting him and said, since you are very agile and you are running away from the police, we will give you. They thought they had caught Lieberman. When it turned out that it wasn't me (Lieberman), they released him. Bakir told the Central Committee about this.

How was Rosenberg arrested? Rosenberg was in Jerusalem. I was in Jaffa. I heard that Rosenberg was arrested. The Central Committee met, discussed his arrest, and established that the arrest had taken place through one provocateur, who was a Komsomol member. His name is Said (from Elevator 47). That night Rosenberg went to a meeting of his comrades. Said found out about this meeting. He told the police. The police sent two men and one officer with him, and they met Rosenberg on the road. Said shouted, "Here, take him, he is." The police caught him and arrested him.

MY WORK IN THE PARTY

In 1933, in February, I was responsible for party work in Haifa and organized party circles of active T. T. s, where I explained political and organizational issues to them. When there were important events in the country, such as the expulsion of the Arabs in Awadi al-Hauares and their lands, 48 the Central Committee sent me there; when there was a textile workers ' strike in Mashdal, 49 the Central Committee also sent me there. At the same time, he organized a trade union for textile workers. When the workers working on the orange plantations were on strike , the Central Committee also sent me there.

In the demonstration of 1933 that arose in Jaffa against Zionist emigration, I participated in this demonstration, even though there was no decision whether I should be there or not. The Central Committee was not prepared for this demonstration, because Rosenberg did not pay attention to the national movement, and he wrote a proclamation about-

45 Pseudonym (as well as Levi Aris, Vladek) of the Palestinian communist Leib (Lev) Levi. Born in 1906 in the town of Ostrich (Kingdom of Poland), a member of the Polish Zionist movement. Since 1920 in Palestine. In 1925 he joined the Union of Communist Youth, and in 1926 the PKP. At the time described by Lieberman-secretary of the Tel Aviv City Party Committee. In 1936, together with all the members of the committee, he was expelled from the party due to their rejection of the decision of the "Arabized" party leadership to support the movement of I. Al-Qassam (the leader of the jihad organized in 1935 against Jewish settlers and the British mandate administration in northern Palestine, who became one of the main symbols of Arab-Palestinian national mythology. - G. K.). After being expelled from the party, he went to Spain, where he became a member of the anti-Franco "international brigades". In 1937, he settled in France and joined the French Communist Party [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. hr. 301].

46 Youssef Khalaf, a Palestinian communist. Pseudonyms-Akhmedov (while studying at KUTV), Baqir Fob, Baqir ibn Mahmud, Zaki. He was born in 1909 to a peasant family living in the vicinity of Jerusalem. In 1926 he joined the Union of Communist Youth, and from 1927 to 1929 he studied for the first time at the KUTV. He was again sent to Palestine, where he became a member of the PKK and was co-opted into its Central Committee. Later, he was sent to work for the party in Syria, where in 1933-1934 he was a member of the Central Committee of the Syrian Communist Party and headed the Damascus Party organization. In 1935-1937, he was again in Moscow and studied at the NIINCP. Remained in the USSR, in 1938-1939. was a worker of the Moscow " automobile plant. Stalin", received an injury to his hands, transferred to the care of the MOPR, collecting newspaper materials about the situation in the Arab countries [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. xr. 264].

47 At that time, an Arab town in the vicinity of Jerusalem.

48 See note 21.

49. Al-Majdal is an Arab town in the vicinity of Gaza.

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tiv Kazim Pasha 50, who was one of the leaders of this demonstration and participated in it. Rosenberg said that on the part of Kazym Pasha, this was a maneuver to deceive the masses, to influence them, and on the other hand to get something from the imperialists.

Approximately 3 months later, another peaceful demonstration took place in Jaffa; I was instructed by the Central Committee to organize groups of Arab social workers and go with this demonstration. I completed it.

At the end of 1933, the Central Committee sent me to Jerusalem to organize party work. I completed this task. With the help of our friends, we managed to organize party circles in Ramallah, Bira, and Egypt. In Ramallah, we managed to organize a trade union of construction workers (kamentsikov). This trade union was under the influence of the party, although only partially (there was the influence of nationalists, etc.).

The Central Committee sent me to Jaffa to help the Arab trade unions, where I was responsible for the work in Jaffa and Tel Aviv. With the help of our comrades, we were able to organize party committees in Salam, Saqnet Al-Arainiyah and Abukishqar .

How was I arrested? - In 1934, I lived in Jaffa. One night I came in at about one o'clock. I saw Kamel El-Odeh in my room. I was surprised when he came to me. I asked him, " Who brought you here?" He replied-one comrade. We decided that at 6 o'clock. We have to get out of here without anyone noticing him, because the police know him from Haifa. We left together in the morning. We talked about party work in Haifa and party work in general. The questions were difficult and we decided to meet with one or two members of the secretariat. I sent a friend who lived with me with Kamel to put him in another room. The next day I went to where Kamel was, to go together to meet a member of the secretariat. I stayed with him for about 5 minutes. Suddenly the police with revolvers opens the door and took us to the police station. After the interrogation, they were put on trial. At the trial, a comrade told me in the name of the Central Committee that I must appear as a communist in the trial. I have completed this task.

I was sentenced to 6 months, Kamel-to 8 months. But after my term ended, the police wouldn't let me go. The police said we weren't letting you out because we would send you out, and I was held for 14 months in prison. In prison, my comrades chose me as their secretary. At that time, the Communists went on a hunger strike in prison, which lasted for 19 days. I participated from start to finish.

Some time after the hunger strike, the police released me on bail of 100 pounds; the bail was arranged by the party. And I had to report to the police once every week for a checkup, I had no right to leave Jaffa anywhere.

My post-release job. I was a member of the party secretariat and secretary of the Jaffa Local Party Committee. I was associated with "kashaf" (youth) from Tul Karem 52; was associated with the organization of peasants in Qalqil 53 . In these two cities, with the help of comrades, they were able to organize party groups. I was often sent by the Central Committee to Haifa to help the Arab trade unions. The Haifa Committee sent me to Akka, and there, with the help of comrades, they organized progressive nationalist groups. The goal of these groups is to re-establish a trade union in Akka. With the help of comrades in Haifa, they were able to organize shoemakers ' sections in the Haifa Trade Union.

50 This is Musa Kazim Pasha Al-Husseini , one of the most prominent members of the Al-Husseini clan. After the establishment of the British mandate and until 1920 - Mayor of Jerusalem. He was removed from his post after being charged by the British authorities with "inciting riots" in early 1920 after the publication of the Balfour Declaration. Later, Musa Kazim Pasha Al-Husseini was the head (until his death in 1934) of the Executive Committee of the Supreme Arab Committee [Al-Khut, 1981, pp. 194-198].

51 Neighborhoods of then Arab Jaffa, as well as Arab villages located between Jaffa and Tel Aviv.

52 The city of Tulkarm, now in the West Bank.

53 The city of Qalqilya, now in the West Bank.

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In Jaffa, the Central Committee appointed me to negotiate with the Mutamar Shabab Youth Committee 54 in Jaffa and with the Al Arabi Al Palestine Party 55 in Jerusalem on the organization of a united front. At the same time, the party instructed me to unite individual trade unions into one trade union. These individual unions should join the Michel Mitri trade Union56 . With the help of T. T., we partially completed this work. For example, the drivers 'union, the cabmen's union, and the carpenters' union joined this union; we managed to weaken the sailors ' union organized by Histadrut, and we managed to involve some of its members in the union of Michel Mitry.

During this time, I conducted several agitation talks specifically about trade unions. And at that time the party started agitating for the united front.

The police arrested me again. She had an argument that they would send me out. In about two months they sent me to Algiers on a French steamer with an Algerian document. When the steamer was at Marseilles, I got off with the passengers and went to Paris. There I contacted the French MOPR, and a responsible comrade of the French Central Committee: "Fera 58; told him about my situation. He asked to see the document and after viewing the document said that it was dangerous for me to live here. This passport is only valid for one trip, and it expires in 15 days. Write a letter to the Pal. KP asking them to send you some kind of paper stating that I was born in Palestine. After a while, I met with Fer, and he said-if you want to go to Morocco. I answered him - which means I want to or don't want to, I don't want to.

54 Mu'atamar al-Shabaab al-Arabiy al-Philistiniy (the Arab Palestinian Youth Congress) is a formally non-political organization established in 1931 to involve Arab youth in the struggle against Zionist claims to the country. At the time described by Lieberman, the first congress of the Congress was held (January 1932, Jaffa), during which Rasim Al-Khalidi was elected its chairman. The main activities of the Congress at this congress were proclaimed the creation of a "nation foundation" formed on the basis of voluntary donations, the organization of" coast guard detachments " in the context of increasing Jewish immigration to Palestine after the Nazis came to power in Germany, as well as the creation of scout organizations. Nevertheless, the Congress, which established its cells in all Arab settlements of Palestine, was unable to implement its initiatives due to constant financial difficulties [Al-Khut, 1981, p. 257-262].

55 Al-Hizb al-Arabiyyah al-Philistine (Arab Palestinian Party)-established in late March 1935 in Jerusalem under the leadership of Jamal Al-Husseini, but the "spiritual father" of the party was the Grand Mufti of Palestine Al-Haj Amin Al-Husseini. The party's charter set out its main goals: "the independence of Palestine and the abolition of the mandate", "preserving the Arab character (al-Uruba) of the country and preventing the creation of a Jewish national home in it", "maintaining ties between Palestine and other Arab countries" and, finally, " improving the social, economic and cultural level of the Arab-Palestinian people nations". Despite the opportunities that opened up for the party, it never became any significant political force, limiting itself only to propaganda work and organizing national events-rallies or meetings - timed to certain dates [Al-Khut, 1981, pp. 307-310].

56 Michel Mitri-Arab nationalist (who lived in exile in Argentina until the mid-1930s), organizer of professional Arab organizations. In 1935, he created the" Federation of Arab Workers "(Jamiyat al-Ummal al-Arab). The M. Mitri Association operated in Haifa, Jaffa, and Jerusalem. His stated goals were not only to create Arab trade unions, but also to provide assistance to Arab workers employed in Jewish enterprises in the nationally mixed areas of Palestine. The Mitri Federation followed the path of organizing "Arab garrisons" ("Hamiyat Arabiya") - shock troops whose task was to prevent the actions of the Jewish "workers ' detachments" of the Histadrut, which expelled Arab workers from Jewish enterprises in accordance with the Zionist principle of "seizing labor". At the same time, the Federation exerted pressure on the Palestinian Government institutions established by the mandate-holder Power to prevent Jewish construction companies from operating in Arab-populated areas of the country. The murder of M. Mitri in December 1936, in which the Arab nationalists, although unsubstantiated, accused the Histadrut leadership, led to the collapse and termination of the Federation organized by it [Al-Khut, 1981, pp. 518-519].

57 The reason for A. Lieberman's expulsion to Algeria was the Algerian origin of his mother's first husband.

58 the French communist Andre Ferrat. Born in 1902 in Montpellier. Member of the Central Committee of the PCF from 1925. In 1928-1936. member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the French Communist Party, as well as a member of the Colonial Section of the CC of the PCF. In 1930-1932 he was a representative of the FKP in the ECCI. In the years described by Lieberman, he opposed the tactics of creating a "popular front" proposed by the Comintern and was expelled from the party in 1936 [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 270, ed. ch. 5135].

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ready to go. In a few days, I'll be back. The CP sent a letter saying that I should go to Moscow as a delegate on behalf of the party on certain issues. I asked him to write to Moscow and ask where I should go - to Moscow or Morocco. After a while I met Fer, and he said that a telegram had been received from the Comintern, and that I was at the disposal of the French Communist Party. He offered to go to Morocco. I told him that I wouldn't go to Morocco because I didn't know the language, I didn't know the situation in Morocco, and it was difficult for me to work there at all. And I suggested that they send me either to Egypt or to Syria, in these countries I can work. He didn't answer that. After a few days, I turned to red aid to send me either to Egypt or Syria. This suggestion of mine was rejected. For a long time I lived there on the funds of the red aid.

After a while, I met with a friend who was working in Fer's place, and he told me that there was a directive from Moscow to go there. I've been waiting for this trip for about 3 months. I sent a letter to the Comintern through a comrade who is responsible for my trip. At this time, I met with T. Ramsay 59 and told him my situation.

The comrade in charge of my trip suggested that I go to Spain 60; I asked him to inform the Comintern that I should go to Spain. I met Ramsay again and told him about the trip to Spain. He replied that he also thought so, but still suggested waiting for a reply from the Comintern, because my question about going to Moscow was settled. The next time I met Ramzi, he told me that there was no response from Moscow yet. I asked him to come with me to the party and help me find out how I should go to Spain, who to contact there. He suggested we go tomorrow. But the next day he didn't come. I joined the party myself, despite the fact that I don't speak French very well, and I told a friend who works in Fer's place that I was ready to go to Spain. He promised to arrange the case in two days. Two days later, a friend who was responsible for my trip came and asked about my trip to Spain, and I told him that everything was ready and told him the whole process. He told me that I should no longer go to the Communist Party, because we received news from Moscow that I should go there.

Stein's question 61: - Kalton 62 is an associate of Stein, they are connected politically and psychologically. Kalton was a member of the Central Committee of the Palestinian Communist Party. Rosenberg's fiction that

59 Pseudonym (as well as Abu Ali, Ramzi, Ramzi) of Khaled Bagdash-from the late 1930s to the late 1980s. General Secretary of the Syrian Communist Party-the most famous Middle Eastern communist of the 1920s - 1930s and subsequent times (died in 1989). The RGASPI does not have a personal file of X. Bagdash, but, nevertheless, the questionnaires filled out by him from the time of his participation in the VII Congress of the Comintern (1935), where he represented the Syrian Communist Party "with a decisive voice", were preserved. [RGASPI, f. 494, op. 1, ed. xr. 495, l. 14-15].

60 It was, of course, about the possible participation of Lieberman in the fighting on the side of the Spanish Republican government of the time of 1936 - 1939.as part of the "international brigades". Apparently, the French communists believed that the presence of an Arab in the armed formations that were on the side of the republic, in conditions when General Franco largely relied on units organized from among the inhabitants of northern (Spanish) Morocco, would have great propaganda value, including in the Arab world.

61 Stein's personal file is not available in the RGASPI, so the information about him that A. Lieberman later reported cannot be confirmed or refuted. However, the French-Israeli researcher of the Palestinian communist movement, Alain (Ilan) Greilsammer, while reporting that Stein was a lawyer, added that in 1935 he was expelled from the PKK, continuing to publish the newspaper Haor ("Light") on his own behalf [Greilsammer, 1984, p. 32].

62 More Precisely-Koltun Yakov-Gersh (Shmul Idelevich). Palestinian Communist of the 1930s. Born in 1892 in the town of Lyubar, Zhytomyr province. In 1917-1918, he was a member of the Tseirizion organization , the youth wing of the Poaleyzionist movement. Later in Poland, he was a member of the Central Committee of the local Poalei-Zion section. In 1923, he emigrated to the USSR and, using a Soviet foreign passport, went to Palestine, took Palestinian citizenship and became an active member of the local poaleyzionist section. In 1930, he joined the PKP and two years later became a candidate member of its Central Committee. After another arrest in 1936, he was exiled to the USSR, where he became an employee of the Yiddish-language Jewish party newspaper Der Emes (Pravda), published in Moscow. In March 1938, he was arrested for "participating in an anti-Soviet Zionist organization" and sentenced to death by firing squad [RGASPI, f. 495, op. 212, ed. ch.123].

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Kalton should be the center of communication between the Central Committee and Stein, because Stein is a lawyer, and the party relies on him for trade union work, and at the same time for legal work. Indeed, Stein was one of the most respected trade unionists organized by the party, such as the transport union in Jaffa, where some senior workers asked Stein how to conduct trade union work. This Stein carried out Trotskyist principles in his work, for example, he said that if they consisted only of Arab workers, it would be a provocation in the labor movement, the trade unions should be international-they should be Arab and Jewish together. Stein held some legal meetings under Rosenberg's directive. Employees who were associated with Stein suggested that the party publish the newspaper Nur 63 in Arabic; the party agreed to this and provided funds. At this time, opposition emerged in the party 64, led by Halbren 65, who was strongly associated with Stein. Halbrun received a lot of the Nur newspaper and did not pay any money for it. The party heard about this and suggested that Stein break with Halbrun as an opposition leader, Stein replied, I am free, I can contact anyone I want, I give newspapers to anyone I want. The party sensed the danger in these words. Rosenberg was in prison at the time. Stein criticized the party in its daily work, for example, he said that the party mismanaged the work of trade unions and his criticism was similar to Halbrun's.

I met Stein twice. The first time it was connected with my expulsion from the country, and the second meeting-I went to him on behalf of the Central Committee to clarify the question of his attitude to the party and to Halbrun. I talked to him. He stayed with his point of view. After that, the party decided to break with him. Some time after talking to him, the police took me in.

During the trial of the enemies of the people who killed SM. Kirov, Stein spoke out against this process. He said: "It is wrong to kill many Communists for one person. "communists don't do that." He wrote an article against the trial and insisted that it be published in the NUR newspaper. The party forbade him to do this, because this article is directed against the USSR and advised him to send his point of view on the process to the Comintern, which will answer about the correctness. But despite the ban, Stein still published his article on

63 Stein published only the Hebrew-language newspaper Haor. Its first issue was published in September 1931 [see: Wilner, 1985, p. 11]. There are no documents confirming that the PKK could have used it to carry out propaganda in the Arab environment, using the Arabic-language equivalent of Haor - the newspaper An-Nur (Svet). Most likely, A. Lieberman deliberately avoids mentioning this, because its existence at the time when he was in Palestine would indirectly confirm his own participation in the implementation of the "Zionist project".

64 This refers to the so-called "right bias" that emerged in the PKK in the early 1930s, and many Jewish Palestinian Communists participated in it. Its origin was associated with the resolution of the Political Secretariat of the ICCI "On the insurgency in Arabistan" (adopted on October 16, 1929), which analyzed the uprising of the Palestinian Arabs in August 1929, which began as an inter-religious conflict over the "Western Wall" (the main shrine of Judaism and, at the same time, part of the Muslim shrines of the Temple Mount. - G. K.) in Jerusalem. The bloody anti-Jewish excesses that occurred in the country as a result of these events prompted the PKK leadership to consider this uprising as a "pogrom provoked by feudal efendi". However, the resolution of the Political Secretariat of the ECCI qualified this uprising as "a movement for national liberation, an anti-imperialist movement ... and in terms of its social composition, it is predominantly peasant." It stated that the uprising was weakened not only because of the position of the feudal leadership of the Palestinian Arabs, but above all because there was no support for it "from the working class", in other words, the PKK. The lack of this support resulted from the party's unwillingness to follow the path of "Arabization" of its ranks [Kosach, 2001, pp. 219-221].

65 Arabic pronunciation of the surname Halperin. The prototype is not installed.

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on the pages of the NUR newspaper in Arabic and Hebrew. After that, the Palestinian Communist Party finally severed ties with him.

1/IV1938.

(Lieberman)

Signature:

Liberman

list of literature

Al-Khut B. N. Al-Qiyadat wa al-mu'assasat al-siyasiyya fi Philistine. 1917-1948 (Political leaders and institutions of Palestine. 1917 - 1948). Beirut, 1981.

Wilner M. Esrim shana ve od arbaim (Twenty years and forty more) / / Zo gadereh. Tel Aviv, 1985, October.

VKP (b), Komintern i Kitay [Comintern and China], Moscow, 1999.

Kosach G. G. Red Flag over the Middle East? Communist Parties of Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon in the 20-30s. Moscow, 2001.

Kosach G. G. [The first Communists of Egypt: an attempt to create a group portrait]. 2002. N5.

Krasnovsky V. N., Il-Farkhi T. A. Pocket Russian-Arabic Dictionary, Moscow: State Publishing House of Foreign and National Dictionaries, 1962.

Eidus H. Essays on the Labor movement in the countries of the East, Moscow, 1922.

Ayache A. Les communistes du Maroc et les Marocains (1936 - 1939) // Gallissot R. (ed.). Mouvement ouvrier, communisme et nationalismes dans le monde arabe. Cahiers du "Mouvement social". N 3. P., 1978.

Greilsammer I. La disparition du communisme juif en Israel // Communisme. Revue d'etudes pluridisciplinaires. N 6. P., 1984.

Laqueur W. Z. (Ed.). The Israel-Arab Reader. N.Y., 1968.

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