'Zinoviev Letter' Discovered Here

The discovery of six original photo negative plates stashed away in a back vault of the Law School Library has stirred up new interest in an old case of political intrigue.

The plates include a photographic copy showing the Russian text of the notorious Zinoviev Letter, supposedly written by G. Zinoviev, president of the Communist Comintern in 1924.

The letter instructed the British Communist Party to support the British Labor Party's reelection and further the revolution. Released to the press on the eve of the 1924 election, the letter led to the defeat of the Labor Party and helped keep them out of power for ten years.

As in most historical finds, the Harvard photo plates have a little evidence for both sides in the forgery debate.

But William E. Butler, research associate at the Harvard Russian Research Center, who discovered the text, said the plates "add considerably to the notion that the whole letter is a forgery."

Copies of the letter in English appeared on the front pages of London papers just before the elections and Russian texts circulated among spy circles in Europe. Those copies have also been locked away in government files.

Secret Minutes

The recently discovered Harvard plates contain the first publicly known Russian text of the letter. In addition, the plates have what purports to be minutes of a secret meeting of the Executive Committee of the Comintern where the ideas in the letter originated.

"The secret minutes are obviously designed to add authenticity to the letter," Butler said yesterday, but the British government has never acknowledged the receipt of any minutes.

Stashed in a Vault

Butler discovered the plates by coincidence.

Walter R. Batsell bought a large number of old Russian documents for the library around 1929. Most of them, including the plates, were wrapped in brown paper and stashed away in a back vault of the Library.

In 1966 Butler, then a law student, heard about the glass plates with Russian writing in a casual conversation with former associate librarian Phillip A. Putnam. Putnam looked for the plates, but could not find them. He assumed they had been lost during World War II.

When Butler returned to Harvard in 1969, he asked Putnam to search again and this time the plates were found.

Missing Text

One of the major arguments pointing to forgery has been the absence of a Russian text of the Zinoviev letter. The British government "did not say where they got the letter or whether they received it in English or Russian," Butler said.

In December 1924, a sub-committee of the newly elected Tory government investigated the incident and found the letter genuine. The discovery of the Harvard Russian text supports the investigation.

"In all fairness, though, the British government is the only one that insists the letter is authentic." Butler said.

Zinoviev Denies It

Zinoviev himself held a press conference shortly after the affair to deny writing the letter.

In 1927, a Russian forger confessed to his involvement in writing the letter. And, as late as 1966, the widow of another person named by the forger said a group of White Russians in Berlin forged it with the help of the Polish intelligence.

Material in the National Archives show that the Harvard text is identical to the secret copies which circulated through European intelligence circles. The photo plates may have been the original reproduction for these copies, Butler said.

Minor textual details support the contention that the letter is a forgery, Butler said.

Leisurely Copying

The minutes of the secret meeting show no signs of the hasty copying which would have been necessary in a clandestine raid on secret Soviet files.

The letter is also signed "Zinoviev" instead of "G. Zinoviev," the accepted signature.

But if the Harvard text points to a forgery, who was the forger?

Polish Culprit

Butler believes the Polish intelligence is the "culprit." Zinoviev accused Polish intelligence of being involved in his 1924 press conference. The diary of the speaker of the Polish Sejm from 1923 quoted the Polish Prime Minister as claiming credit for the Zinoviev Letter.

One of the alleged forgers worked with the Polish intelligence for a while, Butler said.

Polish Intelligence

"Although the evidence, in my opinion points most strongly to Polish intelligence as the culprit, none of those theories (on the origin of the letter) can yet be completely dismissed," Butler said.

The letters are now on display in the Law School Library Treasure Room.