Word: martov
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...time: April 1920. The place: a shabby eighth-floor attic in Moscow, where Yuli Martov, a leader of the defeated Social Democrats, is in hiding. As he is cooking supper on a tiny stove, he is interrupted by Sofia Markovna, a secret emissary from Lenin. Martov and Lenin were once the closest friends when both were Social Democrats, but since Lenin turned Bolshevik and later seized power, Martov is Lenin's bitterest enemy. Whispers the messenger: kindly Lenin, taking pity on his old buddy, has arranged to whisk Martov out of town before he is arrested. A seat...
Though Lenin really did hold Martov in deep affection, Martov never went underground, and spoke at a meeting of the Moscow Soviet a month after his supposed escape. He asked for an exit visa and left legally via Estonia. Izvestia's version proved the aptness of a Russian proverb Khrushchev has known since childhood: "Better a clever lie than the dull truth...
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