Lilia Estrin Dallin
Encyclopedia
Lilia Estrin Dallin (aka Lola Estrin, Paulsen, Lilya Ginzberg) was a prominent member of Trotsky's Paris
organization in the 1930s, the wife of the anti-Stalinist David Dallin, and a suspected NKVD
agent.
, Courland
, in 1898 under the name of Liliya Ginzberg (Lilija Ginzberga), and she lived there until 1914. After studying law in Moscow, she became a member of the Menshevik
party. In 1923 she emigrated to Berlin
where she married Samuel Estrin. The couple professed to be Mensheviks, then changed to being Leninists and Left Opposition
ists. After the Nazis rose to power, in 1933, they moved to Paris. (Her CIA dossier shows that she came directly to Paris from Moscow
not from Berlin as she claimed.)
In Paris Lilia found work as a secretary for Boris Nicolaevsky
at the International Institute for Social Historyhttp://www.iisg.nl/index.php, and she befriended Trotsky's son Lev Sedov, working with him on the Trotskyist journal, Bulletin of the Opposition. She appeared to be the sole support for her husband and his relatives. "I work like an ox," she wrote to Natalia Sedova
, "from early morning to late into the night, and I am content. My job (with the Institute) is interesting. After it, I work for the Bulletin and other (Trotskyite) matters which keep me up until one o'clock at night. At seven in the morning I am up again . . . I need no Sundays, no respite. I am a dynamic person, I need action." When NKVD agents broke into the Institute and stole Trotsky's papers, on November 6, 1936, a number of Trotskyists began to suspect that she, along with Mark Zborowski
, were NKVD agents. After Lev Sedov died in a Paris hospital under mysterious circumstances in March 1938, his mistress accused Lilia of being an NKVD agent and causing his death. But Lilia was able to convince Trotsky that both she and Zborowski were the innocent victims of NKVD slanders.
revealed to both of them in 1955 that Mark Zborowski was an NKVD agent, and he suspected that Lilia was also an agent, a theme he repeatedly stressed in his CIA debriefings. Orlov also claimed that David Dallin had been a paid Soviet agent in Berlin in the 1920s, controlled by Boris Bazarov
and relaying information to the Soviets from a source inside the German Foreign Ministry. Lilia appeared in March 1956 before a Senate Subcommittee to publicly denounce Zborowski and to describe her role in the Trotskyist faction. Afterward, she faded from view.
In 1972 a CIA historian produced a classified report which dispensed with allegations and named Lilia as an NKVD agent, though no new evidence was revealed in the report which had not otherwise been available twenty years earlier. The CIA declassified the report in 1994. The release of the Venona material exculpated Lilia. She is named in decrypts from May to August 1944, with regard to her involvement in the Victor Kravchenko defection, and a reading of these documents clearly indicates that she was not a Soviet agent.
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
organization in the 1930s, the wife of the anti-Stalinist David Dallin, and a suspected NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
agent.
Early life
She was born in LiepājaLiepaja
Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...
, Courland
Courland
Courland is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...
, in 1898 under the name of Liliya Ginzberg (Lilija Ginzberga), and she lived there until 1914. After studying law in Moscow, she became a member of the Menshevik
Menshevik
The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
party. In 1923 she emigrated to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
where she married Samuel Estrin. The couple professed to be Mensheviks, then changed to being Leninists and Left Opposition
Left Opposition
The Left Opposition was a faction within the Bolshevik Party from 1923 to 1927, headed de facto by Leon Trotsky. The Left Opposition formed as part of the power struggle within the party leadership that began with the Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin's illness and intensified with his death in January...
ists. After the Nazis rose to power, in 1933, they moved to Paris. (Her CIA dossier shows that she came directly to Paris from Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
not from Berlin as she claimed.)
In Paris Lilia found work as a secretary for Boris Nicolaevsky
Boris Nicolaevsky
Boris Ivanovich Nicolaevsky was a revolutionary Russian Marxist activist, archivist, and historian. Nicolaevsky is best remembered as one of the leading Menshevik public intellectuals of the 20th Century.-Early years:...
at the International Institute for Social Historyhttp://www.iisg.nl/index.php, and she befriended Trotsky's son Lev Sedov, working with him on the Trotskyist journal, Bulletin of the Opposition. She appeared to be the sole support for her husband and his relatives. "I work like an ox," she wrote to Natalia Sedova
Natalia Sedova
Natalia Ivanovna Sedova is best known as the second wife of Leon Trotsky, the Russian revolutionary. She was, however, also an active revolutionary in her own right and wrote on cultural matters pertaining to Marxism...
, "from early morning to late into the night, and I am content. My job (with the Institute) is interesting. After it, I work for the Bulletin and other (Trotskyite) matters which keep me up until one o'clock at night. At seven in the morning I am up again . . . I need no Sundays, no respite. I am a dynamic person, I need action." When NKVD agents broke into the Institute and stole Trotsky's papers, on November 6, 1936, a number of Trotskyists began to suspect that she, along with Mark Zborowski
Mark Zborowski
Mark Zborowski was an anthropologist and an NKVD agent...
, were NKVD agents. After Lev Sedov died in a Paris hospital under mysterious circumstances in March 1938, his mistress accused Lilia of being an NKVD agent and causing his death. But Lilia was able to convince Trotsky that both she and Zborowski were the innocent victims of NKVD slanders.
United States
After moving to the United States, Lilia married David Dallin, a Menshevik and Russian historian. The defector Alexander OrlovAlexander Orlov
Alexander Mikhailovich Orlov , born Lev Feldbin, 21 August 1895–25 March 1973), was a General in the Soviet secret police and NKVD Rezident in the Second Spanish Republic. In 1938, Orlov refused to return to the Soviet Union because he realized that he would be executed, and fled with his...
revealed to both of them in 1955 that Mark Zborowski was an NKVD agent, and he suspected that Lilia was also an agent, a theme he repeatedly stressed in his CIA debriefings. Orlov also claimed that David Dallin had been a paid Soviet agent in Berlin in the 1920s, controlled by Boris Bazarov
Boris Bazarov
Boris Bazarov was a Soviet secret police officer who served as the chief illegal rezident in New York City from 1935 until 1937.-Early years:...
and relaying information to the Soviets from a source inside the German Foreign Ministry. Lilia appeared in March 1956 before a Senate Subcommittee to publicly denounce Zborowski and to describe her role in the Trotskyist faction. Afterward, she faded from view.
In 1972 a CIA historian produced a classified report which dispensed with allegations and named Lilia as an NKVD agent, though no new evidence was revealed in the report which had not otherwise been available twenty years earlier. The CIA declassified the report in 1994. The release of the Venona material exculpated Lilia. She is named in decrypts from May to August 1944, with regard to her involvement in the Victor Kravchenko defection, and a reading of these documents clearly indicates that she was not a Soviet agent.
Sources
- John Costello and Oleg Tsarev, Deadly Illusions : The KGB Orlov Dossier Reveals Stalin's Master Spy, Crown Publishing, 1993. ISBN 0-517-58850-1
- Lilia Dallin, "Testimony Before U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, March 2, 1956," Scope of Soviet Activity in the United States, GPO, 1956.
- Rita Kronenbitter (pseud), Leon Trotsky: Dupe of the NKVD, Center for the Study of Intelligence (CIA)https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v16i1a03p_0001.htm, 1972.
- Venona/NSA sitehttp://www.nsa.gov/venona/index.cfm