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Karl Radek (Sobelson)Party leader, journalist
Country:
 Poland |
Content:
- Biography of Karl Radek (Sobelson)
- Political Activism
- Bolshevik Era
- Trotskyism and Repression
- Repression and Death
Biography of Karl Radek (Sobelson)
Karl Berngardovich Radek (born Sobelson) was a party activist and journalist. He was born on 1885 in Lviv, Austria-Hungary (present-day Ukraine) and passed away on 19 May 1939 in Verkhneuralsk, Russia. Radek, the son of a teacher, received his education in the history department of Krakow University.
Political Activism
In 1902, Radek joined the Polish Socialist Party. He became a member of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party in 1903 and the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania in 1904. Radek worked for communist press outlets in Poland, Switzerland, and Germany. In 1908, he aligned with the left-wing of the German Social Democratic Party, but was later expelled due to a dispute with Rosa Luxemburg.
During World War I, Radek became close to Vladimir Lenin. After the February Revolution in 1917, he served as a member of the Foreign Representation of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party in Stockholm. Radek played a key role in facilitating Lenin and his comrades' journey from Germany to Russia through a sealed train. He also co-organized communist propaganda publications such as "Correspondence of Pravda" and "Vestnik Russkoi Revolutsii."
Bolshevik Era
Following the Bolshevik seizure of power, Radek arrived in Petrograd and became the head of the Department of External Relations of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) from November 1917. In December 1917, he joined the Soviet delegation at the Brest-Litovsk peace negotiations and became one of the leaders of the "Left Communists," opposing peace with Germany.
In late 1919, Radek traveled to Germany to support the revolution but was arrested and quickly released. He served as a member of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1919 to 1924. In 1920, he became a secretary, and from 1920 to 1924, a member of the Executive Committee of the Comintern. Radek collaborated with major newspapers such as "Pravda" and "Izvestiya" and was regarded as one of the world's best communist journalists.
Trotskyism and Repression
Radek became an active supporter of Leon Trotsky from 1923. However, he was expelled from the Communist Party during the 15th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in 1927, along with other participants of the Trotskyist opposition. In January 1928, Radek was sentenced to three years of exile by a Special Meeting of the OGPU Collegium for anti-Soviet activities. He was released in May 1929.
In the summer of 1929, Radek sent a letter to the Central Committee, along with E.A. Preobrazhensky and I.T. Smilga, declaring their ideological and organizational break from Trotskyism. He publicly expressed remorse and wrote articles denouncing the Trotskyists. In January 1930, he was readmitted to the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).
Repression and Death
However, Radek's loyalty did not protect him from the Great Purge. He was arrested on 16 September 1936 and agreed to testify against anyone in order to save himself. He became a central figure in the public trial of the "Parallel Anti-Soviet Trotskyist Center," providing detailed testimonies about his alleged conspiracy and implicating numerous party members, including those who were not yet arrested at the time.
Although many participants in the trial were executed, Radek, possibly in gratitude for his cooperation, was sentenced to ten years in prison on 30 January 1937. In his final statement, he declared, "I am not fighting for my honor; I have lost it. I am fighting for the recognition of the truth in the testimonies I have given." Radek was killed by fellow inmates in the labor camp. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1988.
