Preferred Citation: Witkin, Zara. An American Engineer in Stalin's Russia: The Memoirs of Zara Witkin, 1932-1934. Berkeley:  University of California Press,  c1991 1991. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft18700465/


 

Index

A

Abbe, James, 80 , 335 n.56

Agievich (chief engineer, Zavodostroi), 93 , 99

Agro-Joint, 46 , 322 -23n.11

All-Union Congress of Architects, 83

All-Union Congress of Engineers, 130

All-Union Construction Trust. See Soyuzstroi

All-Union Institute for the Scientific Study of the Film Arts, 13

All-Union Trust for the Exploitation of Meteoric Metals, 211 -12

American Federation of Labor, 181

American Society of Civil Engineers, 82

Amkino, 31

Amtorg, 2 , 30 , 52 , 91 , 113 , 321 n.2

Anna (pseudonym). See N.

Annunevsky Street housing project, 177

Arbat, 169

Armstrong-Vickers, 146

Aronovich (S.T.O.), 169 -71, 178

Automobile Trust, 212

B

Baird, Joe (United Press correspondent), 306

Balkhash copper project, 114

Baransky (engineer, Zavodostroi), 72 , 75 , 78

Barnes, Ralph (New York Herald-Tribune correspondent), 187 -88, 208 -10, 243 , 254 , 257 , 273 -74, 304 -5, 335 n.56

Beal, Fred, 5 , 17

Beard, Charles, 16

Belsky (editor, Krokodil ), 211 -12

Blocks, interlocking, Witkin's proposal for, 7 , 8 , 113 -14, 128 -29, 157 , 165 -67, 171 -74, 189 , 200 , 212 ;

and first Izvestia article, 162 -63;

in letter to Stalin, 266 ;

and purge, 201 ;

and second Izvestia article, 204

Bogashevsky (editor, Tekhnika ), 135

Borminsky (S.T.O., O.G.P.U.), 175 -76, 178 , 204

Borodin, Mikhail, 50 , 77 , 86 -87, 91 -93, 135 , 154 -55, 160 , 323 n.13

B.R.I.Z. (Bureau for Rationalization and Invention, Soyuzstroi), 113 -14, 159 , 162 -63, 173 -74, 204

Bukharin, N. I., 17 , 135 , 310 , 330 n.39

Bullitt (U.S. ambassador), 273 , 276

Bureau of Inventions. See B.R.I.Z.

Bureau for Rationalization and Invention. See B.R.I.Z.

C

Calder, Jack, 114 -15

Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer, 51 , 323 -24n.15

Central Committee, of Communist Party, 163

Central Control Commission (later Commission on Party Control), 153 , 331 -32n.45

Central Film Actors' Studio, 11

Cessarskaya, Emma. See Tsesarskaia, Emma

Chamberlin, William Henry (Christian Science Monitor correspondent), 181 , 208 , 305 , 333 n.50

Cheka (forerunner of O.G.P.U.), 179 , 187 , 324 -25n.18

Chicago Exhibition, 228

Church of Christ the Redeemer. See Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer

Clark (Foreign Section, R.K.I.), 252 , 262 , 275 ;

and articles for Tekhnika , 135 ;

and meeting with Witkin,


358

Clark (continued )

106 ;

and Witkin's contract with R.K.I., 149 -50;

and Witkin's meeting with O.G.P.U., 235 -43, 245 , 248 , 250 -51, 263 -64;

and Witkin's plans to marry Emma, 195 -96

Cleaning (purge) commissions, 168 , 201 , 204 , 332 n-47

Commissariats. See People's Commissariats

Constitution, Soviet ("Stalin Constitution of 1936"), 308 -10

Constructor , 73

Cooper, Hugh (chief engineer, Dneprostroi), 37 , 321 n-5

Council of Labor and Defense (S.T.O.), 9 , 157 , 170 -71, 175 -77, 182 , 201 , 204 , 266 , 332 n.48

Council of People's Commissars, 170

Crocodile (Krokodil ), 211

Customs House, 77 -78

D

Davis, Arthur Powell, 36 , 51

Department of Labor Norms, 129

Derham (McDonald Engineering), 37

Dewey (International General Electric), 37 , 45

Dneprostroi, 37 , 59 , 62 -63, 154 , 244 , 321 n.5

Dnepropetrovsk, 61

Donets Basin (Donbas), 189 , 201 -2

Donskaya housing project, 177 , 205

Duranty, Walter (New York Times correspondent), 112 , 181 , 188 , 208 -10, 277 , 284 , 293 , 300 , 328 -29n.34

Dvinsky (Stalin's economic secretary), 167 , 189

Dzerzhinskii Commune for Waifs (O.G.P.U.), 55 , 168 -69, 325 n.19

E

Efremov power plant and distillery, 78 , 83 , 94 -96

Eisenstein, Sergei, 31 , 46 , 321 n.3

Elena Vladimirovna (librarian, Soyuzstroi), 269 -70, 273 -74, 283 -84, 294

Elisaev (Foreign Section, R.K.I.), 230

Engineering News-Record , 9 , 73

Experimental Institute of Leningrad. See Leningrad Institute

F

Famine, in North Caucasus and Ukraine, 207 -10, 259 , 328 n.31, 335 n.56

Feinhouse (engineer, People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry), 166 , 172 , 204 -5

Fili aviation factory, 177 , 197 -200

First Industrial Building Trust. See Zavodostroi

Fischer, Louis (Nation correspondent), 208 -9

Foreign Office (People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs), 246 , 280 , 282 -83;

and foreign correspondents, 117 , 187 -88, 208 , 210 , 254 -55, 257 ;

and Metropolitan-Vickers trial, 143

Foreign Specialists' House, 73 , 84 -86

Foreign specialists' store, 114 , 127 -28

Francis, Peter, 6

Frank, Waldo, 11

Frankfurt, S., 16

Frankfurt am Main, 82 , 232 , 278

Furniture Trust, 212

G

Garibaldi, Giuseppe, 35

Garry (Garri), 8 , 182 , 204 -5, 211 , 214 -15, 227 , 266 -67, 295 ;

and death of sister-in-law, 202 -3;

and Donbas trip, 189 , 201 -2;

and fight with Soviet bureaucracy, 153 -59, 161 , 167 -71, 173 -74, 200 -201;

and Gosplan, 246 -47;

and Kharkov aviation disaster, 260 -62;

Witkin's biography of, 179 -80

Gasparian (Standardized Housing Trust), 52

Gastonia Boys, 6

General rationalization program. See Rationalization program

Gillis (American mining engineer), 293

Giprostroi (State Institute for the De-sign of Enterprises of the Construction Materials Industry), 290 -93

Glavstroi (Main Construction Directorate), 283 , 284 , 289

Gorky, Maxim, 231 , 336 n.58

Gosplan. See State Planning Commission


359

Government (State) Technical Book Trust, 136

Grinko, G. F. (People's Commissar of Finance), 285 , 341 n.70

H

Hearst press, 278

Hindus, Maurice, 208 -9

Hoover Institution Archives, 17

Hotel Evropeiskaya, Warsaw, 277

I

Institute for Construction Materials, 98

Intourist agency, 4 , 43 , 46 , 65 , 70 , 91 , 178 , 322 n.8;

incompetence of, 57 , 61 -63, 73 -75;

and offer to super-vise hotel construction, 114 ;

and sale of exit visas for gold, 151

Ivanov (B.R.I.Z.). 163 , 204

Izhevsk industrial combine, 99

Izvestia , 8 , 63 , 153 , 158 , 161 , 171 , 204 215, 266

K

Kaganovich, L. M., 211 -12, 335 -36n.57

Kalinin (aircraft designer), 261 -62

Kalinin, M. I., 255 , 339 -40n.65

Kantorovich (Party secretary, Soyuzstroi), 279 -80

Karyagin (chief engineer, S.T.O.), 171 , 176 -78

Keen, E. L. (United Press International), 258 -59

Kessel, Lawrence, 46 , 53 , 70

Kharkov, 53 , 169 -70, 214 -15, 260 -62

Kharkov Tractor Plant, 6 , 53 -54, 324 n.16

Khimkent zinc plant, 114

Khlamov (director, Leningrad Institute), 201 , 204

Kiev, 68 -70

Kirov, S. M., 253 -54, 315 , 339 n.64

Klavdia Mikhailovna, 10 -11

Klin rayon factory, 87

Kollontai, Aleksandra, 195 , 334 n.53

Kravchenko, Victor, 6

Kremlin Hospital, 84 , 203

Krupskaya, Nadezhda, 195 , 333 -34n.52

Krylova, Tatiana, 13

Kuibyshev, V. V., 285 , 340 -41n.69

Kuznetskstroi. See Novokuznetsk

L

Le Corbusier, and design for Palace of Soviets, 37

Leningrad, 4 , 43 -45, 98 , 142

Leningrad Institute, 157 , 162 -63, 165 , 173 -75, 178 , 189 , 201 , 204

Leningradsky Chausee housing project, 177 , 205 -6

Lenin Mausoleum, 47 -48

Littlepage, John, 6

Litvinov, M. M. (Commissar of Foreign Affairs), 244 , 252 , 255 , 258 , 284 , 337 -38n.61

Lubertsi airplane-lumber storage project, 75 , 78 , 93 -95

Lubianka Square (headquarters, political police), 106 , 141 , 235 , 243

Lugashin (director, Soyuzstroi), 117 , 201 , 267 -69, 271 , 279 , 281 -82

Lyons, Eugene, 3 -17, 112 , 188 -89, 227 , 268 -69, 273 , 276 , 278 -284, 295 -300, 306 , 341 n.71;

and conflict with Moscow Daily News , 91 ;

and construction of apartment, 183 -86, 241 -43, 245 -46, 250 -51, 283 -84;

and Garry, 152 -58;

meets Witkin, 80 -81;

and Metro-Vickers trial, 144 -46;

setup and expulsion of from U.S.S.R., 255 -59;

and Tsesarskaia, 100 -102;

and Ukraine famine, 208 -9;

and U.S. recognition of Soviet Union, 253 -55;

and Zinoviev, 139 -40

M

M. (musician, friend of Witkin's), 13 , 274 -76, 282 , 294 -95, 300 -301, 305 , 307

McDowell (American consultant, Verblud), 92

Maevsky (production engineer), 87 , 96

Magnitogorsk, 82 , 114 , 232 -34, 327 -28n.29

Mai Aviation Institute, 78 , 95 , 177 , 190 -94, 200

Marx, Harpo, 282 , 340 n.68

May, Ernst, 13 , 82 , 87 , 98 , 112 , 152 , 189 , 213 , 327 n.28;

reasons for


360

May, Ernst (continued )

departure from U.S.S.R., 232 -35, 240 , 245

Meshchanskaya housing project, 177 , 205 -6

Metropol Hotel, 140 , 255

Metropolitan-Vickers Company, 6 , 143 -47, 182 , 331 nn.42-44

Meyer, Prof. (German consultant, Giprostroi), 292

Mezhlauk, V. I. (Gosplan), 45 , 87 , 244 , 285 , 322 n.10

Molotov, V. M., 15 , 130 , 285 , 329 -30n.38

Monkhouse, Allan, 6

Moscow Daily News, Moscow News , 50 , 77 , 82 , 86 , 91 -96, 106 , 153 , 323 n.14

Moscow Institute for Testing Materials, 172

Moscow Soviet Hotel, 48 , 114

Moscow subway, 3 , 239 -40

N

N. (acquaintance of Witkin's), 140 -42, 296 -97

Nazi-Soviet nonaggression pact, 17

Negoreloye (border town), 43 , 277

Nekrasov, Prof., 136

Nemetz, Sergei (acting director, Soyuzstroi), 50 -51, 69 , 72 , 86 -87, 93 , 104 , 106 , 160 ;

and arrangement of Witkin's treatment in Kremlin Hospital, 84 ;

attempts of to persuade Witkin to stay, 269 , 271 -72;

and rationalization program, 99 ;

transfer of to Mariupol, 117 , 160

New Economic Policy (NEP), 25 , 320 -21n.1

New Moscow Hotel, 264

Nielson (U.S. embassy, Warsaw), 279

Nikitin (head, Rationalization and Re-construction, Soyuzstroi), 113 , 117 , 119 , 165 , 173 -75, 177 , 189

NKVD (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, political police), 14 -15, 324 -25n.18

Nobile, Gen. Umberto, 83 , 328 n.30

North American Film Corporation, 16

Novokuznetsk, 82 , 232 , 327 -28n.29

Novy Afon, 213 , 216 , 225 -26, 235

O

Odessa, 67 -68

O.G.P.U., 9 , 12 , 55 , 80 , 84 , 117 , 179 , 202 , 214 , 217 , 220 , 271 , 274 -75, 309 , 316 , 324 -25n.18, 334 n.54;

and aircraft factory construction in Kharkov, 168 -69;

discussions with Witkin, 235 -43, 245 -46, 248 -52;

and Lyons, 256 , 258 ;

and meteoric metals scam, 211 -12;

and inspection of construction sites, 197 -200;

and Metro-Vickers trial, 143 -47;

and M.T.S., 207 ;

and N., 139 -42;

and secret trial of Garry, 261 ;

and Tsesarskaia, 196 -97, 248 , 265 ;

and Witkin's contacts in Lubianka, 106 ;

Witkin's dissociation from, 263 -66;

and Witkin's supervision of secret construction, 235 -43, 245 -46, 248 -52.

See also Dzerzhinskii Commune for Waifs

Oka River steel mill project, 290 -91

Ordzhonikidze, G. K., 233 -34, 245 , 272 , 285 , 336 -37n.59

Orlionov (Party secretary, Soyuzstroi), 271

Osinsky (State Planning Commission), 246 -47

P

Palace of Soviets, 51 , 321 -22n.6

Party Cleaning Commission. See Cleaning (purge) commissions

Passagnik (Zavodostroi), 72

Pasternak, Prof. (Swiss consultant), 76

Patent Office, 182 , 212

Pavlovsky (consulting engineer-attorney), 178

People's Commissariat of Communal Economy, 233

People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs. See Foreign Office

People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry, 9 , 54 , 169 -70, 212 -13, 216 , 233 , 235 , 266 , 272 -73, 282 , 284 ;

and rationalization plan, 113 , 116 , 118 , 152 , 160 ;

response of to Stalin's intervention, 166 -67;

and Witkin's proposal for interlocking blocks, 172 , 176 , 178 , 200

People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. See NKVD


361

People's Commissariat of Transportation, 213

People's Commissariat of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection. See Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate

Piatnitsky, Dr., 84

Pilnyak, Boris, 101 , 328 n.32

Podolsky (censor, Foreign Office), 187

Polakov, Walter, 37 , 100

Politburo, 47 , 168 , 211 , 234 , 260 , 309

Politotdel , 207 , 334 -35n.55

Potemkin villages, 208

Pravda , 234

Pravov, I. (film director), 11

Preobrazhenskaia, O. (film director), 11

Press Department (Foreign Office), 259

Prokofiev, G. E. (O.G.P.U.), 265 , 349 n.67

Promstroiproekt (industrial construction agency), 283 , 294 -99

Pudovkin, V. I. (film director), 31 , 321 n.3

Purge. See Cleaning (purge) commissions

R

Radek, K. B., 310 , 342 n.75

Railway Commissariat. See People's Commissariat of Transportation

Rationalization Department (of Soyuzstroi), 117 , 166 , 173 -74, 189

Rationalization Department (of People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry), 166 , 172 , 204

Rationalization program (for construction in the Second Five-Year Plan), 99 -100, 104 -6, 114 -19, 130 -31, 134 ;

and Witkin's calculations on size of First Five-Year Plan, 110 -13;

and Witkin's calculations on size of Second Five-Year Plan, 286 -88, 296 , 302

Red Square, 47 -49, 116 -17

Revolutionary Council of Labor and Defense. See Council of Labor and Defense

Richardson, Stanley (Associated Press correspondent), 208 , 243 , 277

R.K.I. See Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate

Rolland, Romain, 15 , 253 , 300 , 306 , 312 , 314 -16, 319 n.31, 319 -20n.32, 338 n.62

Rosen, Joseph, 46

Rostov-on-Don, 56 -57

Rudzutak, Ian E., (head, Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate), 167 , 234 , 245 , 260 , 332 n.46

Rukeyser, Arnold, 6

Russell, Bertrand, 13 , 16 , 253 , 338 -39n.63

S

Sacco and Vanzetti, 31 , 317 n.2

Savoy Hotel, 248

Scott, John, 5

Scripps-Canfield Press, 73

Scripps-Howard Press, 180

Second Trust, 204

Serebrovskii, A. P., 6

Sevastopol, 63 , 161

Sholokhov, Mikhail, 11

Shvernik, N. M., 117 , 160 , 329 n.35

"Six-Point Speech" (Stalin), 85 , 160

Smith, Andrew and Maria, 5 , 17

Smollin (supervisor of plans for Palace of Soviets), 51 -52

Sochi, 215 -16, 226 -27

Sokolov (acting director, Soyuzstroi), 269 , 271 -73, 282 -85, 290 , 293 , 299

Soviet consulate, Warsaw, 277 -81

Soyuzstroi (All-Union Construction Trust), 5 , 69 , 72 , 84 , 86 -87, 89 , 99 , 104 , 150 , 160 , 169 , 198 -200, 204 -5, 247 , 268 , 296 ;

and chief engineer Vorobieff, 176 -77;

and O.G.P.U., 239 -40;

and rationalization program, 113 ;

reorganization of, 228 , 262 , 264 , 282 -84, 292 -93, 298 -99;

response of to Izvestia articles, 165 -68;

and R.K.I., 230 ;

and Stalin's intervention, 271 -73, 275 -76, 279 -80;

and Witkin's proposal for interlocking blocks, 173 -75, 189 -90, 201

Sproul, Horace, 16

Stalin, 8 , 15 , 27 , 47 , 83 , 163 , 170 -71, 179 , 189 , 200 , 225 , 285 , 295 , 303 ;


362

Stalin (continued )

and connection to Garry, 156 , 158 , 167 ;

and R.K.I., 260 ;

Witkin's letters to, 159 -61, 266 , 269 , 272 , 280

Stalingrad Tractor Plant, 114

"Standardization of Pre-Cast Wall Blocks" (Witkin). See Blocks, interlocking

Standardized Housing Trust. See Standartzhilstroi

Standartgorproekt (City Planning Trust), 234

Standartzhilstroi (Standardized Housing Trust), 51 -52, 72 , 114

Stanislavskii, Maksim, 14 , 15

State Bank, 212

State Experimental Farm of Verblud, 57 -59, 92

State Phonograph Trust, 212

State Planning Commission (Gosplan), 113 , 116 , 202 , 245 -47, 262 -63

State Rubber Stamp Trust, 211

Steinmetz (engineer, General Electric), 249

S.T.O. See Council of Labor and Defense

Stolpce, 277

Stoneman, William (Chicago Daily News correspondent), 208 -9

Sukhum, 202 -3, 225 -26

Sutton, Antony, 17

T

Tall (editor, Tekhnika ), 135 -36

Tchaikovsky 31 , 122 , 247

Tchaikovsky Film School, 11

Technical Book Trust, 189

Tekhnika , 135 , 160 , 189

Thomas, Norman, 16

Torgsin stores, 60 , 114 , 225 , 326 n.23

Trade unions, 117 -18, 159

Trotsky 316

Tsesarskaia, Emma, 10 -17, 26 , 80 , 108 -9, 112 -13, 119 -20, 136 -39, 147 -48, 153 , 224 , 280 ;

editor's interview with, 13 -17;

and end of romance with Witkin, 151 -52, 195 -97, 213 -15, 228 , 247 -48, 265 ;

and first meeting with Witkin, 100 -104;

in Her Way , 31 -34

Tsiam airplane plant, 177 , 199 -200

Tuchinow assembly plant, 78 , 88

U

Ulianova, Mariia Il'inichna (Lenin's sister), 107 , 160 , 178

Umansky, K. A. (Press Department, People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs), 258 , 340 n.66

Uskia, 119 , 187

V

Vahktanghov Theatre, 231

Verblud (state experimental farm), 57 -59, 92

Vinakur (engineer), 204

Vinson big-navy bill, 253 , 259

Visa Bureau, 263 , 299

Vitkovsky (chief engineer, Zavodostroi), 79 , 93

Vorobieff (chief engineer, Soyuzstroi), 176 -77, 190 -94, 197 -99, 205

Voroshilov, K. E. (People's Commissar of War), 47 , 116 , 170 , 323 n.12

W

Wagner, Richard, 34 , 119 -20

War Communism, 25 , 320 -21n.1

Wells, Linton (International News Ser-vice correspondent), 208

Westgarth, John, 6 , 17

Workers' and Peasants' Inspection Commissariat. See Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate

Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate (R.K.I.), 9 , 77 , 82 , 86 , 95 , 133 , 153 , 159 -60, 200 -201, 230 , 235 , 327 n.26;

and Clark, 195 -96;

and May, 234 ;

and investigation of Balkhash copper project, 115 ;

and investigation of Moscow Soviet Ho-tel construction, 114 ;

and Stalin's rebuke of Rudzutak, 167 -68;

and Witkin's articles for Tekhnika , 135 ;

Witkin's contract with, 149 -50, 238 ;

Witkin's first encounter with, 106 -7;

and Witkin's planned discussion with Rudzutak, 260 ;

and Witkin's report on diplomatic recognition by U.S., 180 -82, 332 -33n.49


363

Y

Yalta, 64 -67

Yaroslavl, reinforced concrete bridge at, 78

Yauntzen, Madame (singer), 54

Yegor Bulichev (Gorky), 231 -32

Z

Zaidner, Alfred (Amtorg, Intourist), 2 , 91 , 95 , 114 , 135 , 160

Zalkind (attorney at Foreign Office), 246 , 283

Zavodostroi (First Industrial Building Trust), 72 , 75 , 78 -79, 83 , 99 -100, 114 , 177

Zemach (dancer), 306

Zetkin, Clara, 191 , 333 n.51

Zhemchuzhina, Polina, 15 , 329 -30n.38

Zinoviev, Grigori, 139 -40, 310 , 330 n.41


 

Preferred Citation: Witkin, Zara. An American Engineer in Stalin's Russia: The Memoirs of Zara Witkin, 1932-1934. Berkeley:  University of California Press,  c1991 1991. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft18700465/