espionage and treason in Moscow. The most famous of the defen-
dants was Solomon Lozovsky (1878–1952), one of the few Jewish
members of the Communist Party’s Central Committee. The trial was
the scene of some of the most striking and revolting anti-Semitic de-
nunciations heard outside the Third Reich. Colonel Vladimir Ko-
marov, who conducted much of the case for the state, screamed at Lo-
zovsky that “the Jews are a foul and dirty people” who wanted to
“annihilate every Russian.” Lozovsky compared the court to the
Spanish Inquisition, which had forced his family to flee Spain three
centuries previously.
All 14 defendants were convicted and 13 were sentenced to death
and executed a month later, along with 10 Jewish “engineer-saboteurs”
from a Moscow factory. Ultimately the series of trials resulted in the
conviction of 125 Jews. Those who were alive on Stalin’s death in
March 1953 were released. The executed men and women were
posthumously rehabilitated in 1953–1954. See also DOCTORS’
PLOT; SLANSKY TRIAL.ANTIPARTY GROUP. In the summer of 1957, conservative mem-
bers of the Communist PartyPresidium tried to oust party leader
Nikita Khrushchevfrom power. After the vote in the Presidium
went against him, Khrushchev appealed to KGB Chair Ivan Serov
and Ministry of Defense Marshall Georgi Zhukovfor assistance in
bringing the entire Communist Party Central Committee to
Moscow for a second vote. Serov and Zhukov complied and all
members of the Central Committee were flown to Moscow in 24
hours. The full Central Committee supported Khrushchev with the
votes to overturn his opponents in the Presidium. Khrushchev re-
paid Serov and Zhukov by demoting the former and forcing the re-
tirement of the latter.ANTIRELIGIOUS CAMPAIGNS.From the inception of the Cheka,
the Soviet security services were engaged at the behest of the ruling
party in campaigns against all organized religion. The first target of
the Cheka was the Russian Orthodox Church. Between 1918 and
1924, the majority of churches were closed; in 1922 alone, 2,691
priests, 1,962 monks, and 3,447 nuns were shot. During the collec-
tivization campaign of the 1930s, 98 percent of the Orthodox14 •ANTIPARTY GROUP06-313 A-G.qxd 7/27/06 7:54 AM Page 14