D.2.2 Letter of March 19, 1922, from Lenin via Molotov to members of the Politburo, outlin

D.2.2

Letter of March 19, 1922, from Lenin via Molotov to members of
the Politburo, outlining a brutal plan of action against the "Black
Hundreds" clergy and their followers, who were defying the
government decree to remove church valuables (purported by the
government to be used to fund famine relief).  Lenin proposed the
arrest and quick trial of the insurrectionists in Shuia, followed by a
ruthless campaign to shoot a large number of the reactionary clergy
and bourgeoisie and urged that removal of valuables from the
richest churches and monasteries be finished quickly.