Letter to Vyacheslav Karpinsky, March 19, 1917

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Dear Vyach. Al.,

I am considering every possible way of travelling.[1] The following is an absolute secret. Please reply to me immediately and, perhaps, best by express (I think we won’t ruin the Party by a dozen extra express letters), so that I can be sure no one has read the letter.

Take out papers in your own name for travelling to France and England, and I will use them to travel through England (and Holland) to Russia.

I can put on a wig.

The photograph will be taken of me with the wig on, and I shall go to the Consulate in Berne with your papers and wearing the wig.

You must then disappear from Geneva for a minimum of a few weeks (until my telegram arrives from Scandinavia): for this period you must hide yourself well away in the mountains, where, we shall, of course, pay for your board and lodging.

If you agree, begin preparations immediately in the most energetic (and most secret) fashion, and drop me a line at once in any case.

Yours, Lenin

Think over all the practical steps involved and write to me in detail. I am writing to you because I am convinced that between us everything will remain absolutely secret.

  1. Of returning to Russia.—Ed.