“Comrade Loban authorizes Wilbur Hewitt’s niece to defend her uncle and Jack Beilis to act as interpreter. He asked me to inform you that the trial will begin this afternoon, at three o’clock at the Soviet Palace of Justice in Gorky.” He cleared his throat. “If you wish, I will notify the ispravdom so that you can visit the prisoner before appearing before the commission.” Without waiting for an answer, he patted the jacket pocket where he’d stashed the envelope of money.
There was no need for further explanation. Jack took another five hundred rubles from his wallet and handed them to him.
35
At half past two, a pair of guards opened the courtroom at the Palace of Justice. Jack and Elizabeth had to wait for the Soviet delegation to take their seats. Sergei Loban, the head of the OGPU, would lead the prosecution. He was followed by a large group of senior figures in the secret police from Moscow, representatives of the Komsomol, and the lucky trade unionists and local party members who had received clearance to share the stage with the Supreme Soviet Leader, Joseph Stalin. Among them, Jack caught a glimpse of Viktor Smirnov. Once they had seated themselves on the rows of chairs that seemed to have been arranged for the occasion, an OGPU officer showed Elizabeth and Jack to a table positioned to the right of the dais, directly opposite Sergei Loban.
From his seat, Jack observed the sobriety of the courtroom, its only adornment a gigantic portrait of Stalin on the wall behind the dais. The executive body, made up of a large contingent of OGPU commissars and members of the Communist Party Committee, sat on two banks of chairs arranged on either side of an empty central seat that he assumed Stalin would occupy. Jack searched for Natasha’s face, hoping to see her in the audience, but the only person he recognized was Walter, who was seated at the back of the room.
Moments later, a Red Army soldier led the American businessman to a chair midway between the defense’s and the prosecution’s tables. Jack gestured to Hewitt, whom he had managed to speak to briefly before they moved him from the ispravdom. However, the lack of time had prevented him from finding a Soviet lawyer to advise them on their defense. Last, an official in uniform approached the dais and announced the arrival of Joseph Stalin. He was received with deafening applause.
Jack could not help but feel awestruck in the presence of the man who, as everyone he knew kept saying, would burn his own family alive to further the revolution. He wore a brown military jacket with red epaulettes, and his decisive manner seemed only to confirm that anyone who did not fear him was either crazy or foolhardy. When the applause subsided, the official introduced the remaining members of the jury, but Joseph Stalin interrupted him and motioned with his hand for Sergei Loban to read out the charges being brought against the prisoner.
Sergei stood, thanked Stalin, and addressed the room. “Comrade Stalin . . .” Another long round of applause interrupted the beginning of his speech. “Comrade Stalin . . . comrades of the Joint State Political Directorate, Soviet commissars, representatives of the Komsomol, distinguished members of the OGPU, people’s counsels . . .” More applause. “Before beginning my address, I must inform you that the accused, an American national, Wilbur Hewitt, has, voluntarily and in writing, relinquished his right to be tried in his own language. He has also rejected the public defender who was assigned to him, and designated as his defender his niece, Elizabeth Hewitt, who will defend her uncle with the assistance of Jack Beilis in the capacity of interpreter. I state for the record that, in this trial, charges are being brought against the industrialist Wilbur Hewitt only, and therefore any other culpability that may derive from the case is excluded.”
Hearing him, Jack let out a curse. His main line of defense was going to center on showing that the upper management of the Avtozavod had plotted to annul the agreement entered into with Henry Ford, waive the millions of dollars owed, and avoid a penalty.
While Sergei listed the crimes that Hewitt was to be tried for, Jack went over his notes in search of a new strategy.
“As everyone in this courtroom knows,” Sergei went on, “the vital work that the state police carries out includes pursuing, detaining, trying, and sentencing all anti-Soviet elements that threaten the rule of the proletariat. However, considering the special nature of this case, its potential international repercussions, and above all, the presence of our leader, Comrade and General Secretary Joseph Stalin, it has been decided that the proceedings will be brought publicly.” He paused to receive Stalin’s assent. “Notwithstanding, since his crimes are so numerous and the damage caused so extensive, this does not prevent the prisoner from being accused of counterrevolutionary scheming, for which the penalty is immediate execution.”
Jack understood that after such a description, Stalin would never allow the sentence to be reduced. He cleared his throat and signaled to Elizabeth to set out the arguments for her defense. The young woman followed the instructions they had agreed on and stood so that everyone could see her contrite face, without a trace of makeup, and with her hair gathered up in a Soviet-style bun.
“Dear sirs. Mr. General Secretary . . .” As she’d agreed with Jack, the young woman paused for dramatic effect. Stalin was unmoved. “I . . . I’m not able to express myself as eloquently as you.” Jack translated each sentence, leaving enough time for the men and women who packed the courtroom to notice Elizabeth’s fragility. “My uncle, Mr. Hewitt, came to the Soviet Union in the hope of doing his job well. Perhaps it wasn’t to help you, or help your revolution—that I don’t know. But I can assure you that he was prepared to sweat blood to make this factory the pride of the Soviet Union.” She looked at Jack for his approval. “I don’t know anything about your laws, but Jack Beilis has studied them, and he tells me that, unlike other legal systems, in this country what is truly important, beyond what the laws say, is that truth prevail.” She waited for Jack to interpret her words. “As my uncle Wilbur wishes, I’ve asked Mr. Beilis to argue his defense without needing to translate every word of mine. However, please consider anything that he says to have come from my mouth. That’s all. Thank you for your attention . . . Thank you,” she said, her voice trembling.
Stalin accepted the request without a hint of mercy, leafed through the report that one of his aides had just handed to him, and ordered the first witness to be called. It was a Soviet worker who testified that he had suffered the consequences of the sabotage firsthand. When Sergei asked him to show those present the stump that he had in place of an arm, a murmur rippled through the room.