The whole notion of exemplary violence seemed to fire Lenin's imagination. On August 11, 1918 he wrote a letter to Bolshevik leaders in Penza that speaks volumes: Comrades! The kulak uprising must be crushed without pity… An example must be made. 1} Hang {and I mean hang so that the people can see} not less than 100 known bloodsuckers. 2} Publish their names. 3} Take all their grain away from them… Do this so that for hundreds of miles around the people can see, tremble, know and cry: they are killing and will go on killing the bloodsucking kulaks… P.S. Find tougher people.
Lenin's fixation on using violence as a tool for political control is vividly illustrated in a letter he wrote on August 11, 1918, to Bolshevik leaders in Penza. He called for the merciless suppression of the kulaks, urging that they be made an example of to instill fear in the populace. Lenin insisted on public executions, specifying the hanging of at least 100 kulaks, whose names should be made public to amplify the terror surrounding their punishment. This approach aimed to demonstrate the regime's resolve and dissuade opposition through fear.
In the letter, Lenin not only sought to punish the kulaks but also to convey a message to the entire community about the consequences of dissent. He emphasized the importance of the public's awareness of these actions, believing that the visibility of such brutality would deter further insurgences. Lenin’s demand for “tougher people” to carry out these directives highlights his ruthless commitment to the Bolshevik cause and the lengths he was willing to go to maintain control during a tumultuous period in Russian history.
