Trial of the 17 Flashcards
1
Q
when did this trial take place?
A
January 1937
2
Q
who were being tried?
A
17 lesser figures known as the “anti-Soviet Trotskyite-centre” which included Karl Radek, Yuri Piatakov and Grigory Sokolnikov
3
Q
what were they accused of?
A
plotting with Trotsky, who was said to be conspiring with Nazi Germany
4
Q
what happened to the 17?
A
Thirteen of the defendants were eventually executed by shooting. The rest received sentences in labor camps where they soon died.
5
Q
what made western observers say the trail was ‘fair’?
A
the confessions of the accused, which were freely given in open court, without any apparent evidence that they had been extracted by torture or drugging.
