ABSTRACT
Lenin's ghost-like visit to the Kremlin did not fail to leave its impact on the party. The next meeting of the Politbureau, which took place on October 22nd, was imbued with a friendly spirit. On the same day, the communist revolution in Germany was called off. To avoid dangerous repercussions, Stalin took new precautions against Trotsky. Professor Ossipov was to emphasize later that after his third stroke, Lenin, though he remained interested in politics, deliberately withdrew from political life. Pyatnitsky and Skvortsov-Stepanov presumably had taken the doctor along to obtain a dependable diagnosis of Lenin's health. Pyatnitsky reported about the Comintern and the unsuccessful German revolution, and in all likelihood, presented Stalin's interpretations. Lenin may have been sobbing, depressed, irritable, or enraged, as Ossipov related. If Lenin had died from unnatural causes, Stalin could have found himself in considerable difficulties, especially since he had discussed Lenin's alleged request for poison with the Politbureau.
