Исаак Бабель и Григорий Беседовский (по материалам архива французской полиции)

“Isaac Babel and Grigory Besedovsky (Based on the Materials from the French Police Archive).” – Diplomat Grigory Zinovievich Besedovsky (1896 – 1975), the First Counselor of the Soviet Embassy in France (1927–1929), sought political asylum in France, fearing forced repatriation to Moscow. He subsequently founded the newspaper and movement of non-returnees, Borba (Struggle, 1930–1932), and wrote his memoirs. Isaac Babel lived in Paris in 1927–1928 and had connections with Besedovsky, including financial dealings. Besedovsky himself acted as an informant for French state security (Sûreté) in the 1930s–1950s, was arrested during the war, and provided information to the police as well as to the American consul. He also fabricated numerous fake memoirs of real and fictional individuals. These forgeries served the purposes of Soviet propaganda.

Keywords: Isaac Babel, Grigory Besedovsky, Russian emigration, France, GPU, Sûreté.