Marcel Pauker - Final Years and Death

Final Years and Death

Marcel Pauker got involved in a political fight with Vitali Holostenco, reflecting the struggle between the Bucharest section and that of the Ukrainian SSR that had taken hold of the Party's wing inside the Soviet Union around the proceedings of the 4th Congress in Kharkiv. Again in the Soviet Union, Pauker was reprimanded by the Comintern. Forbidden from contributing to political activities, he was sent to assist as an engineer in the industrial expansion of Magnitogorsk (in western Siberia), a job he undertook between 1930 and 1932. At the same time, Joseph Stalin, whose priority at the time was showing the facade of "unity" within his subject Parties, had Holostenco removed from his position.

In 1935 Pauker was appointed a member of the Secretariat of the Romanian Communist Party. He spent time in Prague until 1937, when he returned to the Soviet Union. He fell victim to the Great Purge: arrested by the NKVD on March 21, 1937 and held in the infamous Taganka Prison, Marcel Pauker was first interrogated over a year later, being presented with the charge of espionage in favor of Romania. Records show that he finally admitted to the charge (most likely after being subjected to torture). Consequently, he was put on trial, sentenced to death and executed by shooting.