people waiting to be let in, four at a time, to be questioned as to their identity and their business. Passes were given out, and the pass system was changed every few hours; for spies continually sneaked through…
Pass to Smolny Institute, issued by the Military Revolutionary Committee, giving me the right of entry at any time.
(Translation)
Military Revolutionary Committee
attached to the
Petrograd Soviet of W. & S. D.
Commandant’s office
16th November, 1917
No. 955
Smolny Institute
PASS
Is given by the present to John Reed, correspondent of the American Socialist press, until December 1, the right of free entry into Smolny Institute.
Commandant
Adjutant
One day as I came up to the outer gate I saw Trotzky and his wife just ahead of me. They were halted by a soldier. Trotzky searched through his pockets, but could find no pass.
“Never mind,” he said finally. “You know me. My name is Trotzky.”
“You haven’t got a pass,” answered the soldier stubbornly. “You cannot go in. Names don’t mean anything to me.”
