Wittorf affair

KPD chairman Ernst Thälmann, who was a close friend and sponsor of Wittorf, knew about the embezzlement but, due to the upcoming election, concealed it for tactical reasons.

Stalin had been looking to strengthen Thälmann, whom he viewed as an ally and loyal supporter for the ultra-left positions then recently adopted at the Sixth World Congress of the Comintern.

[2] In a telegraph to Molotov on 1 October 1928, Stalin acknowledged that Thälmann had made a huge mistake in covering up the embezzlement, but defended his motives, calling them "unselfish".

He said Thälmann had been trying to spare the party a scandal,[2] in contrast to the motives of Arthur Ewert and Gerhart Eisler, KPD central committee members who were in the Conciliator faction.

[2] Stalin used the affair to turn the Comintern into his tool to influence foreign communist parties; he showed his support for loyalty and ambition and neutralized both real and perceived political opponents.