As chair of the Prague SAPD group , Stefan Szende was at the heart of the arguments that led to the party split . The starting point , as it was for many left-wing parties across western Europe , was the question of the party 's attitude to the Soviet Union . The evident success of the Nazi take-over in Germany had only strengthened arguments for a political alliance of the political left to combat fascism . On the other hand , reports emerging from Moscow of the Soviet leadership 's acute paranoia over political opposition , and the extent of the resulting political purges , strengthened the arguments of a " right-wing " element in the SAPD which insisted that atrocities in Moscow could not be ignored simply because they were directed by a Communist leadership . Szende belonged to the faction that was prepared to be critical of Stalin . He published an article in August 1936 in which he warned against " under-estimating the importance of their own work " and " excessive dependence on ill-defined great international plans " . His youthful personal experiences of the Communist Party clearly played a part in persuading him of the need for the SAPD to distance itself from the Stalinists . In the context of the debates inside the party this also represented a clear shift on Szende 's part away from Marxism as it was understood at the time . In the end he resigned from the party leadership in February 1937 , announcing that he was fed up with all the discussion about some " united front " and on left-wing unity more broadly
purges
Great Purge
Stefan Szende