1984

           Attheirsecondtrialtheyconfessedtoalltheiroldcrimesoveragain,withawholestringofnewones. Theywereexecuted,andtheirfatewasrecordedinthePartyhistories,awarningtoposterity. Aboutfiveyearsafterthis,in1973,Winstonwasunrollingawadofdocumentswhichhadjustfloppedoutofthepneumatictubeontohisdeskwhenhecameonafragmentofpaperwhichhadevidentlybeenslippedinamongtheothersandthenforgotten. Theinstanthehadflatteneditouthesawitssignificance. Itwasahalf-pagetornoutof‘TheTimes’ofabouttenyearsearlier—thetophalfofthepage,sothatitincludedthedate—anditcontainedaphotographofthedelegatesatsomePartyfunctioninNewYork. ProminentinthemiddleofthegroupwereJones,Aaronson,andRutherford. Therewasnomistakingthem,inanycasetheirnameswereinthecaptionatthebottom. 

           ThepointwasthatatbothtrialsallthreemenhadconfessedthatonthatdatetheyhadbeenonEurasiansoil. TheyhadflownfromasecretairfieldinCanadatoarendezvoussomewhereinSiberia,andhadconferredwithmembersoftheEurasianGeneralStaff,towhomtheyhadbetrayedimportantmilitarysecrets. ThedatehadstuckinWinston’smemorybecauseitchancedtobemidsummerday; butthewholestorymustbeonrecordincountlessotherplacesaswell. Therewasonlyonepossibleconclusion:theconfessionswerelies. 

           Ofcourse,thiswasnotinitselfadiscovery. EvenatthattimeWinstonhadnotimaginedthatthepeoplewhowerewipedoutinthepurgeshadactuallycommittedthecrimesthattheywereaccusedof. Butthiswasconcreteevidence; itwasafragmentoftheabolishedpast,likeafossilbonewhichturnsupinthewrongstratumanddestroysageologicaltheory. ItwasenoughtoblowthePartytoatoms,ifinsomewayitcouldhavebeenpublishedtotheworldanditssignificancemadeknown.