|
Sale 86
|
|
press UP arrow key to increase the zoom ratio.
press DOWN arrow key to decrease the zoom ratio.
press RIGHT arrow key to increase the zoom window size.
press LEFT arrow key to decrease the zoom window size.
|
|
Lot 249
Trotsky, Leon. Typed letter signed, 2 pages, in English, on onion skin paper, 11 x 8½ in., no place (Mexico), Mar. 29, 1937. To American Trotskyists James Cannon and Max Schachtman, regarding the inquiry commission ("Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials") which was initiated in March 1937 by the American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky and headed by John Dewey. Its other members were Carleton Beals, Otto Ruehle, Benjamin Stolberg, Alfred Rosmer, Wendelin Thomas, Edward A. Ross, John Chamberlain, Carlo Tresca, Francisco Zamora and Secretary Suzanne La Follette.
Trotsky writes, in part: " I cannot conceal from you the fact that I am very disturbed about the fate of the inquiry commission….The liberal and social-democratic friends showed themselves to be cowards….Only one man from the liberal circles revealed himself as a real man - old Dewey….but all the work cannot depend upon his personality: he is old, he can become sick, etc. The committee seeks absolutely impartial people….they have found that Miss LaFollette is not sufficiently 'impartial'. I cannot understand what this signifies. Is Miss LaFollette partial towards Hitler and the Mikado? I don't believe this is the case. If…she sympathizes with the program of the permanent revolution, she must be a hundred times more hostile to any kind of compromise with reaction. And the question on the order of the day is not whether the theory of permanent revolution is good or bad, but whether or not Trotsky is connected with Hitler and the Mikado. It is a thousand times more probable that a Waldo Frank is not only partial to Stalin, but also that he is directly connected with the GPU [Soviet secret police]….If the commission is composed of Dewey, Ross, Rabbi Israel, Waldo Frank, and such people, it can crash under the first blows of events or of the Stalinists….The question is not of non-existent 'absolute impartiality' but of personal honesty, of devotion to socialism, to the revolution. The Stalinists will in any case say that the commission is partial….The commission will win the case through its work, through the investigation itself, through the publication of documents, testimonies, depositions, etc. the commission could begin as a very modest body, of three or five solid, honest workers, with a couple of honest and competent intellectuals. The first serious publications and conclusions of the commission would influence the hesitating liberals, the sociologists, the lawyers and the rabbis a thousand times more than permanent adaptation to the liberals from our side. Have you those three solid workers or not?"
He goes on more about the commission and Waldo Frank, then in a postscript notes, "…The only partisanship which we cannot admit is material dependence on Hitler or the GPU. I don't know if Waldo Frank is dependent on the Soviet State Publishing House…but it is clear that LaFollette is not dependent on the Trotskyite publishing house." Together with a 5¾ x 4 in. photo of Trotsky signed on the verso and inscribed, "To my 'General Editor' M. Schachtmann," 12/21 1938." Also, an unsigned sepia-toned photo of Trotsky with Frida Kahlo, Max Schachtmann, and Mrs. Trotsky.
Estimated Value $2,000 - 3,000.
|
| |
| Realized $7,188 |
|
