Lot 250
Trotsky, Leon. Typed letter signed ("L. Trotsky"), 1 page, 5 x 8¼ in., no place (Mexico), Mar. 15, 1937. Paper toned with edge chips. To Comrade Schachtman, sending him a copy of a letter Trotsky wrote to (Suzanne) LaFollette (who was Secretary of the Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials). "I must say to you that the seriousness and energy of our comrades in this matter in the next days is for me the condition sine que non for our further collaboration." Together with a postcard photo of Trotsky sitting at a table signed and inscribed in blue-green ink in lower right corner, "To comrade Schachtmann with best friendship. L. Trotsky 26/III 1930." Also, two unsigned 7 x 5 in. photos of Max Schachtmann.
The American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky had been set up following the first of the Moscow "Show Trials" in 1936. Its member were Franz Boas, John Chamberlain, John Dos Passos, Louis Hacker, Sidney Hook, Suzanne La Follette, Reinhold Niebuhr, George Novack, Norman Thomas and Edmund Wilson. John Dewey agreed to head the Commission of Inquiry. From April 10 to April 17, 1937, a sub-committee of the Commission conducted thirteen hearings at Leon Trotsky's home in Coyoacan, Mexico, D.F. Trotsky was defended by the lawyer Albert Goldman, and the Commission found that Trotsky was innocent of all charges made during the Moscow Trials.
Estimated Value $700 - 900.
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| Realized $4,625 |
