Leon
Trotsky: Letter to Valentin
Olberg
April
27, 1930
[Writing
of Leon Trotsky, Vol. 2, 1930, New York 1975, p. 214 f., title: “Six
Letters to Olberg”]
Comrade
Olberg
Dear
Comrade,
In
your letter of April 14 you present a rather pessimistic picture of
the state of affairs within the leadership of the United Opposition.
If information I have received very recently is correct, it may be
that the situation has improved somewhat. Or don't you agree?
You
write in detail about Comrade Pfemfert and his journal Aktion.
It goes without saying that we have disagreements with Comrade
Pfemfert on very basic questions. But you must not forget that until
very recently the Left Opposition was represented in Germany by the
Leninbund, with whom our disagreements were in no way less than those
we have with Comrade Pfemfert, with one great difference: Urbahns
functioned in a totally disloyal and often downright unscrupulous way
while Comrade Pfemfert has at all times functioned with absolute
loyalty. You raise a point about the article devoted to the question
of a visa. 192 I wrote this article for the organs of the Leninbund.
Urbahns for some reason unknown to me did not print the article. But
because I considered it necessary, precisely in Germany, to explain
the meaning and nature of my appeal to the Social Democratic
government, I passed the article on for publication in Aktion.
Thus, no abuse was committed on its part.
I
have just received word from Pfemfert that in view of the fact that
it is impossible for the Opposition to publish my "Open Letter
to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union" (Grylewicz told him
of this), he, Pfemfert, is publishing this letter in the next issue
of Aktion.
Would it have been right for me to refuse? No, it would have been
wrong. Very likely, you are right in your conviction that I will not
be able to make the old experienced readers of Aktion
change their minds. But on the other hand I will give our cothinkers
or sympathizers, at least some of them, an opportunity to become
familiar with these documents, which I cannot publish by other means.
The
same goes for the publication of pamphlets. Of course I will be fully
prepared to pass my pamphlets on to the United Opposition as soon as
it gets on its feet and sets up its own publishing house. This is
absolutely essential and is the task of the immediate future. But it
is impossible to do this now. In the meantime, I think the pamphlet
Permanent
Revolution should
be published. Comrade Pfemfert has pledged to pass along to the
United Opposition as many pamphlets as it needs, at cost.
You
write about the advisability of my meeting with Comrades Landau and
Neumann. I absolutely agree with you and hope over the course of the
summer to be able to arrange this, if no unforeseen obstacles arise.