Leon
Trotsky: Stalin Seeks My Death
June
8, 1940
[Writings
of Leon Trotsky, Vol 12, 1939-1940, New York ²1973, p. 233-250]
The
attack came at dawn, about 4 a. m. I was fast asleep, having taken a
sleeping drug after a hard day's work. Awakened by the rattle of
gunfire but feeling very hazy, I first imagined that a national
holiday was being celebrated with fireworks outside our walls. But
the explosions were too close, right here within the room, next to me
and overhead. The odor of gunpowder became more acrid, more
penetrating. Clearly, what we had always expected was now happening:
we were under attack. Where were the police stationed outside the
walls? Where the guards inside? Trussed up? Kidnapped? Killed? My
wife had already jumped from her bed. The shooting continued
incessantly. My wife later told me that she helped me to the floor,
pushing me into the space between the bed and the wall. This was
quite true. She had remained hovering over me, beside the wall, as if
to shield me with her body. But by means of whispers and gestures I
convinced her to lie flat on the floor. The shots came from all
sides, it was difficult to tell just from where. At a certain time my
wife, as she later told me, was able clearly to distinguish spurts of
fire from a gun: consequently, the shooting was being done right here
in the room although we could not see anybody. My impression is that
altogether some two hundred shots were fired, of which about one
hundred fell right here, near us. Splinters of glass from windowpanes
and chips from walls flew in all directions. A little later I felt
that my right leg had been slightly wounded in two places.
As
the shooting died down we heard our grandson in the neighboring room
cry out: "Grandfather!" The voice of the child in the
darkness under the gunfire remains the most tragic recollection of
that night. The boy — after the first shot had cut his bed
diagonally as evidenced by marks left on the door and wall — threw
himself under the bed. One of the assailants, apparently in a panic,
fired into the bed, the bullet passed through the mattress, struck
our grandson in the big toe and imbedded itself in the floor. The
assailants threw two incendiary bombs and left our grandson's
bedroom. Crying, "Grandfather!" he ran after them into the
patio, leaving a trail of blood behind him and, under gunfire, rushed
into the room of one of the guards.
At
the outcry of our grandson, my wife made her way into his already
empty room. Inside, the floor, the door and a small cabinet were
burning. "They have kidnapped Seva,” I said to her. This was
the most painful moment of all. Shots continued to ring out I but
already away from our bedroom somewhere in the patio or immediately
outside the walls. The terrorists were apparently covering their
retreat My wife hastened to smother the incendiary flames with a rug.
For a week afterward she had to treat her burns.
Two
members of our guard appeared, Otto and Charles, who had been cut off
from us during the attack by machine gun fire They confirmed the fact
that the assailants had apparently withdrawn since no one was to be
seen in the patio. The guard on night duty, Robert Sheldon Harte, had
disappeared. Both automobiles were gone. Why the silence from the
police stationed outside? They had been bound by the assailants who
shouted: "Viva Almazan!" That was the story told by the
tied-up policemen.
My
wife and I were convinced on the next day that the assailants had
fired only through the windows and doors and that that no one had
entered our bedroom. However, an analysis of the trajectory of the
bullets proves irrefutably that eight shots which struck the wall at
the head of the two beds and which left holes in four places in both
mattresses, as well as traces in the floor underneath the beds could
have been fired only inside the bedroom itself. Empty cartridges
found on the floor and the lining of a blanket singed In two places
testify to the same thing.
When
did the terrorist enter our bedroom? Was it during the first part of
their operation before we had yet awakened? Or was it, on the
contrary, during the last moments when we were lying on the floor? I
incline toward the latter supposition. Having fired through the doors
and windows several scores of bullets aimed at the beds and not
hearing any outcries or groans, the assailants had every reason to
conclude that they had accomplished their work successfully. One of
them might have at the last moment entered the room for a final
check. Possibly the bed clothes and pillows still retained the form
of human bodies. At four o'clock in the morning the room was in
darkness. My wife and I remained motionless and silent on the floor.
Before leaving our bedroom, the terrorist who came in to verify that
the task had already been accomplished might have fired a few shots
into our beds "to clear his conscience."
It
would be too irksome to analyze here in detail the various legends
which were the product of misunderstanding or malice and which have
served directly or indirectly as the basis for the theory of
"self-assault." The press carried reports alleging that my
wife and I were not in our bedroom on the night of the assault; El
Popular
(organ of the Stalinist ally, Toledano) discoursed concerning my
"contradictions": according to one version, I reportedly
crawled into a corner of the bedroom; according to another version, I
dropped to the floor, etc. There is not a word of truth In all this.
All rooms in our house are occupied at night by designated
individuals, with the exception of the library, the dining room, and
my workroom. But the assailants passed through precisely these rooms
and did not find us there. We slept where we always did: in our
bedroom. As was already stated, I dropped to the floor in the corner
of the room; presently, I was joined by my wife.
How
did we survive? Obviously, thanks to a fortunate accident. The beds
were under a cross-fire Perhaps the assailants were afraid to hit
each other and instinctively fired either higher or lower than they
should have. But that is only a psychological conjecture. It is also
possible that my wife and I came to the aid of the happy accident by
not losing our heads, not flying around the room, not crying out or
calling for help when it was hopeless to do so, not shooting when it
was senseless, but remained quietly on the floor pretending to be
dead.
To
the uninitiated it may seem incomprehensible that Stalin’s clique
should have first exiled me and then should attempt to kill me
abroad. Wouldn't it have been simpler to have shot me in Moscow like
so many others?
The
explanation is this: In 1928 when I was expelled from the party and
exiled to Central Asia it was still impossible even to talk not only
about shooting but arrest. The generation together with whom I went
through the October Revolution and the civil war was then still
alive. The Political Bureau felt itself besieged from all sides.
From
Central Asia I was able to maintain direct contact with the
Opposition. In these conditions Stalin, after vacillating for one
year, decided to resort to exile abroad as the lesser evil. He
reasoned that Trotsky, isolated from the USSR, deprived of an
apparatus and of material resources, would be powerless to undertake
anything. Moreover, Stalin calculated that after he had succeeded in
completely blackening me in the eyes of the country, he could without
difficulty obtain from the friendly Turkish government my return to
Moscow for the final reckoning. Events have shown, however, that it
is possible to participate in political life without possessing
either an apparatus or material resources. With the aid of young
friends I laid the foundations of the Fourth International, which is
forging ahead slowly but stubbornly. The Moscow trials of 1936-37
were staged in order to obtain my deportation from Norway, i.e.,
actually to hand me over into the hands of the GPU. But this did not
succeed. I arrived in Mexico. I am informed that Stalin has several
times admitted that my exile abroad was a "major mistake.".
No other way remained of rectifying the mistake except through a
terrorist act.
In
recent years the GPU has destroyed many hundreds of my friends,
including members of my family in the USSR. In Spain they killed my
former secretary Erwin Wolf and a number of my political co-thinkers;
in Paris they killed my son Leon Sedov whom Stalin's professional
murderers hunted for two years. In Lausanne the GPU killed Ignace
Reiss, who had left the GPU and joined the Fourth International. In
Paris, Stalin's agents murdered another of my former secretaries,
Rudolf Klement, whose body was found in the Seine with the head,
hands, and legs cut off. This list could be continued interminably.
In
Mexico there was an obvious attempt to assassinate me by an
individual who appeared in my house with fake recommendations from a
prominent political figure. It was after this incident, which alarmed
my friends, that more serious measures of defense were undertaken:
day and night guard, alarm system, etc.
After
the active and truly murderous participation of the GPU in the
Spanish events, I received many letters from my friends, chiefly in
New York and Paris, concerning agents of the GPU who were being sent
into Mexico from France and the United States. The names and
photographs of some of these gentlemen were transmitted by me in time
to the Mexican police. The outbreak of the war aggravated the
situation still further because of my irreconcilable struggle against
the foreign and domestic policy of the Kremlin. My declarations and
articles in the world press — on the dismemberment of Poland, the
invasion of Finland, the weakness of the Red Army beheaded by Stalin,
etc. — were reproduced in all countries of the world in tens of
millions of copies. Dissatisfaction inside the USSR is growing. In
the capacity of a former revolutionist Stalin remembers that the
Third International was incomparably weaker at the beginning of the
last war than the Fourth International is today. The course of the
war may provide a mighty impulsion to the development of the Fourth
International, also within the USSR itself. That is why Stalin could
not have failed to issue orders to his agents — to finish me as
quickly as possible
Facts
known to everyone and general political considerations thus
indubitably demonstrate that the organization of the attempt of May
24 could emanate only from the GPU. There is, however, no lack of
supplementary evidence.
1.
A few weeks before the attempt the Mexican press was filled with
rumors of a concentration of GPU agents in Mexico. A great many
things in these reports were false. But the substance of these rumors
was correct.
2.
Very noteworthy is the exceptionally high technique of the assault.
The assassination failed because of one of those accidents which
enter as an integral element into every war. But the preparation and
execution of the assault are astonishing in their scope, planning,
and efficiency. The terrorists are familiar with the layout of the
house and its internal life; they are equipped with police uniforms,
weapons, electric saw, rope ladders, etc. They succeed completely in
tying up the police stationed outside, they paralyze the guards
inside by a correct strategy of fire, they penetrate into the
intended victim's room, fire with impunity for three to five minutes,
throw incendiary bombs, and leave the arena of attack without a
trace. Such an undertaking is beyond the resources of a private
group. There is to be observed here tradition, training, great
resources, and a wide selection of executors. This is the work of the
GPU.
3.
Strictly in accordance with the whole system of the GPU is the
solicitude for switching the investigation to a false track which was
included in the very plan of the assault. While tying up the police,
the assailants shouted: "Viva Almazan!" These artificial
and fraudulent shouts at night before five policemen, three of whom
were asleep, pursued simultaneously two objectives: to distract, if
only for a few days or hours, the attention of the coming
investigation away from the GPU and its agency in Mexico; and to
compromise the followers of one of the presidential candidates. To
kill one opponent while casting the shadow of suspicion on another —
that is the classic method of the GPU, more exactly of its inspirer,
Stalin.
4.
The attackers brought along several incendiary bombs, two of which
were thrown into my grandson's room. The participants in the assault
thus had in view not only murder but also arson. Their only goal
could have been the destruction of my archives. This is of interest
only to Stalin, inasmuch as my archives are of exceptional value to
me in the struggle against the Moscow oligarchy. With the aid of my
archives I was able in particular, to expose the Moscow juridical
frame-ups. On November 7, 1936, the GPU, incurring great risks, had
already stolen part of my archives in Paris. It did not forget about
them in the night of May 24. The incendiary bombs are thus something
like Stalin's visiting card.
5.
Extremely characteristic of the crimes of the GPU is the division of
labor between the secret killers and the legal "friends":
while the assault was being prepared, along with the underground work
of conspiracy, there was conducted an open slanderous campaign aimed
to discredit the intended victim. The same division of labor
continues after the perpetration of the crime: the terrorists go into
hiding while their attorneys, out in the open, attempt to direct the
attention of the police to a false trail.
6.
Finally, it is impossible not to call attention to the reactions of
the world press: newspapers of all tendencies proceed openly or
tacitly from the fact that the assault is the handiwork of the GPU;
only the newspapers subsidized by the Kremlin and fulfilling its
orders defend an opposite version. This is an irrefutable piece of
political evidence!
On
the morning of May 24 the leading representatives of the police asked
my collaboration in solving the crime Colonel Salazar and tens of
agents called on me for various information in the most friendly way.
My family, my co-workers, and I did everything in our power.
On
May 25 or May 26, two agents of the secret police told me that the
investigation was on the correct road and that now it had been at all
events already "proven that it is a question of attempted
assassination." I was astounded. After all, was it still
necessary to prove this? I asked myself precisely against
whom
did the police have to prove that the assault was an assault? In any
case, up to the evening of May 27 the investigation, so far as I
could judge, was directed against the unknown assailants and not
against the victims of the assault.
On
May 28 I transmitted to Colonel Salazar some evidence, which as the
third
stage of the investigation demonstrated, was very important But on
the agenda at the time was the second
stage of which I did not have any suspicion, namely, an investigation
directed against myself and my collaborators.
During
the day of May 28 a complete and abrupt turn in the orientation of
the investigation and the attitude of the police toward my household
was prepared and accomplished. We were immediately surrounded by an
atmosphere of hostility. What was the matter? we wondered. This turn
could not have occurred of itself. There must have been concrete and
imperative reasons. Not even a semblance of fact or factual data
which might have justified such a turn of the investigation has been
revealed nor could have been revealed. I can find no explanation for
the turn other than the monstrous pressure exerted by the GPU
apparatus, basing itself on all its "friends." Behind the
scenes a veritable coup
d'état
occurred. Who directed it?
Here
is a fact which might seem insignificant but which merits the most
serious attention: El
Popular
and El
Nacional
carried on the morning of May 27 an identical story, "Mr.
Trotsky Contradicts Himself," which ascribed to me
contradictions on the question of my whereabouts on the night of May
24 and during the very time of the attack. The story, which went
absolutely unnoticed by me in those frenzied hours, was a crude
invention from beginning to end. Who supplied the "left"
newspapers with the story? This is a question of capital importance!
The story referred as its source to anonymous "observers."
Who are these "observers?" Just what did they observe and
where? It is quite self-evident that this
story had as its aim to prepare and justify in the eyes of government
circles,
where these papers are widely read, the
hostile turn of the investigation against me and my collaborators.
An investigation of this peculiar episode would unquestionably shed
light on many things.
Two
servants in our household were questioned for the first time on May
28, Le., on the day when we were already stifling in an atmosphere of
hostility and when the minds of the police were already directed
toward the theory of self-assault. On the next day, the 29th, both
women were again called and taken at 4 p.m. to Via Madera (Guadalupe)
where they were questioned until 11 p.m. inside the building and from
11 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the dark yard, in an automobile. No records were
kept. They were brought home at about 3 a.m. On May 30 a police agent
appeared in the kitchen with a ready-made protocol and both women
signed without reading it. The agent left the kitchen a minute or so
after entering it. When both women found out from the newspapers that
my secretaries Charles and Otto had been arrested on the basis of
their testimony, they both declared that they had said absolutely
nothing that could have justified arrest
Why
were these two members of the guard arrested and not the others?
Because Otto and Charles served as liaison agents with the
authorities and with our few friends in the city. Preparing the blow
against me, the investigating magistrates decided first of all to
isolate our house completely. On the same day a Mexican, S., and a
Czech, B., our young friends who had visited us to express their
sympathy, were placed under arrest The aim of the arrests was
obviously the same: to cut off our connections with the outside
world. The arrested members of the guard were confronted with a
demand that they confess in "a quarter of an hour" that It
was I who had ordered them to carry out the "self-assault."
I am not at all inclined to exaggerate the importance of these
episodes or to invest them with a tragic meaning. They interest me
solely from the standpoint of the possibility of exposing those
behind-the-scenes forces that were able in the course of twenty-four
hours to bring about an almost magical turn in the direction of the
investigation. These forces continue even today to exert an influence
on the course of the investigation.
On
Thursday, May 30, when B. was questioned in Via Madera, all the
police agents proceeded from the theory of self-assault, and
conducted themselves insolently with me, my wife, and my
collaborators. During his incarceration for four days, S. had the
opportunity to listen to quite a few conversations between the police
agents. His conclusion is as follows: "The hand of Lombardo
Toledano, Bassols, and others penetrates deeply into police activity
and this with considerable success. The idea of self-assault … was
artificially inspired from this source."
The
pressure of interested circles must have assumed truly irresistible
proportions in order to compel the representatives of the
investigation to take a serious attitude toward the absurd idea of
self-assault.
What
aim could I pursue in venturing on so monstrous, repugnant, and
dangerous an enterprise? No one has explained it to this day. It is
hinted that I wanted to blacken Stalin and his GPU. But would another
assault add anything at all to the reputation of a man who has
destroyed an entire old generation of the Bolshevik Party? It is said
that I want to prove the existence of the "Fifth Column."
Why? What for? Besides, GPU agents are quite sufficient for the
perpetration of an assault, there is no need of the mysterious Fifth
Column. It is said that I wanted to create difficulties for the
Mexican government. What possible motives could I have for creating
difficulties for the only government that has been hospitable to me?
It is said that I wanted to provoke a war between the United States
and Mexico. But this explanation completely belongs to the domain of
delirium. In order to provoke such a war it would have been in any
case much more expedient to have organized an assault on an American
ambassador or on oil magnates and not a revolutionist-Bolshevik,
alien and hateful to imperialist circles.
When
Stalin organizes an attempt to assassinate me, the meaning of his
actions Is clear: he wants to destroy his enemy number one. Stalin
Incurs no risks thereby; he acts at long distance. On the contrary,
by organizing "self-assault" I have to assume the
responsibility for such an enterprise myself; I risk my own fate, the
fate of my family, my political reputation, and the reputation of the
movement which I serve. What do I stand to gain from it?
But
even if one were to allow the impossible, namely, that after
renouncing the cause of my whole life, and trampling underfoot common
sense and my own vital interests, I did decide to organize
"self-assault" for the sake of some unknown goal, then
there still remains the following question: Where and how did I
obtain twenty executors? How did I supply them with police uniforms?
How did I arm them? How did I equip them with all the necessary
things? etc., etc. In other words, just how did a man, who lives
almost completely isolated from the outside world, contrive to
fulfill an enterprise conceivable only for a powerful apparatus? Let
me confess that I feel awkward in subjecting to criticism an idea
that is beneath all criticism.
The
GPU mobilized its agents with great skill in order to kill me. The
attempt failed because of an accident. The friends of the GPU are
compromised. They are now compelled to do everything in their power
in order to fix upon me the responsibility for the unsuccessful
attempt of their own chieftain. In accomplishing this they have not a
wide choice of means. They are compelled to operate with the crudest
methods, and to guide themselves by Hitler's aphorism: the bigger the
lie the more readily it will be believed.
Extremely
valuable conclusions concerning the behind-the-scenes work of the GPU
can be drawn from a study of the conduct of a certain section of the
Mexican press in the days following the attempted assassination. Let
us leave aside La
Voz de Mexico,
the official Stalinist publication with its crude contradictions,
senseless accusations, and cynical slander. Let us likewise leave
aside the organs of the right which on the one hand are guided by a
chase after sensation, and on the other try to utilize the assault
for their own purposes, Le., against the "lefts" in
general. Politically I am further removed from such newspapers as
Universal
or Excelsior
than Lombardo Toledano and his ilk. I use the above-named papers for
self-defense just as I would use a bus for transportation.
Furthermore
the maneuvers of the right-wing papers are only a reflection of the
politics of the country and, in essence, they have a detached
attitude on the question of the assault and of the GPU. For our
purposes it is much more important to analyze the conduct of El
Popular
and, in part, El
Nacional The
active policy in this case is conducted by El
Popular. As
regards El
Nacional,
the latter only adapts itself to its interested colleague.
Despite
the fact reported by newspapers that Toledano left the capital two or
three days prior to the attack, El
Popular had
at the critical moment very clear and precise directives. The assault
did not catch the paper off-guard. The editors did not on this
occasion try to turn the attack into a joke, nor did it refer to my
"persecution mania," etc. On the contrary, the paper
immediately assumed a serious and an alarmed tone. The issue of May
25 across the front page advanced the slogan "The attempt
against Trotsky is an attempt against Mexico." The leading
editorial under the same heading demanded the most rigid
investigation and an exemplary punishment of the criminals no
matter what their political tendency and what foreign power they are
connected with.
By its phraseology the article seeks to create the impression of
highest impartiality and patriotic indignation. The immediate aim is
to dig something like an abyss between the editors of El
Popular
and the terrorists, who might turn up in the hands of the police, if
not today then on the morrow. This measure of precaution is all the
more necessary the more zealously El
Popular
had conducted in the preceding period a campaign of slander against
me.
However,
under the literary shell of impartiality there lurk cautious
insinuations which are destined in the next few days to receive a
further elaboration. It is remarked in passing, in a single phrase,
that there are "mysterious and suspicious aspects to the
assault." That day these words passed unnoticed. But now it is
completely clear that the author of the article had reserved for
himself beforehand the possibility of advancing the theory of
"self-assault" in
the event of failure on the part of the judicial inquiry.
The second insinuation is no less significant: the article predicts
that the "enemies of Mexico" will ascribe the attempt to
Stalin and Moscow. The enemies of Mexico are here identified with the
enemies of Stalin. The solemn call to search out the criminals, no
matter with what power they are connected, acquires a very limited
interpretation.
With
all its zigzags and equivocations the article is carefully thought
out. The contradictions of the article flow from the
contradictoriness and indefiniteness of the situation itself. The
outcome of the investigation was as yet unknown. In the event of
success of the investigation it was necessary to withdraw as far away
as possible. In the event of its failure it was necessary to preserve
freedom of action along the lines of old slander and persecution. It
was necessary at the same time to distract, so far as possible,
attention away from the GPU, without however tying one's own hands
completely. Rereading the article today, one can clearly see the
white stitching stick out on all sides.
In
the issue of May 26 the same line is continued in the main. El
Popular
demands of the authorities energetic punishment of the guilty ones.
The danger that the participants of the attempt might immediately
fall into the hands of the police is still very great; hence the
harsh voice of impartiality.
The
issue of May 27 already carries the cynical story "Mr. Trotsky
Contradicts Himself." This is the first attempt to develop the
insinuation concerning the "suspicious aspects" of the
assault The story asserts that I gave conflicting testimony
concerning my whereabouts during the attack. The incongruity of this
insinuation hits one between the eyes. If a man living in emigre
solitude proved capable of mobilizing twenty conspirators and
obtaining for them police uniforms and machine guns, then he ought to
be capable of preparing an answer as to his whereabouts at the time
of the assault But let us not be captious about the technique of
falsification. One thing is clear: El
Popular
is preparing the ground for the theory of "self-assault"
The
investigation meanwhile runs into great difficulties: the GPU is
capable of foreseeing a great deal and of covering up its tracks
well. Since the time of the assault three days have elapsed. The
danger of the arrest of the chief participants in the assault could
be considered as eliminated, inasmuch as during this time they had
ample opportunity to cross the border with passports prepared in
advance. In correspondence with this, El
Popular
takes a bolder tone on May 27. The matter is not limited to the
above-cited story in the news section. The leading article on that
day flatly states that the "attempt with every passing day
awakens great doubts and seems more and more suspicious and less and
less logical"; further on, the word "camouflage" is
mentioned. The article ascribes the attempt to American imperialists
who seek to intervene in Mexico and who base themselves apparently on
my collaboration. Why the imperialists should have selected as the
object of the assault none other than myself remains unknown. And
just how the assault against a Russian Bolshevik in Mexico could
justify intervention by the United States remains even less
comprehensible. Instead of analysis and proof, a selection of noisy
phrases.
It
remains to recall that prior to the conclusion of the Stalin-Hitler
bloc, El
Popular
used to depict me invariably with a swastika. I was suddenly
transformed into an agent of the United States only after the
invasion of Finland by the Red Army. El
Popular
tries to dispose of me with the same freedom as Stalin uses in
issuing orders to his agents. In their verbal agitation and
behind-the-scenes maneuvers, Toledano and his allies undoubtedly Went
much further than they did in their own press. As the events of the
next few days show, they engaged in especially intense work among the
police.
On
May 28 the investigating authorities were already completely swung
over to the idea of "self-assault" Two of my secretaries,
Otto and Charles, and two individuals connected with my household, B.
and S., were placed under arrest. Having gained this victory, El
Popular
carefully retreats to the shadows: in the issue of May 28 it once
again assumes an objective position. It is clear why the directors of
the paper were cautious of engaging themselves irrevocably. They knew
more than they told, they placed much less confidence in the version
of self-assault than did the police sidetracked to a false trail by
them. They were afraid that this version might at any moment be blown
up. That is why, after transferring the responsibility to the police,
El
Popular
on May 28 once again assumes the pose of an alarmed patriotic
observer.
In
the issue of May 29, El
Popular
published without comment the declaration of the Communist Party
which demanded, not the punishment of the terrorists, but the
deportation of Trotsky from Mexico. That day my house and all its
inhabitants were cut off from the outside world by a ring of
fantastic suspicions. It is noteworthy that Toledano leaves, on this
occasion as well, the most candid slogans of the Kremlin to be spoken
by the leaders of the Communist Party, who have nothing to lose. He
seeks to preserve a bridge for his own retreat
On
June 1 the press carried my letter to the prosecutor of the republic,
openly naming Lombardo Toledano as a moral accomplice in the
preparation of the assault. After this Toledano steps half way out of
the shadows. "CTM (Mexican Confederation of Workers) accuses
Trotsky of serving as an instrument in the (Yankee) war of nerves
(against Mexico),” proclaimed El
Popular
on June 6. What does this mean? It is empty rhetoric without meaning
and without any basis in fact! In the name of the CTM Toledano
submits to the authorities a document in which the assault is woven
into a web of an extensive and extremely indefinite international
intrigue. Besides myself, suspected of intrigue are a great many
factors, institutions, and individuals. A great many, but not the
GPU. Only "the enemies of Mexico," as we already know, are
capable of suspecting the GPU. Thus in all his maneuvers Toledano
remains friend number one of the GPU.
In
contradistinction to all other newspapers of the capital, El
Nacional
did not even mention the attempt in the first section of its issue
for May 25. In the second section it carried a dispatch under the
heading "Trotsky Subjected to a Theatrical (!) Attempt in His
Home" On what basis the paper reached its appraisal remained
unknown. I am, unfortunately, compelled to assert that in several
prior instances the paper attempted to ascribe to me reprehensible
actions without a shadow of justification.
It
is worthy of the most diligent attention that on the same day on
which El
Nacional
called the attempt "theatrical," El
Popular
wrote, "The attempt against Trotsky is an attempt against
Mexico." At first sight it might appear as if El
Nacional
displayed a much more hostile attitude toward the victim of the
assault than did El
Popular. As
a matter of fact that is not the case. By its conduct El
Nacional
merely revealed that it is much further removed than El
Popular
from the sources of Stalinism, and consequently the source of the
assault. El
Nacional
has editors who strive to do all they can to please the Stalinists.
They know that the simplest way is to utter some sort of suspicion
towards me. When the editors received news of the assault against my
home, one of the editors placed in circulation the first ironic
formula that came into his head. This very fact shows that the
editors of El
National,
in contrast to the editors of El
Popular,
know not of what they write.
In
the following days there is to be observed, however, a drawing
together of the lines of these two publications. El
National,
gathering from the conduct of El
Popular
that it blurted out very incautiously its hypothesis of a
"theatrical" attempt, beat a hasty retreat and assumed a
more guarded position. For its part, El
Popular,
becoming convinced that none of the participants of the attempt had
been arrested, began to pass over to the position of a "theatrical"
attempt. The story of May 27, "Mr. Trotsky Contradicts Himself,"
was also carried by El
National.
On
the basis of an analysis of the articles in El
Popular and
a comparison between them and the articles in El
National
it is thus possible to state with certainty that Toledano
knew in advance of the preparations for the attempt,
even if in the most general way. The GPU simultaneously prepared —
along different channels — the conspiratorial plot, the political
defense and the disinformation of the investigation. During the
critical days El
Popular
received instructions, undoubtedly, from Toledano himself. It is
quite probable that none other than he is the author of the article
of May 25. In other words, Lombardo Toledano took moral part in the
preparation of the attempt and in covering up its traces.
For
a clearer understanding of the background of the assault as well as
of certain circumstances relating to the investigation, it is
necessary to say a few words about my guard. There were reports in
the newspapers to the effect that I "hired" almost
strangers for the guard, that they were people who worked for pay,
etc. All this is false. My guard has existed since the day of my
exile to Turkey, i. a, almost twelve years. The composition of the
guard was constantly changing depending on the country where I lived,
although a few of my collaborators accompanied me from one country to
another. The guard has always consisted of young comrades, tied to me
by the Identity of political views and selected by my
older and more experienced friends from among volunteers of whom
there has been no lack.
The
movement to which I belong is a young movement which arose under
unprecedented persecutions on the part of the Moscow oligarchy and
its agencies in all countries of the world. Generally speaking, it is
hardly possible to find in history another movement which has
suffered so many victims in so short a time as has the movement of
the Fourth International. My personal and profound conviction is that
in our epoch of wars, seizures, rapine, destruction, and all sorts of
bestialities, the Fourth International is destined to fulfill a great
historical role But this is the future. In the past it has known only
blows and persecutions. No one could have hoped during the last
twelve years to make a career with the help of the Fourth
International. For this reason the movement was joined by people
selfless, convinced, and ready to renounce not only material boons,
but if necessary, to sacrifice their lives. Without any desire of
falling into idealization, I shall nevertheless permit myself to say
that it is hardly possible to find in any other organization such a
selection of people devoted to their banner and alien to personal
pretensions as in the Fourth International. My guard has been
throughout recruited from among this youth.
The
guard in Mexico was at first constituted of young Mexican friends.
However, I soon became convinced of the inconvenience of such an
arrangement. My enemies systematically tried to involve me in Mexican
politics in order thus to make impossible my stay in the country. And
inasmuch as my young Mexican friends, living in my house, actually
could to a certain degree appear as agents of my political influence,
I was compelled to refuse their participation in the guard and
replaced them by foreigners, primarily from among citizens of the
United States. They were all sent here after special selection by my
experienced and old friends.
Let
me add for the sake of complete clarity that the guard is not
maintained by me (I lack such resources) but by a special committee
which collects the necessary funds among friends and sympathizers. We
live — my family and guards — as a small shut-in commune,
separated by four high walls from the outside world. All these
circumstances suffice to explain why I consider myself justified in
placing trust in my guard and believing it incapable of treachery or
crime.
Despite
all precautions, it is, of course, impossible to consider as
absolutely excluded the possibility that an isolated agent of the GPU
could worm his way into the guard. The investigation placed under
suspicion from the very beginning Robert Sheldon Harte, the kidnapped
member of my guard, as an accomplice in the assault. I replied to
this: if Sheldon Harte were an agent of the GPU he could have killed
me at night and gotten away without setting in motion twenty people
all of whom were subjected to a great risk. Moreover, in the days
immediately prior to the assault, Sheldon Harte was busy with such
innocent things as buying little birds, repairing a bird cage,
painting it, etc. I have not heard a single convincing argument to
indicate that Sheldon Harte was a GPU agent. Therefore I announced
from the outset to my friends that I would be the last one to give
credence to Sheldon's participation in the assault If contrary to all
my suppositions such a participation should be confirmed, then it
would change nothing essential in the general character of the
assault. With the aid of one of the members of the guard or without
this aid the GPU organized a conspiracy to kill me and to burn my
archives. That is the essence of the case
In
its official declarations the Communist Party reiterates that
individual terror does not enter into its system of actions, etc. No
one supposes that the assault was organized by the Communist Party.
The GPU makes use of the Communist Party but is not at all merged
with the Communist Party.
Among
the possible participants in the assault, those who are well
acquainted with the internal life of the Communist Party have
mentioned an individual who was in his day expelled from the party,
and was later, in return for some kind of services, reinstated. The
question of the category of the "expelled" is generally of
great interest from the standpoint of investigating the criminal
methods of the GPU. In the first period of the struggle against the
Opposition in the USSR, Stalin's clique used to intentionally expel
from the party the least stable Oppositionists, placing them in
extremely difficult material circumstances and thus giving the GPU
the opportunity for recruiting among them agents for work among the
Opposition. Later on this method was perfected and extended to all
the parties of the Third International.
The
expelled may be divided into two categories: some leave the party
because of principled differences and turn their back to the Kremlin
and seek new roads. Others are expelled for careless handling of
funds or other actual or alleged crimes of a moral nature. The
majority of the expelled in this second category have become closely
attached to the party apparatus, are incapable of any other work, and
have grown too accustomed to a privileged position. The expelled of
this type constitute valuable material for the GPU which transforms
them into obedient tools for the most dangerous and criminal
undertakings.
The
leader of the Mexican Communist Party for many years, Laborde, was
recently expelled on the most monstrous charges: as a man who was
venal, a man who sold out strikes, and even took bribes from …
"Trotskyites" The most astonishing thing, however, is that
despite the extremely opprobrious nature of the charges, Laborde did
not attempt even to justify himself. He showed thereby that the
expulsion was necessary for some mysterious aims which he, Laborde,
dared not oppose. Still more, he utilized the first opportunity in
order to declare in the press his immutable loyalty to the party even
after his expulsion. Simultaneously with him a number of others were
expelled who follow the same tactic. These people are capable of
anything. They will carry out any order, perpetrate any crime, so as
not to lose favor with the party. It is even possible that some of
them were expelled in order to remove beforehand from the party any
responsibility for their participation in the assault that was being
prepared. The instructions whom to expel and under what pretext come
in such cases from the most trusted representatives of the GPU who
hide behind the scenes.
For
Stalin it would have been most profitable to have organized the
murder in such a way as to represent it before the world working
class as a sudden and spontaneous chastisement of an "enemy of
the people" by Mexican workers. Worthy of attention from this
standpoint is the persistence and eagerness of the GPU in linking me
up at all costs with the presidential election campaign, namely, the
candidacy of General Almazan. A number of declarations by Toledano,
and by leaders of the Communist Party, reveal this strategic plan
quite clearly: to find or to create a favorable pretext which would
enable them to deal arms in hand with their enemies, on which list I
probably do not occupy the last place There can be no doubt that
among the workers’ militia of the CTM there are special secret
shock groups created by the GPU for the most risky undertakings.
In
order to parry this plan in time I persistently demanded on every
occasion in the press the establishment of an impartial investigating
commission to sift all false reports. But even without this the
public opinion of Mexico has obviously up to now rejected the
slander. The Stalinists, so far as I am able to judge, have not
succeeded in inculcating workers' circles with hatred toward me
Stalin, meanwhile, got tired of waiting for the outburst of "popular
indignation" and the GPU received from him orders to act through
the more customary and direct methods.
The
accidental failure of the assault, so carefully and so ably prepared,
is a serious blow to Stalin. The GPU must rehabilitate itself with
Stalin. Stalin must demonstrate his power. A repetition of the
attempt is inevitable. In what form? Possibly once again in the form
of a pure terrorist act where along with machine guns will appear
bombers. But it is not at all excluded that they will try to cover up
the terrorist act by means of faked ""popular indignation."
The slanderous campaign which is being conducted with ever increasing
venom by Stalin's agents in Mexico is aimed precisely for this
purpose.
To
justify their persecution of me, and to cover up the assaults of the
GPU, the agents of the Kremlin talk about my "counterrevolutionary"
tendency. It all depends on what one understands as revolution and
counterrevolution. The most powerful force of the counterrevolution
in our epoch is imperialism, both in its fascist form as well as in
its quasi-democratic cover. Not one of the imperialist countries
wishes to permit me inside its territories. As regards the oppressed
and semi-independent countries, they refuse to accept me under the
pressure of imperialist governments or of the Moscow bureaucracy,
which now plays an extremely reactionary role in the entire world.
Mexico extended hospitality to me because Mexico is not an
imperialist country; and for this reason its government proved to be,
as a rare exception, sufficiently independent of external pressure to
guide itself in accordance with its' own principles. I can therefore
state that I live on this earth not in accordance with the rule but
as an exception to the rule
In
a reactionary epoch such as ours, a revolutionist is compelled to
swim against the stream. I am doing this to the best of my ability.
The pressure of world reaction has expressed itself perhaps most
implacably in my personal fate and the fate of those close to me. I
do not at all see in this any merit of mine: this is the result of
the interlacing of historical circumstances. But when people of the
type of Toledano, Laborde, et al. proclaim me to be a
"counterrevolutionist," I can calmly pass them by, leaving
the final verdict to history.