Trotsky (46 page)

departure of his Russian typist: Trotsky to Walker, September 30, 1937, TEP 10761; Hansen to Sara and Jack Weber, October 21, 1937, TEP 12490; Trotsky to Walker, November 5, 1937, TEP 10763.

his financial position was “extremely acute”: Trotsky to Walker, December 19, 1937, TEP 10765.

a breakthrough occurred in New York…worked out an arrangement: Walker to Trotsky, February 16, 1938, TEP 5811; Harper & Brothers to Curtis Brown Ltd, April 12, 1938, TEP 636.

Natalia was borrowing funds: Hansen to Rose Karsner, March 2, 1938, TEP 11763.

an anxious letter to Van: Jan Frankel to Van, February 22, 1938, TC 23:4.

“totally acceptable”: Trotsky to Walker, February 26, 1938, TEP 10769.

“à contre-coeur”:
Van to Jan Frankel, February 27, 1938, TC 23:4.

warned by the Doubleday editors: Walker to Trotsky, March 10, 1938, TEP 5813; Trotsky to Walker, March 15, 1938, TEP 10771; Walker to Trotsky, March 30, 1938, TEP 5814; Walker to Trotsky, April 9, 1938, TEP 5817.

a hardheaded arrangement: Walker to Trotsky, April 9, 1938, TEP 5817.

first advance check arrived: Curtis Brown to Trotsky, April 27, 1938, TEP 637.

“I have waged the fight chiefly with a pen in my hand”:
My Life, xvi.

he was nicknamed Pero:
My Life,
135.

Listening to Trotsky’s resonant voice: Van, 13–14; Van, “Lev Davidovich,” in
Leon Trotsky,
42; Glotzer, 38.

pace the floor of his study…lose his train of thought and his patience: Sara Weber, “Recollections of Trotsky,”
Modern Occasions,
Spring 1972, 182; Hansen to Reba Hansen, November 1, 1937, Hansen papers, 18:5; Hansen, “With Trotsky in Coyoacan,” xxiii.

“At least one-third of my working time”: Trotsky to Canfield, September 25, 1938, TEP 7483; Trotsky to Malamuth, October 12, 1938, TEP 8971.

freedom afforded by Russian syntax: Van, “Lev Davidovich,” in
Leon Trotsky,
45.

He complained that Max Eastman’s translation: Trotsky to Jan Frankel, February 3, 1938, TEP 8160.

a scholar of Russian literature: Charles Malamuth.

a comrade in New York would serve as his researcher: Joseph Vanzler, pseudonyms John G. Wright and Usick.

he had lost the habit of writing by hand: Trotsky to Kopp, June 1, 1938, TEP 8711; Trotsky to Jan Frankel, March 27, 1939, TEP 8179; Marie,
Trotsky,
498, 550.

Trotsky chafed at the slow pace: Trotsky to Sara Weber, October 4, 1937, TEP 10829.

Sara Weber…family illness: Rae Spiegel to Jan Frankel, April 9, 1938, TC 23:5.

“Let her come! We shall win her over!” Van, 101.

“She is a quite young girl”: Trotsky to Jan Frankel, May 14 and May 31, 1938, TEP 8167, 8168.

“A girl of eighteen cannot make conspiracies”: Trotsky to Jan Frankel, June 18, 1938, TEP 8171.

Trotsky discovered the Dictaphone: Sara Weber to Rose Karsner, August 8 and August 23, 1938, TC 23:6.

“like a peasant shying away from an optician”…his enthusiasm for his recording machine: Hansen to Rose Karsner, December 7, 1938, TC 23:6.

Russian émigré living in Mexico: Sara Weber to Rose Karsner, August 17, 1938, TC 23:6.

a fresh supply of wax cylinders: Hansen to Rose Karsner, December 7, 1938, TC 23:6.

“guerrilla polemics”: Trotsky to Martin Abern, August 4, 1938, TEP 7254.

The man who became Stalin: Tucker,
Stalin as Revolutionary,
64–114; Montefiore, 26–32.

Lenin’s promotion of Stalin…“wonderful Georgian”:
Tucker, Stalin as Revolutionary,
152.

he sent off the first chapter: Trotsky to Collins, July 1, 1938, TEP 7607.

“far more than 80,000 words”: Trotsky to Walker, August 20, 1938, TEP 10782.

Trotsky had changed the conception of the book: Collins to Walker, September 22, 1938, TEP 13957; Walker to Trotsky, September 25, 1938, TEP 5825.

he hoped to finish the book by February 1: Trotsky to Collins, September 25 and 27, 1938, TEP 7612, 7613.

Trotsky responded with a vigorous defense…“
My
book on
Stalin
must be unattackable”: Trotsky to Walker, October 3, 1938, TEP 10783; Malamuth to Trotsky, December 22, 1938, TEP 2876; Cass Canfield to Trotsky, October 7 and November 26, 1938, TEP 452, 454; Trotsky to Canfield, November 29, 1938, TEP 7485.

The writing would proceed more quickly now: Trotsky to Collins, November 28, 1938, TEP 7615.

“Health is revolutionary capital”: Van, “Lev Davidovich,” in
Leon Trotsky,
44.

His obsession with matters of health and fitness: Ulam, 515–18.

passionate about hunting and fishing: Van, 11–13; Van, “Lev Davidovich,” in
Leon Trotsky,
44; Deutscher II, 335–36.

he often paced the patio: “Joe’s notes on Trotsky,” Hansen papers, 40:7.

He became a gardening addict: Hank Stone to Jan Frankel, May 31, 1938, TC 23:5; Hansen to Reba Hansen, June 19, 1938, Hansen papers, 18:12; Hansen to Rose Karsner, August 21, 1938, TC 23:6; Trotsky to Rae Spiegel, November 3, 1938, TC 10:3; Trotsky to Jan Frankel, November 3, 1938, TEP 8174.

Cactus expeditions: Charles Cornell, “With Trotsky in Mexico,” in
Leon Trotsky,
64–67.

Old Man Cactus: Dugrand, 38.

Natalia made jokes: Deutscher III, 363.

hunting stories…“We flushed a covey of mourning doves”…This gave Trotsky an opening to poke fun: Hansen to Reba Hansen, January 2, 1938, Hansen papers, 18:7.

a Sunday in October 1923:
My Life,
495–98.

“L.D.’s temperature mounted”: Natalia quoted in
My Life,
499–500.

Trotsky’s illness continued to plague him: “Auszug aus der Krankengeschichte von Herrn Leon Sedoff,” 1935, TEP 15749.

“my high temperature paralyzed me”:
My Life,
522.

Trotsky headed south for the Black Sea resort of Sukhumi:
My Life,
508.

“Lenin is no more”: Nina Tumarkin,
Lenin Lives! The Lenin Cult in Soviet Russia
(Harvard University Press, 1983), 158.

Lenin’s body lay in state for four days: Tumarkin,
Lenin Lives!,
138–62; Deutscher II, 110–11.

Walter Duranty described a series of false rumors:
The New York Times,
January 8, 1924.

No one informed Trotsky of the postponement…“I had no choice”:
My Life,
508–11; Trotsky to Malamuth, October 21, October 29, and November 17, 1939, TEP 8979, 8980, 8981.

In Eastman’s view, Trotsky did have a choice: Eastman,
Love and Revolution,
408.

The funeral was held on Sunday…“like a smoke sacrifice”: Tumarkin,
Lenin Lives!,
162; Volkogonov, 266.

bright, warm January sun:
My Life,
509.

At 3:55 p.m…. The effect was deafening: Tumarkin, 162.

“It is the moment of Lenin’s burial”:
My Life,
509; Trotsky to Malamuth, October 21, 1939, TEP 8979.

The mail brought disconsolate letters…seventeen-year-old Lyova:
My Life,
511.

“I should have come at any price!”: Leon Trotsky,
Stalin: An Appraisal of the Man and His Influence
(Harper & Brothers, 1941), 381.

cryptogenic fever: Van, 57;
Diary,
118–19, 145–46, 148, 159; Trotsky to Sara Weber, December 11, 1938, TEP 10836.

He lost ten pounds…no signs of a heart problem: “Health Report by Harry Fishler, M.D.,” TEP 15751; Dr. Alfred Zollinger to Dr. Hartmann, March 5 and April 16, 1938, TEP 15646, 14740.

He did not leave the house for more than two months: Irish O’Brien to Rose Karsner, February 23, 1939, TC 23:7; Lillian to Rose Karsner, March 29, 1939, TC 23:7.

“The general name of my illness is “the sixties’”: Trotsky to Jan Frankel, March 31, 1939, TEP 8180.

the loss, yet again, of his Russian typist: Trotsky to Hansen, March 17, 1939, TEP 8436; Trotsky to Jan Frankel, March 27, 1939, TEP 8179.

Trotsky pleaded his hard luck case: Trotsky to Collins, January 3 and April 8, 1939, TEP 7616, 7619.

“I am almost desperate”: Trotsky to Hansen, March 17, 1939, TEP 8436.

The new residence…in dilapidated condition: Van, 138; Natalia, 251; Irish O’Brien to Usik, May 14, 1939, TEP 12537.

he found a Russian typist: Trotsky to Collins, May 9, 1939, TEP 7621.

less detailed and more “synthetic”…“if nothing extraordinary happens”: Trotsky to Collins, June 3, 1939, TEP 7622.

Trotsky was thoroughly disgusted: Natalia, “Father and Son,” in
Leon Trotsky,
42–43.

“Stalinism is counterrevolutionary banditry”: Volkogonov, 421–22.

an aggressive prosecuting attorney: Knei-Paz, 528–32; Deutscher III, 361–67.

“never-slumbering envy”…“in the full panoply of power”: Trotsky,
Stalin,
336.

Stalin had hastened Lenin’s death: Deutscher III, 367–68.

death of Lenin’s widow, Krupskaya: Trotsky, “Kroupskaia est morte,” March 4, 1939, TEP 15726.

“They proved to be not only peppery but poisoned”: Trotsky,
Stalin,
372–73.

“the monstrosity of such suspicion”: Trotsky,
Stalin,
372, 376–80.

Trotsky accused
Life
of caving in to “the Stalinist machine”: quote is in Trotsky to Bush, January 8, 1940, TEP 8925; also see Bush to Trotsky, October 3, 1939, TEP 2790; Trotsky to Bush, October 15, 1939, TEP 8919; Bush to Trotsky, November 22, 1939, TEP 2793; Trotsky to Editorial Board,
Life,
November 23, 1939, TEP 8922; Trotsky to
Saturday Evening Post,
January 27, 1940, TEP 10018.

the text of an anonymous letter: TC 13:40.

Trotsky…decided that they deserved to be taken seriously: Trotsky to Jan Frankel, May 10, 1939, TEP 8185.

Orlov was now living in Los Angeles:
Deadly Illusions,
322.

he tried to reach Trotsky by telephone: Trotsky to Jan Frankel, May 10, 1939, TEP 8185;
Legacy,
20.

room 735 of the Lubyanka: Sudoplatov, 68–69.

Operation Utka…Stalin authorized the operation: Kolpakidi, 153–54;
Ocherki,
93.

Chapter Nine: To the Finland Station

Alfred and Marguerite Rosmer: Van, 143.

they were rejuvenated: Van to Rose Karsner, August 10, 1939, TC 23:9; Hansen to Reba Hansen, November 7, 1939, Hansen papers, 19:2; Hansen to Rose Karsner, November 9, 1939, TC 23:10.

Hubert Herring: Van, 131; Herring to Trotsky, March 9, 1937, TEP 1970.

the Nazi-Soviet pact: Craig II, 654–57.

Trotsky insisted that the pact was of secondary importance…“the OM refused to be disturbed”: O’Brien to Rose Karsner, August 31, 1939, TC 23:9.

predicting a rapprochement between Stalin and Hitler: Glotzer, 287, 314.

keenly sensitive to the danger posed by Hitler: Van, 2; Glotzer, 57.

the Red Army should immediately be mobilized: Eastman,
Heroes,
254–55.

Trotsky changed his mind about remaining inside the Comintern: Knei-Paz, 414–15; Glotzer, 200–1; Jean van Heijenoort, “How the Fourth International Was Conceived,” in
Leon Trotsky,
61–64.

The moment was hardly propitious: Deutscher III, 342; Volkogonov, 400–1.

many Trotskyists were skeptical: Glotzer, 309–10; Deutscher III, 340–41; Knei-Paz 417.

the voice of supreme optimism: Deutscher III, 345–46; Trotsky to Cannon, June 16, 1939, TEP 7546.

“The Death Agony of Capitalism”: Knei-Paz, 413.

scene of the founding congress…At the end of the day: Deutscher, III, 340–41; Volkogonov, 400–7.

Zborowski protested that the Russian section: Deutscher III, 342; Volkogonov, 401.

Sylvia Ageloff…Ruby Weil: Levine, 43–47; FBI, 1:22, 7:58–67;
American Aspects of Assassination of Leon Trotsky: Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-First Congress, Second Session
(United States Government, 1951), December 4, 1950, 3401–17; Weil profile, TC 24:1.

Jacques took the ladies sightseeing…perfect dilettante: “Statement of Walta Karsner,” August 21, 1940, TC 24:4; “Memorandum of talk with Hilda and Ruth Ageloff,” August 24, 1940, TC 24:2.

Ramón Mercader…Ramón’s flamboyant mother:
Ocherki,
94; Levine, 14–21, 35–37, 43, 61–65; Kolpakidi, 155–57.

Spanish civil war became the NKVD’s training ground…Leonid Eitingon: Levine, 32–35.

she was asked to serve as a translator…she was worried that her Trotskyism…things about Jacques that did not add up: “Memorandum of talk with Hilda and Ruth Ageloff,” August 24, 1940, TC 24:2; “Statement of Walta Karsner,” August 21, 1940, TC 24:4.

Trotsky was especially fond of Sylvia’s sister Ruth: Van, 146.

the American Trotskyists gathered: Cannon to Trotsky, October 13, 1938, TEP 499; Rose Karsner to Lillian, October 30, 1938, TEP 6637.

“I hope that this time my voice will reach you”…“stinking cadaver”…“Long live the Fourth International!”:
Writings,
11:85–87.

Socialist Workers Party: Constance Ashton Myers,
The Prophet’s Army: Trotskyists in America,
1928–1941 (Greenwood Press, 1977); Glotzer, 21–24.

James Cannon: Kelly, 47–49; Wald, 169–70.

Max Shachtman: Kelly, 48; Wald 165, 172–75.

James Burnham: Kelly,
James Burnham;
Wald, 176–78.

Cannon was wary: Cannon to Trotsky, December 16, 1937, TEP 491.

Burnham objected to Cannon’s authoritarian management style…“The tendency in your letters”: Burnham to Cannon, June 15, 1937, TEP 13825.

“degenerated workers’ state”…“unconditional defense”: Knei-Paz, 410–18; Glotzer, 294–95; Eastman,
Heroes
, 244.

regarded as “treason”: Trotsky quoted in Glotzer, 283.

Burnham and Carter described the Soviet system as “bureaucratic collectivism”: Kelly, 63–64; Glotzer, 284.

“a little epidemic of revisionism”: Cannon to Trotsky, November 15, 1937, TEP 490; Trotsky to Burnham and Carter, December 6, 1937, TEP 7456; Trotsky to Burnham, December 15, 1937, Glotzer papers, box 3, folder: “Trotsky, Leon” Trotsky to Cannon, December 21, 1937, TEP 7516.