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Special pages :
Letter to Maurice Parijanine, February 8, 1933
| Author(s) | Leon Trotsky |
|---|---|
| Written | 8 February 1933 |
A Possible Visa for France
Dear Comrade Parijanine:
I thank you once again for your friendly advice on the possibility of my wife’s and my coming to France for treatment. I am still quite skeptical, as I have explained to you in my letter the day before yesterday: the reactionary parties have their reactionary arguments and the progressive parties have their progressive arguments — not to run afoul of the government of the USSR. But then, suppose the Daladier government grants me the authorization. I come with my wife, and just as I set foot on French territory, Daladier falls. Mr. Herriot sends me and my wife by force on an Italian cargo ship to float for two or three weeks before arriving back in Prinkipo, and I have spent money out of all proportion to my budget. I am giving you these arguments not because I do not need several months of European medical care. In fact, my wife’s need is quite urgent. But my last experience in Europe [November-December 1932] gives me little cause for hope.
If you see the situation more optimistically than I — which appears to be the case — I beg you to consult with my friends in Paris, especially perhaps with Henri Molinier, who has experience in this area and a correct view of things. But you are completely correct to treat the proposed trip as something quite apart from politics (even though such matters exist in a world corrupted by politics). In any case, I would be quite prepared to give formal assurance that I will not intervene in the political life of the country (no conferences, no meetings, etc.).
You speak of the Riviera and Corsica. I imagine the medical treatment facilities in Corsica are not sufficient. Perhaps the question could be posed in this manner: two months of treatment on the Riviera, and then Corsica. But in that case, the special commissioners would have to be kept well informed, so that they do not confuse Corsica with St. Helena.
With my best regards,