Letter to the International Secretariat and to All Sections, January 4, 1933

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The Mistake of the International Secretariat

To the International Secretariat and to All Sections of the International Left Opposition (Bolshevik-Leninists)

Dear Comrades:

Through an accidental and unfortunate chain of circumstances it is only today, January 4, that I have come into possession of the minutes of the International Secretariat of December 15. I hope all the sections have read attentively the statement of Well and the answers of Comrades Witte and Kin (for lack of time Bauer could only join himself to their statement). But I find that Comrades Witte and Kin have spoken far too mildly and have not drawn the necessary conclusions from their analysis.

Exactly what did Well say? Let us enumerate his statements:

1. That the leading group of the German Left Opposition which supports the views of the International Left Opposition is a clique.

2. This "clique" (which means, in fact, the International Left Opposition) is distinguished by the fact that it maliciously minimizes the "successes" of the Stalinist bureaucracy.

3. "Bauer gave Trotsky lying and slanderous information." Exactly the same statement was made by Landau before the split, by Mill and the others before their capitulation. The worst information about Well was always given by Well himself, in his letters. I declare that Comrade Bauer in all his communications was most objective, conscientious, and careful, in complete contrast to Comrade Well, who always appeared in a vicious, personal, and disloyal manner.

4. Well objects to our political accusation against Stalin because we consider his international policy anti-proletarian. Well becomes a defense lawyer for Stalin who, after all, in addition to his main occupation, is an executioner of the comrades who share our views.

5. Well is against the theory of Bonapartism.

6. Well is against the theory of Thermidor.

7. Well declares the forthcoming cleansing of the party to be a step forward. This cleansing begins and ends, however, with the repression of the comrades who share our views and with the destruction of all criticism and all Marxist thinking within the party.

8. Well states that nobody talks any more about the second five-year plan, which is his own discovery.

9. Well states that no one talks any more about "social fascism," which, however, is in frightful contradiction to the decisions of the Twelfth Plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International.

10. Well proclaims, "We must get closer to the party." By that he means the Stalinist bureaucracy and this getting closer he purchases by giving up all Marxist thinking.

11. He states on top of this that the five-year plan was "almost" realized.

12. He states that the Russian Opposition no longer exists.

13. He distributes the statement of the Stalinists that Zinoviev and Kamenev voluntarily chose the hole in which Stalin stuck them.

14. In the statement which he originally signed and which brings out his real thoughts without concealment, Well states that the leadership of the Russian Opposition in the article on Stalinist foreign policy capitulates to "Urbahns, Korsch, Sapronov, and other enemies of the party and the Comintern." Capitulation to the enemies of the party means the same thing as stepping over into the camp of counterrevolution.

I hope this enumeration will suffice. Zinoviev, Radek, and the others too, twenty-four hours before their own capitulation, accused Trotsky of capitulation to Sapronov. That those just mentioned made their accusations in a more clever and decent form is hardly an extenuating circumstance for Well. While accusing the journal of the Russian Opposition of crossing over into the camp of the enemy of the party, he declares Stalin's proletarian policy to be above all suspicion and actually above all criticism. He is against the theory of Thermidor. What then is he for? In his enumeration of the points which sharply separate him from the International Left Opposition, Well has forgotten only one thing, namely, to mention those points which still connect him with the Left Opposition.

Imagine for a moment that the thousands of imprisoned, exiled, persecuted Bolshevik-Leninists in the Soviet Union have Well's speech before their eyes, what could they think or say about it? Only one thing – "Well is an outspoken enemy, a Stalinist agent" We can hardly speak here of a mask, since he carries his Stalinist wisdom quite openly. The question imperatively arises: "If we are engaged in the most bitter fight with the Stalinists, who persecute us through their diplomacy and the capitalist police of all countries, can we tolerate secondary Stalinists in our ranks?" I do not think so.

It is no secret that Well is most confused in his opinions. All attempts to help him to a clearer insight in innumerable letters were in vain. The confusion in his case finally crystallized into a completely Stalinist form. And no accident; centrism after all is nothing but crystallized confusion. But precisely because of his clear and open formulation of Stalinism, Well has proven that there is no basis for further discussion. And in that, in my opinion, consists the mistake of the International Secretariat It is not sufficient that two members expressed their opinion and a third member joined them. It was their duty at once as the Secretariat, as the highest institution, to declare that the present views of Well are incompatible with membership in the Left Opposition. And it was this decision, not only the minutes, which the International Secretariat should have laid before all the sections for examination and confirmation.

I for my part do not hesitate for a moment, in the name of the Russian Opposition, which in spite of all the Stalinist slander exists, grows, struggles, and gains in influence, to declare: "If Well holds onto the opinions which he expressed in the minutes of December 15, he must not stay in our ranks another twenty-four hours." That is the formal proposal which I make to the International Secretariat and to all the sections.

With communist greetings,

G. Gourov [L. Trotsky]