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Special pages :
Statement to the Press, December 30, 1934
| Author(s) | Leon Trotsky |
|---|---|
| Written | 30 December 1934 |
Sir:
I request you not to refuse publication of the following lines.
In the indictment connected with the assassination of Kirov, mention is to be found of my name. This circumstance has provided certain organs of the press with the pretext for speaking of my implication in the terrorist act at Smolny. One of the newspapers, which I see no need to name and characterize, asserts that my participation in the affair is "proved."
The truth is that even if every word of the indictment is taken at its face value it is only stated that a certain "consul" proposed to Nikolaev to transmit a letter to Trotsky. Testimony of such exceptional importance was only given by Nikolaev twenty days after his arrest The indictment makes absolutely no mention of how Nikolaev reacted to the unknown consul’s initiative and whether the letter was written and transmitted. One would indeed think that if, in the material of the preliminary investigation, there had been found something worthwhile, if not for juridical attention, then at least for propaganda purposes, the indictment would not have been silent about it.
As to what concerns me, I can only add:
1. In the circle of my acquaintances, the only consuls I know are those who refused me visas.
2. If the mysterious consul in Leningrad knows my address, he has completely forgotten to let me have his.
It is hardly necessary, after what has been said, to stress the fact that during nearly forty years of my revolutionary activity I have always, as a Marxist, opposed, from the point of view of the interests of the workers' movement, any recourse to individual terrorism — against czarism as well as against the workers' state. Dozens of my articles, published in different languages, are devoted to implacable criticism of individual terrorism. I see no reason to change this opinion today.
Within the limits of this brief letter, for which I ask your hospitality, I cannot dwell either upon an analysis of the political conditions that led to the appearance of Nikolaev's terrorist group or upon bringing to light the purpose of the attempt to mix my name into this mad and criminal act. To these questions I am devoting a special pamphlet, which will appear in the next few days.
L. Trotsky