| Category | Template | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Text | Text |
| Author | Author | Author |
| Collection | Collection | Collection |
| Keywords | Keywords | Keywords |
| Subpage | Subpage | Subpage |
| Template | Form |
|---|---|
| BrowseTexts | BrowseTexts |
| BrowseAuthors | BrowseAuthors |
| BrowseLetters | BrowseLetters |
Template:GalleryAuthorsPreviewSmall
Special pages :
The Assassination of Rudolf Klement
| Author(s) | Leon Trotsky |
|---|---|
| Written | 20 September 1938 |
To His Honor the examining magistrate in the case of the disappearance of Rudolf Klement:
Your Honor,
I have just learned that Mme. Jeanne Martin des Pallières has intervened in the investigation of the disappearance of Rudolf Klement on her own initiative and has cast doubt on the value of the depositions of Messrs. Pierre Naville and Jean Rous on the basis of photographs of the body found at Melun.
Of course, I cannot offer an opinion as to the identity of the body and consequently on the material value of the testimony concerning it. But I see it as my regretful duty to place before the court, Your Honor, some information that may be of use to you in evaluating the conflicting testimony.
Messrs. Pierre Naville and Jean Rous were very well acquainted with Rudolf Klement. And through frequent association, discussions, and common work, they should have gotten a very exact impression of his appearance, character, and handwriting.
The situation of Mme. Jeanne Martin des Pallieres is quite different. Although she was the intimate friend of my late son, Leon Sedov, she was and is a member of a political group that is extremely hostile to the organization of Leon Sedov, Rudolf Klement, and Messrs. Pierre Naville and Jean Rous. She has given rather animated expression to this hostility many times, even while Leon Sedov was still alive. Since his death, she has been mentally and morally unstable. All of the letters I have received from her as well as many of her actions give unquestionable proof of this. In addition, she did not know Rudolf Klement very well. In one of her letters to me she asked about the identity of "Camille," the name Rudolf Klement used for over a year. At the same time she fostered personal resentment against this man whom she hardly knew. All of this is expressed with great passion in her letters to me.
The political group that Mme. Jeanne Martin des Pallieres belongs to had its own reasons for fostering resentment against Rudolf Klement (see their publication, La Commune).It has become a point of honor for this group to prove that Rudolf Klement betrayed his organization, that is, they endeavor to support the story the GPU uses to cover its crime.
Your Honor, I have but one interest in this matter: to establish the truth about the fate of the unfortunate Rudolf Klement. This interest has prompted me to place before you revelations that I would have preferred to avoid under other circumstances. I am not familiar with the body found at Melun. But I was and am familiar with Rudolf Klement, Messrs. Pierre Naville and Jean Rous, and Mme. Jeanne Martin des Pallieres, and if I had to choose between the conflicting testimony of Mme. Jeanne Martin des Pallieres, on the one hand, and that of Messrs. Pierre Naville and Jean Rous, on the other, I would place my confidence in the latter.
Your Honor, please accept my most sincere regards.
Leon Trotsky