Q: Joshua Rubenstein – Leon Trotsky – Intro

A:

• Studied at Columbia during anti war years

• Focused on Russian studies & language

• Decided to become a writer

• Initial pieces were on Soviet History

• Led to writing on human rights & dissident movement

• Spent 37 years at Amnesty International

• Anita Shapiro, Yale Jewish Lives encouraged me to write on Trotsky

Q: What was Trotsky’s childhood like?

A: 

• Raised in Southern Russia / Ukraine not in Pale

• Father was a very successful farmer

• Claimed that his parents did not speak Yiddish

• Attended a Heder for 3 months

• No emotional connection to Jewish people & religion

• Driven by fanatical belief in revolution

• But, visceral reaction to physical attacks on Jews

Q:  What led Trotsky to become a revolutionary?

A:

• Sharp, sensitive nature, critical of father’s business

• High school 1890s – read revolutionary literature

• Claimed Jewish oppression was not a factor

• Developed Marxist approach, joined revolutionary circles

• Arrested & exiled to Siberia 

Q:  What were Trotsky’s outstanding skills?

A:

• Compelling person; charismatic personality

• Masterful writer

• Great orator

• Central public figure of 1917 revolution

• Public following but not one in the party

Q: How radical was Trotsky?

A:

• Trotsky had a personality issue within the party

• Early 1920s Trotsky seen as radical

• Advocated for a permanent revolution in other countries

• Stalin seen as more moderate

• He claimed that Russian could do it on its own

Q: Did Trotsky get along with Lenin?

A:

• Trotsky was inspired by Lenin’s writing in Iskra

• Agreed with Lenin’s view on need for professional revolutionists

• Smuggled out of Siberia to meet Lenin in Europe

• Taken by Lenin and Lenin was impressed with Trotsky

• 1903 Trotsky soured on Lenin; running arguments

• Reconciled in 1917 & worked together

Q: Was Trotsky evil like Stalin?

A:

• Stalin was evil, endless crimes, caused tens of millions of deaths

• Trotsky was polished, well dressed

• Trotsky made a good impression

• George Orwell: when you abandon democracy, a Stalin is inevitable

• Stalin was actually, in a sense, a student of Trotsky

Q: When was Trotsky exiled?

A:

• 1927 Expelled from the party and sent to Kazakhstan

• 1929 Expelled from the Soviet Union to Turkey

• Turkey – productive years writing history of the revolution & memoirs

• From Turkey to France to Norway to Mexico in 1937

• Murdered by Stalin’s assassin in 1940

Q: Did Trotsky write about Jewish issues?

A:

• Trotsky responds to all physical attacks on Jews

• Wrote about Beilis Trial in 1913

• Not sympathetic to Jewish autonomy or independence

• In 1930s grudgingly accepts that Jews need a haven

• More of Jew in spite of himself

Q: What do we learn from Trotsky’s life?

A:

• Need to adhere to basic democratic values

• Look for moderate way forward; avoid violence

• Importance of civil liberties

• Fanaticism – be wary whether from the right or the left