Lot 297

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Description:

LEON TROTSKY
(1879 - 1940) Russian Communist leader who with Lenin organized the Bolshevik October Revolution, defeated by Stalin in their struggle for control of the government, banished and later assassinated in Mexico. T.L.S. "L. Trotsky" 1p. 4to., [Barbizon?], Nov. 1933, in German to noted Communist writer and editor, Ludwig Lore (1875 - 1942) and his wife Lilly. The German-born Lore emigrated to the United States in 1903 and met Trotsky during the latter's visit to New York in 1917. The two became close, and Lore helped realize Trotsky's dream of founding a socialist monthly in the U.S., Class Struggle. When Trotsky split from Stalin in 1924, Lore supported his friend even though it meant his ultimate expulsion from the American Communist Labor Party, of which he was a founding member. In 1933, the Soviet Union recruited Lore as a spy. Whether Trotsky was aware of this fact is unknown. Trotsky writes to Lore, in most part: "I am disappointed that our meeting is not concluded. At the behest of the doctors I had almost a month in a very remote corner of France, cut off from each connection. Your kind letter, as dozens of others, I have only now found after I returned to 'normal' life. Even my wife who has come back to me now, will not reconcile herself with the thought that you were both so close...". Lore's espionage activities are the subject of debate among historians, but the Soviets dropped Lore in 1937 partly due to the suspicion that he still remained loyal to Trotsky. Another source accuses Lore of embellishing intelligence and lying about his sources to his Soviet handlers. Usual folds, faint paperclip mark at top margin, else fine condition.

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March 30, 2011 11:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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