Leon Trotsky Writings. Edited by Irving lIowe, President Johnson's Rosh Hashanah
Offer Better Understanding of Conditions in
Greetings to the Jewish Community
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The White House issued the°
'Russia, Bolshevik Leader's Jewish Attitudes
following Jewish New Year's greeting, signed by President

In "The Basic • Writings of
- Trotsky," just issued by Ran-
:* dom House, are made available
a series„of the most important
declarations by Leon , Trotsky.
They throw . light on the revolu-
tionary activities in Russia pre-
ceding the rise to power of the
Communist regime; the Bolshe-
vik and Menshevik controver-
sies. the conflicts between de-
mocracy and communism.

The reader gets an idea here
or Trotsky's• Jewish attitudes,
his opposition to Zionism.
Edited by Prof. Irving Howe
of Hunter College, former chair-
man of the Brandeis University
English department, this volume
gains in importance in the
scholarly introduction. Howe
writes that in his power and
his fall. Leon Trotsky is one of
the titans of our century."

Devoting himself to a sur-
vey of the political-intellec-
tual career of Trotsky, Howe
states that the selections in
his book •were made "to pro-
vide examples of his (Trot:
sky's) analytic sweep and bril-
liance, his authority as
spokesman for the Marxist
world-view. and his distinc-
tion as a writer."

He traces the Trotsky back-
ground, thus: "Lev Davidovich
Bronstein — only as a young
revolutionist did he adopt the
name of T•otsky----was horn in
1879, the son of Jewish farmers
living near the Black Sea. The
life of the Bronstein's was
somewhat unusual for Russian
Jews: they worked a large farm
instead of trading in .cramped
ghetto villages. they ,became
well-to-do kulaks who could
mistreat peasants as readily as
gentile landowners did, and
they showed little feeling for
the pieties that still 'gripped
most Jews in eastern Europe."

It was in the environment of
the Bronstein household that
young Lev Davidovich grew up
and "could observe something
of the endless misery which had
been the traditional lot of the
Russian peasant.'` Trotsky's ca-
reer thus is evaluated in the
How5 introduction: •

"Trotsky's writings on Ger-
many in the immediate pre-
Hitler years are a model of
Marxist polemic and analysis,
but also of polemic and analy-
sis that can be valuable to the
non•Marxist as well. With blaz-
ing sarcasm and urgency—he
was never patient toward fools
—he attacke'd the insane pol-
icy of the German ('ommunists,
which declared the Social
Democrats: to be 'social fas-
cists' representing a greater
danger than the Nazis, and
thereby prevented the forma-
tion of that united front of
the left-which he kept insist-
ing was the one way to stop
Hitler. Had his advice been
followed (the Stalinists at-
tacked him for .'capitulating'
to Social Democracy!), the
world might have been spared
some of the horrors of our
century; at the very least. the
German working class .would
have gone down in battle
rather than allowing the Nazi
thugs to take power without
resistance."
Some questions are posed by
Howe. such as: "can the murder
of six million Jews in Europe be
satisfactorily explained through
Ibis ;Trotsky's) theory that Nazi-
ism represented the last brutal
attempt by the German bour-
geoisie to retain power?"
Trotsky's Jewish attitudes are
contained in the article in the
Howe - edited book appearing un-

der tAe title "Thermidor and
Anti - Semitism," translated by
Freddie James (1937). In it Trot-
sky elaborated on his charge

that "Stalin. in the struggle

with the Opposition, exploited

the anti-Semitic tendencies in
the country." Trotsky described
the anti-Semitism of Czarist
Russia, showed that it was not
swept out by the October revo-
lution and stated that the Soviet
regime "did in fact generate
anti-Semitic moods" of its own.
Describing the power strug-
gle. Trotsky wrote:

"The struggle against the
Opposition was for the ruling
clique a question of life and
death. The program, princi-
ples. ties with the masses, ev-
erything was rooted out and
cast aside because of the an-
xiety of the new ruling clique
for its self - preservation.
These people stop at nothing'
in order to guard their privi-
leges and power. Recently an
announcement was released to
the whole world. to the effect
that my youngest son. Sergei
Sedov, was under indictment
for plotting a mass poisoning
of the workers. Every normal
person will conclude: people
capable of preferring such a
charge have reached the last
degree of moral degradation.
Is it possible in that case to
doubt even for a moment that
these same accusers are cap-
able of fostering the anti-
Semitic prejudices of the
masses? Precisely in the case
of my son, both these depravi-
ties are united. It is worth-
while to consider this case.
From the day of their birth.
my sons bore the name of
their mother (Sedov). They
never used any other name—
neither at elementary school,
nor at the university, nor in
their later life. As for me,
during the past thirty-four
years I have borne the name
, of Trotsky. During the Soviet
period ,no one ever called me
by the name of my father
(Bronstein), just as no one
ever called Stalin Dzhugash-
vili. In order not to oblige my
sons to change their name. I
for 'citizenship' requirements,
took on the name of my wife
(which according to the Soviet
law, is fully permissible).
However, after my son, Sergei
Sedov, was charged with the
utterly incredible accusation
of plotting to poison workers,
the GPU announced in the
Soviet and foreign press that
the 'real' (!) name of my son
is not Sedov but Bronstein. If
these falsifiers wished to em-
phasize the connection of the
accused with me, they would
have called him Trotsky since
politically the name Bronstein
means nothing at all to any-
one. But they were out for
other game; that is, they
wished to emphasize my Jew-
ish origin and the semi-Jew-
ish origin of my son. I paused
at this episode because it has
a vital and yet not at all ex-

ceptional character.
The situation under Stalin
grew worse, Trotsky stated,
when Zinoviev and Kamenev
joined the Opposition. The bait-
ing of the Opposition back in
1926 "often assumed a thor-
oughly anti-Semitic character."

In this essay Trotsky quoted the
following from a letter to him,
in August 1936, by "the well
known German radical journal-
ist, the former editor of Aktion,
Franz Pfemfert":
"Perhaps you remember that
several years ago in Aktion I

declared that many actions of
Stalin can be explained by his
anti - Semitic tendencies. T h e

fact that in this monstrous trial
he, through Tass, managed to

'correct' the names of Zinoviev
and Kamenev represents, by it-
self, a gesture in typical Strei-
cher style. In this manner Stalin
gave the `Go' sign to all anti-
Semitic, unscrupulous ele-
ments."
Pfemfert's reference is to
Stalin's having referred to Zino-

viv and Kamanev as Radomisly-
ski and Rozenfeld. In this con-
nection Trotsky wrote: "What
other motive could Stalin have
had to make known the 'real'
names of S ctims. except to
play with ant Semitic moods?"
Trotsky's Jew sh gackground
is mentioned by im in this ar-
ticle which concl des, thus:
"Some woul be 'pundits'

have even ac used me of
"suddenly"ing the 'Jew-
ish questiorrnd of intending
to create some kind of ghetto
for the Jews. I can only shrug
my shoulders in pity. I have
lived my whole life outside of
Jewish circles. I have always
worked in the Russian work-
ers' Movement. My native
tongue is Russian. Unfortun-
ately, I have not even learned
to read Jewish. The Jewish
question therefore has never
occupied the center of my at-
tention. But that does not
mean that I have the right to
be blind to the Jewish prob-
lem which exists and demands
solution. 'The Friends of the
USSR' are satisfied with the
creation of Biro-Bidjan. I will
not stop at this point to cqn-
sider whether it was built on
a sound foundation, and what
type of regime exists there.
(Biro-Bidjan cannot help re-
flecting all the vices of bu-
reaucratic despotism.) But not
a single progressive, thinking
individual will object to the
USSR designating a special
territory for those of its citi-
zens who feel themselves to
be Jews, who use the Jewish
language in preference to all
others and who wish to live as
a compact mass. Is this or is
this not a ghetto? During the
Period of Soviet democracy,
of completely voluntary mi-
grations, there could be no
talk about ghettos. But the
Jewish question, by the very

manner in which settlements
of Jews occurred, assumes an

international aspect. Are we
not correct in saying that a
world socialist federation
would have to make possible
the creation of a Biro-Bidjan
for those Jews who wish to
have their own autonomous
republic as the arena for their
own culture? It may very
well be that within two
or three generations the
boundaries of an independent
Jewish republfc, as of many
other national regions, will be
erased. I have neither the
time nor desire to meditate on
this. Our descendants will
know better than we what to
do. I have in mind a transi-
tional historical period when
the Jewish question, as such, '
is still acute and demands
adequate measures from a
world federation of workers'
states. The very same meth-
ods of solving the Jewish
question which under decay-
ing capitalism have a utopian
and reactionary character
(Zionism), will under the re-
gime of a socialist federation,
take on a real and salutary
meaning. This is_what I want-
: ed to point out. How could
any Marxist, or even any con-
sistent democrat, object to
this?"
This is almost a confessional

that ended in Trotsky's reiter-
ated opposition to Zionism. He
died at the hands of an assassin
a decade before the emergence
of Israel into Statehood—before
the mass murder of Jews by
Germans. What would have
been his attitude had he lived
another 10 years?
In any event. the Howe-edited
"Basic Writings of Trotsky" add
value to an understanding,...of
this Bolshevik genius and to a
better approach to the events
that mar East-West relations
today.
—P. S.

Lyndon B. Johnson: -
"On the eve of Rosh Hashanah and the High Holy Days,
I extend to all my fellow Americans of the Jewish faith
cordial greetings and my warmest wishes for a happy_, tranquil
and spiritually meaningful year.
"The High Holy Days; with their penitential and exalting
liturgy, constitute a perennial reminder of Judaism's profound
dedication to the advancement of social justice and to the
pursuit of world peace. These are everlasting imperatives.
I Ours is an age of both social and spiritual revival. Although
marred at times by conflict among nations and bigotry within
the family of man, it is nevertheless an age of new hope-
' hope for the sick and the poor—hope for those who suffer
persecution—hope that our children will live in a better
and brighter world.
"It is appropriate that all Americans join in the resolve
to work for the uprooting of bigotry, discrimination and
persecution, and in prayers for peace."

Black Jews Organize Group to Fight
Anti-Semitisni Among U.S. Negroes

NEW YORK (JTA)—The forma-, Black Rabbis' Advisory Board, is
tion of a special committee to im- acting as Zaad Rishon's consultant.
prove understanding between
America's Jewish communities and Hebrew Corner
the country's Negroes was an-
nounced by a spokesman for Zaad
Sport Authority
Rishon, an organization seeking to
The State of Israel is striving to make
integrate the more than 40.000
the many immigrants coming from dif-
American black Jews into the ferent
countries into one nation with a
healthy soul and body. In the sport
mainstream of' Jewish life.
clubs, soccer fields and basketball
According to the announcement. courts
you can find youth from various
the new committee will combat communities and countries, while the
difference between them is becoming
anti-Semitic . agitation being • con- smaller
and smaller. Through sport ac-
ducted among Negro communities. , tivity the youth is sepnding its time
a good manner. This is the best
Zaad Rishon is also in the process in
way to fight crime among the youth.
of forming other committees to
It was for this reason that the govern-

ment set up a special sport authority.
which is a department in the Ministry
of Education and Culture.
This authority. which is in charge of
New York's: black Jews.
all sport activity in the country,
Zaad Rishon (First Step), re- organized enterprises in 134 settlements
new immigrants.
cently formed, said that, while offi- ' of One
of the projects of the Sport
cers have not yet been formally Authority is the "Sport Symbol." In all
schools there are contests. Success-
elected, the group's leaders in- the
ful pupils receive the "Sport Symbol."
clude several rabbis as well as This year courses in soccer were given
Rabbi Alexander Bernstein of the in schools.
Last year the Sport Authority set up
JewiSh Theological Seminary and scores of baskets. hand and soccer fields.
Dr. Werner Cahnman, a Jewish also swimming .pools, tennis courts and
stadiums.
sociologist of Rutgers University.
The Sport Authority helps to prepare
Rabbi Moshe Paris, of Ethiopia. teams for international games and is
also preparing the Israeli teams to the
who is chairman of New York's Olympic Games at Tokyo. Japan in the
' fall of 1964.
—Translation of Hebrew column
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Published by Brith Ivr.lth
64 Friday, August 28, 1964
Olarnith. Jerusalem

deal with employment, education
and cultural problems faced by

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