Leon Trotsky

Welcome to “Our Small Garrison”

(August 1940)

Written: 18 August 1940.
First Published: Fourth International, Vol.1 No.5, October 1940, p.127.
Transcription/HTML Markup: David Walters.
Copyleft: Leon Trotsky Internet Archive (www.marxists.org) 2002. Permission is granted to copy and/or distribute this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

Transcriber’s comments:

This letter is a part of a series of letters published in this issue of Fourth International
under the heading of Trotsky’s Last Letters,
– D.W., 2002.

(R. was to have gone to Mexico to help train the guards.)

August 18, 1940

Dear Comrade R.:

During the last two years there has been more than one discussion about your coming here. Next to the last time we waited for you when your daughter and her husband visited us. The last time it was when Jim Cannon and Farrell Dobbs and Joe Hansen came here to check the situation after the assault.

Now we hear that the matter is being discussed again. Of course the decision is completely up to the party and you, since you should know better there on the ground if your trip would be detrimental to the party and trade union work. I can only express the wish from our local and very “provincial” point of view that your visit announced so many times should really be carried out. I am sure that your visit even for a couple of weeks would be of high value for our small garrison not to mention the pleasure of meeting you.

You will of course find a room and a plate in our home.

With best comradely greetings,
L. TROTSKY