American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky
Encyclopedia
The American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky was a pseudo-judicial process set up by American Marxists following the first of the Moscow Trials
. It had no powers of subpeona, nor official imprimatur from any government. It comprised Edmund Wilson
, Suzanne LaFollette, Louis Hacker, Norman Thomas
, John Dos Passos
, Reinhold Niebuhr
, George Novack
, Franz Boas
, John Chamberlain
and Sidney Hook
.
John Dewey
, then seventy-eight years old, agreed to head its Commission of Inquiry.
The so-called Dewey Commission
(officially the "Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials") was initiated in March 1937 by the American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky. It was named after its Chairman, John Dewey
. Its other members were Carleton Beals
, an authority on Latin-American affairs; Otto Ruehle, biographer of Karl Marx
and former member of the Reichstag; American journalists Benjamin Stolberg and Suzanne LaFollette (Secretary); Alfred Rosmer
, who in 1920-21 had been a member of the Executive Committee of the Communist International; Wendelin Thomas, leader of the Wilhelmshaven
sailors’ revolt in November 1918 and later a Communist member of the German Reichstag; Edward A. Ross
, Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin; former literary critic of The New York Times
John Chamberlain
, Carlo Tresca
, Italian-American anarchist leader; and Mexican journalist Francisco Zamora.
This sub-commission, comprising the first five commission members above, conducted thirteen hearings at Trotsky's home in Coyoacan, Mexico, D.F., from April 10 to April 17, 1937.
Leon Trotsky
was defended by the lawyer Albert Goldman
. John Finerty acted as the commission’s legal counsel.
During the course of the "trial", committee member Mauritz A. Hallgren
, formerly an editor of The Nation
magazine, made headlines with a public resignation from the committee. Hallgren charged that the American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky had "become an instrument of the Trotskyists
for political intervention against the Soviet Union." Hallgren's January 27, 1937 letter of resignation was later published as a 1-cent propaganda pamphletby the Communist Party's International Publishers
.
Following months of investigation, the Dewey Commission made its findings public in New York on September 21, 1937.
The commission purported to clear Trotsky of all charges made during the Moscow Trials and, moreover, exposed the scale of the alleged frame-up of all other defendants during these trials.
Among its conclusions, it stated: "That the conduct of the Moscow trials was such as to convince any unprejudiced person that no effort was made to ascertain the truth.
Moscow Trials
The Moscow Trials were a series of show trials conducted in the Soviet Union and orchestrated by Joseph Stalin during the Great Purge of the 1930s. The victims included most of the surviving Old Bolsheviks, as well as the leadership of the Soviet secret police...
. It had no powers of subpeona, nor official imprimatur from any government. It comprised Edmund Wilson
Edmund Wilson
Edmund Wilson was an American writer and literary and social critic and noted man of letters.-Early life:Wilson was born in Red Bank, New Jersey. His father, Edmund Wilson, Sr., was a lawyer and served as New Jersey Attorney General. Wilson attended The Hill School, a college preparatory...
, Suzanne LaFollette, Louis Hacker, Norman Thomas
Norman Thomas
Norman Mattoon Thomas was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:...
, John Dos Passos
John Dos Passos
John Roderigo Dos Passos was an American novelist and artist.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dos Passos was the illegitimate son of John Randolph Dos Passos , a distinguished lawyer of Madeiran Portuguese descent, and Lucy Addison Sprigg Madison of Petersburg, Virginia. The elder Dos Passos...
, Reinhold Niebuhr
Reinhold Niebuhr
Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr was an American theologian and commentator on public affairs. Starting as a leftist minister in the 1920s indebted to theological liberalism, he shifted to the new Neo-Orthodox theology in the 1930s, explaining how the sin of pride created evil in the world...
, George Novack
George Novack
George Novack was an American Communist politician and Marxist theoretician....
, Franz Boas
Franz Boas
Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology" and "the Father of Modern Anthropology." Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did...
, John Chamberlain
John Chamberlain
John Angus Chamberlain is an American sculptor.Born in Rochester, Indiana, John Chamberlain spent much of his youth in Chicago. After serving in the navy from 1943 to 1946, he attended the Art Institute of Chicago and Black Mountain College...
and Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook was an American pragmatic philosopher known for his contributions to public debates.A student of John Dewey, Hook continued to examine the philosophy of history, of education, politics, and of ethics. After embracing Marxism in his youth, Hook was known for his criticisms of...
.
John Dewey
John Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
, then seventy-eight years old, agreed to head its Commission of Inquiry.
The so-called Dewey Commission
Dewey Commission
The Dewey Commission was initiated in March 1937 by the "American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky." It was named after its Chairman, John Dewey...
(officially the "Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials") was initiated in March 1937 by the American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky. It was named after its Chairman, John Dewey
John Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
. Its other members were Carleton Beals
Carleton Beals
Carleton Beals was a radical American journalist, author, historian, and a crusader with special interests in Latin America.-Early years:...
, an authority on Latin-American affairs; Otto Ruehle, biographer of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
and former member of the Reichstag; American journalists Benjamin Stolberg and Suzanne LaFollette (Secretary); Alfred Rosmer
Alfred Rosmer
Alfred Rosmer was a syndicalist leader before World War I and one of the few leaders of that movement to oppose the war from a revolutionary internationalist position....
, who in 1920-21 had been a member of the Executive Committee of the Communist International; Wendelin Thomas, leader of the Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
sailors’ revolt in November 1918 and later a Communist member of the German Reichstag; Edward A. Ross
Edward A. Ross
Edward Alsworth Ross was a progressive American sociologist, eugenicist, and major figure of early criminology.-Biography:...
, Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin; former literary critic of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
John Chamberlain
John Chamberlain
John Angus Chamberlain is an American sculptor.Born in Rochester, Indiana, John Chamberlain spent much of his youth in Chicago. After serving in the navy from 1943 to 1946, he attended the Art Institute of Chicago and Black Mountain College...
, Carlo Tresca
Carlo Tresca
Carlo Tresca was an Italian-born American newspaper editor, orator, and labor organizer who was a leader of the Industrial Workers of the World during the decade of the 1910s. Tresca is remembered as a leading public opponent of fascism, stalinism, and Mafia infiltration of the trade union movement...
, Italian-American anarchist leader; and Mexican journalist Francisco Zamora.
This sub-commission, comprising the first five commission members above, conducted thirteen hearings at Trotsky's home in Coyoacan, Mexico, D.F., from April 10 to April 17, 1937.
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
was defended by the lawyer Albert Goldman
Albert Goldman (politician)
Albert Goldman was an American Trotskyist and lawyer to the labor movement.Born Albert Verblen in Chicago, he studied at Medhill High School and then the University of Cincinnati. He also studied to be a rabbi at the Hebrew Union College...
. John Finerty acted as the commission’s legal counsel.
During the course of the "trial", committee member Mauritz A. Hallgren
Mauritz A. Hallgren
Mauritz Alfred Hallgren was an American journalist, editor, and author. Hallgren is remembered as a leading liberal public intellectual of the 1930s, writing extensively on current affairs for The Nation magazine.-Career:...
, formerly an editor of The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
magazine, made headlines with a public resignation from the committee. Hallgren charged that the American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky had "become an instrument of the Trotskyists
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
for political intervention against the Soviet Union." Hallgren's January 27, 1937 letter of resignation was later published as a 1-cent propaganda pamphletby the Communist Party's International Publishers
International Publishers
International Publishers is a book publishing company based in New York City specializing in Marxist works of economics, political science, and history. The company was established in 1924 by A.A. Heller and Alexander Trachtenberg, using funds earned through a lucrative trade concession granted...
.
Following months of investigation, the Dewey Commission made its findings public in New York on September 21, 1937.
The commission purported to clear Trotsky of all charges made during the Moscow Trials and, moreover, exposed the scale of the alleged frame-up of all other defendants during these trials.
Among its conclusions, it stated: "That the conduct of the Moscow trials was such as to convince any unprejudiced person that no effort was made to ascertain the truth.