2023-06-20 23:17:02
A few days ago, Esteban Volkov (grandson of the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky) passed away. He dedicated the last decades of his life to vindicate the figure, the political trajectory and the ideas of his grandfather.
Alejandro Iturbe
An article recently published on our website summarizes the life of Esteban[1]. In this, we want to refer to a special topic: he inherited from his grandfather the criterion that the defense of the evaluation of the moral integrity of a revolutionary is as important (and even more) than the evaluation of his positions and the political action of he.
He experienced the fierce Stalinist persecution in a very profound and direct way, based on the false accusation that Trotsky, his family and the Trotskyists were “agents of imperialism” and “enemies of the revolution”.
He saw his grandfather put a lot of effort into refuting these falsifications in front of the Dewey Commission, officially called the “Commission of Inquiry into the accusations made against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow trials.” This commission worked, in 1937, for several months and was made up of figures from various countries of the world that did not belong to Trotskyism and received numerous oral and written testimonies from Trotsky. His conclusion was that Trotsky had not committed any of the “crimes” of which Stalinism accused him.[2].
In December 1995, Esteban himself was a member of a “moral tribunal” set up to judge the accusations against Juan Pablo Bacheler by Guillermo Lora, top leader of the Bolivian Revolutionary Workers’ Party (POR). Bacheler (then leader of the POR) had presented a series of documents criticizing the line of the leadership. Lora accused him of being an “informer” and, in December 1994, at a POR conference, he voted to expel him from the party, along with other militants who had supported his documents.
Later, Bacheler proposed the formation of an International Moral Tribunal made up of independent figures from the two opposing factions. The Tribunal was formed and held sessions that year in Bolivia. Lora refused to appear and sought to prevent its operation, but was unsuccessful. Finally, the conclusion was that Lora’s accusations against Bacheler were false.[3].
Esteban Volkov was invited and participated in that Tribunal. It is important to point out that, among other figures that made it up, was José María de Almeida, then a militant of the Socialist Convergence of Brazil, member of the National Executive of the CUT Brazil and current national president of the PSTU of Brazil. It was an expression of the historical position of our Morenista current, totally against the use of false moral accusations against revolutionary leaders and militants, a scourge that some Trotskyist organizations took from Stalinism.
Esteban Volkov’s participation in that Tribunal is a demonstration that he not only vindicated his grandfather’s political career but also his position against revolutionary morality and false moral accusations. A fact and an attitude that value even more what he did during his life.
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[1] Esteban Volkov, Trotsky’s grandson, died – International Workers League (litci.org)
[2] The Case of Leon Trotsky (Report of Dewey Commission – 1937) (marxists.org)
[3] Bolivia: International Moral Tribunal – In Defense of Marxism (revistaedm.com)
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