1933 | Trotsky Interview in Buyukada by Georges Simenon

First Published: Paris-Soir, June 16-17, 1933;
Translated and transcribed: for marxists.org by Mitch Abidor. Source
Mavi Boncuk |

Leon Trotsky [1] Interview by Georges Simenon

I met Hitler ten times at the Kaiserhof when, tense and feverish, as Chancellor he carried out his electoral campaign. I saw Mussolini tirelessly contemplate a parade of thousands of young men. And one evening in Montparnasse I recognized Gandhi in a white silhouette that walked hugging the walls, followed by fanatical young women.

In order to interview Trotsky I found myself on the bridge that connects old and new Contantinople, Stamboul and Galata, a bridge more crowded than the Pont-Neuf in Paris. Why do I have an impression of a beautiful Sunday on the Seine near St Cloud, or Bougival or Poissy? I have no idea.

All the boats around the tangled boarding planks make me think of bateaux-mouches. Are they bigger? To be sure. They even have a marine air, and the propeller beats against the salty water. But it’s a question of proportion. The entire décor is more vast, the sky itself farther away.

Here one bank is called Europe and the other Asia. In place of the tugs and barges of the Seine there are many cargo ships and liners flying flags of all the countries of the world that head out to the Black Sea, or weave through the Dardanelles. Read Full interview

See also: Exile in Buyukada (2000) Directed by Turan Yavuz, (b. 1956-d. 14 May 2007) - Leon Trotsky's exiled years in Istanbul.Exile in Buyukada is a documentary which examines this little-known chapter in Trotsky's life; actress and political activist Vanessa Redgrave narrates.
Based on the book "The Prophet Outcast" by Issac Deutscher

[1]Trotsky, Leon (1879-1940) In the 1905 revolution, he was the leader of the St. Petersburg Soviet and developed the theory of Permanent Revolution. In 1915 he wrote the Zimmerwald manifesto against the war. Trotsky joined the Bolshevik Party in 1917 and was elected to its central committee. Shortly following Trotsky helped organize the October Revolution. In 1923 Trotsky formed the Left Opposition and for the ensuing decade battled the reactionary wave of Stalinism sweeping through the Soviet Union. The opposition was unsuccessful, and Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party and the Comintern, and exiled to Turkey in 1927.

[2] Georges Simenon (February 13, 1903–September 4, 1989) was a Belgian writer best known for the creation of the fictional detective Maigret.