Source: The Militant, Vol. VII No. 1, 4 January 1934, p. 2.
Transcription/HTML Markup: Einde O’Callaghan for the Trotsky Internet Archive.
Copyleft: Leon Trotsky Internet Archive (www.marxists.org) 2016. Permission is granted to copy and/or distribute this document under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0.
Comrade Trotsky’s article that appeared last week (Hitler the Pacifist) was made from the French text and contained a number of errors.
The following corrections should be made:
In the first paragraph instead of “No more consoling is the fact, etc.” read, “All the more consoling is the fact, etc.” And in the same paragraph the last sentence instead of “But Ossietzki is imprisoned for the very reason that he is able, etc.” read, “But Ossietzki is imprisoned for the very reason that he should not be able, etc.”
In the third paragraph instead of “It is not very difficult to dispel their doubts.” read, “It is not very easy to dispel their doubts.”
The fourth paragraph is a hodge podge because several lines were left out. Beginning with, “And the Leipzig trial shows” the next should go on to read as follows: “that the medico-legal expert testimony of the Nazis merits unbounded confidence. If in this world there existed only sincerity and love of peace, life would probably be made an eternal delight, etc.”
In the sixth paragraph instead of “His nervous system at all times had succeeded, etc.” read “His nervous system by that time should have succeeded, etc.” And further down instead of “the light avenger von Papen” read “the light-minded avenger von Papen.”
In the seventh paragraph (first sentence) instead of “Hitler still inclined in those days, etc.” read “Hitler was still forced in those days, etc.” And in the very next sentence instead of “... from its whole inclination France can come to an agreement only on the basis of a change, etc.” read “... on its own inclination France cannot come to an agreement on the basis of a change, etc.” And in the same long sentence (at the close) instead of “the Germans must re-arm at once” read “the Germans must rearm beforehand.”
In the ninth paragraph instead of “... or, to use a better known expression, a passport” read: “... or, to use a more precise expression, a master-key, etc.” And further on, instead of, “Despite all the respect we have for the two sympathetic journalists, etc.” read: “With all due respect to the testimony of the two deeply-moved journalists, etc.
In the next paragraph instead of, “It is not at all the intention of the present article to give counsel to those, whoever they may be, who decide the fate of Europe: they truly know themselves what they have to do” read, “Least of all is it the intention of the present article to give any counsel whatever to those who decide the fate of Europe: surely they themselves know what they have to do.”
And in the last paragraph instead of “Paris would rather have a knife.” read “Paris vaut bien une messe! (Paris is well worth a mass!”). And finally, instead of “Hitler must painfully avoid a preventive war, etc.” read: “Hitler must painstakingly avoid a preventive war, etc.”
Last updated on: 8 February 2016