4 3 4 D O C . 5 0 3 I N T E R N A T I O N A L T R O T S K Y C O M M I T T E E 503. “Appeal by the International Trotsky Assistance Committee (Germany)” [Einstein et al. 1929a] Published 20 April 1929 In: Die Menschenrechte 4, no. 4/5 (20 April 1929): 16. For Trotsky’s Right to Asylum[1] Regarding Leon Trotsky’s attempt to enter the country, the German League for Human Rights declares that it is the noblest duty of every democratic state to guar- antee any political refugee asylum, insofar as the security of the state is not thereby endangered. Appeal from International Trotsky Aid (German Committee). As you may have learned from the press, the leader of the Russian revolution, Leon Davidovich Trotsky, has been expelled from the Soviet Union.[2] Trotsky, an idealist who has worked for a generation in the interests of workers and has not hes- itated to make any sacrifice, has been expelled from America, Canada, England, Germany, Czarist Russia, and now also from the state that he himself helped to found.[3] Trotsky, a leader of the revolution against czarism in 1905, a consistent opponent of the World War, and along with Lenin, the greatest leader of the 1917 revolution, Trotsky, an historical figure, is in danger of being once again driven from one country to another and physically destroyed. Trotsky Aid has set as its task to protect Trotsky from this fate. Since we assume that you, too, regardless of your political affiliation, may look favorably on our effort and feel great respect for a man of such qualities, we ask you to contribute the amount you can afford to Trotsky Aid (Post Office giro ac- count: H. Urbahns, Berlin 76747). We address this request to you all the more ur- gently because as a result of the one-year banishment to Siberia his health gives cause for serious concern in the event that sufficient aid is not made available.[4]