Robert Sheldon Harte
Encyclopedia
Robert Sheldon Harte (1915–1940) was an American
Communist who worked as one of Leon Trotsky
’s assistants and bodyguards in Coyoacán
, Mexico
. During the Stalinist attack against Trotsky’s household on May 24, 1940, Harte was abducted and later murdered by the Stalinist agents, among them David Alfaro Siqueiros
(accused of the murder), and Pablo Neruda
, who helped the latter escape to Chile. Harte's body was found alongside the road to Desierto de los Leones and Trotsky commissioned a plaque and had it placed at the front of the house with the text: "In Memory of Robert Sheldon Harte, 1915–1940, Murdered by Stalin."
In The Assassination of Trotsky
, he is portrayed under the name "Sheldon Harte." See
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/PanelSheldon.jpg for a picture of Robert Sheldon Harte.
The Fourth International, the theoretical journal of the US Socialist Workers Party, published an article by Walter Rourke titled http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/fi/vol03/no05/rourke.htm The Murder of Bob Harte
(Fourth International, vol.3 No.5, May 1942, pp. 139–142), calling him the first American Trotskyist to fall victim to Stalin. In the article Burke notes that Trotsky wrote in the Mexican press that “The corpse of Bob Sheldon Harte is a tragic refutation of all the slanders and false denunciations made against him.” In his account of the attack Trotsky wrote that if Sheldon Harte were an agent of the GPU he could have killed me at night and gotten away without setting in motion 20 people all of whom were subjected to a great risk. http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1940/05/stalin.htm Leon Trotsky,
Stalin Seeks My Death.
It was later found, contrary to Trotsky's opinion, that Robert Sheldon Harte was indeed a Soviet agent operating under the name 'Amur' and an accomplice in the May 24, 1940 attack on Trotsky. However according to statements made by the man in charge of this GPU operation, General Leonid Eitingon in March 9, 1954, Harte was liquidated afterwards because he had expressed second thoughts. Eitingon is thus on record saying that:
"during the operation it was revealed that Sheldon was a traitor. Even though he opened the gate to the compound, once in the room there was found neither the archive, nor Trotsky himself. When the participants in the raid opened fire, Sheldon told them that, had he known all this, as an American he never would have agreed to participate in this raid. Such behavior served as the basis for deciding on the spot to liquidate him. He was killed by Mexicans."
See http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/%27casa%27museo%27leon%27trotsky.jpg, which shows a picture of the plaque in memory of Robert Sheldon Harte, commissioned by Leon Trotsky. It is located at Casa Museo Leon Trotsky, Coyoacan, Mexico.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Communist who worked as one of 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....
’s assistants and bodyguards in Coyoacán
Coyoacán
Coyoacán refers to one of the sixteen boroughs of the Federal District of Mexico City as well as the former village which is now the borough’s “historic center.” The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means “place of coyotes,” when the Aztecs named a pre-Hispanic village on the southern shore...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. During the Stalinist attack against Trotsky’s household on May 24, 1940, Harte was abducted and later murdered by the Stalinist agents, among them David Alfaro Siqueiros
David Alfaro Siqueiros
José David Alfaro Siqueiros was a social realist painter, known for his large murals in fresco that helped establish the Mexican Mural Renaissance, together with works by Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, and also a member of the Mexican Communist Party who participated in an...
(accused of the murder), and Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
, who helped the latter escape to Chile. Harte's body was found alongside the road to Desierto de los Leones and Trotsky commissioned a plaque and had it placed at the front of the house with the text: "In Memory of Robert Sheldon Harte, 1915–1940, Murdered by Stalin."
In The Assassination of Trotsky
The Assassination of Trotsky
The Assassination of Trotsky is a 1972 British film directed by Joseph Losey with a screenplay by Nicholas Mosley. It starred Richard Burton as Leon Trotsky, as well as Romy Schneider and Alain Delon.-Plot:...
, he is portrayed under the name "Sheldon Harte." See
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/PanelSheldon.jpg for a picture of Robert Sheldon Harte.
The Fourth International, the theoretical journal of the US Socialist Workers Party, published an article by Walter Rourke titled http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/fi/vol03/no05/rourke.htm The Murder of Bob Harte
(Fourth International, vol.3 No.5, May 1942, pp. 139–142), calling him the first American Trotskyist to fall victim to Stalin. In the article Burke notes that Trotsky wrote in the Mexican press that “The corpse of Bob Sheldon Harte is a tragic refutation of all the slanders and false denunciations made against him.” In his account of the attack Trotsky wrote that if Sheldon Harte were an agent of the GPU he could have killed me at night and gotten away without setting in motion 20 people all of whom were subjected to a great risk. http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1940/05/stalin.htm Leon Trotsky,
Stalin Seeks My Death.
It was later found, contrary to Trotsky's opinion, that Robert Sheldon Harte was indeed a Soviet agent operating under the name 'Amur' and an accomplice in the May 24, 1940 attack on Trotsky. However according to statements made by the man in charge of this GPU operation, General Leonid Eitingon in March 9, 1954, Harte was liquidated afterwards because he had expressed second thoughts. Eitingon is thus on record saying that:
"during the operation it was revealed that Sheldon was a traitor. Even though he opened the gate to the compound, once in the room there was found neither the archive, nor Trotsky himself. When the participants in the raid opened fire, Sheldon told them that, had he known all this, as an American he never would have agreed to participate in this raid. Such behavior served as the basis for deciding on the spot to liquidate him. He was killed by Mexicans."
See http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/%27casa%27museo%27leon%27trotsky.jpg, which shows a picture of the plaque in memory of Robert Sheldon Harte, commissioned by Leon Trotsky. It is located at Casa Museo Leon Trotsky, Coyoacan, Mexico.
