Around the corner from Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul in Coyoacan is the house (and now museum) where Leon Trotsky spent his exiled years in Mexico. The museum is a sombre place, full of black and white photos of Trotsky and his family.
Trotsky was granted asylum in 1936 after being expelled from Russia by Stalin in 1929. His ideas clashed with those of Stalin and Stalin, wanting no opposition in the Communist ranks, set out to have Trotsky assassinated. The first attempt failed, but it served as a warning. The house became a veritable fortress, with watchtowers, thick steel doors, and round-the-clock guards. Finally, a man thought to have been paid or blackmailed by Stalin, directly or indirectly, was able to gain entry by posing as a friend of Trotsky's and of his political views. On August 20, 1940, he put an ice pick into Trotsky's head fatally wounding him.
The house itself is humble. Walking around Trotsky's study I feel an admiration for this intelligent man and sadness for the way he was lost. Trotsky's mausoleum is in the garden where his and his wife's ashes are buried. The ice pick has been 'retained by authorities' I'm told.
The house itself is humble. Walking around Trotsky's study I feel an admiration for this intelligent man and sadness for the way he was lost. Trotsky's mausoleum is in the garden where his and his wife's ashes are buried. The ice pick has been 'retained by authorities' I'm told.
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