isaac-deutscher-the-prophet-armed-trotsky-1879-1921

IN SEARCH OF AN IDEAL
defences crumble, his self-confidence begins to vanish; but he
is still too proud or not convinced enough to give any sign of
yielding. There is no outward indication yet of the struggle that
goes on in his mind. Then, suddenly, the new conviction hardens
in him, and, as if in a single moment, overcomes his
spirit of contradiction and his vanity. He startles his erstwhile
opponents not merely by his complete and disinterested surrender,
but by the enthusiasm with which he embraces their cause,
and sometimes by the unexpected and far-reaching conclusions
which he draws from their arguments.
The cause to which he had just adhered was dim in his mind.
He had embraced a mood rather than an idea. He would 'side
with the underdog'. But who was the underdog? How did he
become one? And what was to be done? Nobody could offer
him guidance. No significant Socialist group or organization
existed in Nikolayev. Immediately, his socialism showed itself
in a freshly awakened interest in social and political matters and
in a corresponding weakening of his passion for mathematics.
He began to seek those with similar views and interests; but in
doing so he at once stepped out of the sheltered environment in
which he had spent his childhood and adolescence.
Through his co-lodgers he met a certain Franz Shvigovsky,
a poor gardener renting an orchard on the outskirts of the town,
who, in his hut in the orchard, held a small discussion-club for
radically minded students and working men. Shvigovsky, a
Czech by origin, was a curious character. He read in many
languages, was well versed in the classics ofRussian and German
literature, subscribed to foreign newspapers and periodicals,
and was always ready to oblige his friends with a banned political
book or pamphlet. Old Narodniks, living in the town under
police surveillance, would sometimes join the group at the
orchard. There were no prominent men among these Narodniks,
and they formed no organization; but they imparted something
of their own romantic revolutionary outlook to Shvigovsky's
circle. Nearly all its members considered themselves to be Narodniks.
Thl' meetings, a~ one of the participants says, had a 'harmless
character'. People came to the orchard because they felt
at case there and could speak freely. In the town Shvigovsky's
garden soon had 'a most odious reputation ... as a centre of all
sorts of the most terrible conspiracies'. The police sent in spies,