Rudolf Alois Klement (November 4, 1908, in Hamburg – 13 July 1938, in Paris) was a German member of the Trotskyist Left Opposition and Fourth International.
[1] Belgian socialist Georges Vereeken described Klement as "Tall and pale, slightly stooped, an unexpressive face, impenetrable."
As an immigrant and political refugee, Klement's personal safety was difficult to secure, and he used a host of pseudonyms including Frédéric, Ludwig, Walter Steen, Camille, Adolphe, and Roger Bertrand.
[1] After the death of Left Oppositionist Erwin Wolf in 1937 and Trotsky's son Lev Sedov in February 1938, Klement bore greater responsibility for the task of organizing the creation of the Fourth International.
[3] Prior to his murder, at Trotsky's direction, Klement began a report investigating the assassinations targeting the Trotskyist Left Opposition.
[4][5] A number of Trotskyists suspected Lev Sedov's close associate Mark Zborowski, known in France at that time as Etienne, and later confirmed to be working for the NKVD.
[6][4][2] A Stalinist defector Alexander Orlov subsequently warned Trotsky, anonymously, that a spy named "Mark" was an NKVD agent in Paris.
Through its Stalinist gangsters imperialism indicates beforehand from what side mortal danger will threaten it in time of war.Though Klement was known by his colleagues in the Left Opposition to have been preparing a lengthy political report for the Fourth International prior to his death, as recounted by Pierre Naville, his papers disappeared and were never found.