6 Feb 2024 7:10 pm
LowIQTrash: "It's rumored that Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, and Hitler were all at one point in Vienna, Austria at the same time. Whether or not they all got to converse is another story (almost certainly no, but it would make for interesting theatrics)."
Lenin never lived in or visited Vienna, that I know of. LowIQTrash might be thinking of Stalin, who was there for a month in January 1913, visiting Trotsky on revolutionary business. Lenin spent most of his time in exile in Switzerland and, at other times, in Poland, Finland, France, and England, but not Austria.
Trotsky and Hitler both frequented the same popular cafe, Cafe Central, as did many other famous people, and Stalin went there once or twice with Trotsky. So, they may have met, but it's unlikely they did or had anything to say to one another. At best, they were sitting in the same vicinity. Cafe Central is a decent-sized place in the heart of Vienna, a bustling city at the time. So, Hitler and Trotsky would only have been two of hundreds of visitors and patrons.
Trotsky was well-known in some circles as he was an associate of leading Social Democrats and a friend of the psychologist Alfred Adler. Still, Hitler was just a street artist and aspiring intellectual. As such, Hitler is even less likely to have met Stalin or Tito.Tito was a factory worker and lived in a different part of the city. As far as I know, he didn't appear to frequent the same establishment, for he didn't become involved in communism until after WWI.
So, while Stalin and Trotsky knew each other, the others, at best, might have crossed paths as strangers or sat down near one another or something. But, if so, they didn't seem to remember or notice, and at the time, why would they? They were unlikely to recognize one another; at best, Hitler might have recognized Trotsky as a minor celebrity, but even that isn't likely.
Be well
Good evening
"Harvey Mushman"