The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 16, 1925, Page 12

The Latest Wave of Terror in Poland By T. DOMBAL. Prison—this. is the word which un- der the present conditions in Poland does not only mean for all revolution- ary fighters in Poland the loss of their freedom for many, many years, but above all a time of physical tortures and inhuman, degarding treatment by the bourgeois hangmen, The prisons of “democratic” Poland with regard to the barbarian treat- ment of the prisoners, have by far exceeded the sad fame of the czarist dungeons and can today only compete with the prisons of the colonial coun- tries. Centers of Disease. To the unheard of sanitary condi- tions in the wet and dirty cells with masses of vermine, making the pris- ons a center of serious diseases and ruining the prisoners for life, to the disgusting and insufficient food, of which every prisoner, who does not receive additional food from the out- side, will gradually starve after a per- iod of one to one and a half years, to the systematic maltreatment of the prisoners, are added the degrading tortures which are intended to hurt the human dignity of the prisoners. Everyone, from the lowest prison guard to the director, uses all possible means to torture and degrade the prisoners. Contain 7,000 Reds. At present the Polish prisons con- tain about 6,000 to 7,000 political pris- oners, a number which does not de- crease, but on the contrary, grows from day to day. The Polish political prisoners are divided by the authorities in a num- ber of different cathegories according to the character of their offense: State treason, revolt, resistance against the authorities, desertion from the army, offenses against the laws of public order and even falsifi- cation of documents constitute, par- ticularly with. regard to the illegal existence of the Communist Party and the trade unions, a big number of “crimes.” According to the officials’ state- ments contained in the “Statistical Vestnik of Retch Pospolitika’ (chap- ter XXII, Administration, Justice, page 172-186) in the year of 1923 there are in Poland 749 courts (apart from the military courts) 340 prisons and 34 jails. There are 5,386 judges, pros- ecutors and their assistants. The number of police officials in Poland was 75,989 in 1923, and together with the frontier guards 95,377. It must be stressed that there are 32,760 or- dinary policemen and 953 commissars and sub-commissars amt 2,289 secret police agents, quite apart from the many persons who are paid specially for every service. As a sign of the growth of white terror we must mention that there were in 1922 only 1,854 secret agents. One spy usually has to supervise 10 to 20 persons. This conveys a gen- eral idea of the appartus which has as its purpose the destruction of the The Convict Ship democracy has more subtfe weapons] attached to them. By JAN WIT. the 18th century England’s eco- nomic and toil system was such that the people were forced at times to snitch a fowl or so from the large estates of the lords. For this they were given when caught the death sentence and often banishment to Aus- tralia, then the convict isle of Great Britain. Numerous convict ships were used and each captain vied with the other to excell in creating instru- ments of torture. The pride of this fleet, “The Suc- cess,” is now on exhibition in Chicago at State St., and the river, Captain John Price, son of Sir Rose Price, was held most responsible for the inhu- man cruelties practiced on the hulks. He certainly invented some of its more exquisite tortura, Venturing too close to a chain gang of thirty-two “Success” convicts, who had been taken ashore to build a prison, some one bounced a stone hammer on his head so emphatically that he never smiled again. Seven Were Hanged. All the convicts in the gang were tried for the murder, fifteen of them convicted, and seven hanged. Some one put in a plea for one ‘of them, a youth, named Burke, on account of his age, 16. But it was found he had been a convict for five years so must necessarily be a desperate character, so he was hanged, too, But the murder brot about an inves- tigation, and Australia was shocked. Orders were given to pull all the sea- cocks and sink every hulk forthwith —and it was done. The “Success” lay at the bottom of the ocean for five years. Due to some legal hocus- pocus she had not been condemned properly with the others. So some enterprising American got permission, presumably for a pecuniary considera- tion, to raise her; which they did. She was scarcely damaged by her five years’ immersion, due perhaps to her Burmese teak, and tremendously strong construction. She proceeded under her own sail to England, and from there to the United States. At present she is waiting your inspection for the “nom- inal charge’ of fifty cents. It is esti- mated that over 20 million people paid admission, which would make around ten million in profits. Surely that is going the English one better, exploiting ancient torture devices. Capitalists do not care about some one showing old devices of torture, as existing today. When some one be- gins exposing these—beware. Stole $15—Gets Life. One of the five hulks was devoted to the use of women convicts. There was no material difference in the treatment or accommodations. Eliza- beth Stott and ‘her child (small chil- dren were forced to accompany their parents and undergo the same penal- ties) made the mistake of forging a check for fifteen dollars, for which, at the age of 28, she was sent up for life. Captain Melville, whose crime con- sisted of stealing a potato pie, value two pence, from a baker’s cart, was also given a long term. Donovan was a case of mistaken identity. He serv- ed 16 years and died from the conse- quences ¢wo months too late to learn that some one else confessed to the crime he was sentenced for. Harry Powers, he was Irish too, was transported for shooting the squire’s game, Of course, the men mentioned are not, perhaps, the worst cases of per- secution of the “rank and file” as the bourgeoise of 1790 would say, as it would take a large “Who’s-Who” to in- clude them all, Let us look at some of the “Convict Jewelry” aboard the “Success.” There are the following—the airless dun; geons and condemned cells, the whip- ping posts, manacles, branding irons, leaden tipped cat-o-nine tails, the coffin bath, the iron lady and imple- ments of torture that would make the Spanish inquisition pale into insigni- cance and all because the offenders were workingmen who were forced to steal in order to live. How They Used Convict Jewelry. Upon arrival the convict was fitted by a convict smith with a pair of ankle irons weighing thirty-five pounds, and he was placed in a cell in the lower deck, being allowed one hour out of every twenty-four on the upper deck for air and exercise. The cells were supposed to house not more than three people, but due to demand for more space than was available, they sometimes contained five or six. At the end of two years, if the con- vict’s conduct had been good, the thirty-five pound le chains were smitten off, and ven-‘pound ankle chain substituted. Those who at- tempted to commit suicide, either by jumping overboard or in any other way, had an iron ball of fifty pounds labor movement and of the liberation movement of the peasantry. _ Apart from desertion from the army of which there were alone in 1921, 15,897 cases registered by the authori- ties, we must consider the “crimes” which are considered as political crimes. In 1922 the police had regis- tered the following numbers of these: State treason and other political crimes, 2,920 cases; revolt and resist- ance against the authorities, 24,219 cases; disturbance of public order (strikes, etc.), 24,203 cases, thus a total of 61,342 cases. If we even suppose that 75 per cent of these cases are not in direct con- nection with the class conscious pol- itical movement, there remain still 15,000 cases. Supposing even that 20 per cent of these prisoners have been released after some days from the police jails, that 30 to 40 per cent have been released after the examin- ation thru the judge, there still re- main 6,000-7,000 persons who have to pass thru the imprisonment on re- mand which usually lasts in Poland up to two years, Extend White Terror. There are still other official state- ments—also published in the Statis- tical Westnik, which prove the exten- sion of white terror. In 1921, 2,873 persons were tried for “crimes against the state” and in the year 1922, 4,142 persons were tried for the same “crime.” Similar figures for 1923 and 1924 are not available, but we know that white terror continuously in- creased during these years. It must furthermore be added that in 1922, 478 accused were sentenced to death and that 66.4 per cent of all death sentences have been carried out. How can we explain this exten- sion of white terror in Poland? Above all we must not forget that in those countries where the intensi- fication of class antagonism reaches its culmination point, the ruling class throws away the mask of democracy, and increases its terror to the utmost. The growth of white terror proves the increase of the revolutionary strug- gle and the approach of the decisive battle. An International Struggle. Above all we must remember the historic mission which Poland has to carry out for international capital, i, e., to play the role of a bulwark, a barrier of international ,counter-revo- lution. For this reason the feudal- bourgeois Poland must be on the one hand a war camp and on the other a country of prisons. Lenin realized and appreciated this circumstance and the importance of the coaquest of Warsaw by Commun- ism for the international revolution. For this reason the working class and the revolutionary peasantry of Po- land, who are fighting on this ex- tremely difficult post at the revolu- tionary front and try to overthrow this center of international counter- revolution, must receive the unanim- ous support of the workers of the whole world. Comes to Chicago| For very determined attempts a de- vice invented by Captain Price was used. It consisted of an iron neck band and an iron waist band con- nected by so short a chain that the wearer was bent almost double; this in turn was attached to the ankle chains. © A“ man wearing _this™ if he fell down, would have to wait uatil some one picked him up and put him on his feet again, As the convicts, crippled with chains, could neither walk up or down the companion ladders, a sort of elevator arrangement, worked by a windlass, was used for bringing them up and lowering them into the holds. Are We Much Better Off “Today? If you get a chance to walk her EW YORK.—There is a revolu- tionary museum in Moscow, in which there is gathered all the ma- terial pertaining to the revolutionary movement of Russia. One section of this museum, which was established by the “society of former political prisoners and exiles,” is devoted to the life, sufferings and activities of former political prisoners and exiles, this section being called the “museum of prisons and exile.” This society is collecting material consisting of correspondence from prisons and from exile, letters and articles about prisoners and the pris- ons, programs of affairs to aid the prisoners, pictures and post cards, photographs of the prisoners and the jails, ete, The society has representatives in all countries to collect the material. The representative in this country is C’mon Material for the Revolutionary Museum decks, you may still see the ruts and grooves worn in the wood by the dragging chains. This is not a medie- val tale of capitalists’ treatment of workers. It happened yesterday. Look thru the penal institutions of today—the police stations with the third degreé, the bureau, the Tubber — ‘ ; thé goldiish, Machine gins, pol son gas, state police strikebreakers and what not. Substantially we are better off than the workers of 1790—but, considering the strides of science—the highly centralized form of production—rela- tively how much better off are the average. workers—with a standing army of two million unemployed— deaths, starvation and suicide result- ing therefrom? Comrade Rose Baron, who has been authorized to collect all possible ma- terial for the society in Amefica, Com- rade Baron asks all sympathizers and interested persons ty assist her in collecting the -material. Comrade Ba- ron was very active in the “relief so- ciety for political prisoners and exiles in Siberia,” before the Russian revo- lution and has already sent to Mos- cow the archives which were in her possession. This, however, is not sufficient. There are hundreds of Russians in this country who were in Russian prisons and in exile under the czars, and who have very valuable material. This material should be sent to Rose Baron, 108 East 14th St., New York City. Get a sub—make another Com- munist! Over! If you have a day, an hour, or a minute to spare—why, c’mon over. There is so much work piled up on the small force in our office that we need your help so very badly, to insert letters, address, seal and stamp envelopes and ever so many other little jobs that have us swamped. If you volunteer your services that’s a fine way to help the DAILY WORKER. We'll be glad to see you—so just for fun, c’mon over! 0000.00 initio |