The Daily Worker Newspaper, December 22, 1934, Page 4

Page 4 DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1934 Hearst Continues Poisonous Forgeries in New Campaign Fascist Provocation Against American Laboi To Whip Up Publishe r Resorts To Shameless Lies Against Communists He Deliberately Distorts Sections of Program of; the Communist International in Attacks | on Militant Again and again William Workers i Randolph Hearst resorts to the most poisonous forgeries of Lenin’s writings and of the program of the Communist International in order to whip up fascist provocation against American labor, and especially its most Previously Lenin’s writir to suit ow needs. Now we discover Hearst de- liberately distorting sections of the | program of the Communist Interna- | tional. We print herewith that sec- tion of the program of the Commu- | nist International from which| Hearst takes a few sentences, re-| writes them to suit his own poison- propaganda needs. Not satisfied | with this, Hearst’s scribblers add) whole sections which do not ae in the original. For example, Hearst for days now has been reprinting what he claims is a quotation from the Program of the Communist In ternational, adopted at its Sixth Gongtess in 1928. We print below the Section on “The Period of Transition from Capitali: to So- cialism and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat,” which is of the great- est importance in view of present events in the Soviet Union Concocts Quotation | Hearst, for example, concocts the | followihg spurious quotation: “The | conquest of power by the proletariat | is the violent abolition of the power! of the bourgeoisie, the destruction of the machinery of the capitalist state, “We ptoclaim openly that our de-| sign can only be realized by the) violent overthrow of the entire tra- | ditional social order.” Here the trick is obvious, by par- | tially accurate quotation, though | with tricky capitalization, and by absolute distortation of other sec- tions, Hearst tries to give his read- | ers a picture of Communism which | is absolutely false. section of the program, print- ed below, which Hearst distorts reads as follows: “The conquest power by the proletariat is the vio- | Jent overthrow of bourgeois power, the destruction of the capitalist State apparatus (bourgeois armies, | pol bureaucratic hierarchy, the! judiciary, parliaments, etc.) and | substituting in its place new organs | of proletarian power, to serve pri- marily as instruments of suppres- sion of the exploiters.” Explained in the Text This is fully explained in the fol- lowing text itself: IV. THE PERIOD OF TRANSI- TION FROM CAPITALISM TO) SOCIALISM AND THE DICTA- TORSHIP OF THE PROLE- TARIAT, | 1, The Transition Period and the Conanest of Power by the Prole- tar ETWEEN capitalist society and Communist society a period of revolutionary transformation in- tervenes, during which the one changes into the other. Corre- spondingly, thete is also an in- tervening period of political tran- sition, in which the essential State form is the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. The transition from the world dictatorship of imperialism to the world dictatorship of the prole- tariat extends over a long period of proletarian struggles with de- feats as well as victories; a period of contitious general crisis in cap- italist relationships and growth of social revolutions, i. e., of prole- tarian civil wars against the bour- gecisie; a period of national wars and colonial rebellions which, al- though not in themselves revyolu- tionary proletarian socialist move- ments, are, nevertheless, objec- tively, insofar as they undermine the domination of imperialism, constituent parts of the world proletarian revolution; a period in which capitalist and socialist ecsnomic and social systems exist Side by side in “peaceful” rela- tionships as well as in armed con- flict; a period of formation of a Union of Soviet Republics; a period in which the ties between the Soviet States and the colonial Peoples become more and more closely established, etc. Uneven economic and political development is an absolute law of capitalism, This unevenness is still more pronounced and acute in the epoch of imperialism. Hence, it follows that the inter- national prcletarian revolution cannot be conceived as a single event occurring simultaneously all over the world; at first socialism may be victorious in a few, or even in one single capitalist coun- try. Every such proletarian vic- .tory, however, broadens the basis of the world revolution and con- sequently still further intensifies the general crisis of capitalism. Thus, the capitalist system as a whole reaches the point of its firal collapse; the dictatorship of finance capital perishes and gives piace to the dictatorship of the proletariat. Bourgeois revolutions brought about the political liberation of a system of productive relationships that had already established itself and become economically dom- inant, and transferred political Power from the hands of one class of exploiters to the hands of an- his | an alliance of workers and peas- | the transition period as a whole, | frantic struggle. Hence, the vio- litant section, the Communist Party. we exposed how Hearst deliberately twisted | other. Proletarian revolution, however, signifies the forcible in- vasion of the proletariat into the domain of property relationships of bourgeois society, the expro- priation of the expropriating classes, and the transference of | power to a class that aims at the radical reconstruction of the eco- nomic foundations of society and | the abolition of all exploitation of man by man. The political dom- ination of the feudal barons all over the world was broken in a | series of separate bourgeois revo- | lutions that extended over a | period of centuries. The interna- tional proletarian revolution, how- ever, although it will not be a | single simultaneous act, but one | extending over a whole epoch, nevertheless—thanks to the closer ties that now exist between the countries of the world, will ac- complish its mission in a much shorter period of time. Only after the proletariat has achieved vic- tory and consolidated its power all over the world will a prolonged period of intensive construction of world socialist economy set in. The conquest of power by the proletariat is a necessary condi- tion precedent to the growth of socialist forms of economy and to the cultural growth of the prole- tariat, which changes its own na- ture, perfects itself for the lead- ership of society in all spheres of life, draws into this proctss of transformation all other classes and thus prepares the ground for the abolition of classes altogether. In the struggle for the dictator- | ship of the proletariat, and later for the transformation of the so- cial system, as against the alli- | ance of capitalists and landlords ants is formed, under the intellec- tual and political hegemony of the former, an alliance which serves as the basis for the dicta- torship of the proletariat. The characteristic feature of | is the ruthless suppression of the resistance of the exploiters, the organization of Socialist Con- struction, the mass training of men and women in the spirit of Socialism and the gradual disap-_ pearance of classes. Only to the extent that these great historical tasks are fulfilled will society of | the transition period become | transformed into Communist so- | ciety. Thus, the dictatorship of the world proletariat is an essential and vital condition precedent to the transition of world capitalist economy to socialist economy. This world dictatorship can be | established only when the victory | of socialism has been achieved in | certain countries or groups of | countries, when the newly estab- lished proletarian republics enter | into a federal union with the al- ready existing proletarian revub- lies, when the number of such federations has grown and ex- tended also to the colonies which have emancipated themselves from the yoke of imperialism; when these federations of repub- lies have finally grown into a World Union of Soviet Socialist Republics uniting the whole of mankind under the hegemony of the international proletariat or- ganized as a State. The conquest of power by the proletariat does not mean peace- fully “capturing” the ready-made bourgeois State machinery by means of a parliamentary major- ity. The bourgeoisie resorts to every means of violence and ter- ror to safeguard and strengthen its predatory property and its political domination. Like the feudal nobility of the past, the bourgeoisie cannot abandon its historical position to the new class without a desperate and lence of the bourgeoisie can be suppressed only by the stern vio- lence of the proletariat. The con- quest of power by the proletariat is the violent overthrow of bour- geois power, the destruction of the capitalist State apparatus (beurgeois armies, police, bureau- cratic hierarchy, the judiciary, parliaments, etc.), and substitut- ing in its place new organs of proletarian power, to serve pri- matily as instruments for the suppression of the exploiters, 2. The Dictatorship of the Prole- tariat and Its Soviet Form As has been shown by the ex- perience of the October revolu- | tion of 1917 and by the Hungarian revolution, which immeasurably | enlarged the experience of the Paris Commune of 1871, the most suitable form of proletarian state is the Soviet State—a new type of State, which differs in prin- ciple from the bourgeois State, not only in its class content, but also in its internal structure. This is precisely the type of State which, emerging as it does di- PREPARING THE FASCIST BREW! riche Bditor Gets 6 Months For Jobless Insurance| In Cuba Prison Isidro Figueroa, trade union and Communist Party leader of Cuba, has been arrested by the Mendieta government and sentenced to six months in pzison, according to nets rectived today by the Internaticnal Labor Defense. Figueroa, who is a railroad worker, was arrested in a printing shop where he was edit- jing Confederacion, ozgan of the | | revolutionary trade union federa-| demands for $40 cash winter relief tion of Cuba. Since the suspension of the right | of habeas corpus on Dec. 13, more | Workers’ Bill before the City Coun- | |than 130 members of opposition | cil while another delegation headed parties have been arrested by the Mendieta government. While the major attacks of the Cuban gov- ernment have been directed against Wozkers and peasants enrolled in revolutionary organizations, many of the arrested were membets of the | zation with fascist tendencies which, | reflecting the conflict among mem- | bers of the Cuban ruling class, is | Opposing the Mendieta regime. The New York district of the In- ternational Labor Defense today ca- bled a protest to President Men- dieta, Havana, Cuba, against this Jatest attack on the leadership of the Cuban workers and peasants. | All other organizations are urged | to send cables at once demanding | the immediate release of Figueroa. ‘County Heads Forced A. B. C., bourgeois-landlord organi- | WiLL/An4 RANDOLPH 4/6288 by Burck |'To Back Workers Bill | AKRON, Ohio, Dec. 21. — One} thousand unemployed men and wo- |men of Summit county marched on | the city and county offices of the | Welfare administration here Tues- | day demanding immediate issuance | lof winter cash relief and endorse- | jment of the Workers Unemploy- | |} ment Insurance Bill. | A delegation headed by Ben} Atkins and Fred Seibert paced the | to each unemploye family and $15 |to single men, and action on the | |by Fred Yale and Ben Murphy | placed similar demands before the county commissioners, Whereas the City Council refused | point blank to meet the demands, |the county commissioners endorsed |the Workers’ Bill and the demands for a flat 50 per cent increase in relief rates. The unemployed demanded an open hearing before the city finance commission to pass on the récom- mendations of the county commis- sioners for the relief increase. | | A resolution was also presented | to the City Council protesting the so-called “occtinational tax” pro- Posed by the top officials of the | American Federation of Labor. Scores of workers later signed up with the Unemployment Councils, N. R. A. Board Hatches Plan AgainstStrike BOSTON, Mass., Dec. 21. — The | State Board of Concilliation and Arbitration yesterday sent a letter to the Southbridge local of the United Textile Workers Union, recommending that the strike at | the Hamilton Woolen Mill be called off. This recommendation follows the announcement by the Hamilton Woolen Company that its mill will close permanently because of the strike, and supposedly aims at pre- venting the closing of the mill. The scheme for breaking the Southbridge strike is perfectly in line with the recent manetiver of the Atlantic and Pacific Stores | Company of Cleveland and of many other cases, Which ate very com- mon lately. | Six hundred are on strike in Southbridge because the company refuses to reinstate 200 union mem- | bers, choosing to keep the 200 scabs. The strike has been marked by | militant mass picketing and state | troopers have been sent in, on the ground that the local police were erected inadequate for the situa- tion. A million votes are wanted on the Workers Unemployment In- surance Bill (H. R. 7598), Use the Daily Worker to arouse sentiment for this bill. Get subscribers! rectly out of the broadest possible mass movement of the toilers, se- cures the maximum of mass ac- tivity and is, consequently, the surest guarantee of final victory. The Soviet form of State, being the highest form of democracy, namely, proletarian democracy, is the very opposite of bourgeois democracy, which is bourgeois dictatorship in a masked form. The Soviet State is the dic‘ator- ship of the proletariat, the rule of a single class—the proletariat, Unlike bourgeois democracy, proletarian democracy openly ad- mits its class character and aims avowedly at the suppression of the exploiters in the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population. It deprives its class enemies of political rights and, under special historical con- ditions, may grant the proletariat a number of temporary advan- tages over the diffused petty bour- geois peasantry in order to strengthen ifs role of leader. While disarming and suppressing its class enemies, the proletarian State at the same time regards this deprivation of political rights and partial restriction of liberty as temporary measures in the struggle against the attempts on the part of the exploiters to de- fend or restore their privileges. It inscribes on its banner the motto: the proletariat holds power not for the purpose of perpetuating it, not fot the purpose of protect~ ing narrow craft and professional interests, but for the purpose of uniting the backward and scat- tered rural proletariat, the semi- proletariat and the toiling peas- ants still more closely with the more progtestive strata of the workers, for the purpose of gradu- ally and systematically overcom- ing class divisions altogether. Be- ing an all-embracing form of the unity and organization of the masses under the leadership of the proletariat, the Soviets, in actual fact, draw the broad masses ; of the proletariat, the peasants and all toilers into the struggle for Socialism, into the work of building up Socialism, and into the practical administration of the State; in the whole of their work they rely upon the working class organizations and practice the principles of broad democracy among the toilers to a far greater extent and immeasutably closer to the masses than any other form of governmeht. The right of electing and recalling delegates, the combination of the executive with the legislative power, the electoral system based on a pro- duction and not on a residential | qualification (election by work- shops, factories, etc.)—all this se- cures for the working class and for the broad masses of the toilers who march under its hegemony systematic, continuous and active participation in all public affairs —econemic, social, political, mili+ tary and cultural—and marks the sharp difference that exists be- tween the bourgeots-pariiamen- tary republic and the Soviet dic- tatorchip of the proletariat. Bourgeois demosracy, with its formal equality of all citizens be- fore the law, is in reality based on a glaring material and economic inequality of classes. By leaving inviolable, defending and strengthening the monopoly of the capitalist and landlord classes in the vital means of production, bourgeois democracy, as far as the exploited classes and especially the proletariat is concerned, con- verts this formal equality before the law and these democratic rights and liberties—which in practice are systematically cur- tailed, into a juridical fiction an‘, consequently, into a means for deceiving and enslaving the masses. Being the expression of the political domination of the bourgeoisie, so-called democracy Placing the monopoly of these means of production in the hands of the proletariat as the dominant class in society, the Soviet State, first and foremost guarantees to the working class and to the toil- ers generally the material condi- tions for the exercise of their rights by providing them with premises, public buildings, print- ing plants, travelling facilities, ete. In the domain of general polit- ical rights the Soviet State, while depriving the exploiters and the enemics of the people of political rights, completely abolishes for the first time all inequality of citizenship, which under systems of exploitation is based on dis- tinctions of sex, religion and na- tionality; in this sphere it estab- lishes an equality that is not to be found in any bourgeois coun- try. In this respect, also, the dic- tatorship of the proletariat stead- ily lays down the material basis upon which this equality may be truly exercised by introducing measures for the emancipation of women, the industrialization of former colonies, ete, Soviet democracy, therefore, is proletarian democracy, democracy of the toiling masses, democracy directed against the exploiters, The Soviet State completely dis- arms the bourgeoisie and concen- trates all arms in the hands of the proletariat; it is the armed proletarian State. The armed forces under the Soviet State are organized on a class basis, which corresponds to the general struc- ture of the proletarian dictator- ship, and guarantees the role of leadership to the industrial prole- tariat. This organization, while maintaining revolutionary disci- pline, ensures to the warriors of the Red Army and Navy czose and constant contacts with the masses is therefore capitalist democracy. By depriving the exploiting classes of the means of production, by of the tollers, participation in the whan gtaetena ab he country an the work uilding up Socialism, Higher Textile Prices Is Aim Of U.S. Survey Hour and Wage Study Designed to Check Rise Demand By ROBERT DUNN Washington correspondents in- form us that the government re- port on the cotton textile industry, which will be issued soon, will show that the industry in New England is now back to the “labor costs” of the period just before the economic cri- sis set in. At the same time it is expected to show that the cotton textile industry in the South now has “labor costs” which are ftom 30 to 40 per cent above those of the pre-crisis period. Thus, manufac- turers in the South will be shown to be in a more diffictilt position relatively than they were some years ago. According to the opinion of high officials in the United States De- partment of Labor, President Roose- velt will be urged to push prices of cotton textiles still higher so that both northern and southern capi- talists may be assured of good prof- its. A higher tariff will Also be pro- posed as one of the “ways out” for cotton mill owners. The investigation of hours, wages and working conditions in the cot- ton industry, completed Oct. 31, will doubtless be used to show what the previous report of Leon Henderson of the N.R.A. Division of Economic Reseatth aid Planning was used to show last June, ie., that the cotton textile workers will have to wait for Wage increases until the “durable goods industries” of the United States ate revived. This means that the textile workers will have to wait a long, long time, in fact in- definitely, for any imptovement—-if the government and the employers have their way. In making this survey, certain confidential instructions were is- sued to the investigators, one of which read: “Field supervisors and other field agefits having individual assignments are authorized to hire clerical help, wherever it is possible to expedite the work.” However, it adds, “Such help must be approved by the mill officials, whose records are being scheduled.” It is cer- tainly a great help to the mill own- ers to have this check on the gov- ernment investigators. Another part of the special confi- dential instructions of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in connection with this textile survey, orders the “general plant information” to be obtained “from the person ih charge of industrial relations or Personnel administration.” In other words, all the information with re- gard to “welfare work,” “garden plots,” “company stores,” “athletics,” “health insurance,” “safety work” ahd other such matters listed in the schedules is to come directly from the very officer of the mill who is most interested in making these devices very attractive to the government investigator. Mayor’s Plan On Utilities NEW YORK. — Every indication points to the fact that the much- touted LaGuardia utility program will not reduce one cent of the $63,000,000 “excess” which even the Public Service Commission revealed as part of. the robbery by the utili- ties of the city population. The promise by Secretary Ickes to provide P, W. A. funds for a New York municipal plant is rapidly be- coming more ahd more tenuous as Ickes’ latest statements show that he will provide funds only “where j it can be shown that the rates are not reasonable.” Also, the La- Guardia plan will not affect the production of current for private consumption, only for government buildings. Dispute on Scales | Sovernment and the utilitles on the rate scales. But this dispute is limited only to how much shall be scaled off the utility rates which have risen steadily throughout the deepening crisis, providing some antagonism between the utility trust and other sections of the capitalist class, That there can be no real fight against the utilities by either Roose- velt or LaGuardia 1s indicated by the fact that recent evidence shows that the Consolidated Gas company of New York was besiezed by La- Guardia’s Republican Party for election contributions, while the Consolidated Gas monopoly has direct connections with the Roose- velt government through Tammany Hall and the Democratic State machine. Private Conferences Roosevelt has been holding private conferences with the utility mag- nates during the past week. A recent survey by the Public Service Commission showed that the utility rates could be cut at once by 40 per cent and still give the utilities 6 per cent profits cn their swollen capita jons in ad- dition to five end a half per cent for depreciation, Your friend may be a steady reader of the Daily Worker. Get him to become a regular sub- seriber and help increase the cir- culation of the Daily Worker! | them. In the Madrid prison there | are five and more prisoners to a cell. Brings Rift ‘There is @ dispute between the | “(Special to WARSAW, Dec. 21.—The Letter Shows Spain Moving To New Revolt How the Spanish workers are re-| building their otganizations with greater solidity as a result of the} united front which grew from their recent effort to take over the gov-| ernment, is revealed in a letter sent | from Madrid by a revolutionary | tallroad worker. t The lettet, characterized by buoy- ant hopefulness ih spite of the fas-| Gist terror unloosed by the goverf-; ment, follows in full: MADRID | Nov, 14, 1934/ Dear Friends, I write these lines certain that you are interested in the develop- ment of the events which took place in Spain, especially concerning the eM of railwaymen in these strug- gles. First of all, we want to tell you that wherever & strike was carried through, railwaymen took part in it with the same intensity as other workers of the locality. Further, we can assure you that wherever our organizations existed, our comrades were at the head of the battle, and in numerous casés where the work- ing masses had been abandoned by the leaders of other organizations (this was the case, for instance, on the Madrid-Nord liné), they took the leadership and gave the neces- | sary instructions. The glorious behavior of our com- rades in Astutias deserves to be un-/| derlined. Here the railwaymen fought heroically indeed. They were a most important help to the revolutionaries, since it was they who led thé trains full of armed workers and transformed the rail- road-stations into real fortifications —as in Oviedo—until the airplane bombardments expelled them. The reptession is extraordinarily cruel, In Asturias it is barbarotis. The bourgeois press itself records | that the fiting contitiued for four days. There were 1,500 victims in As- tutias aloné. In the whole country the number of victims on our side will be about 5,000, Thé number of those arrested is tremendous. The government is still trying to find quarters for the greater number of Mny of our comrades have been ar- rested for the first time in their lives. Many friends have been dismissed, as the companies took the occasion to “clean” the shops. However, we ate in touch with all these workers, and we shall soon restore our or- ganizations. Our chief task today is to capitalize in an organizational manner on the unity born out of the common struggle. The fusion of our organization with the Na- tional Syndicate (reformist) will be made in a few days. I had an opportunity to read the foreign newspapers, and I saw that the proletariat of the world followed our movement with the greatest in- terest. The revolution in Spain has not been choked. We have merely passed an important halting-place. A great part of the influence of class-collaboration — fundamental until now—has finally been liqui- dated. Great progress is already evi- dent. I believe that our party will gain now considerably, that our struggle has beeti a rehearsal like that of 1905 in Russia, but it will take only as many months as there were years from 1905 to 1917 for us to ge the final battle in Spain. e have been beaten, but we are not vanquished. Send greetings to all and publish this letter; it is written to all com- 1 rades. | | _A revolutionary railwayman ftom | Madria. ‘Workers of Newark To Conduct Meeting In Memory of Kirov NEWARK, N. J., Dec. 21.—A mass memorial meeting to honor the memory of Sergei Kirov, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet | Union, who was murdered by cotn- ter-revolutionists, will be held here | Saniay, afternoon at 3 o'clock at 901 Broad St. 4 been called by the Communist Party and the Young Communist League of Newark, will answer the slander- ous levelléd at the Soviet Union by its enemies after it sen- Prison Tortures In Poland Rival Cruelties of Nazis Beatings, Maltreatment of Sick and Other Wanton Savageries Mark Daily Routine of Con- centration Barracks at Kartus-Bereza the Daily Worker) dark veil which hung over the first concentration camp of Poland, the dungeon-barracks of Kartus-Bereza, has been lifted only in the last few days. A regime of persecution and torture that rivals the practices of the German Nazis, the details of the barbaric cruelties of Polish fascism reveal the actual breadth of the working class struggles now taking place there. The prisoners are held in barrack cells with stone floors. There are 30 in each cell. Most of the prison- ers sleep on the cold stone fioor— only a few of them have straw sack tinattresses. Even in the ‘dispensary’ the sick prisoners have to lie on the floor. There are no tables or ben- ches in the bartacks. The prison- ers can only sit on the floor. And they eat the food given them also on the floor. Only on Sundays or holidays, benches are placed at the disposal of the prisoners for one hour. The notorious Posen Police- Inspector, Greffner, was appointed to supervise the camp, the same Greffner who in 1931, in answer to the complaints of certain citizens against ill treatment on the part of the police during the dispersal of a demonstration, said: “The police- men are blockheads, they didn’t hit out half as hard as they should have done.” The day in the camp begins at 4 a.m. At the beginning prayers were an obligation, but now the prisoners are compelled to sing the “First Brigade” the (Horst-Wessél’) song of the Polish fascists. The particular work assigned to the Prisoners depends on the zeal with which they sing this song. The whole day passes in forced labour, mainly Miilding of roads in the marshy districts, Besides this, the prisonezs are made to do the dirtiest work, as for instance, to clean the spittoons with bare hands. The prisoners work under ihe strictest guard. A machine gun is brought to the place of work, There is a policeman on guard for every two prisoners. The work surpass:s all human strengtlt. The prisoners |aze made to work twelve houts a day. Dufing the work the prisonets are forced to keep their heads lowered, for they must hot look at each other, and of course not speak to each other. Also in the barracks the prisoners are not allowed to speak to each other. In place of beasts of burden the prisoners are made to drag the heavy-work caris along. Those who fall from ex- haustion are again brought to their feet by means of clubs. For the slightest “offense” the prisoners are made to do military drill. “Up and down” for hours long, and they are punched about and beaten with sticks or rubber clubs all the time. Kicking the prisoners, particularly with hob-nailed boots, is a daily occurrence. Besides this the prisoners are thrown into dark punishment cells where they are only given a piece of bread and some water every other day. Notwithstanding the extremely hard work 10 cents has been estab- lished as the cost of each prisoner, Breakfast, dinner and supper con- sist of dishwater that is called “soup.” Only recently a piece of black bread is also being given to each prisoner. The prisonefs are not allowed to receive food parcels from their relatives, or to buy any additional food. If nevertheless, a parcel arrives for anyone, the prisoner in question must ask that the parcel be destroyed for he “does not need it.” If he refuses to do this, he is horribly mishandled. Sick prisoners are sent to the doctor only by permission of the camp commander. With a temperae ture below 39 degrees (centigrade) the prisoner is declared by the doce tor to be quite well—snd so he is punished for shamming. The same conditions prevail for the sick as for the other prisoners, they get the same ‘food.” From the very beginning the prisoners are not allowed to wear their own underclothes. The camp is full of vermin and this is often the cause of skin diseases. Beatings and tortures of every kind complete the regime in Kartus- Bereza. Had not Inspector Geffner, in the presence of the prisoners, ordered the policemen to “give it to them right in thei: mugs” when- ever this is considered necessary? An assistan‘-inspector declared to a grcun of prisoners: “The world has never seen the like of what we are going to do with you.” The authori- ties fear that due to the policemen being constantly with the prisoners “they may become too soft- hearted,” so the policemen are often changed. This happens mostly to those of the policemen who show insufficient zeal in mis- handling and torturing the prison- ers. The released prisoners are not provided with ahy return tickets or other means of returning to their homes. Befo-e they leave, they are Made to promise never to tell of the The mass meeting, which has | conditions in the c2mp. To some of these released prisoners Gteff- ner himself declared: “You are free, ‘You must never participate in any Political activities, and if you let tenced 103 counter-revolutionists to death. : drop one single word about how you were treated here, you will find yourselves here again.”