Original_To:  MIDEUR
Original_cc:  NABELEK
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.mideur-l
Date:         Sat, 23 Jan 1993 02:05:00 EST
From:         NABELEK@UTKVX.BITNET
Subject:      Slansky - previously Book and Movies

Under a part of a recent discussion on "Books and films"
statements like the following ones were made:

Gordon Wightman:

>I agree with Hugh Agnew that [the movie] "The Confession" is
worth seeing >and would add that the book on which it was based
is worth >reading. Its inaccuracy may largely lie in a portrayal
of >London that was probably more sympathetic than he deserved .
>...The end of communist rule however raises the issue of the
>significance of other trials and particularly earlier trials
>directed at leaders of non-communist parties, including Milada
>Horakova of the Socialist Party, and leading figures in other
>groups, e.g. Catholic priests.

My (I. Nabelek's) comments are based purely on my memory as I do
not have time to study the relevant documents.  If somebody wants
to add anything to my statements and make them more precise,
please, definitely  do so.

I saw "The Confession" some years ago.  I have not read the book,
but I lived in Prague in the critical years 1946-1955. I agree
that the movie is worth seeing.  It was well done and acted.  It
showed what a great life the privileged thin layer of top
communists had, how they and their families could enjoy
travelling to the west, etc. It showed some of the communist
methods.  However, it was marked by two fundamental flaws, given,
as Gordon suspects, by London's biases:

1)   The movie pretended that people were standing behind the
communist party (CP). That is a phantasy!  A nonsense!  The vast people
were terrorized and scared!
2)   It also pretended that if the group of hard-line communists
sentenced with Slansky stayed in power everything would be
fine.  Again, that is a nonsense!  The members of that group were
instrumental in imposing communism with all its sad consequences
on our people.  They were the main culprits.

At the end of August 1944 the Germans wanted to occupy Slovakia
and the Slovak Army decided to defend her country.  The Slovak
National Uprising started.  The headquarters were in Banska
Bystrica (BB; in Central Slovakia). Czechoslovak Republic (CSR)
was proclaimed.   Later, Slovak communists (Husak, Novomestsky,
etc.) arrived to BB and were joined by Czechoslovak (CS)
communists from Moscow (Slansky, Sverma, etc.).  They politicized
the atmosphere by aggressively pursuing their communist goals
against the non-communist army and non-communist political
parties. By doing so, undermined the defense against the Germans.  It is
believed that the Soviets did not want the nations to liberate themselves.  The
Soviets wanted to secure the liberation and impose their political system on
them.

At the end of Oct. 1944, the German army entered BB, and the
Slovak army and partisan units continued their fight from the
mountains.  One day a large group of communists (of the order of
a hundred people ?) started to march east through Low Tatra
mountains to join the Red Army. A severe winter storm decimated
that group - many (supposedly 30-60% of the group) perished.  One of
those was Sverma.  Slansky survived.

After the end of the war (WWII), the CS communists from Moscow
became the leaders of the CP of CSR. Gottwald was the CP head,
Slansky the secretary general.  Kopecky,  Svermova (Sverma's
widow), etc. were in the CP leadership.

The war ended, in CSR democracy (though not a perfect one) started and the
economy of CSR was recovering rapidly.  Aid from the west (UNRRA) was helpful.
As soon as at the end of 1947 the economy was in a very good shape.

In February 1948 the communists made a putsch and grabbed the
power in CSR.  The consequences were tragic for our peoples.  The
communist leadership - Gottwald, Slansky, Mlynar, and their
comrades started with extreme brutality a "speedy building of
socialism" in CSR.

All private enterprises, even the smallest ones, were
nationalized. Most managers and administrators were kicked out of
their jobs and replaced by incompetent CP members.

Many middle class families were kicked out of their homes and
located in single rooms of confiscated, divided apartments or
displaced to villages.  For a number of old people those moves
significantly contributed to their death.

Many were sentenced to jail or sent to labor camps, thousands
were sent to uranian mines.

Students with "wrong" parentage were kicked out of universities.
Even the brightest high school graduates were generally not
allowed to study further.

"Good cadres" from communist members were sent to universities to
obtain degrees in engineering, law, medicine, etc., after
accelerated (considerably shortened) education.

Many old people had to work till their seventieth, eighties, of even to their
death because they did not obtain any retirement benefits.

Immediately after the putsch, employees were asked to sign
applications to the CP as a proof of loyalty to the new system.
Many of those who refused, lost their jobs. (Those who signed,
were generally ashamed of it and after working hours they usually
hid the CP sign under the coat laps. Joke:  Question: "When is
the largest number of communists in Prague?"  Answer: "When it
rains! The coat laps go up and the signs show up." Often, the
communists were called "Jablko" (Apple) for two reasons: 1) the
CP sign was kind of similar to an apple, and 2) it was an
abbreviation of "JA BLby KOmunista", meaning "I, a dumb
communist".)

In spite that everybody had a "right for working", those who were
fired for political reasons had problems of finding any job, as
potential communist employers refused to hire them either of
principle or from fear they would be accused of supporting the
"enemies of the people".

Many with university education (like lawyers, physicians,
engineers) had to work manually at various projects, like the
"bridge of intelligentsia" in Prague. (Joke: A physician asked in
his office a worker, badly beaten up, what happened to him. He
answered: "I work at a construction. I called a guy: 'Hey,
doctor, throw me a brick', and twenty bricks landed on me".)

The employed ones were not allowed to change their employment, to "fluctuate".
To discourage leaving, some ministries required their employees to go first to
mines before giving them the approval to change the job. (One of my
acquaintances was one of those who died there - he was crushed to death in a
coal mine - when fulfilling that requirement.)

Employees were forced to participate in various forms (courses, daily
"ten-minute sessions) of indoctrination in marxism-leninism.

System of informants was introduced at work as well as at
apartment complexes.

All land was ruthlessly collectivized.  Those who refused to join
the kolchozes were thrown on the street, their children were
kicked out of schools, or/and they were jailed.

Religion was suppressed.  Religious education was forbidden.
Religious activists were sentenced to long-years prison terms.
Monster processes with religious leaders took place.  Religious
orders were forbidden, their members were concentrated and locked
at few locations.  Cardinal Beran (jailed by Germans in Dachau
concentration camp for 6 years) was imprisoned (in jail or
convent) for about 15 years.  Ordinary people who were seen in
churches had problems at work, teachers lost their jobs.

Following the Marx teaching, the government built heavy industries and totally
neglected light industries as well as apartment constructions. A limit of 12 sq
meter (approx. 120 sq feet) of living space per person was imposed. Young
couples had to live with parents, sometimes the young wife with her parents in
one apartment and her husband with his parents in another apartment.

The boarders were hermetically sealed, and except the privileged
communists, and some sportsmen, travel abroad was not allowed.
Many tried to escape from the country and many were murdered at
the boarders. The caught ones were imprisoned for many years.

The results of all those measures were disastrous.  The economy,
so promising in 1947, plummeted.  It just dived!

Suddenly, there was a lack of everything!  To get some meat, one
had to be in line at the store at 4 am.  Milk or bread had to be
bought before 7 am, otherwise the supply was gone.  There was a
general lack of vegetables and fruits, especially of the imported
ones.  The food rationing was reintroduced, the prices went up.

For shoes, clothes, refrigerators, and so on, one had to go to
stores one-hundred times, bribe the salespersons, and stand in
lines for hours when something was expected to come for sale.

Suddenly, there was a lack of energy.  The electricity was
switched off for long hours at large cities.  To distribute
energy more evenly, even the working weeks were staggered at
various parts of the country at one point.  E.g., in Prague the
"Sunday" would be shifted to Monday, in Brno to Tuesday, in
Bratislava to Wednesday, in Kosice to Thursday, etc.  Even in
research institutes the researchers had to "work" in night shifts
(they slept after few hours).

The government gradually reduced the wages of workers by lowering
premiums, eliminating of Christmas pay (the "thirteen salary"),
by strengthening the minimal production standards and other.

The worsening of conditions lead to growing of dissatisfaction,
to workers' unrest and to imposing stricter security measures and
persecution.

Scapegoats were looked for, monster processes started.  Religious
leaders, professionals (e.g., post-office engineers), former
right-wing social-democrats (Lausmann, etc.), black marketeers,
former businessmen (like jewelers) were imprisoned for many
years, or even executed.

The majority of leaders of the Slovak National Uprising, if they
did not succeed to escape to the west, were either sentenced to
prison, or executed.

Various factions in the CP started to fight among themselves.
Processes with  "bourgeois nationalists" (Husak, etc.), Titoists,
and others took place.  The group around Slansky (few months
before his execution his 50th anniversary was nationwide
celebrated) lost their fight (this group was accused of Zionism,
of support of Israel, and other "crimes" - e.g. Slansky
"confessed" that he purposely left Sverma to die in the mountains
- during the storm I mentioned previously -  to get rid of him).

Those members of the communist top echelon - Gottwald, Slansky, London, Loebl,
Husak, Mlynar, and others were all instrumental in ruthlessly imposing the
communist system on the peoples of Czechoslovakia and were guilty for suffering
of millions that followed. They have been guilty of destroying of lives of many
individuals and of whole families, of all the murders, killings and death of so
many innocent people.

Later in the communist period, when reasonable people
"sneaked" into higher positions in industries, businesses, and
administration, the situation gradually improved and the life of
people became much more bearable.  But does that mean that those,
who enforced all that totalitarian terror on our nations, are not
guilty of any wrong, criminal doing?

Many people believe that all those responsible members of "nomenclatura" of the
communist party deserve to be punished for all those crimes.  However, the old
communist garde and their followers who have still survived, are extremely
lucky.  They are lucky that their victims are not as fanatical, ruthless, and
bloodthirsty as they were.  Those victims have not put the communists in jail,
they have not thrown them out of their homes, from their jobs.  Their crimes
have not been even investigated.  It looks like all the ruthless, bad,
insensitive guys were in the communist party.

One should understand, I guess, the communist victims' displeasure when they
see the communists to continue to be in leading positions at home, to represent
our nations as ambassadors abroad, etc. And I guess one should understand the
victims if they do not want to see those who made their lives miserable and who
caused the death of their loved ones, to be in the leading positions in the
government for at least five years.  I do not believe there are many who would
shed their tears for the "poor, innocent, persecuted communists" who suffer
such an "injustice" from the liberated victims.  Some may believe that those
communists should fall to their knees and thank God for the generosity of their
victims.

Igor V. Nabelek
701 Chateaugay Road
Knoxville, TN 37923
Tel. : 615/693 6199
Univ.: 615/974 1809
<NABELEK@UTKVX.BITNET>
FAX.:  UT Knoxville
       615/974 1539
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