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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: OFFICE OF.THE DIRECTOR 25 APR 19

Director, Federal Bureau of Lnvestiganontr

The attached study on brainwashing was prepared by my staff in response to the increasingly acute interest in the subject throughout the intelligence and security components of the Government. I feel you will find it well worth your personal attention. It represents the thinking of leading péy chologists, psychiatrists and intelllgence specialists, based in turn on interviews with many individuals who have had personal experience with Communist brainwashing, and on extensive research and testing. While individual spəcialiste hold divergent views on various aspects of this most comple subject, I believe the study reflects a synthesis of majority expert opinlon. I will, of course, appreciate any comments on it that you or your staff may have.

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COIF 1ISNTDAT

"We know now that men can be made to do exactly anything...... It's all a question of finding the right means. If only we take enough trouble and go sufficiently slovly, we can make him kill his aged parents and eat them in a stew." (Jules Romains. VERDUN. A.A. Knopf, 1939, P. 156.)

This study should not be read as representing the synthesis in the Central Intelligence Agency on the subject of brainwashing. Several working groups in CIA are actively concerned with the subject, and this paper reflects the progress so far made by only one of those groups. It is not a final report.

6-8:756-5802B

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CONTENTS

Page
FOREWORD. . . . i
ITRODUCTION. ....
Scope and Ain... 1
General Orientation.....
STATEMETT Or THE PROBLEM.........
COMMUNIST COPTROL TECHNIQUES...
The Suspect.... ....
The Accu plation of Bridence . . . . . . . . . ... 11
The Arrest Procedure ... .... 13
The Detention Prison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Begimen Within the Detention Prison. . ... . .. 15
The Effects of the Regimen in the Isolation Cell . .. 18
Other Aspects of the Isolation Regimen . . . . . . . . 23
The Interrogator . . . . .
Interrogation... ,....27
Pressures Applied by the Interrogator . . . . . . . .. 34
The "Friendy Apprcach" . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . 37
The Course of the Interrogation. . . . . . . . . . . . 39
The Interrogator's Point of View and
Objectives . . . .

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Page
The Reaction of the Prisoner to the Interrogation .. . 45
48
The ial.
53
Public Confessions
59
Punisbment
Comparison of Russian and Chinese
59
62
Conclusions
65
AN ANALISIS OF COFTROL DURTNG BRAIFWASHTNG.
A Eypotbetical Schedule of Brainwashing. 67
80
Afteresth.

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LCOFSLA

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FOREWORD

Brainwashing, as a term, was originated by a reporter vho was intervieving Chinese refugees. It has gained vorldvide currency and has been applied to a wide range of techniques--mass education of a Cxmmunistic country or citizens, thoughtcontrol in Soviet and satellite countries, techniques of eliciting information, as well as the intensive individualized re-education of beliefs of a few selected individuals. Such uncritical use of the terz has done nothing to reduce the impact on the public and officialdom generally of the confessions of such men as Cardinal Mindszenty and especially of the results of treatment of prisoners-of-war by the Chinese Counists.

The ter itself is anxiety producing. Its connotation of special oriental knowledge of drugs, hypaosis, and other exotic and devious means of controlling human behavior creates credulity among the uninformed. A more prosaic view is that the techniques used in producing confessions and "conversions" are readily umnderstandable in terms of ordinary psychological principles and have been used, especially by police states, for centuries. It is now clear that Russian methods of

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obtaining information and confeseions have been developed by MVD and earlier versions of this organization over the centuries, but especially during the past 35 years of systematic effort to elicit information or confessions. The Chinese have their own tradition of tolerance for brutality. They are influenced by the Russians, but place more emphasis on converting the prisoner to Commumistic beliefs, at times behaving as typical "eagerbeaver" revolutionaries. In sum, the methods are police methods developed by trial and error to suit the needs of the police state. No scientists, no drugs, no hypnosis, no new psychological principles have as yet been involved.

Rarly in the review of the diverse information catalogued under the term "brainwashing", even in serious scientific articles, it became evident there was a need for better coordina tion of the work on this topic and more work directed at specifi. problems and issues. It was, therefore, concluded that this lizited effort vas best devoted to (1) clarifying the concepts connoted by the ter brainvashing; (2) relating these to such basic psychological principles as learning, perception, and motivation; and (3) specifically discussing the brainwashed person as an involuntarily re-educated person.

All people are being re-educated continuously. New information changes one's beliefs. Everyone has experienced to

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some degree the conflict that enstes when nev information is not consistent with a prior belief, especially a besic one concerned vith such problems as religion, sex mores, and political ideology. This is a normal experience. Most individuals are able to resolve the conflict by one zeans or another; many do so by integrating the new with the old.

The experience of the brainwashed (in our sense) differs in that the inconsistent information is forced upon him under relatively controlled conditions after the possibility of eritical judgment has been reduced or removed by such measures as production of excessive fatigue, isolation, deprivation of various sorts, and sometimes physical torture. When reduced to extrese dependeney and confusion, the individual is ready to react favorably to any person or idee wbich promises to end his painfully confused etate. At this point, the re-education begins, as described in the ANALYSIS OF CONTROL PRESSURES.

Hov individuals will react to attempts to elicit information, to confess falsely, to brainvashing as we have defined it depends on the intelligence, personality and experience of the individual and on the knowledge and willingness of captors to persist in techniques aimed at

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deliberately destroying the integration of a personality. With such villingness, there appears little doubt that an individnal can be bronght psychologically to the point vhere involuntary re-education vill take place. Up to nov, police methods developed by trial and error have not fully exploited the psychological basis for results thus far obtained; nor have all restraints in treatment of prisoners been cast aside. Note, too, that the restraints referred to need not concern direct physical torture. It is not necessary to use direct physical means to reduce a person to a state where involuntary re-education can take place.

Brainwashing conceived as involuntary re-education, then, represents one extreme of a continuue of treatment by, and resistance to, captors. At the other end of this scale is active voluntary collaboration with the enemy. In between are varying degree of brutality and subtlety of treatment and degrees of resistance thereto. Clearly, policies concerning treatment of repatriated captives will depend on where the individual is placed on this scale. At one end, there is the legal jurisdiction for treason; at the other, psychiatric treatment.

The viev presented herein has several implications. First, the public should be given information which will

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dispel the mstery which appears to have surrounded the concept of brainvashing.

Second, those responsible for establishing policy for returned prisoners have as a first probles the deterzination where on the scale between inroluntary re-education and voluntary collaboration a partieular indiridual stands.

Third, the human organitm need not be a complete pawn of his enviromment until extreme conditions are created. Man is adaptire, and vith some knovledge of vhat to expect from his captors and an understanding of his own reactions, he cam develop means of resisting. He can be helped in this by prior knowledge of the treatment he can expect and his owm reactioms to it.

Fourth, the truly brainvashed is a psychiatric, not a legal problas. His treatment should be therapeutic, not pumitive. Recovery can be anticipated since the brainvashed person placed in his normal enviromment will tend to revert to his prior beliefs.

Fifth, braiuwashing can be successfully accomplished on the basis of present knowledge by anyone sufficiently interested in acquiring an understanding of the psychological principles iavolved.

Sixth, it is possible that the best long range defense

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against braimvaahing is to make it politically disadvantageous for a coumtry to permit its use.

While this paper focuses its attention on brainvashing as defined, the political nature of its effects makes it necessary to comsider the effects of zilitary and other policy. Where certain possibilities occur naturally in the psychological context, they are mentioned. The major purpose, hovever, is to discuss brainvashing froa a paychological point of viev. It is not presumed that this view takes into account all the factors needed in determining policy.

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DITRODUCTIO

Scope and Aim

The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of the "brainvashing process".

There are probably well over l000 classified and unclassified documents, articles and books directly related to Soviet and Satellite technigues of interrogation and brainwashing. Approximately one-third of the available classified and unclassified sources vere examined to provide the findings of this study.

By far the greatest proportion of this material has come from prisoner-of-war sources of World War II and the Korean coaflict. Cousiderable additional material has coms frum refugees, intelligence sources, and civilian nationals who have been released from incarceration behind the Curtaiz.

A number of research studies have been completed or are now in process by various agencies of this Government and other friendly governments. The obtainable findings of all research studies of iediate relevance were utilized.

A considerable body of professional research dealing with conditions that reeult in changes in the perceptual and

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intellectual organization of the individual personality has emanated from universities and other private research institutions during the past decade. Appropriate selections from this material have been applied to understanding brainwashing. General Orientation

This study has been written as a general analysis of the available material. It is recognized that agencies engaged in intelligence collection have unique operational vulnerabilities in dealing with Soviet interrogation and brainwashing. Individuals forced to confess to having engaged in espionage or sabotage embarrass national policy planners. While these problems are recognized, no attempt has been made in this study to provide specific practical guidance.

This study is written from the viewpoint of professional psychology. As a systematic approach, this has not been done before, although many previous analyses have, of course, made some use of psychological ideas. The present approach attempts to make full use of current psychological principles in explaining the process of brainvashing.

It is reasonable to expect that the Soviets will continue to refine their methods, and that we shall continue to secure more kovledge about the subject. There should, therefore, be periodic reappraisals of braimwashing in the future.

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STATEMEFT OF THE PROBLEM

As we shall shov later in this chapter, the ters "brain-

washing" has a very useful meaning from the atandpoint of vhat

goes on inside the person who is brainvashed. If the process

had been viewed in this light from the beginning, no doubt we

vould by nov have achieved a greater and more widespread under-

standing of it. Actually, it has not been confronted in so

simple a manner as that. It has been used by the Soviets

and the Chinese on quite different kinds of people and for

quite a variety of reasons. It has had a wide range of

consequenees, some intended and perhaps some unintended.

It has faced intelligence, ilitary and political leadere

with a remarkably wide range of problems with which each such

group had to cope. All these variations of objectives, con-

sequences, and problems have made for coafusion in our efforts

to understand vhat was really going om.

Westerm usage of the term brainwashing has caused it to

be applied fros time to time to each of the folloving situatioms:

(1) Individual or group indoctrination of the

"masses" behind the Iron Curtain.

(2) Imdoctrination of key personnel inside Commist-

controlled countries to maintain their political reliability.

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(3) The interrogation process by which positive information of intelligence value is obtained from individuals.

(4) Group indoctrination of prisoners-of-war. Besides an attempt to obtain defections and demoralize military personnel, this process appears to have been used as a seleetive device to ascertain which "progressives" or "opportunists" might subsequently be amenable to a more intensive process as defined in (5) below.

(5) The intensive individual process during which individuals are deprived of their critical faculties and subsequently come to believe es true that vhich, prior to the brainwashing, they would have designated as false. The fact that the terz "brainwashing" has been applied to so many situstions bas caused a great deal of confusion in atterrting to learn more about it and in attempting to derelop sound practices and policies for coping with it. As ve shall explain more fully in this study, we find the term "brainwashing" to be most useful when it is applied strictly to denote the involwatary re-education of an individual. during which a change is developed in the perceptual and intellectual organization of his personality so that be will:

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(1) Accept as true certain ideological principles which he would not have accepted as true prior to the change, and/or

(2) Admit that certain events have a true and factual basis which be would not have admitted forzerly. These false beliefs my be transitory. In fact, there is good reason to believe that the false beliefs resulting fros braimwashing will break down spontaneously when the individual has been removed for a period of time from the oppressive controls.

It should be noted that brainwashing, so defined, does not ephasize what happens to the indiridual, but what happens within him. The change represents a more or less complete re-education of his value-system. This change is brought about in a rigidly controlled enviroument using pressures designed to create and sharpen internal confliet within the individual. The individual is forced to resort to problem-solving behavior, and the net effect is the brainvashed state. Two simultaneous processes are present. The first is characterized by a progressive deterioration and demobilization of the individual'scritical and judging capacities. In a true sense the individual loses all sense of perspective. The second process is the learning of beliefs he would previously have

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rejected, as he seeks to gain some structure for his crumbling personality. The criteria of success of braimwashing are:

(1) The observed conviction and sincerity vith which the individual expresses his changed ideology and beliefs concerning palpable events.

(2) The length of time his changed beliefs are maintained after the individual has been removed from the control environment.

(3) The amount of surprise and confusion that accompanies his "discovery" that he has been brainwashed during his subeequent recovery.

Indoctrination, and even education, can lead to false beliefs. These processes are most effective when the individual has gaps in his knovledge, or his umderstanding of the meaning of certain events is sufficiently tenuous that he has little difficulty in accepting a new and different interpretation. Braimwashing, however, involves the reeducation of vell-establisbed beliefs; and implies that the individual resisted the re-education. It is this very resistance with its concomitant internal conflict, we maintain, which is the very core of braiowashing.

In the process of securing information of intelligence value, the procedures used by the Commnnists, although

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admittedly harah, do not appear to differ substantially from those customarily used in eliciting military information. The systematic demoralization of captives does not appear to be a mjor objective.

An understanding of brainvashing is important in several contexts, among which are the folloving:

(1) Intelligence might be more fully protected if ilitary and other personnel subject to capture could understand braimwashing and could be trained as well as possible to cope with it.

(2) Dealing properly with brainwashed. individuals depends heavily on understanding their condition. For the truly brainwashed, psychiatric treatment is in order; for the deliberate defector, legal processes are appropriate.

(3) The propaganda-value of false confessioms has been great, and the fear-producing impect of "brainwashing" in the public mind is a matter worth considerable concern. Public understanding of the process should help considerably.

(4) A clear understanding of the process is important if govermmental agencies are to make rapid progress toward furtber research and understanding, and

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to derelop consistent policies to meet the problems of brainvashing.

Each of these objectives of greater understanding is important. The propaganda-value of false confessions and the public anxiety concerning brainwashing loos, however, as major preoccupetions. Statements of brainwashed individuals hare been a sharp-edged tool in the Comnunist propaganda kit. Everything from the purges of the brainvashed "old revolutionaries" in the late '30's to the Korean germ warfare admissioms has advanced the Soviet strategy line. Possibly one of the greatest adrantages for the Commmists in the Far Est has been to lower Caucasian prestige. Another and even more effective propaganda goal may be the creation of a state of fear within the populace of western-bloc nations. The coacept of braimwashing is frightening. Mothers of sons, who go into military service against the Soviets or Chinese, mmst concera themselves vith the fact, mot only that their sons my be killed or vounded, but that their mental processes may be distorted if they are captured. Just as knowledge that the Soviets have thermonuclear weapons has dampened the national feeling of security, so brainvashing has created the belief thet our opponents are ysteriously formidable. The "man-in-the-street" is not so removed from pre-scientific

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beliefs that such processes as braimwashing fail to arouse emotions bordering on superstitious ave.

We turn now to a more detailed explanation of just what happens to the mind and body of the demoralized and disorganized person who can properly be described as brainwashed, and to a consideration of how this state can be brought about. We shall deacribe the general processes involved in changing the behavior and the beliefs of an individual when his environment can be fully controlled. These processes are complex and they involve the basic principles of learning, perception, motivation, and physiological deprivation.

Ixplications of these findings for policy and practice in various areas will not be spelled out in detail. Some such implieations, of course, would need to be integrated with other considerations in arriving at a final policy. Some, on the other hand, appear to point overwhelmingly toward certain specific policies and practices. For example, the treatzent of brainvashed repatriates should clearly be supportive rather than pumitive. This study should provide useful guidance and helpful points of view in a number of important areas.

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COMMUNIST CONTROL TECHNIQUES

Understanding brainwashing as a phencmenon -- a phenomenon which culminates in a false confession, delivered with conviction and humility, to antisocial intent and specific criminal acts -- requires both a knowledge of Commmist control techniques and an analysis of their impact upon the normal personality. This section describes the battery of pressures applied to the prisoner and his behavioral reactions to these control pressures. In the following section an attempt is made to analyze the psychological impact of these assaults upon the personality during the course of the brainwashing.

The Suapect

Those who fall umder the suspicion of the MVD usually have some reason for exciting its suspicion. Although the suspect may not know why he is suspected, the MVD has some reason for singling him out. Because of the broad nature of Soviet lavs, and the free manner in which the MVD can interpret these, any "suspect" has coitted some "crime against the state" as the MVD defines the term.

The implications of this statement are significant. In a nation in which the state owms all property, where everyone

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works for the state, and where only approved opinions my be held, a person who has accidentally broken or lost some of the "people's property", who has made a mistake, who has not worked hard enough, who has talked to a foreigner, or who has merely expressed what he inferred was an innocent opinion, may be ipso facto guilty of a "crime against the state." In practice, this means that almost anyone within the Soviet Uhion may be suspected by the MVD at any time, and that whenever he is suspected the MVD is always able to assign a specific reason for its suspicions.

The Accumulation of Evidence

According to Coumunist ideology, no one may be arrested unlese there is evidence that he is a criminal.

According to the practice of the MVD this means that when an individual falls under the suspicion of an MVD officer, this officer must accumnulate "evidence" that the individual is a "criminal" and take this evidence to the state prosecutor, who must then issue a warrant before the arrest can be carried out. The investigating officer accumulates evidence showing that the victiz had a reason to be a criminal (i.e., that he was a member of a suspect group) by accumulating the statements of spies and informants with regard to hiz. If this evidence is not sufficient to satisfy the officer he places

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the suspect and his friends and associates under surveillance. These friends and associates may be arrested and held for interrogation in order to supply evidence against the suspect, the reasom for their arrest being that they are associates of a suspect, and therefore suspect themselves.

Covert surveillance and the arrest of associates are carried out carefally, but they cannot always be concealed from the suspect. He may become aware of it or his friends may tell him. As he becomes a marked man in the eyes of his friends, they begin to avoid hin. Their demeanor sometimes indicates to him that he is umder suspicion. The knovledge that he vill be arrested, without kowledge of when this will occur, obvioualy creates anxiety in the intended victim. Although MVD officers know about the psychological effect which surreillance has upon suspects, and make use of it, they probably do not use it with the calculated cumning that the victin sometimes supposes. The poorly concealed surveillance and the arrest of friends and associates, followed by an indefinite period before the arrest of the main suspect, are not necessarily stage maneuvers to frighten the victin. They are often eridences of rather slov and clumsy police activities.

Mesbers of the MVD compete vith each other in trying to turn up suspects and secure their conviction. To a certain

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COFEENTIAL

extent, officers are judged by the mumber of arrests which they obtain. Since Cormunist theory demands that no person be arrested except when it is clear that he is a criminal, officers who arrest men who must later be released are subject to censure. They have made a mistake, because they have arrested a man who is not a eriminal.

The consequences are important from the point of view of the victim. In effect, any man who is arrested is automatically in the position of being guilty. Anyone arrested by the MVD must know that in the eyes of the Soviet state, and in the eyes of those who have arrested him, he is a "criminal". The only question to be settled after the arrest is the extent of his criminal activity and the precise nature of his crimes. The officers in charge of his case, both those who have made the arrest and those who will carry out the interrogation, have a personal interest in seeing that the arrested man makes a prompt and extensive confession, for their own reputations are at stake.

The Arrest Procedure

According to Communist theory, men should be arrested in such manner as not to cause them embarrassment, and the police should carry out arrests in a manner which does not unduly disturb the population. For more than twenty years it has been

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the practice of the Russian State Police to seize their suspects in the idle of the night. The "midnight knock on the door" has become a standard episode in fiction about Russia. The police are well aware of the fact that the intended victim, forevarned by his previous surveillance and the changing attitude of his friends, is further terrified by the thought that he may be awakened from his sleep almost any night and taken away. It is customary for the arresting officer to be accompanied by several other men. He usually reads to the prisoner the arrest warrant if there is one. It does not, of course, specify the details of the crimes committed. The prisoner is then taken promptly to a detention prison.

The Detention Prison

In most of the large cities of the Soviet Uhion the NVD operates detention prisons. These prisons contain only peraons under "investigation", vhose cases have not yet been settled. The most modera of these prisons are separate institutions, well built and spotlessly clean. In addition to the cells for the prisoners, they contain offices for the MVD units, rooms in which interrogations are carried out, and other rooms, usually in the basement, in which prisoners are executed when such punishment is decided upon. There are attached medical facilities, and rooms for the care of the sick detainees. An exercise yard is a standard facility.

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The typical cell is a small cubicle, about l0 feet long by

6 feet wide, containing a single bunk and a slop jar. It usually

hae no other furnishings. Its walls are barren, and it is

lighted by a single electric lamp in the ceiling. One vall

usually contains a small vindow above eye level, from which the

prisoner can see nothing of his outside environment. The door

contains a peephole through vhich the guard in the corridor

outside may observe the prisoner at will without the prisoner'e

knovledge. Such typical cells will not, of course, be found in

all prisons and especially not in those which are old or

improvised, but the general aspect of barrenness and complete

lack of access to the outside world is characteristic.

The Regimen Within the Detention Prison

The arresting officers usually do not give the priaoner

the reason for his arrest beyond that in the warrant vhich they

read to him. They usually search him and also search the place

in which he lives. They then take hi directly to the prison.

Here he is asked a few questions about his identity, and personal

valuables and his outer clothing are taken from him. These are

carefully catalogued and put avay. He may or may not be given a

prison unifora. He is usually examined by a prison physician

shortly after his incarceration.

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COPTETTLAL

The entire introduction to the detention prison is brief and is carried on without explanation. Within a fev hours after his arrest the prisoner finds himself locked up within a cell.

Prisoners within detention cells follow a rigid regimen. With some variations this regimen is standard throughout the Soviet Uhion, and has been adopted by nearly all Commmmist countries. The rigidity of the regimen may be relaxed or tightened by the direction of the interrogator.

An almost invariable feature of the management of any important suspect under detention is a period of total isolation in a detention cell. The prisoner is placed within his cell the door is shut, and for an indefinite period he is totally isolated frcm human contact except by the specific direction of the officer in charge of his case. He is not allowed to talk to the guards or to comnmicate with other prisoners in any manner. When he is taken from his cell for any reason he is accompanied by a guard. Ir another prisoner spproaches through the corridor he turns his face to the wall until the other prisoner has passed.

The hours and routine of the prisoner are rigidly organized. He is awakened early in the morning and given a short period in which to wash himself. Hs food is brought to him. Be bas a short and fixed time in which to eat it; the standard diet is

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just adequate to maintain nutrition. He must clean himself and police his owm cell; but he is not allowed enough time to keep it spotlessly clean. At some time in the morning he usually has an exercise period. Typically, his exercise consists of walking alone in the exercise yard. If he is in rigid isolation, he may not be allowed to exercise at all. He is usually alloved a slop jar in his cell which he can utilize for defecation and urination but sometimes this is taken avay. Then he must call the guard and perhaps wait for hours to be taken to the latrine.

At all times except vben he is eating, sleeping, exercising, or being interrogated, the prisoner is left strictly alone in his cell. He has nothing to do, nothing to read, and no one to talk to. Under the strictest regimen he may have to sit or stand in his cell in a fixed position all day. Be may sleep only at hours prescribed for sleep. Then he must go to bed promptly when told and must lie in a fixed position upon his back vith his hands outside the blanket. If he deviates from this position, the guard outside will awaken him and make him resume it. The light in his cell burns constantly. He must sleep with his face constantly toward it.

If the prisoner becomes ill, he is taken to a prison physician by whom he is treated vith the best medical care available according to the practices common to Soviet medicine. If

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necessary, he may be placed under hospital care; but as soon as

he bas recovered the regimen will be resumed.

Prisoners are not allowed to commit suicide. Those who

attempt to do so are thwarted and carefully nursed until they

recover; then the regimen is resumed.

Deviations from the prescribed regimen are promptly

noticed by the guards and are punished. Disturbed behavior is

punished also. If this behavior persists and the officer in

charge of the case is convinced that the prisoner has become

mentally ill, the man may be placed under medical care util his

health has returned; then the regimen is resumed.

This regimen within the detention cell is in itself a most

potent veapon in the hands of the MVD. It has been developed

and refined over a period of many years and used on literally

thousands of prisoners. It is highly effective in "breaking the

will" of prisoners -- so wch so that many MVD officers are

convinced that there is literally no man vho cannot be brought

to do their bidding.

The Effects of the Regimen in the Isolation Cell

The effects of this regimen upon prisoners are striking. It

has been mentioned that the man vho has been arrested by the MVD

is usually intensely apprehensive. Often he has known for weeks

that he weeld be arrestad but has hsd no clear kovledge or when

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or for vhat reason. Be has been seized in the middle of the night and taken without explanation to prison. He knows that no friend can help him and that the MVD may do with him what they please.

A major aspect of his prison experience is isolation. Man is a social animal; he does not live alone. From birth to death, he lives in the company of his fellov man. His relations vith other people and, especially with those closest to him, are almost as important to him as food or drink. When a man is totally isolated, be is removed from all of the interpersonal relations which are so important to him and taken out of the social role which sustains him. His internal as well as his external life is disrupted. Exposed for the first time to total isolation in an MVD prison, he develops a predictable group of syaptoms, which might almost be called a "disease syndrome". The guards and MVD officers are quite familiar with this syndrome. They watch each nev prisoner with technical interest as his symptoms develop.

The initial appearance of an arrested prisoner is one of bewilderment. For a few hours, be may sit quietly in his cell looking confused and dejected. But vithin a short time most prisoners become alert and begin to take an interest in their enviromment. They react with expectancy when anyone approaches

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the door to the cell. They show interest and anxiety as they are exposed to each new feature of the prison routine. They may ask questions or begin conversations. Some make demands; they demand to know why they are being held, and protest that they are innocent. If they are foreign nationals, they may insist upon seeing their consular officers. Some take a "you can't do this to me" attitude. Some pass through a brief period of shouting, threatening, and demanding. All of this is always sternly repressed. If need be, the officer in charge of the case will see the prisoner, remind him of the routine, threaten him with punishment, and pumish him ir he does not subside. During this period the prisoner has not yet appreciated the full iport of his situation. He tries to fraternize with the guards. He leaves part of his food if he does not like it. Be tries to speak to prisoners whom he passes in the corridors and reaches back to close the door behind hiz when he is taken to the latrine. The guards refer to this as the period of getting "acclimatized" to the prison routine.

After a few days it becomes apparent to the prisoner that his activity avails him nothing and that he will be punished or reprimanded for even the smallest breaches of the routine. He vonders vhen be vill be released or questioned. His requests have been listened to but never acted upon. He becomes

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21

CORTENTTAL

increasingly anxious and restless and his sleep is disturbed. He begins to look up alertly when anyone passes in the corridor. He jumps when the guard comes to the door. He becomes adjusted to the routine in his cell and goes through it punctiliously but he still leaves some of his food and occasionally reveals by small gestures his lack of complete submission to his environment.

The period of anxiety, hyperactivity and apparent adjustment to the isolation routine usually continues from one to three weeks. As it continues, the prisoner becomes increasingly dejected and dependent. He gradually gives up all spontaneous activity within his cell and loses all care about his personal appearance and actions. Finally, he sits and stares vith a vacant expression, perhaps endlessly twisting a button on his coat. He allows himself to become dirty and disheveled. When food is presented to him, he no longer bothers vith the niceties of eating but he eats it all. He my mix it into a mush and stuff it into his mouth like an animal. He goes through the motions of his prison routine automatically as if he were in a daze. The slop jar is no longer offensive to him. At this point, the prisoner seems to lose many restraints of orlinary behavior. He may soil himself, he veeps, mutters and prays aloud to hinselr. He follovs the orders of the guard with the

[PAGE 33]
CORIRSTIAL

docility of a trained animal. Indeed, the guards say that prisoners are "reduced to animals". It is estimated that in the average case it takes from four to six weeks of rigid, total isolation to produce this phenomenon.

The man who first experiences isolation in prison is, of course, experiencing far more than simple isolation. He usually feels profoundly anrious, helpless, frustrated, dejected, end entirely uncertain about his future. His first reaction to the isolation procedure is indeed one of bewilderment and some numbness at the calamity which has befallen him. This is followed by a period of interest and apprehension about every detail of the prison regimen, accompanied by hope that he can explain everything as soon as he gets a chance, or an expectation that he will be released when the proper authorities hear about his plight. Such hopes last but a few days, but they keep him alert and interested during that time.

As hope disappears, a reaction of anxious waiting supervenes. In this period, the profound boredom and complete loneliness of his situation gradually overwhelz the prisoner. There is nothing for him to do except ruminate. Because he has so much to vorry about, his ruzinationsare seldom pleasant. Frequently, they take the form of going over and over. all the possible causes for his arrest. His mood becomes one of

COUHENTTAL

22

[PAGE 34]
CONRRNTLAL

dejection. His sleep is disturbed by nightmares. Be ultimately reaches a stage of depression in vhich he ceases to care about his personal appearance and behavior and pays little attention to his surroundings. In this stage the prisoner may have illusory experiences. A distant sound in the corridor soumds like someone calling his name. The rattle of a footstep may be interpreted as a key in the lock opening the cell. God may seem to speak to him in his prayers. He may see his wife standing beside him. Hit need for human companionship and his desire to talk to anyone about anything becomes a gnawing appetite like the bunger of a starving man.

Other Aspects of the Isolation Regimen

Not all of the reaction to this imprisomment experience can be attributed to isolation alone. Other potent forces are acting upon the newly imprisoned man. The prisoner's anxiety about himself is compounded by worry about what may happen to his friends and associates, and, in the case of those who possess information which they wish to hide, apprehension about hov much the MVD knows or will find out. Even in the absence of isolation profound and uncontrolled anxiety is disorganizing. Uncertainty adds to his anxiety. The nevly arrested prisoner does not know how long he will be confined, how be will be punished, or with what he vill be charged. He does know that his punishment may

23

[PAGE 35]
COFERNTEAL

be anything up to death or permanent imprisonment. Many prisoners say that uncertainty is the most unbearable aspect of the vhole experience.Sleep disturbances and nightzares lead to further fear and fatigue.

The effects of isolation, uncertainty and anxiety are usually sufficient to make thea eager to talk to their interrogator, to seek some method of escape from a situation which has become intolerable. If these alone are not enough to produce the desired effects, the officer in charge has additional mimple and highly effective vays of applying pressure. Two of the most effective of these are creating fatigue and preventing the prisoner adeguate sleep. The constant light in the cell and the necessity of maintaining a rigid position in bed produce sleep disturbančes; and the guards can avaken the prisoner at intermals. This is especially effective if the prisoner ia awakened just as he drope off to sleep. Continued loss of sleep prodnces clouding of consciousness and a loss of alertness, both of which impair the rictim's ability to sustain isolation.

Another simple and effective type of pressure is that of maintaining the temperature of the cell at a level which is eitber too hot or too cold for comfort. Coutinuous heat, at a level at vhich constant sveating 1s necessary in order to maintain

24

[PAGE 36]
CONDAEPRETIAL

body temperature, is enervating and fatigue producing. Sustained cold is uncomfortable and poorly tolerated.

Still another pressure is to reduce the food ration to the point to which the prisoner experiences constant hunger. Deprivation of food produces lassitude, loss of general interest and some breakdowm of courage. There is usually a loss of weight, often associated vith weakness and asthenia. Some individuals become profoundly depressed when deprived of food. Both in prison camps and in human experiments, it has been observed that chronically hungry people can be induced to break down their culture-bound inhibitions and carry out antisocial acts in orier to relieve their hunger.

The effects of isolation, anxiety, fatigue, lack of sleep, uncomfortable texperatures, and chronic hunger produce disturbances of mood, attitudes, and behavior in nearly all prisoners. The living organisz camnot entirely withstand such asseults.

The Commmists do not look upon these assaults as "torture". Undoubtedly, they use the methods which they do in order to confor, in a typical legalistic mammer, to Commmist theory vhich demands that "no force or torture be used in extracting information from prisoners." But these methods do constitute torture and physical coercion and should never be considered otberwise. All of them lead to serious disturbances

25 COUHETTAL

[PAGE 37]
of many bodily processes and to demobilization of the personality.

The Interrogator

The MVD officer who has charge of a case during the period of suspicion, surveillance and arrest is now supplanted by another officer who is charged vith the interrogation of the prisoner and the preparation of the deposition. Within the MVD, assignments to interrogation:. are not highly regarded. Such work is not looked upon as glanorous or exciting. Very often it involves assigmment to outlying and relatively dull regions of the Soviet Uhion, and usually it is hard and thankless. The interrogation of prisoners is a tiring and an emotionally trying procedure. It can be assumed that a majority of those involved in the investigation and interrogation of unizportant prisoners are men of average ability vith no great enthusiasm for their job. However, the MVD does also possess highly skilled, well-educated, extrenely knovledgeable, experienced and able interrogators who are devoted to their profession and proud of their abilities. The interrogator assigned to an important prisoner can be expected to be a man of such high caliber.

Some of those who go into political police activity receive only a sort of "on-the-job" training under the guidance of more senior and experienced men; but a fair proportion of these police

CONRLRAL

26

[PAGE 38]
COEERTTLAL

officers are especially trained at an MVD school near Moscow. This school has been in existence for at least 15 years. It gives a course of two years duration. Trainees are alloved to observe a demonstration interrogation but do not actually conduct interrogations themselves. No formal training in psychology, psychiatry, pharmacology or physiology is included in the curriculum. There are no representatives of any of these sciences on the faculty and, as far as can be ascertained, there never have been. Trainees do receive information from experienced police officers on how to prepare a dossier, how to "size-up" a man, and hov to estimate what sort of methods to use in "breaking" him; but the instructors draw entirely upon police experience. They have a contempt for theoretical psychiatry and psychology.

Interrogation

When the prisoner has been arrested and incarcerated in his cell the officer in charge of his case submits to his superiors a plan for the interrogation of the prisoner. This plan is drawn up on the basis of what is already knowmn about the prisoner. It describes the methods to be used upon him, the attitudes to be taken toward hiz, the type of information which it is expected that he will reveal, and the type of crimes which he is believed to have comitted and the assumed motivation for them.

27

CODRENTIAL

[PAGE 39]
CORETRNTHAL

The purpose of this plan appears to be primarily that of making the interrogator approach the prisoner with a definite conception of what he wants to do, and how he is going to proceed in doing it.

Soviet law specifies that, if a man is detained on suspicion, the first protocol of his interrogation must be given to the state prosecutor within ten days so that an arrest warrant may be issued, or the man may be released. In general, interrogators are constrained to comply with this regulation, and they try to produce enough evidence to obtain an arrest within ten days. Because they have little except suspicion to guide their questioning, they are necessarily vague in describing the prisoner's crimes to him. They must be cautious lest the prisoner get wind of what they want him to say and refuse to say it. It is probably this more than any calculated cunning which causes them to make to the prisoner such enigmatic statements as:"It is not up to me to tell you vhat your crimes are; it is up to you to tell me" -- statements which lead the perplexed prisoner to rack his brain for an answer. The prosecutor is not hard to satisfy, and the interrogator nearly always obtains enough evidence to make an "arrest". If not, he can apply for an extension of the detention period. The law provides no real protection for the prisoner. It has been estimated that more than 99% of those who are seized are ultimately convicted and pumished.

28

[PAGE 40]
COBERETTL

Interrogations, once begu, are continued until the cese is complete, but in some circumstances they are intentionally delayed. It appears that this delay is imposed when the prisoner is defiant, when he ie thought to be vithholding information, when the MVD is seeking a confession to crimes other than those for which it has evidence, and especially vhen it wants to use the prisoner for a public trial or to obtain a propeganda confession from him. In such cases, the interrogation begina when the officer in charge feels that the prisoner is ripe for it. This is usually when he observes that the prisoner has become docile and compliant and shovs evidence of deterioration in his mood and personal appearance

Interrogations are almost umiforzly carried out at night. It is said that this practice of night interrogation originated not from any preconceived idea of its effectiveness, but because the early Chekists were so overburdened with police duties during the day that they could find time for interrogations only at night. For ome reason or another, it has become standard procedure, possibly because the physical and psychological erfect of night interrogatioms produces added pressure upon the prisoner. He is deprived of sleep and placed in a state of added uncertainty by never knoving when he vill be avakened and questioned.

Typically, he vill be awakened suddenly by the guard shortly after he has dropped off to sleep. Without explanation he is

29

[PAGE 41]
CONETDENTIAL

teken from his cell and down several corridors to a smmll and barren interrogation room equipped with a desk and chair for the interrogator and a stool for the prisoner. The lighting is arranged so that the prisoner can be placed in a bright light while the interrogator sits in relative darkness. Sometimes a stenographer is present in one corner of the room to take notes. More often the interrogator makea his own notes, writing as the prisoner speaks. Usually only one interrogator is present but occasionally other officers are introduced. Sometimes interrogators alternate, for psychological reasons, one being "friendly" and the other "hostile". If his work is succeseful, the original interrogator may carry the case through to s conclusion, but if he does not achieve the desired goal, he may be replaced. The atmosphere of the interrogation room generally has some degree of formality about it. The interrogator may be dressed in full uniform. If he wishes to impress the prisoner, he may take out a pistol, cock it, and lay it on the desk before him; but this psychological gambit does not seem to be a required part of the protocol. The interrogator adjusts his attitude tovard the prisoner according to his estimate of the kind of man he is facing. If the dossier indicates that the prisoner is a timid and fearful man, the interrogator may adopt a fierce and threatening demeanor. If

CONTMRTIAL

30

[PAGE 42]
COMPTDATTIAL

the prisoner is thought to be proud and sensitive, the interrogator may be insulting and degrading. If the prisoner has been a man of prestige and importance in prirate life, the interrogator may call him by his first name, treat him as an inferior and remind him that he has lost all rank and privilege. If it is knowm that the prisoner has been unfaithful to his wife or has committed some crime such as embezzlement, the interrogator may blackmail him by threatening exposure or punishment umless he cooperates. All these and many other tricks may be employed. They are not based upon a scientific theory of human behavior; they are tricks of the trade, so to speak, developed out of police experience and applied on a "rule of thumb", common sense basis.

Almost invariably the interrogator takes the attitude that the prisoner is guilty and acts as though all of his crimes are knovm. Almost invariably be points out to the prisoner that he is completely helpless, and that there is no hope for him unless he cooperates fully and confesses his crimes completely. Almost never does the interrogator state specifically what the prisoner's crimes actually are. This is left up to the prisoner who is told, in effect, that he knovs the extent of his own crimes, and need only to make a complete statement of thez. Almost invariably the interrogator does not accept the early statements of the prisoner. No matter vhat crimes he confesses, the interrogator forces the

31

[PAGE 43]
COHIPTDENTIAL

prisoner to repeat his statements egain and again, and to elaborate on them endlessly. Almost always he uses any discrepancies as indicstions of lying and questions the prisoner at length about them.

The first interrogation sessions are nearly always concerned with a complete review of the entire life experience of the prisoner. The interrogator wishes to know about the prisoner's background, his class origin, his parents, brothers and sisters, his friends and sassociates and everything that he has done throughout his life. If the case is of any importance, no detail is overlooked, and every period of the prisoner's life must be accoumted for.

This reviev of the prisoner's life may occupy several interrogation sessions. It has several purposes. Its first purpose is to complete the prisoner's dossier. It gives the interrogator a thorough picture of the type of man he is dealing with and further guides him to the man's weaknesses which can be exploited. Furthermore, requiring a man to account for every detail of his life produces such a voluminous and involved story that the prisoner can scarcely avoid being trapped into inconsist. encies if he is concealing anything. The information obtained from the life history can also be ccmpared vith that already in the police files, which is usually extensive. From the police

32

[PAGE 44]
COHRIDENTIAL

point of viev, it is also important to knov the associates of the prisoner because this may reveal his "accomplices", who then become suspects and can be interrogated. Most important, it reveals many "criminal" features of the prisoner such as reactionary class origin, membership in reactionary organizations and association with enemies of the state which are by Communist definition "crimes" no matter how long ago they were comitted.

The prisoner, taken from his cell after a long period of isolation, anxiety and despair, usually looks upon the first interrogation as a welcome break. The mere opportunity to talk to someone is intensely gratifying. Many prisoners have reported that after long periods of isolation they eagerly anticipate interrogation sessions and try to prolong them simply for the companionship which they afford. Not infrequently, the prisoner aleo regards interrogation as an opportunity to justify himself and feels false assurance that he can explain everything if given a chance.

Usually he is much taken aback by the fact that his crimes are not specified, and that his guilt is assumed. He is further distressed vhen his protestations of innocence are greeted as lies. But the opportunity to talk about his life experiences is generally looked upon, especially by a person.from Western society, as an opportunity to justify his behavior. Many men willingly divulge

33

[PAGE 45]
COMFTDERTIAL

all they can remember about themselves because they feel quite sure that they have done nothing which may be regarded as criminal. They are uaware that, from the point of view of Commanist theory and of the MVD, much of their past behavior undoubtedly will be construed as "criminal". If the interrogator offers them the opportunity to have paper and pencil in their cells and to write out their biographies, they seize upon this avidly as a means of relieving the boredom of the tedious, lonely routine to which they are exposed.

Pressures Applied by the Interrogator

As the interrogation proceeds, the interrogator changes his behavior according to his previous plan and the development of the case. If the prisoner is cooperating and talking freely, the interrogator continues to show a relatively friendly attitude. But sooner or later he invariably expresses dissatisfaction with the inrormation vhich the prisoner has given, no matter how complete it may be. He demands new details, and shovs an especially great interest in the accomplices of the prisoner and the "organization" to which he is supposed to have been attached. When the prisoner protests that he has told all, and denies any other crimes or accosplices, the interrogator becomes hostile and begins to apply pressure.

COFEDENTTL

34

[PAGE 46]
CONEFDRNTIAL

Some of the pressures which can be applied simply by altering the routine vithin the cell have been described. The interrogator has many others at his command. Continuous and repetitive interrogation is an effective and very common form of pressure. Another which is widely used is that of requiring the prisoner to stand throughout the interrogation session or to maintain some other physical position which becomes painful. This, like other features of the MVD procedure, is a form of physical torture, in spite of the fact that the prisoners and MVD officers alike do not ordinarily perceive it as such. Any fixed position which is maintained over a long period of time ultimately produces excruciating pain. Certain positions, of which the standing position is one, also produce impairment of the circulation.

Many men can withstand the pain of long standing, but sooner or later all men succumb to the circulatory failure it produces. After 18 to 24 hours of continuous standing, there is an accumulation of fluid in the tisoues of the legs. This dependent "edema" is produced by the extravasation of fluid from the blood vessels. The ankles and feet of the prisoner svell to twice their normal circumference. The edema may rise up the leg as high as the middle of the thighe. The skin becomes tense and intensely painful. Large blisters develop which break and exude watery serus. The accumulation of the body fluid in the legs

35

[PAGE 47]
COLPRDENTIAL

produces an impairment of the circulation. The heart rate increases and fainting may occur. Eventually there is a renal shutdown, and urine production ceases. Urea and other metabolites accumulate in the blood. The prisoner becomes thirsty, and may drink a good deal of water, which is not excreted, but adds to the edema of his legs. Men have been known to remain standing for periods as long as several days. Ultimately they usually develop a delirious state, characterized by disorientation, fear, delusions, and visual hallucinations. This psychosis is produced by a combination of circulatory impairment, lack of sleep, and uremia.

Periods of long standing are usually interrupted from time to time by interrogation periods during which the interrogator demands and threstens, while pointing out to the prisoner that it would be easy for him to end his misery merely by cooperating.

The MVD hardly ever uses manacles or chains, and rarely resorts to physical beatings. The actual physical beating is, of course, contrary to MVD regulations. The ostensible reason for these regulations is that they are contrary to Communist theory. The practical reason for them is the fact that the MVD looks upon direct physical brutality as an ineffective method of obtaining the compliance of the prisoner. Its opinion in this regard is shared by police in other parts of the vorld. In general, direct physical

36 COUPTENTIAL

[PAGE 48]
CONFTEENTIAL

brutality creates only resentment, hostility and further defianee. It is a general policy that the interrogator must obtain the vritten permission of his superiors before using extreme coercive measures of any sort upon prisoners. In actual practice such permission is sought only if the officer in charge of a case feels that there is a need for a direct brutal assault. The MVD recognizes that some men who are intensely afraid of physical assault may break down if beaten once or twice, and it does use this procedure deliberately, though uncommonly. Generally speaking, when an interrogator strikes a prisoner in anger he does so "unofficially". The act is usually an expression of his exaaperation and evidence that he, himself, is under emotional strain.

It can be taken for granted that some period of intense pressure and coercion will be applied to every prisoner, no matier how couperative he tries to be at first. This period of pressure will be accompanied by expressions of displeasure and hostility from the interrogator, and sometimes from the guards also.

The"Friendly Approach"

The interrogator will continue this pressure until he feels that the prisoner is nearly at the end of his rope. At this point he introduces a psychological gambit which is probably the most

37

[PAGE 49]
COPHENTIAL

successfuì of any of the tricks at his cosmand. He suddenly changes his demeanor. The prisoner, returned once again to an interrogation session that he expects will be a repetition of torture and vilification, suddenly finds that the entire scene has changed. The interrogation room is brightly lighted. The interrogator is seated behind his desk, relaxed and smiling. Tea and cigarettes are waiting on the table. He is ushered to a comfortable chair. The guard is sent avay and sometimes the secretary also. The interrogator remarks about his appearance. He is sympathetic about the discomfort which he has been suffering. He is sorry that the prisoner has had such a difficult time. The interrogator himself would not have wished to do this to the prisoner -- it is only that the prison regulations require this treatment, because of the prisoner's own stubbornness. "But let us relax and be friends. Let us not talk any more about crimes. Tell me about your family\* .- and so on. The usual line is to the effect that, "After all, I am a reasonable man. I want to get this business over as much as you do. This is as tiresome to me as it is to you. We already kow about your crimes; it is a mere formality for you to vrite out your confession. Why don't we get it over with so that everything can be settled and you can be released?"

38

CORPEDSNTIAL

[PAGE 50]
CONFIDENTIAL

Prisoners find this sudden friendship and release of pressure almost irresistibie. Nearly all of them avidly seize the opportunity to talk about themselves and their feelings, and. then go on to talk about their families. Most of them proceed from this almost automatically to giving the information which the interrogator Beeks. Even if they do not provide everything the interrogator wants at this time, he may continue his friendly demeanor and the relaxation of pressure for several more sessions before resuming the old regimen of torture. But if the prisoner does reveal significant information and cooperates fully, the revards are prompt and gratifying. The interrogator smiles and congratulates hiz. Cigarettes are forthcoming. There is a large meal, often excellently prepared and served; and after this the prisoner returns to his cell and sleeps as long as he likes, in sny position that he chooses.

The Course of the Interrogation

Such friendly and rewarding behavior will continue for several days -- usually as long as the interrogator feels that a significant amount of nev information is being produced. At this point the prisoner may conclude that his ordeal is over; but invariably he is disappointed. For as soon as the interrogator decides that no new information is being yielded, the regimen of constant pressure and hostile interrogation is resumed. Again it

CONTTURISL

1

39

[PAGE 51]
CONPIEEWTIAL

is carried to the point at which the prisoner is near breakdown.

Again it is relaxed, and again the prisoner is revarded if he

cooperates. In this manner, proceeding with regular steps,

alternating punishment with reward, the prisoner is constantly

pressed to revise and revrite the protocol until it contains all

the statements which the interrogator desires, and is in a final

form which meets with his approval. When it has at last been

agreed upon and signed, the pressure is relaxed "for good", but

the prisoner continues to live in his cell and continues under

the threat of reneved pressure until such time as he has been

taken before a court, has confessed, and has been sentenced.

Throughout the entire interrogation period, the prisoner is

umnder some for of medical surveillance. Prison phyeicians are

familiar with all the effects produced by MVD procedures, and

evidently they are skilled at judging just how fer the various

procedures can be carried vithout killing or permanently

damaging the prisoner. Prisoners who have' been beaten have their

wounds carefully dressed. Those who are forced to stand for long

periods of time are examined periodically during the procedure.

Sometimes the physician intervenes to call a halt if be feels the

prisoner is in danger. The unintended death of a prisoner during

pert of the prison officials.

40

CORFIDETTL

[PAGE 52]
CONTHNTAL

The Interrogator's Point of View and Objectives

It has been said that the interrogator approaches the prisoner vith the assutption that he-is guilty. It is important that we define this statement precieely. It does not mean that the interrogator is not aware of the "true facts" of the situation but that he interprets thes in the light of Comuist ideologs. The MVD officer is a Commaniat. He has selected this prisoner fro one of the groups of suspects described earlier. The man was arrested because the MVD, which represents the Communist State, regarded him as a menace to the Party or its progras. Anyone who is a menace to the Party is, by definition, guilty of threatening the security of the Commmist State. Erge, froe the Commmnist point of viev, the man is "guilty". In other vords, the MYp has decided that this man must be dealt with in some manner, "for the good of the State." Once the man has beez arrested this point is mo longer open te question. This is the true though esoteric meaning of the frequently repeated Cosunist statement that, "I a Commmunist state, innocent people are never arrested." If one accepts their definition of "guilt" and "innocence", this is indeed a fact.

Hovever, the interrogator does not kow just vhat specifie "crimes" the man.day have committed. In faet, it is quite clear thet zost of the -people arrested by the M have not really

41 CORFTRENTEL

[PAGE 53]
CORRDENTIAL

coitted any specific serious crines at all. But the police do know that the prisoner has committed some acts which are contrary to the broad Soviet laws against political erimes, as well as minor "actual" crimes. Furtherzore, experience has taught them that if they put enough pressure upon the prisoner, socner or later they will get him to confess to acts which can be interpreted as a "major crime". Once this confession has been obtained the MVD can demand from the court a punishment equivalent to that which it intended that the prisoner shouid receive when it arrested him.

Much of the activity of the interrogator can be looked upon as a process of persuasion. The primary work of an interrogator is to convince the prisoners that what they did was a crime. Having gotten evidence from his informers and from the prisoner, it is up to the interrogator to persuade the prisoner that certain actions wich he has carried out constitute a crime. The prisoner is usually prepared to admit that the acts have been carried out. Often as not, he revealed them freely because he did not consider them to be criminal. It is up to the interrogator to make the prisoner see that these acts do constitute a serious crime, and acknovledge this by signing a deposition and making a confession in court if necessary. The Communist legal system requires that this be done before a case can be settled.

42 CONTEEGNTIAL

[PAGE 54]
COPHENTIAL

The fact that the interrogator is a dedicated Communist makes his task of persuasion somewhat easier. The interrogator approaches the prisoner vith the knovledge that the man is actually a eriminal by Commumist definition; and he has a large body of convenient Commmist definitions and rationalizations to help hin in convincing his victix of this. For exaaple, according to Communist theory, acts are judged by their "objective effects" rather than by the motives of those who committed them. Thus, if a prisoner, through an honest mistake, has damaged a piece of machinery belonging to the State, he is a "wrecker". Objectively, he has wrecked an important piece of property belonging to the State. The fact that he did this with innocent motives is not a consideration. Thus a "mistake", and "accident" and a "crime" all become the same thing.

Likewise, according to Comunist theory, a man's acts and thoughts are judged "consequentially". Thus, if a prisoner is knowm to have said that the MyD vas too powerful, the fact that he has said this may make him a "traitor" and "saboteur". The Communist reasoning is that a man vho says that the MVD is too powerful, belieres that it is too powerful and vill ultimately act upon this belief. This ultimate act will constitute sabotage and treason; therefore, the man is a saboteur and a traitor. Similarly, a man who has friendly association with foreign

43 COFIDENTIAL

[PAGE 55]
COETRETTIAL

nationals must have some friendly feeling tovard them; foreign govermments are capitalist and imperialist; a man who is friendly to foreist nationals is giving help to the agents of capitalist imperialism; therefore, the man is a spy vhether he realises it or not.

Such peculiar twists of Commmist logic are difficult for Western prisoners to accept at first. Usually they object strenuously to these definitions of "treason", "wrecking", and "sabotage"; but ultimately, under constant pressure and persuasion, a prisoner usually agrees to some statement to the effect that, "By Communist lavs I am a spy." Thereafter, there follows further argument and persuasion to the effect that a person is judged by the lavs of the country in which the crimes are committed. Ultimately the qualifying phrase is omitted, and the final deposition contains the simple statement, "I am a spy.

Mary MyP officers ixpress the prisoner by the sincerity of their dedication to Commmism and its ostensible ideals. The interrogator often displays a patient sympathy which becomes apparent to the prisoner. His attitude that, "This is something we must go through with and neither you nor I can stop until you have cooperated and signed a proper confession", is to some extent a genuine attitude. The MVp system allows of no other solutiom from the interrogator's point of viev. It is in fact

44 COPEESTTTAL

一

[PAGE 56]
CORTTERTIAL

true that the interrogations vill have to go on until a proper deposition has been signed. The prisoner often comes to recognize this sincerity. Many see that indeed the interrogator must follov the syatem, and there is nothing which he can do about it. Thus, the prisoner, in his need for companionship, may displace his hostility from the interrogator to the "system". Many interrogators gemuinely plead vith the prisoner to learn to see the truth, to think correctly, and to cooperate.

The Reaction of the Prisoner to the Interrogation

The way in which a prisoner reacts to the vhole process of interrogation is to a great extent dependent upon the manner of man he is, his pre-existing attitudes and beliefs, and the circumstances surrounding his arrest and imprisonment. All prisoners have this in common: They have been isolated and have been under unremitting pressure in an atmosphere of hostility and uncertainty. They all find themselves in a dilemma at the time that the interrogation begins. The regimen of pressure and isolation has created an overall discomfort which is well nigh intolerable. The prisoner invariably feels that something must be done to find a vay out. Death is denied hia. Ultimately, he finds himself faced vith the choice of continuing interminably under the intolerable pressures of his captors or accepting the way out which the interrogator offers. The way out is a

45 CONFLDENTIAL

[PAGE 57]
CONELDENTTAL

rationalization. It allows the prisoner to meet the demands of his interrogator by degrees, while at the same time retaining within himself some shred of belief that by his own standards he has not capitulated. The rationalization may be -- and very often is -- so patently absurd and untrue that the victim, in his "right mind", would be utterly incapable of accepting it. But he is not in his right mind. His capacity to distinguish true from felse, or good from bad, has been deliberately undermined. With rare exceptions prisoners accept this way out, provided the pressures are prolonged and intense and the interrogator can effectively adjust his persuasiveness.

Various categories of prisoners respond to different types of persuasion. Persons who have been lifelong members of the Commumist party are familiar with the Communist concept of "crime" and the functions of the MVD. Furthermore, they have all been trained in the ritual of self-criticism, confession, pumishment and rehabilitation which has been part of Communist procedure since before the revolution. Many Commumists can rationalize a belief that tbey are actually criminals as specified by the MVD and come to see their pumiahment as necessary for the good of the State and the Party. To the true Party member, such martyrdom carries with it an air of tritph.

46

[PAGE 58]
CONREERTIAL

Non-Commumist prisoners of idealistic beliefs or socialist

sympathies apparently make ready targets for the logie of the

interrogator. Such persons are usually compelled to agree that

the ostensible and idealistic motives of the Communist Party are

"good", and that those who oppose these ideals are "bad". The

rationalization in this case takes the form of getting the

prisoner to say that the Comunist Party has the same value

system that he does; something which the prisoner agrees is "bad"

by his own definition. From this point the prisoner proceeds

through the usual steps to the ultimate signing of the deposition.

Persons vho carry with them strong feelings of guilt

associated with highly organized systems of moral values likewlse

become ready targets for the persuasion of the interrogator. Very

few people are entirely free of guilt feelings, but, inappropriate

as it seems, such feelings often are found in the highest degree

in those whose objectives and behavior are beyond reproach. For

example, many strongly religious people have a profound sense of

sin. They feel guilty of shortcomings of their owm which are

much smaller than those found in most of their fellow men. They

constantly see themselves as transgressing their own moral code

and in the need of forgiveness for doing so. Skilled interro-

gators make use of this.

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CONEERTIAL

Individuals with so-called sociopathic or peychopathie personalities vho have few moral scruples are valnerable becsuse they can be bribed, in a sense, to take the easy way out. Obviously, individuala actually "caught with the goods" receive short shrift at the hands of the MVD interrogator.

The maze in which any prisoner finds hinself has so many ramifications that it is almost impossible for him to escape from it without signing a protocol and being convicted. Anything he has done may be a crime. He has been adjudged guilty before his arrest. He is put in a situation of intolerable pressure. It is made clear to him that his only way out of this situation is to cooperate with the interrogator. He is offered a reasonable rationalization for doing so. Sooner or later, under these circumstances, the prisoner and the interrogator almost inevitably come to an agreement upon a deposition which satisfies both of them.

The Trial

When the prisoner has finally reached the point of admitting hia erimes and he and the interrogator have agreed upon a protocol satisfactory to both of them, he experiences a profound sense of relief. Even though his crimes may be serious and the punishment for them severe, he velcomes a surcease from the unrelenting pressures and miseries of the interrogation procedure. Whatever

48

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CONFENTIAL

the future may hold for him, he has for the moment found a way out of an intolerable situation.

When a satisfactory deposition has been prepared and signed, the pressures upon the prisoner are customarily relaxed. Be is allowed to sleep as long as he wishes; he may have reading and writing material in his rocs. Sometimes he can join with other prisoners in periods of exercise. His meals improve and his guards become friendly or even solicitous. This easy treatment is contimued until he is thoroughly rested and his health has been restored. Then, in most cases, he is taken before the court. The state prosecutor presents the court with the signed protocol and questions the prisoner about his crimes. Sometimes a defense attorney is assigned; this mn invariably limits himself to requesting leniency fro the court. The whole procedure is usually brief and formal. There are no verdicts of "not guilty". The fuction of the judge is solely that of presiding over the trial and passing upon the prisoner a sentence whicb has usually been agreed upon beforehand by the prosecutor and the MVD officer in charge of the case.

It is this aspect of the proceedings which is most bevildering to Western observers. It is essy to understand hov prisonere can be tortured into signing confessions of crimes which they did not commit, but it is difficult to understand why the prisoners do not renounce these confessions later at the public trials.

49

[PAGE 61]
COTELTIL

Beginning with the Purge Trials of the 1930's, the MVD and its successors and offspring in Russia, the Bastern Suropean satellites, and Chins have presented the worid with a series of public trials at vhich the prisoners calmly and seemingly without coercion make outrageous confessions of unbelievable crimes, praise their ceptors, and aak for the most severe punishment for themselves. These priaoners have included important Commmist officials, former NKVD officers, non-Commmnist citizens of various categories, and foreigners of the most diverse backgroumds. All of these prisoners spparently were innocent; some faced certain death; and many vere profoumdly anti-Commumist. Men of the highest caliber and integrity like Cardinal Mindszenty seemed to have the strongest possible motirations to resist; but none of them stood up in court and denounced the confession and his captors. This phenomenon demands an explanation.

The explanation is available but it is not simple. It is necessary to examine the proposition in detail in order to view it in its proper light.

First, it is by no means true that "all prisoners confess freely at a public trial." Only & very mmall minority of prisoners of the Commnist state police ever appear at a public trial. The proportion of those tried publicly is exceedingly mmall. The NVD vill not expose a prisoner to a public trial

50

[PAGE 62]
COPDRITIAL

unless it is convinced that he will go through vith his confession aa planned. If there is any doubt about this, no public trial is held. But even with this precaution the MYD is not infallible. At the Purge Trials several of the prisoner tried to recant parta of their confessions. When a prisoner tried to recant, the prosecutor halted the examination of that person. Usually, when he returned from his cell several days later he was again docile and cooperative. Some of the so-called "public trials" have not actually been public. They have been carried out in the presence of a select audience vhile movies and recordings are made of the prisoner's words which are later transmitted to the public.

The majority of prisoners do come to trial, but these trials are not public. They are held in camera. The state police are concerned only with political crimes and espionage. Their prisoners are tried before "Military Tribunals", which are not public courts. Thcse present are only the interrogator, the state prosecutor, the prisoner, the judges, a few stenographers, and perhaps a fev officers of the court. At such a trial there is no opportunity for public protest, and any protest which is made can be readily expunged from the record. So far as the prisoner is concerned, this so-called trial appears as nothing more than the next step in his process of imprisomment. He has remained entirely in the hands of his interrogators and guards

51

[PAGE 63]
COEINTTAL

with access to no one else. When he finally comes before the

court he sees no one nev exeept the state prosecutor, the judge,

and the court officials. The defense attorney, if one is assigned,

shovs not the slightest interest in refuting any of the evidence

in the confession or in establishing a plea of "not guilty". He

never questions the fact that the prisoner is guilty as charged.

Sometimes he asks the judge for lenience; but not infrequently he

informs the court that he is convinced the prisoner is just as big

a monster as the prosecution says he is and that he cannot bring

himself to ask the court for leniency. The judge likevise shows

no interest in the question of guilt or innocence. He limits

himself to maintaining order in the court and passing sentence.

If the prisoner has any illusions that the prosecutor, the judge,

and the defense attorney are going to allow him any opportumity

to dispute the facts in the case these are soon dispelled.

By no meaas do all prisoners receive & trial of any sort.

Those who are stubborn or repeatedly recant their confessions

during the interrogation procedure vill not be trusted even at

private trials. Uncooperative and stubborn prisonere and those

who might make embartassing statements are "dealt with

adainistratively." For many years the state police have had the

right to carry out administrative trials for any prisoners vho

they do not vish to expose to the usúal trial procedure. These

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CONEIORNTIAL

administrative trials consist of simply presenting the prisomer to a group of three senior police officers (the "Troika") vho pass sentence immediately and have it carried out forthwith. These administrative trials take place vithin the detention prison. Sometimes the prisoner is not even present at them; sentence is passed by the Troika merely upon the basis of the signed protocol.

Sometimes the alleged records of these trials have been made public, but generally the fact that such a trial had taken place is never revealed. For every Soviet citizen who has appeared at a public trial there have been thousands who have been tried only at private trials by ilitary tribunals or have been dealt vith adninistratively by the police themselves. Thus, a great number of high Communist officials, captured German officers, and similar prisoners who fell into the hands of the Russian secret police were not tried at all. So far as the public vas concerned they merely disappeared.

It is said that since the death of Beris and the dissolution of the MGB, the right of administrative trial has been withdrawn from the MVD. The history of past attempts to refors the secret police suggest that it will be quietly restored vithin a fev years, if it has not been already.

Public Confessions

If we exclude from consideration all those prisoners who are dealt with administratively, two questions remin: Why do all of

53 CONPDENTIAL

[PAGE 65]
CORRIDRITIAL

those prisoners vho are tried in private confess almost without exception? Why do some prisoners confess at public trials where there is ectually some opportunity to make an open denial of guilt?

In response to the question of vhy prisoners at private trials confess almost without exception the following ansvers can be given:

(1) The setting of the private trial as we have just described it makes it apparent to the prisoner that any attempt at recantation is useless.

(2) The prisoner at a private trial is always under actual threat by the MVD. The officer in charge of his case has clearly indicated to him that any attempt to alter or recant any part of his confession will lead to an immediate resumption of the interrogation-torture regimen. This threat is as poignant as a cocked pistol.

(3) Warm and positive feelings between prisonere and their interrogating officers often develop during the interrogation process, and many prisoners come to triaì vith the feeling that, if they attempt to alter their testimony, they will be dishonoring an agreement with their interrogators.

(4) Finally, it is to be emphasized that in spite of all of these deterrents, some prisoners do recant at their private trials. The court then decides that these prisoners have not

[PAGE 66]
COULLBENTIAL

yet reached a full avareness of their crimes. They are sent

back to the detention prison, and once again put through the

torture-interrogation regimen. Sooner or later, they learn

that pleas of "not guilty" are not acceptable in Soviet

courts, and that they muat behave themselves at their trials.

Otherwise, they are indefinitely detained or executed.

In answering the question of why some prisoners confess

publicly when there is some opportunity for them to renounce their

confessions and thereby embarrass their captors, one must consider

the various categories of those who have been tried in public.

Widely publicized trials are staged by the Commumists only umder

exceptional circumstances and always for propaganda purposes.

They are carefully managed "set pieces" in which every performer

must play his role exactly as prescribed. The MVD and other

Comumist police organizations select the prisoners for these

shovs with great care.

The first category of those who have made public confessions are prominent Bolsheviks who have fallen from grace; Zinoviev, Kamenev, Rykov, Bukharin, Radek and their associates at the time of the great purges; more recently, Luse, Rajk in Hungary, Traicko Kostov in Bulgaria, Slansky, Clementis, and others in Czechoslovakia, China, etc. The list is extensive, but not nearly so extensive as the list of prominent Communist officials who were liquidated

55

COMFEDENTIAL

[PAGE 67]
CORPIERNTIAL

adainistratively, probably because they could not be trusted at public trial.

But why did these confess, who did so? The old Bolsheviks "confessed" primarily because they vere lifelong, dedicated Communists. They had committed their lives to the belief that nothing is sacred but the Party, and the Party ia always right. If there is a central point in the Comunist creed, it is this. These men all subscribed to the belief that opposition to the Party line, as expressed by the Party leaders, 1s a crime. Whatever else they were, they were "chronic oppositioniste", and knev themselves to be so. They all subscribed to the Communist ritual of public self-criticiss and punishment. Nearly all of them had at one time or another publicly criticized themselves and had been punished. Several had been expelled from the Party, not once but several times. They all knew themselves to be in opposition to the Party leadership, and they all felt guilty about this. In spite of this, they still considered themselves to be Bolsheviks and were prepared in principle to accept any demand which the Party might make upon thes, even to the point of death.

Another category of those who have confessed publicly is that group of intellectually or idealistically motivated people who were thought to be opposed to Communisz, or at least to be non-Commnist, prior to their arrest. Most prominent in this group is

56

[PAGE 68]
COPTENTIAL

Cardinal Mindszenty; also included in this are other Roman Catholic priests froms the satellite coumtries such as Bishop Cruszi.

Still another category of those who have confessed publicly are various foreign businesemen, newspepersen and zilitary men who were arrested or captured in the course of their routine duties; Robert Vogeler in Hungary and Willian Oatis in Czechoslovakia are examples. In all of these cases, the following factors are evident:

(1) The confessions made by the prisoners vere "actually true" in the sense that the specific acts described in the confessions actually occurred.

(2) The interpretation put upon these acts vas the Communist interpretation.

(3) The prisoner had been brought to agree that in the country in which he was arrested the Comumist lavs applied and, therefore, these acts constituted a crise. The prisorer, therefore, pleaded guilty to "crimes" vhich were "crimes" by Commumist definition, but which he had not intended as crimes or considered to be crimes at the time that he carried them out. This qualification, hovever, was missing from the etatements made by the prisoners at the trials.

(4) All of these prisoners were under the threat of reneved torture-interrogation regizen if they recanted or changed their confessions.

57 CONPIORNTIAL

[PAGE 69]
COPITEFTIAL

(5) Many of them had the actual or implied promise as well as the firs belief that they would be released if they cooperated with the police.

(6) Furthermore, all of them were able to rationalize that their confessions would not be believed by outsiders in any case. This rationalization was in part a correct one -- their confessions were widely disbelieved in the United States; but in some other areas of the world their confessions are accepted as factual.

(7) Finally, it must be emphasized that in all these cases, though probably to varying degrees, the brainwashing process -- the disintegration of personality accompanied by some shift in value-systes -- had taken place. In the case of devoted Communists, 1t is possible that fanatic loyalty to the Party played a large part in bringing about the confessions, vithout the necessity of extensive brainvashing. On the other hand, major shifts in their thinking processes must have influenced the public confessions of Cardinal Mindszenty, Vogeler and Oatis. When abaurd events and incredible logic sre apparent in convincingly sincere statements by men of such intelligence, no other explanation is sufficient. These men were reduced to a state in vhich their conceptual processes vere no longer encuebered by processes o: critical judgment.

58 COXPLLSNTIAL

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COAFLOENTIAL

Punishment

The period of interrogation and detention, no matter how long and terrible it may be, is not considered imprisonment. The punishment begins only after the sentence has been passed. Sometimes a lenient judge will allow the prisoner to count his period of detention as a part of a prison sentence, but often this period is discounted altogether. According to Commist theory, the purpose of prison systems is to rebabilitate criminals through wholesome work, productive activity, and education. For this purpose prisoners are transported to Siberia or the Arctic where most of them spend their terms working in mines and construction projects under brutal and primitive conditions. Those who are fortumate enough to receive any education during this procedure are educated by further indoctrination with Comunist ideas. Comparison of Russian and Chinese Commnmist Practices

From the standpoint of umderstanding the techniques of brainwashing, the practices of the Chinese add little to the Russian procedures just described. There are, hovever, some general differences, a fev of which may be mentioned.

(1) In China, at the moment at least, the period of detention ia greatly prolonged. Whereas in the Soviet Uhion trial and sentencing take place fairly soon after the completion of the interrogation and the preparation of a suitable

59

[PAGE 71]
COHFIDENTIAL

protocol, in Chins the preparation of a first confession is only a prelude to a long period of indoctrination and re-education, which may go on for years. It is not terminated until those in charge of the prisoner believe that he has finally adopted a "correct" attitude and behavior. It is only then that the trial, the sentencing and the formal ter of imprisonment or other punishment begins.

(2) Unlike the MVD, the Chinese make extensive use of group interaction among prisoners, in obtaining information, in applying pressures, and in carrying out indoctrination.

(3) The goal of the MVD detention and interrogation procedure is the preparation of a protocol upon vhich a suitable pumishment can be based, so that the MVD can then deal vith the prisoner according to its preconceived idea of what must be done for the good of the Party and the Soviet State. In a minority of cases, this includes a public trial for propaganda purposes. The MvD does not appear to be greatly concerned about the future attitudes and behavior of the prisoner, so long as he behaves properly during the period of trial and sentencing. The goal of the Chinese detention and interrogation procedure, on the other hand, is primarily that of insuring that the prisoner vill develop a relatively long lasting change in his attitudes

60 COUPITENTTAL

[PAGE 72]
CONRTDENTIAL

and overt behavior that will be sustained after his release, so that be will not again constitute a danger to the Comunist state. The securing of information by interrogation, the preparation of proper protocols and "confessions", and the participation of the prisoners in public propaganda trials, are secondary to this primary goal.

(4) Whereas in the Soviet Uhion and the satellites the ritual of public self-criticism, confession, self-degradation, punishment, and rehabilitation is a party procedure confined to Communists, the Chinese have extended this practice to the non-party population, and to the prison population in particular, and have made it an important feature of their indoctrination procedure.

(5) Physical torture of the traditional sort is more common. Manacles and leg chains are frequently used.

(6) Procedures are less standardized.

(7) Detention facilities are zore priaitive.

The essential differences appear to be in those of emphasis and objective, as indicated in (1) through (4) above. The Soriet objective is one of securing a confession in a relatively short time. The Chinese objective is that of indoctrination, of converting the victis to Commumism; and the process may be prolonged for years. Brainwashing is but one of many techniques used.

61 COHREDENTIAL

[PAGE 73]
Frequent lectures and constant and intensive social pressures are also prominent elements.

Some persons who have emerged from Chinese prisons have been characterized by amazingly altered political beliefs and immediate loyalty to Communisa. They have, indeed, been described as the most thoroughly braimwashed of all! While the story of Chinese indoctrination is an interesting and impressive one, ve believe that it is in the interest of clear thinking to confine our use of the term "braimwashing" to that systematic breakdown of the personality which is deliberately brought about for the purpose of securing false confessions.

Conclusions

From this general description it is possible to draw two general conclusions about Communist control techniques. First, there is little that is new in their repertoire of controls. A fev peges of Malleus Maieficarum\*, for example, vill convince any reader of the amasing similarity between present-day Cosmmumist brainwashing methods and those used for obtaining confessions of vitchcraft three and four centuries ago. Communist control of the individual and the masses is little different from controls exercised by virtually all absolute foras

\* SUMERS, M. Malleus Naleficarum. London Pushkin Press, 1948. 278 pp.

62 CONPIENTIAL

[PAGE 74]
of govermment, past and present. What is nev vith the Comunists is the extent of application and the unsurpassed organization in administration of control techniques.

The second general conclusion is that the Commmmists have developed a highly systematic use of techmiques for controlling the individual. This systemization apparently has been developed pragmatically by trial and error, rather than from the best available theoretical principles. There is evidence that no scientists have participated in the actual brainvashing process. And considering vhat is known of the brainwashing process, more systematic application of established psychological principles could probably increase the efficacy of brainwashing.

Both the Soviets and Chinese are flexible in developing "tailor-made" control pressures for specific individuals. This tailoring of treatment is dependent upon some ability to diagnose what combination of pressures will be most effective in manipulating a particular personality.

Finally, it may be worth re-emphasizing at this point that many kinds of people who have been in the hands of the Comnunists have done zany different things for many different reasons -- to all of which the ters "brainwashing" has at some time beez applied. Loyal Communists have confessed falsely "for the good of the Party", no doubt in some cases vith little imediate

63 CONFTUEWTIAL

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CONPTENTIAL

coercion. Some uneducated or rootless persons have been easy marks for conversion to Communism. It seems wise, hovever, to reserve the ter "brainwashing" for that assault on the personality which is a clear and prominent result of the Soviet regimen just described. It is that assault on the personality to which we shall now turn our attention.

64

CONEIEENTIAL

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CONFEDENTIAL

AN AMALYSIS OF CONTROL DURING BRAINWASHING

Having gotten the "feel" of the Commumist prison and interrogation procedures vhich culminate in the false confession, we should now organize our thinking vith respect to just vhat is accomplished and how this objective is brought about.

The objective is to procure a plausible, detailed, reasonably comsistent confession of crimes. A major characteristic of this confession is that nearly all of it is false. Some of the specific acts or utterances ascribed to the victim may, to be sure, be true. But the criminal meaning of the acts, the criminal intent of the victim in performing them, many embellishments and elaborations of the acts, the victim's guilt with regard to them, and his belief that he should be punished-- all these are distortions, and quite at variance vith the facts.

A second and most essential characteristic of the brainwashed, confessing individual is that he appears to have developed a conviction that what he confesses is true. This is indeed the most startling element in the whole picture; and this is the element which demands explanation.

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An illustration may make this clear. If a prisoner has been chosen for brainwashing, he cannot escape going through the entire process simply by indicating a willingness to sign anything he is asked to sign. In public trial, such confessions would be unconvincingly supported by the victim, or might be denied. The whole process must be carried through to the point vhere the victim literally evinces belier in his confession.

The key figure in the brainwashing process is the interrogator. He is the protagonist around whom the prisoner develops his conflict, and upon whom the prisoner comes to depend as he seeks a solution for that conflict. He provides the general outline, though zot the details, of the great fabrication which the victim must comstruct, defend, and come to believe before the process is culzinated He initiates the pressures which are applied to the victim, and readily adapts his own behavior to provide additional pressure. His role is predominant.

The process of brainwashing is essentially one in vhich two paths are being folloved. One is the demoralizing process, the result of vhich is to reduce the victim's critical faculties to the point where he no longer discriminates clearly betveen true and false, logical and illogical. The

66

[PAGE 78]
CONEPENTIAL

other is the re-organizing process, in which he is required to construct his confession, elaborate it, defend it, and beliere it. These two processes are actually going on all the time, though an initial softening-up usually precedes the intensive interrogation and the initial construct of the confession.

The previous section described in some detail the control pressures exerted by the Commmists. Recognition of the psychological effects of these pressures within the individual is necessary to an understanding of brainwashing. It should be noted that this is a theoretical analysis. As indicated in the last section, the Communists did not design their pressures to satisfy a particular need to achieve these effects.

A Eypothetical Schedule of Brainwashing

In the period immediately following capture or arrest, his captors are faced vith the problem of how to exploit the prisoner maximally. When, as in the case of arrested Soviet citizens, the arrest and interrogation plan already developed is suitable, little further need be done to carry out the assault upon the prisoner. When the prisoner is not a citizen of the Commnist country, or he is a prisoner of war, a plan must be developed from scratch. Therefore,

67 CONRIDENTIAL

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initial treatment is similar both for those who are to be

interrogated for intelligence and those who are to undergo

a systematic brainvashing. One practical consequence

immediately becomes apparent. The minds of those who are

to be interrogated for intelligence must be kept sufficiently

clear and intact to permit a coherent, undistorted revelation

of the desired information; whereas in brainwashing the

initial assault is upon the clarity of the thought processes.

Concurrently with preliminary administrative contaets the prisoner undergoes a physical and psychological softeningup process. This softening-up includes limited, unpalatable food, regimented exercise and use of toilet facilities, withholding of reading materials, deprivation of tobacco, and strict regnlation of the conditions and position of sleep.

As previously indicated, the most important mechani of the brainvashing process is the interrogation. During the course of the interrogation the interrogator may attempt to elicit information (especially in the case of captured military personnel), to indoctrinate his victim to the Comunist point of view, to attack his value-system and his thought processes, and to lead him through the demoralization

68

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CONPPENTTAL

and reintegration that characterizes the braimwashed state. In achieving his objective the interrogator controls the administration of all the other pressures.

The folloving emotional states are created within the individual during the systematic course of the brainvashing:

(1) A feeling of helplessness in attempting to deal with tbe impersonal machinery of control.

(2) An initial reaction of "surprise".

(3) A feeling of uncertainty about vhat is required of him.

(4) A developing feeling of dependence upon the interrogator.

(5) A sense of doubt and a loss of objectivity.

(6) Feelings of guilt.

(7) A questioning attitude tovard his owm valuesystem.

(8) A feeling of potential "breakdown", 1.e., that be might go insane.

(9) A need to defend his acquired principles.

(10) A final sense of "belonging" (identification).

The order in which the feelings are engendered within the individual may vary somewhat; but all are necessary to the brainwashing process.

69 COPRNTIAL

[PAGE 81]
CONERETTIAL

A feeling of helplessness in attempting to deal vith the impersonal machinery of control develops within the individual during the early stages. The individnal who receives the softening-up treatment described above not only begins to feel like an animal but feels also that nothing can be done about it. No one pays any personal attention to him. His complaints fall on deaf ears. His loss of commumication, if he has been isolated, creates a feeling that he has been forgotten. Everything that bappens to him occurs according to an impersonal time schedule that has nothing to do vith his needs. The voices and footsteps of the guards are muted. He notes many contrasts. The cells are clean but he is filthy. His greasy, unpalatable food is served on battered tin dishes by guards Lmmaculately dressed in vhite. The first steps in "depersonalization" of the prisoner have begum. He has no idea vhat to expect. Ample opportumity is allotted for him to ruminate upon all the unpleasant or painful things that could happen to him. He approaches the main interrogation vith mired feelings of relief and fright.

The controlled individual is constantly experiencing surprise. That is, what he expects is often not what actually

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CONEZDENTIAL

happens to him. Rarely is the prisoner prepared for the fact that interrogators are often initially friendly and considerate. They make every effort to demonstrate that they are reasonable human beinge. Often they apologize for any bad treatment received by the prisoner and promise to improve the prisoner's lot if he, too, is reasonable. This behavior is not what the prisoner has steeled himself for. He lets dovn some of his defenses and tries to take a reasonable attitude. The first occasion, hovever, that the prisoner balks at satisfying a reguest of the interrogator, he is in for another surprise. The formerly reasonable interrogator unexpectedly turns into a furious maniac who screams epithets. The interrogator may slap the prisoner or draw his pistol and threaten to shoot him. Usually this storm of emotion ceases as suddenly as it began and the interrogator stalks from the room. These surprising changes create a doubt in the prisoner as to his very ability to perceive another person's motivations correctly. His next interrogation, as likely as not, will be marked by the very impassivity of the interrogator nien.

A feeling of uncertainty about what is required of him likewise results from the prisoner's early contacts with the

71 COPDDRNTIAL

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CHFTTIENTIAL

interrogator. Pleas of the prisoner to learn specifically of what he is accused and by whom are sidestepped by the interrogator. Initially the interrogation is left unstructured. The prisoner is asked to tell why he thinks he is held and vhat he feels he is guilty of. If the prisoner fails to come up with anything, he is accused in terms of broad generalities (e.g., espiomage, sabotage, acts of treeson against the "people", etc.). This usually provokes the prisoner to make some statement about his activities. If this takes the form of a denial, he is usually sent to isolation on further decreased food rations to "think over" his crimes.

Isolation appears to be an umusually efficacious control pressure. Individual differences in psychological reaction to isolation are very great. Some individuals appear to be able to withstand prolonged periods of isolation vithout ücieterious errect; while a relatively short period of isolation reduces others to the verge of psychosis. Paychological reaction varies considerably vith the conditions of the isolation cell. Bome individuals have indicated a strong reaction to the filth and vermin, although they had negligible reactions to the isolation itself. Others, however, reacted violently to isolation in relatively clean cells.

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CONFIPENTIAL

The predominant cause of the latter reaction appears to be the lack of sensory stimulation. The even greyness of the walls (or total lack of light), the lack of sound, thé absence of social contact, all combine to deprive the individual of differential stimulation of his sensory end organs. Research has indicated that, when sensory stimulation has been systematically decreased the individual is incapeble of tolerating his owm subjective reactions for more than a very limited mumber of days. Experimental subjects reported vivid hallucinations and overwhelming fears.

This process of alternating periods of isolation with demands for a confession during interrogation can be repeated again and again. The prisoner is forced to make some compromise to break the intolerable cycle. As soon as he can think of something that might be considered selfincriminating, the interrogator appears momentarily satisfied. The prisoner is asked to write down his statement in his own words and sign it.

Meanwhile the controlled individual is developing a strong sense of dependence upon the interrogator. It does not take him long to realize that the interrogator is the source of all punishment, all gratification and all coumi-

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cation that the prisoner can have. The interrogator meanwhile demonstrates his umpredictability.. He is perceived by the prisomer as a creature of whim. At times the interrogator can be pleased very easily and at other times no effort on the part of the prisoner will placate him. The prisoner may begin to ehannel so much energy into trying to predict the behavior of the unpredictable interrogator that he loses track of what is happening inside himself. His recognition of dependence upon a relatively unpredietable interrogator is a source of intense intermal conflict.

After the prisoner has developed the above psychological and emotional reactions to a sufficient degree, the brainwashing begins in earnest. First the prisoner's remaining critical faculties must be destroyed. He umdergoes long, fatiguing interrogations while looking at a bright light. He is called beck again and again for interrogations after ainimal sleep. Drugs my be used to accentuate his mood swings. He develops depression when the interrogator is being kind and becomes euphoric when the interrogator is threatening the direct penalties. And then the cycle is reversed. The prisoner finds hinself in a constaat state of anxiety vhich prevents him from relaxing even when he is

[PAGE 86]
CONFIRITIAL

permitted to sleep. Short periods of isolation now bring on visual and suditory hallucinations. The prisoner feels himself losing his objectivity.

The prisoner may be tortured by being forced to stand in one spot for several hours or assume some other pain-inducing position. The physiological effects of such torture have been described. Psychologically, this type of torture creates additional internal conflict. When the prisoner is required to stand in one position, there is often engendered vithin him an initial determination to "stick it out". This internal act of resistance provides a feeling of moral superiority, at first. As time passes and the pain mounts, the individual becomes aware that, to some degree, it is his own original determination to resist that is causing the continuance of pain. There develops a conflict within the individual betveen his moral deterzination aad his desire to collapse and discontinue the pain. It is this extra internal conflict, in addition to the conflict over whether or not to give in to the demands made of hiz, that tends to make this method of torture so effective in the breakdown of the individual personality.

It is in this state that the prisoner zust keep up an

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endless argunent with his interrogator. fe my be faced with the confessions of other individuals who "collaborated" with him in his crimes. The prisoner seriously begins to doubt his own memory. This feeling is heightened by his inability to recall little things like the names of the people he knows very well or the date of his birth. The interrogator patiently sharpens this feeling of doubt and uncertainty by a clever line of questioning. For exsmple, if the goal of the brainwashing is an admission of participetion in germ-warfare activities, the following questions mey be asked incessantly: "Did you personally supervise the loading of bombs in your plane? Did you know exactly what was in each of them? Did you count the explosions of the bombs you dropped? Are you sure? Were you told to hit secondary targets if you couidn't achieve your primary targets? Were you ordered to drop all of your bombs well-within enezy territory? Were some of your explosives of the anti-personnel type? Are you sure that none of your bombs contained bacteria? If you personally had any objection to the use of such germvarfare weapons, do you think your superiors would have told you what you were carrying? etc., etc." This line of questioning, when the individual has lost most of his critical

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faculties, tends to creat a serious state of uncertainty. This has been demonstrated, when accompanying pressures vere virtually nil, under experimental conditions.

The prisoner must suffer additional internal conflict when strong feelings of guilt are aroused within him. As any clinical psychiatrist is aware, it is not at all difficult to create such feelings. Military personnel are particularly vulnerable. No one can morally Justify killing even in wartime. The usual justification is on the grounds of necessity or self-defense. The interrogator is careful to circumvent such justification. He keeps the interrogation directed towards the prisoner's personal moral code. (Why is the prisoner personally killing civilians and troops who have never done anything to him? Did he personally want to fight this war, or was he drafted?) Every moral vulnerability is exploited. (How does the prisoner feel about the fact that the weapons of war cannot be sufficiently controlled to guarantee the killing only of soldiers? Or did the "arms makers" desigo them that way? Does the prisoner really believe in fighting to support colonialism? Would the prisoner feel any obligation to support his coumtry if an attack were made upon Mexico? How is this different from the Chinese position in Korea? What does the prisoner feel about the fact that the U.S. was the first to utilize nuclear veapons in

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warfare? Does the prisoner support wholeheartedly all the policies of his govermment? If not, doesn't this var support some of the policies he does not approve? Is the prisoner a Christian? Does Christianity condone slaughter of the type meted out by air bombings?) Incessant questioning of this type tends to arouse many doubts based upon irrational guilt feelings. The prisoner begins to question the very fundamentals of his own value-system. One braimwashed priest reported that after interrogation he really began to feel intense guilt about the very missionary work to which he had devoted his entire life. Constantly, the prisoner must fight off a potential breakdown. He finds that his mind is "going blank" for longer and longer periods of time. He cannot think constructively. If he is to maintain any semblance of psychological integrity, he must bring an end to this state of interminable internal conflict. Ee signifies a willingness to write a confession.

If this were truly the end, no brainwashing would have actually occurred. The individual would simply have "given in" to intolerable pressure. Actually the final stage of the brainwashing process has just begun. No matter what the prisoner writes in his confession, the interrogator is not satisfied. The interrogator questions every sentence, every phrase of the confession. He begins to edit while working with the prisoner. The prisoner is

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forced to argue against every chenge, every demand for increased self-incrimination. This is the very essence of brainwashing! The prisoner has begum to argue for maintaining statements that he would not have accepted prior tc the commencement of brainwashing. Every time that he gives in on a point to the interrogator, he must rewrite his whole confession.\* Still the interrogator is not satisfied. In a desperate attempt to maintain some semblance of integrity and to avoid furtber brainwashing, the prisoner must begin to argue that what he has already confessed is true. He begins to accept as his own the statements be has written. Subtly, stcp by step, he has identified with a new value-system. The prisoner uses many of the interrogator's earlier arguments to buttress his position. He believes what be has stated. By this process identification with the interrogator'

That "simple Pavlovian conditioning" accoumts for what occurs in the final stages of brainwashing is a common misconception. The major similarity between what happens to Pavlov's dog and vhat happens in breinwashing lies in the preparation of the dog for the conditioning experiment. Brainwashing can be likened much more fruitrully to the more complex concept of "instrumentel avoidance conditioning" which requires that the animal "discover" a solution to avoid pain. It is much more difficult to "de-condition" an animal that has learned in this way. Actually brainwashing requires a creative act of learning (internal reorganization of the thought processes) on the part of the brainwash-victim. This does not imply that he could "belp" learning any more than the child can "help" learning that fire is hot and should be avoided.

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value-system becomes complete. It is extremely important to recognize that a qualitative change has taken place within the prisoner. The brainwash-victim does not consciously change his value-system; rather the change occurs despite his efforts. He is nc more responsible for this change than is an individual who "snaps" and becomes psychotic. And like the psychotic, the prisoner is not even avare of the transition.

An interesting point is raised by the behavior of returned prisoners-of-var vho had been brainvashed during the Korean conflict. Some of these individuals stood court-martial; others were vilified in the press. One wonders why they did not say, "I was brainwashed -- I believed at the time what I said over the radio", in their owm defense. Apparently they could not explain clearly what happened to them. One wonders if this inability to commmicate their experience is related to a most interesting psychiatric finding that it is virtually impossible for a recovered schizophrenic to tell what a psychotic "state" is like. All that he can say is that it is unimaginably borrible. Similarly, some of the brainwasbed have characterized their own experiences as "indescribable".

Aftermath

Since the changed value-system of the brainwash-victim has developed in a severely controlled environment when his critical

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judgment was at its nadir, it can be considered, in a sense, like and "enforced schizophrenia". The victim literally "forgets" many of the evente that occurred during the brainwashing process. If such an analogy is useful, it could be predicted that the braimwash-victim, once freed from oppressive controls and having recovered his critical faculties, would undergo a spontaneous reintegration and recovery with the passage of time. This appears to be the case. Accompanying this recovery of a value-system more consistent with his beliefs prior to brainwashing is the gradual recall of the various aspects of the brainwashing process itself.

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