The Washington herald., 1921-02-28
UNIONS OF RUSSIA
APPEAL FOR HELP
AGAINST RED RULE
Labor Chiefs Tortured by
Bolsheviki, Letter
Here Reveals.

There probably has never been in
modern times or in any country a
more ruthless persecution and
slaughter of labor unionists than
that which is now taking place in
''barbarous Soviet Russia" accord
ing to a statement issued yesterday
by the American Federation of
Labor.
Every month for. some time the
Bolshevists have been acknowledg-
ing 1000 or more executions-often
in large batches-and there can be
no doubt that they are carrying out
their threats of determination of
the leaders of the labor and peasant
parties" says the federation.
Protest by Labor.
The statement quotes a protest
addressed by the Social-Democratic
Labor party of Russia to the British
workmens and members of Labor
delegations to Russia, in which II
says:
Dear Comrades: We. the UNDER
signed Russian Socialists. are in
formed that the visit of the British
Labor delegation to Russia last
summer has resulted in severe re-
prisals and prosecutions for all the
Socialists who were bold enough to
criticize the Soviet regime AID the
actions of the Russian Communist
party.
We'll known leaders of the Labor
movement in Russia, who for many
years fought against Tsarism, and
who hold prominent positions in the
Russian trade union movement,
have been severely sentenced, i'm
prisoned and exiled by the Soviet
government.
Bold 10 Tell Truth.
DO you know these facts? II
you do what do you intend to dc
in order to alleviate the sufferings
of the Russian Socialists who were
bold enough to tell the entire truth
about Russia?
You denounce the blockade, the
Intervention of the counter revolu-
tion. But YOU must also denounce
the slavery that has been introduced
into Russia by the Russian com.
munist party. Only then will the
Russian working classes consider
You their real friends"
According to the statement sew.
enteen leading members of the DEM
ocratic-labor party in the Ukraine
were exiled without trial Ter
others were sentenced to work il
the concentration camps. The so.
cial revolutionary party declare,
that the refinement of physical ant
moral tortures have been intro.
duced under Lenin through the in.
production Of the Spanish Inuuisi
tion. presided over by the famous
A., inquisitor and butcher, Djerzinsky
Wife FIogged.
They state that the wife of one o.
the prisoners. A. T. Kuznetzov, wa,
| hogged by the Soviet authoritie,
Tor refusing to divulge her hus
bands whereabouts: that not onI,
were the wife and daughters o
| Chernoff. Likhatch and other lead
| ing prisoners arrested but that il
| some cases their distant relative
| were held as hostages.
| The statement says political pris
| oners are confined in unventilated
| filthy holes and systematicaIl,
starved until many die. Tortur,
by hunger is described as a new in
vention of the "socialistic" prison
| regime.
The appeal of the social demo
| Gratis declares that thousands o
| political hostages have been sho
down without mercy and withou
| any charge being paid agains
| them. An example was the killini
of fourteen bourgeoise hostages ii
revenge" for the murder of Rosi
Luxembourg and Carl Liebknecht.
| And all this" adds the repor,
lis done in the name of Socialism
in the name of revolution tha
would set the world free"