The daily worker., 1927-04-27
CHILDREN BURNT
ALIVE IN WHITE
BALKAN TERROR
British Laborites Find
Prisoners Tortured
(By staff Correspondentl

Greenfell and r. G. Wallheed, received
member of the Committee for
Combating the White Terror in the
Balkans and in other COUNTRIES" and
informed him Of the experiences and
impressions Of their journey.
In the course Of long conversation
they made the following Statements
GalIows For Speaking.
Originally they had intended to
travel in the Balkans only, in order
to verify at close quarters the allie
cations of Vandervelde to the League
of Nations, and of Wedgewood in the
House of Commons, that the present
English government was supporting
and melting the Terrorist govern
ments in the Balkans. But as they
had learned in Paris that in Hungary,
the classic land of the white terror,
men were being sent to the gallows
whose only crime was the expression
Of their political opinions, the dele
gates decided to visit Budapest in or
der to inform the Hungarian reac-
tionaries of English labor's opinion
Of their proceedings. Unfortunately
they were able to do this only in the
form Of a protest lodged with the
Ministry of Justice.
The first impression the delegates
had of the Balkans was news of a
meeting of the workers in Sofia which
the government without appealing to
any legal grounds whatsoever had
banned.
Fascists TerrOrize Land.
Their second impression came from
conversations with prominent persons
Of all shades of political opinion who
were unanimous that the Fascis,-
Terrorist organizations, "Kubrat" and
"Rodna Zastschita" were the real
forces in the land and had unlimited
power to carry on their misdeeds.
Their high chief and protector is Gen
eral Volkoff who made name for
himself thru slaughter during the
Bulgarian civil war.
Immediately after the strike Of
June 9th, Zankoff unseated the cleo
ted mayor and substituted his own
creatures. He also substituted his
henchmen for the projects and police
authorities of the old regime. THESE
PEOPLE WITH A FEW INSIGNIF-
lCANT EXCEPTIONS ARE STILL
AT THEIR POSTS, and hold the
whole population in increasing terror
Women Burned Alive.
Several months before the delegates
said they had heard in London of the
unspeakable case Of the Plevna
physician, Bescheff, who had been
burned alive together with his whole
family. They told how some people
had been unable to credit the truth
of this information. Well thenl In
Bulgaria they were unfortunately able
to verify that there was nothing
exaggerated in the report. Doctor
Bescheff, his wife Sonia, his four
year old daughter Dora, his fifteen
year old son Puju, and the maid
servant were burned alive under the
eyes oil the Fascist authorities. Only
his daughter, Tatiana, escaped with
severe injuries. The Delegates said
authorities advisedly, for the author
tiles were composed of Fascists and
would not interfere.
Government Shuts Eyes.
The delegates had two hour con-
versation with Minister President
Liapscheff, who declared that so far
as his power extended, or the arm of
his authority reached, there was no
terror; he himself had never ordered
it. According TO Liapscheff there
were only $50 political prisoners in
the whole country. On suggestion of
the Delegates that there were 1873
political prisoners in Sofia jails alone,
he answered evasively. When he de-
clared to the Delegates that no ar
rests were being made on account of
political opinions, they brought his
attention to the mothers who had been
punished because they had given
shelter to their prosecuted sons, and
of the sons who were rotting in
prison because they had concealed
their prosecuted parents.
British Aid Terror.
"Why were young Communists ar
rested merely because of their politi-
cal opinions ?" the Delegates asked.
ut is true that they were arrested"
Liapscheff replied, "Only not for
their own opinions but for the hostile
Russian opinions being spread by
them" So the propaganda of the
English Conservatives has born fruit,
even the Bulgarian authorities bel
lieve that Soviet Russia is to blame
for the bad harvest, the bad weather,
the bad prices, the economic crisis
and the fall and rise Of the leva.
The elections were coming soon,
Liapscheff explained and he hoped to
manage the elections in such a way
that victory would be assured to the
government. In Bulgaria the cleo
tions are always managed by the
government