The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-07-24

Berlin Police Are Still
Paying Anti Soviet Foygers

BERLIN, July 90. - Confirma-
ton of the charge by the Berlin
Communist newspaper ere OF e
Fahne" that the notorious forgers
of anti-Soviet documents, Orloff and
Pavlonovski are still in the pay of
the Berlin police, led by the social
democrat Zoergiebel, ever since their
arrest, are confirmed now.
The story as first revealed in the
Berlin courts was simple.
! An American journalist (named
Knickerbocker) was offered by GER
tain Russians representing them
selves as ex-employees of the U. S.
S. r. number of documents pur-
porting to prove that U. S. Senators,
Borah and Norris, the consistent ad-
vocates of the resumption of full
relations with the U. S. S. R., had
been, in fact, heavily bribed by the
Soviet Government.
Knickerbocker, recognizing at once
that the documents were forgeries,
gave the producers of them (Orloff
and Paclonovski) into custody and
their trial for fraud followed as a
matter of course.
Then came the sensations. The
defense first sought to prove that
the documents were genuine and
that complainant (Knickerbocker)
was really Russian spy.
To Scotland Yard.
Beaten heavily on the latter point
they sought to prove that the de-
PENDANTS were victims" of the Rus
sian political police (the o. G. P. U.
late Che-ka) and to prove this
called as witnesses sundry Russian
Whites" ex-Czarist officers who
are now employed in the German
Foreign Office, by the Berlin police,
or in running a counter-revolution-
airy information and espionage bu-
reau.
The chief among these Zone Sic
wert) came very bad "cropper;"
he produced documents which were
proved to be forgeries and eventu-
ally admitted that he had received
them from the defendants.
He was proved, too, to have,
while in the employment of the Ger
man Government, sold important
documents to Poland, to Hungary,
to Scotland Yard, to the French Po-
lice, to the ALBERT League Counter
revolutionary Fascist) in Switzer-
land, and to a news agency.
Experts Opinion
All together he admitted having,
while in German Government pay,
acted as a spy for eight different
countries!
What the document was which he
sold to Scotland Yard did not appear
in evidence. But one can guess
all the more certainly because the
expert witness, Won Voss (who testi-
fled that most of the Orloff- Pavlon-
ovski documents were forgeries)
roundly declared from the witness
box that "the Zinovieff Letter was
an absolute fabrication"
This, and the influence it had up
on the British General Election in
1924, he advanced as proof that
these forgeries have, in fact, effect
ed a great influence in European
politics. q. :!
To counter the effect of these
damaging disclosures the defense
tried to turn the whole trial into
a propaganda attack upon the us.
S.R.-calling for this purpose
whole string of ex-Czarist officers,
many of whom proved to be in the
pay of the German Government.
Finally the defense raised the con-
tention that the accused were both
in the pay of the Social Demo
cratic) Berlin chief of police,
Zoergiebel. A high police Of
cial called to testify to this
point could only announce that his
chief refused to permit police Off
Gals to give evidence except on spe-
cial points submitted to him in ad-
vance!
The police official was, however,
allowed to make the statement that
he did, as "Rote Fahne" alleged, visit
one of the accused in prison, but
that it was to examine him as an
accused person, not to consult him
as an expert.
This, at any rate, partially con-
firms "Rote Fahne's" allegations
which were that Orloff had been en-
ployed by the police even since his
arrestO
The moral of the whole case is
clear even so far as it has gone:
All capitalist governments live in
constant anticipation of war, and
therefore las part of their war prep