The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-01-17

Frank testimony by revolu-
ZIONIST was often the beginning of
his political death. The Okhrana
utilized this frank testimony to
compromise him in the eyes of his
organization or to invite him to
become an agent of the Okhrana.
You maintain that you don't know
SO and so, and never met him."
says the Okhrana agent, but here
your colleague N denies the truth
of your statement in this matter.
Here, would you like to glance over
his testimony" and he gives him
a statement alleged to have been
written by an" Returning to the
prison cell, the prisoner denounces
IN" and hastens to tell all the
political prisoners: IN is betray-
ing us, beware of him." And en-,
through his lack of caution, hav-
ing been caught in the net of the
Okhrana, drifts away from the
revolutionary movement and is
branded as a traitor all his life. 1t
also happened that the prisoner,
forced to the wall by the evidence
given by the weaker comrade in his
frank confession, is compelled to
admit the correctness of the evil
dence, or give contradictory evid-
ence, which of course got him more
entangled Often, with the best of
intentions, a prisoner would take
the whole blame upon himself and
try to keep his comrades out of the
business. But no good came of
this, it was all grist to the Okh-
rama mill The comrade did not
succeed in saving anybody, but
either got himself entangled in
contradictions, which confirmed
the evidence of traitors, ran the
risk of becoming q traitor himself,
or at least of compromising him
self in the eyes of the Party.
There was case in Kharkov of
worker, named Voikov, who was
very popular among the workers
and who had been deported for the
active part he took in the May
Day demonstrations. He was
brought back to Kharkov to give
evidence on the work of the Khar-
kov Social-D Democratic Party. He
gave testimony, repented and adj
mitted his sins. AS reward he
was liberated from prison and his
deportation was cancelled.
AND then one of the prisoners in
n this case decided that since
Voikov had betrayed everything,
there was no sense in refusing to
give testimony, and he too gave
evidence at his own risk. partly
affirming and partly denying the
evidence of Voikov for the purpose
Of deceiving the gendarmes, and
of exculpating his comrades. The
result was that he supplied the
Okhrana with valuable material and
himself nearly became an accom-
plice of Voikov and barely escaped
being branded as traitor. Only
when this case was cleared up was
he saved from shame and public
disgrace.
But there were not a few cases
when frank confessions led to
direct betrayal OF the revolutionary
cause. The Okhrana resorted to
blackmail Although your testi-
mony is frank and even if the court
should find extenuating circums-
tances, it cannot give you a favour
able verdict. Severe punishment
awaits you. On the other hand
when your comrades hear that you
have frankly confessed land the
court cannot conceal it, you will
be compromised in the eyes of the
revolutioniSts and they will try to
take revenge on you, perhaps kill
you. Yes, you are in a bad fix.
But there is a way out. Come and
work with us. We don't demand
much from you. You can remain
in the organization, continue to
carry on your work and keep us
informed. If you agree, we are
ready to keep your testimony secret,
set you free, and thus save you
from your dismal fate"
DECEIVED BY TEE ENEMY
This reminds us Of the proverb: