The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-08-30

@zNn once guest house, formcfky tne homo oe a Moscow millionaire, Paul Enplnsky, at that time foreign edl- tor oe the newspaper fEvestia, the ofacial organ of the central execus tive committee of the Soviet union, vas being about hls pet cat of which he was inordinately fond,
 "Wel, I should love that cat" Lapinsky said finally, grinning. "The other day he scratched one of my manuscripts, and I found that he had saved me from Q grevious dee viation from the party line"
 Lapinsky has disappeared now no one knows where. Apparently his cat failed him ct last.
 Four Have Disappeared
 There were six BolshevikS at the dinner table that evening in Feb- ruary. Four have disappeared in the last two months and are believed under arrest or in exile. One was transferred out of the country. One, Neymann, in the department of the foreign office which deals with Am erican and western European af- fairs, c man well known in Wash. ington where he was previously ate tached to the embassy, disappeared in the midst of negotiating the eoviet-American trade treaty, and assignment on which he was work ing while I was in Moscow.
 Another official well known to many Americans, Jacob Doletsky, director of Tass, the official news agency, also is missing. All that his friends can learn is that there are rtmors that he was arrested and tried to commit suicide. But the ryimors are without confirmation.
 Purge Casualties Heavy
 Casualties in the present purge have been especially heavy among officials who deal with foreigners abroad,
 Periodical "cleansings" of the com- munist party by Stalin's steel broom are nothing new. Often in the past they have resulted in the expulsion of hundreds of members, but instead of mere expulSions, there are now widespread executions arrests, ex- Hes and dismissals.
 The extent of the purge provides clear evidence that Stalin regards this crisis as far more critical than the tussle with Trotsky in which only . few thousand were expelled or recanted their opposition.
 This purge strikes deeper and wider than any previous party clean- out. It ranges from the inner cir cies of the government-the central committe of the communist party, which embraces the real rulers of the country-through the navy, the red army, through every department of the government, to schools, uni- versailles, the communist youth or- ganization and directors of theaters,
 Reasons Hard Te Get
 Reliable information about the extent of and reasons for this purge, always hard to obtain, is now more than ordinarily difficult to get. Of- ficiak are frightened half out Of their wits. The man on the street knows no more than is told in the heavily censored press, which car- fies little but vague generalities alid more often nothing ct oil. Thou sands have disappeared from their posts without explanation and with out mention in the newspapers. AL most daily broadsides in the press about the danger of spies have caused all foreigners to Do regard- cd as untouchabies. Thus, the or- dinarily meager Soviet sources Of in- formation have dried up.
 From compilations of items pub. iished in the Soviet press 1t Is known, however, that at least 800 persons have been executed by firing squads.
 Shooting News Hidden
 Often news of the shooting Of scores in groups is printed only in c single obscure provincial newss paper and never is mentioned in the metropolitan press. Since there are more than 10000 newspapers in the Soviet union and no foreign correspondents or foreign diplomatis
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