Evening star., 1938-01-01
Souiet Purge Strikes Terror
As Families Are Broken Up
Blind Fear Grips People of All Classes
and Breaks Up Americans
Thanksgiving Dinner.

tell women like that what Is being
done with their husbands. but the
Russians have learned a lot in the
purge. They go to Llubyanka and
offer money for their husbands, so
that they can buy cigarettes and
extra foods and the like If they
take the money the woman knows
that her husband Is still alive and
still in Llubyanka. Then comes
day when the guards shake their
heads and decline the money The
waiting room in Llubyanka is jammed
full OF women with money any hour
OF the day. seven days week.
Final Hope at Butirki.
IT they no longer accept money for
your husband at Llubyanka there is
one more hope. On the outskirts
of Moscow there is an enormous
prison called Butirki. If money is
accepted at Butirki your husband is
there and still alive. When they no
longer accept money all hope is ended
Your husband is either dead or exiled
to Siberia. You hope he Is alive
and then you remember that he went
to prison in light summer clothes
and then very often you hope that
he is dead.
Everybody in my friends apart
ment building has been afraid for
two weeks. The woman lost her head
when they no longer took her money
at Butirki. She tried to insist on
getting an overcoat to her husband
She probably became little hys-
terical. In any event, two weeks
ago they decided to arrest her. 1t
is because Of her son that everybody
in the apartment building is afraid.
He woke them all two weeks ago
1t was 4 o'clock in the morning and
he was screaming.
Don't arrest my mother" he
screamed. Don't take away my
mother"
Children Are Hostages.
This is no "atrocity" story I can
think Of 20 like it in as many days
of which I have first-hand knowl-
edge. To tell them might send more
women to those crowded waiting
rooms at Llubyanka and Butirki Or
they might arrest children, whom they
have begun to take away as hostages.
But you don't need stories like this
one to see fear in Russia. I inspected
the great Moscow ball-bearing factory,
for instance I was escorted by two
high officials of the foreign Office and
the chief engineer of the factory
Despite this, we had to show passes
every hundred yards throughout
vast plant employing 10000 workers.
I don't mean cursory examinations
by guards alone I mean that de-
tectives and men of the Red army
as we'll as guards stopped us re-
peatedly and compared our passes
with our passports. The chief en-
gineer was a suspect as I, even
though journalist always looks
little like a monkey-wrench thrower.
Foreigner Frightened Most.
The foreigners who suffer most
from this fear psychosis are the con-
suls. All the consuls of the impor-
tant nationalities must listen to for
mer Americans, Britons, Germans,
MeXicans or Frenchmen who gave up
their passports to become Commun-
lists and are now afraid that they
will be killed. And they mu , listen
to the wives of men who have al
ready been arrested or killed The
foreigners in Moscow have made up
an anecdote which has now become
less humorous than grim.
Back in 1888 Ike and Abe were
hard hit in New York by the depres-
sion. They knew that there was no