Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-07-01

charged with an assault upon
man in Los Angeles. pleaded
guilty. and was sentenced 10
term in San Quentin prison.
ENTERS IN REBELLION
A thousand days | lived be-
hind the gray walls OF San
Quentin. wearing the gary
felon's garb, rubbing shoulders
with thousands of fellow con-
victs under the eyes and the
clubs and the guns Of the
guards.
l entered the prison in a
mutinous mood, breathing and
talking rebellion. and thinking
of ways of escape. A man in
prison is supposed to rot.
Prisons are built 10 break
men. and when man is
broken, society has consum-
mated its revenge.
But / was determined not TO
be broken. recognized
quickly how impotent even
the toughest criminal was
against the massive authority
of the prison administration.
AS time went by I dis
Carded all plans of escape.
crushed the inner urge To
play the futile role of a
mutineer, and settled down in
earnest TO defeat the purpose
of Imprisonment by making
myself stronger and more
capable to fill my place in the
revolutionary struggles OF the
future. -
Through the first year I
toiled in the roar and clatter
of the prison jute mill. In
the second year | advanced TO
the job Of a prison librarian.
And the third year saw me as
a teacher of languages and
mathematics in San Quentin
educational department.
They were not peacehil
years; prison life is not
monotonous. but brimful of
struggle and strife. victory
and defeat in manifold forms.
INTO NEW WORLD
Neither were they empty
years, despite the utter alb
scence of privacy and women.
l was too occupied to suffer
under such mild hardship.
Far more important to me
than yearning for pleasures
beyond my reach was the for
ward plunge into a new world
of zeStful discoveries and in
tensive self-education.
San Quention gave me far
more than it could take away.
II had developed in me
passionate reverence for the
universe of letters. l read
and studied almost every
thing l could lay my hands
on. from Lord Jim and Jean
Christophe to Darwin's Origin
of Species and Bowditch's
Epitome of Navigation.
| mastered English, learned
French and Spanish. studied
astronomy. journalism and
map-making,- courses made
available 10 the inmates Of
San Quentin by the University
Of California.
became a contributor 10
the prison magazine, the
Bulletin, and in its printing
plant became proficient in the
craft Of typesetting. Through
out this period | remained the
loyal legionnaire of the Com
intern.
l had established a secret
prison library of revolutionary
literature, and had organized
Marxist schooling circles and
an atheist league among the
convicts. Despite the prison
censorship, l had maintained
contact with the Comintern
network outside.
So immersed was I in my
Self,imposed tasks that / at
first regarded my parole and
subsequent release as an un-
welcome disturbance of an
engrossing life. However, the
Comintern expected my re-
turn TO Berlin. / left San
Quentin in the first days OF
December, 1929.
Luck to YOU" grinned the
guard at the front gate.
DETAINED IN FRANCE
Three days later / boarded
a steamer bound for Europe.
lie Havre was the first port
Of call. During the routine
customs and police examina-
tion of passengers and crew A
French official with wine
happy eyes singled me out for
special attention.
! had no French visa .
neither had / any baggage or
money.
Monsieur" he said. "yOu
cannot travel I'm France. We
must detain YOU"
He escorted me TO the I'm
migrant Home near the water
front. There / was led TO a
room which contained a bed, a
table, a washstand and a
chair.