Detroit evening times., 1945-05-30
By WILLIAM HENRY CHAMBERLl

" CHAMBERlIN
rs and fermet- Aoseo'e correspondent for
fence Monitor
ne Hearst Newspapers
rec Articles
TT is worth noting, as an indication of
i Soviet judicial mentality, that al
though the Poles have not been brought
to trial. Stain takes their guilt for
granted He refers, for instance, TO 1.-The
we'll known diversionist, Gen. Okulcki'
and he declares that "the Soviet authOri-
ties do not and will not conduct negotia--
tons with those who break the law on
the protection of tine Red army rear"
No impartial court. of course, has es--
tablshed the fact that the Poles broke
any law
IT is NOT YET CLEAR WHETHER
THE ARRESTED POLES WILL BE
TRIED BY A SOVIET COURT IN MOS
COW OR BYAPUPPET GOVERNMENT
COURT IN WARSAW. IN EITHER
CASE THERE WILL RE ONLY A
TRANESTY OF JUSTICE.
If the lives and freedom of the ar
rested men are to be saved, this can only
be the result of strong diplomatic pres
and the Soviet press have condemned
them in advance.
A witty foreign correspondent in Rus
sia- once remarked; There is no HABEhS
CORPUS in this eountry.. But they have
a pretty grim substitute for it, One
might call il HABEAS CADAVER."
Mo POLITICAL trial that has ever
~ been held under the Soviet regime
could be considered serious attempt to
determine the guilt orinnocence of the
accused. 1t is assumed that the accused
are guilty before the trial begins. Monster
demonstrations demanding the death pen
atty are held
With =almnst-ne- exception all defend
ants IN important Soviet potiticaIt trials
have confessed their guilt and beat their
breasts, fguratively speaking, in repent
anCe.
There are various explanations for HIS
conduct. Perhaps the most obvious is that
obstinate persons who do not confess are
shot without any public trial or consigned
-tn-the- living death of the concentration
camp (Yes. there ARE concentration
camps in Russia. although one has heard
very little of them during recent years.
and the number of persons confined in
similar camps in Germany
4 MOTHER explanation of how confes-
"A sions are obtained in Russia is fur
nished BY the experience of a Russian
friend Of mine scientist, who was ar
rested and accused Of Il participation in
some fantastic plot He refused to admit
his guilt under examination Then the
political police examiner took wheedling
tone and said to him:
You MUST he guilty of SOMETHING,
or YOU wouldn't have been arrested. Your
prison treatment will be q good deal bet
ter If YOU confess having committed some
crime"
NY friend. who was subsequently, re-
leased and was able to tell me the story.
got out of this dilemma by admitting that
he had been guilty of opposing collective
farming.
There were seven big political trials
IN Moscow during the decade 192S-193S.
Three were concerned with veteran
Communists, accused Of anti-Stalin actV-
ity, one with engineers and industrial ex-
perts one with former Russian Socialists,
one with Russian and German engineers,
one with engineers of the British Metro
Nlckers company and Russians.
II is Slgnlncant that the foreigners
alone put up an active defense. This was
because they had the moral support of
their embassies and public opinion in their
home countries.
IF THE Poles are put on trial the least
i the American and British governments
should do is to insist on the presence Of
foreign observers in the courtroom
Their fate will be determined not bv
any objective proofs of guilt or innocence,
hut by whether Stain finds il advisable To
take their lives. in view Of the scandal
which will he created abroad
From their own standpoint. as patr-
otic Poles, the men are innocent, regard
less of what proof NAV be brought against
them. For all they did even if the accu-
satiOns against them should be sustained.
was To defend their country and their
legitimate government against the lawIess
aVprpSSiyp affpmnf of a foroiUu pnu.or 20