Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-08-13
Red Teachers Flight
In New York Varies
From Usual Pattern
By Russell Barnes


North American Newspaper AIionce
LAKE SUCCESS, N. Y, Aug. 10
For any one who has watched Com
munist cloak-and-dagger activities
the world over, the story of Mich
ael Ivanovitch Samarine and Ok
sana Stepanovna KosenkinaT has a
familiar ring
The two Russian teachers who
fled the Soviet school in New York
rather than return to possible i'm
prlsonment or death in the
U. S. S. R., merely followed the ex-
amples of an unknown number of
Russians who have gone over the
wall" at spots ranging all the way
from Shanghai to Washington.
The pattern is almost invariably
the same. Russian officials, who
have been sent abroad, since Soviet
authorities considered their Com
munism to be impregnable, be-
come suspicious that they are due
for the ak. Or they are ordered
back to Russia and, because of fear
or conversion to capftalistic demo-
crazy, decide they won't go. They
break for freedom.
Escapes Spectacular.
Their escapes are always neces-
sarily spectacular. Abroad, virtu-
ally all Russians live in Russian
dormitories, and work in Russian
establishments. They are con-
stantly under guard of MVD. Con-
sequently, when a Russian escapes,
1t is essentially jail break.
The fugitive, moreover, almost in
variably fees to the sanctuary of
the nearest police station. He is
terrified over being recaptured and
killed as a traitor. Naturally, such
cases always receive maximum
publicity not only because the re-
fugees are former Communists but
also because they demand protec-
ton against the Soviet secret police.
The Samarine and Kosenkina
cases, however, contain variants
from the standard Communist flight
pattern.
As far as is known, the two
Russian school teachers fed. not
because they feared they were to be
punished for Communist &C
tivities, but because they were fed
up with the Soviet way of life, and
wanted to make new start abroad.
Sought Safety at Farm.
They first sought safety not at a
police station, but at farm, a
White Russian establishment OPP
Grated by the Tolstoy Foundation,
of which the former Countess AL
exandra Tolstoy, daughter of the
novelist, is president.
Subsequently, Mrs. KoSenkina was
taken back to the Communist fold
by the Soviet Consul General and
yesterday jumped from an upper
window of the Soviet consulate in
New York Mr.. Samarine and his
family, elected to renounce Soviet
citizenship, and were taken under
FBI protection.
Generally-and the cases are so
numerous a book could be written
about them-the Russian learns
that he has become suspect, or even
that he is to be executed. FIRE.
ouently, he may be tipped off that
the executioner has arrived from
Moscow. Thereupon, if he can, he
jumps the fence and runs for the
nearest police station.
Not all Communist escapes, of
course, occur that way. Many Rus
sian officials, such as members of
trade delegations, and ~the like
and, of course, the school teachers
at New York-enjoy certain
amount of freedom. They simply
won't return TO their Communist
haunts from trip into the capital
lstic world.
The melodramatic aspects of
Communist flights, such as the case
of the New York teachers, may pro-
woke incredulity, or even amuse-
ment, among ordinary Americans,
TO which such a way of life is COM
pletely foreign. But any one who is
inclined to think the scripts are
written in Hollywood should read
the sober report of the Royal Ca
madam Commission, which investi-
gated the Canadian spy case.
Converts in Danger
The converted Communists are
always in grave danger, especially
if Moscow believes they. may pos
sess important information. The
arm of the MVD reaches wide
Many instances exist in which Rus
slams abroad have met death with
improved suspicious that they were
actually executed on foreign soil.
A fayorite method is to stage the
death as a suicide.
Russian experts say the SSoviets
have difficult time stating their
foreign operations. The ordinary
Russian, they say. has all his life
been fed on propaganda He has
been told what to believe, and has
never been exposed to contradictory
ideas. Consequently, according to
the authorities, the ordinary Rus
sian has never built up the critical
machinery to test, accept or reject
statements or claims.
The ordinary American or West
European, by contrast, has all his
life been bombarded by contradic-
tory arguments of all kinds-even
to what kind of tooth paste he
should buy. AS a result, he is less
likely than the Russian to be swept
off his feet by new ideas or philoso-
phies which run counter to his ex-
perience.
Red Officials Worry.
The Russians, according to the
authorities, always worry when they
send abroad man who has never
been out of the Soviet Union. They
are afraid that the sight of more
consumer goods than he ever
thought existed, the greater free
dom, and the generally higher
standard Of living will start doubts
as to whether the Communist sys-
tenn is as good as is claimed.
The Soviets meet the threat by
housing Russian officials in govern
ment establishments and. guarding
them all the time. One rarely sees
a Russian abroad alone. Officials
are supposed to watch and report