The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-12-21
Comment On
World Events

More than 5 years after the ces-
sation Of all military hostilitiesi
the Soviet dictatorship and its
Polish and Czechoslovak satellites
continue to hold hundreds Of thous-
ands Of Germans as prisoners Of
war. In addition, tOtalitarian Russia
is holding many thousands Of Jap
anese and Italians. These helpless
folks who have not been allowed to
return to their homelands are now
ruthlessly exploited as slave labor
ers.
Here is crushing confirmation Of
the unrelenting opposition by the
Soviet despots TO the establishment
of normal and friendly relations
among the nations. Here is proof
aplenty Of the Kremlin's utter con-
tempt for the universally recog-
nized concepts and rules Of human
decency and international law. This
grim mass tragedy shows how
grave is the threat of Russia's
slave economy to human freedom
and free labor everywhere.
4 \ =
The conviction and punishment
of German prisoners Of war for
postwar offenses committed while
in Soviet captivity are usually acts
which in free countries, are either
not punishable or entail only light
sentences. In the Soviet Union
however, such acts have served as
a pretext for sending untold thous-
ands to slave labor camps. For in
stance, German war prisoners have
received long terms for offenses
against socialist property"-like
stealing a few potatoes from a col
lective farm-or Sabotage" and
"anti-Soviet propaganda"
The inhuman treatment of Ger
man war prisoners in Russia un-
masks the hypocrisy of all Society
government statements processing
to harbor friendly intentions to-
wards the future of the German
people. The fate of the German war
prisoners in Russia also serves to
expose the German Communists as
agents of Soviet imperialism who
have been assigned the task of
furthering the enslavement of their
own people. :.
During recent years, the AFL
has repeatedly drawn the attention
of world opinion to the grave dang
er which the existence of slave
labor and concentration camps in
the Soviet Union and her satellite
countries presents to the freedom
of all nations. In this connection,
the AFL has vigorously protested
against the treatment of German
and other war prisoners and de-
portees in the Soviet union and the
other countries of Stalin's empire.
X y =
AS an organization dedicated to
the protection of human rights and
the promotion Of genuine world
peace, it is proper that the United
Nations take action to have the
Soviet government and it's satel-
lites release all war prisoners for
thwith. Their continued detention
a fragrant violation of
human rights. As long as many
thousands Of war prisoners are not
permitted to return to their homes,
normal peacetime conditions can
not be fully achieved.
1t is the duty of democratic
world opinion and free world labor
to see to it that the Soviet dictators
are forced to recognize that the
free world will no longer take lie
for an answer. We urge that the
United States government propose
that the UN send a special COM
to the Soviet Union to in
vestigate the conditions prevailing
in these camps, to ascertain how
many German prisoners are still
held in Soviet territory and to
recommend the most effective pro-
,edure for their earliest liberation
and return to their homelands.