Evening star., 1950-08-20

to get unless one has very old o.
very foolhardy friends. Ever since
1948, the Czechs have been eau
tious in talking to strangers. anc
since the beginning of 1850 mere
contact with aliens has often beer
grounds for a police inquiry. :
My last host was frequently
questioned about me by the party
security official at his work: both
the concierge and the owner of the
fiat opposite were visited by
crassly disguised plainclothesmen
So many officials of Western
legations in Prague were men
toned in the big spy trial of June
this year that such people are now
loath to visit even old acquaint-
ances.
The expulsion of Western diplo-
matte personnel, businessmen
teachers and students-often most
arbitrary-has proceeded in q
steady trickle for the past year
and in general the effort to make
a good impression on the for
eigners" has been abandoned
Cultural" visitors from the West
are few and far between. apart
from well-screened sympathizers
Marriages between Westerners
and Czech women are almost al
ways forbidden.
Deception on Food
A customs official asked me my
political views outright when ]
left the country Il intend no re-
Election on the majority. who are
as "reactionary" and polite as
ever) and when I replied that ]
was mot a Communist. just
French" he announced that the
inspection would have to be q
long one.
The tourist who arrives in
Czechoslovakia full of the sensa-
tional reports of life behind the
curtain" may at first feel that
things have been exaggerated
There are no Russians in the
streets. The food shops are much
fuller than in. say. 1948. And
travel within the republic-unlike
Yugoslavia or the Soviet Union
Is comparatively unrestricted.
But, of course, there are snags
In each case. The Russians are
not in the Prague streets, but they
are in the Ministries of Defense
Security, Transport, ETC.. in Carls-
bad. and in the banned area o1
Jachymo with its uranium mines
The exercise of Soviet influence
does not require machine-gunners
on the spot. May day was her
aided in Prague with the usual
riot of flags and placards; this
year some of these had ony Rus
sian wording.
There seems to be plenty Of
food until you start to buy it. A
deceptive abundance has been
achieved by the double price sys-
tenn. Of the articles of daily
consumption. only basic necessities
like bread, sugar, beer and the
cheapest cigarettes are kept down
in price. Much is made by the
authorities of the derationing of
bread, the false impression being
given that it was still rationed
in France.
Otherwise, prices are extremely
high; footwear is still relatively
cheaper than other clothing, but
good material is obtainable only
at certain shops for Western cur.
rencies. Russian rubles, strange
ly enough, are not accepted al
those foreign currency stores
Prices of entertainment are low
especially in cinemas, but, un-
fortunately from the government.
point of view, it is the few Western
films which draw the crowds ane
the applause. Efforts have recently
been made to step up cinema at
tendances by offering a free seal
to any one who will bring five
others
Freedom Of travel also has it.
limitations nowadays. Apart from
the frontier zones-an outer one
forbidden to all and an inner
belt requiring special permission
document checks are now frequent
on roads and rail. But the at.
tempts to stop illegal traffic out.
ward from the country have beer
less successful; in spite of the
arrest Of many ape-organizers
this year and the capture of nu.
merous frontier crossers, emigra.
ton continues.
Peasants Disillusioned
The extent of the opposition to
the regime in Czechoslavakia Is
hard to assess because of the at
mosphere of sham. distrust and
camouflage. But the 80 per cent
vote which the Communists won
in 1946, and which by 1947 had
shrunk enough to alarm them
must have dropped below 20 per
cent. for they have had no signi-
flcant gains in popularity since
their coup of February, 1948,
whilst many previous sources of
support are now running low.
Those peasants who believed
that the Communist Party had re-
nounced collectivization of the
land, or shopkeepers who trusted
its promises not to nationalize the
little man., have now lost their
illusions. Street booths have been
banned and their owners reduced
to surreptitious hawking.
Slovaks who had been persuad-
ed the party had won them a
measure of autonomy now find
the Slovak leaders, like Clements
and Novomeskv, charged with ma
tionalism and denoted. Cath
olics who had expected the church
at least to be left alone, find
themselves now faced with a
straight choice between their
bishops and Fierlinger, Minister
for Religious Affairs. In Slovakia