Evening star., 1950-08-20

more significant is the change of
heart where it was not expected,
and where it corrodes the very
structure of the regime. It is the
intelligentsia and the working
class who deserve closest atten-
ton.
Few of the old brigade of Com
munist intellectuals are now left.
Nezval, for instance, is the only
poet to remain loyal; his verses
read like a satire on Socialist
realism" but are no doubt meant
well. Complete sterility Of ideas is
obvious everywhere. In the film
and theatrical worlds, purge has
followed purge until no men of
quality are left at all. Criticism is
stereotyped but nervous, for the
authors of the standard eulogies
OF Russian films sometimes get
caught out when the Soviet critics
suddenly start to condemn what
they have hitherto praised.
In music, art, philosophy, BIZ
ology, physics. esthetics-every-
Where-Soviet practice is held up
as the model and every deviation
condemned as proving INSULT
cient reliance" on the source of
true doctrine. Even Western
physics and biochemistry are held
to be "imperialist." The fantastic
claims made for Russian bio
chemistry are held to be i'm
perialist." The fantastic claims
made for Russian primacy in in
vention, even under the Tsars,
have given rise to many jokes.
Press Whipped into Line
The press has been completely
uniform since the Communist
coup. Since then the leading
weekly review. Kulturni Politika,
edited by Burian. has been stopped,
partly because of policy disagree
ments, partly for lack of capable
critics willing to toe an increas-
lngly difficult line. The demise
was accepted calmly by the public.
Though the daily papers are re-
duced to four-eight small pages
lonly the party organ, Rude Pravo.
is somewhat larger), ample space
is found for detailed reports of
birthday and anniversary tele-
grams between the various satel-
lite presidents and premiers. In
deed, congratulations, exhortation
and illumination are the only
forms of Journalistic writing which
have survived.
At the universities, the problem
OF changing the class-character
OF the intelligentsia is being
tackled by drawing line between
students who entered after the
l948 coup and were therefore ac-
cepted as politically positive, ;"
and the older ones who have
passed subsidiary screenings but
are regarded as broadly unreliable.
The regime is anxiously irving
to increase the proportion of
proletarians" in the universities
without taking skilled workers
from their jobs. Many workers
sons have been put through
lightning courses to prepare them
Tor higher education, the vast
majority going on to science or
law. I met two who, after a one
year course in criminal law, were
due to go into practice as state
prosecutors. learning the rest of
the subject in their spare time
afterward. They were enthusi-
astic but pathetically ill-in-
formed; they lectured me on
Marxism. America and the edu-
cational system in France, where
they refused to believe that any
worker had chance of a uni
versity education or that a rich
mans son could fail in his degree,
Strikes Unreported
Only a tiny fraction of the
working class in Czechoslovakia
has any prospects of joining the
working intelligentsia" which the
government is trying to create
by increasing the number of work.
ers' sons among university STU
dents. The remainder are under
ever-growing pressure to raise
production. The regime has,
however. few incentives beyond
moral encouragement at its dis
posal.
Strikes have occurred several
times-they are naturally never
reported-and the intractability
of old trade unionists in the
Ostrava area has three times
forced the government to with
draw a new scheme of wage levels.
Last year Slansky, the general
secretary of the Communist Party,
lectured members to keep of the
Works Councils" This year the
Prime Minister, Zapotocky, tried
to show his loyalty to the party
by severely criticizing the non-co-
operation of the workers organi-
cations in raising production
despite the optimistic target
smashing figures which the press
INCREASINGLY publishes, but was
nevertheless removed from the
post of chairman of the Trade
Unions Executive Committee which
he also held to make way for a
stronger, more reliably pro-party
figure.
The odd remarks of porters,
taxi drivers and roadmen docu-
ment the increasing distrust felt
for the regime, even on its home
front, and now the most serious
rift in the party organization to
date is shown by reports that
factory militia have participated
in a protest demonstration in
Prague.
Since last year there seems to
have been no attempts at large
scale risings, and the Western
Ii@ Ia~-