Evening star., 1952-05-09
We the Satellites
By WiIIiom [. Ryon

There's a lot of guessing about
who is the real. boss Of the Com
munists in Bulgaria. But the
Bulgarian people don't guess. They
know there is only one boss, and
his name is Stain.
In Bulgaria, most SovietiZed of
all the captive countries of Europe,
the Premier acts like a vest
pocket edition of the dictator in
Moscow. But Premier Vulko
Chervenkov must be uneasy.
Like Stain, the Stocky little
Chervenkov lets the whole popu-
lation know when he ventures out
of doors. Just like the Kremlin
escorts, the heavily armed, bullet
proof cars which escort the Bull
garian Premier open their sirens
and careen down the highway at
breakneck speed.
The Chervenkov motorcade Is
well known. The Premier himself
rides in a Soviet Zis ITO, Moscow
version of the Packard. The es-
cort cars are Packards, one old,
the others somewhat newer. All
are crammed with bodyguards.
All Traffic HaltS.
When the motorcade wheels out
of the, Villa Balbanov, where
ChervenkoV lives in luxury, and
screams down the Boulevard Rus
ko, all traffic comes to a stop
just as it does when Stalin'S car
leaves the Kremlin. The route is
lined by forest of heavily armed
sentries at military posts. Cher
Venkov is on his way.
He may be on his way out.
AS in other captive countries,
there is a struggle going on at the
top in Bulgaria, too. Many Euro
pean sources express belief that
Chervenkov, 50-year-old profess
Sional Communist with Moscow
training, is simply a figurehead.
The power behind the scenes,
they say. is Georgi Chankov, a
deputy prime minister-and be-
hind him, the Russians.
Chervenkov, rough-and- tumble
Communist veteran of many jails
since he joined the party in 1919
as youngSter, is related by mar
riage to the late Georgi Dimitrov,
the old BolShevik Bulgarian Pre-
mier who went to Moscow for a
"cure" and never returned.
Today, Dimitrov's followers are
dropping by the wayside, one by
one. Another show trial may not
be far off. Recently there has
been a severe purge of cabinet
functionaries and high officials
including Boris Taskov, president
of the State Reserves Department
which stocks strategic materials;
Kyril Dramaliev, a Dimitrov Com
munist intellectual in the same
department, and Prof. Sava Ga
novSki, a Dimitrov man who
headed the science and culture
division of the cabinet.
Chankov may be behind this OF
possibly the man behind 1t all i.
Peter PanchevSky, Moscow's vice.
roy who, as defense minister, run.
the Bulgarian Army. He is {
Soviet general.
Criticized Vice Premier.
In this respect, it is significant
that Taskov was fired shortly afte
he dared criticize Vice Premier
Ivan Mikhailov, who is the eyes oil
Moscow in Sofia, even supervising
CheVenkov. Mikhailov, too, wa
Soviet general.
All the old intelligentsia of tn
party is being weeded out. Thi
means the Dimitrov people. They
are disappearing in favor of thl
Soviet fanatics. All the moderate
are gone. Many of the old Com
muniSts would leave the party i
they dared. But they would be &C
cused of "TraichokoStovism. Tha
is another form of deviation TO
which former Vice Premie
Traicho Kostov was executed.
The opposition parties in Bull
garia long ago were stamped out
after Nikola Petkov, the PeaSan
Party leader, was hanged in 1874
on charge of anti-state activity
Nor is there any religious voic
heard save that of the priests o
the dominated orthodox church
Three years ago, to the accom-
paniment of outraged cries o
anger from the Western worlc
Bulgaria's Communists tried an
condemned to prison the leadin
Protestant clergy of the countr.
Thereafter, Moscow moved il
swiftly.
While Moscow tightens tn
screws, the Bulgarian people fin
themselves worse off every day
Their economy is completely rule
by the Soviet Union. The Com
muniSt Central Committee die
tates to the peasants on sue
matters as depth of plowinl
means of breeding cattle, methoo
and time of sowing and harvest
ing.
Low Price for Wheat.
Farmers wheat in that agricul
tural country is seized by the gov
ernment at low prices. Bread is
government monopoly, retailed q
high prices and tremendous prof
Collective farms are operate
under the Soviet brigade system
The brigade is broken down int
links" or "zvenos' of 10 worker
each, under zvenovod, or leade
A brigadier, always a Communis
supervises the brigade. He
watched by another Communis
assigned especially for polite;
work.
The principal entertainment
the farm village is the lectur
These are innumerable, and Al
tendance is compulsory. Typic,
subjects are loyalty to Stain an
technical farm matters.
Wherever there is resistance
collective farming, the militia
busy. In some instances the milit
surrounds a village, arrests Il