Evening star., 1952-01-31

Next was a closeup OF me ir
semiprofile. wearing hat and top.
coat, with, the doorway of No. :
Hancock street plainly visible ir
:. the background. mot bad"
said. There followed in succession
pictures Of DIR. Hulda McGarvey
Fanny Hartman. my old friends
; Joy and Margot Clark, and each
one of the students of the secret
| Hancock Street School, all snap
!, ped as they left the building. The
facs had the tipped. ghostly
/ translucence Of infrared black
light" photography.
Il fBy the way, some Of that
crowd that came with you didn't
know too WELL" he said, would
!. you mind putting down their
names for my album" / turned
the pictures over. Several OF
them, including some didn't
know. were already marked "Iden-
titled" The rest filled in as
best I could, either with Their
Iparty pseudonyms or their real
names, and in the end nearly
every one in the course. was
/ pinned down for the FBI files.
Special Glass Continues.
The special class continued, one
might week, two hours or more
each session, constantly increas-
ing in anticapitalist and revolu-
tionary intensity. More than rs
textbooks were used - Political
Economy" by Leontiev: Value,
Price and Profit" by Marx: $50
cialism, Utopian and Scientific, -
by Engels; Imperialism" by
Lenin. 'MileStones in the History
of the Communist Party U. S. A. -
by Bittelman.
This was ostensibly nothing
more than a study of the classics,
as any of these people would have
insisted on a witness stand. But
it was plainly no mere cultural
pursuit. The austere nature of
the classroom; the grim aspects
of the students assembling intent
ly once each week at an appointed
hour to scrutinize the history of
Socialist and Communist revolu-
tionary movements; the absence
of humor. the discipline of the
calss; the purpoSefulneSs Of the
instructors sitting at the table
with the naked light slashing
across their faces-all these were
the marks of a true conspiracy.
The Communist Party was even
then working under the shadow
of the Smith. act, making the
teaching and advocacy of violent
revolution a crime in the United
States. The law was passed with
out fanfare in 1910. and was di-
reeted, at that time, more at
Fascist organizations than at the
Communists.
When Fanny Hartman took of
the gloves and slugged it out in
plain language, it came as such a
shock to me that I almost dropped
my pencil and forgot to take my
notes. .
Violent Revolution Preached.
"Once we have taught that all
of this is perfectly natural" Fanny
said, that 1t is all to be expected,
then we are ready to state our
position. And what is the defini-
ton Of 'revolution?' Do we mean
something like the Industrial Rev.
Iolution? No. We mean violent
revolution to be carried out by
armed bands Of workers. led by
the Communist Party. the van
guard of the working class. Only
through such a revolution can
socialism be established. Only
with the Communist Party as the
leader can the revolution be sue
cessful."
One night a dark stranger oc-
cupied a place at the instructors
table. He was given no introduc-
ton to the class.
He had a few words to say to
the class. It soon became evident
that his soft voice carried the
weight Of the national Politburo.
He spoke Of the reconstruction Of
the party, the re-establiShment of
rigid Marxism in every segment
of party organization, the renewal
of the struggle against bourgeois
influences.
There will be a special meeting
of new group at the Office Satur-
day afternoon" Fanny told me.
out Of earshot.
was surprised to discover that
Fanny was not there. Present
were Justine O'Connor, Otis Hood,
and another big, hulking brute,
neither Of whom ! had ever seen
before. There were no introduc-
tions, not even by first names.
The big man occupied Fanny
Hartman's place, and seemed to
take over her job as well. He
talked more freely than Fanny
and in a loud. positive voice. At
later meetings Daniel Boone
Schirmer was there.
Jack Stachel Group.
The group of six Communists
came to be known among us pri-
vately as the Jack Stachel Group
for New England. More formally,
it was the District Educational
Commission of the Communist
Party, operating directly under
Jack Stachel as the national edu-
cational director.
Every one knew-and stood in
awe of-the name of Jack Stachel.
In the peculiar half light of in
formation shed upon the leading
functionaries of the party. his
authority was carried more by in
ference than by direct commune
cation. It was my impression that
not many comrades were permit
ted to meet him face to face.
Stachel, then about forty-five, also
known as Jankel, Jacob Zunser
land Moses Brown, had been a
-. r.