Evening star., 1953-07-12

Of Stalin's three principal heirs,
had been tagging. The secret po-
lice chief was stripped Of his jobs,
expelled from the Communist
Party, arrested as a traitor and re-
ferred to the Soviet high court for
trial. The man behind 1t all was
Premier Georgi Malenkov.
The tip-off that somebody big
was in trouble came on Tuesday.
Said the newspaper IsUestiG::
1.-THE party worker capable Of
measuring UP to the tasks posed
by the party is one who systemati-
cally trains himself politically, who
masters MarxiSm = Leninism crea-
lively and cultivates the precious
qualities of a man of the Lenin-
Stain type. A leader who, on the
other hand, neglects the theory,
who does not raise his theological
political level, loses the feeling of
everything that is new and in
evitably lags behind hte.
"He is unDorthy to be a leader,
and life ,oill sooner or later strike
him off the list" (Italics are The
Star'S)i
That was the play-acting fore
ground for the newest episode in
the deadly background struggle
for supreme power which Stain
abdicated in death last March.
The news of Ber1a's disgrace-and
now almost certain liquidation
was widely taken to be an indica-
ton of Malenkov's reascendency.
The Premier's position had recent
ly looked shaky because. of the
government by committee format
that was rapidly spreading from
the Kremlin throughout the Soviet
satellite system.
Not Too Surprising
Beria's downfall, however, did
not come as the complete surprise
that Stains death and most other
Kremlin developments had. For
instance, the United States am
bassador in Moscow, Charles Bob
len, knew about it days before the
news broke. The State Department
reported smugly that Mr.. Bohlen
had tipped them off on the i'm
pending event. He returned to this
country yesterday to present his
Government with a full report.
From Rome George Weller, cor
respondent for The Evening Star
and Chicago Daily News, passed on
reports that Beria actually had
forced the showdown himself by
pushing a little too hard on his
own plans for usurping the throne.
Weller was told that Beria's
Kremlin guards machine-gunned
Malenkov's car, Al Capone fashion,
as it passed through the Kremlin
gates IL days ago. Mr.. Weller re-
ferred to this Beria maneuver as
one to intimidate Malenkov, rather
than kill him. Presumably the
ubiquitous armored cars which all
Kremlin bigwigs use were to be
credited with saving Malenkov.
Insult on Injury
Adding insult to this injury,
Beria is reported to have let his
guards off scot free, while taking
Malenkov's chauffeur into custody
for drunken driving. The ex-
secret police chief was also said to
be packing the Kremlin guard
while eliminating Malenkov IA
vorites.
The way Weller's informants put
it, the porcine Prime Minister was
forced to the showdown. Weller is
still not convinced that Beria is
down for good, but most other OBJ
servers take the reports of wild
cheering for the Beria custer In the
Hall of Columns as evidence that
the police chiefs fate is sealed.
Regardless of how the crisis
came about, one intriguing ques-
tion presented itself: How does
one go about arresting a chief of
secret police, who habitually lives
behind an iron curtain all his own?
washington sources guessed: With
tanks, probably June q. 1.-THE date
clashes with Weller's report.)
Observers looking behind the
thin official announcements were
not at all convinced that Malenkov
now is firmly entrenched. This was
just the f1rst round, they said. They
remembered that 1t took Stain al
most Is years, f1ve secret police
chiefs, and some incredibly cruel