Evening star., 1953-10-11
Paradise
It's Really He'll,
Czechs Discover
By Peter ZenkI

BY Peter ZenkI
Jan Cermak had some misgivingS
when the Communists took over
CzechosIovakia in 1948. But like
the reasonable man he is. Cermak
decided to see what would happen.
His country had been put rather
thoroughly through the meat
grinder in the years before and dur
ing World War II, and he didn't
nists would be much worse than life
under Nazis and Quislings.
So-although Jan Cermak didn't
really believe the Reds when they
talked about the Workers Para
disc" he thought he would give it
whirl.
Now, five years later, what has
happened to Jan Cermak and the
paradise" in which he lives? To
Jan and the vast majority Of his
12.5 million countrymen, Czecho-
slovakia is not paradise at all; it
is hell.
The country is a big concentra-
ton camp, and all the people are
inmates. Jan has home of sorts,
but no family life he can call his
own His liberties and civil rights
have been reduced to zero. His
country, which between wars was
the only true democracy in central
Europe, is ruled no longer by law.
but by the whim of an irresponsible
group of Russian agents.
Unless he is like Libuse Cloud, who
fed in tank, or like ''Frajek Jarda,"
who stole locomotive, or like the
Jan Cermik" of recent movie who
escaped in circus caravan, Ger
max cannot travel beyond the bor-
ders of his country. At least, he
cannot travel voluntarily outside
Czechoslovakia. If he is not care
full, however, he may take an in
voluntary trip-eaSt-to the punish.
ment camps of the Soviet Union.
If Jan Cermak, like many CzechS.
has relatives in the United States,
he is automatically suspicious
character. If the relatives want to
send him food or clothing. Jan
cannot receive it unless he applies
for an import license. If he is lucky.
he will get such license-but his
application will put the police on
notice that here is a man who
bears watching.
JAMS wife has to take job
whether she wants one or not. The
reason is partly economic; Jan him.
self cannot make enough to support
his family. But there is another
reason. She must work because
the state says so. a
ChiIdren's Lot S.
And what about the children?
All, in the Workers Paradise that
is taken care of. There are state
schools for the young, where they
can become useful citizens of the
Peoples Democratic Republic. They
are taught that while Czecho-
slovakia is the place where they
live, Russia is their spiritual home-
land. They learn that when
teachings at home vary from the
official government line,~ it is the
state which must be obeyed. They
learn that religion is the opium OF
the people. that prayer is mumbo-
jumbo, that the family crucif1x
is d gew-gaw and that priests are
counterrevolutionary agents of i'm
perialism. And when they are
years old, they start to learn Rus
sian-not as foreign language, but
as second mother tongue.
They used to have Boy Scouts in
CZechoslovakia. Now the children
join the Pioneers. The Pioneers
hero-an ideal young Communist
boy-is Pavilik Morosov who, dis
corning political deviation in his
family, "unmasked his parents as
saboteurs of the country"
For young and old alike in the
Workers Paradise there is active
leisure aplenty. The youngsters may
join harvest brigades" or spend
their free time in mines or facto-
ries. And on Father Cermak's day
off, he is privileged to perform a
full days work for Malenkov or the
"heroic Korean people" or for any
one of a. hundred other projects Of
the Camp of Peace and Democ-
racy." For this, of course, adults and
children get no pay; it is their vol
untary contribution" which few are
foolhardy enough to shirk.
Donkey on TreodmiII
At the factory, Jan Cermak feels
himself to be like the donkey on the
treadmill-getting nowhere fast. He
works himself to exhaustion to ex-
ceed his work norm, so he can get
enough money to eat. Then he
finds that the next month. his norm
has been raised to the record break
ing high he attained the month be-
fore. And if he gets disgusted and
quits he is an enemy of the state
for whom there is penalty of death
or frequently the same thing time
in forced-labor center.
If, in the states wisdom. Jan Ger
mak's services are required at the
other end of the country, he is
transported there. The fact that he
has family in Prague has nothing
to do with the case. Maybe he will
see them again-or maybe not; per-.
haps when Jan gets back to Prague
he will find that his wife has been
sent without notice to Bratislava
and the child has been taken to a
state home inside Russia for fur
ther training
OF course, Jan will grieve. But
there is little else he can do. And
he may--if he is a realist-solace
himself with the thought that if
little Jan was good enough young
Communist to be sent to Russia,
good riddance to the little monster.
who must be quite unbearable by
now
rl ~ -. a. -