Evening star., 1953-07-17
Reds Combat
New Strikes
In East Berlin
Columns of Tanks
And Armored Cars
Pouring Into City
By the Associated, Press

erS rebellion in East Germany.
The columns of Soviet tanks,
troops and armored cars rum
bled before dawn through Stain
Alice, a riot focus a month ago.
The Russians poured into East
Berlin from the southeast, the
east and the north.
Soviet martial law. proclaimed
at the June II outbreak, was
lifted in East Berlin only last
Saturday night. The last of the
$4,000 Russian armored troops
who put down the rebellion with
drew at that time.
1t could not be confirmed i'm
mediately whether the Soviet
forces had also gone back into
other East German cities where
martial law ended last week end.
Rubber Plant Paralyzed.
At Merseburg, near Halle. a
Soviet-owned buna synthetic
rubber plant has been paralyzed
since Wednesday by a Sitdown
strike of $4,000 workers demand
ing release of comrades jailed
after the June II rebellion.
An anti-government showdown
has been under way at the Zeiss
Optical Works at Jena since
Tuesday. Zeiss employees walked
out last Saturday but were
forced back on the job Tuesday
when the local Russian COM
mander threatened to shoot
every tenth striker" The new
Russian march into East Berlin
apparently was intended to pre-
vent such strikes from spreading
to the east zone capital.
In East Berlin 81 tanks were
counted by German eyewitnesses
on Stain Alice in the first hour
of the march.
Thirty-eight truckloads of ar
mored infantry followed the
tanks through the troubled
housing project center.
Then came armored cars,
armored troop carriers. ambu-
lances, trucks carrying NUM-
tions. food and fuel.
The Soviet soldiers were
equipped with a full field kit.
"Terror Campaign" Proclaimed.
The East German Communists
warned ominously today that
Fascist nests" exist in their
strategic industries. They pro-
claimed, in effect, a terror
campaign against pro-Western
Socialists in the IL Million
member Communist Party and
against influential non-Com-
munists in the Soviet zones
labor force.
Though the party mouthpiece.
Neues Deutschland sneered at
the June rebellion as a "f1asco. -
it asserted East German labor is
shot through with former Fas-
cist officials, functionaries and
employees of the Nazi state, for
mer businessmen, entrepreneurS.
ETC." It added:
"June II showed that such
people had built enemy organ
izations in many places serving
foreign and West German
espionage organs"
The newspaper said the party
must mot only fight against
American imperialism, but
against the Schumacher people
(adherents of the late West Ger
man socialist leader Kurt Schu-
macher) who for years hid their
illegality and on 'X-day' (June
I'D reappeared on the side Of
fascists and imperialistS."
The party organ blast followed
an announcement last night by
Hermann Axen, cadre chief Of
the party, who said the Com
munist central committee will
investigate vigorously in the next
few days how everyone Gin the
government and party) has full
filled his task for the working
class and draw stern conclu-
Sions."
The party purge started
Wednesday with the arrest Of
Justice Minister Max Fechner
old-time Socialist turned Com
munist, as IAN enemy of the re-
public" Fechner's chief crime
appeared to have been his state
ment after the June II revolt
that "the right of workers to
strike is guaranteed in the re-
public's constitution"
His successor, notorious Judge
Red Hide" Benjamin, will have
the major responsibility as the
new minister of justice for en-
forcing the new terror campaign,
Thousands Imprisoned.
Soviet zone prisons already
are choked with thousands OF
Germans convicted in the recent
riots and strikes. The new ter
ror campaign seemed ready to
| impound more irreconcilable
Socialists holding Communist
Party cards and non-Com-
munists employed in state in
duStries.
1t was a grim about face from
Communist promises of a soft
new course" to a better life in
East Germany as a precondition
for union with West Germany.
Instead. the conviction grew
among Western observers that
the Reds, thoroughly frightened
about their repudiated leader
ship of the 18 million East Ger
mans, have dropped any real
expectation of German reuniflca-