Evening star., 1953-09-17
Ordeal in Prague
By WiIIiom N. Ootis


Press correspondents byIine since his
orest in Proeue more thon two years
ago.
-~~
They had arrested me six days
before on suspicion that I. the
Associated Press correspondent in
Prague, was also spy.
They had questioned me at the
police station day after day until
finally. weary from "a hours of
steady grilling, 1 had baked,
Then they had brought me here.
handcuffed and blindfolded in
the back of a car.
Now, with the blindfold of, ]
found myself in a sparSely fur
nished Office in the dim light Of
dawn the dawn of Sunday,
April 90. 1851. Through the win
dow saw a courtyard and, be-
yond, new building going up.
How many steps are there on
the way up here? the man asked
Ninety"
You're still spy" he said,
smiling.
I smiled back. 1t was sup
posed to be a joke.
The men from the police sta
tion went on interrogating me
all that day. We all STAYED of
hunger with fat slabs of bacon
sent from downstairs.
Many questions concerned an
incident of a few weeks earlier
An Indian diplomat had heard
that apartments in his neighbor-
hood of Prague we're being taken
over for army officers. I asked 1t.
Col. George L. Atwood, Ameri-
can Military Attache, if he had
heard this, too. He said he had,
and more. And he gave me a
list of supposed military sites in
and around the city.
The police already had my
signature on statement to the
effect that, in thus picking up
military information" I had
committed espionage. Now they
wrote another statement for me
to sign.
Refused to Sign Paper.
This would have had me admit
that gave military information
to Col. Atwood and in so doing
committed espionage. I refused
to sign it.
1 want to go to bed" I said.
Just rewrite this for us the
way you want it, and then you
can go to bed" said the lizard
faced man.
l reWrote it. They brought it
back to me, rewritten again. and
asked me to sign it.
I had been up AZ hours, and
1 was desperate for sleep. So /
signed.
Then I was blindfolded and
taken downstairs. and when ]
took the blindfold OF was in a
cell.
l had some smelly blankets
and a straw mat. I made a bed
on the floor, tied my handker-
chief across my eyes to keen
out the electric light and went
to sleep. I was awakened only
once-to get number: 2O91,
The next day, the men from
headquarters questioned m e
morning and afternoon in the
upstairs office, and I had vege-
tartan noon and evening meals
In my cell
After supper I was taken back
upstairs. This time all nv old
acquaintances were gone ex-
cept a pudgy little curly-haired
interpreter.
New InquisitOr Arrives.
Seated at a desk was a new
man. He was a rangy. brown
haired young man with a sar-
donlc look-Squinty yellow eyes.
nigh cheekbones. hollow cheeks
and a narrow mouth with the
corners turned down.
He might have passed for a
small-town roughneck. but he
was in the red-trimmed olive
drab uniform of a police lieu
tenant. He was taking over my
interrogation. In that prison.
every inmate has a "referent, -"
who questions him and prepares
him for trial. This referent sat
bolt upright. looking serious.
The interpreter translated:
Make no mistake. Your
American citizenship will not
help you here"
That was how I met 1t. Josef
Ledl Il learned his name later,
from his signature on a paper }
Early next morning. he called
me from my cell and began
putting my testimony in writing.
The document was called a
protocol. From time to time. I
was presented with finished
pages and asked to write on
each, Il have read this. I have
approved it. I have signed it.
William Nathan Oatis."
I did so readily as long as the
protocol kept near the facts.
Then the referent and inter-
prefer began to rewrite my ac-
count.
Inaccuracies Ignored.
This is not right" I said one
day, pointing to an inaccuracy
What difference does it
make?" The referent showed ex-
asperation.
Such arguments became more
and more frequent. Gradually it
became apparent he wanted not
the facts as I knew them, but as
he would like them to be.
Meanwhile, I was trying to find
out what was likely to happen to
me. -Four people now were at
work on Interrogation - the ref
erent and three interpreters in
turns. One interpreter. a young
woman, asked me, How would
Won Gko tn oa Lay1an m the