Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-12-12
Soviet Names
ROkossovsky 70
Direct Purge
BY BERNARD KAPLAN
No.th Au.,t..u Nsv.r.n., Ain.r..

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PARIS, Dec. l2.-Marshal
Rokossovsky. the ousted Russian
chief OF the Polish army. has
been put in charge Of q purge Of
the armed forces Of both Bull
earia and Romania, according to
information reaching French
Official sources.
These sources said yesterday
that the military Shake-up going
on in the two Eastern European
nations is more severe than
earlier reports indicated. 1t is
being carried out largely in
secrecy. apparently to avoid the
appearance Of unrest in two
more satellites. But the purge
repeatedly is reaching deep into
all army ranks and has resulted
in the dismissal and imprison-
ment Of noncommissioned Of
ficers as well as at least three
generals.
Marshal Rokossovsky recently
was named q Soviet deputy de-
tense minister after his dismissal
from Warsaw by the national"
Communist government Of
Wladyslaw Gomulka. 1t is under
stood that because Of his unique,
If no. altogether successful. ex-
~ .eIlce dealing with satellite
armies, he was Immediately
given the task Of directing the
cleansing" Of the Bulgarian and
Rumanian forces. Ironically
enough. Marshal RokossovSky
himself was once purged by
Stain and was in prison at the
outbreak Of World War II.
Drastic Action Decided On
According TO sources here.
drastic action In the two coun-
tries was decided on by Moscow
within . fortnight Of the Hun
garian uprising when the Rus
SLAMS were startled to discover
that the Hungarian army was
more than 30 per cent unre-
liable. The latter had been con-
sidered almost on q par with
Czechoslovakia's army and bet
ter than Poland's, over which 1t
had been deemed essential to
place Marshal Rokossovsky and
hundreds of lesser Soviet officers
In Polish uniforms.
The Hungarian army, badly
battered while fighting as Ger
many's ally in Russia during the
last war, was virtually rebuilt
from the ground up afterward
by Communist cadres. Thus, the
Russians were all the more
shocked. not only by the num-
Der of Hungarian troops who de-
fected. but by the amazing speed
with which they did so. There
was not q single major instance
OF Hungarian soldiers deter
minedly resisting the anti-Com-
munist revolutionaries, nor Of
Hungarian officers trying to
make them.
Reports reaching here indi-
cate that all officers above the
rank of captain in both the Ru-
manian and Bulgarian armies
are being put through political
reliability tests before boards on
which at least one Red Army
representative sits. But even
junior officers and noncoms-
repeatedly by the scores, in both
armies-have been dismissed or
denoted during the past month.
Stripped Of Authority
The deputy chief Of stan in
Bulgaria and two Bulgar division
commanders have been stripped
Of their authority and may have
been Jailed. The charge against
them Is said to be that they
permitted forces under their
command to become infected
with Titoism. In the event Of
q military showdown between
Russia and Tito. the BulgarianS.
who share q border with Yugo-
slavia and aspire to portions
Of their neighbours territory, had
generally been expected to play
an important role.
An unconfirmed report has 1t
that the entire IT'S, 000-man Ru-
manian Army has been stripped
Of its heavy weapons and
armored vehicles by the Soviet
garrison there.
At least two Soviet divisions
have moved into Bulgaria since
the Hungarian revolt. None was
there before. Western intelli-
Hence evaluations are that the
Soviet high command has now
wholly discounted the military
value Of the satellite armies in
the event Of a big war and is
chiefly concentrating on insur-
ing they do not become a major
hindrance to the Russian war
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