Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-07-01

The bullets of Red Polish troops
and police, backed by tanks and
jet planes, last week added bloody
punctuation to the commotion be-
hind the Iron Curtain.
In Notwithstanding uprising,
workers in the big Polish indus
trial city of Poznan, marching in
solid lines 20 abreast, moved men
acingly Thursday into the down.
town section of the city carrying
banners demanding Bread" and
shouting "out with the RuSsians!"
Before the startled authorities
could bring up the machineguns,
the rioters had swarmed through
the secret police headquarters, leav-
ing it in flames; captured the city
hall, lberating the prisoners in
the city Jail; attacked and damaged
the local Communist Party head
quarters, and destroyed the Poz-
nan tanning transmitter, used to
garble the radio programs of the
West beamed to the Red satellites.
Timing Wos Good
The uprising was apparently
carefully timed to take full advan-
tage of the presence in Poznan
formerly the German city of Po-
sem of thousands of business and
industrial leaders from Western
countries, there to attend major
trade fair. Many of these visitors,
leaving without hindrance later in
the day, brought to West Berlin
eyewitness stories and snapshots OF
the rioting.
Eventually, state security police
and military units moved in ruth
leSsly to crush the revolt, which re-
sembled in its violence the sudden
East German uprising of June II,
1858. BY Thursday night the Polish
government was able to announce
that the "anti-state outburst in
spired by the enemies of Poland"
had been suppressed.
But sporadic shooting through
out the city continued through Fri
day and yesterday as pockets OF
resistance held out.
The Warsaw regime put the toll
of dead at 38. with 270 wounded.
But unofficial estimates Of the
death toll ranged from 400 to 900.
Overturned streetcarS and smashed
automobiles lay along some of the
city's main streets as the authori-
ties sounded a curfew signal over
the street loud-speakers.
On-the-spot observers reported
that some of the troops called to
suppress the rioting handed over
their weapons to the strikers.
These reports must have had an
ominous sound to the Communist
chiefs, who must wildly recall that
Just such breakdown in the Cars
military units assured success to
the Petrograd rebels of 1917.
'Misled People
Premier Josef Cyrankiewicz and
top Communist Party and govern
ment officials rushed to Poznan,
the Warsaw radio announced, add
ing in an outraged comment remi-
niscent of the palmiest days Of
Stain: 1.-THE workers are express
ing their indignation at the diver
sionists who, making use of provoc-
alive rumors, set reactionary gangs
and groups of misled people to
come out against the peoples gov
eminent"
The official Polish news agency
tP. A. P9 blamed the revolt on
'imperialist agents and UNDER
ground reactionaries" and promised
that the instigators would be
rounded up and punished with all
the severity of the law"
But yesterday there was consid-
cradle doubt among Western OBJ
servers that the retaliation against
the Poznan strikers would approach
that visited on the hapless East
German workers involved in the
1853 uprisings.
1t was recalled that in April the
Polish Red regime had fired the
chief prosecutor, the chief mill
tary prosecutor and the head of the
state security police, a move fol-
lowed by the release from prison