Sentence:  But one cannot escape the suspicion that all this non-stop harping on the misdeeds of the long liquidated `` anti-party '' group would be totally unnecessary if there <WSD>were</WSD> not , inside the party , some secret but genuine opposition to Khrushchev on vital doctrinal grounds , on the actual methods to be employed in the `` transition to communism '' and , last but not least , on foreign policy . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  happen, occur, take place; this was during the visit to my parents' house"