Sour Fruits of Yalta
Sour Fruits of Yalta The south coast of the Crimea, where the conference of too Big Three vu hold, prodeeoe «om» •f Rtull'l sweetest grapes And apples. The political fruits ef the Yalte...
...The new government, to be sure, is supposed to hold "free had unfettered elections as son as possible on the basis ef universal suffrage and secret ballot...
...The soldiers were forced into the Berling army...
...20,000 tons of copper...
...With such s reign of terror going on, what a travesty on reality to speak of "free and unfettered elections"—unless certain conditions, of which th* communique does not hint a word, are realized in advance...
...It is, however, to "be reorganized - en a breeder democratic basis with the inclusion of democratic leaders from Poland iteself and from Poles abroad...
...October 3, Cracow Province: In districts occupied by the Soviets, their attitude toward the Underground Army and local popnlation hostileLooting continues...
...Sidney Hillman's description of the leaders of America** oldest and greatest labor federation aa stubborn, factional and jealous cannot be regarsed as a service to the world movement of the workers His carefully elaborated pi»n for a new federation must he regarded as an attempt to leave more than 6,000,0(90 American unionists stranded in isolation from their fellows in other lands...
...These conditions would include complete freedpm of speech and press, the release of all political prisoners and deportees, return of all Polish troops abroad to their native country and placing of the election arrangements (very important Man eastern European country) in the hands of gengine representativee of Polish political parties, net of experts fa promoting revolution like Berut...
...Sidney HiUman'* radical proposal has been countered with a much more moderate one presented by Sir Walter Citrine em behalf of the British delegation, la some form this alternative plan will be accepted...
...I quote a few characteristic messages: August 16,1044—In the Lvov Province the Soviet authorities continue "voluntary" enlistment under compulsion...
...In his opening address Vassili V. Kuznetsoff furnished definiteV proof that the so-called trade union delegates from the Soviet Union' directly rofraseiit the political policies ! of their government...
...What has bean said of Poland would apply equally well to Yugoslavia...
...The Polish force organized under Soviet auspices in Russia...
...There is no support for ths attempt of King Peter'to obtain some minimum guarantees of fair representation in the provisional administration of the population of Old Serbia, and of the prewar political parties...
...There are no specific assurances against wholesale economic distraction of German industry, over snd above the ravages already inflicted by the war...
...That change* are necessary no on* will dispute...
...ThIS is only a minute fraction of detailed rehorts ., coveri.ig s long period of time...
...Sidney HiUman to quick-step the World Trade Union...
...The Words and actions of the Russian delegates most have strengthened th* fear expressed in many quarters-^ v thst they cannot be expected to act loyally alongside working-class organizations of other lands...
...222,000,000 gallons of wine Loss, through war destruction: 1,100,000 damaged houses (40*),000 were damaged during, the first three* years of war...
...But the attempt to utilise the war emergency to impose ill-considered proposals upon the great trade -anions ad the world ass definitely failed...
...1,800 miles of railways...
...In s ninetynine percent victory for the totalitarian dictator...
...Another American principle, that of not recognising territorial changes achieved by force, was sunk In the Black Sea with the recognition of Stalin's annexation, of all Poland up to th* Cur ion Line, with the negligible modification of "Ave or eight kilometres...
...Roundups of men on the Streets are a daily occurrence...
...No one can take vary seriously nsw paper assurances of devotion to the Atlantic Charter whm the whole treatment of Poland by Stalin has been snd continues to be one long outrageous violation of every relevant clauee of that document...
...He heatedly urged the international labor movement to adopt the Russian attitude] toward Argentina, Spain, Portugal,Sweden and Switzerland He did not hesitate to advise the workers at these countries with regard to their activities in relation to their own governments...
...on the other hand, are fa many ease* distinctly sour, although they here beea attractively packaged...
...October 2—In the eastern part of the Cracow Province arrests of soldiers of the Underground Army in full swing...
...There is no guaranty whatever that Tito's reign of terror, any more than Berut's, will cease...
...October 6—In the Rzeszow prison, among 160 Poles arrested, there is only one criminal, all others being officers and soldiers of the Underground Army, Underground Administration, officials and prominent citizens...
...The political fruits ef the Yalte confer.nc...
...The democratic peoples must take over where the governments have failed...
...The Citrine plan affords time for the working out of compromise programs...
...Under conditions prevailing in Poland today no genuinely "democratic leader" could appear In publie without being arrested or shot...
...With discouraging regularity, if one reads between the lines of the blandly worded communique, one finds that Stalin gets sway* with the spoils of the conquest, while American and British public Opinion ia soothed with pleasant sounding assurances that would be more convincing if they had not been so frequently given, and so frequently disregarded, in the past...
...The self-styled snd Soviet-sponsored Provisional Government (formed out of the Lublin Committee) is to...
...FRANCE TOTALS COST OF OfRMANOCCUPATION The sum of 860,000,000,000 francs represent* the financial loss which France suffered during the German occupation, according to Henri Teitgen, Minister of Information...
...2,800,000 tons of whest, 70,000 tons of potatoes...
...There is no assurance against the mass kidnapping of Germans (regardless of whether they could be considered war criminals) for slave labor...
...Some of the CIO delegate, to Undon had the evident purpose of using their membership ia the conference as a dab to beat the Alt* Thus they threatened to extend tbe American interunion conflict to the international stage...
...Already the outcome of the conference can be foretold...
...What we refused to do...
...His main points all had a definitely political character...
...be the nucleus of the new governmental set-up...
...Many, men flee westwards...
...How has this difference been resolved...
...V Aa iatrarisd g „ • , Attempted Blitzkrieg in London Faifc *¦ . -, » ¦ ¦ ¦" • ¦* * ""* THE attempt of th...
...America and Great Britain recognised the legitimate Polish government in London, Stalin recognised hie own synthetic product, the sadly misnamed Lublin Committee of National Liberation...
...But there is not a line in the declaration that would, encourage anti-Nasi Germans to take a hand in this process...
...There is no assurance thata democratic Germany which had given convincing proofs of a will to peace and had fulfilled reasonable reparation demands would have the right to economic livelihood within its ethnic frontiers Not one German soldier, one may be sure, will be encouraged to surrender or to resist the Nazis by the parts of the declaration dealing with Germany...
...French loss, through Nasi requisitions during the four years of occupation: 67,000,000 tons of iron ore...
...for Japan's Pu Yi and Wang Chingwet, for Hitler's Quisling, we are doing tor Stalin's Berut...
...Consciously or unconsciously be was strengthening th* arguments which led the AFL to remain away front London...
...The Yalta declaration contain* some theoretical statements of principle that era admirable—if they could be concretely applied In Poland and Yugoslavia...
...He wss saying—for example—to the workers of Switzerland that they should act as a fifth column within their own boupderi...
...V Lublin Province: The 8rd, 9th and 27th Underground Army Divisions which had fought against the Germans slong with the Red Army were dissrmed and interned...
...Until now about 21,000 Poles were arrested...
...Consider first the settlement recommended for Poland...
...announced determination "to destroy German militarism and Nazism" will be generally applauded...
...The London Government is simply brushed aside, although there 1* certainly no indication, in the shape of a tree election, that this Government he* lost the confidence of the Polish people...
...I have In my possession detailed reports which the Polish Government in London received from representeateives of the Underground in Poland about the behavior of Soviet troops and political police and the Red Quislings of the Lublin Committee in "liberated" Poland...
...The sour fruits of Yalta are the natural consequences of the policy of unlimited appeasement of Stalin which found such unhappy expression st Teheran...
...It is proposed that a committee of 18 be set up to consider schemes for a permanent organisation and that the committee be authorised to call together a representative convention when ita work has beets concluded or when the international situation demands it...
...350,000 wrecked cara and trucks (a serious transportation lo»s since Frsnce hsd only 600,000 such motor vehicles in 1939...
...In these elections all democratic and anti-Nasi parties shall have the right to take part and to put forward candidates.'* This sounds hopeful—until one recalls thst the Soviet Constitution also provides for elections on a basis of universal suffrage and secret ballot...
...Teitges gave the following figures...
...Here, on the eve of the conference, there was a clearcut divrgenee of viewpoint between America and Great Britain, en one side, and the Soviet Union, on the other...
...From Tarnapola majority of -men -between 1§ add OS and ef women under "36 deported eastwards...
...nee into a permanent n*w international labor federation his definitely feiled...
...The International Trade* Union Federation has under consideration plans looking to the revision ef its membership provisions...
...Russian d*l.g.tion plu...
...Nor is the assurance of future consultation about European affairs very convincing when one recalls that quite adequate machinery for this purpose was set up at the Moscow Conferences of October SO, 1943—and allowed to fall into almost continuous disuse...
...Thin ia en* of the greattit diplomatic humiliation* the American Government hat ever enttained...
...Should the former Prime Minister Mikolajcsyk and perhape one or two other members of the London Government join the projected "Provisional Government of National Unity" they could give only a faint and unconvincing coloration te what is essentially a puppet totalitarian set-up...
...The fight for freedom in those countries must be aided by continuous discussion and questioning and enlightenment and pressure for governmental action when there is clear evidence that bullets, rather than ballots, are clamping down unwanted totalitarian regimes of foreign sponsorship throughout eastern and central Europe and the Baltics...
...That the governments ma hothouse atmosphere of secrecy would fail to rise to the need of creating a genuinely juet and enduring peace was only too probable...
...Soviet soldier** are helping to arrest people...
Vol. 28 • February 1945 • No. 7
