RUSSIA ARMS IN EAST GERMANY
Schroeder, W. Emil
Russia Arms in cost Germany Fearing People's Wrath, It Militarizes Votk Police By W. Emit Schroeder New Leader German Bureau BERLIN. IT IS AN OPEN SECRET THAT, contrary to the Potsdam...
...About 70 percent become patriotic Greeks...
...Just before I left the island, the men crowded around and shouted, "Opla theleme, opla theleme . . ." which means, "We want weapons"-— weapons with which to fight the Communists...
...STRONG AND OBDURATE as the spirit of Communism is, the spirit of piety and patriotism in Greece is stronger...
...Greeks...
...At Kestri, near Athens, the Queen is utilizing a group of buildings known - as "Paul the Apostle's Paedopolis" as both a home and a school for children removed from villages to thwart wouldbe abductors...
...a e e MANY SOVIET FAMILIES have teen repatriated to Russia, it has been reliably reported to me and strange to say, their departure always takes place et night...
...Eastern Zone inhabitants look forward to the end of the Soviet occupation- with mixed feelings...
...Present plans call for the strengthening of this illegal army by establishing "workers biigade*" which, in the event of withdrawal of Soviet Ireops...
...It also knows that if Soviet troops were withdrawn the wrath of the oppressed people would descend upon it...
...THE MEN LEARN and practice different crafts...
...It is tacitly recognized that the Communist has his loyaltymisplaced, but sincere...
...The recruits are not subjected to the pressure of propaganda or intimidation...
...The NKVD is perennialy rounding up deserters in homes and railway sta-tions...
...The younger generation, in particular, has been afflicted with a deep-seated, intractable spiritual disequilibrium...
...Perhaps a tenth of the recruits cling to their Communists convictions...
...By becoming members of these communities they are brought back te the greater community which is Greece...
...will be charged with the defense of German "volk-deinocracy...
...Similarly, fleets of trucks carrying "reparations" or just plain booty — particularly new machinery — regularly travel eastward by night...
...I visited Makronesos in March, talked freely with its inhabitants, and was struck with their frankness and high spirits...
...Most Russians in fact, would prefer to remain indefinitely...
...Not one, so far, has failed to return or has overstayed his leave...
...A Arm but tactful vigilance is exercised by the teachers, so that a Communist child shall not be treated roughly by those whose parents may have been massacred (sometimes before their very eyes...
...Greeks Reform Communists By Using Modern Pedagogy By F. A. VOfGT COMMUNISM IS A tumor which Greece has yet to extripate...
...They usually perform two plays weekly—Sophocles' Antigone is a favorite...
...But they also fear that the new "liberation" will bring no improvement to their present state of affairs...
...Colonel Baraiktaris, an eminent pedagog, is originator of the educational system employed there...
...ON MAKRONESOS...
...In general, they are made aware ' of their country's ancient greatness...
...The Tolk police under Soviet jurisdiction receive strict military training end are armed with what are practically combat weapons...
...Specifically, munitions are being turned out at Wulkow (near Frankfurt am Oder) and Toepchin (near Zossen...
...Many ef the men have been decorated...
...The deserters constitute a threat to public safety, however, for they obtain civilian clothing and food by theft, and tend to combine forces with native criminals or Displaced Persons who are compelled to live off the country...
...At the same time, there lias been a great increase in the incidence of robbery and violence, and no counter-measures have been taken Ly the Russian authorities...
...The secret—if it is a secret —of Colonel Baraiktaris' method is simple: A living community is established and—like every genuine community—it is a home which possesses great reserves of spirit and devotion...
...At recent maneuvers of the army of occupation, these police are said to have participated with 250 tanks...
...The Socialist Unity party (Communist) is extremely concerned over the developing situation...
...Here is what I learned about Makronesos...
...What of the boys kidnapped by the Communists, taken to the mountains or to Yugoslavia, indoctrinated, and turned into fighters, murderers, incendiaries and looters...
...They have cofHpfetei a large model of the Parthenon which is now"being exhibited in Athens...
...The youngsters receive religious, as well ns secular instruction, and are taught weaving, embroidery, cobbling and other crafts...
...Small as these beginnings are, they are significant, for they contain lessons of value especially to those countries today under the Communist iron heel which will, one day, be liberated...
...The men are drawn from all classes and professions—peasants, shepherds, industrial workers, bank clerks and schoolmasters...
...Many new military units have recently arrived, am«ng them large numbers of Mongols...
...But this impression is gradually overcome by the spirit of the community...
...They have built two churches, a hospital, messroom, theater and canteen (where they buy cigarets and wfne at low prices...
...The men undergo the same discipline as ordinary recruits, but their military training is accompanied by instruction in the simple loyalties...
...an island off the Attic coast, three camps which contain Communists or pro-Communists of military age are the focal point of a remarkable experiment...
...That loyalty is gradually being replaced by those loyalties upon which western civilization is founded...
...and it is they who are in greatest need of reeducation...
...They have their own radio station...
...The children at Paedopolis and Leros, and the adults at Makronesos, And there a purpose in life, a common loyalty, and a home...
...Children from the same villages form little communities of their own, and are taught to cherish their own village traditions, laws and customs...
...It knows that the East Germans are not in sympathy with it (witness the overwhelming "Nein" vote in the recent elections...
...They are much intrigued by accounts of their "Island of Death" purveyed by these party organs...
...If this were not so, the work of re-education would fail — or would, at best, engender an ephemeral loyalty which would eventually break under the stress of modem living...
...Schoolteachers are particularly numerous...
...Naturally, they y*arn for release...
...Especially fast armored tanks are being manufactured in the Soviet zone, it is further reported...
...It has also been visited by British, American and Canadian officials, and other journalists, including a TASS correspondent who, when asked if there were similar camps in Russia, answered, 'There are no camps in Russia...
...Their beliefs may be attacked in free discussion with fellow recruits, but they are permitted to defend them as much as possible within the bounds of fair debate...
...F. A Volgt...
...These questions cast up an extremely difficult and delicate problem which, fortunately, both state and private agencies are working on to good effect...
...The deep distrust felt by many recruits who arrive at Makronesos is natural enough — for in Communist propaganda it is referred to as the "Island of Death" and the "Greek Dachau...
...Greek soldiers have recently captured 14- and 15-year-old youngsters spirited, at an earlier age, to the world beyond the iron curtain—what of them now...
...When the men have completed their training they are drafted for the front in units that retain the identity and the spirit of Makronesos...
...Ttie tnen are allowed to go home on leave...
...They can listen In to the Communist station, Eleftheri Ellada, which Is located in Yugoslavia, end they have even received issues of the illegal Communist newspaper Rizoapattii...
...The surgical operation, however, must be accompanied by physical and psychological therapy, ifethe nation is to recover full health...
...Under these circumstances...
...Each camp has its own choir...
...This is the real reason why the volk-police—which total about 100,000 — are constantly being built up and trained in the latest combat methods...
...But one dare not conclude from all this that the Russians plan an early withdrawal...
...After all Greece, the mother of that civilization, is also its child...
...despite these measures, tho number of desertions increases...
...What is to become ol those Greek children who are Communists—sometimes fanatically so — because their fathers are Communists...
...IT IS AN OPEN SECRET THAT, contrary to the Potsdam Agreement, the Soviet occupation authorities are manufacturing arms in the Eastern Zone and that the rocket proving grounds at Peenemuende ere again turning out new rockets and other weapons...
...former editor of The Nineteenth Century and- After, and frequent New Leader contributor, hai Juii returned from an extended tour of Greece...
...These units have fought with great valor at Khalandritsa, Grammos and elsewhere...
...Such, then, are the beginnings of the reformation taking place in Greece...
Vol. 32 • June 1949 • No. 26
