PERSECUTION OF MINORITIES IN THE SOVIET UNIONContinued: DISCLOSURE OF RESTRICTED INFORMATION WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1953 UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to recess, at 11:15 a.m., in the Foreign Relations Committee room, U.S. Capitol Building, Senator Alexander Wiley (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Wiley (chairman), Smith of New Jersey, Hickenlooper, Tobey, Taft, Ferguson, Knowland, George, Green, Sparkman, Gillette, Humphrey, and Mansfield. Also present: Dr. Wilcox, Dr. Kalijarvi, Mr. Marcy, Mr. Holt, Mr. O'Day, and Mr. Cahn, of the committee staff. The CHAIRMAN. We have a quorum here, gentlemen. The subcommittee met-Senator Taft being the chairman-and you have in front of you a resolution which was worked out with Mr. Morton.2 I would like to have you read it and see how it strikes you. I am informed that Senator Taft will be here shortly, but in the meanwhile you might be perusing this resolution. I might say at this time that Senator Gillette was there, and lent his perspicacity to the solution of the problem. On the second page of this resolution, I wish to say that Dr. Wilcox thinks that this committee should state "resolved further that the President is hereby urged" instead of "we urge the President to take appropriate action." Here is the chairman of the subcommittee to give us his profound conclusion in this matter. WHAT GROUPS SHOULD BE INCLUDED? Have you any suggestions or changes? We did feel that it was important that everyone be included because there are purges against all sorts of groups, minorities of every kind, religious and otherwise. We thought of putting in, you see, the persecution of Greek Orthodox congregations, the imprisonment of Roman Catholic prelates, the harassment of Protestant denominations, the suppression of Moslem 1 See notes, p. 145. Thruston Morton, Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations. (151) communities-those are all religious. We thought that we might stop there; it is still a possibility. The majority of the committee thought that we should go on with the persecution and the scattering of ethnic groups in Poland, the Ukraine, in the Baltic and the Balkan states and in many other sections under Soviet domination. Senator HICKENLOOPER. Do you want to put East Germany in there? Senator TAFT. Well, there are many other sections; there are an unlimited number of places that you could put in there. There are all sorts of places. Senator GREEN. What does sections mean; sections of what? Senator TAFT. It means sections-that is just a term including a sect; you can say areas if you want to. I think areas is a better word. All that sections meant was that Senator GREEN. I think areas would be better. POSITION OF GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH Senator GREEN. May I ask with respect to persecution of Greek Orthodox congregations, I have from time to time seen in the paper about the Soviet government recognizing the Greek Orthodox Church, in fact, dominating the Greek Orthodox hierarchy. Senator TAFT. Well, they may have done that, that is possible, and still Senator GREEN. I am asking for information. Senator TAFT. Yes. I was trying to find the answer. Senator HICKENLOOPER. I think one answer is that they have destroyed the autonomy of the clergy of the Greek Orthodox Church, and have substituted political clergy and political opinion over the doctrines of the church. Senator SPARKMAN. Mr. Chairman The CHAIRMAN. Senator Sparkman.? Senator SPARKMAN [continuing].—Let me raise a question just for purposes of discussion." Senator TAFT. This is a statement in this pamphlet which covers these different groups issued by this committee last year: 1 Even according to Soviet official sources, the number of believers in the Soviet Union is very large. The largest and most important religious group is the Russian Orthodox congregation. Before the war the chief church baiter, Emelyan Yaroslavsky, had to admit that % of the adult population in the towns and % in the villages were still believers. A British author, R. A. J. Schlesinger, says, on the basis of a review of a Soviet church magazine, * * * There is still a tremendous number. ✦✦✦ and this in spite of the tremendous campaign against religion which had been waged by the regime. It continues: *** The leaders of the Soviet state during the war felt that it was wiser to keep religion under orderly, legalized control than in a state of suppressed rebellion. 1 These quotations are from U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations. Tensions within the Soviet Union. Washington, D.C., U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1951. A revised edition was published in 1953. But what is basic and of the utmost importance is that the outlook of the party in regard to religious matters has not changed at all. When the traditional ceremonies of blessing the waters was made the occasion for a recent mass bathing of believers in the icy Volga River the Soviet press made it the basis for attacks against the allegedly superstitious character of the church. Moreover, late Soviet official documents are filled with anti-religious references. The following will serve as examples of the statements to this effect made since the war, And, indeed, it continues, we are witnessing at the present time an increase of religious oppression. The Soviet writer I. Oleshchuk sets the keynote when he says, "the Bolshevik Party and the Soviet power call for struggle, for complete victory over religious prejudices and superstitions, for the education of all Soviet people in the spirit of a scientific materialist world outlook. The progressive Soviet teacher cannot, and must not, be neutral toward religion; he must be guided by the principle of party-spirit in science; he must be not only a non-believer himself but an active propagandist of atheism among others." The anti-religious measures of the Soviet government are creating areas of tension among the large number of people who Soviet officials themselves admit possess a religious spirit. In other words, the whole antireligious group is against the bulk of any Russian church principle because most Russians are orthodox. SITUATION IN THE SATELLITES Senator GEORGE. Senator Taft, may I ask, this resolution is directed to the Soviet Union and its satellites. Are all of the satellites practicing these persecutions? Senator TAFT. I think so without question. Where they are Communist controlled, I think there certainly would be no cases in Poland, in Czechoslovakia, in Roumania-I am not so sure about Bulgaria, I have not heard. Senator GEORGE. We are taking all of the satellites in and, of course, I do not know, we may be condemning some of them who are more or less friendly to us. Senator HICKENLOOPER. I want to draw a distinction between the Soviet Union, as such, and the officials who control the Soviet Union. I have an idea that it is not so much the mass philosophy of the people as it is the viciousness of the leaders. Senator TAFT. That is true, but that is the Government; it is the Government though, nobody can question that, I think. OTHER PERSECUTIONS Senator SPARKMAN. Mr. Chairman, let me ask this question: I certainly favor this kind of a resolution, and yet I first asked Senator Gillette over here if all of them were included in the various enumerations there. I am thinking of this, too: We condemn them there for persecution of different groups, Roman Catholic prelates, for instance. What about Yugoslavia? Senator TAFT. What about Yugoslavia? They are not a satellite. Senator SPARKMAN. I know that, but certainly there has been Roman Catholic persecution there. Senator TAFT. We are not bothering with Tito for the moment; let us leave him alone. 72-194-77-vol. V-11 Senator SPARKMAN. I realize that, but are we letting ourselves in for some trouble maybe from the church groups? Great Protestant groups, for instance, will claim they are persecuted in Spain. Senator TAFT. And in Italy. Senator SPARKMAN. And in Italy. Are we going to have them on our heads when this kind of a resolution comes out; that is what I am thinking about. Senator TAFT. I do not think it has to be extended to that. Senator SPARKMAN. I would not advocate it; I am just suggesting that where we enumerate them group by group, if we are not going to open up THE FORUM OF PROTEST Senator TAFT. We urge the President, on the second page, to take appropriate action to protest against these outrages, particularly. "To protest against" I think, "against these outrages" ought to be at the end, after "General Assembly of the United Nations." The outrages are not there. What we get is that the outrages are in the General Assembly. Senator FERGUSON. I understand there will be a protest in the General Assembly. Have you thought of just making this read "a protest in the General Assembly" rather than particularly in the General Assembly, so that we will not be asking them to do it to Stalin personally. Senator TAFT. We are not; but we thought that it ought to be left open to do that. We did not quite like to reject that or put it in. We thought it ought to be open, either to protest here, to protest to the particular satellite states, perhaps. You might think that a protest would not be effective to Stalin, but maybe it might be to the Poles, or something of that sort, or you might want to do it in the Security Council, I do not know, but that was suggested also; we did not like to confine it solely to the General Assembly. Senator FERGUSON. Yes. A PROTEST IN THE NAME OF SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY Senator HICKENLOOPER. What the Russians are doing, without doubt, is to attack the basic spiritual philosophy of mankind, that is what they are doing; I mean, they are attacking all groups that have a spiritual philosophy which in any way may interfere with their ideas as to the complete sanctity and sole allegiance to the state, the mysterious state. Now, I just pose this question: We call upon everybody to condemn this business, but could we rather base it upon calling upon everyone who adheres to a fundamental spiritual philosophy as the basis for the freedom of mankind to protest, because I think it is a spiritual basis that is in conflict. They are assaulting everybody that has any spiritual integrity by groups. W Senator TAFT. They are doing more than that with the Jews; it is a racial as well as a religious persecution, certainly. Senator HICKENLOOPER. Well, anything is racial if they take off after the Mohammedans or anybody else, but I think the real purpose of their assault is to break up the integrity of spiritual groups |