Better worlds in birth No more tradition chains shall bind us The earth shall rise on new foundations Compare this with the stern realities of forced labor in the Soviet Union as described from authoritative sources by representatives of the Governments of Australia, Chile, France, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, as well as the American Federation of Labor and a number of international organizations: I. ALLEGATIONS 1. Allegations relating to the U.S.S.R. have been made- Soviet slave labor at work on the White Sea Canal. (2) By the Governments of the United Kingdom and the United States of America and by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions in files submitted to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on 22 June, 26 July and 13 July 1951, respectively, in reply to his note No. SOA.317/8/03 on the establishment of a Committee on Forced Labour. Supplementary files were submitted by the Government of the United States of America on 27 June and 7 November 1952. 40608-59 4 (3) In memoranda submitted to the Committee by the following nongovernmental organisations: the International Federation of Free Journalists, on 4 October 1951 and 20 October 1952; the International League for the Rights of Man, on 18 June 1952; the Christian Democratic Union of Central Europe, on 23 June 1952; the Estonian Consultative Panel, on 31 March 1952; the Hungarian National Council, on 29 May 1952; the Latvian Consultative Panel, on 27 March 1952; the Lithuanian Consultative Panel, on 28 March 1952. (4) In oral statements made before the Committee at its Second and Third Sessions by the representatives of several nongovernmental organisations and by one private individual. The organisations concerned were the following: the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the Commission Internationale Contre le Regime Concentrationnaire, the International Federation of Free Journalists, the International League for the Rights of Man, the Association of Former Political Prisoners of Soviet Labour Camps, the Estonian Consultative Panel, the Hungarian National Council, the Latvian Consultative Panel and the Lithuanian Consultative Panel. 2. These allegations, which are summarised below, related to (a) forced labour as an instrument of political repression; (b) forced labour imposed by the judiciary; (c) forced labour imposed by the administrative authorities; (d) the economic importance of forced labour; (f) the location of camps; (g) life of prisoners in forced labour camps; (h) mass deportations; (i) restrictions on freedom of employment. 3. According to the allegations, one of the main aims of the forced labour system which is said to exist both de facto and de jure in the Soviet Union at the present time is to crush all opposition, particularly as expressed in political opinions differing from those of the regime. 4. One of the foundations of the system, it is stated, is the criminal law and criminal procedure of the country, which are so conceived that many persons, especially those opposed to the regime, can be convicted and sentenced to forced labour without adequate provision being made for their defence and in circumstances which, in many other legal systems, would not be recognised as constituting an offence or involving their responsibility. It is furthermore maintained that the administrative authorities of the MVD have extensive extra-judicial powers whereby persons can be subjected to forced labour. 5. The forced labour system, according to the allegations, is of great importance to the national economy, since it supplies cheap labour in large quantities for many different types of work, particularly in undeveloped and unhealthy areas. 6. It is stated in the allegations that the number of persons sentenced to forced labour runs into millions. These persons are allegedly confined in numerous camps located at widely scattered points throughout the Soviet Union. The conditions in the camps are bad, and the death rate among the prisoners is high. 7. It has further been alleged that millions of persons have been deported either from one part of the Soviet Union to another or from neighbouring countries to the Soviet Union. Many of these deportations are alleged to have involved forced labour.56 Despite this mountain of evidence, G. M. Malenkov, speaking before the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet in March 1950, unhesitatingly denied this evidence in the following terms: Our enemies are resorting to the grossest falsifications and deception. Take for instance, the hullabaloo they raise in connection with their charge that the Soviet Union has what they call "forced labor" *°* * 57 As a matter of fact, Karl Marx, in the "Communist Manifesto,' called for "the establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture" (point 8, sec. II). CONCEALMENT AND CONSPIRACY When Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels penned their "Communist Manifesto," they flaunted their revolutionary doctrines before the world, disdaining concealment and subterfuge. They said: The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions.58 Even V. I. Lenin, arch-conspirator that he was, demanded honesty and straightforwardness of his followers when it suited his current purpose. His words were recalled by the Moscow Pravda in 1937: Our Party never conceals its aims and tasks ***. The Party demands the same honesty and straight-forwardness of every Communist * * * A real Bolshevik is never insincere before his Party, before the working class, before the working masses. Duplicity, hypocrisy, deceit-all these are poisonous weapons from the arsenal of our enemies.59 But the policy of openness, straightforwardness and candor was precisely what Lenin rejected in actual practice in favor of doubledealing, evasion and conspiracy and these precepts have been enshrined in the works of Lenin, on matters of organization, published and studiously followed by Communist Parties throughout the world. Let Lenin speak for himself. He demanded: A small tight kernel consisting of reliable, experienced, and steeled workers with responsible agents in the chief districts, and connected by all the rules of strict conspiracy." 60 56 Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Forced Labor, United Nations, International Labor Office Geneva, 1953, pp. 426, 427. 57 Pravda, Mar. 10, 1950; Soviet News, Mar. 21 and 22, 1950. 58 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "Manifesto of the Communist Party" (International Publishers, 1932). 59 V. I. Lenin, "Straightforwardness and Honesty" quoted in Pravda, Feb. 27, 1937. 60 V. I. Lenin, "Lenin on Organization" (International Publishers, New York), p. 74. He also said: The time has fully matured when it is absolutely necessary And furthermore: It is necessary *** to agree to any and every sacrifice, and even if need be-to resort to all sorts of strategems, manoeuvres, and illegal methods, to evasion and subterfuges And finally: *** 62 Conspiracy is so essential a condition of an organization of this kind that all other conditions (the number and selection of members, their functions, etc.) must be made to conform to it.6 63 The CPUSA harps upon the fact that it "bases its theory generally on the *** principles of scientific socialism as developed by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and V. I. Lenin." Yet it sets itself up as an organization which would expel from the party, any member "who adheres to or participates in the activities of any group or party which conspires or acts to subvert, undermine, weaken or overthrow any institutions of American democracy through which the majority of the American people can maintain their right to determine their destinies." 64 Of course the Communist Party would not admit that any institution of American democracy would enable the "majority of the American people" to "maintain their right to determine their destinies." So the party seeks to satisfy the principles of Lenin and the Smith Act simultaneously. VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM The CPUSA goes further in its latest constitution wherein it threatens with expulsion any member "who *** advocates force and violence or terrorism ***" 65 Reassuringly the constitution adds: "We advocate a peaceful, democratic road to socialism through the political and economic struggles of the American people within the developing constitutional process." 66 But the advocacy of force, violence and terrorism is indeed a fundamental tenet of MarxismLeninism as shown below. Disdaining to conceal his views, Marx, in his "Communist Manifesto," asserted that the Communists "openly declared that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions." 29 67 Lenin gives categoric endorsement to Marx's 61 V. I. Lenin, "Theses on Fundamental Tasks of Second Congress of the Communist International". (1920), "Selected Works" (International Publishers, New York, 1943), vol. X, pp. 172-173. 62 Left Wing' Communism: An Infantile Disorder" by V. I. Lenin, 1920, "Selected Works" (International Publishers, New York, 1943), vol. X, pp. 95-96. 63 V. I. Lenin, "Lenin on Organization," p. 99. Chicago: Daily Worker Publishing Co., 1926. 64 Art. VII, sec. 2, Constitution of the Communist Party, U.S.A., Proceedings of the 16th Nationa. Convention of the Communist Party, U.S.A., Feb. 9-12, 1957, p. 343. 65 Ibid., p. 343. 46 Ibid., p. 335. 67 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "Manifesto of the Communist Party" (International Publishers New York, 1932), p. 44. |