September -29, 1939 RR ADVOCATE Page Three = = eople Welcome Occupation By ‘Minorities ‘Oppressed In Poland _ Were Denied All | Cultural Rights . By Polish Gov’t _ * By G. STANLEY. | MOSCOW, USSR (CN).— September 17, 1939 stands out _-as a great historical day. Who- | soever had the rare happiness _ to be in the Soviet country on this day, in’ Moscow, the very heart of the Socialist state, will remember this day forever. A beautifully sunny morning. ' The-voice of an announcer informs all citizens of the USSR that exact ly:-at 11:30 a-m., Moscow time, n important government announce |} ment will be made over all broad- casting stations. According to the custom of this country, 11:30 a.m. is the breakfast interval at ali en- )terprises, institutions and universi- ties. - = 11;30: a.m:'—The entire country is Pat the-_radio—millions of people -from the -Arctic to Central Asia, '.4rom Khabarovsk to Kiev, -from ' Lake Hassan to Minsk—asall listen- ,ing.in. The radio was listened to > in collective farms and at frontier * posts, in departments of factories i “mountain hamlets, in every apart- sment:- =<" =. . 2 i _ Utter ‘silence, ~ fhe announcer’s “voice informs: “Chairman of the 'Council“of Peoples Commisars and Peoples Commisar for Foreign Af- | fairs, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich | Molotov at the microphone.” It was a speech, the only one of >, its kind in calmness and restraint, *completely void of pomposity and » affectedness, void of diplomacy (and ambipuity, the only speech of Fits Kind in’ veracity and clarity. > This speech lasted 15 minutes in vall, but the entire country spon- \taneously rose to its feet when "Molotov said: “The Soviet govern- » iment considers if to be its sacred | duty to stretch out a helping hand 'to its brother Ukrainians and | brother Byelorussians who inhabit | Poland, to help the Polish people \out of ill-fated war and make it ) possible for them to live a life of ) peace.’ ‘ Im these words Molotov ex- pressed the feelings and thoughts of millions of Soviet people, their “most profound solidarity with all the oppressed and unfortun- ate in the world, their fighting | readiness to do everything for “the triumph of the international fraternity of peoples, their un- wavering confidence in the tri- umph of the cause of Lenin- Stalin: | ) Weither in the years of civil war against the Russian landlords, cap ' italists and foreign intervention- ists, nor in the heroic daily work of \ socialist construction or in the | days of their greatest holidays and } victories, did the Soviet people for & single minute forget about the ‘millions of Ukrainian and Byelo- ) russian working people who have Temained on the other side of the Soviet border, under the yoke of the Poland of overlords, torn away from their real fatherland and de- prived of elementary rights to lead @ free national and human exist- ence, — Bight million Ukrainians and | Byelorussians were made slaves in Poland, over whom the Polish ‘landlord brandished the whip in a | literal sense of the word, flogging : and killing them. These people, | according to the very authoritative | evidence contained in the state— 'Ment of the Minister of Agricul- - ture Ponyatowski, of Poland, “were Pushed beyond the bounds of hu- man existence.” The most barbar- ‘ous features of Tsarism, plus mod- -ern methods of fascist oppression of the masses—such was the fath- erland for Ukrainians and Byelo— russians in Poland. The Polish bourgeoisie and land- lords had a special term to define -ftheir- colonial policy in Western Ukraine and Western Byelorussia, the same terms as applied to the Tsarist satraps, namely the policy f the border districts. This term translated in the language of facts 4nd figures signified the complete decline of industry. It signified that Polish overlords in the West- “i Wkraine held approximately 88 percent of the land in Western Byelorussia, more than 60 percent of the land. im Stanislawsk province, 630 Polish landlords possessed more ‘than half of all the land, where- 28 200,000 Ukrainian small peas nt households had little more & quarter. In Polesia, 1,000 landlords. Iaid their hands on -two-thirds of the land, while only 2 sixteenth part fell to the share ee) Byelorussian poor peas- an ke - In the villages, where up to 65 Percent of the entire population were either unemployed or worked two to three months in the year, the People were already starving Advance Led By Soviet Tanks TANKS of the Red army of the USSR, shown above in mass spection, led the Russian advance into the Ukrainian and Byelorussian areas of Poland. formation at a recent in- Reports Soviet, Polish Troops Fraternizing CERNAUTI, Rumania. — Major William H. Colburn, US military attache in FPo- land, stated here last week that on his way to Rumania he had seen Soviet and Po- lish troops fraternizing. He reported having seen a column of eleven-ton Soviet tnaks on the road to Horon- denka, some 40 miles north- west of here, going in the Same direction as a body of Polish troops. Soviet and Polish troops he said were fraternizing, giving each other cigarettes. Major Colburn, a military observer in Poland, quoted the Soviet tank commander as saying, “We are against the Germans.” at the beginning of autumn. In- stead of bread they ate some kind of inconceivable mixture made out of a very small percentage of flour mixed with weeds and bark. The Polish overlords suppressed the slightest evidence of national culture. In West Ukraine 50 per- cent of the population was illiter- ate and practically 76 percent of the women. In Polesia, where the Poles constituted less than one tenth of the population, 94 percent of the schools were Polish and one percent Byelorussian. Of 670 sec- ondary schools in Poland, 26 were Ukrainian and one Byelorussian. There was not a single Ukrainian university. Of 1,850 periodicals in Poland, only 60 were in the Ukrain- jan language and six in Byelorus— sian, | This was not all The Polish overlords did not begrudge cart ridges nor knouts for the Ukrain- ian and Byelorussian popula- tions. General Slavywol-Sladkow- ski, head of the Polish govern- ment, declared, “The police force exists for the purpose of shoot ing; it shoots and will continue to do so.” Out of 270 people sentenced to death by court martial during the last three years alone, 190 were from Western Ukraine and West- ern Byelorussia. Why were these people, these peasants and workers killed ? Because they protested against the savage fascist oppres- sion. This liberating army was await- ed as no other army has ever been awaited. When in September, 1938, the semi-fascist government of Poland, scenting its prey, al- ready prepared its army for the seizure of part of Czechoslovakia, the Soviet government, true to its agreements, confronted Poland with the dilemmas: Should it choose te make predatory seizure, then the Polish-Soviet non-ageression pact would be denounced. Already then the peasantry of Western Ukraine and Western Byelorussia began to prepare to meet the long- awaited, friends, the Red Army. The peasantry set fire to the estates of landlords, they came out against the police. But they had to pay dearly for this. Punitive expeditions of the Polish govern- ment flogged everybody irrespec- tive of sex and age. But the people bided their time and not in vain. Boycott Fascist Goods! ‘Historical Decision’ Declares Pravda MOSCOW, USSR — (ICN). — Pravda, Communist organ, today called the action of the Soviet Union in sending Red army troops into West Ukraine and West Byelo Russia (White Russia) cc to protect their peoples ist state. “On September 17, troops of the valiant Red army, on the order of the Soviet government, crossed the frontier in order to take under their protection the life and prop- erty of the population of West Ukraine and West Byelo Russia,” Pravda declared in a leading edi- torial. “The thoughts and feelings of the entire Soviet people are with its Own warmily-loved and invincible Red army. The glamorous Red army men are accomplishing preat military deeds under the heroic *banner of the party of Lenin and Stalin, upon the basis of the might and power of the entire Soviet country. “This party sends them its fer- vent Bolshevik greetings. It is proud of its sons who are fulfilling a lofty and sacred duty, the pro- tection of our blood-brothers, the Ukrainians and Byelo Russians, who long suffered under the fear- ful bondage of the Polish over- lords. “The Polish state —a state of shreds and patches based on op- pression, on plunder of national minorities—has shown its utter lack of vitality, its internal in- solvency, and it has crumbled like _ a house of cards. “In a. very short lapse of time the ruling classes of Poland have gone bankrupt. The miserable povern- ment of Poland has fled, casting the population of Poland to the mercy of fate. “The army has not achieved a single success at the front. Consid- erable sections of the army were recruited by force from among tne national minorities who hate the Poland of overlords—a prison of peoples. It is clear that such an army is incapable of successful battle. “Tt is reported that the Polish government has fled to Rumania. This once more confirms the fact of the complete collapse of the Polish state. a historical decision” of the first social- “Throughout West Russia and West Ukraine, Soviet troops are advancing rapidly without meetin= the slightest serious resistance. This too, shows the absolute disso- lution and disintegration of the Polish state and Polish army. FULFILLING DUTY. “Qur brothers, the West Ukraini- ans and Byelo Russians, are meet- ing with jubilation and exultation fhe valiant Red army which is free- ing them from national oppression, from the oppression of the Polish overlords. The inhabitants of West Ukraine and West Byelo Russia welcome the Red army as an army of liberation, an army of fraternal people which wants to help them to live a life of happiness and peace. “The Soviet country is fulfilling its sacred task with calm and ma- jestic strength. Like one man it responded wholeheartedly to the speech of the head of the Soviet government, Vyacheslav Molotov. “The Soviet Union wants to live in peace with all countries. The Soviet government declared to the world that the Soviet Union will pursue a policy of neutrality in relations with all countries with whom the USSR maintains diplomatic relations. The editorial closes with the last words of the radio speech Sunday by the chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars and People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, V. M. Molotov: “The peoples of the Soviet Union, all citizens—men and women—of our country, the men of the Red army and navy, stand solid as never before around the Soviet govern- ment, around our Bolshevik parcy, around our great and wise leader, Comrade Stalin, for the achievment of new, hitherto unparalleled labor successes in industry and the col- lective farms, for new glorious vic- tories by the Red army at the battlefronts.” Red Army [Assistance Eagerly Offered ‘For Long We Have Dreamed Of You,’ Is Peasant Comment ROVNO, West Ukraine — (ICN). — The Red army troops entered the village. As the eager villagers, men, women and children, surged forward to meet them, an aged peasant stepped into the road. “Zam seventy years old,” he told the soldiers, his lined face alight with joy. “I know, however, that there is someone in Moscow, the father of all the oppressed, who thinks and cares about us. IT know his name. it is Joseph Stalin.” Throughout the towns and vyil- lages of the West Ukraine last week there were countless such incidents as Red army troops, pre- ceded by flying columns of tanks and armored cars, occupied terri- tory whose inhabitants had been left to the horrors of Nazi invasion by the fleeing Polish government. Peasants pleaded with Red army soldiers to be allowed to help in some way. in one village the peasants apol- ogized to the soldiers because they were So poorly dressed to welcome them. “Today is a happy day for us,” declared one woman, “and we would gladly have put on our best dresses, but we have none. We £0 about in rags.” Wear Rovno, when 2 tank com- mander thanked a peasant for his assistance, the peasant em- braced the Red army officer, Said with tears in his eyes, “For a long time we have dreamed of you. Thank you, for you have saved our lives.’ interviewed by a Pravda cor- respondent, one Red army com- mander stated: “Everywhere crowds surrounded Red army men to shake their hands. Many asked them for the red stars on their uniforms and when they were given them as gifts pinned them proudly on their chests. *: “The people ask the soldiers hundreds of questions about the Soviet Union. ‘Do your children really study in their own UWkrain- ian language in the schools?’ the women ask. When told this is true, they tell us with tears in their eyes that they were forbid- den even to sing Ukrainian songs.’ P. K. Ponomarenko, secretary ef the Communist party central committee in (Byelorussia, com- mented in an interview on the im-— Pression created among the peas- ants by the respect Red army sol- diers showed for their property. “Along every road where our units pass,” he said, “the people line up with Red banners and slo- Sans. Girls decorate cars and Red army horses with flowers. The vil- lages are decorated with red flags. The streets are joyous. “During the last two weeks,” Ponomarenko continued, “many: towns and villages of West Byelo- russia were entirely without bread. The Polish government completely stopped the supply to towns, and the countryside, ruined by exac— tions, was unable to supply provi- sions. Now the towns are begin- ning to lead a normal life and sup- plies for them are coming in.” Exiles Arrested AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — A number of German Communists who have been living in exile here for a number of years have been arrested by police authorities. Reason given for the sudden ar- Tests was that the Dutch govern- ment was taking precaution “so as to give Germany no cause for complaint.” 6: bad THIS pase the Ad- vocate presents a summary of news dis- Patches covering oc- cupation of the West Ukraine and Byelo Russia by the Red army. Accounts ap- pearing in the daily press have generally provided an incom- plete and _ distorted Picture of the Soviet Union’s history - mak- ing action. Compiled from our own news sources, these dis- patches deal with as- pects ignored by the commercial press. Deceived By Gov't BUCHAREST, Rumania— Across the Rumanian border last week trudged a weary army of soldiers and Civilians, fleeing before the WNazi advance. Over roads strewn with abandoned equipment they came, many of them bitter and disillusioned. They had been confident that Britain and France would send aid to Poland. Their government had repeatedly assured them that this aid would be forthcom-— ing. INow the opinion was fre— . quently voiced among them that Britain and France and their Own government had all deceived them. KAUNAS, DLithuania—Red army troops, having occupied the city of Vilna without resistance after their vapid advance into West Byelo- russia, were fraternizing with Lith- uanian border suards at the fron- tier last week. According to reportS received here no resistance was offered by Gemoralized remnants of the Pol- ish forces cocmposins the city’s &arrison. Before the advance Suara of Soviet tanks reached the city remaining ‘Polish contingents of Cavalry, tanks and infantry fled the city. Those Polish soldiers who crossed the Lithuanian border were disarmed and interned. Other Polish troops, however, remained behind in Vilna- Many of them were to be seen in the city’s streets but without arms. It was stated here that before Soviet troops arrived workers armed with rifles formed them- Selves into a militia force under leadership of 3 Social-Democratic lawyer named Baginski, patrolling the city to maintain order. Argentine Gov’t Hits Profiteers BUENOS ATR ES, Argentine — Passed by the Argentine parlia- ment, an anti-profiteerine act to Protect consumers and prevent profiteers and speculators from coining super profits under the cloak of the Huropean war, has been signed by President Roberto Ortiz. The measure, adopted at sugges- ticn of President Ortiz, establishes severe punishment for those re- sponsible for wholesale food hoard-— ing and the Sky-rocketine food prices. Clothing and medical sup— plies as well as food are included in provisions of the act. Base price for these products is set at the prevailing price during the first half of August. = Boycott Fascist Goods! ‘OURS IS A SOVIET NEUTRALITY’ Says USSR Could Not Remain Indifferent By ALEXEY TOLSTOY MOSCOW, USSR—(1TCN)—The prudence of the Soviet govern- ment has kept our country from entanglement in the fight which the imperialists are waging among themselves. We are neutral. But this isn’t the neutrality of the bourgeois countries who fill their pockets by profiteering trade with the peoples who are shedding their blood in war. Ours is Soviet nen- trality. We reject predatory wars, into whose jaws d vison after di- vision marches, while the finance masnates pile up heaps of go'’d. We are neutral because our vast country of working people is en- gaged in the shock-brigade Stak- hanov work of building a Com- munist society. Our task is to create happiness of people, our people, our country; happiness for all people and for every individual. We are constructing this happi- mess. We Russians, together with the great fraternal peoples inhab- iting the Soviet Republics, have undertaken to construct human happiness. Once we have put our Shoulders to the wheel, we must and will fulfill the task. POLAND IN FLAMES. These lines are written at a time when in Poland, which only yesterday was a large state, mad- hess and horror reign on every inch of soil. Poland is in flames. The peace— ful inhabitants of towns and vyil- lages wander among burning houses fired from the air and land by bombs and machine guns, Rem- nants of Poland’s battered armies hide during the day in forests, marshes and ravines, emerging at night to continue their disorderly retreat eastwards and southeast, Suided by the flames of burning villages, and devastating every- thing on their route. The Polish government was the first to flee. It fled, to its eternal Shame, leaving the country, the people and the army to the mercy of fate. We could say to the Polish people: “We warned you long ago that your state system is leading the country and the people to ruin.” But we shall not reproach the Polish people for having so long tolerated a government and a system which have brought the entire Polish state to its ruin. We are generous. This generos- ity is the great humanism of the working people. We neither wish nor can remain neutral and indif- ferent to the fate of fraternal peoples, to the fate of working people. “FOR THIS ATW” We appreciate what it means to be left to the mercy of fate. LE means that any Polish officer, re- treating with his disorganized troops, will wreak the impotent vengeance of Polish landlords on the Ukrainian and Byelorussian villages. His motto is a simple one destroy everything, leave nothing behind. Wence the pov- erty-stricken Ukrainian and Bye-— lorussian villages with their thatched peasant huts are razed to the ground and their cattle de- stroyed. Bayonets and bullets are their answer to peasant groans. Women, children, old people flee into the black darkness of night. But where? Where to find salya- tien from this plight? Salvation is coming from the USSR. The workers and peasants Red army is marching—grim, for- Mmidable, generous. The Byelorus- Sians and Ukrainians see that the unyielding Red army fighters have fearlessly taken the field for thei happiness, their liberty and their property earned by labor. After many years of slight and insults, our brothers across the bor- der, Byelorussians and Ukrainians, see for the first time an interest displayed in their fate, learn for the first time that from them, the slaves of yesterday, nothing is wanted except that they may lead a peaceful, prosperous and happy life. It is for this aim, human happi- mess, that our country has been built and that the Red army guards it. It is for this aim that the Red army marched today, fill- ing the horizon with its steel-wing— ed planes, shaking the earth with its tanks and the firm step of its numerous regiments,