THE PEOPLE

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Eprror -.. Hat GRIFFIN
Manacinc EpIToR —..------.---.--.---- Kay GREGORY
Busrmvess MANAGER EpDNA SHEARD

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Offensive Proves Second
Front Demand

HE continuing Soviet offensive around Stalingrad, coming
hard upon the sweeping offensive operations conducted
by the British, American and Fighting French armies in North
Africa, does more than fulfill Stalin’s grim promise in his
Nov. 7 Order of the Day—it proves again the clarity of his
perspective, the wisdom of his statements on the second front.

‘How are we to explain the fact that the Germans this
year were still able to take the initiative of operations into
their hands and achieve substantial tactical successes on our
front?

“Tt is to be explained by the fact that the Germans and their
allies succeeded in mustering all their available reserves,
hurling them onto the eastern front and creating a large superi-
ority of forces in one direction. There can be no doubt that
but for these measures the Germans could not have achieved
any success on our front.

“But why were they able to muster all their reserves and
hurl them onto the eastern front?

“Because the absence of a second front in Europe enabled
them to carry on this operation without any risk to themselves.

“tence, the chief reason for the tactical successes of the
Germans on our fronts this year is the absence of a second
front enabled them to hurl onto our fronts all their available
reserves and create a large superiority of forces in the south-
western direction. :

“Tet us assume that a second front existed in Europe as it
existed in the first world war and that a second front diverted
—Jet us say—60 German divisions and 20 divisions of Ger-
many’s allies. What would have been the position of German
troops on our front then? It is not difficult to guess that their
position would be deplorable.

More than that, it would have been the end of German
fascist troops, for in that case, the Red Army would not be
where it is now but somewhere near Pskoy, Minsk, Zhitomir
and Odessa.”

HIS is how Stalin posed the question of the second front.
The truth of his statements is now being borne out by the
Soviet offensive around Stalingrad, which undoubtedly will be
followed by greater offensive operations in the months to
come.

As Ivan Maisky, Soviet ambassador to Britain, stated, the
offensive in North Africa is not the second front in Europe
sought by the Soviet Union, but it is the prelude to opening of
that front. It has not drawn 80 divisions from the eastern front,
but it has necessitated the diverting of some of Hitler’s forces
to meet the new threat and placed a greater strain on his al-
ready strained resources. It has aided our Soviet allies in
passing over to the offensive around Stalingrad, thus thwarting
the aims of the German summer offensive.

The United Nations’ offensives, by the Soviets on the Ger-
mans’ eastern front, by Anglo-American armies on the south-
ern flank, prove the interdependability and effectiveness of
their joint strategical efforts, ably summed up by Ilya Ehren-
burg in Pravda last week.

“The courage of the Red Army has enabled our friends
quietly to prepare their military operations. The British vic-
tory in Egypt would have been impossible without the exploits
of General Rodimtsev’s guardsmen, while the American suc-
cess at Algiers is closely linked with the losses of German
and Italian troops in Russia,’ he wrote.

The answer to the question of what comes next, when will
our armies invade Europe, lies with the workers on the produc-
tion lines. The offensive has begun, and it will gather strength
and force with every gun produced, every ship launched and
every plane delivered. It is labor’s job to increase production
for the second front, whose shadow already throws fear into
the German armies in Europe, just as Soviet workers are in-
creasing production for the first front. Joint efforts, joint
labor-management production committees, will hasten victory.

Norwegians Destroy

‘House & Terror

LONDON.

HOUSE of terror, feared even by traitors who depend on

it for their lives, has crumbled into ruins. Rooms that ~

rang with the shrieks of patriots have crashed down on their

torturers.

And the people of Norway rejoice that the massive ugly

building in Oslo that flew

the black and white SS flags from

its towers, has been destroyed by the bombs of the RAF.

The building, headquarters of
the Gestapo, was known through-
out Norway. It was the symbol
of the Nazi tyranny, and even
in the smallest villages were some
who had tales to tell of its hor-
rors.

One of those who suffered there
has escaped to England. His de-
seription of the Gestapo House
in Victoria Terrasse, Oslo—a de-
seription that applies to similar
centres all over Burope—is one
explanation of the undying hat-
red the Nazis haye earned.

‘Victoria ‘Terrasse,’* as it is
called, is not a prison, he explain-
ed, but a center for jnterroga-
tion.’

“Many times a day one hears
the commands of the Gestapo
shouted to prisoners who are be-
ing driyen up Karl Johan from
Moellergaten 19 to Victoria Ter-
rasse for interrogation.

“J was taken from my home
early in the morning and they
gave me five minutes in which
to dress myself, while the Ger-
man soldiers stood in my bed-
room,” he said.

“JT was pushed brutally into the
waiting car and then driven at
full speed to Victoria Terrasse. I
cannot remember very well what
I felt during that few minutes’
ride. I was certainly paralysed
with fear, because I remember I
was unsteady on my feet when I
was pushed through the main en-
trance to the building, and I
found it difficult to climb up the
narrow steps into the guardroom.

“In the guardroom there were
two dogs, one at each door. it is
funny how well I remember the
details of my first experience in
this ‘waiting room to hell.” On
one wall there was a large por-
trait of Hitler and on another
a placard. Behind the desk was
the German S. S. officer, Wort-
mann, a typical Prussian, brutal
and terrifying.

“"‘Now you are going to con-
fess, you pro-English swine.”
These were the first words slung
at me. Then the interrogation be-
gan. These interrogations can last
up to 15 hours at a time. Four
Germans relieve each other at in-
tervals.

“The accused must stand all the
time during the interrogation
while the Germans continually
move about. They appear restless
and nervous. It is done in order
to make the prisoner nervous.

“You “are to be broken by
screams, shouted orders and
sharp, blinding light. They train

a strong beam of light on you.
They use the most terrifying
threats. They tempt you with
large sums of money, good posi-
tions, mild sentences if you will
only confess.

“rr after a long period of in-
terrogation they have not got
anything out of the prisoner, he

Soviet Union

NDUSTRIAL training of young
Soviet workers is steadily be-
ing extended to include all branch-
es of industry. Trade and indus-

trial training schools are sending
thousands of graduates to work
on construction of new and ex-
tension of old power plants. Elec-

is either put in dark cell or hot
cell. The dari cell is in the cellar,
a little cold room equipped only
with a small wooden stool.

“At intervals, two German sol-
diers enter. One holds the prison-
er, while the other one trains a
strong light on the face of the
victim. All the time they scream
that you must confess. If you are
strong you remain there for days
and you forget the time. But
slowly you are collapsing.

“The heated cell is a little cup-
board built into the wall. There
is just enough room for a man.
Rings are put under the arms to”
hold you up when you faint. In
the iceiling there is a little venti-
lation hole, while the heat pours
in from the floor of the cup-
board.

“After a while you will lose con-
sciousness, When you are let out
after hours, which seem like days,
you may be broken down, weak
and sick.

“There are other rooms—tor-
ture rooms on the third and
fourth floors. They are large
rooms, where no daylight can en-
ter. The walls are covered with
sound-proof material, and in the
ceiling there are large lamps,
which can be regulated. In a corn-
er there is a chair, which is very
like a dentist's chair. On one
wall there is a portrait of Hitler;
on the opposite wall one of Himm-
ler. The room is in half darkness.

-)
* NE can see the guards as
shadows, immovable, at at-
tention. The only one who speaks
is one of the torturers. It may be

either Westerberger, Gussler,
Bernhard, or Fehmer. He goes
constantly backwards and for-

wards, to and fro, and in his hand
is either a stick or a revolver.

“J met Westerberger. He seem-
ed melancholy. Suddenly he at-
tacked me with fury. Before I had
even said a single word he hit
and kicked me until I lost con-
sciousness.

“When I came to the light in
the ceiling was switched on, and
bright light poured into my eyes.
Then it began all over again.

“If the walls at Victoria Ter-
rasse could speak they would tell
of hundreds of Norwegians who
have been tortured and plagued;

about tears and blood; about
young strong Norwegians who
came in well and healthy and

who were carried out either as
dead men or as physical wrecks.

“But these walls can also speak
of courage and endurance; about
love of their fatherland and be-
lief that the good one day shall
triumph; the hope which succour-
ed them even under the worst
torture.

‘In the waiting room for the
prisoners with its pictures of Hit-
Jer and its flaming placards there

is burnt into the wall the in-
seription: ‘We survive every-
thing.’ ”

Trains Youth

trical equipment plants will re-
ceive 10,000 skilled young work-
ers, including 600 trained foremen,
4.000 mechanics, 300 turners, etc.
Teams of the best pupils of these
schools will be sent to construc-
tion jobs where they will under-
go practical training under guid-
ance experts.

SHORT

by OV Bill

Old School Tie

HE passing of the “old schoj

4

tie” domination in Britain he |

been the subject of many new |
paper contributions and
commentators since the
began. The assertions made j_
these comments were not in ¢f |
eatezsory of what is called “ey |
dence” by the legal fraternity an |

there were some who doubted tf |
correctness of them, impelled 17 t
that doubt by their knowledge ¢ 4j

country. . i

Concrete evidence is t
hand which supports in a lara’
measure the statements of tho: )

who contend that great change jj
Britaz

are taking place in
changes which are almost funds

JABS |

haan iti

radi |
we ip

0M

sc

mental, changes which are almos §-

unbelievable to people who kne\”
Britain before the war came.”

Wot comment or opinion, by.
news, has just reached us tha
tell of a program being institute
by the Board of Education, a go}
ernment body, for fostering bette
relations between the Britis -
people and their allies.

The scheme, so far, only applié
to London and the House Countie
—the ten counties surroundin
the City of London—but it ist
be extended to the whole countm

The Plan

i bees plan has already had &
auspicious and successful star
beginning with the United Stete-
A very thorough course of reai-
ing dealing with the life, custom
and major problems of the peop)”
of that country was outlined ar ~
lecturers who had a knowledg *
of them from experience, lecture
in the schools.

A similar course on Soviet Ru
sia is now opening. Textbook
have been recommended for teaci
‘ers and students alike and le
tures on life in the Soviet Unio}
its many nationalities and people
are to be given by persons wt
have had a course of instructic
on the subject.

A list of 40 books has been sei
to the schools in the distric
where the plan is in force. The)
books deal with the literature
Russia and include works by ft
erary giants like Pushkin, Gog:
Tolstoi and Sholokoff. Besid
these, are political works, among ~

Trt

them—and here is where the “6 *

school tie’ walked out—“Select —

Works of Lenin,’ Stalin’s “Fou
dations of Leninism” and “A Shoe
History of the Communist Par
of the Soviet Union” (all bann:
in Canada).

This is not comment—it is new

We are being informed of an a
complished fact. The commen}
of course, will come;
will vary. Already I have heard
one angle; that of the same a
scurantist elements we have her
who by their words and actioi
are playing MHitler’s game
Canada.

Fear!

Te are afraid of propagand
they say. Some of these pe

ple have maintained their positic

by propaganda for 1500 years.
is not propaganda they are afra
of. That is an alibi! What the
are afraid of
flame of truth which is burnir
its way through the centuries-o
crust of reaction, the reactic
which opposes every progressit
move in education.

If every department of tt
British government is carryirz
on its business in the same spir
as the Board of Education, ti
marshalling of the British peop
for the destruction of Hitleris
and fascism is well on the way-

and thi’

is the scorchir }