cs

AY DAY REFLECTIONS se, ee

J have ‘been doing a lot of thinking about Victory May Daiy-

# since that historic occasion, and just how this and the Labor

zs Guild come into a related picture together.

_ here is no coincidence in the fact that the Guild was born
: % @during a period of history which encom-

wpassed Victory

et

f May Day within the first
Wgyear Of its existence. It did not just happen
pithat this was the first May Day which the
Guild Was privileged to observe. All that
mwas embraced in this epic day of 1945 had
weverything to do with the birth of a labor-
fyart movement at this time.
a The chicken was ready to break its shell!
fy Nor could it have otherwise done so in any —
bybre-war, pre-victory incubator!
Ss Before the imminence of a peoples’ vic-
Bitory over Haseism, there were few coun-_
miries where labor art guilds by any name
: “could be established with any degree of
fmanency. But such groups are now coming into being
oughout the democratic world, with survival assured. Global,
‘ional and local developments, all interwoven and interrelated,
essing out of this united people’s war and in response to the
yple’s needs, have produced an accummulation of material con-
7) ions for the birth of a new postwar alliance between Art and
oor. A people’s culture can no longer be separated from a
D) yple’s progress in the kind of peace proclaimed by this Vic-
‘y May Day.
it has beén said that no nation can rightly be called a nation
» hout a national culture. But there can be no vital culture at
period unless it be rooted in the masses and fostered under
ditions essentially democratic. Nor can there be any true
“jocracy witheut a vigorous. thriving trade union movement. .

The combined forces of artist and worker going forward to-

"her constitute the greatest enemy of fascism and the surest
(ndation for democratic progress. Trade unions and the artists’

 =dom of expression were the first antifascist forces that Hitler

s ght to destroy in Nazi Germany; and his worst fear was the

“mple of that State which was building monumental Democracy

ugh the unity of these same two forces.

=) Thus Victory May Day not only proclaimed the most trium-

J nt of all May, Days in the long struggle of organized labor,

| also symbolized the victory of all free peoples over the threat

piniversal enslavement and cultural death.

4 A -

a

e

Ve

'E challenge of Victory May Day is rehabilitation. Herein
Art and Labor ean exert a decisive influence on postwar social
fFancement. This new perspective involves a new role for
'or and a new role for Art, which both have already begun
| ‘ecognize and assume in their relationship to each other and
ursuit of joint aims. :

The stature of Labor and the growing consciousness of a
© sles democratic movement were never more potential than-on
| Victory May Day. Never have world conditions and world
F scts offered the arts such stimulus as at this hour, to emerge
1 their isolation and become a yital power in giving voice,
/c and dramatic emphasis to the cause of “the comman man.”
'; the worker and the artist who have most to gain from the
r extension and deeper intensification of democracy implicit
is Victory May Day. go eo
ie DEaSERE tite. Bee aon of Art and Labor is still in its
ucy. Each has so much to learn from and about the other.
this. mutual understanding and co-ordination will of neces-
develop rapidly. The remnants of yesteryear’s justified pre-
i ces on both sides are fast being dissolved by the world process
2@@ ealization that neither can make its fullest contribution with-
-the other. ; § :
4 A. it is Significant that in Canada the industrial
er which is recognized throughout the nation as being the
= advanced in trade unionism, is also the birthplace of the
£ comprehensive labor-art movement in the Dominion. _No
(ter how small its beginnings, or how far yet its operations
(1 the ultimate goal. What counts now is that the start has
Pl organized: in response to the people’s needs; and that it has
ight all classes of people together, with support ranging from
‘inion and Provincial governments, universities, business,
21, cultural and welfare groups, +o artists, workers, trade
hists and political progressives—all working to strengthen
'néw momentous league of Art and Labor. :
_Thus Victory May Day in Vancouver was a red-letter day in
[ten-month calendar of the Labor Arts Guild. Three trade
mm Guild members held executive positions on the May Day
qmittee; a Guild float, designed and constructed entirely by
bers, for the first time took its symbolic place along with
‘trade union floats participating in the May Day Parade; and
lly, at the Boilermakers Hall, Guild members JOsed a aber s
i contributing their own dramatic pr ar I
Se he theme: ‘VICTORY, PEACH, SECURITY.”
new alliance of Art and Labor lives!

oe yan

i Labor Arts Guild |

May. 12-945 == Page 15,

POW Camp Near Bremen
Rejoices On Liberation

Cin this letter from a POW
camp im Germany, Maurice
Rush describes the feelings of

the prisoners as the liberating |

Allied armies approached And
the demonstrations when the
day of freedom finally arrived.)
Dear Chuck:

I am writing this letter from
a prisoner of war camp south of
Bremen. At present we are wait-
ing for transportation to the rear
and in a day or so expect to be
on our way. :

These last few days have been
full of excitement. Monday, April
16, was liberation day for almost
twenty thousand of us. Never
have I seen such genuine emo-
tion as was displayed that day.

The Stalag (prison camp) I was
in had prisoners of many nation-
alities. The largest groups were
British, Russian, French and Am-

ferican. Also many Belgians and

Yugoslavians. A good many of
them have been behind the barbed
wire of this prison hell for four
years and more. During all those
long years the one thought which
Save them hope and strength to
live through the ordeal was that
liberation would some day return
them to their beloved homelands.
You can therefore imagine what
Monday, April 16, must have
meant.

For many days prior to being
freed rumours were running wild
2bout Allied advances. When men
look forward to liberation as
Strongly as they did here every

| bit.of news becomes exaggerated

ky wishful thinking. Hopes rose
and fell with each rumour. After
many days passed and nothing
happened, a feeling of- despair
set in. But this feeling was short
lived. New hope was given to
everyone one morning about five
days before actual liberation.

Marly this particular morning:
Wwe awoke at the usual hour and
fell in outside to be counted by
the hard-looking Jerry euard.
From the distance to the east
of us could be made out the un-
mistakable drumming of allied
heavy guns. It was still far off
but we knew now that liberation
vas on the way. That was the
Sweetest music twenty thousand
men had heard for a long, long
time. ;

Later that day we heard from
our news channels that American
heavy tanks were off to the east
of us. The same afternoon I saw
a sight I shall never forget. It was
a very clear day and the Allied
bombers were out in full force.
Hundreds of them passed over
in pertect flying formation, com-

ing in endless waves, and stretch-

ing in both directions as far as
the eye could see. It was a Stirring
sight. One Frenchman looked at
me and said, “oo-la-la.”

The biggest concern of every-
one now was whether the camp
officials would endeavor to evacu-
ate us. The prospect was made
grimmer by the presence in our
camp of thousands of army and
airforce men who had been moved
out of the way of the Russian of-
fensive and marched in most
cases three to four hundred
miles. They had arrived only a
few days before in terrible shape,
after having endured many hard-

ships at the hands of brutal
guards. They were the most
starved, ill-clad and miserable

looking bunch of men I had ever
laid eyes on. No doubt many of
these lads will carry the marks
of fascist brutality on their bod-

s

MAURICE RUSH

2e€8 for the rest of their lives. One
chap I spoke to told me that of
the original group that started
the trek across Germany, 10 per-
cent of them had failed to arrive.
Some died of dysentry and pneu-
monia, others falling out along
the way. ;

The only hope we had of foil-
ing the ‘plans to evacuate us,
which we knew existed, was that
the Allied advances would cut
the read to the north.

Shortly after the American
gums were heard all the Allied
officers and airforce personnel
were rounded up and evacuated.
This was the beginning of the
mass moving of all. We knew we
would be next. Then it happened!
One evening the sound of heavy
guns came from the south and
north west. We soon found out
that British armoured columns

had by-passed Bremen and had.

cut the road to Hamburg north
ot us. Every day the sound of
guns came closer and at night
the reddish glare of fires could be
seen in the distance. There were
mo more evacuations after that.
We all knew that freedom was
just a matter of days, Everything
about the camp changed. The
guards tried to be more friendly.
The most vicious ones were moved
out; no doubt for fear what would
happen to them once the camp
was set free.

On the morning of April 16, we
awoke as usual and went about
our usual routine, completely un-
aware that this was the last day
of our imprisonment. At 9 a.m.
we heard a lot of noise toward
the main gate. We looked out of
cur huts to see thousands of
prisoners excitedly running to-
wards the main gate. At that yery
moment, a runner came down to
tell us that six British tanks had
pulled up at our gate and that
a long mechanized column would
be passing through soon. It didn’t
take long for the Canadians to
join the others in an enthusiastic
welcome.

Freedom is very sweet. No one
knows that better than one who
has been denied it. The symbol
of our imprisonment was the
barbed wire fence, and in a few
moments big sections of it came
down. Amid loud cheers, the Brit-

ish flag was hoisted over the main
gate. The tankmen were nearly
mobbed as they came out of their
tanks to shake hands with us. All
this excitement was too much for
some. One young airforce man
Was in tears. I later discovered
he had been a prisoner for four
years and had marched from Bres-
lau arriving here very sick.

Shortly after the tanks came,
I saw a sight which showed the
low morale among the German
troops. While the tanks were
parked at the camp gate, a group
of German soldiers, about 30 in
all, were coming up the road
dressed in full battle array and
apparently unaware that British
soldiers were ahead. In front of
them marched two officers. When
they spotted the British tankmen,
panie seized them, and they fled
in all directions. The two officers
came over and surrendered turn-
ing’ over their arms. They then
egreed to surrender their men as
well, so, escorted by two Tommies
they went among the buildings
calling the Jerries to give them-
selves up. They came running
from every direction anxious to
surrender.

Yesterday, British newspapers
arrived carrying news stories of
the horrible conditions in the Ger-
man concentration camps. Per-
haps there are still some people
at home who think its all propa- ~
ganda. I know there were many
who doubted the Soviet news re-
ports of inhuman conditions and
tortures at Dublin. Among the
few men left in my platoon when
we were taken prisoner there was
2 young fellow who told me that
the Soviet and Allied atrocity re-
ports were propaganda. That was
before we were taken prisoner.
Today I talked to him about it
again. He has completely changed
his mind. No prisoner of War, ai-
ter seeing the Nazis’ work at first
hand any longer doubts the truth
of the reports.

In the years before the war,
leading people in the labor
movement, knowing the nature
of fascism, warned that Hitler’s
system was built on murder, tor-
ture and barbed wire. Today,
thanks to the mighty efforts of
the Allied atmies, the whole rot-
teness of the Nazi regime is ex-
posed. The gates of Hitler’s
slavery fortress have been smash-
ed and his 20th century torture
chamber is open for public ex-
hibition. The lesson must be
brought home to everyone so that
Civilization will never again al-
Icw another‘ Hitler to rise to
power.

It may be that there are some
who doubt that human beings
could drop so low as to commit
Such terrible crimes. Those who
think so underestimate the ex-
tent to which fascism’s ereed has
depraved many Germans. These.
brutes, men and women, who have
been taught that murder, torture,
lying and cheating are all part
of the struggle for the “Father-
land” are capable of committing:
the most horrible acts without a
quiver. They have even been
taught to look upon these acts as
honorable.

Truly Hitler has succeeded in
crushing the conscience out of
the German mind. The job of
educating the Germans will be a-
gigantic one.

But the first effective lessons

are now being taught by Allied
troops.

= MAURICE RUSH,