q if \ By RAYMOND ARTHUR DAV/TES _ (Moscow—M. Charny, newspaper “REDELEET” ‘correspondent in Berlin, tells “this story). along?” a comrade asked, not finde anything better with which to begin conversation. “Not badly,’ Kolyvanov calmly replied. “All is in order. " I sit in the Reichstag.” ‘The trouble is, however, that ail is not in order, and the So- viet press in the course of the 7 last few days has been casting - a rather concerning eye in the ‘direction of northern Germany, | opinion that United Nations la-- where a troubling situation exists generally in respect to the manner of treatment of Ger- man war and other prisoners by the British and partly also by the Americans. Tt all began with the famous photograph showing an Amer— ican general shaking the bloody hands of Hermann Goering. People here said nothing about the reported event beyond ex- pressing some astonishment. But then came the report from Schleswig Holstein to the effect that some sort of Doe- nitz Government was not only permitted to retain some modi- cum of power, but was even given an opportunity to broad- cast its orders and appeals to the population. This could not be passed without notice. A few T the Reichstag building, among the tortured walls, sat Corporal Ivan Spirinono- cich Kolyvanov. This elderly, mustachioed warrior, with a serious face, resembled a solid. village ‘father. He sat on © the street in a deep overstuffed ' ehair, restmg his weary feet. => Well, how are you getting: days ago, the Soviet Publicist, K. Hoffman, in an article en- titled “After German Capitula- tion,’’ wrote, the “Government” of Doenitz attempts to assure allies and Germans that if its activity is halted chaos will re- sult in Germany.” Meanwhile worse chaos is created by the perpetuation of this “Govern- ment,” the physiognomy of which is clearly expressed by its composition, All ministers, and the gross Admiral Doenitz him- self, are Nazis who earlier oc- cupied ministerial posts in the Hitler Government. Thus, the former Hitlerite ministers of finances Count Schverin Von Kor Ozigzk is premier and for- Seiture Of German Labor As a contribution to the discussion on reorganization of German trade unions, P.A. presents the following interview between Paul Merker, reftigee anti-Nazi labor leader and Allied tabor news will appear next week. The democratically reorganized German labor must take the lead in rooting out the vestiges conn Hitlerism which may remain despite the destruction of Nazi- dom’s military power Paul Merker, head of the trade union | division of the Latin American - Free German Committee and outstanding refugee German labor leader, said here today. Merker, who led underground resistance against Hitler until forced to flee just before the war, told Allied Labor News that Nazi economic and social control of sections of the Ger- man people may continue for some time unless drastic steps are taken by Alled occupation authorities to eliminate it. He stressed that democratic- ally reorganized German labor can be the strongest ally of Allied authorities in eliminat- ing’ the remnants of Nazism and urged Allied governments to take immediate steps to fa- cilitate the reorganization of labor. The new world labor organization set up at the Lon- don world labor conference should at once set up liaison | committees to work with Ger- man labor, Merker said. Such committees, he said, should be named from each Allied coun- try if possible: He expressed the | bot organizations should them- | selves name the committees, subject. -to Se ap- proval. The first free German trade union since 1933 was set up at Alsdorf this week when 125 hard-coal miners met and formed the Frier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (Pree ‘German Trade Union) under the eyes of Allied Military Government ‘officials. Speak- ers urged that the new union “drive all Nazis from public office,” “reconstruct Ger- manys homes, factories and railroads,” “re-educate the German youth,” “purge the correspondent Owen, Roche. schools of faseist teachers,” “work for adoption of the 40- hour week’ and “redeem the German people in the eyes of the world.” “Only those who are thoroughly cleansed of Hitlerism” will be admitted into the union. Commenting on the report that the United States Foreign Economie Aministration has named Irving Brown, Paul R. Porter. and William lLeiserson. deseribed a s“right-wing Liber- als,” to reorganize German la- bor, Merker stated that he did not know personally the re- cords of these men, but added that he was positive that any- body associated with the right- wing of the American Federa- tion of Labor would have little chance of contributmg to the reorganization of German trade unions. “Tf there is anything demo- cratic German workers are sick- er of than Nazism,” he said, “it is the old-line labor faker crowd who call themselves social- democrats. and in the German emigration are typified by such men as Fritz Stampfer of the New York Volkszeitung. If Leiserson and the rest of his committee plan to work with such elements, I am afraid that their efforts will not be crown- ed with success.” Merker stress- ed, however, that he had no knowledge of the plans of the group. 8S HE exiled German labor lead- er declared that democratic German labor “should willingly agree to help in the work of re- construction made necessary by the wanton destruction ordered by Nazism,” but stressed that workers willingly participating in these tasks and without in- dividual responsibility for the destruction should be granted decent working conditions and standard wages. On the other hand, he said, “there are hun- dreds of thousands of Nazi party members who are con- The second: part of the interview sciously and individually re- sponsible for this devastation. They should be forced to re- build the areas they laid waste and their treatment should be made to fit their attitude.” Use of German workers for reconstruction of the areas their Nazi masters devas- tated, Merker added, “will not only serve the concrete purpose of rebuilding the wasted regions, but will at the same time be a powerful means of re-education and, if necesSary, of punishment.” He emphasized that “German labor must openly express ‘itself in favor of this form of reparation and must be on guard against Nazis, kyites and others who will Surely attempt to cause strikes and sabotage.” @ \ SABO AGS sponsored by the Nazi yremnants may be a serious problem in Germany for several years, Merker warned. “However,” he said, “i do not think an organized Nazi under- ground will be possible, because ‘an underground cannot operate without continuing outside re- sistance.” A lackadaisical atti- tude toward Nazi war criminals by oceupation authorities, he declared, “would provide oppor- tunities for the formation of a Nazi underground,” but added that “the German people will soon reach a stage of violent reaction to everything connec- ted with Nazism. “Their dead, their sufferings, the disgust with which the world views them — all of these they will rightly attribute to their acceptance of Nazism and with the whip of the Gestapo no longer over their heads, they will move as far away from Nazism as possible. If world democracy knows how to take advantage of this reaction, then we need have no fear of the German democratic future. La- bor must take the leading role in the reorientation of the Ger- man people.” Trots-— May 26, 1945 — Page 11 BEINRICH HIMMLER Arch War Criminal former Arma- ments Minister Speer is now minister for internal affairs; Minister of Agriculture Backe and Minister of Communica- tions Dourpoueller were pre- served in their posts. In addition, Doenitz brought into his “cabinet” former Hit- lerite Minister of Labor Zeldte, one of the first participants in the Hitler Government after it came to power in 1933. “All of this fascist cama- villa,’ Hoffman writes, ‘“con- tinues Hitler’s policies. Neither Doenitz or anyone of his minis- ers censures the war brought on. by Hitler, or the nighmare- ish Nazi crimes. In fact, Von Korzik even refuses to talk of Nazi crimes. Hotfman writes also that not all German troops taken pris- oners by the Ailies had been disarmed. iB the day following publica- tion ot Hoffmans article, the newspaper Red Star published another article by publicist A. Trainin in which he called for an immediate end to the pamp- ering of Nazi criminals, and for their immediate submission to court. He warns that stories of ‘deaths’ of fascist leaders have been concocted by the fascists themselves to preserve their eadres and their leading cut- throats. He reveals that SS Gol- onel Olaf, supposed to have died and been buried, actually es- caped to Portugal, and Helmut, who was reported killed in an accident, is actually in Spain. Trainin calls for the treat- ment of such war criminals as Goering, Doenitz, Von Run- stedt, Falkenhorst and others of the same stripe, who have fall- en into allied hands, not as war criminals, but simply as murd- erers and criminals, who fell into the hands of the allies pre- cisely because of their acts of eign minister; murder and violence, and through their unconditional surrender. Judgment of these individuals must not be delayed beyond their trials in the cities and countries where all or some of them have committed their worst crimes. Runstedt in Belgium for sacking the Ar- dennes in 1944, Speers for ‘patient, they till Tolerated | wrecking Rotterdam, and so on. Trainin did not forget the Al- lied War Crimes Commission in London, the commission to which, he said, the’ Soviet Union had sent no delegate. All of the work of this commission he Stated consisted in the compila- tion of seven lists of war crim- ials. “Many months were re- quired by the commission to_ eollect these first lists of war eriminals,” Trainin said, “‘and the question arises quite natur- ally as to how much time it will be to have the war criminals make their journey from the lists to the court benches ?” “Justice is moving with the brakes full on,” Trainin said. The Russian people are im- } are concerned. Can it be possible, they think, that after winning a war over Naziism, the Nazi leaders are to be left untried and unpunish- ed and thus given the very chance they want to prepare for World War Iii against human- GY. 3 ei) 7 pEuS correspondent saw the horrors of Maidenak, he spoke te eight sole survivors of the Jewish Ghetto in Minsk, where one hundred and forty thousand people were killed. He saw the holocaust of the Katyn forest near Smolensk where the bodies of ten thousand Polish officers killed by the Germans were discovered. To leaye the Nazis whe committed these crimes alive, to pamper them, to give them or their co-workers any degree of power is to condemn, the world to another war. Partisans to this line of thought had better think it ever. The people of the world have suffered too much to per- mit anything like this to hap= pen. Peace is no plaything. The Hitlerites will do all they can to divide the allies, to light forgotten animosities and sus- picions. Their efforts to retain some semblance of power is another provocation in this di- rection. This provocation must not be permitted to sucdeed. All leading Hitlerites, and all war criminals, without regard to their rank, must be brought to trial now, immediately, while the memory of mankind still is tortured by Maidenek Buchen- wald, and Belsen. It must be done now, before the deceitful and lying Nazis succeed in Squeezinge some lease on life for themselves out of our victory. Soviet troops hoist the Red Flag in Berlin.