changes have taken place. Since then, sitions. BERLIN™ ie # OUR hundred candidates from | different political parties and national organizations will figure on the united) list which will be put before the electorate of the German Democratic Republic on October 15. Just under a year ago the So- Cialist. Unity party, the largest political party in Eastern Ger- many, which came into existence through the merger of the Com- munist party with the Social Democrats, refused to discuss a united list. How is it then that a united list hag been ay up after all?. Since the time the Socialist Unity party (SED) refused @ united list several significant The Socialist Unity party, which vig- ilantly -aWoids the penetration within its ranks of all Nazi, semi- Nazi, militarist and other re- actionary elements, could not at that time agree to place its can- -didates on a common list with the representatives of the non- Socialist parties of a year ago. PMC ME ET ee ee BY BEDRICH UTITZ sec jes ARERR EUR Rd civeh sca ntmnalaTPodeintnsneiotucay however, elimination of Nazi and other reactionary elements from the ranks of these parties has changed the situation in such a way that today no ob- jections can be raised to a united list of candidates. When the German Democratic Republic was founded and So- viet occupation authorities hand- -ed over the administration to the new German authorities, re- actionary groups believed _ that the time for action had come. Developments have since proved them wrong. Owing to the vigilance of the working people as encouraged by the initiative of the Socialist Un- ity party, a huge number of re- actionary groups and individuals | were exposed and their activity against the new republic made impossible. Remnants ‘of the old Nazi hierarchy had in some cases found their way into: leading po- inside the non-Socialist parties, and from thence to ‘im- portant and influential positions in the political and economic ad- ministration. In Thuringia it was, Finance Minister Moog, members of the who led a gang of saboteurs; in Sax- Liberal Democratic party, Christian Democratic Minister Rohner; in ony, the Finance ' Mecklenburg the Christian De- mocratic deputy Reichert; at Potsdam a deputy of the same party, Richard; deputy-chairman | of the Pro- visional National Assembly, Hick- mann. All these individuals had something in common—they were personally connected with West German industrial concerns oe monopolies. in Berlin the . 4 emocratic Germany goes to the polls ( Nate { Their tactics were practically the same. as those practised by. similar individuals in the People’s : Democracies, and it “was not very hard to detect the guiding hand of Anglo-American ‘imperialism and its agencies in the Bonn Gov- West German Social and other parties employed in several fash- ions by Wall Street and the us Intelligence Service. ernment, Democrats \ ‘By eliminating these elements and their supporters, not only were the ranks of the individual ‘parties cleared of subversive and criminal elements but the whole political atmosphere’ was thor- oughly cleansed. A new relation ‘between the rank and file of all parties resulted from the process. Workers recognized that mem- ‘pers of different political parties with different views on many matters could still fight together for a common aim. The fact that the masses of all parties not only supported put actively help- ed in the cleanup was one ny portant factor. | ‘The new relation pabesen the rank- -and-file inthe different par- ties was one of the main factors leading to the united list of can- didates. Another important factor is the ‘economic situation in the Ger- man Democratic Republic. The — early fulfilling of the Two-Year Plan brought about an increase “y living standards which is ap- parent to every Sane of the _ republic. The necessities of life, which a year ago seemed the peak of 1 (MMM TTT TE | political becoming part of normal life again, Luxuries which a year ago. were ~ only dreams are available again and life is gaining a normal peace- time aspect. In comparison with the desperate situation of as late as. two years ago and the bad situation, to say the least, a year ago, the progress made during the short history of the German Democratic Republic is spectacu- luxury, are lar. And people are not blind. It is difficult to sell them on the pro- mises of the Marshall Plan when they see the sad results of these measures in the nearby sectors of West Berlin, where about one- third of the population is suffer- ing directly or indirectly from the consequences of unemploy- ment. ceive the people with propaganda of a war of revenge, when they The utilized for purposes of destruc- 4ion and the extermination of human beings. It must be put to the service of peaceful, creat- ‘ive labor alone. It is the duty of the United Nations. to put an end to the atomic weapon and to other basic types of weapons adaptable to mass extermination of human be- ings. This. is the demand that confronts the Assembly. — The Soviet Union government considers it essential that the General. Assembly adopt all the measures in its power to imple- ment and put into operation. the decision previously taken by the Assembly on this question in or- der to ensure the prohibition of the atomic weapon as early as possible and to condemn as a rt tt it a | It is also difficult to de- ss 1 see that they were never better off than today, when peace is the leading theme of political and economic activities the country. Not less important is the in- ternational situation, For the first time in German history the German people are striving to base their relations: with other nations. on friendship, mutual ‘respect and cooperation instead of intimidation and arrogance. The people of the German Dem- ocratic Republic have recognized the truth behind the “hatred” against the Soviet Union, against Poland, Czechoslovakia and other European countries. They have learned during the last five years that friendship with these na- tions will lead them much far- ther than imperialist war plans, of which Germany has had enough in the past. (EO ME E throughout : The German Democratic Re- public, having formulated a poli- cy whose principles are recog- nized by a vast: majority of the population, created the pre- requisites for a united list of can- didates. é The most important point, how- ever, is how the united list came about. And here it must be stressed that the initiative came from the people. From factories and workshops came the first re- solutions, demanding a united electoral campaign and refuting — the old methods of demagogy and The call false promises. was taken up by more and more fac- tories, in town and countryside, discussed in party organizations, trade unions and other mass or- ganizations. In. the end, all poli- tical parties supported the sug- gestion of a common electoral campaign and a united list of candidates, and the proposal was finally accepted by ‘the Democra- tic Front of all political parties and mass organizations. Of the 400 candidates, 280 have — ‘been nominated by political par- ties, only 100 representing the Socialist [Unity party, the Chris- tian Democratic party_and Lib- eral Democratic party having 60 seats each. The trade unions get. 40 seats, youth 20 seats and the rest go to cultural workers, for- mer political prisoners, women, cooperatives and other parties and mass orgahizations. Workers and professors, men and women, young and old—all sections of the population—are~ represented. All the candidates were carefully selected and re- quired to prove that they had actually taken an active part in © the reconstruction of the new Germany. They also had to state clearly and concretely in what way they intended to par- — ticipate in further reconstruc— tion work and in the poe ooa ieee” of the five year plan. The electoral campaign thus became a competition in work, in constructive pledges, instead of an abusive slander campaign and ; a collection of false promises — never to be fulfilled. ‘ The way in which the elections in the German Democratic Re-— public are taking place is a proof of the maturity of the German people. |The German Democratic Republic proves in these elections that five years of re-education have changed the whole nature of Germany and ~ the Germans, at least in the — area where the re-education was _ carried out by the Soviet Union in the spirit of real democracy. path to peace war criminal that government ‘which will be the first to use the atomic weapon against any coun- try. ‘ The opponents of the prohi- bition of the atomic weapon and the opponents of the reduction of armaments aré those who are inciting the war psychosis, propa_ ganda of new war plans and a new war and are covering all that with false cries about de- fense and with slanders and libels against the peaceful policies of the Soviet Union. This is not the first year that countries of the North Atlantic bloc have been the scene of a strengthend cam- paigned designed to world public opinion in such a way as to turn it in favor of the new war. This propaganda is not dying out. On the contrary, it is PACIFIC .TRIBUNE influence | , France, _ Union, spreading more , and more under ooo pretexts. ..- “rhe Soviet Union government, in its peaceful proposals, bases — itself on the consideration that peace can fbe devekoped and strengthened by the combined o and unified efforts of all mies : large and small, ; : 'The Soviet Union government, : at the same time, bases itself on — the consideration of the great responsibility that lies upon the — great powers... . That is why the Soviet ‘Union government deems it particularly — important that the powers, the United States of © America, the United Kingdom, China and the Soviet — should combine their — peaceful efforts and should con clude among themselves a treaty ; for the strengthening of peace... — OCTOBER 6, 1950 — PAGE 5— five great —