2 i Carpathian Uk-

Mders of Czecho-

ol Atmy’s rapid ad-
a the activization
ded and they i
i eninst the ari
me new partisan
‘ed, all kinds of
and with the

id “Mmunist Party

Opes and aspira-
€ increasing
h there were
on Mature, of a
WM . Usele, tending
” “Mocratic revolu.

this was
RS a Which flared
hesicomPanied by
for uniting the
I stress, it Spread
Mh th, wethened the
€ Soviet Union

at home. Exist-

Fesistance activ-

Partisans from surrounding villages

whose troops opened up an offensive at
the Dukla Pass in support of the Uprising.

At the end of April and especially the
beginning of May 1945 we witnessed a new
stage of anti-fascist resistance: in many
places partisan fighting, which took over
many villages and some towns and set up
three new bodies of State authority — na-

tional committees. :
And so like an avalanche the Czech lands

In the history of nations, 30 years is
a very short time. Nonetheless since
the Second World War, a whole new
epoch in the history of the Czechs and
Slovaks has been established. Both
nations have taken the road to the
construction of a_ socialist society
which has changed the face of the
country beyond recognition.

were falling and the patriotic, revolution-
ary movement was gaining strength and
changing into the truly popular democratic
revolution, which the fascists “so much
feared. The culminating point was the
May rising of the Czech people which

turned into an uprising in the capital of
the Republic, in the very seat of the. occu-
pants’ power — Prague.

And then came the ninth of May. About
five o’ clock in the morning tanks of the
armies of Marshal Rybalko and Marshal
Leylushenko, which had covered about one
hundred kilometres in the night, rolled into
Prague. They received a tremendous wel-
come of joy and relief from the astonished
Prague people, fighters at the barricades
and from the whole population.

With the liberation of Prague and the
greater part of Czechoslovakia the Red
Army played an exceptionally important
role in the further development of our
country. Czechoslovakia was not restored
by the liberation but was born anew, in a
new form. The national and democratic
revolution won and of it was born a peo-
ple’s democratic state.

It was, therefore, only natural that the

enormous strengthening of the authority of -

this country resulted in a profound shift to
the left and marked rise in the authority of

time. And so, very soon after the liberation
the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
(KSC) became the most numerous political
party. :

With the defeat of fascism one era of
social political struggle ended and another
one began, which was characterized by a
new regrouping of class forces.

The fight for consistent implementation
of tasks of the national and democratic
revolution in the course of which the
double-facedness of the anti-fascist bour-
geoisie was to be seen, was strengthening
the socialist revolution and weakening its
antagonists. This interweaving of two re-
volutions and transformation of one into
another was characteristic for the whole
period of 1945 to February 1948. Only then
did the open conflict come to a head which
ended with a defeated bourgeoisie and
political power going completely over to
the working class and its vanguard — the
Communist Party.

«x When recalling the results achieved in
the last 30 years, we should not, however,

came to the aid of Prague.

ferget that at their birth, at their cradle,
stood the liberation of our country by the
Soviet Army.

our own Communist Party. The best proof
of this was the tens of thousands of peo-
ple who applied to join the Party at that

ig ee

CSSR today, growing in economic strength. Steel works in Kosice.

its,
© USsR

é e€

e;

‘°

Ss. B

ge do
Pita]

r
ye

haber the exact date, but Stalin phoned

dquarters.

fe - :
g o fascism. The war lasted 1,418 days. Ten
'Cers and men died.

Was involved in virtually every major
s 's western front — the defense of
D ttle of Moscow, the battle of Stalin-
of the Kursk Bulge, the Byelorussian
4 and the battle of Berlin.

Styj : : :
i ower's question, “which of these opera-
€ply imprinted on your memory?”, Zhukov

Fctly asked that question, and my reply is
Pons; the Battle of Moscow. That was one of
- oe le movements of the war. | took com-
ly ; Nt during the days: when the front lines
Oscow's suburbs. It used to take an
Set to front headquarters in Perkhushkovo
. It's even hard to imagine today how
G attles were being fought where young
99 skiing in the winter and mushrooming

YS of great trial. The danger hanging
Beton formidable. Its major industrial
Orps in government ~institutions and the
ol had to be evacuated to Siberia and
mi But the party leadership, the State
a ©e and the General Headquarters of
ce mander in Chief remained in the city.
inn ould hold arms, a spade, or operate a
83 ammunition rose to the defense of the -

munist.’

‘Are you sure we'll hold Moscow? It pains me greatly ”
to ask you such a question. Tell me honestly, like a Com-

“Every one of Moscow’s defenders. bore a historic res-
ponsibility in those days.

Anti-aircraft guns defending Moscow. This photo shows
defenses on the site of the Economics Achievements Exhi-
bition in the capital. “Battles were being fought where
young Muscovites now go skiing in the winter and mush-
rooming in the fall,” recalls Soviet Marshal Zhukov.

“The greatness of the exploit near Moscow lay in the
fact that we did not have superiority in strength. The
Nazis had directed their main blow at Moscow. Their
best and picked troops were thrown into the Battle of

“| replied: We'll hold Moscow. Reseroure

Concerning the last great battle — the storming of
Berlin—Zhukov recalls:

“The concluding operation of the war was prepared
most thoroughly. We concentrated a huge striking force
on the bank of the Oder; a supply of shells alone was
brought up to suffice for a million artillery rounds on the
first day of the storming. To stun the German defenses
immediately, it was decided to begin storming at night |
with the use of powerful searchlights.

“Finally that famous night of April 16 began. No one
could sleep. | kept looking impatiently at my watch. The
hands seemed to have stopped. Three minutes before
zero hour we left our dugout and took up places at our
observation post. To my dying day | will remember the
land along the Oder, blanketed with a spring fog. At 5
a.m. sharp it all began. The Katyushas struck, over 20,000
guns opened fire, hundreds of bomber planes roared
overhead ... And after 30 minutes of fierce bombing and
shelling. 140 anti-aircraft searchlights, sited every 650
feet in-a line, were turned on. A sea of light swept over
the enemy, blinding it, and pointing out in the darkness
the objects of attacks for our tanks and infantry. The
picture of the battle was so impressive that | cannot
recall any other feeling in my life to equal it.

“And there was one more moment, when | saw the
Red Flag fluttering in the smoke over the Reichstag in
Berlin. | am not a sentimental person, but a lump rose
in my throat.” ;

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MAY 9, 1975—Page 7

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