~ Prague, August 21. Tass. The
‘oliowing is the text of an Ap-

‘tte Central Committee of the

~~ Citizens of Czechoslovakia,
nworkers, peasants, working in-
>» fellectuals, men and women,
» young people, to all, irrespective
Neff political affiliation, national-
Rofity, creed, and social standing,
‘to all who cherish our Socialist
(Motherland and for whom it
really is a Motherland, to all of
fyOu we appeal in this minute,

hen the destiny of the country
fis at stake, in the minute which
for always will remain a crucial
~enoment of our history and our
rther socialist‘ and democratic
development, a minute when it
is for us a question of the values,
gained through our 20-year ef-
_fforts, our sacrifices, our labor,

“im a minute when everything is
t stake. <

We appeal to you in a period
when the results of our Social-

ces which abuse the progressive
steps launched by the Party it-
self at the January Plenary

eeting of the Central Commit-
ee of the Communist Party of

echoslovakia and sincerely im-
plemented since then by the
arty for the sake of achieving
enuine democracy and genuine
humanity, the ideals which are
herished by all honest citizens
of our country.

At the initiative of the Party
e embarked in January upon
road of searching and finding
a new look of Socialism, which
would accord with the way of
life and thought of our people
and with which all prospects of
society and the individual would
be linked. The Party openly cri-

ed past mistakes. It emphati-
cally dissociated itself from the
period of the reginie of personal
power, which really deformed
e humane and democratic
nature of socialism. With the
active participation and support
pf all honest-minded patriots, it

e cisively entered into the new
period with the most honest
intentions to remedy the past
mistakes and to create condi-
tions for full-blooded rich and
happy ‘:fe in our country.

The fundamental civil rights,
Thich have always been vitally
ssociated with our people’s
ideas of democracy and humani-
> were restored in the thoughts
d progressive spirit of a Pro-
am of Action, this long-term
atform of our socialist ad-
ance, the Program which en-

st order are threatened by for- ©

listed the unprecedently massive
support of our people.

Above all, this unanimous
support reaffirmed the justice,
the strength and force of attrac-

tion of our new road. This fact -

has proved particularly that not-
withstanding all shortcomings of
the pre-January period, the ideas
of socialism have struck deep
rocts in our people,: that our
people regard socialism as the
natural medium of their life; our
people’s profound aspiration for

‘rights and justice found their

real expression precisely in the
progressive ideas, outlined by
the January Plenary Meeting.
Through these ideas society was
led out of a state of unsound
indifference and, thus, the gates
were thrown wide open to a
powerful current of sound, un-
tapped initiative. Our people
brilliantly passed this historical
test and again proved their high
maturity.

Unfortunately, this period of

quests and transformation of:

our society has been abused for
their purposes, for active entry
into the political arena by those
forces that for many years wait-
ed for such a favorable moment
to discredit the Party and chal-
lenge its political and moral
right to guide society. Certain
forces inside the Party and in
Party bodies factually met these
Right-wing forces half way and
thus they came into contradic-
tion . with the principles and
purposes of the Party, the ideas
of proletarian internationalism.
Jointly they directed their for-
ces towards the systematic vio-

lation of the constitutional na- :

ture of our political reform and

‘concentrated them on the strug-

gle against the positive efforts
of the Party and state organs in

attaining the aims set in January.

They organized a smear cam-
paign designed to discredit indi-
vidual functionaries, including
some from the new leadership
of the Communist Party of Cze-
choslovakia, who found the
courage to publicly draw atten-
tion to the threatening danger
and to see the real state of af-
fairs in all its complexity. They
violated public order, aroused
base nationalist passions. They
did not even disdain slander
against the honest labor of our
people, our Party, army and se-
curity agencies, they demanded
changes in our foreign policy.
Their smear campaign even
went to the lengths of attacking
the alliance with the Soviet
Union, especially in connection
with the staff exercises of the
armed forces of the Warsaw
Treaty, and also attacking the
friendship with the Socialist
countries. In this way they cre-
ated an atmosphere utterly unac-
ceptable for socialist countries.

The Communist Party of Cze-
choslovakia, the Government of
the Republic and the National
Front maintained exceptional
patience and _ understanding.

ing. However, it was emphasized

more that once, especially at the

May Plenary Meeting, that the .

paramount task now was to
frustrate the plans of the Right-
wing anti-socialist forces. and
not to let any mistake place in
jeopardy the implementation of

the Program of Action, make

sure that the question of the
further Party line be settled not
by exponents of the extremist
views but by the sound, progres-
sive nucleus of the Party, to
render in public full support to
the Party and state machinery,
the army, security agencies, the
prosecutor’s office,’ the judicial
agencies, the people’s militia. In
one word—to consolidate the
situation. .

However, the extremist Right-
wing forces, that regarded this

magnanimity and patience and

really democratic means of solv-
ing a serious political problem
by the Party as a sign of its
weakness and not its strength,
still further stepped up their
activity.

- As is known, during spontane-
ous meetings in Prague attended
by many thousands things went
to the length of gross indignities
when different elements attack-

ed the Party and _ insulted its

representatives whom they
themselves made more than once
attend such meetings. A -public
campaign was launched in the

centre of the city to collect’

signatures in favor of liquidat-
ing the people’s militia. Com-
munists who spoke at these
spontaneous street meetings
from their viewpoint: were rude-

‘ly silenced and force was more

than once used against them.
Many of those who signed the
letter at the Auto-Praha works
were shamelessly persecuted, up

‘to dismissal from work. The

press continued, though indirect-
ly, to abuse leading function-
aries by other, more sophisticat-
ed methods, and this organized
subversion came to a head in
recent days when a group of
Right extremists openly attacked
the premises of the Secretariat
of the Central Committee of the
Czechoslovak Communist Par-

-ty’s appeals and stepped up their

subversion in an effort to pro-
voke at any price a conflict in
our country.

Thus, there arose a situation
when commitments following
from the Bratislava Declaration
of six fraternal Communist and
Workers’ parties which was al-:
so signed by representatives of
our Party, are being systematic-
ally and publicly violated. Citi-
zens, everything that our work-
ing people have built in the last
20 years, all the gains of Social-
ism are at stake today.

Placed in jeopardy is not only
our road of Socialist democracy
on which we embarked in Jan-
uary, but also the very founda-
tion of socialism, our Republic.

Being conscious of our su-
preme responsibility to our peo-

Appeal

ple, filled with the feelings of
true patriotism and international
socialist solidarity, and consci-
ous of our international com-
mitments we have assumed the
initiative of rallying all patri-
otice forces in the name of our
socialist future and our home-
land. The danger of fratricidal
struggle which was prepared by
reaction and which would be a
tragic repetition of Lipany (bat-
tle of Lipany of 1434) has faced
us with the need to take a his-
toric decision and appeal to the
Soviet Union and other fraternal
socialist countries for help.

Our allies came to our help
as they did in 1945 when the
problem for us was to be or not
to be.

We urge all citizens to give
every support’ to the military
units of our Allies, After the
danger of a reactionary group is
removed the Allied troops will
leave Czechoslovakia. All for-
eigners staying now -in Czecho-
slovakia may and will enjoy
further our hospitality, ‘their
security and immunity will be
fully guaranteed if they abide
by our laws.

Guided by a deep-felt sense
of responsibility to our people,
to our working class, to the peo-
ples! of our country and to the
international working class and
the world Communist movement,
we appeal at this crucial mo-
ment to you, citizens of the
Republic, to rally around the
realistically thinking core of the
Party which holds dear the cause
of socialism, progress, the new
post-January path and which
holds dear the cause of friend-
ship with. the people of the
Soviet Union and other fraternal
countries.

Firmly believing in your com-
mon sense, maturity and politi-
cal consciousness, we urge you,
all honest citizens of our home-
land, workers, peasants, intellec-
tuals, men, women, youth, the
healthy forces of the National
Front, servicemen, workers of
security organs, communists and
non-communists, all honest peo-
ple to prevent by their concrete
deeds and actions an onslaught
of any reactionary forces in or
outside the Party. Don’t permit
any spontaneous actions, disor-
ganization, anarchy; maintain
calm and order.

We reject pre-January policies.
We shall not permit any sign of
return to the discredited pre-
January methods which met
with a strong rebuff from an
overwhelming majority of our
people, and which placed in jeo-

pardy the leading role of the

Party and the socialist gains of
our working people and helped
create a situation really fraught
with a conflict involving the use
of force. On the contrary, we
want to defend and to carry
fully into life the progressive
January ideas which leads us to
the creation of a socialist socie-

ty, really up-to-date, regenerated,
humane society which the foun-
ders of Marxism-Leninism and
those who began translating
them into life after the victory
of the October Revolution, had
in view.

!

We are loyal and shall be
loyal to the end of our progres-
sive national traditions connect-
ed with the 50th anniversary of
the Republic, with the behests
of anti-fascist struggle, national
and democratic values, with the
traditions of the Slovak national
uprising, the Prague May upris-
ing of 1945 and the Revolution-
ary Appeal of February, 1948.
“Onward, not a step back!” We
shall guard as the apple of the
eye our fraternal bonds of allied
relations and friendship with the
Soviet Union, its people, the
peoples of all countries of the
world socialist community and
all the forces of peace, democ- -
racy, progress and socialism—
the values which give us a guar-
antee of our independence, na-
tional and state sovereignty,

‘without which we would come

face to face again with the dan-
ger of a new. Munich and those
who were behind it in 1938.
Czechoslovakia can develop only
as a socialist country and as an
inseparable part of the socialist
community, its power and
strength lay down the founda-
tions for a further prospect of
the international revolutionary
movement. Any weakening and
disorganization of the socialist
camp would do harm to the
cause of revolutionary progress
and socialism in the world, a
harm which is hard to imagine.
We appeal to you, esteemed
citizens, being sure that by joint
actions we shall raise a barrier
to the imminent danger and that
by joint efforts we shall over-
come the present difficult situ-
ation and secure a happy present
and future for our homeland and
for this and future generations.

We urge all of you, from the
Sumava border mountains to Ci-
erna Nad Tisou, from Krkonose
to the Danube banks, to realize
the magnitude and gravity of
these days when the matter in
question for us is everything we
associate with the concepts of
democracy and socialism, to re-
alize your responsibility and
maintain unity and mutual trust
with which we must enter the
days to come.

Our guiding principles have
been and remain foresight, or-
der, progress, truth and prospect
of socialism, state sovereignty
and close solidarity.

Long live and flourish demo-
cratic socialist Czechoslovakia!

A group of members of the
Central Committee of the Cze-
choslovak Communist Party, the
Government and the National

~ PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 13, 1968—Page 9

3Qo9 SOP Of RAMMENIS —IwHIT DIAIDAY

ris