Crime against humanity

EVEN months ago, on September 30, 1947, the late Jan

Masaryk, foreign minister of Czechoslovakia, was in-
terviewed by a UN official at a luncheon at Flushing
Meadows. In that interview he. described the Truman
Doctrine as “a crime against humanity” and wondered.
whether Western policy was “just stupid or the considered
plan of evil men.” The text, published. in the April-May
issue of the Protestant, throws a revealing light on the
anti-government stand taken by the former Czech delegate
to the UN and former Czech ministers to Canada and the
U.S., for it reveals that Masaryk knew he was “surrounded

by foreign observers in my own diplomatic service. They

preferred to serve their class and not the Czechoslovak
nation.”
The record of Masaryk’s remarks follows:

AM an old-fashioned liberal. I feel my liberalism is”

out of date but I can’t change. In Czechoslovakia we
shall never forget the lesson of Munich. France and
England not only betrayed Czechoslovakia but they added
infamy to treachery. Daladier even refused Benes asylum
in France as a political exile. f :
The French government at-
tacked him as a freemason
and warmonger.

spect and feeling they have
for Russia. I myself am a
man of Western culture. I
lived abroad a great part of
my life in U.S. and England,
but an average Czech has the
same feeling towards Russja

Russia to the Czechoslo-

vaks means everything. Our
Czechs worship Russia. You
have no idea what deep re-

tte

}

act
i

Ca
oN vi |

a NOY Ailey

revesatil UU Dbtsecccsnttrscetiuse

c WPip

TUR:

svawovesellUdtynustfhrpaneeesn tt

Oe ee ScerdoyApriler ese

@ American policy in Greece

Reports. from Athens.__.-----------------— Page 6
@ The story of Italy 7
Reports from Rome-__.....-------—------- Page 7
@ The week in the House
By Bruce Mickelburgh Page 9
@ There will come a time _
ie eat Page 12

By Mine

IOUT

rva Miller
Ih ESB 28

Hi HT

per? baer etc N

This in his own words
was Jan Masaryk’s view
of the Truman Doctrine
and policies of the West

.

as for his own country. It
is his fatherland, and any

policy that would divide the’

two would be bound to fail.

The doctrine of Mr. Tru-
man is a crime against hu-

‘manity. The doctrine puts

us in a terrible dilemma, but
no respectable Czechoslovak
statesman could turn against
Russia and go with the West

The policy of the (U.S.)
state department towards
Germany can only fortify
our determination to make a
strong alliance with Russia.
(He always said Russia—

never used the term Soviet -

Union—Note by editor of the
Protestant.)

Unfortunately, the (U.S.)
state department continues its

policy without respecting any
of the rules of international
diplomacy. I am surrounded
by foreign observers in my
own diplomatic service. They
preferrzd to serve their class
and not the Czechoslovak
nation. They report to our
Western friends every step
I make. But I will continue
to the end on my present
road.

The (U.S.) state depart-
ment pushes Czechoslovakia
on to the road of internal
violence. We need the na-
tional unity which was creat-
ed during the war and which
continues today. It is this
unity that American diplom-
acy is trying to break from
the outside.

This makes the situation of
Czechoslovak democrats quite
impossible in the country. It
will undermine Anglo-Saxon
influence and in my opinion
is quite unfortunate. We
Czechs feel that our former
Western allies turn more and
more to the side of the former
German Nazis. There is not
one single Czech patriot who

‘can accept this policy without

completely ruining his politi-
cal life in Czechoslovakia.

The Vatican is very active
in this enterprise of building
Germany against Czechoslo-
vakia. ._We have proof that
during the war the Vatican
tried to bring the U.S. and
German reactionaries together
to turn the front against
Russia. If this had succeed-
ed it would have been our
finish. I will continue my
present work notwithstanding
all opposition from the West
to my endeavors.

A political man has to
know when to quit. | ;

I stick to my present post
because I. believe that I am
the only one who might pos-
sibly succeed. | But if the
West continues to sabotage
my policy I will abandon
politics.

The result of this Western
policy will be to deepen and
widen the gulf between my
country and the West.

Sometimes I wonder
whether this policy is just
stupid or the considered plan
of evil men.

These forces are apparently
in a hurry because the econ-
omic situation of my country
improves unbelievably and
they know that the whole
world will see this in the very
near future.

~ Wallace looks at Italy

i Digan’ many political lead-
ers, Henry Wallace went to
see for himself what conditions
were like in foreign countries. He
saw Italy, Palestine, the Soviet
Union, China and others before
he formed his new third party in
the U.S. Below is an extract from
a speech made in New York to
Americans of Italian origin:

I -said that Rome was depress>
ing. It was the almost incred-

ible disparity between unmatch-

ed luxury for the rich and un-
speakable poverty for the many
that depressed us most. In the
fine shops and cafes there was
nothing which money couldn’t
buy; and in the workers’ sections
of Rome there was much that
money could remedy.

“Tn the Trastevere and at Tibor-
tino I saw human suffering and
misery almost beyond discrip-
tion. .

~ in . Italy,

“When. I was in Italy I hada
quick, but revealing glimpse of
Italian agriculture, when I
took a day’s trip into the coun-
try from Rome. :

“Here again, as in the workers’
sections of the capital city, I
saw the waste. I saw the unreal-
ized potential of a land and a
people. Here were good men and
women held back by the. lack
of mechanization, by inadequate
training, and by a feudal sys-
tem which is even more pro-
nounced in the southern part of
the country than in the area
I visited. What fJtaly needs .is
tractors not guns.” ‘

Turning to the propagan
about the “Communist menace”
Wallace pointed out
that the demands of the people
there were for fundamental eco-
nomic reforms which are long
overdue.

“There are Communists in
Europe—millions of ‘them,” he
declared. “We can either join
the vicious reactionaries in des-
cribing them as barbarians, sav-
ages, tools of the Kremlin
subverters of democracy; or we
can sober up a little and recog- —
nize that they are Communists
because they are tired of wait-
ing for their own reactionaries.
to give them a_ crumb of free~
dom and relief from ancient
feudalistic practices.

“If we accept the first view,”
he continued, “the view that
Communists are evil people bent.
on destroying us, then we must
accept and support the Truman
Doctrine and we must follow it
through to its logical eonclu-
sion, That conclusion is war.. .
I don’t like that course. It

. doesn’t make sense to me.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 16, 1948—PAGE 5 3

5