i
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fascist tyranny?

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-The:-new

Germany |

e

—BERLIN.

B ETWEEN the Oder and the Elbe, the Baltic Sea and the mountains of Thuringia, lies

the section. of Germany that c

the north, Brandenburg in the center,
It indicates t

Saxony in the southeast.

burg, Potsdam and Halle, Leipzig,

transformed his trial into a world

‘ringing indictment of Hitlerism,

and Dresden, Weimer and Erfurt,
Chemnitz and Iena, as well as the
capital of Germany, Berlin.

In all, the territory of the Soviet
Occupation zone is inhabited by
more than 20 million Germans.

What are the living and work-
ing conditions of these Germans
in the Soviet occupation zone?

What changes have taken place
in the past three years?

These questions agitate the
minds of many people, And this
anxiety is all the more under-
standable in light of the alarming
reports emanating from western
Germany. In the West, the old or-
ders are being restored. Police ter-
ror has been revived. The ‘key
economic positions— power— are
being concentrated in the hands
of the very persons who raiS-
ed Hitler to power and helped
him to unleash the Second World
War. :

But what is the state of affairs
in eastern Germany, where Soviet
troops are stationed, the troops
that made the decisive contribu-
tion to victory over the German-

e
"THE Oder is now the border
river between Poland and
Germany. From small bridge-
heads beyond this river the Soviet
troops began their last offensive
against the armed forces of Hit-
ler Germany three years ago.
Here one of the greatest battles
of the Second World War raged

‘between the middle of April and

early May, 1945.

The offensive centered around
Kuestrin-Berlin Highway. Under
the massed fire of the guns, the
deadly rain of bombs from thou-
Sands of planes, the surface of
the roads melted and rocks
crumbled, Everything was ablaze,
torn and scattered over the ruin-
ed countryside.

Those who witnessed these
events believed it would take a

long time before life returned to
the shell and bomb-scarred soil.

Three years after this gigantic
battle which ended in the com-
plete and unconditional surrender
of Germany found us crossing the
Oder again and travelling to Ber-
lin along the Kuestrin highway.

We had covered only half a
mile when we saw a symbolic
sign of life returned to the form-
er field of battle. Apple trees were
in blossom by the roadside. There
was not a single withered, dead
branch. On the contrary, the
trees whose white blossoms filled
the air with a sweet aroma bore
traces of human care. The soil
around them was turned up and
surrounded by a ring of pink
bricks. Some of the trees were
bandaged.

All along the road, neglected

 weed-grown lots were alternating

with wheat and barley fields, and
blossoming orchards; now and
then we saw péople at work in
the fields,

It was good to see the soil that
resembled ja scorched desert three
yeans ago come back to life
again, to provide work and grain
and warmth to man,

Beyond Seelow, we pulled up
near a garden, its. flower beds a
riot of color in the bright sun-
shine. A man wearing a worker’s
jacket came out to meet us. He
told us his name was Johan Mar-
feld and invited us to his house.

John Marfeld is now 49 years
old. Like his father and grand-
father, he was a farmhand on the
estate of von Schelenburg. Thirty-
two years of his life were spent
cultivating his landlord’s gardens,
while he lived in a small shanty
for which he paid von Schelen-
burg half his wages. Marfeld’s
two sons, both of whom were kill-
ed in the war, also worked as
farmhands.

After the war, in 1946, when

land reform was effected in the
Soviet occupation zone, the form-

Memo to Brooke Claxton

Some facts which answer press lies that America
leads the forces of peace while Russia threatens a new

world war:

USA

Rejects all Russian peace-talk
Offers,

Spends 46 percent of budget
On arms.

Breaks up UNO Atomic Com-
mission, Announces “successful”
tests of new atomic weapons.
More will be produced. :

Raises Navy and Air Force to
record peace-time levels. Pro-
Poses (through Truman) con-
Scription for the first time in
Peace, , TOMBS

Maintains troops and bases in

Greece, Turkey, Libya, Arabia,
Tran, China, Korea, Canada,
Greenland. ;

Keeps navy in North Sea,

Mediterranean, South Pacific, _

Through Chief of Staff, Gen-

eral Bradley, names USSR as

intended target for atomic war.
Permits politicians and journal-
ists to whip up violent war

scare. Persecutes advocates of
peace as “unAmerican”.
USSR

Twice proposes peace talks to
settle differences.

Spends 17 percent of budget —

on armed forces.

Proposes abolition of atomic
bomb, plus international control
of atomic energy through UNO.

Proposes general’ disarma-

‘ ment of the nations. Cuts down

army to two age groups.
Withdraws troops from all ex-

cept ex-enemy countries,
Threatens nobody, Continual-

ly expresses desire for peace

with all countries, including

USA. Proposes that warmonger-
ing be forbidden. ek :
Is headed by Communist gov-_
ernment, seeking world peace,
with no interest in national ag-
gradisement, :

onstitutes the Soviet occupation zone.
Saxony - Anhalt and Thuringia in the west, and
he old German cities of Scherwin and Branden-
where George Dimitrov, now premier of Bulgaria,

Mecklenburg in

er farmhand received 17 acres
of land, a cow and horse. It was
the biggest property he had ever
owned,

' “All at once I became’ richer
than both my grandfather and
father,’ he said,

Within two ‘years Johan Mar-
feld managed to build a house,
to acquire pigs, poultry and to
plant a small garden.

“I’m quite well off, he said in
conclusion. “Of course, we still
lack many things, fertilizers, for
example . . . But we, plain Ger-
mans, are pleased with the land
reform...”

We, plain Germans,” is a
phrase one hears very, frequently

in Hastern Germany, and it is pro-

foundly significant. The plain
Germans are the people —- the
workers, peasants and a section
of the professional people, It is
precisely in the midst of the plain

people that the new element is»

being born and spreading, the ele-
ment that is leading Germany
along the democratic course, that
is capable of making her a new
country, free from the agreessive
intentions and the revival of Nazi
ideas.

So
]_,NWALDE is a small German
town on the road between
Berlin and Leipzig. It has a pop-
ulation of about 35,000. Twelve
factories and mills and a few:small
workshops are functioning in the

town.

From 1929 until Hitler’s seizure
of power Communists were in a
majority. in the municipal admin-
istration, and for its adherence
to the “Reds” the town was brut-
ally punished by the Nazis. More
than 1,000 men and women were
arrested and, sent to prisons and
concentration camps by the Ges-
tapo. Another 500 citizens were
conscripted and sent to the no-
torious 999th disciplinary division
en the African front.

‘After the fall of Berlin, 103
Communists and 62 Social Demo-
crats returned to Enwalde from
prisons and concentration camps.
Among those who returned from
a hard labor prison was Willie
Degowski, the present burgomas-
ter of Enwalde.

A Communist in the past, Deg-
owski is now a member of the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany.

The Hitlerites kept him in pris-

on for 15 years, and he will carry:
the marks of their torture for the
rest of his life, for they gouged
his left eye and broke his left

arm. His wife, Martha, died in ~

Dachau concentration camp in
1939. His elder son, Richard, was
shot in 1941 for anti-Nazi propa-
ganda, His daughter, Heiga, died
of tuberculosis in 1942.

But today, at 58, gray-haired,

‘slightly stooped, Degowski is full

of energy and plans. Nazi prisons
and his personal sorrows have not
broken his spirit. Under his lead-
ership, the Socialist Unity Party
of Germany has won 89 percent
of the seats'in Enwalde’s mun
cipal administration. x

It is difficult to find Degowski
in his office. He spends all his
time, from morning till night,
among the factory and office
workers, handicraftsmen and pea-
sants,

By
TROYANOVSKY

German workers demonstrate at Frankfurt.

Here a noted Soviet correspondent takes you

behind the ‘iron curtain’

created by the western

press and shows you a new democratic Germany

“My life,” he says, “belongs to
Germany, to my people. I want
the people to know all my
thoughts during the long years
of hard prison labor and strug-
gle . . . I have faith inthe Ger-

man people. I believe our country
has a great democratic future.”

Degowski, too, belongs to the

plain people. < :
e@ -

"THE lands and forests, railways
and communications, and: oth-
er property formerly owned by
active. Nazis, has been placed in
the hands of the German people
in the Soviet cecupation zone, and
despite their lack of experience,
they have launched. tremendous
constructive work.

At 4 p.m.,.on March 12 last, the
foreman Petsel turned out the
first heat at the Hehishsdorf steel
mill. On that day the workers of
this mill produced 50 tons of
meta] for their country.

The story of this plant is char-
acteristic of what is being done. _
In the past it belonged to the
concern of the war criminal
Flick. By decision of the popular
referendum held in the Soviet
zone last year, it was transferred
to'the people, and with the as-
sistance of the Soviet military
administration the Heinchsdorf

“workers commenced the work cf.

restoring the mill.

~The whole zone codperated: in
this work. Saxony sent heavy
cranes. Factories in Thuringia
supplied machine tools and other
equipment. Workers and engin-
eers of the neighboring “Lew”
factory, helped by sending 300
specialists to work in the shops
of the steel mill, Voluntary Sun-
day work, organized by the local
organization of the SUPG, brought
out up to a thousand. volunteers.

With such a spirit, it is not
surprising that the first section

’ son—for

of the enterprise was completed _
ahead of schedule. The workers

built two gas generators, an open

hearth and moulding shops .and —
a power station, developing a high

output competition in the course

of the work.

This does not mean that the
Plant, placed in the hands of the ~

people has no drawbacks. There
are workers who lag behind the >
production quotas. There are
some who try to steal public prop-
erty. And there have been also
cther incidents. :

Quite recently, police detained
aman in the vicinity of the plant
whcse actions aroused suspicion.
An infernal machine and seyeral
ampullae with a strong poison
were found in his possession
when he was searched. He subse-
quently confessed that the infer-
nal machine was intended for the
open hearth furnace, and the poi-

the workers’ dining
room, :

Questioning revealed that he ety
was a. specially-trained saboteur
Sent by the Flick concern, which
has been revived in western Ger-
many. He was smuggled into the
Soviet zone with the aid of a for-
eign intelligence service.

The people of eastern Germany
are determined to triumph over
all obstacles and they are already
laying the foundations of a
democrtic Germany that will not
threaten the peace of the world.

Their attitude was expressed by
Willie Bochow, director of Hein-
ichsdorf steel mill. YS

“We want to live in friendship

with all peoples,” he said. “But

we don't want to pend uPon
American or British capital. We
intend to restore a peaceful econ-—
omy with our own forces as the
basis for a democratic, peaceful —
Germany.” :

. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JULY 30, 1948—Page 5