POLICY COMMENT ON THE ISSUE RAISED BY AD/PC IN THE DISCLOSURE OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION TO DEMAREE BESS, AUTHOR OF "THEY WANT US TO GO TO WAR RIGHT NOW" SATURDAY EVENING POST, AUGUST 18, 1951

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP74-00115R000300080020-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 20, 2014
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: August 24, 1951
• Content Type: MEMO

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vt
They Want Us to Go
to War Right Now
By DEMAREE BESS
Millions of people?even here in the U. S. ?devoutly hope Russia will
attack us, because, until the Soviet Empire falls, they are home-
less wanderers. Exiled Czechs, Poles, Hungarians?even Russians?
they're all on our side?but they prod us toward World War III.
THERE are millions of respectable men and
women today who will welcome an all-out war
between the United States and Soviet Russia.
These unhappy people are ?gr? transformed into
uprooted wanderers by wars and revolutions. They
have more reason to hate war than most Americans.
But to them all-out war looks like the only means
for getting home again. .
This vast exile community has little in common
with ordinary emigrants. Whereas emigrants retain
only a secondary interest in their former homes,
exiles spend most of their time planning how to get
back. They cannot return to countries in the Soviet
sphere unless communist regimes there have been
destroyed.
So the exiles are excited by any move which in-
creases American hostility to the expanded Soviet
empire. Since the Korean outbreak, American sup-
port for these people has multiplied so rapidly that
many Americans may not appreciate how deeply we
iare committed or how complex are the responsibilities
we have assumed.'With our encouragement, exiles
Ifrom every country in the Soviet sphere are now bus-
lily developing the equivalent of governments-in-exile.
I' I have found sharp differences about these ex-
panding political organizations between ?gr?ead-
ers and Americans who are supporting them. The
official American policy is that all plans must be
based pon measur?e7srcirt of war. Americans work-
ing with the ?gr?speak optimistically of revolts
against communist usurpers and attach great im-
portance to the results of intensive psychological
warfare. But exiled politicians with whom I have?
talked do not share American faith in these meas-
ures. Most ?gr?do not believe for one moment
that existing communist regimes can be seriously
undermined by tough talk. They agree almost
unanimously, at least in private conversations, that
all Soviet regimes are too deeply entrenched to be
upset by anything less than the use of American
armed forces.
The situation today recalls that which prevailed
in the months before Pearl Harbor. We were not
formally at war with Germany then, and President
Roosevelt was still insisting that we could avoid all-
out war. But at the same time he was demanding the
defeat of the expanding Nazi empire. Today Wash-
ington spokesmen again express the hope that we
can avoid all-out war, while at the same time they
demand the defeat of the expanding Soviet empire.
And, just as Americans supported governments-in-
exile fighting the Nazis before Pearl Harbor, we are
now supporting ?gr?roups whose sole purpose is
defeat of the Soviets.
HARRIS AND EWING
An ticommunist leaders of the International Peasant Union meet in Washington: Dr. George Dimi-
troy, Bulgarian; Dr. Vladko Macek, Croatian ; Ferenc Nagy, Hungarian, and Stanislaw Mikolajczyk, Pole.
Emigre leaders understandably chafe under re-
straints which Americans impose upon them. They
want to assume that the Soviet empire will soon be
overthrown by force of arms, and to make plans
right now for replacing Soviet regimes in their own
countries, just as other exiles made their plans for
victory over other empires during both world wars.
Emigre minds cannot tolerate the postponement of
their return in triumph to their native lands to some
indefinite and remote date. They are compelled to
hope that a Soviet-American war is inevitable?and
close.
These millions of people who look to the United
States to get them home again are scattered over
the five continents and embrace a wide variety of
races and political and religious beliefs. Washington
has become the temporary capital for these exiles.
Scores of the most influential ?gr?eaders, Asiatic
and European, either are stationed there or make
frequent visits lo enlist American support.
For at least three reasons, our support of the exile
community is more difficult and inconsistent than it
was before we entered World War II. These three
reasons are: (1) The status of ?gr?is much more
uncertain than it was in 1941, because several coun-
tries were actually fighting Germany and Japan then,
while today no country is formally at war with Rus-
sia. (2) Our Government was able to recognize offi-
cially several governments-in-exile before Pearl Har-
bor because we had not recognized the Nazi con-
quest of their countries. But today our Government :
cannot officially recognize governiiieaff-S-26Tale
3
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[INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE ORGANIZATION
Fugitives from the Iron Curtain at Camp Valka, near Nuremberg. Many shielded their faces from the camera to protect their relatives in Czechoslovakia.
from any satellite country except China, because it
has recognized all existing communist regimes in
Eastern Europe. American help for ?gr?olitical
organizations must therefore be unofficial, and this
results in considerable confusion and some decep-
tion. (3) Power politics and crusading slogans have
collided in some cases, and thus far power politics
has won out.
American difficulties in supporting ?gr?roups.
are illustrated by our relationships with the Russian
exile community, the oldest and most complex of all
the groups. Some of them left Russia more than
thirty-three years ago, fleeing from the Bolsheviks;
others are risking their lives at this moment to cross'
the dangerous frontiers known as the Iron Curtain.
The veterans have firsthand knowledge only of
Czarist Russia. The newcomers have lived all their
lives under Soviet rule. Since the political views of
these Russians range all the way from restoration
of the Czar to left-wing socialism, what can they find
in common?
The feeling which all exiled Russians have in
common is homesickness - a characteristic illness of
most exiles. The first Russian ?gr?I met were in
Turkey in 1919, and later I watched others, in many
parts of the world, desperately trying to preserve
their old customs in alien surroundings. I visited the
three principal cities-within-cities which they formed
in Paris, France, in Shanghai, China, and in Harbin,
Manchuria. Those Russians were always talking
about their hopes to return to their homeland some-
day. They dreamed of a sudden turn of events which
would give Russia a different government. Most of
them felt insecure abroad, and with good reason.
For in 1940 I saw their community in Paris being
disrupted by the German occupation, and those in
Shanghai and Harbin were twice broken up -first by
the Japanese and then by communists. Some of
those Russians were so anxious to get home again
that they threw in their lot with the Nazis after
Hitler broke his pact with Stalin in 1941.
When the Nazis were defeated, Russian exiles lost
hope temporarily. Some were .captured by the Red
Army; others were turned over to -dab Soviet Govern-
ment by Americans and Britons in accord with a
wartime agreement. But after the wholesale " repatri-
ation " in 1945, the Russian exile community proved
to be larger than ever before. Thousands of Soviet
citizens refused to return to their homeland, thou-
sands more have since escaped to the West. Many
are unhappily concentrated in Western Germany,
united only in the hope of getting home someday.
The American official attitude toward Russian
exiles in Germany has taken many twists and turns;
In 1945, American administrators fulfilled the Soviet
Government's demands that all recent exiles should
be handed over to it, by force if necessary. When
many Russians killed themselves rather than return,,
forcible repatriation was halted, but Russians who
refused to go home were treated as a nuisance. That
was particularly true of the forty-odd organizations
which the Russians formed in Germany, whose
avowed purpose is overthrow of the Soviet Govern-
ment. Our Government did not see how it could con-
sistently support such Russian groups in Germany
while protesting Moscow's support of American
communists as " subversive."
For years our occupation authorities ignored the
Russian groups, although a few Russian leaders
boasted that they received money from mysterious
American "intelligence officers" who claimed to
represent secret agencies of our Government. David
Dallin, a leading authority on Russianfirmed,
during a recent visit to Germany, that-sOni
Amer-
ican money has been given to smooth-talking exiles
who have no standing either at home or abroad.
However, no open American support was given to
any Russian exiles until 1951. Last spring John J.
McCloy, American High Commissioner in Germany,
announced that our Government will actively help
political refugees from the Soviets. At the same time,
two private American groups entered this field. The
Ford Foundation made a grant of $500,000 to help
exiled Russian intellectuals, under the direction of
George Kennan, formerly the State Department's
leading Russian specialist. Andrat-gre
Americans organized-th4-CornmittPe-for 'Freedom
for Peoples of the U.S.S.R. This col:am-it-tee mcludes
such students of Russia as Eugene Lyons, W. H.
Chamberlin, W. L. White and Prof. W. Y. Elliott,
of Harvard.
In the present state of "no war, no peace" between
Russia and the United (Continued on Page 94)
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. --- ??.? ? .........
European groups exiled by the Soviets
I (Continued from Page 27) as it did with those exiled by Nazis.
I . . Long -before Pearl Harbor we recog-
, tates, how-far -should an American- nized several governments-in-exile and
porieored association of 'Russian exiles exchanged ambassadors with them.
e permitted to go? Opinions differ. SOrne of those wartime exiles returned
ut The New York Times reported last to their countries with Allied armies
ay that the new committee headed 'and were accepted by the people. In
y Eugene Lyons has encouraged Rus- . other cases, our prot?s lost out in
ians in Western Germany to stir up as' civil.wars with Russia's proteges, and
, uch disaffection as posssible among Red became exiles again. Today our Gov-
(
'Army troops in Germany and Austria. ernment cannot simultaneously recog
' The fact that this Alnerican:sp.cm- nize European governments-in-exill
sored offensive 110:.proleeda-alinost and maintain relations with their
unifolicea'bhe America/rpliblitillus- avowed enemies.
tkat'es the compleirrelationaliipii-lief This anomalous situation is painful
tweeriAmericans and exiles. Obviously, .--to the exiles here and in Western Eu-
if the'Srviet'Goverm t is likely to be rope. They include hundreds of
anti-
overthrown in the near future, some 1Communist political leaders who have
.kind of political organization is needed held high positions, and they believe
to replace it. Americans failed to make they represent their people' more truly
a satisfactory- peace after World War , than communist usurpers. But until
II partly because,we did not prepare to 1949 they were left very much on their
fill the political vacuums created by the ' own, while the American Government
mar. Overthrow of the Soviet Govern- dealt with the governments which had
ment , certainly would create an enor- forced them to flee and had murdered
mous political vacuum in Russia. But their friends.
how far can we support exile:attacks 4.1 These political exiles never acknowl-
unon the.Rovipt rt.i. ,,
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4
4 THE SATURDAY EVENING POST
Agreement on a common program was
extremely difficult, since these emigl
range from ultraconservatives to ex-
eme radicals. But by 1949, exiles from
umania, Hungary, Bulgaria and
Czechoslovakia did succeed in forming
so-called national councils, with loose
working agreements.
The violent overthrow by commu-
nists of the freely elected government
of Czechoslovakia in 1948 hardened the
American attitude toward Soviet ag-
gression, and focused attention upon
the exile community. Soon aftelyward a
group of American priv.ate. ? ? ens be-
gan to form e n mmi
for a Free Europe, under the chairman-
ship of Joseph C. Grew, former ambas-
sador to Japan, with DeWitt C. Poole
as president. The committee is widely
representative, including prominent
businessmen, labor leaders, publishers,
Hollywood personalities and professors,
as well as Gens. Dwight D. Eisenhower
and Lucius Clay.
From its beginnings, this committee
has worked closely with the American
Government In co-ordinating exile ac-
tivities. Enagres residing in the United
States and Western Europe look upon
its headquarters in New York's Empire
State Building as their leading center.
At a press conference on June 23, 1949,
Secretary of State Dean Acheson said,
"The State Department is very happy
to see the formation of this group. ItlJ
thinks that the purpose of this or
ganization is excellent, and is glad toj
welcome its entrance into this field, an
give it its hearty endorsement." Tha
was the nearest approach which th
AMerican Government has made
open recognition of European exiled
groups.
The Committee for a Free Europe
has declared an immediate objective
and .a long-term objective. The first has
been accomplished. It was to reach
satellite countries by radio, through
broadcasting stations in Munich and
Frankfurt, Germany. Broadcasts were
limited at first to the five largest satel-
lite countries, but are now being ex-
tended to Russia itself and especially to
Soviet minority races?inhabitants of
the Baltic states, the Ukraine, Russian
Georgia, and so on.
The committee's longer-term objec-
tive, according to Mr. _Poole's report
for 1950, "relates to the inevitable day
When the Iron Curtain fades into his-
tory." In other words, the committee
is anticipating the destruction of the
expanded Soviet empire. Mr. Poole
added "A situation will then exist in
Eastern Europe from which all strong
personalities sharing in any large meas-
ure our Western democratic outlook
have been removed; and a social phi-
losophy abhorrent to us will have af-
fected, more or less, those who remain,
especially the youngsters. . . . Exiles
who found sanctuary in the free coun-
tries and have been helped to survive
in spirit as well as body can, when this
time comes, be of decisive help."
Mr. Poole first learned about Bol-
sheviks when he watched them seizing
power in Russia in 1917-19. For sev-
eral months during that period he was
in charge of the American Embassy in
Russia, and in 1919 returned to head
the Russian division of the State De-
partment. His experiences then con-
vinced him that the United States
could never expect normal diplomatic
relations with the Soviets, so he helped
to initiate the policy of nonrecognition
which lasted until Franklin D. Roose-
velt became President.
In a recent letter to me, Mr. Poole
?.xplained his original analysis of So-
viet-American relations, which he still
holds. He wrote: "My conviction is
that constructive and helpful social in-
tercourse, whether among individuals
or organized nations, must rest upon
some good measure of fundamental
moral agreement. As between one basic
morality and another 'which is inten-
tionally and explicitly opposed to it,
there is no compromise. And when
such a conflict arises internationally,
the difficult and practical course is to
avoid intercourse as much as possible,
trusting that time, the universal sol-
? vent, will someday bring its cure. If
meantime one can be rational, cool
and patient, rather than hot, provoca-
tive and litigious, so much the better,
though I grant you this is asking
much."
Mr. Poole's prompt recognition of
the menace of Bolshevism has proved
by events to be well-founded. Today he
and his distinguished associates are
chiefly interested in preparing, from
among anticommunist exiles, alternate
governments to communist regimes.
The committee's broadcasting stations
enable exiled leaders to talk to their
own people. The committee has offered
encouragement to all exiles as well as to
noncommunist Germans in Berlin.
The NCFE has gone a long way to-
ward co-ordinating exile activities. It
has put new heart into hundreds of dis-
tinguished Eastern Europeans who
were earning a bare living in menial
jobs. It provides scholarships for
youthful exiles, training them for lead-
ership when communist regimes col-
lapse.
But some influential exiles are not
happy about the NCFE because of its
insistence upon unity among ?gr?
who always have opposed each other
politically. One Eastern European
leader said to me, "Some Americans
in the NCFE tell us that the main
thing is to get together ? all exiles
alike. But how can I be expected to
co-operate with men who put me in
jail? When liberation comes, I will
fight these people again." He added
! mournfully, "Sometimes I think we
were better off before the NCFE was
lformed, before so much money was
available. eTE?irMi Terinrs?Ittifitertstl
-1-tiormg kind of people, plausible op-
portunists who make a good impression
upon some Americans, but disgust
those among Us who have risked their
lives for principles."
Such feelings probably are inevitable
in relationships between ?gr?and
Americans working with them. The
Americans understandably try to get
the ?gr?to put the goal of liberation
above everything else. But that is like
asking the most conservative Republi-
cans to agree with the most extreme
New Deal Democrats.
The NCFE co-operates not only
with exile organizations but also with
other American-sponsored associations.
Among the latter, the most active is the
International Confederation of Free
Trade Unions, which is supported by
both the American Federation of Labor
and the CIO.
The ICFTU fights communists with
their own weapons of propaganda and
a network of tough local committees.
Its propaganda is aimed at workers i
satellite countries, telling them ho
they are being cheated by communis
bureaucrats and how they are paying
for Soviet expansion through Ibw wage
and shortages of food and clothing
The ICFTU's vigilance committees, or-
ganized all through Western Europe
are given a large share of credit for de-
feating the communist campaign to
sabotage rearmament in France and
Italy.
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THE SATURDAY
t. The workof these various commit-
Aees requires large ,sums of money, es-
pecially. sinte their raPid expansion
during the past year. A good part of
this money comes from private con-
tributions, obtained in well-organized
Aampaigns. But it is an open secret that
the Americari--GOVeriunefit:fossesses
fiiridg?Wliiah?it?c-a?n?disTelise Without
accountin7,?and that some of
these funds are avliilable fOTZEile?ac-
ii From its very beginnings the '
Soviet Government has secretly sub-
sidized foreign organizations, and the
American Government finally has felt
compelledp.e "kin kind.
'Softer?the NCFE startedto
work, its members learned how paver
politics sometimes compels modifica-
tions in crusades. One sizable group of
exiles are Yugoslays, forced to flee from
Marshal Tito's communist regime.
The NCFE at first encouraged Yugo-
slays to combine with other exile groups
from satellite countries. But Marshal
Tito's break with Moscow had de-
tached his country from the new So-
viet empire and drastically altered its
position in world politics. After some
discussion, NCFE directors decided,,
late in 1956, that Yugoslav emigres
could not be realistically associated
with exiles from the Soviet empire.
However, other emigres refused to
accept this decision. They had been
encouraged by Americans to include
Yugoslays in their joint activities, and ?
decided that they could not revoke
their pledges to Yugoslav exile leaders.
So, last April in Washington, they
formed the Central-Eastern European
Committee with the stated purpose "to
fight communism at home and plan for
the liberation and unification of nine
countries in a regional union within a
united Europe." The nine countries in-
cluded the three principal races of)
Yugoslavia ?Serbs, Croats and Slo-
venes.
On the same day that The NeW
York Times reported formation of this
committee, it also reported an Amer-
ican grant to Tito's government. This
offered a vivid illustration of the con-'
tradictions between the shifting course
of world politics and crusading slogans.
The grant to Tito depressed Yugoslays
he had driven from their homes, just as
recent American loans to the Franco
Government in Spain have depressed
Spanish exiles forced to flee from
Franco:These two groups argue fiercely
that Americans lose more than we can
possibly gain by supporting dictators
like Tito and Franco. They would like
to ignore the historical evidence that
world politics, even more than do-
mestic politics, makes strange bed-
fellows.
The huge exile community is further
complicated by the fact that its largest
section consists of recent enemies of.
the United States, the Germans. At
least 9,000,000 men and women of Ger-
man blood were forcibly driven from
their homes in territories now con-
trolled by the Soviets, and their num-
ber is being increased at the rate of 20,-
000 per month by refugees from Soviet
rule who cross into Western Germany.
Technically, these people are not classi-
fied as exiles, because Western Ger-
many is supposed to absorb them. But
most of them are not being absorbed,
and still think of the East as their
home. Overcrowded Western Germany
has made thein neither contented nor
welcome.
These Germans have not demanded
or received American encouragement
that they will ever return to their
former homes, but Americans can
hardly disclaim some responsibility for
EVENING POST
'them. For the American Government,
'together with the British Government,
accepted, ? at the 1945 Potsdatn Con-
ference, Soviet demands for expulsion
of "ethnic Germans" from Poland;
iCzechoslovakia and Hungary. Others
Were expelled into Western Germany
from Rumania, Bulgaria and East
Prussia. Since most of these people had
lived for generations in Eastern Europe,
And since many of them spoke only the
languages of the countries in which
they lived, Germany was a foreign
country to them.
These exiles have formed their own
political parties since the war, and their
leaders have found that the most per-
suasive appeal is the promise that
someday they will get home again.
These dispossessed Germans have had
too much experience with the horrors
of war to be enthusiastic about another
one. But recently some of their political
leaders have proclaimed that all-out
war is their only hope.
The existence of millions of homesick
exiles has helped to convert some
Americans to the idea of an inevitable
all-out war. Not only have the suffer-
ings of these people enlisted American
sympathies but we have also been
* * * * * * * * * *
Some household problems can
never be eliminated; they keep
running in and out all day.
?RUTH E. HENKEL.
* * * * * * * * * *
awakened to the callous attitude of
communist governments to human be-
ings. Other thoughtful Americans,
however, have hoped to relieve the
mounting tensions in the exile com-
munity by resettling Europeans over-
seas. The most valiant attempt in this
direction has been made by the Inter-
ational Refugee Organization of the
United Nations.
At the war's end there were about
8,000,000 "displaced persons" in Eu-
rope. By a miracle of organization, al-
most 7,000,000 of those 8,000,000 were
returned to their homes by the end of
1945. But it was not foreseen that
1,250,000 refugees from the East
wanted no part of communism or that
a new flood of refugees would soon begin:
In December, 1946, the IRO was estab-
lished to settle as many as possible over-
seas, and eighteen members of the
.United Nations have contributed $368,-
000,000 toward this project during the
past four years, of which $270,000,000
was contributed by the American Gov-
ernment. The IRO's project ends next
January, after having resettled 930,000
persons. The American Congress agreed
to accept 341,000 displaced persons by
the end of this year, and Australia has
received 200,000. Yet the demand for
emigration persists. Some economists
recently concluded that Europe has a
permanent surplus of several million
people whom it cannot support prop-
erly., regardless of wars.
Emigre leaders with whom I have
talked reject this pessimistic theory.
They insist that if only the reactionary
grip of Soviet imperialism can be
broken, Europe will reveal unsuspected
capabilities by uniting in a federal sys-
tem similar to the United States. The
union they foresee will give due regard
to regional interests, but will vastly ex-
pand its production. Two Eastern Eu-
ropean leaders who present this pic-
ture with particular eloquence are
Monsignor Bela Varga, of the Hun-
0.
August 18. 1951
,P
* 4 ? .?"
garian National Council, and Dr. G. M.
Dimitrov, chairman of the Bulgarian
National Council. ? ?
The personal stories of these two
men are so melodramatic that they are
almost incredible to Americans. Mon-
signor Varga, a valorous Catholic
priest whose father was a poor peasant,
went into prewar politics to help the
small farmers among whom he worked.
He barely escaped arrest several times
while leading resistance against the
Nazis, but was imprisoned only after
the Red Army entered Budapest.
When the Russians found documents
showing that Father Varga had co-
operated with the Polish underground,
they accused him of conspiring with the
,West against the Soviets, and sen-
tenced him to death.
He was saved because a Hungarian
communist who had accompanied the
Red Army was put in charge of the
prison where Monsignor Varga was
awaiting execution. This communist
had lived in Father Varga's village as a
boy, and remembered that Father
Varga had once persuaded the Hun-
garian police to release the boy's father
from prison. Recognizing Father Varga
when he visited his cell, this commu-
nist exclaimed, "The Russians have -
made,a terrible mistake. I owe it to my
father to release you, no matter what
happens to me." The communist paid
dearly for his kindness? the Russians
shot him.
? Doctor Dimitrov represented small
farmers in the Bulgarian Parliament
for more than twenty years, and was
jailed by several prewar Bulgarian gov-
ernments because he fought too hard
for agrarian reforms. He escaped after
the Nazis occupied Bulgaria, and was
welcomed as a hero When, he returned
in 1945. But he fought the communist
conquest of Bulgaria as fiercely as he
had fought previous reactionary re-
girlies, and was imprisoned again, ac-
cused of conspiring with Americans
against the communist-controlled gov-
ernment. He threw himself from an up-
per window of his prison, and was given
refuge in the home of Maynard Barnes,
then American ambassador in.. Sofia.
Mr. Barnes brought Doctor Dimitrov
out of Bulgaria in the embassy air-
plane.
Knowing that Doctor Dimitrov has
spent some time recently in England
working with exiles, I said to him, "1
,suppose there are more Englishmen
than Americans with firsthand knowl-
edge of the Balkan countries. You must
find it easier to discuss your problems
with Englishmen."
Doctor. Dimitrov replied slowly,
"Yes, many of the Americana with
Whom I work haVe never been' in the
Balkans, and are unfamiliar with our
complicated politics." But he added
emphatically, "However,'the United
States offers the only real hope, not
only to Bulgaria but to the -whole of
Europe. You Americans are the only
great people who have no interest in
keeping Europe divided, as the English
once did and as the Russians still do.
Americans understand, as few English-
men and Europeans can, that the only
Europe worth having is a united Eu-
rope. Our best exiles don't want to re-
turn to the 'old country.' They wantto
return to a new country which has been
given a lease on life by_union with all
its continental neighbors."
To such idealistic exiles Soviet ex-
pansion has been a double tragedy. It
has not only captured their countries
but has also blocked plans for Euro-
pean federation which, with American
help, they believed were close to ac-
complishment. THE END
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/05/20: CIA-RDP74-00115R000300080020-3