INDICATIONS OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-04864A000200050003-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 20
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 7, 2000
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: September 28, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

IN -Approved FaAwimp, Ili #811/FOR.MitNR
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS
COUNTRY SOVIET SATELLITES
SUBJECT INDICATIONS OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES
HOW
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE Several
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE MEANING OF ESPIONAGE ACT BO
U. S. C., 91 AND '92, AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR THE REVELATION
OF ITS CONTENTS IN ANY MANNER TO AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS PRO-
HIBITED BY LAW. REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
SOURCE MONITORED BROADCASTS
REPORT NO.
CD NO.
DATE OF 1-20 August 1951
INFORMATION
DATE DISTe September 1951
NO. OF PAGES 20
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
CPW Report No. 10 -- Satellites
1 September 1951
CONTENTS
Poland . . ********* ? ?
Czechoslovakia
Hungary
Rumania
Bulgaria
Albania
? ? 2
4
12
17
18
20
SUMMARY
There was evidence of internal unrest from all six of the satellite count , and
three of them--Poland, Rumania and Albania--conducted major trials of "spies an4
diversionists" during the, period under review.
The drive toward heavy industrialization was pressed with varying degrees of success.
Poland opened a number of heavy installations of strategic and military significance
and Czechoslovakia's attempt to increase its industrial labor force by transforming
bureaucrats to the factories was only partially successful. Concern over the mounting
cost of production is reflected in the current campaign to revise labor norms--a drive
which was admittedly a failure last year. The output of the coal industry in .?
Poland, Hungary, Rumania,-Bulgaria and: Czechoslovakia was below expectations, and steps
were taken to increase the underground mining force. Poor labor discipline in Hungary
and electric power shortages in Bulgaria were admitted.
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The Bulgarian radio said that there were still too many collisions and derailments and
that inadequate preparations were being made for the winter. Belgrade alleged that
Czechoslovak railroadmen were impeding shipments to the USSR.
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria admitted harvest difficulties-every
serious ones in the case of Czechoslovakia, where bad weather contributed to the
failure in the countryside. The rural collectivization drive was pushed most
aggressively in Hungary.
There Was _apparently a lull in the quarrel between Church and State in all the satellite
countries, although in Albania a national Crtholic Church, divorced from Rome, was
established. The Church in Hungary conspicuously endorsed the government's grain
delivery and rural collectivization drives in return for various concessions.
Considerable attention was paid to ideological questions. The groundwork was laid
in Poland for a trial of Gomulka and General Spychalski, both seriously implicated
in the Warsaw Army trial. There were hints of a possible new purge in the Czechoslovak
Communist Party. The Rumanian and Bulgarian radios were preoccupied with the problem
of maintaining ideological purity in literature. There were no indications of any
major shifts in the Communist Party hierarchies of the various satellite countries.
It was apparent, for example, that Chervenkov continues in a leading role.
POLAND.
Poland's propaganda output was completely dominated by the Warsaw trial of former
Arm/ officers charged with conspiring with the Western imperialists to overthrow the
people's regime. Steering a careful resuene between admitting,thet the conspirators
had undermined the reliability of the army and minimizing the seriousness of the
crimes committed, the Polish radio used the trial to whip up enthusiasm for the
Communist regime, to inspire fear and hatred of the West and to stress the need for
affection for the USSR.Warsaw reports an exceptional aervest without any of the
difficult'es said to be afflicting the other Peopleis Democracies. Despite the heavy
emphasis on the 'Warsaw trial and other propaganda on Ghe necessity of maintaining
closest r-lations with the Soviet Union, the Polish radio apparently neglected to
mark the sixth anniversary of the Soviet-Polish frontier agreement. There are
frequent references to efforts to impose Soviet techniques in social end
situations.
Party Affairs, Ideology, and Internal Propaganda: Extensive use was made of the Warsaw
trial as an object lesson showing "the danger of the slightest deviation from the
Party line," as TRYBUNA LUDU nut it in Pr editorial broadcast on 14 August. The
occasion was also used frequently to point up the contention that the Western Powere
are unrelenting in their hatred of the People's Poland. A ZOLNIERZ WOLNDSCI editorial.
broadcast 7 August warned that as long as capitalism exists it will -,end spies and
saboteurs into Poland and the other Peoplds Democracies. "These will use every rift
and deviation however slight from the Marxist line in order to undermine our
socialist construction." Speaking at ceremonies marking the opening of a new
blast furnace at Cherzow on 13 August, Cyrankiewicz warned: "Let us defend our
national achievements with even greater care and watchfulness against the attempts
of foreign agents."
There was evidently a satisfactory popular response to the attemet to stir up hatred
against the defendants. On 13 August, the day the sentences were imposed, 40
"indignation meetings" were held in Warsaw alone.
No indication was given of the fate planned for Cenerel Marian chsychalski and for
former. Polish Communist Party Secretary General Gomulka, both of whom were strongly
implicated in the evidence presented at the trial. (leychalski athmittsd in evidence
that he was under arrest, and in a recorded broadcast he sreke in s broken, erten
barely audible voice.
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Agriculture: Later sections of this report will indicate serious harvesting difficulties
in most of the satellite countries. There is no indication from Warsaw radio of
similar complications in Poland..
At harvest festival celebrations on 19 August, according to the Home Servica,the
peasants "proudly" reported the gathering of bumper crops and the pale of grain to
the state in excess of plan and ahead of schedule. Joyous processions took place, and
the "attendance of representatives of the PolishArmy was eloquent proof of the strong
bonds linking our people's armed forces with the masses of working peasants."
A day earlier, PAP also reported that grain purchasing centers are collecting grain far
in excess of plan; some districts overfulfilling their daily figure by as much as
250 percent. Reports from all provinces show that the purchasing scheme is proving a
great success, according to the news agency. Earlier reports were all along similarly
optimistic lines.
Mining: A GL CS PRACY editorial on 19 August appealed for more worker's in the nines.
The paper called for a properly organized recruitment campaign and for an adequate
provision of hostel accomodations and other amenities, implying that these may have
been lacking in the past.
Education,and Youth Affair st Minorshi, chief of the Air League, said on 18 August
that his organization, modeled on the Soviet Dom, now has 600,000 members, 60 percent
of whom are young peoples from factories, villages and schools.
Warsaw reported on 10 August that Bierut was receiving telegrams from teachers who are
improving their professional and political knOwledge at summer schools. More than
5,000 primary and secondary school teachers and more than 4,000 technical school
teachers are attending summer classes, according to the broadcast.
Church Affairs: Very little attention was paid to Church-State relations, aside from
a report on 1 August that Wtpclaw Cathedral, rebuilt after being damaged in the war,
had been consecrated by Archbishop Syszynski, in the presence of bishops and Director
of the Office for Religious Denominations Bide. The links between the Vatican and
the army conspirators, of course, were featured in trial propaganda.
A Vatican broadcast in English on 11 August charged that numerous Soviet specialists
in church affairs have arrived in Warsaw. It is believed, said the Vatican broadcast,
that the Polish Government has decided to resume anti-Catholic persecutions after the
death of Cardinal Sapieha.
Army and Civil Defense: The Warsaw radio VAS careful, in its overwhelming flow of
propaganda about the trial of former Army officers, to avoid implying that the
conspirators had managed to infect the bulk of the army. For example, on 7 August,
an editorial in ZOLNIERZ WOLNOSCI emphasized that although the conspirators had
inflicted "serious damage" before they were caught, the loyalty of the officers
corps was now secure. A Krystek commentary on 16 August stressed that although
conspirators such as Spychalski might have succeeded in temporarily dulling the
vigilance of this or that part of the army, they could never "poison the soul of
the Polish soldier," whose sense of "organic consanguinity" had been learned from
the great Soviet ally. There was nevertheless a strong implication that the loyalty
of the Army might be severely tested in the event of Western, intervention, as
indicated by a TRYBUNA LUDA editorial of 5 August which said that the conspirators'
"only hope was another war, leading to the imperialist re-occupation of Poland."
Sovietization and Relations with Neighbors: One of the most serious charges levelled
against the Army conspirators4 and one heavily stressed in internal propaganda, was
that they had worked to frustrate the Soviet liberation of Poland. An intensive
effort was made simultaneously to free the Soviet Army of the responsibility for fail-
ing to come to the aid of the participants in the ill-fated Warsaw rising against the
Nazis. Interesting, in view of this propaganda, was the apparent failure of the
Warsaw radio to mark the sixth anniversary of the Soviet-Polish frontier agreement,
an occasion noted in a Moscow broadcast to Poland. More understandable was the
failure to note the coincidental anniversary of the "miracle of the Vistula," the
1921 defeat of the Russians.
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A visiting delegation of East German trade unions pledged that on their return home
they would expose "the base lie spread by hypocritical propaganda in our country
that the Polish nation hates the German nation," according to a Warsaw broadcast of
4 August. A Belgrade broadcast in Polish on 12 August claimed that the USSR was
giving preferential treatment to East Germany. Raw materials are being supplied
by Poland and Czechoslovakia at uneconomic prices and East German imports are being
increased at the expense of the People's Democracies.
Consqmer Goode Possible shortages may be implied in the announcement that trading
centers of the leather industry are preparing to supply shops with autumn and winter
'footwear,. Large quantities of Polish and imported footwear are to be put on sale
shortly. The style range is to be greater than last year and there will be el
30 percent increase in the allocation of childrrns shoes. Earlier it was announced
that the Warsaw Institute of Industrial Designs had opened a preview of garments
and other coneumerd goods "to be produced shoridy on a mass scale." The models
were described as "remarkably practical, simple and rather cheap."
Unigne and Labor: There was no particular propaganda follow 141 of the 8 August
report that discussion had started in Warsaw of the draft of a new type collective
agreement to be introduced in a dozen industrial establishments later in August. The
new agreements, according to a Warsaw broadcast, would not cover wages or working
regulations, but would "set out the basic tasks of the personnel and the management
of work eStakliOments ta the sphere of production, working conditions and the
material. and:OUltural nee4a of the staff." The agreements are to be called "shop
collective agreftenta" and are modeled on common Soviet practice.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA.
Three topics were dominant in Czechoslovak internal radio propaganda--the harvest, the
transfer of administrative personnel to productive jobs, and the revision of labor
norms--and there was ample evidence of great difficulty in the completion of all these
tasks. There were serious harvesting complications, caused by bad weather, the attempt
to cope simultaneously with the autumn sowing, labor shortages and faulty work by the
machine tractor stations. The transfer of administrative workers to production also
fell far behind plan due to the reluctance of Government departments to release staff
and to the hesitancy of industrial concerns to accept large groups of unskilled help.
Continuing emphasis on claims that the revision of labor norms will not mean a cut
in wages indicated scepticism on the part of the workers about this possibility, ?It,
was admitted that last year's norms revision had not succeeded.
Industrial production was said to have exceeded quotas slightly in the first seven
months of the year. Belgrade radio claimed that Czechoslovak railroadmen and locomotive
construction personnel were conducting sabotage, but there was no indication of this
in Czechoblovalebroadcasts. The campaign for the salvage of scrap metal was renewed.
A hint of a possible new purge in the Czechoslovak Communist Party was indicated in
a broadcast explaining the significance of the exchange of Party cards to begin in
September. Preparations were made for an intensive ideological offensive in the
schools.
Party Affairsi Ideology and Internal propaganda: A hint of a possible new purge in
the Czechoslovak Communist Party was given in an 18 August address by Deputy Nemec,
Assistant Secretary General of the Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship Society. Explaining
the political significance of the exchange of membership cards, which is to begin
1 September, he said that the new cards would be "evidence of the holder's progressive
outlook and patriotism, his friendship and love for the Soviet Union and the great
Stalin, and his membership in the powerful camp of peace."
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Harvest difficulties were in part attributed to ideological shortcomings of Party
members and to faulty political work among the harvesters. S]ovak Commissioner for
Agriculture Felten said on 10 August that harvest work had been satisfactory wherever
political preparations had been thorough. He demanded more political enlightenment.
Three days later, Jiri Lukas indicted various Party members of machine-tractor stations,
pointing out that they should be "apostles of socialism" in the villages, men who did
their duty in an exemplary manner instead of trotting out endless excuses to explain
away their failures.
ZEMEDELSKE NOVINY (Farmers' Union), criticizing the work of the machine-tractor
stations in a broadcast from Prague on 16 August, said that they lack political,
technical and organizational preparation and that it is up to their leaders to put
matters right.
A RUDE PRAVO editorial, quoted by Prague radio on 14 August, turned to another section
of the ideological fronto and charged that government departments and plant managements
are giving only cursory attention to complaints from 'workers published in the nress.
The authorities sometimes reply to such letters without making proper investigation,
"just to be rid of the matter," the paper stated. This is mere evasion of criticism
and is an attitude inherited from the capitalist regime. Workerd letters are a token
of their confidence in the regime and must be treated with great care and solicitude,
the paper concluded.
Resistance: It was announced on 4 August that the seven Babice p1o+-1--1-0 had been
executed, but there was no reference to any further out-break of violence. Several
kulaks were given sentences of up to five years for various offenses against the
harvesting plan.
Industry: Despite intensive propaganda on behalf of the campaign to transfer 77,500
administrative workers to industry, there was ample evidence of failure to comply. By
8 August the situation was apparently serious enough for Zapotocky himself to intervene.
In a Prague speech he contended that the transfer was oneof the most important Govern-
ment measures for increasing production. Factories which had complained of a shortage
of help, he said, were rejecting transferees under all sorts of pretexts, saying, for
example, that they could only employ fully qualified staff and that they had no use
for unskilled workers. It was wrong, Zapotocky said, to place untrained workers in
the worst jobs with no hope of promotion or of higher wages. The administrative
workers were not being punished or purged and it was the duty of managements to help
them get on their feet in their new jobs. Managers who were selecting old or unfit
administrative staff for transfer were misinterpreting the Government directive.
Zapotocky firmly concluded: "One thing is certain: the transfer will be carried out,
even at the price of unavoidable difficulties and mistakes. No authority, even the
Premier's office, can entirely avoid difficulties and errors, misunderstandings and
wrong decisions."
But, despite this stern warning and a promise by the Ministry of Labor,9 August, that
administrative staff volunteering before 30 September would be allowed to choose
their place of employment from a list of plants which have not fulfilled their produc-
tion plan, there were further difficulties. On 16 August, a report by a Government
commission conceded that the transfer was not going equally well everywhere.
Although sonr "Tinistries had worked out their transfer schedules months ago, they were
just now beginning to release their staff. The Chancellory of the President was
leading with a 33 percent transfer and the Foreign Office was second with more than
10 percent, but the Ministries of Education and Agriculture had met their quota by
only 5 percent. The Supreme Administrative Council had not released a single worker.
There were several references to the need to salvage scrap metals. A RUDE PRAVO
editorial on 5 August stated that "in order to meet the demands of industry, we must
increase the quantity of scrap metal collected by at least 50 percent." On
14 August, Prague radio's economic editor, Kaminek, gave details showing the
importance of metal saving. In the engineering industry, he said, 30-41\ rcent of
the metal in semi-finished articles is wasted in the form of dust and shavings.
Reduction of this waste by 10 percent, he claimed, would provide enough metal for
15,000 tractors. Metal conservation, he continued, is particularly necessary in the
manufacture of cars, railroad engines and turbines, where the cost of material
represents half the cost of the finished article.
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Plans for the construction of new heavy industrial combines were unveiled by Kliment,
Minister of Heavy Industry at a meeting of the United National Committee of Ostrava.
He said that one of these cOmbines, a foundry establishment bearing Gottwald's name
would be set up at the New Ostrava project. Preparatory work is to begin this fall
and 2,400 houses will be built by the end of 1952. Enough homes for 36,000 people
will he completed in three years.
A Belgrade broadcast in Czech on 12 August claimed that workers at the CKD factory
in Prague, engaged in export orders for the USSR, had damaged 23 locomotives.
Twenty-five assembly line workers, two engineers and 13 factory policemen have been:
arrested, according to the Yugoslav radio. There is no confirmation of this report
from Czechoslovak radio sources, although a CKD production lag can be inferred from
the fact that administrative staff are being transferred there.
Agriculture: The storm--both literal and figurative--which threatened the Czechoslovak
harvest broke late in the third week of August. The weather had been bad at the start
of the month and it continued so intermittently. Reports from Czechoslovakia during
the weekend of 17-19 August indicated that grain deliveries throughout the country were
seriously behind schedule. On 17 August, Prague radio announced that the Government's
decree of 3 July, making it compulsory for non-producing enterprises and administrative
services to set up emergency harvesting brigades comprising no less than 30 percent
of their staff, had now been invoked. These emergency harvesting brigades were
ordered to report for duty =Monday, 20 August.
Grain deliveries throughout the country were repeatedly described as most unsatis-
factory. In the Bratislava region, no more than 51.5 percent of the quota had so far
been delivered, and it was said that by 14 August only 27.5 percent of Slovakia's
total quota had been given up. Things were no better in Bohemia--in the Kladno
Region purchases had amounted to only 25 percent of the prescribed quota--despite the
fact that the region had pledged itself to fulfill its obligations by 22 August--and
conditions are just as bad in the Kolin District where some localities are "only just
beginning to cart grain to the bulk-buying cooperatives." Prague radio said on
18 August that the figure for some villages was still only two percent.
ZEURDELSKE NOVINY, quoted by Prague on 18 August, attributed the fact that the
Pardubice District had met no more than 12 percent of its grain delivery quota to
"insufficient political preparation." Secretaries of agricultural cooperatives
frequently did not "bother to call on farmers in their area" and had "no idea how
much grain has actually been delivered." A Prague broadcast on the previous day
said that the organization of carting, threshing and delivering must be reviewed at
once and all shortcomings eliminated.
Not even the State Farms and State Machine Centers escaped criticism. An official
report by the Central Harvesting Commission, quoted by Prague on 17 August, charged
State Farms with "neglecting carting" and accused State Machine Centers of "faulty
planning with regard to carting, threshing and stubble plowing." A State Machine
Center in Slovakia was singled out for criticism by 0 NOVU DEDINU, a local farmers'
journal published in Nove Mesto on Vah, according to a Bratislava broadcast of
18 August.
The number of hop pickers--50,000 were demanded in a Prague broadcast on 13 August--
was said to be still insufficient, and appeals for "many more" volunteers were aired
by Prague on 17-18 August. The earlier Prague broadcast said that the regional
committees had obtained only half of the 50,000 hop pickers required. The Prague
region was the worst offender, and here only 1,650 of the 10,000 needed had come
forward.
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Two scapegoats for the dire situation indicated above were found near at hand. A
Bratislava broadcast on 18 August claimed that, just as last year, the Americans
had "tried to infest the Czechoslovak potato crop" with Colorado beetles. The
Bratislava region is affected and all possible counter measures have been taken by the
authorities. Vigilance must be maintained throughout Slovakia. And a kulak has been
sentenced to five years' imprisonment for "failing to fulfill his beef and pork
delivery quota," according to another Bratislava broadcast on the same day.
Following are some of the developments, listed in chronological order, which
indicate the propaganda pressure applied to solve the harvesting problem:
1 August. The Ministers of Agriculture and of the Interior appealed to the national
committees to speed up the harvesting of crops which had been hampered by unstable
weather conditions. "The national committees must not allow the village rich to
exploit the bad weather to delay harvest work and weaken labor morale." (Prague)
1 August. Slovak Commissioner of Agriculture Felten stated that tractors must work
two shifts and that every precaution must be taken to eliminate mechanical faults.
(Bratislava)
1 August It was announced that the machine-tractor stations ha so far fulfilled
only 23.4 percent of plan. Some districts had failed to introduce all-night shifts.
(Prague)
2 August. Farmers and machine-tractor stations of the Trnava
criticized for poor stubble plowing, completed so far only to
Machine-tractor station brigade leaders were accused of using
about on inspection trips." (Bratislava)
district were severely
six percent of quota.
tractors "for getting
4 August. It was announced that the plan for cutting grain crops had been fulfilled
by only 28.4 percent by 2 August; and plowing in of stubble by only seven percent.
In the entire Prague region there were only 17 tractor drivers writing evening shifts,
and none in the Karlovy Vary, Usti and Pardubice regions. (Prague)
4 August. In many places threshing machines were working only eight hours a day
"due to kulak propaganda." (Bratislava)
4 August. Two day shifts and a night shift were ordered in the Plzen region in view
of the unsatisfactory state of stubble plowing. (Prague)
6 August. It was charged that in the Liberic region there is a deficiency in storage
space equal to 60,000 tons of grain. "Gross neglect has been shown by the cooperative
farm at Hodonin in southern Moravia." This farm, it developed, had employed a rich
miller as buyer and he stored grain in weevil infested premises. "It is certain
that the damage has by now spread to other places." (Prague)
8 August. The Minister of Education appealed to teachers and school children to go
into the fields to help make up the delays caused by bad weather. (Prague)
9 August. Mates reported that
22 percent has been hauled off
disparity, he said, was due to
had delayed work, particularly
(Prague)
,!70 percent of all grain has been cut, but that only
ethe fields and only 10 percent threshed. The
unsatisfactory organization. Bad weather, he added,
stubble plowing which was only 16 percent completed.
10 August, The Radotin machine-tractor station was censured for having supplied only,
one of two threshers promised to local farmers. Three others were lying idle pending
dispatch to another town. (Prague)
10 August, Mates again complained of the unsatisfactory state of stubble plowing.
Improvement in threshing and bulk buying, he said, was uneven. Five percent of the
tractors and 17 percent of the threshers in the Bratislava region were still not
employed in harvest work, and in the Banska Bystrica region 20 percent of the tractors
and 31 percent of the threshers were still idle. Bulk buying was behindhand in the
Kocise, Banska Bystrica and Presov regions. (Prague)
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10 August. It was announced that the machine-tractor stations had reached 40.9 per-
cent of their cutting and 10.9 percent of their stubble plowing. (Prague)
11 August. .The Central Harvesting Commission again complained that many districts
were working only one day shift and no night shifts. Not enough attention was being
paid to flax, the committee charged. (Prague)
11 August. The Minister of Labor charged that factories which had "adopted" cooperative
farms had failed to honor their harvest pledges, offering the excuses of holidays and
the burdens imposed by the administrative staff transfer. These excuses would not be
accepted, and every undertaking was told to organize harvest brigades to the extent
of 30 percent of its staff. (Prague)
13 August. Minister of Internal Trade Krajcir, speaking in Moravia, stressed the
importance of the work of cooperative officials in the buying of grain and in
convincing farmers of the need to honor delivery obligations, to develop cooperatives
and to unmask the village rich. (Prague)
15 August. ZEMEDELSKE NOVINY said that harvest work had been interrupted by showers
and warned against leaving grain in the stocks any longer than necessary. (Prague)
15 August. Mates said that the harvest was going well except for a slowness in
carting. Despite delays due to bad weather, he said, preparatory work for the fall
sowing must begin immediately after the harvest is over. Meanwhile stubble plowing
has been done only to the extent of one-fifth of the plan. (Prague)
15 August. It was announced that the machine-tractor stations had completed 48 per-
cent of the bread cereal harvest plan, 13 percent of the stubble plowing plan, 16
percent of the threshing plan and only nine percent of the flax harvesting plan. (Prague)
16 August. ZEMEDELSKE NOVINY urged better use of farm machinery. It said
that 12 percent more tractors, 133 percent more threshers and 135 percent more combine
harvesters than last year were available but that organization in the machine-tractor
stations is poor. Large numbers of these machines, the paper charged, are lying idle
in repair shops. (Prague)
16 August. The recruitment of Volunteer hop pickers was still proceeding unsatisfactorily
and more were "needed urgently."
Mining: The Czechoslovak coal mining industry failed to fulfill its plan in the first
half of 1951, according to Prague reports. A RUDE PRAM editorial said that the
Ostrava Karvinna coalfield had fulfilled its plan onlj to 92.9 percent, and that it
is too slowly applying the methods of the shockworker Miska. "It still owes the
Republic 638,000 metric tons of coal," according to a Prague broadcast to 7 August.
Later it was announced that the revision of norms in the North Bohemian coalfields
is nearing completion. The review, according to a Prague broadcast of 17 August,
"nearly everywhere disclosed faults in the old statistical norms and productivity
estimates." In the future, the broadcast said, Soviet mining methods would be applied
to a greater extent; this would increase output by up to 50 percent.
A 4 August broadcast from Prague described the special benefits that were available .
to administrative workers who volunteered for one year's service in the Ostrava mines.
They would be provided houses with baths or showers, and recreational and cultural
facilities. They would receive the same priority rations and food bonuses as regular
timers. Later, however, the Director of the Ostrava Karvinna mines admitted that
there had been complaints about the accommodations available to the transferees, but
he claimed the faults had been remedied. (Prague, 11 August)
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Railway: A Belgrade broadcast in Czech on 16 August noted that Czechoslovak railwaymen
were urged, on Soviet Railway Day, to emulate their exemplary Soviet comrades. The feet
is, said the Yugoslav radio, that Czechoslovak railwaymen are at least as skilled as
the Soviets. But, although half of them are Communist Party members, their hearts
are not in their work. Never before have there been so many accidents on Czechoslovak
railroads. Leading officials such as J. Frank have spoken of the prevailing chaos,
attributing the trouble to sabotage. Belgrade claims tha+? no improvement can be expected
because the Czechoslovak railwaymen know that all they are doing is to keep open the
channels through which the country's wealth is being drained by Russia.
Education and Culture: A RUDE PRAVO editorial quoted by Prague radio on 18 August
discussed the resolution passed by the recent National Teachers Conference. It says
that the new year must "witness the launching of our ideological offensive in the
schools." This means that "an end will be put, once and for all, to attempts at a
compromise on the issue of the role of ideology in our schools, and to all attempts at
fostering a so-called spirit of toleration with regard to bourgeois ideologies." On
14 August Prague announced that new textbooks, adopting Soviet methods and eliminating
material criticized on ideological grounds last year, will be issued to all Czechoslovak
schools in the forthcoming school year.
Deputy Vyhnalek, Secretary General of the SOKOL organization, criticized the activities
of certain soccer players. (Prague, 9 August) Many players, he said, had not rid
themselves of "bourgeois habits," and even factory managers and works councils treated
bad workers leniently if they were good players. Members of the Slavia and the Sparta
clubs, he said, had played for money and other payments, and two members, Bradec and
Kopecky, got drunk and exerted a bad influence on their fellows. Vyhnalek concluded
by warning spectators that "club fanaticism" and rudeness to moires is intolerable.
A week later Vyhnalek stated that the competent authorities had taken steps to remedy
the situation criticized by him earlier.
Church,StEllIffairfi: Czechoslovak radio sources did not acknowledge the Vatican radio's
claim in a Slovak broadcast on 14 August, that the Communist Party is exerting heavy
pressure to compel Greek Catholics in Slovakia to join the Russian Orthodox Church.
Canon Mlehalik of Presnov and Others, said the Vaticen radio, have become renegades to
their faith. Many Greek Catholic priests have been evicted, imprisoned and deported,
laymen are being persecuted, and even schoolboys are being forced to abandon their
faith by torture and starvation.
Maelar...214Isirg: Speaking at graduation exercises at the Anti-Aircraft Military
Academy at Olomous, Minister of Defense Cepicka told the new officers: "In close
cooperation with our airmen, your task will be to prevent the enemy from penetrating
over our territory and from carrying out his destructive and predatory intentions."
(Prague, 5 August) At similar ceremonies at the Military Academy at Hranice, he said:
"The fighting qualities of our army willincrease in proportion to the improvement of
?the work of commanders of all grades .... The discovery of capable commanders cannot
be left to chance. Care devoted to the education of commanders of all grades must
be increased; the most favorable conditions for the work of commanders must be created
in order to secure a sufficient number of officers of all types." (Prague, 5 August)
A week later, Cepicka was again confident of the ability of the army to repel any
invader. Speaking at ceremonies marking the 520th anniversary of the Hussite victory
at Domazlice, he contended that the peoples revolutionary army is on guard against
any intentions of the enemy. It is ready, he said, to defend the establishment of
socialism in Czechoslovakia, and it guarantees that if the imperialists attempt to
make war against the Czechoslovaks and their allies, they will receive another
"Hussite lesson." (Prague, 12 August)
In an editorial quoted by Prague on 16 August, OBRANA LIDU urged the need for a
high standard of discipline,in the army. It explained that a strong, politically
mature and disciplined army was the country's best defense against imperialist
attack. Without a sense of absolute discipline the soldier can not properly perform
his duties. Discipline depends on the systematic and well-directed education of the
troops, in conformity with the Oath of Allegiance and the Army regulations.
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Sovietization and Relations with Neighbors: Among evidences of continuing Sovietization
of Czechoslovakia were the announcements that Soviet mining methods would be more
widely introduced to raise production and that new textbooks adopting Soviet methods
would be issued during the forthcoming school year, noted elsewhere in this report.
The Praesidium of the Mine Workers Trade Union appealed to all miners to follow the
example of the Ostrava pit in working a special Sunday shift in honor of Soviet Miners
Day. (Prague, 16 August)
A dairymaid told the Home audience on 2 August that she increased milk production by
following the advice of a Soviet expert: "The secret of the method is to massage the
udder frequently and while milking to press and not to pull."
Consumer Problems: In a Prague broadcast on 8 August, Zapotocky claimed that the
economy drive in bread and flour supply had proved successful despite foreign
propaganda and "the whispering campaign of internal reaction."
A 0Th dispatch on 18 August attempted to show that Czechoslovak workers' standards are
higher than before the war and higher than in the West. Sales of butter in 1950 were
34 percent above 1949, coffee 137 percent, chocolates and sweets 21 percent/ textiles
3.5 percent, clothing 114.6 percent and footwear 53 percent. The basic meat ration
is 350 grams per week, or three times the British average. The average meat consump-
tion in 1950 was 39 kilograms a head, or 45 percent above 1936. The average wage of
an industrial worker in 1950 was 158 kcs per day, and shockworkers in heavy industry
earned as much as 269 kcs per day.
CTK reported on 7 August that the training period for nurses had been reduced from
four to three years. 'Students will get specialized training right, from the beginning
and after their training course and one year's practical work will be admitted to
medical colleges. In his speech on 8 August, Zapotocky criticized the Ministry of
Health for employing doctors for administrative work "despite the notorious shortage
of doctors in certain districts."
Iniglg_I-aeledelask_aaor: Heavy stress was placed on the current revision of labor norms.
Two points were particularly emphasized: (1) that unlike last year, the Government
is determined to carry through the revisions; (2) that the revision will not mean a
reduction in wages.
The current norms-revision campaign was opened by Zapotocky in an address over Prague
radio on 8 August. He said that last year wagee had risen faster than productivity.
The first half of this year had shown an improvement but it is still imperative to
continue the endeavor for more economic production.
Minister of Heavy Industry Kliment later claimed that the revision of norms would
both increase productivity and increase wages. Every operation in industry, trans-
portation, agriculture and trade would be examined, and he warned against the attitude
that "this is old stuff. We have seen it all before and it is no use." Conservative
workers must be won over and the new technique "forced through." He said that the
fact that the average wage rates were being exceeded by between 80 to 100 percent
virtually throughout heavy industry proved that the present norms are too low. Kliment
again insisted that there was no intention of cutting wages. He said that he wanted
the habit of operating several machines simultaneously to become a general practice.
"We must put an end to the comfortable habit of working one machine only. Working on
two or more machines simultaneously does not entail any substantial strain." The
review of norms, he continued, would serve as an effective way to combat saboteurs
who, realizing that the success of the scheme would lead to an earlier dawn of
socialism, were spreading mendacious rumors that the revision of norms meant a cut in
wages. The real object of the revision is to stabilize norms for the whole of 1952.
The review will be based on the advanced production techniques which had enabled
innovators to heighten their own norms, and Soviet Stakhanovite techniques must be
introduced. (Prague, 10 August)
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On 16 August, Prague brought to the microphone a factory manager Who said that this
year's revision would be a thorough one and "not merely a matter of going through the,
motions, as Was the case last year."
Pressure is evidently being brought on foremen to spearhead the unpopular campaign for
norms revision. An anonymous speaker on 16 August said that the revision showed up
the quality of foremen's work. He cited a factory where the foremen and technicians
were "taken by surprise" by the workers' unprompted action in this matter. "The fore-
man who fails as a leader is not wanted," the speaker said. Later, Prague told the
cautionary tale of a foreman who had tried to sabotage the revision of norms.
Although he bore the title of "best foreman in the plant," be had "ceased to cooperate
as soon as he was told the new target for his shop." He failed to attend a foremen's
meeting on the pretext of sickness--and here appears the moral--"the norms check was
successfully completed without him."
A hint of where the norms revision might lead is given in a CTK report on 18 August.
It tells of the accomplishment of a team of three young building apprentices who
established a new record by laying 13,965 bricks in 18 hours, This is six times the
norm for skilled workers and 25 times the norm for apprentices.
P
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HUNGARY.
The Hungarian radio was preoccupied with agricultural topics--the grain collection
drive and the intensified campaign to convince individual farmers of the blessings
of the collective system. Harvesting difficulties were admitted, but not nearly
so frankly as by the Czechoslovak radio, and these consisted mainly of retention
by farmers of grain for private "black" threshing. Few details were given of
industrial accomplishments or shortcomings, and there was a drive against
absenteeism, tardiness, and slack discipline. The coal industry was conceded to
be falling behind its output quotas and steps were taken to correct the situation.
Following the clergy's taking of an oath of allegiance to the state, last month
there appeared to be a lull in the church-state conflict. There was a pronounced
attempt to justify the deportation of alleged enemies of the people from Budapest,
and much attention was given to charges of Yugoslav provocations against Hungary.
Party Affairs, Ideology and Internal Pronagan?a: Apparently stung by the criticisms
of the Western world and by the jibes of the Belgrade radio, Hungarian broadcasts
-attempted to both foreign and domestic audiences to justify the deportation of so-
called enemies of the people from Budapest. On 6 August Budapest cited a 1939
Horthyite law to justify the expulsions. What was described by SZABAD NEP on
1 August as "a handful of enemies" grew by 6 August to an admitted list of more
than 2,500 deportees.
During the entire period, Party members were repeatedly reminded of their obligation
to support the intensive collectivization drive.
Rakosi's primary role in the Hungarian Communist Party was reaffirmed by a SZABAD
NEP editorial on 1 August. Recalling the anniversary of the stabilization of the
currency, the paper gave credit to the Communist Party for the money reform and
hailed Rakosi as "the father of the forint."
Repistance: Oaly one case of overt resistance to the regime was admitted. A kulak
named Farago, of Abadzsalok, was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted murder,
It appears that when the secretary ofa local council called on the accused to
remind him that Ir was in arrears with his grain deliveries, Farago threatened the
official with a gun. The local secretary returned later with a police sergeant, who
was wounded by the kulak.
A belgrade broadcast in Hungarian questioned the need for the recent Hungarian
decree On official secrets. It suggested that the decree was necessary to prevent
the workers from discussing conditions in their factories and offices, since the
decree prohibited any conversation on such topics as the shock workera system, wages
and the differences between the salaries of Soviet and Hungarian experts. In effect,
the decree would prevent the workers from discussing the destination of the goods
they were producing, namely the USSR. The fact was, Said Belgrade, that the
resistance of the masses was growing and sterner measures were required to suppress
it. An earlier example has been the Labor decree of 1 February 1951 under which
caretakers of apartment houses were ordered to denounce residents Whom they
suspected of planning to flee from the country.
Industry: A NEPSZAVA article on 8 August complained of absenteeism and slack
discipline at Dunapenteie, one of the country's prize steel manufacturing projects.
The paper said that a,ditermined fight against absenteeism was now needed and
stated that this was.tade possible by a recent reorganization which gave more
scope to individual responsibility. A broadcast on 14 August reviewed various
ways by which factories were seeking to stamp out tardiness. The Democratic
Women's Association in one factory had written to 30 slackers and their wives;
the following week there was but one latecomer. In a rubber factory, tardy workers
were greeted with a "chastushka," a ditty ridiculing slackers. In another plant,
the names of latecomers were displayed on a blackboard under a portrait of Truman,
to indicate that they were working for the enemy.
Official endorsement was given to a metal savings campaign launched by foreman Geza
Gazda of the Rakosi works under the slogan "Use every scrap of scrap," SZABAD MEP
reported approvingly that the Budapest Party Committee had suggested that prizes be
offered to workers whose ideas help to reduce waste. (15 August)
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Few hard details were contained in a speech made by Revai at ceremonies marking the
opening in Budapest on 18 August Of a Five-Year Plan Eghibition in honor of
Constitution Day. Revai found it necessary to deny that Hungary is being turned
into .a Soviet colony. If such schemes as the great Dunapentele, Inota, Barcika and
Tizaloek projects were a symptom of colonization, he said, why do the imperialists
not have their like in Persia, Egypt, Malaya, Morocco, Italy or France? There the
only construction permitted is that of barracks for American troops. Revel called
for more labor discipline, sacrifices and a more resolute effort to Overcome
difficulties. "Hungary is part and parcel of the USSR's and Stalin's peace front,"
he concluded.
In connection with Constitution Day, it was reported that the Post Office was to
issue stamps featuring the results of the first year of the Five-Year-Plan .It
was not suggested that these accomplishments were of as small dimensions as the
stamps'.
Discussing the drafting of production plans for 1952 which are now in progress,
SZABAD NEP said that a new system had been introduced whereby factories will draw
up their own suggestions to improve production. Every factory, the paper said,
will have a "plan brigade" to prepare "Bashevik plans for 1952." (18 August)
Constitution Day was marked at Diosgyoer by the opening of a new Martin blast
furnace, completed in 53 days instead of the normal ten and a half months. No
reference is made to the durability of structure built so rapidly. (20 August)
Agriculture! Propaganda pressure was maintained to compel fulfillment of
compulsory grain delivery quotas, but it was evident that no county had met
its target by 20 August. The chief difficulty appeared to be the popular practice
of keeping back a portion of the crop for later "black" threshing.
The collection drive was spurred by a SZABAD NEP editorial calling for a more
intense grain delivery and rural collectivization drive, but making ?Mir that
the former has priority. The paper said that, although the collection drive was
gaining impetus, not even the leading counties had reached their targets. The
Party organizations were told to appeal to the peasants' patriotic feelings and
to tighten their control over the village councils. (3 August) The same day
SZABAD FOELD demanded increased vigilance in the countryside. Kulaks, in
addition to sabotaging their own deliveries, were trying to create "an atmosphere
hostile to the grain delivery scheme," trying to convince people that the rye
harvest was worse than it really was. In some villages, they had misled
threshing supervisors, and some local councils, tricked by the enemy, had sent
In false returns, reporting average yields as lower than they really were. By
this method, the enemy had striven to prevent large surplus deliveries against
"C" coupons, depriving peasants of the 20 forint premium on "C" tickets, free
milling facilities and special allocations of industrial products.
SZABAD FOELD went on to state than in some villages there were more and more
cases of illegal threshing, which could not occur without the collusion of the
threshing supervisors. In Baktonya and other villages, the enemy had spread the
rumor that wheat prices would be doubled before December and that therefore it
was senseless to rush deliveries. Such rumors had proved unfounded last year
and they were equally untrue this year, the paper stressed.
On 4 August an object lesson was provided througli the sentencing to 12 years'
imprisonment of a woman "kulak"--she actually appeared to be a shopiceeper--for
hoarding and refusing to sell to villagers of Matraszele in nUs.LdU County
quantities of footwear, textiles, soap, tobacco, coffee and so forth. She had
withheld her stock and let it deteriorate "to incite the poor working people
against the regime."
On 10 August it was announced that the county of Somogy was so far behind in
grain deliveries that it had been punished by a ban on open market operations
in fart produce. Although a 12 August eTelesn7rment claimed that the number of
working peasants who had surrendered double their compulsory quota had risen to
19,406 in the previous week, it was admitted that the counties of Komarom,
Csongrad, Tolna, Zala and Nograd were lagging behind sadly; here hardly five
percent of the peasantry had met obligations so far.
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A 16 August broadcast reviewed the progress of the collection campaign but gave no
overall figures. It was reported that in one village the compulsory quota of 15
peasants had been raised five percent as a reprisal for late deliveries. More
precise information was given on 18 August, when a home service broadcast said that
the county of Bacs-Kiskun was continuing to lead the collection drive, having
completed 85.7 percent of its quota. The campaign was going so well in the
counties of Komarom, Veszprem, Gyoer, Sopron'and Vas that extra quotas imposed by
way of fines were being reduced. It was announced that 47,000 individual peasants
had surrendered double their compulsory quotas, and that the Ministry of Food
had extended by two weeks the period on which early delivery premiums would be paid
on certain types of cereals.
Despite the warning of SZABAD NEP that the grain collection drive must take _
priority over the rural collectivization campaign, the latter was pushed aggressively.
The campaign got off to a flying start on 3 August with the return to Budapest of a
200-man peasant delegation which has been visiting Soviet collective farms. In
telegrams to Rakosi, they all expressed the conviction that only large-scale
collective-farming on the Soviet model could raise the living standards of the
Hungarian peasantry, and they said that those of the delegation who had not already
joined collectives had pledged to do so. Extensive publicity was given to their
views and to descriptions of their experiences, and on 7 August a Budapest broadcast
quoted them as claiming that the living conditions of the Soviet kolkhoz peasantry
are even better than those provided by the Hungarian regime.
A SZABAD NEP article quoted on 9 August advocated regular Sunday visits by
individual peasants- to local cooperatives, warning the peoples' councils that
they must make sure that kulaks did not succeed in joining these trips and "worm
their way" into collective farms. The article cautioned the collectives to put
their houses in order to illustrate the advantages of cooperative farming to best
advantage.
In following days, still further publicity-was given to the views of the returning
peasants, and on 13 August Lajos Borbas, Secretary General of the National Union
of Working Peasants and Farm Laborers (DEFOSZ), writing in SZABAD FOELD, emphasized
that while the economy of small individual farmers must be assisted and developed,
the main road to the modernization of agriculture led through the merger of small
parcels of land into big farms cultivated on a large scale. It was the duty of
DEFOSZ, he said, to publicize the happy life and splend7d prospects of the Soviet
kolkhoznik with the help of the recently returned peasants. A Budapest broadcast
on the same day said that the rural enlightenment campaign was meeting with great
success and that in the Czegled district peasants were joining Cooperatives "by
the hundreds."
SZABAD NEP said on 14 August that on the preceding Sunday hundceds of peasants had
joined cooperatives. It called for a more intensive propagana drive so that
Constitution Day (20 August) might prove an important date in the growth of the
rural cooperative movement.
The advantages of collective farming were glowingly illustrated in the 18 August
Issue of SZABAD NEP which Published a letter from the head of a producers' group.
He said that each fMmily on the farm had received 26,000 forints., One member,
credited with 55O work units, had received 8,250 forints cash, 27.5 quintals of
wheat, 27 quintals of maize, 3.5 quintals of barley, 5 quintals of potatoes,
55 kilograms of sugar, 16.5 quintals of turnips and 27.5 quintals of green vegetables
as well as various vouchers for industrial products.
Another 18 August broadcast predicted that the following Sunday and Monday would
see an unprecedented intensification of the cooperative recruiting drive. Tens of
thousands of "peoples' educators" would visit every house in the countryside and
would not spare "patient, convincing and wise words." The broadcast claimed that
2,199 peasants had joined cooperatives in one week in Csongrad. Among those won
over by this shock campaign, evidently, was Premier Dobi, who announced on 19 August
that he had fi-ided to merge his holding of two acres and other land received at
the land distribution into a collective.- No specific figures were provided on
20 August on the success of the campaign, but it was reported that in many villages
new cooperatives were set up in honor of Constitution Day; these events were
reported in greet detail.
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=kat Several broadcasts eroeide evidence that the output of the coal mining
indUstry is regularly falling behind (tpectations. A SZABAD NEP editorial on
8 August complained that production in the first days of every month was failing so
far behind quote as to make it impossible to fulfill the monthly plans. The e?cpanl
rate of productien, the paper said, was due to labor fluctuations and slack dis3npline.
So many workers Were absent that managers were forced to reconetitute entire erigades
and groups. This naturally hampered production. An official of the Diosgyoer mining
combine, interviewed 16 August, suggested that the reasons his enterprise had rellsn
behind in each month of the year eere slack discipline, abaenteeism after paydays,
insufficient persotal interest in production contests and shortages of skilled workers
and of imanpewer in general.
Earned', the miners of Tatabanya appealed for more workers, saying that the industry
needs 5,000 recruits and a quicker delivery of mechanized mining equiement. To
encourage production, the workers said, a special miners' day is to be celebrated in
September. (12 August) The following day the cabinet endorsed the Tatabanya appeal
and inatrmetOd the Ministry of Mines and Power to arrange accommodation, transportation
and supplies for the new recruits. Later in the day, a radio reporter claimed that
the average daily wage of miners is 47 forints, considerably more than that of the
peasants, to Whom the recruiting appeal is chiefly aimed.
This actiee Mrs followed up in a SZABAD NIT editorial on ln August stressing the vital
importance of coal production and reminding Party organizations of the serious duties
which ere facing them in connection with the mine recruiting delve. It said that
although output had greatly increased, there was room for improvement in many eits.
In a few weekse the paper warned, the Communists would have to give an account or how
they had accomplished this task. On the same day, NEPSZAVA published the cabinet
decision and relevant appeals by the trade union central committee and the Mineworkers'
Union.
Railweys: Railway Day was celebrated on 12 August with the usual exhortations to
improve accomplishment and to emulate the deeds of the Soviet railmen. Minister
Bebrits, helping to swear in 210 new rail officials, including 44 women, promised more
modern equipment to make the Hungarian railroads worthy of their Soviet model. He
announced wage and premium increases but no details were given. In an editorial on
the preceding day, SZABAD NEP praised the rail wnrkers for pledging to make peak period
traffic a success this year althoagh a good harvest means 30 percent more load. The
paper called on the men to stremgthen discipline and to develop the "500 kilometer"
and "2,000 tons" movements.
An antieltmax to nll this was the announcement on 14 Augest that a storekeeper at the
Budapest railway station who had incited his fellow workers against the labor
emulation campaign, the bonus system and labor discipline had been "exposed," thanks
to the vigilance of the workers.
Education end Gilture: Erzsebet Andics, president of the Hungarian Historical Society,
told the society that a memorial book on Kossuth *ill be published on the 150th
'anniversary of Kossuth's birth. Tt would be the taglt of Hungarian historians, he said,
to present "the true Kossuth." fl eueent The Hungarien Academy of Sciences in
preparing a map of Hungarian dia1ects to be completed by the end of the Five-Year Jlan.
(1 August) MTI claimed that illiteracy has been liquidated except for gypsies. rhe
Council of he First District of Budapest has organizee a course for 26 young gyreies
who will teach their own people late (17 August) .
SZABAD IFJUSAG, converted from a week4 to a daily youth journal, pledged to the Anrkers
Party its full support in the indoctrination of yotih. (1 August)
Church-Stele Affairs: Although it was announced on 1 August 'Met tke Suereme Court had
rejected the appeals of Archbishop Groasz and his aOsociates, thee was evidence in
other directions of an attempt to impitowe the lot of the "loyel clergy." At a meeting
of more than 100 priests and 2Q BenedlOIne monks of Gyoer-Sopron county, Richard
Horvath, Secretary of the National Pear. .Coaimittee of Catholic Priests, announced that
t.'
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the avernment would help rebuild Gyoer Cathedral by providing materials free of
charge. Father Beresztoczy said that the trade union health insurance center would
provide medical attention for Catholic priests. In reply, the meeting pledged to
help the grain delivery and rural collectivization drives. (14 August)
Earlier, Endre Hamvas, Bishop of Csanad, writing in MAGYAR NEMZET, welcomed the
Episcopate's Oath of Allegiance, sworn to a fortnight previously. He praised the
regime's social welfare plans which he said were "entirely in accordance with the
teaching of the gospel and which deserve the Catholic clergy's support." (6 August)
The Bishop of Pecs, Virag, asked the clergy of his diocese on 7 August to do their
best for the grain delivery drive. He appealed especially to the priests of the Sasd
District whose poor showing was hampering Baranya County in the drive. He added
that the clergy should encourage the peasants to deliver their surplus to the state.
There was no indication in radio broadcasts that 20 August, now celebrated as
Constitution Day, was once the great religious holiday, St. Stephens Day. Nor was
there any referenCe to a claim by the Vatican radio that "Hungarian Communist authori-
ties have decided to publish a new translation of the Bible, the first part to be
issued shortly." (in English, 15 August)
Civil Defense: A 13 August broadcast announced that on Constitution Day the Freedom
Fighters Association would hold a flying, motoring and parachute display at
Matyasfoeld.
Sovietization and Relations with Neighbors: A considerable step toward Sovietization
was made through the currently stressed rural collectivization drive, frankly aimed
at universal establishment of cooperatives on the Soviet model. A Hungarian railroad
workere delegation is now touring the Soviet Union to pick up hints on how to bring
the Hungarianrail system closer into line with that of the USSR. (3 August) In
industry and mining there was similar emphasis on the need to emulate the Soviet Union.
A Hungarian cultural delegation of 35 persons, headed by the writer Gyula Hay and
including musical and dance groupi, departed 9 August for Albania. The same day the
Bulgarian members of the mixed Hungarian-Bulgarian commission arrived in Budapest to
sign a cultural agreement.
Cons*er Goods: MTI reported an 2 August that the Economic Council had cut laundry
prices by 20 percent. On -8 August the Budapest Municipal Council announced that
poultry may in the future be bought against meat coupons. One 100 gram coupon will
be worth 200 grams of pOultry, at a price of 16.60 to 19 forints--or slightly less
than half a miner's daily wage--depending on quality. The Cabinet issued a decree to
regulate the building of private family houses on 14 August. The Municipality of
Budapest is authorized to allot building sites free of charge to workers who, with or
without building loank, wish to build a family home. The house will become the
:property of the person building it; after repayment of the loan the owner is free to
dispose of the house as be se0 fit. On the whole, however, there was little stress
on consumer problems,
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RUMANIA.
Aside from the revelationa made at the latest "spy" trial, indications of a tight-
ening of ideological idseipline and hints of a pending fuel?shortage, the output of
the Rumanian radio was relatively uninformative. The Charges against the alleged
spies were characteristically *Imprecise but it was admitted that former Army
officers were implicated. A marked attempt was made to Improve the ideological
purity of Rumanian literature. There was little hard news on Rumanian achievements
or Shortcomings in the fields of industry and agriculture, although there was some
evidence Of the continuing drive towards collectivization. Early in August, the
official Party newspaper SCANTEIA warned of the danger of an approaching. fuel
Shortage and it oatlined steps to be taken to alleviate the situation. Miners' Day
was celebrated with the Customary bows- in the direction of the Soviet Union. The
conditions or teachers were improved, but the educators were told that they must pay
for this by greatly increasing their political activities*
Tarty 44faira, ideology and Internal Propaganda: Considerable internal propaganda
ase was Made ofthe trial of "groups of spies and traitors in the service of the
imperialists." Workers were told to sharpen their vigilance and to foil any outside
attempts upon their freedom* ROMANIA LIBERA stated that the trial proved that where
every aitinenwas.on guard it was "inconceivable that the enemies' machinations
could- prove successful," and SCANTEIA cited the "hysterical holdall of the London radio
to prove that "the Anglo-American imperialists had fully felt the blow" of the
exposure of their plotting.
BBC attempts to defend Maria Balms from criticisms by SCANTEIA caused the poetess to
reply in the official Party paper that the criticisms had been fully Justified. A
later SCANTEIA editorial, hailing the anniversary of the translation of Zhdanov's
directiveaan.the:Arts, complained that the work of many Rumanian writers still showed
grave deficiencies and that the work of Balms in particular suffers from "a deviation
towards a line of *political individualism*" The Belgrade paper BORBA, observing
these developments, stated that Rumanian literature is becoming completely Russianized
and that the only criterion of merit is its propaganda Character. (Belgrade in
Rumanian, 14Angust)
marld.Pelta.cwa,Wth anniversary, SCANTEIA exhorted itself and the rest of the Party
press to "intervene tar more actively in the development of ideological work" in
sciences iiteratare and art and to improve the "Party life" column. The Party press,
the paper said, 'still had not solved the task of the "theoretical treatment of
topical economic, political and cultural problems."
AGERPRZSSPubliCized the Congress of Workers and Peasants, Correspondents 'which was
held during the weekend of 17-19 August. it, quoted the representative of the Moscow
FROM as recommending that attention be given to "irregularities, unmasking those
guilty or ill.elanagement, the bureaucrats and bankers, those who are plundering public
socialist property."
Tile'few items broadcast mere chiefly concerned with collectivisation.
A d on of .Soviet collective farmers arrived in Bucharest and was greeted by the
Minieter 01'4,0i-culture who expressed Rumania's gratitude for the USSR's helpful
guidance:in agricultural Matters. A,delegation of Aumanian collective farm workers
departed fOr the USSR. The official agency, speaking of the achievements of the State
Farina, cited, the'large areas mow under industrial crops* Four times mote cotton is
grown:than at aay time in the past, the agency reported.
rat
One
SCANTEIA editorial said that there was a great need for the
tza#PA of 'winter fuel in view of the country's great industrial expansion.
leost:important problems, the paper said, VAS the transportation of fuel, and
sOM6 districts were behind plan in this respect. "Greater use must be made of inferior
fuels.suCh as peat and here again many districts are said to be failing to make the
most for local resources, Miners' Day was celebrated in the middle of the month. The
press and radio publicized tributes to Sovrom Carbune and "telegrams of homage" from
miner's to Stalin. In future -the occasion will be marked by annual awards of medals,
etc, to mineral technicians and members of management staffs for length and quality of
service. Later it was announced that the Government had approved the issue of
uniform e to miners?on payment?and of distinctive badges*
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Zalucation: SCANTEIA urged teachers to improve their ideological, political and
professional qualifications. Soviet experience, the paper said, must be absorbed
and practised. Familiarity with Stalin's writings on linguistics was essential.
The Ministry of Education was rebuked for failing properly to supervise preparations
for the new school term in some areas,
Later it was announced that a decree had been issued improving teachers' pay and
conditions of work. Special treatment as to accommodation and consumer goods, paid
leave and better training facilities are provided, while "increased political
activity among masters and professors would be expected" in return. Commenting on
this action, ROMANIA LIBERA said that teachers' efforts "must be increased ten-fold"
in order to further the work of "strengthening the fatherland and the counntruetion
of socialism."
ChurobeState Affairs: Delegates of the Baptist Church expressed their heartfelt
gratitude to the-Government for the freedom of religion which they and other
churches allegedly enjoy.
BULGARIA.
As was the case with the Rumanian radio, Bulgarian transmitters were concerned with
ideological questions, particularly in relation to literary matters. The primacy
of Chervenkov in the Party hierarchy was reaffirmed. Little concrete information
was provided on the situation in industry and agriculture but the kulaks were
charged with sabotaging the cereals delivery drive, and the Minisry of Agriculture
was censured for faulty reporting of the situation in the maehine-tractor stations.
Warnings were issued to the railroads to improve preparations for the coming winter,
and electric power shortages were admitted in Sofia.
Aff1s, Ideology Propagagag: In connection with the widely
publicized 60th anniversary of the Buzludzha Congress of the Bulgarian socialist
movement it was evident that Chervenkov maintains his leading role in the Bulgarian
Communist Party, despite published reports to the contrary. Speaking on the occasion
of the Buzludzha celebration, for example, Mme. Blagoeva said that Chervenkov was
"the worthiest 'upholder of Dtmitrov's cause, the faithful pupil of Stalin." In a
RABOTNICHESKO DELO editorial, Chervenkov replied that he and the Party were "always
with Stalin."
Sofia revealed that a scrutiny of two city councils and 20 village councils carried
out by the State Control Commission had disclosed widespread under-estimation of
the complaints and petitions of the working people toward whom a bureaucratic and
indifferent attitude has too often been manifested. The chairmen of several local
councils had been severely reprimanded, the radio said.
A RABOTNICHESKO DELO editorial, recalling Chervenkov's speech, "For or AgaLn& the
Party in Figurative Art," said that weaknesses such as formalism and schematism
still continue. "The wise words of Comrade Chervenkov most be turned into deeds," the
paper cautioned. Another editorial criticized the insufficient participation of women
in public life. Quoting comments by the Central Committee of the Communist Party in
April on the "very unsatisfactory" recruitment of women Party members, the editorial
called for an intensification of "Party work among the women," especially in rural
areas and among the Turkish minority.
The Bulgarian Telegraph Agency announced that IZGREV has become an evening paper under
the name of VECHERNI NOVINI (EVENING NEWS). In its inaugural editorial, the paper
said that it would "preach love for the people, the Party and the People's Government;
love for the great cause of the socialist construction of society; love for our elder
brother, sincere friend and selfless guide--the USSR; and love for the People's
Democracies and all democratic and peace-loving people all over the world." In
addition it would *unmask the crazy designs of the imperialists and their Balkan
tools--the Titoites, the Greek monarcho-fascists aad the Turkish reactionaries."
Belgrade radio contended that a further "purge of patriots" is being conducted in
Bulgaria on orders of the Soviet Union. The victims, said the Yugoslav radio, are
former partisans who fought against the Nazis at a time when the present leaders of
the Party were undergoing indoctrination in Moscow.
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IadustrY: Belgrade alleged that there were failures to achieve quotas in the fields
of industry, electrification, miming and agriculture and it said that the revelation
of large-scale irregularities presaged a new purge.
Mriculture: No over-all totals on the progress of the harvest were provided. Early
in the month, Sofia said that "enemies and kulaks," angered by the successful
gathering of the harvest, were trying to disorganize the cooperatives and the machine-
tractor stations and were sabotaging the delivery of cereals to the states.
RABOTNICHESKO DELO said that the Ministry of Agriculture, despite earlier warnings,
was "continuing with the wrong system for collecting and reporting information" about
the machine-tractor stations. Its figures were too generalized to show the successes
and failures as between individual stations. The Ministry, therefore, was unable to
"guide and instruct them" as it should.
Belgrade reported the organization of Party supervision of the agricultural cooper-
atives to overcome peasant opposition. The new system, which would be independent of
local Party organs, reflects the increasing centralization of administration,
according to the Yugoslav broadcast. Belgrade also asked how Bulgarian reports of
an increase in the arable acreage could be reconciled with the shortage of cereals.
The answer, the Yugoslav radio contended, is that grain is being sold to buy arms for
the USSR and to pay for Chervenkovis "apparatus of social parasites."
Mining: A Belgrade broadcast, contending that Bulgaria is being subjected to relent-
less exploitation by the Soviet Unions cited the case of the uranium mine at Buhovo,
near Sofia; it is so closely guarded by the Russians that the Bulgarian people are
not allowed to know anything about its output.
Transportation: Railway Day was celebrated in conventional fashion during the weekend
of 3-6 August. A RABOTNICHESKO DELO editorial said that in spite of all achievements
there were still too many derailments and collisions, indicating a slackening of
discipline. On 20 August, the paper asserted that "some rail junction collectives"
were being criticized for not having treated seriously enough the task of preparing
"locomotives, switches, cranes, installations, stations, factories and depots" for
the winter.
A broadcast on 15 August told of reductions in Sofia streetcar services because of
"insufficient production of electric power." The preceding day BTA repotted the
opening of a new power station, Maritsa 3, largest in the country and designed to
provide power for the Stalin Nitrate Plant.
Unions and Labor: A RABOTNICHESKO DELO editorial urged greater reliance on the trade
union movement as "a school for Communism." The paper said that "there are still
too many Party organizations which do not know how to lean on the trade unions in
the execution of the plan and in improving the productivity of the workers." Later,
TRUD urged greater use of the trade unions for the "extension and improvement of
the protection of labor." This task was neglected by some enterprises--a state of
affairs which "must not be tolerated."
Sofia reminded workers wanting to attend rest homes of the rules governing admission.
Only those "actively engaged in production" are eligible. Mothers must place
their children in the care of "specialized child educators (female)." Workers
must bring their social insurance cards or some other proof of their employment
as well as bread, fats and meat coupons.
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There was news of only two outstanding developments from the Albanian radio--the
opening of a trial of 17 kulaks charged with espionage and diversionary activities
and the official break between the Albanian Catholic Church and Rome.
A Tirana broadcast on 19 August announced the opening of the trial of 17 kulaks,
described as former members of "the treacherous 'Balli Kombetar' organization"
and "old spies of the Anglo-American imperialists." The defendants were accused of
"espionage and diversionary activities" and of having spread false rumors among
the populace in order to undermine "the peopl&s regime and Government."
'Commenting of the official decree establishing an Albanian National Catholic Church,
BASHIMI was quoted as saying that the Catholic clergy, "freed from the Vatican's
intrigues, brutal exploitation and centuries-old yoke," could for the first time
fulfil its religious obligations by loyally serving the people and the country's
interest.
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