The Ominous Shadow of Stalin

Russian dissenters directed a courageous plea last week to the Moscow summit delegates. It was a petition seeking help in arresting the restalinization of the Soviet Union and restoring civil rights. Among the ten signers was former Major General Pyotr Grigorenko, arrested last month for anti-Soviet activities; Grigorenko's name was signed by his wife. Other signers included Pyotr Yakir, who has spent 17 years in a concentration camp, and whose father, a general, was executed during Stalin's purges of the Red army, and Leonid Petrovsky, whose grandfather was once chairman of the region of the Ukraine. Both Yakir and Petrovsky have lost jobs as historians; Grigorenko has not worked since his ouster from the army in 1964. Excerpts from their petition:

THE 20th and 22nd congresses exposed and condemned Stalin for his heinous crimes against the party and the people. The Stalinist autocratic dictatorship, the tyranny of the security organs that for decades held society in an atmosphere of constant fear and terror, the concentration camps in which millions of innocent people perished, the criminal policy on nationalities under which whole nations were repressed, the blind alley our national economy had reached, the stagnation of science and culture, the low wage level, the low consumption level, the catastrophic housing crisis and many monstrous manifestations of the Stalinist dictatorship were condemned.

Following Khrushchev's ouster, the democratization process was gradually replaced by the restoration of Stalinist methods. Mention must be made of the illegal arrests and illegal sentencings, the absence of publicity and the partiality of the courts, the numerous violations of procedural norms, the wiretapping and the examination of letters. Citizens who dare to voice criticism of any government decree whatsoever are subjected to persecution and are illegally fired from their jobs. For the slightest criticism, Communists are immediately expelled from the party in violation of party regulations. Of late, with ever-increasing frequency, completely healthy people are being placed in psychiatric hospitals.

The growing influence of the people who are attempting to restore the Stalinist past is becoming more and more evident. Once again, the old Stalinist cadres are setting the tone for the government and the party apparatus. In what other light can one evaluate the entry of Soviet troops into friendly Czechoslovakia?

We ask the representatives of the Communist parties, whose ideal is the construction of the just society: Can it really be that such an obvious restoration of Stalinism in our country --the head of Communist society --does not alarm you? We call upon you to examine the total seriousness of the situation and do everything that your conscience and reason tell you --everything that is in your power --so that the ominous shadow of Stalin will not darken our future.

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