Czechs Continue In State Of Uneasiness

Chronicle (Levin), 14 October 1949, Page 5

Czechs Continue In State Of Uneasiness

r - i»- -- Received Thuraday 8.30 p.m. LONDON, Oct. 13. The Communist newspaper Rude Pravo gave an ofhcial adinission that unusual occurrenees were taking plaee in Czechoslovakia, reports The Timea' Vienna correspondent. Rude Pravo said the Government decided that "those who have been earanig 100,000 crowns dailv merely by telephoning, must now be forced to work," The newspaper also admitted that a purge was going on in Government offices.' It added that this differed from previous purges only in that those concerned in the iatest roundup were deprived of liberty. The Timea correspondent says thougli the Czech public is unhappy and uneasy, there is no sign that popular diseontent is getting out of hand. The arrests and dismissals in Czech oBlovakia are generally regarded as an effort to cow the middle-class intelligentsia and indeed all classes at a time of rising discontent, says the Times diplomatic correspondent. It is believed that those arrested have been subjeeted to systematic grilling. Besides the general aim of defeating the underground movement, the Prague Government may have had in mind the possibility of an impending split in the Czech Communist Party. There are no reports of any special effeets of the purge in the country generally, but it is expected to stimulate the flow of refugees to other countries.