COMMUNIST LINE PUTS WIND UP AUCKLAND YUGOSLAVS

Grey River Argus, 21 September 1948, Page 6

COMMUNIST LINE PUTS WIND UP AUCKLAND YUGOSLAVS

AUCKLAND, Sept. 20.

Several prominent members of the Yugoslav community here to-day stated that the fear that their names may be forwarded for inclusion in the “black list’’ maintained by the secret police of their homeland is reducing many Auckland Yugoslavs to apprehensive silence. After emphasising their own need for anonymity, they, said that there was speciiic evidence to show that some New Zealanders had been registered in Yugoslavia as “dissident and reactionary elements.” That action, they claimed, could have originated only in Auckland. “Recent events and experiences' have created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation,” one Yugoslav said. “It is now well known that a black list exists in Yugoslavia and that it includes the names of New Zealand Yugoslavs. One well-known Yugoslav had received a letter from relatives in Yugoslavia, warning him against "meddling in politics,” and implying that his political views were known to the authorities in Belgrade. Another Auckland man, who visited his homeland, discovered that he had been black-listed, and he experienced some difficulty in leaving the country’. “Insults have been employed on occasions in Auckland' to maintain adherence to the party line, he added. “Men who in good faith, have produced letters from Yugoslavia which may carry a breath of criticism have been told forcibly to destroy the correspondence and to keep their mouths shut.”

“The next voyage of the Radnik offers a heaven-sent opportunity for the keenest Communists among our Yugoslavs to return to the homeland which they so admire,” said another Yugoslav. “Many seem to have found excuses in the past; there is no reason why they should be repeated in December.”