It is reported that the Ogpu (the latest form of
the old Cheka of ill-fame) has taken sudden action against the opponents of the present Soviet rulers. It is said that thirty members -of the Opposition, including Trotsky, Radek, Rakovsky (recently Soviet Ambassador in Paris), Ka,meneff (recently Ambassador in Rome) and Zinovieff, are among those whose banishment has been quietly arranged. • The Berliner Tageblatt states that the banishment is being disguised under the name 4:A "assignment of Party work " ; the exiles will be sent th scattered and remote places, nominally to serve the Soviet but actually to be rendered incapable of any further resistance to Stalin. Rakovsky, for instance, is to he sent to a place three hundred miles from the nearest railway station. This is an intensive revival of the ancient regime of Siberian exile, and if it is really put into force exactly as stated another Dostoievsky will be wanted to write annals of Siberian exile, new style.
Previous page
