LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The East-West Problem
Sot,—The Society of Friends enjoys a well-earned reputation for sincerity and scrupulous regard for the truth which carries with it a special responsibility. None would question the sincerity of Mr. Paul Cadbury in his report on a visit to the Soviet Union (extracts of which report you published on November 9th). But some of his statements are strongly at variance with the views of many other equally sincere observers, who have spent very much longer time on Soviet territory than he and his colleagues spent In view of the vital importance to the whole world that the truth about Russia should be known, may I ask him whether he is satisfied, beyond any shadow of doubt, that he and his delegation were not the victims of deliberate deception ? Did all or any of the delegation speak Russian ? If not, whence did they obtain their interpreters and guides ? Were they permitted to explore freely and unaccompanied (as foreign tourists may do in most other countries), or were their daily activities arranged for them ?
That is the crux of the matter. In Yugoslavia, another Communist country, but outside the "Iron Curtain," I was permitted last summer to wander freely and " unshadowed " where I wished with my own car and tent, and to talk to chance-made acquaintances everywhere, without fear on their part as a rule, and certainly with no official or semi- official attempt to guide me in my investigations. If this can happen in Yugoslavia, a land where currency problems and ravages of war present just as great difficulties for foreign tourism as they do in Russia, why is not an equal freedom for unaccompanied foreign touring permitted in the U.S.S.R.?
Mr. Cadbury mentioned the prevailing ignorance of the West regarding conditions in Russia. This ignorance certainly exists, but -the remedy lies in the hands of the Kremlin Government What is the " Iron Curtain " intended to conceal if it is neither aggressive military prepara- tion nor undesirable social conditions ?
Mr. Cadbury's remarks on the absence of fear certainly contradict my own impressions, formed after two years' sojourn among the Russians. His view seems hard to reconcile with the undoubted existence of nearly three-quarters of a million M.V.D. in addition to an abnormally large force of " normal" police, unless we assume that the activities of the M.V.D. are purely benevolent_
Unpleasant impressions of Soviet social conditions do not, however, depend only upon the testimony of foreign ex-residents, such as L Extensive and ever-growing evidence, in the form of statements by recently arrived Russian refugees, exists to prove that the great masses of Russia are far from happy under their present regime. Anybody interested in probing the real truth about Russia is cordially invited to peruse some of .this evidence impartially. It may be obtained on application to our secretary, Mr. G. Knupffer, 61 Belsize Gardens,
London, N.W.3.—Yours faithfully, RICHARD HILTON, Chairman, British Free Russia Society. Dinsdale House, Tysoe, Warwickshire.
Previous page
