LEST WE FORGET! A PICTORIAL SUMMARY OF COMMUNISM IN …palmm.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fau:32523... · Staff members present : Richard Arens, staff director, and Fulton Lewis

LEST WE FORGET!

A PICTORIAL SUMMARY OF COMMUNISM

IN ACTION

ALBANIA BULGARIA ESTONIA FINLAND

HUNGARY LATVIA LITHUANIA POLAND

CZECHOSLOVAKIA RUMANIA UKRAINE SOVIET UNION

CONSULTATION WITH Mr. KLAUS SAMULI GUNNAR ROMPPANEN

COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

EIGHTY -SIXTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

JANUARY 13, 1960

(INCLUDING INDEX)

Prir~""· _d for the use of the Committee on Un-American Activities

52020 0

UNITED STATES

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 1960

COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES

UNITED STATES HousE oF REPRESENTATIVEs

FRANCIS E. WALTER, Pennsylv~ia, Chairman MORGAN M. MOULDER, Missouri DONALD L. JACKSON, California CLYDE DOYLE, California GORDON H. SCHERER, Ohio EDWIN E. WILLIS, Louisiana WILLIAM E. MILLER, New York WILLIAM M. TUCK, Virginia AUGUST E. JOHANSEN, Michigan

. RICHARD ARENS, Staff Director

II

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printtnst Office Washinll,ton 25, D.C. - Price 20 cents

CONT'E.NTS

Page

January 13, 1960: Statement of-Mr. Klaus Samuli Gunnar Romppanen___________________________ 1

Index _______________________ _____________________ _____________ __ _

III

PuBLic LAw 601, 79TH CoNGRESS

The legislation under which the House Committee on Un-American Activities operates is Public Law 601, 79th Congress [1946], chapter 753, 2d session, which provides:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, * * * .

PART 2-RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

RuLE X

SEC. 121. STANDING COMMITTEES

• • * * * • • 17. Committee on Un-American Activities, to consist of nine Members.

RULE XI

POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMITTEES

* • * * * • • (q) (1) Committee on Un-American Activities. (A) Un-American activities. (2) The Committee on Un-American Activities, as a whole or by subcommit

tee, is authorized to make from time to time investigations of (i) the extent, character, and objects of un-American propaganda activities in the United States, (ii) the diffusion within the United States of subversive and un-American prop.".ganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of a domestic origin and attacks the principle of the form of government as guaranteed by our Constitution, and (iii) all other questions in relation thereto that would aid Congress in any necessary remedial legislation.

The Committee on Un-American Activities shall report to the House (or to the Clerk of the House if the House is not in session) the results of any such investigation, together with such recommendations as it deems advisable.

For the purpose of any such investigation, the Committee on Un-American Activities, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit and act at such times and places within the United States, whether or not the House is sitting, has recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such hearings, to require the attendance of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, and to take such testimony, as it deems necessary . Subpenas may be issued under the signature of the chairman of the committee or any subcommittee, or by any member designated by any such chairman, and may be served by any person designated by any such chairinan or member.

* * • * • • • RULE XII

LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT BY STANDING COMMITTEES

SEc. 136. To assist the Congress in appraising the administration of the laws and in developing such amendments or related legislation as it may deem necessary , each standing committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives shall exercise continuous watchfulness of the execution bv the administrative agencies concerned of any laws, the subject matter of which Is within the jurisdiction of such committee; and, for that purpose, shall study all pertinent reports and data submitted to the Congress by the agencies in the executive branch of the Government.

IV

*

RULES ADOPTED BY THE 86TH CONGRESS

House Resolution 7, January 7, 1959

* * * RuLE X

*

STANDING COMMITTEES

* •

1. There shall be elected by the House, at the commencement of each Con.; gress,

* * * * * * • (q) Committee on Un-American Activities, to consist of nine Members .

* * * * * • • RuLE XI

POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMITTEES

* * * * * • • 18. Committee on Un-American Activities. (a) Un-American activities. (b) The Committee on Un-American Activities, as a whole or by subcommittee,

is authorized to make from time to time investigations of (1) the extent, character, and objects of un-American propaganda activities in the United States, (2) the diffusion within the United States of subversive and un-American propn,ganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of a domestic origin and n,ttacks the principle of the form of government as guaranteed by our Constitution, and (3) all other questions in relation thereto that would aid Congress in any necessary remedial legislation.

The Committee on Un-American Activities shall report to the House (or to the Clerk of the House if the House is not in session) the results of any such investigation, together with such recommendations as it deems advisable.

For the purpose of any such investigation, the Committee on Un-American Activities, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit and act at such times and places within the United States, whether or not the House is sitting, has recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such hearings, to require the attendance of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, and to take such testimony, as it deems necessary. Subpenas may be issued under the signature of the chairman of the committee or any subcommittee, or by any member designated by any such chairman, and may be served by any person designated by any such chairman or member.

* * * * * * * 26. To assist the House in appraising the administration of the laws and in developing such amendments or related legislation as it may deem necessary, each standing committee of the House shall exercise continuous watchfulness of the execution by the administrative agencies concerned of any laws, the subject matter of which is within the jurisdiction of such committee; and, for that purpose, shall study all pertinent reports and data submitted to the House by the agencies in the executive branch of the Government.

v

LEST WE FORGET! A PICTORIAL SUMMARY OF COMMUNISM IN ACTION

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1960

U.S. HousE OF REPRESENTATIVES, CoMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN AcTIVITIEs,

Washington, D.O. CONSULTATION

A consultation with Klaus Samuli Gunnar Romppanen, of New York City, was held at 5 :30 p.m:, in room 226, House Office Building, Washington, D.C.~ Hon. Francis E. Walter, of Pennsylvania, chairman of the Committee on Un-American Activities, presiding.

Committee members present: Representatives Francis E. Walter and Gordon H. Scherer of Ohio.

Staff members present : Richard Arens, staff director, and Fulton Lewis III, research analyst.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. A prime interest and responsibility of this committee is to develop

factual information respecting Communist propaganda and activities in the United States in order that such information may be used by the Congress in the discharge of its legislative duties.

Since the ascendancy of Khrushchev to the summit of the international Communist apparatus there has been not only an intensification of Communist propaganda over the world and in the United States, but this propaganda has been implemented and supplement~d by new devices which the Communist conspiracy has conceived for the purpose of attempting to have an impact in the minds of the Americans.

The Communist fairs, display of their artworks, the performances of their ballet dancers, the movies whi~h they show in the United States, and the like, are indeed as much a part of their propaganda campaign as are their printed leaflets, magazines, and the like, which bombard our shores in increasing volume.

I would be less than candid if ~~id not observe that many people have, and are, being duped by this new look of sweetness and light, coexistence, professiOns . of peaceful intention, and the like, of the Communist operation. · . This committee is therefore pleased to make this record today in which we look behind the facade and see communism in action, that we may ever remember, notwithstanding the tinsel, glitter, and pretense, that it is, in truth and in fact, a human meat grinder which has ddestroyed. more souls, more human beings, than any force since the

awnoftlme. The Members of Congress, the policymakers of this Government,

afd the Al!leri?an ~ople will disregard the simple, yet awful truth O w~UlliS~ In action, only at the expense of OUr OWn freedom.

I you rise, please, Mr. Romppanen, and be sworn. · 1

2 PICTORIAL SUMMARY OF COMMUNISM IN ACTION

Do you, Mr. Romppanen, solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give this committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Mr. RoMPPANEN. I do.

STATEMENT OF KLAUS s·AMULI <GUNNAR ROMPPANEN

Mr. ARENs. Please identify yourself by name, residence, and occupation.

Mr. RoMPPANEN. My name is Klaus Samuli Gunnar Romppanen. My address is 2021 Lexington Avenue, New York City.

My occupation is research analyst on international communism. Mr. ARENS. ~r. Romppanen, without revealing confidential se

curity matters, it is a fact that you, in th~ course of the last few years, have been working in close collaboration with certain s~curity and intelligence agencies of this Government; is that correct?

Mr. RoMPPANEN. Yes. Mr. ARENS. And you have accompanying you today a represent

ative of one of the intelligence agencies of our Government, whose name and identification cannot be revealed on this record; is that correct?

Mr. RoMPPANEN. Yes. Mr. ARENS. Kindly give us, please, sir, a resume of your own per

sonal background, omitting information which would, in your judgment, based upon our off-the-record discussions, reveal confidential sources of information, or identification of individuals whose lives might be in jeopardy because of your testimony.

Mr. RoMPPANEN. I was born in Finland, Soanlahti, Karelia, February 11, 1912. Kar(}lia was taken over by the Soviet Union from Finland after the Second World War. About a half million KarelianFinnish citizens moved into Finland after that.

In Finland I worked in General Headquarters as chief inspector in the Weapons Division, Ordnance Section, 28th pay grade, supervising about 70 factories, munitions factories, in Finland and in Sweden.

While in my native land I was active, as I have explained to you off the record, in certain anti -Communist underground work, and I was in a position to gather the material, including photographs, some of which I have with me today.

Mr. ARENS. When did you come to the United States? Mr. RoMPPANEN. I came to the United States on March 20, 1949.

The reason I came to America was because in 1945 there was a Communist Interior Minister, Yrjo Leino, in Finland, and during his administration there was no justice and no freedom in Finland. Thousands of innocent citizens, including officers, were imprisoned by the Communists who even deprived the Finnish generals of their rank.

Mr. ARENS. Since your arrival in the United States have you continued to work in anti -Communist operations, particularly from the standpoint of acquiring information from confidential sources behind the Iron Curtain ?

PICTORIAL SUMMARY OF COMMUNISM IN ACTION 3

Mr. RoMPPANEN. Yes. Mr. ARENS. Are you presently identified with any particular or-

ganization in the anti-Communist field? Mr. RoMPPANEN. Yes. Mr. ARENS. Of a non-Government variety? Mr. RoMPPANEN. Yes. Mr. ARENS. Would you name that organization, please? Mr. RoMPPANEN. I am president of "The Fight For Freedom-A

Pictorial Exhibit." Mr. ARENs. Would you give us just a word about this organization,

please? · Mr. RoMPPANEN. The Fight For Freedom---::-A Pictorial Exhibit,

has assembled authoritative documents, photographs, and other material on communism in action in each of several of the countries which communism has seized. The objective of The Fight For Freedom is to evaluate the information which it acquires, first to be certain ef its authenticity, to verify, check, and recheck its authenticity, and then to make available some of that information to govermental agencies, and some of that information, mostly the pictorial type, to the free world generally. All with the end in view of bringing the truth about the international Communist conspiracy, its inhumanities, -its duplicity, its violence, its bloodshed, to the attention of t;he free world.

Mr. ARENS. Have you been working with the sta~ of this committee in the recent past in going over some of the material which your organization and which certain intelligence agencies of this GovernInent have verified as authentic, respecting incidents and events in the Communist operation in each of several areas of the world ?

Mr. RoMPPANEN. Yes. Mr. ARENS. Mr. Chairman, I think that it would be proper for me

to state in the record a word of confirmation at this point of l\lr. Romppanen's comments respecting the collaboration which the committee staff has had with him in going over the material which he will insert in the record, with his comments, and in each instance the exhibits, which will be the basis of his comments today, have in all instances been checked and rechecked for accuracy and authenticity.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes. As I recall, this process has consumed considerable time and effort and the results have been most gratifying.

Mr. ARENS. The exhibits have been arranged according to countries ; is that correct ?

Mr. RoMPPANEN. That is correct; they are arranged in alphabet.•cal order, beginning with Albania.

Mr. ARENS. "\Vhen did Albania become a, satellite of the Soviet Union?

Mr. RoMPPANEN. Albania became a satellite of the Soviet Union on November 29, 1944, and after that date only one party was acknowledged--:-~he Alba:r:ian 'Yorkers' ~arty, which is the Communist Party. Exh1h~t No. l IS a picture which was taken · in Ioannina, Greece, in

1944 .. wluch shows newspapermen listening as an Albanian describes the flight of his group of 56 escapees into Greece. ( P. 4.) ~hese people had no homes, but grazed their flocks in the fields

abessigned by the state, and upon discovering that their flocks were to confiscated, they fled into Greece.

52020 0-60-2


ExHIBIT No. 1

EXHIBIT N 0. 2

-~~Communist Propaganda r


Mr. ARENS. Following 1944 in what propaganda activities did the Communists engage in Albania?

Mr. RoMPPANEN. Exhibit No. 2 is a Soviet poster depicting the "average person" in any capitalist state, who is no more than a peddler while a selected higher class enjoys the most modern facilities, such as living in a skyscraper. In contrast, the poster depicts every person living under communism as happy and contented and having all his heart's desires. (P. 4.)

Mr. ARENS. Do you have an exhibit which portrays the truth respecting daily life in Albania under communism as contrasted to the life as portrayed in the Communist propaganda poster?

Mr. RoMPPANEN. Yes. Exhibit No. 3 portrays daily life in Albania under communism. The peasant appearing in this picture, you will observe, is in ragged clothing and hardly cheerful about his state of existence.

Mr. ARENS. Now, may we direct our attention to the next country under communism, in alphabetical order?

Mr. RoMPPANEN. The next country is Bulgaria. Exhibit No. 4 shows a picture of Nikola Petkov, the Bulgarian

patriot, who was the leader of the strong Democratic Party in Bulgaria, and also the head of the Agrarian Union. In exhibit No. 4 you will note Petkov is in conference with Soviet and Bulgarian officials, in 1945, during a period of "peaceful coexistence," or collaboration, just before the Communists had completed their control of Bulgaria.

As one looks at exhibit No. 4 it might appear that Petkov was in a conference of sincere men who were merely exchanging political views on governmental affairs. There appears a friendly smile on the face of one of the Soviet officials as he converses with Petkov. (P. 6.)

ExHmiT No.3


EXHIBIT No. 4. (PETKOV THIRD FROM LEFT)

EXHIBIT No.5


EXHIBIT N 0. 6

ExHIBIT No. 7


EXHIBIT No.8. (PREMIER THmD FROM RIGHT)

ExHIBIT No. 9


Mr. ARENS. What is the significance of exhibit No.4~ Mr. RoMPPANEN. Exhibit No.4 must be viewed, sir, in connection

with exhibit No.5, which I now display to you, which is the grave of Petkov, who was, of course, liquidated when the Communists solidified their control. I use the word "liquidate" when of course I should use the word "murder," and the reason Petkov was murdered was because he stood up for the democratic rights of his people and refused to yield to the Communists. ( P. 6.)

Mr. ARENS. The next country on the alphabetical list is Estonia; is that right~

Mr. RoMPPANEN. Yes. Exhibit No.6 portrays the presence of Red army units in the Estonian Parliament under date of July 22, 1940, when Estonia was incorporated into the Soviet Union. (P. 7.)

In order that there might be a pretense of legitimacy, you will observe in exhibit No. 7 that the Estonian puppet parliament gave an affirmative vote on the question of incorporation of Estonia as a member state within the Soviet Union. (P. 7.)

As background for this action I invite your attention to two or three authentic photographs made shortly before Estonia fell within the Soviet orbit. ·

Exhibit No. 8 shows members of the Kremlin hierarchy making gestures of friendship with the new Estonian premier. (P. 8.)

Exhibit No. 9 shows Communist sympathizers tearing to pieces an Estonian flag in a demonstration shortly before the Communist takeover. (P. 8.)

Mr. ARENs. Do you have exhibits portraying the situation immediately after the Communist takeover in Estonia~

Mr. RoMPPANEN. Yes. Shortly after the Communist takeover, you will observe from exhibit No. 10 the Red army is on parade in the streets of Estonia. You see here pictures of Stalin and Lenin being carried hy the goose-stepping Red army on Estonian soil within months of the resolution passed by the Estonian puppet parliament to be incorporated within the Soviet Union. (P. 10.) ·

I would like also to exhibit in this connection authentic photographs of torture devices used by the Communist secret police promptly after the takeover in order to eliminate the remnants of opposition. ·

Exhibit No. 11 shows a police ca.ptain inspecting bullet holes in the wall of a Communist secret police prison in Voru, Estonia. (P. 10.)

Exhibit No. 12 shows a gag used by the secret police on their victims. At Pirita-Kose, a village area of_ about 4 or 5 miles from the Estonian capital, Talhnn, in houses of the League of Estonian Journalists and of Banker Klaus Scheel, a Soviet military tribunal (Chairman Sergei Kingissepp), sentenced anti-Communists to death and executed them, burying corpses under the floors of those houses. In August 1941, after the Soviet troops were driven out of Estonia, the mass graves were opened. In one grave 15 persons, 14 male and 1 female, were found who had been buried alive in sandy earth outside the house. According to an autopsy by Dr. Med. Lindeberg, sand was found in the windpipes and lungs of victims but no other cause of death. In the mouths of all corpses were found gags, made of cotton cloth, filling the mouth tightly, so that the arrested person could not call for help.


ExHIBIT No. 10

ExHIBIT No. 11


ExHIBIT No. 12

ExHIBIT No. 13

52020 0-60--3

12 PICTORIAL. SUMMARY OF COMMUNISM IN ACTION

Such gags were found by Estonians in large quantities in houses occupied by Soviet security troops and seemed to be manufactured by some Soviet factory according to prescribed standards. The gags were used for silencing arrested persons during torturing, transporting, etc. (P. 11.)

In the summer of 1941 a unit of Soviet Union Ministry of Interior troops was stationed at the center of Estonia's capital city', Tallinn, Pikk Street, in an apartment house taken from the private owner. At night there were dancing, drinking, and sex orgies, while in the cellar people were executed who were considered to be anti-Communists and had been arrested by these troops. The corpses were buried -under the floor of the cellar. In August 1941, after the Soviet troops were driven out of Estonia, the mass graves in these cellars were opened by Estonians and the corpses found, usually with bullet holes in the back of neck.

Exhibit No. 13 shows that even animals cannot be safe from Communist terror. Before they were forced to leave their position in the cemetery of Kopli, in Tallinn, Estonia, Communist forces killed many hundreds of horses. (P. 11.)

Exhibit No. 14 is a photograph of a bloodstained bench in a secret police Estonian nest where Estonian patriots shed their blood at the hands of the Communists shortly after they seized power. (P. 14.)

Exhibit No. 15 is one of a series, which can be made public, of graves outside secret police.prisons in Estonia. This particular photograph was smuggled out by the underground and shows two graves outside the secret police headquarters in Tartu, Estonia. ( P. 14.)

Mr. ARENS. Do you have exhibits respecting the deportation of Estonians?

Mr. RoMPPANEN. Yes. Exhibit No. 16 is a photograph of just one boatload of innocent Estonians who were the victims of mass arrests, but who fortunately-or unfortunately as the case may be--escaped immediate executions. This _particular boatload was being transported from Estonia to the U.S.S.R. (P. 15.)

Exhibit No. 17 and exhibit No. 18 are secret-police railway account lists covering deportation orders by the Communists of 30 persons in each of 22 railroad cars. (Pp. 15-16.)

You will observe in exhibit No. 18 that the accounting sheet for the description of the deportation plan was filled out by Chairman K. Kikkas, one of the three men on the deportation committee of the county of Parnumaa, Estonia. The adding mistakes on the record indicate his educational background. (P. 16.)

Mr. ARENS. Do you have a more recent picture depicting the situa-tion in Estonia ? ·

Mr. RoMPPANEN. Perhaps the most typical picture would be exhibit No. 19, which portrays an armored car operated by the Communists patrolling the streets of that unhappy land. ( P. 16.)

Mr. ARENS. The next country in alphabetical order, I presume, is Finland ; is that correct?

Mr. RoMPPANEN. Yes~ Exhibit No. 20 is an excerpt of Finnish Field Marshal Mannerheim's orders of the day on March 14, 1940. This exhibit fairly well speaks for itself, _because it reveals the hard fact that notwithstanding the terrible losses of the Finnish


people in their fight against the Soviet Union, a large part of Finnish soil was taken over by the enemy. (P. 17.)

Exhibit No. 21 typifies the mass exodus from that part of Finland taken over by the Soviet Union. Over a half million people abandoned their homes, fought the bitter cold as they crossed into remaining fre~ Finland in the wake of the Communist takeover. (P. 17.)

Mr. ARENS. The next country on our alphabetical list is Hungary. Mr. RoMPPANEN. Of the hundreds and hundreds of authentic pic

tures of Hungary, I should like to invite your attention only to a few which are typical.

Perhaps I would do well to introduce the theme on Hungary by calling your attention to exhibit No. 22, which is a photograph carried in Communist publications in Hungary showing a Hungarian worker in conference with a Communist official in which the worker is asking the Communist official to intervene with the authorities in the United States to permit his relatives living in the United States to return to Hungary because of the miserable conditions found to exist in the United States. (P. 18.)

Of course, notwithstanding the propaganda and the armed might imposed upon the unhappy people of Hungary by the Communists, the world knows of the heroic struggle of the Freedom Fighters.

Exhibit No. 23 portrays the beginning of the fight for freedom by the Hungarian people. It is a photograph of a peaceful demonstration on October 23, 1956, in which thousands of students and workers met in a peaceful demonstration against Communist tyranny. (P.18.)

Exhibit No. 24 portrays the result of the peaceful demonstration. It is a picture of the first victim of violence following the peaceful demonstration. It shows a Hungarian university girl student, unarmed, who was promptly murdered by the Communist secret police because she asked only for freedom. (P. 19.)

Exhibit No. 25 is a photograph revealing the criminal types enlisted by the Communists in the secret police. This particular photograph was taken by one of the Freedom Fighters. (P. 20.)

Exhibit No. 26 and exhibit No. 27 show two scenes which could be multiplied ad nauseum, the wreckage in the wake of the struggleof the people of Hungary for their freedom. ( Pp. 20-21.)

I especially invite your attention to exhibit No. 28, which portrays Radio Budapest, which at the height of the struggle of the Hungarian people for their freedom carried on an appeal from one of the prominent bishops who pleaded over the microphone to the free world in these words: "I ask you in the name of Jesus Christ to help us." (P.21.)

Finally, I invite your attention to exhibit No. 29, which was taken at the mass trials conducted by the Communists after their suppression of the people of Hungary. In these trials 2,500 Freedom Fighters were sentenced to death. Of course, as the world knows, untold thousands were also doomed to exile, Siberian labor camps, imprisonment, and other inhumanities, with or without trial. (-P. 22.)

Mr. ARENS. The next country, please. _ Mr. RoMPPANEN. Of the dozens of photographs which we have

authenticated from East Berlin on the Communist "paradise" there, I just wish to direct your attention to one that is typical.

Exhibit No. 30 is taken outside a police barricade showing Communist justice for political prisoners. (P. 22.)

Mr. ARENS. And the next country, please.


ExHmiT No. 14

ExHIBIT No. 15


ExHIBIT No. 16

EXHIBIT N 0. 17


ExHIBIT No. 18

ExHIBIT No. 19


ExHIBIT No. 20

EXHIBIT N 0. 21


ExHIBIT No. 22

ExHIBIT No. 23


ExHIBIT No. 24

52020 0-60--4


EXHIBIT No. 25

ExHIBIT No. 26


EXHIBIT No. 27

EXHIBIT No. 28


ExHIBIT No. 29

ExHIBIT No. 30


Mr. RoMPPANEN. The next country is Latvia. Exhibit No. 31 shows the Red army tanks entering the capital of

Latvia, Riga, as liberators on June 17, 1940. (P. 24.) Exhibit No. 32 is a photograph of the chief of the Latvian Boy

Scouts, Gen. Karlis Gopphers, who was tortured to death by the Communists after their liberation of Latvia. (P. 24.)

Exhibit No. 33 shows his badly maimed corpse. (P. 25.) Exhibit No. 34 is a view in the cellar of the Communist police in

Latvia where still more "unreliable" Latvian patriots met their deaths at the hands of the Communists. ( P. 26.)

Exhibits No. 35 and 36 show Communist hypocrisy in action. In Riga, Latvia, a "free" Red election is in :progress (No. 35) while, only blocks away in the same city, political obJectors are being murdered in a Communist execution chamber (No. 36). (P. 26.)

Exhibit No. 37, as you will see from the other exhibits I have here, all of which have been authenticated, reveals portraits of a number of Latvian workers who resisted the iron discipline of their Communist masters. (P. 27.)

Exhibit No. 38 shows how the Communists attempted to inflict their antitheistic "way of life" upon their captives. This is a photograph taken at a Red antireligious exhibition in the Latvian capital of Riga. (P. 27.)

Exhibit No. 39 is an order written by the chief of the Communist police in Latvia, S. Shustin. This order, translated, says: "Shoot all socially dangerous persons." (P. 28.)

As you see here, I have, with proper authentication, picture after picture, photograph after photograph, of the bodies of men, women, and children in all walks of life who are regarded by the Communists as "socially dangerous."

~1r. ARENS. Now may we proceed to the exhibits on Lithuania~ Mr. RoMPPANEN. Exhibit No. 40 is a photograph from Communist

sources showing the Red army parades in the streets of Lithuania, with the Red army again portrayed as liberators. (P. 28.)

As you see, I have photograph after photograph showing mass graves, torture victims of the Communist demons. For example·, exhibit No. 41 is a mass grave, one of literally thousands, in which Lithuanian patriots· were buried after torture by the Communists. (P. 29.)

Here is a photograph, exhibit No. 42, which is rare. I am certain the Communists would have given a high price not to have the free world see it. This particular photograph is from a labor camp in Lithuania showing the barbed wire, the armed sentinel. (P. 29.)

In the adjoining photograph, exhibit No. 43, the bodies of some of more than 450 prisoners who were murdered by the Communists because they did not relish the "political" system or the new economic order, as some mi~ht say. (P. 30.)

Likewise, the Communists would pay a high price, I assume, if they could have the details on the next two exhibits, exhibit No. 44 and exhibit No. 45.

Exhibit No. 44 is a specially devised torture chamber, made soundproof, with other special devices, to conceal from the outside world their unspeakable horrors. You will observe by the arrow in exhibit No. 44 the accumulated remains of human bodies. (P. 30.)

Exhibit No. 45 reveals another bloodstained torture chamber from a specific place in Lithuania. (P. 31.)


EXHIBIT N 0. 31

ExHIBIT No. 32


ExHIBIT No. 33


ExHIBIT No. 34

ExHIBIT No. 35 ExHIBIT No. 36


ExHIBIT No. 37

ExHIBIT No. 38 .


ExHIBIT No. 39

ExHIBIT No. 40


EXHIBIT N 0. 41

EXHIBIT :Xo. 42


EXHIBIT N 0. 43

ExHIBIT No. 44


ExHIBIT No. 45

ExHIBIT No. 46


Exhibit No. 46 is a composite photograph of eight members of the clergy in Lithuania who have been tortured to death. From left to right, they are : Rev. A. J uknevici us (shot; the Bolshevists poured gasoline over his head and then set him alight) ; Rev. V. Dambrauskas (tortured and then murdered); Rev. Pranas Vitkevicius, Canon tT ?1?-as N avickis (both suffered a cruel death) ; Rev. Povilas RaceVIC! US (shot) ; Rev. Jonas Daugela (shot, upon taking Holy Orders he chose the text "God, our Lord, guide me the way of prayer, work and charity"); Rev. V. Balcius (shot); Rev. V. Balsys (tortured to death, and found with cuts on his forehead and chest and with his intestines slit open). Photographs have been taken of the tortured rema:ins of some of these clergymen, but the photographs reveal a condition of such mutilation that it is impossible to match the mutilated corpses with the physical features revealed in the photographs of the 0lergymen when living. (P. 31.) .

~fr. ARENS. Can you give us, without revealing sources of information which would jeopardize lives, how some of these photographs were taken and smuggled to the free world~

Mr. RoMPPANEN. I am glad you asked that question, because it points up an important element of the hundreds of thousands-no, of the millions-of human beings whom the Communists have destroyed, and are destroying at this moment. They can conceal from the free world only part of their crimes; so enormous, so extensive have been the massacres and the brutalities, that notwithstanding attempts to shroud them in secrecy, heroic people risking their lives with a ·hope that somehow, some way, the free world can know the truth, have taken these and other photographs.

At this point may I say that my work over the last several years with security ~agencies, has not been just for the purpose of accumulating a storehouse of atrocity photographs. By techniques which I need not go into at this time, either on or off the record for that matter, very valuable information is developed as a result of photographsinformation not only as to who is or has been the victim of the Communists, but information confirming patterns of Communist atrocities where and when they are committed, techniques and other vital items which serve a useful purpose in addition to the general purpose of letting the free world know specifically the nature of the godless, maniacal, world conspiracy which would do here on American soil to Americans exactly what it is doing to these hapless people.

I spoke a few moments ago respecting the Communist torture of the clergy in Lithuania ·and said that most of the photographs which had been taken of the corpses of the clergymen showed such mutilation that we cannot positively match up the photograph of the corpse with the photograph of the person before mutilization.

Here is one exception, however, exhibit No. 47, which shows the picture of a Catholic priest before he was barbarously tortured to death by the Communists, and afterward. This is the body of Reverend Petrika, who was chaplain at a secondary school in a town in Lithuania called Mariampole. (P. 34.)

Here is a photograph, exhibit No. 48, of a boxcar which was part of a train packed with human beings being. deported from the Baltic States to slave labor camps in the Soviet Union. I believe Khrushchev


now has changed the name of slave labor camps, and of course as a result of this change of name, many people in the free world jump to the conclusion that there no longer are slave labor camps in the Soviet Union. (P. 34.)

Mr. ARENS. Now, are we ready for Poland~ ~1r. RoMPPANEN . . May I call your attention to exhibit No. 49,

which is a view of an incident, if we can call it an incident, that the free world has long lmown but appears to have quickly forgotten. (P. 35.)

It is the view of the mass graves in the l{atyn Forest, where 4,242 Polish Army officers were murdered, not in armed conflict on the field of battle, but murdered in cold blood because they were not regarded as trustworthy by the Communists. No trace was ever found of almost 6,000 other officers.

I have, as you see, other views taken in the Katyn Forest, of the bodies of these victims of communism.

Again I say it is not my purpose just to be displaying atrocity pictures for the sake of exciting emotions without cause. It is difficult, however, for me to restrain my own emotions when I view these next three or four exhibits of children, particularly when l{hrushchev speaks in 'a grandiose manner with a smile on his face about our grandchildren here in this country living under communism, and particularly when I have read in the papers during his recent visit, and have seen photographs of l{hrushchev, the master Communist, kissing babies, holding children, and even sitting at the fireside at Gettysburg, in what has been portrayed as "a heartwarming family scene" with the grandchildren of the leader of the -free world, the President of the United States.

'Gentlemen, these photographs here, I pledge my life, are authentic. They are true. They are not fabricat;ed. They have come into my possession and have been checked and rechecked, and they are an accurate reproduction of what our grandchildren here in this country can expect if l{hrushchev's hordes, and if Khrushchev's propaganda, and if Khrushchev's subversion, and if Khrushchev's political warfare, and if l{hrushchev's brainwashing, is not resisted and defeated.

Here, exhibit No. 50, is a picture of a 14-year-old Polish boy whose name is Jan l{orski, after he was relea.sed fr01n a Soviet forced labor camp in Soviet Union. (P. 35.)

Here is a picture of another Polish boy, exhibit No. 51, after he was released from a Communist forced labor camp in the Soviet Union, whose name is Jan l{okiak, age 14. (P. 36.)

Here, exhibit No. 52, is a picture of a 2-year-old Polish girl whose name is Barbara Hiwinska, after she was released from a Soviet forced labor camp, who was left to starve after her parents were incarcerated for some type of political offense. (P. 36.)

Here, exhibit No. 53, is a picture of three Polish children, taken inside Communist forced labor cmnp in the south of the Soviet Union (Buzuluk) near the Caspian Sea. (P. 37.)

Here are two photographs, exhibit No. 54 and exhibit No. 55, of two Polish children after they were released from a forced labor camp in the south of the Soviet Union (Buzuluk) near the Caspian Sea, and hospitalized. The boy's na1ne in exhibit No. 54 is Julian Swastyk, age 10. (Pp. 37-38.)


ExHIBIT No. 47

EXHIBIT N 0. 48


ExHIDIT No. 49

ExHIBIT No. 50


ExHIBIT No. 51

EXHIBIT N 0. 52


ExHmiT No. 53

ExHIBIT No. 54


ExHIBIT No. 55

ExHIBIT No. 56


Here, exhibit No. 56, is a picture of a Polish boy, a:fter he was released from a Soviet forced labor camp in the Soviet Union. (P. 38.)

How, I ask you, gentlemen, can the free world accept this monster Khrushchev as the symbol of this awful nightmare~ How can he be wined and dined here in this free land and permitted to touch his lips to the cheeks of the children who are the fruit of this free society~ Is the free world blind~ Thank God there is at least on American soil this Committee on l Jn-A1nerican Activities which has the courage to be a vehicle by which my humble atte1npts may remind those who are yet free what they, too, face, unless they wake up, and wake up pretty soon.

Mr. ARENS. Do you have any exhibits on Czechoslovakia~ Mr. RoMPPANEN. Yes, sir. It its not my intention, as I say, just to repeat atrocity pictures which

I could do, as you see, from the exhibits from your staff's study, of the great number of documents which I have on the subject of Czechoslovakia.

I wish only to mention exhibits No. 57, showing a picture of the Czechoslovakian Communist Militia, which is part and parcel of the brute force employed by the Kremlin against the Czechs. (P. 42.)

Likewise, with reference to Rumania, I have only one exhibit here which I think typifies the theme, namely exhibit No. 58, showing the remains of a church in Rumania after the Communist takeover. (P. 42.)

I say this photograph is typical because as you gentlemen here know, all religion, all churches, are prime objects of Communist hatred and in Communist teachings must be destroyed.

Mr. ARENS. The next one, please. Mr. RoMPPANEN. Next in the order of presentation is the Ukraine. Before proceeding with the documents under the Ukraine, may I say

that it has been my privilege to read the series which this committee has recently been publishing entitled "The Crimes of Khrushchev," in which witnesses who were present in the Ukraine during the massacres perpetrated by Khrushche·v gave firsthand testimony about those occurrences, and I believe identified a number of photographs of Khrushchev's victims.

Some of the photographs which I have been able to verify are duplicates, or perhaps from the same sources, of the photographs which you gentlemen have already published in your record under "The Crimes of Khrushchev." I will not, of course therefore, duplicate the presentation today.

May I say the free world is apparently very forgetful, to say the least. When Khrushchev was here during his recent visit he expounded at great length on the agricultural program of the Soviet Union, and I remember particularly reading of the manner in which he was escorted from farm to farm and from agricultural experiment stations, and the like-all on the assumption that he had a keen interest, and a legitimate interest, in agriculture.

Why didn't someone, while he was here on this trip posing as one interested in agriculture, ask him about the agricultural program which he irnitiated and carried out in the ·ukraine in which, in order to accomplish the forced collectivization of the peasants in the 1Jkraine while he was dictator, or Communist boss there, he exterminated 6


million human souls in a calculated devilish seizure of their crops in a manmade famine.

Of course you gentlemen have already gone into this subject in your presentation of "The Crimes of Khrushchev," but these authenticated photographs here reveal some of the results of Khrushchev's agricultural program.

Exhibit No. 59 is a photograph of a number of corpses who were innocent peasants starved to death in the Ukraine when Khrushchev was the Red boss there, in a calculated cold blooded· deliberate seizure of their crops, because they resisted collectivization. (P. 43.)

Remember, gentlemen, I am not speaking of statistics here; these photographs are not photographs of an ideology or philosophical concept or of a political organism, or of an economic system. These photographs are the photographs of men, women, and children who, like you and me at this instant, were alive, who had souls, who had minds, who had blood beating in their veins, but who were the victims of communism and who were the victims more specifically of the man who was so recently welcomed to these shores.

Exhibit No. 60 again shows a dying child, helpless victim of the merciless Khrushchev. (P. 43.)

I am sure it would be repetitious for me to burden the record with additional photographs pertaining to the Ukraine, especially since this ·committee has so recently adequately covered this subject.

Mr. ARENS. May I ask, Mr. Romppanen, if you have exhibits pertaining to Communist atrocities in Asia~

Mr. RoMpPANEN. Oh, yes. But as I explained before-perhaps you weren't present at the time, Mr. Arens, in the sessions which I had with the other members of the staff-we have a vast accumulation of documentary material on the crimes of the Communists in all of Asia. I am not yet ready, however, to make a formal presentation of those because we are still checking to verify without question the validity and accuracy and authenticity of each and every photograph and document before I would attempt to make a public disclosure.

I can only say that if these documents with which I have been working with certain intelligence agencies and with your staff, are shocking, they are simply nothing compared to what is presently going on in the Asian countries controlled by Communists, particularly in Red China.

I "had the privilege of reading a consultation which your committee had several months ago with a number of clerg-ymen who had escaped from Red China, and who testified about the horrors out there of the Communist regime. The situation there is unspeakable, simple unspeakable, of the brutality, inhumanity, oppression.

Soon I hope to have the green light from the intelligence agencies to work with your staff in preparation of a similar presentation of documentary material on Communist atrocities in Asia.

How anyone could glance at these docnments on the Communist atrocities in Asia and then speak of the admission of the Communist Chinese regime into the United Nations on the theory that they truly represent the millions of people whom they hold in subjugation, is beyond my comprehension.

I sometimes wonder if the :free world is not deliberately closing its


eyes, not deliberately holding its hands over its ears; not deliberately turning its :face away :from the realities o:f communism today.

You will pardon this aside, but as one who has :for 30 years been studying reports, photographs, and documentary records o:f communism as it really is, it is difficult :for me to contain mysel:f in the face of the apathy and indifference-and more-the spirit o:f trust and cooperation which the :free world, at least the leadership circles, indulges in, in regard to the Communists.

Mr. ARENS. And now I believe the last country is the Soviet Union. Mr. RoMPPANEN. By way o:f introduction to the U.S.S.R., I would

like to offer exhibit No. 61, the authentication o:f which comes :from the American Federation o:f Lrubor. (P. 44.)

This exhibit, which, I am sure, was circulated quite widely in the :free world, reveals the sites o:f :forced labor camps within · the Soviet Union.

This is based on 14,000 affidavits collected by the American Federation o:f Labor from former inmates that escaped :from slave labor camps within the Soviet Union.

Now this map, I should say, reveals the slave labor camps in the Soviet Union in 1951.

Because of the rather widespread circulation o:f this map and other documentary material respecting slave labor camps in the Soviet Union, the Communists have more recently, as I stated previously, professed to the outside world that they have now abandoned slave labor camps.

That the Communists would profess this does not puzzle me at all. What does puzzle me is that so many people in the :free world would accept their words at :face value.

I was gratified in reading the series by your committee on "The Crimes o:f Khrushchev," to see the testimony on :forced labor in the Soviet Union at the present time. This testimony, I was pleased to see. came :from witnesses who knew what they were talking about and did not base their observations on a sightseeing tour conducted by Communist gu:ards :for the purpose o:f deceiving those who apparently wanted to be deceived.

This leads me to call your attention to the :farce and fiction which many people bring back to the United States about the Soviet Union when they ~o to learn all about it on a 2 weeks' tour.

Exhibit No. 62 shows a sumptuous banquet table with Khrushchev and some o:f his one-time conspirators enjoying the high li:fe, with plenty to eat and drink. ( P. 44.)

Exhibit No. 63 shows a typical Russian family off the beaten pathI emphasize off the beaten path-who are eating the family dinner :from one bowl, consisting o:f cabbage soup with potatoes. (P. 45.)

I was so grateful to read the report by your committee which was released a short time ago on the Communist parcel operation, which tells the truth about the sufferings o:f the people inside the Soviet TJ nion and behind the Iron Curtain. I remember your report revealing the Communists having an operation going- in the United States now, in which they are extracting millions o:f dollars :from the American people who pay :for :food and clothing to be sent to :friends and relatives who live in the Communist "paradise" behind the Iron Curtain.


ExHIBIT No. 57

' ExHIBIT No. 58


ExHIBIT No. 59

ExHIBIT No. 60


ExHmiT No. 61

labor In the Sovl•l Union

ExHIBIT No. 62


ExHIBIT No. 63

ExHIBIT No. 64


ExHIBIT No. 65

ExHIBIT No. 66


ExHIBIT No. 67

ExHIBIT No. 68


I am amused---and it would be amusing if it were not so seriousto see the culture of ·the Soviet Union portrayed in their fairs and other exhibits.

My exhibit No. 64 is a picture of the "Pak of Culture." It is an exhibitory masterpiece for selected party members and for foreigners. The whole idea, of course, is to portray the idea that there is true culture in the Communist empire and that, after all, these Communists are really civilized. (P. 45.)

Exhibit No. 65, however, shows a one-room apartment, revealing the "glories" under communism, where the average citizen, under the regime, must live with his family, even in the big cities. (P. 46.)

Exhibit No. 66 shows a department store in Moscow. This is one of the stores where American "suckers" are taken when they tour Moscow, of course under Communist auspices. (P. 45.)

What the American visitors are not told, however, is that this department store is patronized only by high party officials, part of the elite who do have the means to purchase the merchandise displayed.

The American tourist is not told the truth. He is not told that the average worker cannot afford the rich hams, the caviar, and the other merchandise sold in the state department stores in the Soviet Union.

The foreign visitors to the Soviet Union are taken to elegant apartments, such as the one portrayed here in exhibit No. 67. (P. 47.)

They are not taken to the Soviet Union worker's family, which shares one room, as revealed in exhibit No. 68. (P. 47.)

With reference to the Soviet Union, you will observe that I have not submitted ·for your record photographs of the mass murders and other atrocities which are now fairly common public property. I have, with reference to the Soviet Union, only tried to cover these two or three points.

My only hope, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, is that somehow, in some way, the leaders of this great country which is the hope of the world, will understand the nature of the enemy we :face.

The people whose photographs I have revealed in these exhibits, if they could speak from their graves, would utter a warning: "You who are yet free must beho1d the awful truth; there is no compromise possible with communism; unless it is overcome and vanqUished it will destroy you, too."

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Romppanen, I feel that anything I could say at this time would be anticlimatic. I can only say that we should be looking forward to your presentation of similar documentary material on Communists in action in Asia.

Thank you very much. (The consultation with Klaus Samuli Gunnar Romppanen was con

cluded at .6:45p.m., Wednesday, January 13, 1960.)

INDEX

INDIVIDUALS Page

Balcius (Valentinas)---------------------------------------------~--- 31,32 Balsys (Vaclovas) --------------------------------------------------- 31, 32 I>ambrauskas (Vaclovas)--------------------------------------------- 31,32 I>augela, Jonas------------------------------------------------------ 31,32 Gopphers, Karlis------.----------------------------------------------- 23, 24 IIiwinska, .Barbara__________________________________________________ 33 Juknevicius (Andrius)----------------------------------------------- 31,32 Khrushchev (Nikita) ------------------------------------- 1, 32, 33, 39-41,44 Kikkas, K--------------~-------------------------------------------- 12 Kingissepp, Sergei___________________________________________________ 9 Kobiak, Jan---------------------------------------------------------- 33 Korski, Jan--------------------------------------------------------- 33 Leino, Yrjo__________________________________________________________ 2 Lindeberg, ]ded------------------------------------------------------ 9 ]dannerheim (Carl G.)----------------------------------------------- 12 Navickis, Jonas------------------------------------------------------ 31, 32 Petkov, Nikola _______________________________________________________ 5,6,9

Petrika (Jonas)----------------------·------------------------------- 32,34 Racevicius, Povilas ___________________________________ .._ _______________ 31, 32 Romppanen, Klaus Samuli Gunnar ________________________ 2-48 (statement) Scheel, Klaus-------------------------------------------------------- 9 Shustin, S----------------------------------~------------------------ 23 Swastyk, Julian_____________________________________________________ 33 Vitkevicius, Pranas __________________________________________________ 31, 32

ORGANIZATIONS

Albanian VVorkers' PartY--------------------------------------------- 3 American Federation of Labor--------------------------------------~- 41 Bulgarian Agrarian Union____________________________________________ 5 Bulgarian I>emocratic Party----------------------------------------- 5 Radio Budapest------------------------------------------------------ 13 The Fight for Freedom-A Pictorial ExhibiL-------------------------- 3

0