Wednesday, 28 February

The Czech government has declared party membership of five people, namely the former Foreign Minister Clementis, Dr.Gustáv Husák (Chairman of the Slovakia Provincial Cabinet), Laco Novomeský (Slovaic Commissioner of Education), Otto Sling (Communist Political Secretary of the Brno region), Mrs. Marie Švermová (Widow of the Communist resistance hero Jan Šverma), Karol Šmidke (Chairman of Slovakia’s Provincial Parliament) has been cancelled.  The five have been arrested. The government says that all five were conducting anti-party operations and are spies of Britain and the United States. The purge in Czechoslovakia is most certainly eliminating those people who are not so submissive to the doctrines of the Soviet communists. From this we can see the internal dissidence.