AVOWED TROTSKY IST AMONG | DEPENDAN NDANTS. IN WARSAW COURT
Last May. a Warsaw court sentenced SWO. youths. to prisen. Karol Modzelewski was. given a three-—and- ~a-half-year sentence, Jacek Kuron three years. The” case attracted international attention in view of the fact inhat’ the crime involved was political dissidence with the Gomulka ~egimé and: Karol Modzelewski was the son of Zygmunt Modzelewski, Foreign | Ministet in°the Polish gpOvern— ment from 19%7 to 1951. . a
‘The young rebels were opponents of. capitalism’ ‘and firm believers in communism. Theiz difference. with the” regime was over such issues as the right: to discuss freely.
Apparently their views reflected rathex widespread senti--
ments among student. circles.: A ,roup had formed around these leaders and documents had been circulated... —
Since their laprisonment, little news has appeared about them. Recently the Paris weekly Nouvel Observateur referred to them in an article. signed by. Claude Roy, who visited Poland not long AZO... His snide rémarks about "Visionaries" and “Tudatics " reflect the ‘official view of the bureaucrats, who are so fearful ‘of political dissent. that they will not permit even madmen to . voice it. o : ~~
Another case connected with this’ one, but involving an~ avowed Trotskyist, ended recently in Warsaw. The press has maintained almost complete silence. about it. The following brief. account.,. now circulating © in, Waraaw, has become available to World Qutlobk:. oe, cop - re _ :
4 hong with’ Modzelewsxi- and Kuron,. ‘four other persons ‘were arrested. Their cases were handled "separately. Besides their ~ political positions, they were accused. of having. connéc tions. © abroad, which they denied.
“The four defended their positions © very firmly. “One of the men arrested with them, “Lidwig Haas, was put on’ the witness | stand... At the time. ‘of. the “entry of: the. Soviet’ troops | in Poland, he was “arrested as a Trotskyist. and’ deported for siore than fif-— teen years.. AS a. witness» he. personally, defended the Trotskyist: point of view. Lon
"The defendants and the witness gave the old Communist salute, fists clenched.
“When ‘the verdict was handed down, the defendants sang the International. That's certainly the "first time sincé the end of the war that the proletarian hymn has been sung voluntarily in Poland. People in the courtroom joined the defendants in singing and likewise gave the clenched. fist salute. Afterward they, suffered some reprisals.' .. —— _
On January 13 the Associated Press put the. ‘following few lines from Warsaw on its. wire setvices: -
"Three aintelleétuals’ have been sentenced to three “years ‘in prison by a‘ Warsaw court for having circulated tracts. advocating ‘overturning the Communist’ regime. Those involved~ are the historians Ludwig Haas and Romuald Smiech | and the economist Kasimier2. Badowski."
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