GENERALS HATE AND FEAR
One of the objectives of the military coup d'état in Athens is to prevent the Greek people from reading certain kinds of literature.
A good example is the pamphlet, War and Revolution in Vietnam. The place of origin of this piece of socialist literature, however, is not the Soviet Union, not the People's Republic of China, not nearby Albania or Yugoslavia, not Cuba or even the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. It was written by Doug Jenness, one of the leaders of the Young Socialist Alliance, an American youth organization that believes in Trotskyisn.
The pamphlet was translated into Greek and published some months ago in Athens as an exposé of the U.S. role in the Vietnam war.
The Greek edition was dedicated to Leo Bernard, a young member of the Socialist Workers party, who was murdered by an ultrarightist in Detroit, Michigan, last year.
Bernard is described in the dedication as “a fighter against the war of terror in Vietnam."
A prologue commends the struggle of American youth against the Vietnam war in the following way:
"Greek workers and youth can learn a great deal about Johnson and the war in Vietnam from this pamphlet as’ well as the widespread and courageous struggle of a large part of the American people, led by the worker and student youth, against this war."
The publishing house which translated and printed this pamphlet has made available many other revolutionary socialist works, including The Sino-Soviet Dispute by E. Germain, The Professional Dangers of Power by Christian Rakovsky, Revolution or Reform by Rosa Luxemburg, and the following by Leon Trotsky: Their Morals and Ours, The October Revolution, The Moscow Trials, Whither France 1934, The Crimes of Stalin, Diary in Exile, Lenin, Science and Philosophy, and What Is National Socialism?
The same publishers have sponsored a monthly publication O Logos Mas [Our Word], a journal that deals with current events as well as fundamental problems of interest to the Greek workers and the socialist movement.
Nothing directly has been heard from the editorial board of this interesting publication since the coup d'état. It is quite likely that they were among those caught in the nationwide raids staged by the reactionary generals who seized power. ;
The most recent issues of O Logos Mas have not yet been received in New York. The February issue dealt with the Greek elections which the generals have now decided to quash, the Sinto-Soviet dispute, the war in Vietnam and the Aspida trial.
It carried an extensive review of Marxism vs. Existentialism, the book by the American socialist scholar and leader of the Socialist Worker party, George Novack which was published in New York last year.