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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1966)
Ex-Communist Warns of Threat ny /ii.i.kin n/ill,hy Amocllle Editor "When ( Joined the Communist Party, I made the greatest mis take of my life," said ex PHI ni!ent Karl Prussion in ids speech Thursday. Prussion was a member of the Communist Party of the United States for 2(i years, the last 13 of which were spent as a counter spy for the FBI. I learned through bitter experi ence . . . that they tiad lied to me,” tie said of his first four years in the party, which he join ed as a student at Wayne Uni versity. After that, Prussion tried five times to tell the FBI of his mem bership, ofllering to work for the organization and become a secret agent. Cave Him Recognition Communists, he explained, "gave me an awful lot of recogni tion and made me feel like I was wanted . . This is an old tactic of the Communists, and they are doing it on our campuses today.” "In fact, there was an increase of 20 tier cent in Communist Party membership in the United States in the past year," he quot ed FBI director J Edgar Hoover The methods used by Commu nists to influence Prussion while he was in college were calculat ed to make the young student feel1 more important. leaches \ loir nee "The Communist objective . . a Communist dictatorship where men will live by bread alone” was how' the speaker described what he found to be the party's only concern not the men themselves Training in the Communist Party taught members to "partici pate in provocation and violence." Prussion said that he even wit nessed the fatal beating of a party member who had been discovered to be an KB I agent. Also pres ent were two members of the Na tional Labor Relations Board, who were also party members. After he got out of college. Prussion was sent by the party to a Communist-run school One of his courses there was in insurrec tion methods, taught by Gertrude Hesslcr, who had trained at the Lenin Institute in Moscow. "Have you ever lived on bread and water for ten days?” the speaker asked. He explained that students in the Communist school had been made to do this to test their ability to “endure in a rev olutionary situation.” Schools Help Party American schools today help the Communists in their quest by teaching that “we should try to learn about Communists, so that we can co-exist with them,” he said. Another way they help is by teaching that the Communist Party is a political party, based on a philosophy. "However,” he continued, "my definition of a philosophy is one which has to fall within the realm of truth . . and Communists are liars, deceivers . . . men of ex pediency.” A "rift” between the Soviet Union and Red China, said the speaker, does not really exist, but is only thought to exist be cause of the difference in the t_UN VfcNIfcN I LOCATIONS EUGENE 6th & Jefferson 296 Coburg Rd. SPRINGFIELD io. A and 8th ways in which the two countries pursue their goals. One of them (Russia) takes a peaceful course of action, while the other advocates violence. Russia, China Co-operate “But have we forgotten that Red armies invaded Kstonia, Lat via, and Lithuania in years past?" “Red Russia today is co-operat ing with Red China” in the Viet Nam Conflict, he said, to show the lack of a “rift." One of the main objectives of the Communists in the United States is to get into unions, civic groups, and political affairs to gain their ends. “Morally illegal” was the term used by Prussion for that type of activity. "It is legalized illegality for our own destruction,” he explain ed, and the Supreme Court has helped to legalize it. "The ACLU has always been the armor plate and protective coat for the Communist Party of the United States,” Prussion claimed. Three "transmission belts” for party workers exist in the Uni ted States today: church “com munity action” campaigns, labor unions and political organizations. "Churches,” said Prussion, "are the greatest obstacle they (the Communists) have to overcome.” Agents of the party have been sent to organize such groups as the Christian Youth League, which Prussion helped to form in Flint, Mich., at one time. This organization, which had over 400 members at one time, eventually held a demonstration in which Communist leaders start ed fights It turned into a riot in short time, and police brutality was charged when police had to use force to break up the distur bance ‘‘This does sound familiar, doesn't it?” he asked, and said that the same tactics are still used by the party that were used 30 years ago at that particular demonstration The Communist Party sent Prussian to Detroit after that, to infiltrate the union movement. Though the automobile factory he worked in there had good working conditions, he helped to stage false “poor working condi tions.” .Soon after that, the plant was unionized by the young Commu nist and Prussion was elected head of the union local, lie then worked his way into the Demo cratic Party’s structure in Wayne County, Michigan From there, Prussion went to California, where he described the Communists' great amount of influence in the California Demo cratic Club, which was “the most influential organization affecting the administration of California,” he said. “The Los Altos area is by far the most effective area for Communist activity in the United States today,” Prussion claimed, describing his home at the time of the 1960 House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings in San Francisco. Prussion testified there at hear ' inf's, which were marred by large demonstrations. “If you don’t oppose them <Communists) you cannot hope ; to defeat them,” he said, and con ; eluded his speech with a descrip tion of the new anti-Communist | movements in the country. These organizations, he stated, arc doing a valuable job in hin : dering the Communists in their efforts to turn the United States into a dictatorship. Shriver Applauds University Effort Editor’s Note: As one of his last official acts as director of the Peace Corps, Sargent Shriver wrote a letter to University students commending them for their response to Peace Corps Week, which elevated the University to first among colleges in recruiting. The final aptitude test will he given at 2 p.m. Saturday. The loom will be posted in the Student Union. To the Students of the University of Oregon: I have followed with great interest the recent Peace Corps re cruiting effort at the University of Oregon, and was pleased to note that 421 students expressed interest in working with the Peace Corps by signing up to take the placement tests. That 226 Oregon men and women have thus far submitted questionaires and taken the test is most encouraging to me. When John F. Kennedy first proposed the idea of the Peace corps in 1961, he said that he was sure there were many Americans that would be willing to put their skills to use for two years in developing nations around the world. There were many who doubted that a sufficient number of young Americans would be willing to participate in such a unique program. The number of Oregon students who have responded to the idea this year, and since 1961, is a vigorous answer to those who ques tion the promise of your generation. I understand that the final placement tests to be administered at Oregon will be given Sat., Jan. 29. and it is my sincere hope that those students who have not yet submitted their applications will do so and take the test. Many thanks to you all for your interest in the Peace Corps. Sargent Shriver, Peace Corps Director - I STUDENT UNION BOARD presents LES McCANN, LTD. Monday, February 14, 1966 S.U. Ballroom 8:00 p.m. Admission: $2.00 & $1.50 Tickets on Sale at Mattox Pipe Shop and SU Main Desk Beginning January 31 UNITED AIR LINES conducting interviews for Stewardess Apply now for assignments to spring and early summer classes. Fly with the Nation's largest airline into 116 exciting cities across the Nation and to Howaii. Train in our modern Stewardess Center in Chicago at company ex pense. Enjoy free and reduced rate transportation for self and parents, plus other benefits. First year average earnings range from $350 to $425 a month. QUALIFICATIONS: SINGLE Min. age 20 (those 191/2 may apply for future assignments) HEIGHT 5'2” to 5'9” WEIGHT in proportion to height CONTACT lenses accepted COLLEGE or public contact experience required APPLY IN PERSON 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. FRIDAY, JANUARY 28 EUGENE HOTEL An Equal Opportunity Employer OPENING TONIGHT AT University Theatre W O R L D p R E M I E R E RICHARD F. STOCKTON'S EXCITING NEW DRAMA ONE WORLD AT A TIME Directed by Faber De Chaine Jan. 28, 29, 30 Feb. 3, 4, 5 8:00 p.m. Box Office Reservations 342-1411, Ext. 1718
