May 31, 1952
PERSECUTION OF COMMUNISTS I: London, May 31 – Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania at the moment seem to be the three satellite states whose leaders Moscow no longer appears to have much confidence in. In Czechoslovakia, in the wake of Rudolf Slansky, the deputy prime minister, Jan Sevcik, has been excluded from the powerful Renaissance Party. There have also been reports from Vienna that Hungarian Prime Minister Matyas Rakosi, also a Jew, has fallen into disfavor. (…) He did not receive the usual congratulatory telegram from Joseph Stalin on his birthday. (…) PERSECUTION OF COMMUNISTS II: In France, apart from the imprisonment of the leader of the country’s Communist Party, Jacques Duclos, charges are also to be brought against the entire leadership of the party. PERSECUTION OF COMMUNISTS III: It has been announced that an investigation is to be opened into the Communist espionage case (involving Nikos Beloyiannis, who has been executed), after the emergence of fresh evidence related to other individuals. STEFANOS SARAFIS: The former leader of the Greek Liberation Army (ELAS) Stefanos Sarafis has left for London along with his British wife Maria Pasquell. The Interior Ministry granted him an emigration permit after he made a promise not to make any political statements while he was out of the country.
