Dirty Clothes on the Line

At first, Communist authorities were inclined to put it down to college-boy pranks. But it was unsettling to see university students in Prague and Bratislava using the newly revived May festivities this year to lampoon the Communist regime--by such means as parading a trussed-up student bearing the sign ACADEMIC FREEDOM. Even more disturbing, Czech students were showing themselves heady with ideas not found in their government -approved textbooks: they began organizing groups, holding meetings, making demands of the Minister of Education. Before the authorities knew what was happening, Prague students had drawn up several resolutions demanding "democratization of public life" and other far-reaching reforms--retrial of all political cases, less censorship, circulation of foreign newspapers, fewer dull party indoctrinations.

Spreading Trouble. Czechoslovakia's Communist leaders took alarm. Unlike Poland's top leaders, who seem to share some of the current ideological ferment of their countrymen, Czech Reds have been trying to squash any new thoughts among their people. Czech newspapers refused to print the students' resolutions, and the students gave the regime a lesson in enterprise: they fired off copies by air taxi and motorcycle to other Czech university towns, where the resolutions were widely circulated and discussed. Someone sent a copy to Radio Free Europe, and soon the full text was being beamed to all Czechoslovakia.

Last week, at a five-day conference of Czechoslovakia's Communist Party, the party's First Secretary Antonin Novotny admitted that dissatisfaction had spread beyond the students. As a result of Khrushchev's historic speech to the 20th Party Congress, said Novotny, "235 party organizations, embracing a little over 15,000 members, under the influence of ambiguous and incorrect views, made the request that an extraordinary congress of the party should be called." Novotny turned the idea down flat: the party line was correct and "we need not alter it in any way."

Holding the Lid. In proof of the line's amazing adaptability, Novotny tackled an embarrassing task: making his promised new explanation of the execution of Party Secretary Rudolf Slansky in 1952 for "activities against the state." Slansky was guilty, all right, explained Novotny, but not of what he was accused of. The charges presented in court, particularly those implicating Tito's Yugoslavia, were all "false and fabricated." But authorities had since discovered new Slansky crimes, e.g., torturing suspects. Therefore, Slansky would not be rehabilitated.

To satisfy the party's dissident elements, more had to be done. The party promptly sacked Prosecutor General Vaclav Ales, the judge at Slansky's trial, and two Cabinet ministers. The conference closed on a note of repression. Newspapers were warned against "incorrect ideas," and "reactionary elements among students" were threatened darkly. Dozens of students were picked up by police. The Czechs were laboring hard to keep the lid on.

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