THE BALTICS: The Steel Curtain

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As everywhere, the Russians rule through political terror. A refugee's testimony: "I know it sounds funny to you, but the fact is that to us who escaped to Poland, that country today seems, by comparison, the most wonderfully free, democratic country you could dream of. This is how the MGB (formerly the NKVD) works in our cities: every block is controlled by an MGB boss with his office on the premises. Every house has an MGB informer. The informers control each other. One of them goes to the other and says: 'It's too bad about all this terror in Russia.' The other one says: Is that so?' Some time afterwards the MGB boss summons Agent No. 2 and tells him he is guilty of bourgeois propaganda. 'Don't you remember, some time ago a man spoke against Russia to you? Why didn't you report him?' "

The fear of Siberia is everywhere. The stories that circulate, though possibly exaggerated, are significant. One example: "Varkuta is the name of the place you are sent to. It is a town, or rather a prison camp, the Russians opened in 1943 behind the Urals. There are coal mines covering 4,000 square miles, a total of 1,500,000 slave workers in the pits. The region is subArctic. The ground is so hard frozen that those who die cannot be buried, but are left lying on the tundra, where the wolves and other wild animals take care of them."

The "Limit" Elite. Riga's once famed, numerous pastry shops are empty these days, and the equally numerous florists are little more than a memory. The taverns in Vilna have been transformed into prisons by the MGB. Life is no safer than in Russia, though the standard of nourishment is higher. Related a refugee: "There is no starvation, not so much because the Russians try to prevent it, but because the people are united to such an extent that everyone in need gets help. The farmers are wonderful. Every appeal from the underground for vital foodstuffs is immediately met."

An average worker makes about 300 rubles a month (the price of 2 lbs. of smoked sausage). However, the new overlords, i.e., Russian officials, technicians, "Heroes of the Soviet Union," local Communist big shots, get special privileges. They are known as "limit people" (those who receive the top category of limitnaya kartochka, i.e., ration card). Their ration includes 16 lbs. of meat a month, they are assigned special restaurants, special baths (much of the plumbing is dilapidated), special shows and concerts. A current bitter crack in Riga: "All they are waiting for now is special brothels."

The Russians encourage migrations of their nationals to the Baltics, and the Russians like to come, because they find life there more agreeable than back home. "Russification" proceeds apace. In Tallinn, for example, birth announcements reveal half as many newborn Russians as Estonians. Many schools and churches are closed; Russian (as in Czarist days) has become the official language, and Communism the official religion.