Grave Election

From Berlin, TIME Correspondent Jack Fleischer reported:

Two weeks ago a huge billboard covered with propaganda posters of the Soviet-backed Socialist Unity Party (SED) attracted unusual attention in the heart of bomb-shattered Dresden in the Russian zone. Plastered squarely in the center of the billboard was a red poster bearing the slogan: "Wir haben kein Papier, aber wir sind auch hier" (We have no paper, but we are also here). The poster was signed by the anti-Communist Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Firemen soon tore down the poster, but thousands of Dresdeners had enjoyed a good chuckle.

The incident typified the political situation as Germans in the Soviet zone prepared to vote last week in the first "free and democratic" elections since 1933. On the surface all political parties and organizations like trade unions, which are recognized by the Soviet military administration, had equal rights in the campaign. In practice the dice were loaded heavily in favor of the Socialist Unity Party. In private conversations with Germans, Russian officers recently have gone so far as to refer to the Socialist Unity Party as the "Staatspartei" (state party). After all, it is the outgrowth of last Easter's Russian-backed merger of Communists and Social Democrats in the Russian zone and Berlin.

Rare as a Swastika. The Dresden billboard incident points up only one of many direct and indirect methods the Russians have employed to give the SED maximum advantages over the other two parties, CDU and Liberal Democrats (LDP). Lampposts, streetcars, newspaper kiosks, billboards and public buildings scream with SED campaign posters throughout the Russian zone, but CDU and LDP posters are almost as rare as a swastika. In the Land of Saxony, the SED has a daily newspaper with a million circulation. The LDP organ, appearing thrice weekly, has 50,000 circulation and the CDU newspaper, with 35,000 circulation, is published only twice weekly.

Election regulations specify that each party or organization can put up its own candidate list only in communities where it has a local organization. The favored SED has been able to establish organizations in most communities. The other two parties lag far behind. The SED people have little difficulty getting automobiles and gasoline. Other parties are largely immobile. In Saxony, the SED was recently allotted 30,000 liters of gasoline, the LDP 100 liters.

Officially all parties must obtain permission of the local German authorities or Russian commander to hold meetings; speakers and speeches must be approved by the Russians. The interminable list of SED rallies indicates that the party has little trouble obtaining permits. Other parties, as one discouraged CDU leader put it, "run into endless chicanery." He added: "It has developed into quite a set pattern. We plan a meeting and tentatively reserve a hall. We submit application for the meeting, but days and sometimes weeks elapse. By the time we receive the approval our hall has been taken by somebody else--for instance, the Red Army requisitions it for showing a movie."

Helping Hand. The Russians' decision to release 120,000 German prisoners of war from Russian camps was beautifully handled to reflect credit upon the SED. Otto Grotewohl, co-chairman of SED, was permitted to announce the release in mid-July at a convention of women's committees in Berlin. A similar maneuver characterized the Russian decree of July 14 announcing increased rations for invalids and expectant mothers. The announcement began: "At the request of the SED and for improving food conditions of the German population. . . ."

Besides such direct aids, the SED's entire campaign oozes with the theme: "If the SED wins, the Russians will reward you; if the SED loses, life will be terrible."

Peace Bait & War Threat. Whispered predictions of what will happen if the SED loses include: further dismantling and removal of German industries to Russia, reduced food rations, even worse economic conditions and heavier reparations, and still stricter control by the Soviet occupation authorities. The crassest of whispered slogans is: "If you want peace, vote for the SED. If you want war vote for CDU or LDP."

To Germans opposing the SED the entire spectacle seems like a re-run of a show they've seen many times. "Now it's the red front instead of the brown front," these Germans remark cynically.

In spite of all, the CDU seems able to claim considerable strength in the Russian zone. CDU leaders, like capable, sincere Chairman Jacob Kaiser, seriously considered boycotting the elections, but finally decided to participate. Their reason in effect was: if we don't participate, it means virtual dissolution of the party. But the Russians probably would continue the party artificially as a stage decoration with weak leaders who would bow to the Russians. On the other hand, our participation may attract the rest of Germany's and the world's attention to the situation in the Russian zone. Germans voting in the zonal elections actually won't be electing councilmen as much as they will be registering their decision on overall Weltanschauung. . . . If they vote SED, they approve the Soviet system; if they vote CDU or LDP, they endorse Western democracy.

The difficulty is whether the Germans, confused and depressed as they are today, can see the issue that clearly.

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