Stalin's American Spy by Sharp Tony;

Author:Sharp, Tony;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: C. Hurst and Company (Publishers) Limited
Published: 2014-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Szőnyi further testified that he ‘definitely knew’ that in Switzerland Field was in ‘contact with the Czechoslovak group, notably with Pavlík’ and ‘the Polish political émigré groups’. Later he maintained that he had ‘certain knowledge that the American intelligence centre built up such a secret organisation’ in Czechoslovakia.28 Brankov added that Yugoslav ‘espionage and wrecking activities […] worked much better in Czechoslovakia than in Hungary’.29

Falling into another ‘category’ of communists who were now officially under threat were former members of the International Brigades. Rajk testified about the ‘very strong Trotskyist political activities in the French internment camps’, whose ‘chief organisers’ were ‘those in the Yugoslav group’. Naturally, these Yugoslav ‘Trotskyists’ organised like-minded factions in the other national groups, while in their spare time, as typical ‘Trotskyists’, they worked for the Vichy secret police and the Gestapo.30

Less overt was the warning that the Rajk trial sounded for Jews. Szőnyi, Szalai, Pálffy and Korondy were specifically asked their original names (Hoffman, Ländler, Österreicher, Dergán) at the outset of the trial.31 There was also an odd scene at the very end of Rajk’s testimony where he was challenged about the legality of his using the name Rajk, as his grandfather’s name was Reich and László was born with the surname Rájk. László, who was ‘irritated’ (according to the Blue Book’s ‘stage directions’), retorted that ‘I am of Aryan descent, and genuinely too, because on one side I am Saxon’.32

Presumably the concentration upon changed names by five of the accused was an attempt to suggest that they were all Jewish. Add Justus, who was Jewish, and perhaps the sub-text is that the whole business was not only a ‘Titoist plot’, but a ‘Zionist conspiracy’ too.

Asked if he was a Zionist, Szőnyi’s odd answer was that as far as he knew Vági and Demeter ‘were members of the Zionist movement’. Then, more ominously, he added ‘that in general the Zionist movement maintained very close cooperation with the American secret service’.33

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.