(UNTITLED)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP57-00384R001300070002-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 120
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 11, 2000
• Sequence Number: 2
• Content Type: MISC

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SECRET COPY No.
COMMUNISM
Clandestine Communist Organization
Part One
The Communist Party Underground
SECRET
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T A B L E O F CONTENTS
Page
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS . . , . . . . . . ~.- , ?
PART ONE: THE COMMIST PARTY UNDERGROUND ? , ,
I. ORGANIZATIONAL AND OPERATIONAL PROBLEL;T . ? ,
9
A. Police and Party ? ? , ? r ? ? ? ? . ? ? ? ? ? 7
1, Geographical Factors ? ? e ? 10
2. Population Density , ? , 10
3. Political Factors ? e r ? 10
4, lviass Support for Police 11
Be Adaptability of Party Organization
to Illegal Conditions . . . ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 12
1. Organizational Continuity . . ? , ? . ? 12
Cadre Continuity
3. Discipline and Security . . . . . , . . 14
4, Doctrine as Morale-Builder , . 15
5. Attraction of Doctrine 16
6, Cell System . . . , ? . ? . . . . . . . . 16
7. Backlog of Conspiratorial Experience , . ? 17
C. Organizational Problems: Adjustment to
Illegal Conditions ? . . e ? . ? . . . . . ? . 18
1. Reduction of Party Apparatus . . . ? . . . . 18
a. Consolidation of Territorial
organizations . . . . . , . , . . . ? 18
be Reduction of staffs . , . . . . , , . 18
2. The Command Function: The Triad System . . . 19
3. Compartmentalization . , . , , ? ? , 20
Party and military branches .
be Party and auxiliary (front)
organizations . . . ? . . . , . . 21
c. Party and auxiliary illegal
organizations 21
d, Internal Party Compartmentalization , . . 21
1) Elimination of horizontal liaison ? , 21
2) Restriction of contacts ? ? . , ? , 21
3) Functional restrictions , , . , ? ? 21
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4. Election of Party Committees . . . . . , 21
a. Election of Central Committees . 22
b. Territorial Party committees and
electoral. commissions . , . . . . 22
c. Co-optation . . . . . . . 22
5. Party Organizations Abroad 22
a. Central Committee and Central
Departments . t 23
b. Foreign Bureau . . 23;
C. Regional support centers . . . 23
d. Party organizations for emigrants . . . 23
e, Special service organizations
D. Operational Problems of the Party Underground, . 24
1. The Cadre Problem . . . . . . . . , . . 24
as Replacement of the cadre . . .. . , . 24
b. An adequate cadre reserve 25
c. Ideological and practical training
of the new cadre . . . . , 26
d. The protection of the illegal cadre. . . 26
2. The "Housing"s Problem and Communications . . 27
a, Internal communications
24
27
b. External communications . . . . . . . . 27
c. Reporting points for liaison personnel
from abroad . 28
3. Technical Apparatus . . , 28
4. The Security Problem 30
a. Personal security 31
b. Administrative security 31
50 The Financial Problem . . . . . . . . . . 32
6. Mass Support: the Crucial Political
Problem . , . . . . . . . . . 33
a. Penetration and control of legal
non-Communist parties represent-
ing workers and related class
elements 34
b. Penetration and control of legal
trade unions 34
c. Creation of dummy front organizations
or parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
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II. CASES OF CO1l-;TJIUI IST PARTIES UNDERGROUND , . . ? 35
A. The Bolshevik Party Underground ? . , ? , 36
1. Organization . o f 38
a. The Moscow Organization . . . 39
b. The Odessa Organization . 40
2, Operational Problems ? ? . 41
a. Security Measures e . ? 41
b. Technical Services 43
C. Finances e e f 47
B. CP France Underground ? ? 48
1. Organization . ? 48
a. The Party Center 49
b. Territorial Levels 50
2. Technical Services ? 52
3. Security , 53
a. Modification of Structure , 53
b, Compartmentalization . . . . ? 54
C, Security Rules . . . ? ? ? r 54
1) Restriction of Contacts . . . . . . 54
2) Security of Meetings . . , 55
3) Safeguarding Party.Records and
Materials . . . . . . . . ? . ? . 55
4) Personal Conduct . , . . . . . . . 56
d. Control, off. Cadres ? . . . ? ? . . , . . 57
4. Finances 61
C. CP Germany Underground 63
1. Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
a. Initial Confusion 64
b. The Failure of Centralized Control ? . 64
C? Decentralized Control . . . . . . . . . 67
d. Attempt to Revive Centralized
Control . . . , . , . . . . . . .70
2. Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
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D. CP Greece Underground . . ? 74
1. Organization 74
2. Operational Problems ? . . 78
a. Security . . 78
b. Communications ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 80
1) Couriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
2) Press and Radio . . . . . . . . . . 81
c. Recruitment and Transport . . . . . . . 83
d. Finances . . , . . . 83
1) Sources of Revenue . . . . . . . . 84
2) Expenditures . . . . . . . . . 85
E? CP Spain Underground ? . . ? '. 87
1, The Party Center Abroad . . . . . . . . . . 87
2. Organization within Spain . . . . . ... 89
3. Other Party Organizations Abroad . . . . ? 91
F. CP Portugal Underground 92
1. Organization . 92
2. Security . . . . . . . . . . . ? . . ? . 95
3. Agitprop . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4. Communications Abroad . . . . . . . 99
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S E C R E T
GELM,' J COD1STT~,;R 'ITGNS
The international Communist movement has not merely survived,
but has actually flourished, in the face of difficulties which
have ruined political forces with less constancy of purpose and
with less practical a technique. It has maintained itself as the
"vanguard of the proletariat"" through Tsarist and totalitarian
suppression, armed intervention, two world wars, and a decade of
general "bourgeois" prosperity. In large measure, Communist suc-
cesses can be explained by the organizational adaptability of'the
Communist Party and its mastery over a mass of practical techni-
ques. The Party knows what it must do and how to go about doing
it, in any given circumstance. This competence was responsible
in the first place for the success of. the Bolshevik Revolution,
and since then, for the endurance of the Party as a continuing
threat to all "bourgeois" states.. ?'ihatever the political climate,
the Party goes on, working openly and legally where it can,
secretly and illegally where it must. It is this latter capabil-
ity for "conspiratorial" work which largely accounts for the
survival and success of the international Communist movement in
the face of adverse conditions.
The scope of the "conspiratorial" activities of the Commu-
nist Party encompasses defensive and offensive purposes. As an
organization of professional and practical revolutionaries bent
upon the eventual'achievement of revolution, the Communist Party
is.enveloped by an atmosphere of hostility. Realizing this, the
international movement has naturally developed a system of defen-
sive measures designed to protect the Party against the police,
intelligence agencies,?hostilo groups and the hostile public, and
has been. normally organized so as to keep knowledge of the most
significant aspects of Party activity restricted to a minimum of
individuals. For similar reasons, the Party has made it a gener-
al practise to conceal as thoroughly as possible the mechanics of
the political controls through which it extends its influence be-
yond Party confines. Tho Communist Party is generally designed
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and able to operate under any conditions of opposition, hostility
and outright suppression. It is capable of going totally under-
ground when outlawed, and it is sufficiently security-conscious,
even under normal conditions, to conceal many of its "normal"
activities. The "conspiratorial" practises of Communist Parties
operating in hostile socioties.are largely defensive in nature.
They are designed to preserve political and organizational gains
made by the Party, rather than to advance, the Party's aims fur-
ther.
The defensive side of the Party's conspiratorial behavior
can be extensively illustrated by its organizational and opera-
tional methods when proscribed. Part One of this study deals
extensively with this subject -- the general patterns of under-
ground organization are presented there, supplemented by de-
scriptive analyses of the actual. underground experience of
several Communist Parties.
Defensive measures are normally adopted also by Parties
which function more or less openly and legally. "Legal''
Parties give their program a maximum publication and expose a
groat number of functionaries as iwoll as parts of their organ-
ization to the public eye. However, even when admitted to the
political scene, the Party usually acknowledges the hostility
of the society it lives in, and attempts to submerge, auto-
matically and by virtue of its organizational principles, the
more significant areas of Party work.
Every Communist Party is a centralized and centrally-
directed mechanism controlled by a comparatively small group
of professional, paid and full-time functionaries --,the cadre.
)ithin this cadro-hiorarchy the functionaries at national head-
quarters occupy the central position and have a monopoly on
policy-making and organizational direction. Accustomed to
strict semi-military discipline, the lower Party cadre and the
rank and file are more instruments of the Party center. By
virtue of its leadership function the Party center normally
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guards the professional secrets of the Party, not unlike the
management of a business enterprise. The Party center, then,
puts the stamp of secrecy on such matters as Party finances,
particularly on the origin of funds not derived from normal
sources; intra-Party communications of more than normal admin-
istrative, significance; relations with other fraternal Parties
exceeding the normal interchange of Party literature and other
routine communications and relations with the Communist Party
of the Soviet Union or representatives of the Soviet Government
and the Cominform, which are likely to compromise the Party.
Experience has further shown that soviet intelligence agencies
frequently channel their recruitment of Party members through
individual functionaries in national Party headquarters.--
operations which requiro secure and secret handling. Thus, even
under normal conditions, highly significant aspects of Party
work are managed by a small nucleus of trusted functionaries and
are tightly scaled off from the rest of iho Party and the outside
world.
Further, Communist Parties generally maintain intra-Party
police organs, frequently identical with the Cadre Department
and the Control Commission. These agencies are organizational
corollaries of the cadre principle. As the Party is built upon
its cadre, it is essential for the center not only to train, pro-
tect and properly assign the professional personnel; but also to
preserve constant ideological and security control. Thus, most
Parties maintain a confidential corps of Party "detectives" who
must often perform counter-espionage duties such as the identi-
fication of police agents infiltrated into the ranks of the
Party, and "illegal" support functions such as the procurement
of false papers and passports for the cadre.. Clearly, the
existence of such a Party police force must be concealed, not
only for security reasons, but also for ideological reasons.
The Party is supposed to be run according to the principle of
"democratic centralism", and the centralism exercised through
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'police control methods may be distasteful to the rank-and-file.
On the level of "normal" Party operations, secrecy is also
unavoidable. Considering the smallest operative Party unit, the
individual Party member, it is a well-known fact that many Commu-
nists operate without ostensible connection with the Party. This
apparent lack of connection may be aimed at personal protection
or at safeguarding a particular, often secret, mission. In any
case, the secret Party member shows up in almost every Party --
one need only recall the case of the Indonesian Socialist leader
and government official, Sjarifoeddin, who, at the time of the
Mooso putsch in 1948 admitted that he had been a secret member
of the Communist Party of Indonesia since 1935.
The Party, hotiw,ever, needs not only secret Party members it is bent upon the manipulation of non-Communist groups and
organizations in order to establish "mass support" as a pro-
requisite for revolutionary action. The approaches to this or-
ganizational problem obviously vary from Party to Party, and the
extent of secrecy with which they are handled is determined by
the political climate prevailing in the particular country. In
general, however, the Party will attempt to surround itself with
a solar system of front organizations in order to attract acces-
sible groups, and will further direct its fractions into non-
Communist mass organizations -- for example, labor unions and
political movements in colonial countries -- in order to expand
Party control. In all those cases, it will be a problem of con-
cealing Party control over fronts and fractions, a problem which
becomes increasingly difficult to solve as the manipulative tech-
niques of the Party are exposed in public.
Clearly, however, as a revolutionary organization, the Party
cannot confine'itself to defensive tactics alone. No matter what
its status, v~hether legal or proscribed, the Party must at least
plan such activities as will weaken the coercive power mechanism
of the "capitalist" state, as well as hostile groups and politi-
cal parties, in concrete operational, rather than in general
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political,' terms. No matter what its tactical shifts, the Party
can never neglect its fundamentally military-revolutionary
character and it must attempt to organize support functions di-
rectly or indirectly related to future revolutionary action.
This concept, which is by no means clear-cut and free from
straight political considerations, involves what amounts to the
setting up of intelligence and counter-intelligence organizations
and/or operations, with all their operational ramifications. The
general operational program of the Communist Party provides for
the organization of secret Party nuclei in the armed forces, the
police, the navy, the government, and occasionally also within
opposition groups in order to specialize and concentrate upon
a) the procurement of information which would clarify the organ-
ization and capabilities of the hostile power mechanism; b)
clandestine subversion within "the citadel of the enemy," parti-
cularly in the armed forces. The program may also at times in-
clude the organization of clandestine nuclei operating in
strategic plants and enterprises to provide industrial and eco-
nomic information systematically -- the productive capabilities
and facilities of the hostile society are clearly related to the
problems of revolutionary action. Party security in its widest
sense may also require a more aggressive approach, particularly
when the physical liquidation of hostile individuals and
traitorous or insecure Party members is concerned. Finally, when
a revolutionary situation approaches, the Party must provide for
a pares-military organization to form the executive core of
revolutionary action--action, however, which sets into coordi-
nated motion tho ontire,Party mechanism and the social forces
allied with it.
Such and similar clandestine action auxiliaries of the Party
have been occasionally observed in operation. Part Two of this
paper includes a factual presentation, and a tentative analysis
of their significance in detail. These offensive clandestine
Party operations probably represent the most significant area of
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Party work? They perform 'u1ctiohs which transgress the area of
"normal" political action and they may constitute an acute threat
to the existing social order. However, it is not yet possible to
generalize on the subject. While the normal aspects of Party or-
ganization follow a pattern anywhere, it is by no means certain
that every Party organizes clandestine action auxiliaries in the
same fashion--if at all.
On the basis of evidence available at present, it appears
that Leninist-Stalinist action theory applies practically to the
organization of-clandestine action auxiliaries as it applies to
any other aspect of Party work. Thus, the actual organization of
clandestine military auxiliaries prior to the all-out revolutionary
effort depends not only upon such factors as availability of train-
ed manpower, loaders and arms, but also upon the making of a clear-
cut policy decision that.a revolutionary situation, which may be
successfully exploited by the Party, is at hand. While it may be
expected that all Parties include individuals,or even groups who
are specialists in military matters, it would be futile to search
for a facsimile of the Military Revolutionary Organization of the
Bolshevik Party (1917) in the Communist Party of Great Britain at
present. Incipient or underdeveloped Parties are more likely to
concentrate upon political action in order to achieve mass influ-
ence. Parties which have reached a stage of relative mass propor-
tions may find it practicable to organize secret military cadres
and formations. Again, however, policy considerations and the
degree of expectable opposition will affect planning, timing and
organization.
Similar considerations apply to the organization of counter-
intelligence, intelligence, sabotage, liquidation and other clandes-
tine action agencies. Materials studied indicate that a stepping-
up of such activity and its formalization in special auxiliaries
occurs during critical periods considered by the Party favorable to
aggressive, revolutionary action in general, such as the middle
Twenties and the early Thirties when the "relative stabilization"
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of capitalism was estimated as coming to an end. It is considered,
therefore, that a definite relation oxists between the particular
phase of the action-philosophy governing the Party at any given
time and the incidence of well-defined clandestine action auxiliar-
ies. Informally, however, and in a less pronounced fashion, the
Party will naturally never pass up any chance for clandestine work
in the power apparatus of the State or in hostile groups and or-
ganizations.
In focussing upon the organization of underground Parties as
well as on the organization of clandestine action auxiliaries, this
paper attempts to clarify the problem in terms of both past and cur-
rent Party experiences. Again however, this paper must be examined
against the totality of the Party's work in a given society -- over-
estimation, as well as underestimation, of clandestine Party opera-
tions may dangerously distort the terms on which each national
Party must be appreciated.
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PART ONE
THE COMMUNIST PA,R,&,Y
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I. ORGANIZATIONAL AND OPERATIONAL PROBLEMS
A. Police and Party
on general principles, the Party prefers to assume the form of
a "legal" political party, in order to achieve more easily a mass
basis. Under "legal" conditions, the entire propaganda and agita-
tion apparatus can be employed overtly; front organizations can be
set up at will; the Party's drawing power can, be demonstrated at
the polls; Communists can operate with greater case in labor
unions, and enter the government by way of "dom.ocratic" processes.
The Party will therefore fight desperately and until the last
minute to maintain its legal status? It will marshal public
opinion with the aid of liberal sympathizers and fellow-travellers.
It will employ for its defense sympathetic or crypto-Communist
lawyers, who are frequently pooled in international front organiza-
tions. It will receive the moral assistance of foreign Parties
and the Soviet party-government, making an international propaganda
issue of the Party's case,
In any case, the Party will seek to delay its transfer to il-
legality as long as possible, realizing that its organization and
operations will be severely hampered by the loss of legal status.
Once driven underground, it will make every effort to become
"logal" again.
The Party knows that it can be paralyzed by an efficient
police. The primary concern of the Party underground, therefore,
is with the law enforcement agencies, for these can control the
fate of the Party and its leaders. It is often extremely diffi-
cult for the Party to protect itself against police penetration,
arrests, and searches. Evan in areas whore the police is not
particularly efficient, the Party must spend considerable effort
and time on defensive measures.
The over-all success of the police, however, is conditioned
by several factors, some of which may work to the Party's advan-
tage.
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1. Geographical Factors. In largo countries and in countries
with inaccessible territories (mountains, marshland, jungles, vast
forests), the surveillance and border-control problems are difficult
for the police. The experience of the Bolshevik Party before 1917
shows how groat distances favor individual, escapes and illegal
border traffic. More recent events in Brazil, Greece, the Philip-
pines, Malaya, et. al., illustrate the same point.
2. Population Density. Overcrowded metropolitan areas with
vast slums, as well as port cities, also enhance chances for sur-
vival. It is comparatively easy for the underground Communist to
shako off pursuit in highly populated street-mazes and among the
wharves.
3. Political Factors. Police action against the Party may be
hindered or encouraged by public opinion.. Under a totalitarian
anti-Communist government, police persecution of the Party will
obviously be far more effective than under the relatively mild,
legalistic approach of democratic governments. M11ussolini, for
example, took a groat personal interest in police and intelligence
operations against the Italian Party, and frequently directed them
himself -- a factor which clearly increased the efficiency of the
Italian security agencies.
On the other hand, a loosely controlled police force may grow
lax and sock only to make occasional arrests for publicity pur-
poses, without seriously affecting the Party's operations. A pro-
cariously balanced political situation, such as obtains particu-
larly in countries near the Soviet borders, may also affect police
operations. A shaky "liberal" government may be forced by in-
creasing pressure from rightist. parties to'soften its attitude to-
ward the Party, which might become an ally in case of nood. The
individual , polico' official, too, fearful for the future of his
position, may fool it unwise to be too strict and choose rather to
straddle the fence.
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4.. Mass Support f o1' soli, If there is mass support for the
regime and its punitive policy, as in Nazi Germany, police opera-
tions against the Party may prove extremely effective.. Under such
conditions, the police are able to procure a great number of infor-
mers and penetration agents, as well as disaffected Party members
who remain in the Party as police agents. Large-scale cultivation
of disaffected elements and the development of penetration opportu-
nities have boon favorite police tactics since the early days of
the Bolshevik Party.
YT~enover it has been feasible to-put these methods into practice,
they have produced astonishing results. The Tsarist police, for
oxample, were able to recruit Malinovsky, who for a time was second
in importance. only to Lenin in the Bolshevik wing of the underground
Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, In Germany, mass support for
National Socialism provided the security,authoritios with a wealth of
informers and penetration agents. The Italian OVA (originally the
CECA) is estimated to have controlled the greater part of the Italian
underground Party, exploiting the breakdown in morale tiihich follows
vigorous punitive action. The Greek dictator Iletaxas greatly com-
plicated the operations of the underground Greek Party by setting
up a parallel police-controlled underground Party. More recently,
CP Malaya discovered that its Secretary General had been a police
agent for many years.
The greatest danger which the Party underground must face is
often not the police itself but the psychological impact of the anti-
Communist movement upon the population and upon the morale of the
Party members themselves. Novertheloss, various Parties which have
undergone this persecution, such as the Bolshevik Party,and the
European Parties in the Fascist period, have managed, in one form or
othor, to survive, 17hilo the drawing- power of Communist ideology
may partially account for the Party's durability, the adaptability of
Party organization to illegal conditions is an important additional
factor in the struggle between Party and police.
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-B. Adaptability _of Party Organizatioa~ to Ill a 1 Conditions
The model pattern of Party organization, developed by the
Bolshevik Party during more
than a decade of illegality, was grafted,
through the Comintern, upon all foreign Parties. Thus, the basic
forms of Party organization, as encountered today, have been pro-
tested under illegal conditions. Consequently, when a Party is do-
clarod illegal, there is no need to alter its basic structure. All
that is necessary is an adaptation of organization to illegal condi-
tions. The specific advantages inherent in "normal" Communist Party
organization, may be summed up as follows:
(a) The Party preserves its continuity in terms of organi-
zation and personnel.
(b) The Party emphasizes discipline and security even in
legal periods.
(c) Communist doctrine acts as a morale-buildor in illegal
periods, and may become attractive to the non-Communist leftist
in times of general supprossion...of all "progressive" movements.
(d) The basic coil organization of the Party, practiced at
a]1 times, facilitates underground operations.
(c) More than any other "normal" political party, the Com-
munist Party has acquired a"backlog of "illegals" experience,
even under legal conditions.
1. Organizational Continuity By its nature as a revolutionary
organization, the Communist Party -Will operate under any conditions,
legal or illegal. On the basis of its theory, it considers the
transition to illegality an extremely undesirable but otherwise
stnormal,r consequence of the class struggle.
This advantage is not enjoyed by the evolutionary Marxist par-
ties (Social'Democrats) which operate strictly by legal, parlia.rnen-
tart'-democratic methods. non ostracized and suppressed, such
parties often undergo severe morale and organizational crises.
-Because of their fundamental inability (so often attacked by the
Communists) to conceive of a revolutionary approach, they interpret
their ostracism as "failure of the leadership".. "failure of
doctrinott, and begin to disassociate themselves, psychologically
and organizationally, from their past. "In all Fascist countries,"
states a loading Social Domocrat, referring to events in the
thirties, "there grows this idea within the illegal (Socialist)
cadro: We are something now; lb arc not a more continuation of the
old party', ... The old is dead -- something entirely now must develop
now.
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Behind the secu#ty of its prefabricated doctrine, the Communist
Party does not, as a rule, need to scrutinize its basic philosophy or
raison d'etre under illegal conditions. 'Party continuity is taken
for granted by the Communists. i:1on the Party is outlawed it does
not waste precious time and energies wrangling over basic theory
and metaphysical issues. It does not have one form of organization
for legal and another for illegal conditions. The underground PParty
is the Party underground.
2. Cadre Continuity. A further guarantee of continuity is the
.fact that the Party is at all times a "cadre Party", As many execu-
tive and administrative positions as possible are occupied by trained,
experienced, full-time and salaried functionaries or,"professional
revolutionaries". Vlhile the size, reliability and capabilities of
the cadre obviously vary from country to country, the Party
habitually, and as a matter of principle, creates a caste of func-
tionarics who are entirely dependent upon the Party center in finan-
cial, personal and ideological terms, and who can therefore be
depended upon to follow the center undergro~tnd.,
The extent to which the individual cadre-~:ia.n is tied to the Party
by personal' interest is ably described by A? Rossi (:'h; si^olo?gy of the
French Communist Party, Paris, 1948).
IlThe role played by personal interest in this faithful
adherence to the Party is greater than one might think... The
Party functionary cannot become a functionary without quitting
his factory, his office, his profession -- he takes on now
habits and lives differently. He sheds his roots, ho becomes
a 'sort of outcast.,. He has'ontorod a new social class, a
class sui goneris it is true, but still'elovated as only the
salaried class of industry and commerce... To quit (this'class)
moans to bo thrown back into the limbo from whore he came..'/
As an added incentive for its cadre, the Party also dispenses
power, which Rossi describes as frequently greater than that of high-
level government officials. Having tasted this sense of power, the
functionary is reluctant to give it up.
A party run both at the center and at the periphery by a well-
.trained and disciplined cadre-bureaucracy has the advantage of a con-
crete and specific approach to the problem of going underground. It
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.can prepare and provide for the event i. Lrms of cado protection
and replacement. ?:lhatover action potential,a Party may salvage in
illegality depends less on the extent to which it can protect its
.rank and file from arrest, than on the success it achieves in sal-
vaging or replacing its entire cadre. The disadvantage of the
system, however, is that if the cadre fails, the Party fails. The
Party under round is the cadre underground,
3.. Discipline and Security. The stress on strict discipline
which is required under illegal conditions constitutes no problem
for the Party. The cadre will have boon trained already and condi-
tioned to depend on the instructions of the center in any circum-
stance. The center will therefore encounter little resistance in
strengthening its control over the cadre, and will be able to dis-
pense with those features of "democratic centralism" which permitted
the rank and file to participate in the selection of the cadre
during legal periods. Instructions issued by the illegal CP France
of 1940, for example, stated specifically that the election of
functionaries was out of the question, and that only Centralism was
to be conserved. 11hile this relationship has the definite opera-
tional advantage of permitting co-ordinatod action even under,haz-
ardous conditions, the dependence of the cadre on the center can
choke the initiative of the individual cadre-man and impede the
efficiency of the Party.
Discipliae under ille al conditions moans not only strict ad-
herence to the political and organizational direction of the center,
but also rigorous conformity with underground security rules govern-
ing the conspiratorial behavior of cadre and militants, A function-
ary who has "betrayed" Party secrets under severe police pressure is
punished by the competent organs of the Party for a "breach of
discipline", pith no regard for the circumstances in which the be-
trayal occurred.
The maintenance of discipline and security by special Party
organs (Control Commission, Cadre Commission, and other specialized
sections) is a traditional feature of Party organization which can
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be conveniently adapted to underground conditions. The main factor,,
however, which endangers the successful preservation of discipline
and security in the Party underground is that, in the course of
extremely severe police action, morale may disintegrate and result
in factionalism, mass defections and penetrations.
4. Doctrine as Morale-Builder. Efficient underground organiza-
tion and conspiratorial skill are, of course, the decisive elements
in the Party's struggle to maintain itself when illegal. The
demands of underground life on the underground Party worker, however,
are frequently extremely taxing, and good morale becomes an opera-
tional necessity. No matter how much opportunism, adventurism, or
lust for power go into the make-up of'tho individual functionary or
activist, a willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of the
Party demands a stronger motive than these. This motivation is
furnished by the Party, ready-made, in the form of its doctrine, the
Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist ideology. As a morale-building element,
doctrine stands in the first line of defense of the Party underground.
Thorough indoctrination (which is, of course, a continuous and well-
organized process in legal as well as illegal periods) appears to
induce the following psychological habits in Communists:
a. Superiority Complex, The doctrine is dispensed as
"absolute truth", providing the believer with a set of answers
for every political,'social and philosophical-problem, The sincere
individual Communist, in possession of "absolute truth", consi-
ders himself a crusader, a fighter for a ''now world". The
longer he stays in the Party, the loss he is able to think in
un-Communist terms. He fools eternally. misunderstood by non-
Communists and, when ostracized, feels victimized. In brief,
his indoctrination produces the conviction that he is fighting
for a just cause -- a definite morale asset.
b. Hostility. Based upon the idea of class struggle, the
doctrine systematizes and cultivates hastility'generated by
social conflict, frustration and maladjustmont; The doctrine
is one of hatred directed at the."class enemy", the latter be-
ing anyone who does not share the Party's point of view. Such
indoctrination, required by the revolutionary-military nature
of the Party, pays off during periods of illegality. Hostility
glows with the increasing pressure exerted by the "class enemy''
and added to the instinct for self-preservation, loads to vigor-
ous resistance.
c. Optimism. Communist doctrine has a strong morale-
building element in its "sciontific" certainty of the inevitable
doom of capitalist society. Defeat can be rationalized as a
temporary setback, a deficiency in organization, or the result
of the work of tral ors. But it can never be accepted as definite
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i. .r ~ 4 r rr
and final. Optimism is prescribed as the Communist's basic
attitude, and pessimism boccmes a heresy'. In this outlook
there is a modicum of religious strength, an asset not'to be
underestimated during a period of underground activity.
5. Attraction of Doctrine. In situations where repressive
measures are applied to the non-~ormunist evolutionary T:1arxist,
liberal and progressive parties, as well as to the Communist Party,
Communist doctrine may actually extend beyond its defensive,func-
tion and further the growth of the illegal Party.' When repression
becomes total, as under the Fascist regimes, the peaceful evolution-
ists and liberal democrats may lose their faith in modexato tactics
and join the Communists, who always maintain that socialism cannot
be established by legal methods alone. Under Nazi control, the
Austrian working class felt that the Socialists' democratic methods
had brought about their defeat and began to place their hope in Com-
munist objectives. CP Austria became a significant orgnnizat,iorx ror
the first time in its history during the term of Nazi suppression;
it declined when suppression was lifted.
6. Call System. Under illegal conditions, when security consi
dcrations.demand the atomization of Party organization, the Party
need only adjust its cell system, through which basic operations are
effected. The grouping of the rank and file into small nuclei at
the place of work, at the place of residence, and in non-Communist
parties and organizations ensures the systematic exploitation of the
cell member's normal outside contacts for propaganda and recruitment
purposes. This is an all-important task in the underground when other
Party activities may be curtailed. The importance of.illegal cell
activity is intensified by the fact that intermediate echelons arc
usually reduced to skeletons; hence, for practical purposes the
Party underground often consists only of the center and the numerous
"front line" cell organizations. There is inherent in this system,
however advantageous, a considerable risk of isolation. When communi-
cations break clown, as they frequently do, the basic Party organiza-
tions become ineffective or detached front the Party line. If the
breakdown is prolonged, as it was in Germany under Hitler, the Party
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is reduced to a multitude of isolated nuclei, which can do little
more than maintain their clandestine existence for the day when the
Party may be revived. It is at this point that the extent to which
the Party has accumulated and transmitted lessons learned from con-
spiratorial experience becomes effective,
7.. &acklo of Conspiratorial Expcrienee. Through the Comintern,
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union has shaped the organizational
policy of all foreign Parties, and has passed on its own considerable
experience in underground work. Throughout the years of its exist-
once, the Comintern exhorted and obliged its sections to prepare ade-
quately for periods of illegality. By means of its Organization
Bureau, headed until about 1936 by Piatnitzky, a leading organizer of
the Russian underground, the Comintern furnished specific advice on
underground operations and problems. Terms used in the Russian under-
ground, such as "technical apparatus" for illegal printing and distri-
bution facilities, have consistently found their way into the nomen-
clature of foreign Parties. The Greek Party, for example, currently
uses a Russian word, "'Yavka", meaning a clandestine reporting center.
The "groups of three" upon which illegal Party organization appears
to be based so frequently, have their equivalent in the Russian under-
ground term, "troika" (team of three).
The fundamental problems of illegal activity are now widely
understood by the various Parties. The practical experiences of
many Parties, accumulated during underground periods and pooled by
the Comintern prior to 1943, have increased the conspiratorial com-
petence of the movement. There is hardly a significant Party which
has not. Bono through illegal or semi-legal phases. 'While first-hand
experience probably remains the best task-master, it is evident that
a pattern at least exists in general outlines, and that a Party'-faced
with illegality acts on it. To what degree this pattern has been
created by a centralized effort, or by the appearance of identical
problems treated in a similar fashion by different Parties, is a
minor point. It is more important to recognize and understand the
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basic Communist approach to the organizational and operational pro-
blems of the Party underground,
C. Organizational Problems: Adj.1strtent to Tllchal Conditions
The fundamental organizational problem faced by the Party going
underground is this: How to combine maximal security with maximal
activity -- how to expose its, agencies and functionaries to the police
as little as possible. Therefore, the primary concern is with a
realistic and practicable streamlining of the bureaucratic apparatus,
1. Reduction of Party Apparatus. The extent of the streamlining
process is determined by the size of the legal Party, the severity of
repressive action upon it, and general policy considerations. A
small or underdeveloped Party apparatus cannot be drastically reduced;
a mass Party may find it necessary to run the risk of preserving an
extensive organization. Within the limits of such considerations,
action may be taken along the following lines:
a. Consolidation of territorial organizations. The terri-
torial organization of the Party, particularly in a largo country,
can be conveniently consolidated and reduced. This makes it pos-
sible to utilize staff personnel with greater economy, and to
concentrate communications with the Party center. All levels of
territorial organization (region, district, subdistrict and sec-
tion)-may be reduced simply by unifying the various staff*com-
mands, and combining their original areas of jurisdiction. The
twenty-eight regional organizations (Bezirke) of the German Com-
munist Party before 1933, for example, were consolidated after
the advent of Nazi suppression into eight inter-regional. organi-
zations (Oberbezirke); other territorial organizations were
apparently also reduced in number while their jurisdiction was
extended.
The Party center itself may be loss affected by the pro-
cess of consolidation: a large Party may need a large central
organization.. On the cell level; however, consolidation is not
practical. For security reasons, ce11s must be broken up into
small units if they are to escape police attention. Hence, at
the same time that territorial- organizations may decrease in
number or disappear altogether, the cell organizations in the
Party underground may be atomized and grow in number.
b. Reduction of staffs. In addition to the consolidation of
territorial organizations, the number of staff positions through-
out the Party is. normally reduced in the underground. The terri-
torial Party committees are apparently strongly affected in this
respect. According to-a Comintern instruction, the committees of
illegal Parties should, as a rule, consist of no more than five
people, and a secretary should take the place of the executive
bureau. In practise, the composition.of illegal Party committees
appears to be more elastic, depending on prevailing conditions.
The extent to which the membership of the Central Committee maybe
,reduced is also determined by the actual situation. Members of
the Central Committee are elected at the national Party Congress
or Party Conference, and their tenure of office is valid for both
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loLal and illegal periods. Over and above: the losses sustained
by a Central Committee through arrests and other operational
mishaps, there is, however, no 1genoral indication'of how numeri-
cal composition is affected by illegal conditions. It may be as
large or as small as conditions warrant.
There seems to be a general tendency to eliminate Party Com-
mittees during illegal periods, and to assign actual organiza-
tional and political work to the exocutivc-administrative appara-
tus of the Party. CP Chile, for example, simply eliminated all
Corun,ittoos and transferred the direction of the Party to its
executive, a8encies, as follows:
CONTROL
OI
S
C
t MI
SION
POLITICAL
C01111 . LSSIO N
.__~.
SECRETARY
GENERAL
I REGIONAL `
SECRETARY
LOCAL
SECRETARY
REGIONAL
SECRETARY
LOCAL
SECRETARY
CELLS ' .)
Insofar as the executive-adr~.inistrative apparatus of a Central
Committee is concerned, practical security'reasons obviously re-
commend the paring down of staff personncl. If the actual work-
load is too heavy to permit reduction, the Secretariat and the
various Departments or'Commissions of the Central Committee (such
as Cadre, Organization., Youth, Agit-Prop, etc.) may continue,
while now corunissions may be created for-technical services, ro-
lief for interned comrcc'.os, and the like. In"some Parties, the
personnel of those Departments may be reduced? In others, the
staff may continue or be roplacod, One Central Committee may
dissolve its Politburo and transfer its functions to the National
Secretariat. Another may enlarge its m_cmbership in order to make
up for expected losses in executive positions. More is no gen-
oral rule except adaptability to the situation at hand.
2.:' The Cor_mand Function: _ The Triad SZstoEj,_, Consolidation of
torritori^.1 organizations and reduction of staff personnel can, in
some cases, be combined with a special organization of the command
function observable only in underground Parties. According to this
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system, at all echelons, from the national down to the cell level,
groups of three functionaries may be established with two-fold re-
sponsibilities: the over-all direction and supervision of Party
work at their level, and maintenance of vertical liaison.with each
other. In the latter capacity these'triads represent the live
chain of command in the illegal Party. Whenever observed, these
triads have consisted of a) a specialist for political work, b)
a specialist for organizational problems, and c) a specialist for
agitation and propaganda, or for labor union work.
The triads, however, do not necessarily replace whatever other
Party organizations may remain effective. They are sometimes mere-
ly superimposed on the illegal Party machinery in order to monopo-
lize direction. Triads at national and territorial levels have
been known to direct, the work of the various administrative and
exeotitive departments and commissions of the Party. However, it
cannot be clearly determined at present to what extent the nation-
al triad may combine executive command with policy-making functions.
Theoretically it remains responsible to the Po'?itburo, but in fact
it may well become the actual loaclership of the Party. The triad
principle may even be applied to cell organization. Cells can be
constituted as three-man groups, each member recruiting and direct-
ing another Croup of three who are not cell members and who comprise
sub-cell basic umitso
The triad represents an effective concentration of the command
function in the hands of a comparatively few individuals. It per-
mits greater centralization and compartmentalization,
3. Co m2 rtmentalization. Tight compartmentalization is an
organization and security problem of the first order, since it is
necessary to prevent the police from learning too much when Party
members or functionaries are arrested. Compartmentalization i s ap-
plied to Party operations as follows:
a. Party and military.branch. Whenever an underground Party'
is in the position to create a military organization, the latterts
staff comrrosition is kept distinct from-the Party's political
mechanism. The two structures merely coordinate on policy and re-
,cruitment problems at their highest echelons.
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b. P^rtSr anc' auxiliary (front or, ii?ations. As in legal
periods, various Party auxiliaries (youth or; anizations, women's
organizations, sport clubs, otc.,) remain connected with the
Party thruu-_h iriterlockin,.; staff porsonnol` only. They function
on their own, as inclcpendontly as possible,
c. Party and auxiliary illo,,nl or,aniza.ti-ons. Party or; ani-
zations, or teams for the performance of such spoci. Ali zee, tasks
as cspion,a;e, sabotage, clandestine penotration of police anu
other ;;ovcrnr;lont a-oncies, liquidr:tion and terror rou )s, etc.,
arc ost^hlishod as lai" ely indo,,ondent and self-conta.inod groups
even in lof al Dcriod-s. They are maintained on this basis in
times of illegality.
d. Internal Party--?comart lienta iation, Within the polit-
ical nochardsm of the F,:Lrty propcr 'thc clesi_ro(l effect can be
n ~. Y
i(ic,~.~lly achicved by + ~Yar,
1) EliminWItic,r of hor 1_7cnt ~,l 1ialson, No cell and no
territorial c? -, m za tion :L _ ert)t r-,tcc1T to maintain contact
with any other Party or';an opor ti: ,; on the same level.
Liaison may only be conducted vertically with the designated
functionary of the super=ior Party ort;anization, whose task
it is to direct the lowor organizations under his jurisdiction.
2) Restriction of contacts., The fewer comrades a funs-'
tionnry or activist knows and meets in the course of his work,
the better, This principle is sound if applied realistically.
It can, ho,,wrcver, be formalized to an extreme degree. CP
France in 1941, for oxa.mplo, applied the triad system not only
to the organization of the command function, but apparently
also, as a security measure, to all Party activities. No com-
rade was to know more than two other Party workers. It is
questicnablc whether tho French principle can be put into
practice r' 4,4idly. Even CP France frequently had to threaten
disciplinary action in order to push its compartmentalization
program to the oxtror: e ,
3) Functa.onal restrictions. "The comrades of a group
of three must not knovr .nythin but (what refers to) their
work proper:, " -status an instruction of CI' (1941).
:?ore than over, it is inctunbont upon the c.Iirectors of illegal
Party work to clefino the job of each functionary and activist
clearly, so that he may not stray bcyond security limits, It
is not always possible,, hovaover,, for the ind victual function-
ary to "stick to his guns". Nothing is less 1) rmanent than
an underf roue l or"anization, and shifts front one job to
another occur oft-en, a rosult,, a functionary may learn.
more than is good for the Party.
4,, Election of Party Ca,rittoes, The strcallinin process ap-
plied to tlao iiloE ai Party organization may not always be extensive,
and the direction of the Party may actually lie in the hands of the
national and torritori.al committees and their rc1mi.nistrative organs.
When this is the case, the illegal election of Party committees re-
prosonts an organizational. problem. The Comintorn advised its member
Parties that in an underground situation illegal Party elections were
possible, though they must take place in restricted conferences and
thelelections themselves handled in such a way that even the confer-
once members would not know who was elected. It is not certain whother
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this advice has been generally heeded., as the problems of illegal
'.rti.cs are never identical.
a, Election of Central Committees. Electing a Central Coin-
mittce at a conference abroad is one way of circumventing secur-
ity'restrictions at home when the Party is underground. In this
way, the Bolshovik'under..round elected its Central Committee at
conferences abroad, attended by delegates who travelled illegally-
from the interior of Russia. Currently, the Party conferences
of CP`Greece are held abroad for practical purposcs (in the rebel
arsoa). This is also true of CP Spain at present. On the other
hand, conditions prevailing in < . particular country may permit
the holding of large illegal meotin,r;s at home. For example, the
i11e^.al Central Committee (35 members). of CF Yugoslavia was elect-
ed in that country at'a national conference of more than 100 dole-
Cates in October 1940. ?
The Party may not be able to hold' a national Party Con-
Cress for the election of the Central Coios;-they orient
themselves with the first information received, to discover
and round up the -whole organization.
3) Safeguardin Party Zecords and Materials. The location of
Party records should be a closely guarded secret, restricted to
the smallest possible number of persons, -warned the tract,
genforcons la surveillance: "Two comrades only should know where
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the materials and presses are kept." The keeping of records was
discouraged, but when this was unavoidable, it was required that
lists of names and locations of Party units and other details of
organization should be encyphored: "The compiling of lists in
free text is rigorously prohibited by the Party and should be con-
sidered an act of provocation." Material of this nature should
never be kept in the regular residence of a Party member. Provi-
Sion must be made for quick and easy destruction of all records.
4) Personal Conduct. In addition to scrupulous observance of
the rules which have already been outlined, the militant was con-
stantly admonished to preserve t he security of. the Party organiza-
tion by keepinrg himself inconspicuous and refusing, to answer any.
questions which might compromise the Party or other comrades it
any wady, in case of arrest. Vie du Parti denounced those militants
who,
"although little known before the war, instead of preserving
a strict anonymity with persons with whom they came in con-
tact, behaved like pretentious, irresponsible bourgeois."
Other publications carried those instructions:
"An illegal militant should never describe his work,
-either to his wife, or liis friends, onto anyone. Still less
should he make known his meeting places or where he works.
Never tell anyone any more than he must know to carry out his
work. "
"Militants have no choice between family and Party, " one
phamphlct declared. At the first sign of clan or, he must change
his residence and give up seeing his family, who are likely to be
under police surveillance?
Inconspicuous disguises, such as modifying the style of onets
dross or coiffure, affecting a different gait, otd., were recom-
mondod in case of necessity, and even more elaborate disguises in
certain instances. "It is better to err by an excess of vigiian~.e
than by imprudence," militants were told. However, tine best do-
meanor w.s to be natural, "to resemble the rest of the crowd."
Communists .fore warned against drawing attention to thomEolvos by
too conspiratorial a manner: "Don't slink. Be natural."
The conduct which a militant should follow in case of arr.st
was described in detail in the Party press during 1941. The burden
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Of these instructions.Was that nothing should be revealed which
would lead to further arrests. First of all, the militant should
keep his head:
'tDonlt be panicky. Every militant knows that he may some day
be arrested. The event should not surprise him."
He must reveal nothing which could help the police in any way.
Until brought before a court, he should preserve a strict silence.
Like Georgi Dimitrov at Leipzig, the PCF member on trial should
take advantage of the'opportunity to turn the proceedings into a
"veritable indictment of capitalist society." He should not
attempt to 'defend himself against specific charges, leaving that
"delicate" function to his lawyer,. The lawyer should be chosen
from among those recommended by the Party, and under no circum-
stances should-he be permitted to argue the case in such a way as
to throw discredit on the Party or to compromise any of its
members.
d. Control of Cadres,, New, organizational forms imposed by il-
legality worked in the Partyts favor in the development of new cadres
and in their control. Decentralization of structure, based on the
Triad system and correspondingly smaller superior units, stimulated
the development of previously untrained militants who emerged to
assume command of the many now units, Centralization of direction
ensure(.', rigorously close supervision of their work by experienced
superiors, an immediately personal surveillance which entailed con-
tinuous investigation and verification of character and of qualifica-
tio_)rns. There was an endless search for talents and patient training;
a constant reshuffling of functionaries and refinement of technique.
Finally, illegality forced a. close attention to detail and to planning,
as well as a clear recognition of the necessity for strict discipline,
for personal safety, as well as for Party security.
It is testimonial enough to the flexibility of structure, to
the ability of individuals, and to the effectiveness of principles
followed, that the Party was able, within a few months, to reconstitute
a strong, disciplined cadre structure from what had been badly de-
moralized elements.
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The task of controlling the cadre and its activities fell
immediately to the Cadre Section in the PCF Center, which exercised
this control throu,=h the Cadre Responsibles at all Party levels.
These were charged with the selection and supervision of functionaries,
with checking their work, and with the vital task of verification.
The constant threat of police infiltration was too great and the im-
portance of the selection of cadres on Party morale too profound to
trust to chance. The. Cadre Res onsibles themselves could not be
expected to carry on the work alone. The Political iesponsible at
each level was specifically charg,ed with double-chocking his
Responsible for Cadrev:
"The problem of the cadres is infinitely large. It is the
problem ol the whole party, Each Responsible muet know the com-
rades who work directly under his supervision.... A Regional
Responsible should be acquainted with his co-workers in the Sec-
tors and Sections, but with discretion. He should seek out the
"reserve! who will replace him should he fall, or become sick.
He must help'tho ResL)onsibies who work under him to select their
replacements., The Cadre Ros;.~onsible seconds him in this task and
accomplishes the myriad particular tasks of selection and verifi-
cation,"
Cahiors du bolchevisme, lst Quarter 1941)
Cadre esponsibles also kept close tabs on the political ap-
paratus, The Cadre ics~onsible for one of the Paris Inter-Reiions
attended some of the meetings of the "Triangle Directcur" of that
Inter-Zegion, reporting on those to the National Political Responsible.
Presumably, the reports dealt with the efficiency and ideological
security of the leaders of the political mechanism. The Party Center
was in this way given a double chock on the caliber and integrity, of
its middle and lower cadres.
Of the devices at the command of the Cadre Rosponsiblos in, the
execution of this work, not the least important were the card files and
statistical surveys which they compiled from autobiographical reports
and periodic organizational reports. From these, it was. easy to deter-
mine the status and condition of the Party organization at any given
time.. It was also possible, by having on hand a militant's sworn
statement as to his family and his personal and political background,
to check those statements with confidential reports by other comrades
and with facts of public record. Thus, the Cadre Commission and lower
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Cadre iosponsibles came close to performing functions of counter
ospiona,:;e, such as were set aside by CP Germany during this period
to its Abwehr i.ossort of the illegal "Apparat. "-
xamples of the Autobiographical Report and periodic OrF_;ani-
zational Zeport follow.
ADTOBIOG, LAPHICAL SCHEMA
Family Status
1. Data (year only) and department of birth. Do not give
name or address.
2. That education do you have? ;'here did you study?
3. What is your occupation? ;'here have you worked since
leaving school?
4. What is the occupation of your parents, brothers, sisters,
uncles? Have they en,~;a;od in political activities and do they
belong to any orgg,aniz ations?
5. Are you married? ghat is the occupation and nationality
of your wife? Of her parents? :That are their opinions?
6. Have you any children? How many? Their ages? Do they
belong to any organizations?
7; In,your family or in that of your wife arc there any
Nazis, Socialists, or Trotskyitos?
8. In your family or in that of your viife, are there any
policemen, nendarmos, or police informants? Persons with ques-
tionable means of existence? if so, what arc your relations with
them?
Political Background
9. How die; you become a Communist? At what date?
10. Havo you been a member of any other party or organization?
11. Hnvc you over boon a Free-TTason? How and when did you
quit that organization?
The Abwehr was reportedly transferred to the Control Commission
after the disbanding of the "Apiarat," which apparently took place in
1935. Thus came to an end a particular sep.nration of a normal Party
function under to independent Party mechanism. The KPD was. the only-.
CP in our knowledge to have made this precise separation. CP France,
like other CPts in'similar circumstances, delegated the normal, con-
tinuin; work of verification, .alon` with such counter-espionage pur-
suits as this involved, to its Cadre Commission. It is recognized
that this account, containing references to th unique KPD organization is
somewhat out of place here. However, it would seem worthwhile to clear
up confusion which appears to exist in certain quarters over the pro-
blem of veri.fica.tion as a normal function of all CP ' s, whether legal
or xllo;al.
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LI F,, T,
12. VIhat have boon your successive Party functions? What is
the nature of your current Party work?
13._ Did you militate actively during the war? Vlhere?
14. Have there been any interruptions in your Party or syn-
dical activity? When and why,?
15. Have you attended Party schools? -Which ones? VIhat
books have you read of Marx, Engels,. Lenin, Stalin? Have you
studied the History of the Bolshevik Party? Do you read the
pamphlets and books of the Party?
.16. Have you had contact with Trotskyites? With the Barbe-
Color group? Have you had any relations with Doriot, with Gitton,
or any other excluded person? Have you any acquaintances in their
camps? Of what kind?
17. What disciplinary measures have been taker against you in
the Party or in other organizations? When and why? `
18. Do you have a police record? Have you been sentenced
under the common law? When and why?
19. Have you been subjected to political repression? Have .
you been, arrested? Condemned? When? After how long and how were
you liberated?
20. Have you ever boon to the colonies or abroad? When and why?
21. Have you previously filled in a biography? Do not pre-
serve the duplicate copy of this. Do not sign it.
A note accompanying the form forbade its reproduction or retention
and warned that false answers to the questions would render the offen-
der liable to action by the Control Commission.
Party organizations wore required. to return weekly reports on
their activities and the general conditions under w hich they worked.
A model report circulated in'February 1941 suggested the following as
worthy of filing:
Situation: current public temper; signs of unrest; demonstrations;
movements, etc.;
Pro;Da;;anda:, litor