TEACHERS, TEXTBOOKS AND TRAVELS: COMMUNIST ACTION IN THE WORLD'S SCHOOLS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000300160022-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 1, 2004
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: May 4, 1961
• Content Type: OPEN

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~nf~rcsMonal Record
PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 87th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
Teachers, Textbooks and Travels: Communist
Action in the World's Schools
EXTENSION OF REMARKS it and are active in its affairs are to be
HON. ROMAN L. HRUSKA
OF NEBRASKA
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
Thursday, May 4, 1961
Mr. HRUSKA. Mr. President, on April
12, 1961, the Honorable Lyman B. Kirk-
patrick, Jr., Inspector General of the
Central Intelligence Agency, addressed
the seventh annual National Military-
Industrial and Educational Conference
at its meeting in Chicago, on the subject
"Teachers, Textbooks, and Travels:
Communist Action in the World's
Schools."
Meetings with this conference were
under the sponsorship of the Institute
for American Strategy, which is a non-
profit educational corporation whose ob-
jective is to further public understand-
ing of the nature of the contemporary
totalitarian challenge to American free-
dom.
This institute conducts programs de-
signed to increase public awareness of
the nature, objectives and methods of
communism, and also of the ideals and
assets inherent in our free society for
meeting its challenge. The institute is
tax exempt, nonpartisan, and privately
managed. It is financed through the
contribution of some 100 corporations of
the United States and a number of foun-
dations.
It is a splendid organization for its
highly commended.
Mr. Kirkpatrick has had long and
varied experience in the field about
which he spoke. The information and
the thoughts which he expressed are de-
serving of more widespread circulation.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent that the text of his speech be
printed in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD at
this point.
There being no objection, the address
was ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
TEACHERS, TEXTBOOKS AND TRAVELS: COM-
MUNIST ACTION IN THE WORLD'S SCHOOLS
(Address by Lyman B. Kirkpatrick, Jr., In-
spector General of the Central Intelli-
gence Agency, to the seventh annual
National Military-Industrial and Educa-
tional Conference, Chicago, Ill., April 12,
1961)
The world's educational institutions
be one of the decisive battlefields in
fight for existence between communism
the free world.
will
the
and
The election by the Communists to pur-
sue their struggle for world domination by
competitive coexistence has signaled an in-
tensification of their efforts in education.
Let there be no illusion that the Com-
munist efforts in the schools, colleges, and
universities will be confined to the area of
the Red bloc. Throughout the world there
is ample evidence that the Communists are
determined to win the youth as the first
step in winning the world.
In a report entitled "Communist Target-
Youth," J. Edgar Hoover, the eminent Di-
rector of the Federal Bureau of Investiga-
declared purposes. Those who support tion and a foremost authority on both com-
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munism and the problem of youth, wrote: nial attitudes of the young generations cre-
"The successful Communist exploitation and ates a favorable climate for the operation.
manipulation of youth and student groups We should recognize at the start that
throughout the world today are a major what we are talking about today is the strug-
challenge which free world forces must meet gle between those forces who want to create
and defeat." the Communist man and those who want
You will recall that Lenin wrote: "Give men to be free. The International Com-
us the child for 8 years, and it will be a munist movement is dedicated to and or-
Bolshevik forever." He also noted: "He ganized for the destruction of all non-Com-
who has youth, has the future." munist institutions.
. On the first day you heard from Mr. Sul- Teachers are the principal targets of Coin-
livan, the Chief of Research of the :FBI, on munist activity. East Germany provides a
the subject of "Communism and Education picture window on what happens in an area
in the United States." I am sure his excel- that falls under Communist domination.
lent report left no doubt in your minds that Every year from 2,000 to 2,500 teachers have
the United States is a major target of this fled from East Germany. These men and
Communist offensive in education. The women could not live with themselves under
statement of Gus Hall, general secretary of Communist conditions. They recognized
the Communist Party of the United States, that they were no longer educators, but
to the national committee on January 20, propagandists and political puppets.
1961, certainly made their intentions com- The Special Committee on Refugee
pletely clear. He said: "There is a mush- Teachers from East Germany of the World
rooming of Marxist- and Socialist-oriented Confederation of Organizations of the
groups on the campuses in all parts of the Teaching Profession reported the reasons for
country, and we have witnessed the emer- the teachers' flight as follows:
gence of a new and very successful youth "He is not only forced in all classes and
paper." He went on to say: "the party to pupils of all ages to represent the political
must give much higher priority for the work conditions and measures in the Soviet Zone
among youth in all fields of endeavor." as right and good, but in addition has po-
This is a worldwide effort on the part of litical tasks to fulfill outside school, such
the Communists. The statement of policy as taking part in political organizations,
adopted by the Moscow conference of 81 leadership work at political rallies and pro-
Communist Parties in December 1960 has paganda meetings, participating in courses
been called the sharpest declaration of war of political instruction."
ever adopted by any international Commu- This same report goes on to say that the
nist gathering. This statement emphasized teacher is obliged to determine the political
Communist youth work in saying "there are views of the parents. He cannot have any
new opportunities now to draw the younger religious convictions and he must influence
generation into the struggle for peace and children to abandon the church.
democracy, and for the great ideals of com- The same report noted that the economic
munism." circumstances of the teachers in the east
It is our purpose today to present a fac- zone are quite good compared with other
tual analysis of how the Communists plan professions. This is a significant aspect of
to pursue their objectives in the field of edu- the problem of which we should take note.
cation. These objectives are clearly recog- One of the principal Communist' appeals
nizable in the underdeveloped, education- to teachers is that in many areas of, the
starved and intensely nationalistic countries world they are underpaid and socially in-
of the free world. Here the aim is to cap- secure. Quite a few turned to Communist
ture' the future leadership and to utilize doctrines in search of a political philosophy
the pull of educational centers in the free `which would assist them in explaining the
world, particularly the United States, the complexities of modern life to themselves
United Kingdom, and others. Propaganda 'and their students. Sad to say, the train-
which identifies communism and the bloc ing afforded teachers has often neglected
with the national aspirations and anticolo- modern. history and the political sciences
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and left them all too vulnerable to the.im-
pressive pretensions of Communist pseudo-
science.
Communist peace propaganda attracted
teachers because their daily contact with
young students kept questions of paciflclem
and militarism continuously before their
eyes. This propaganda skillfully combines
the teachers' economic and professional de-
mands with its disarmament bid: "If the
defense budget is reduced the Government
can build new schools, raise teachers' sal-
aries and provide for new research facilities,"
Some teachers accepted Communist lead-
ership of their professional organizations
and unions for the same reason as many in-
dustrial workers did: the Communists prom-
ised them everything they wanted in a ma-
terial sense-higher salaries, increased job
security, old-age insurance, etc. The fact
that these promises. mean nothing is often
not recognized until it is too late. Mr.
Hoover says in his book "Masters of Deceit":
"The Party keeps stressing Marxist-Leninist
education: Party schools, reading the Com-
munist press, self-study. It builds up a
discipline that automatically attacks doubts,
rationalizes contradictions inside the Party
structure, and guides every decision in the
Party's favor.".
To prevent deviations there is constant
pressure from the Party or from the union
which is affiliated with the World Federa-
tion of Teachers Unions, an affiliate of the
Communist-run World Federation of Trade
Unions.
The history of the World Federation of
Teachers Unions indicates its true nature.
It was organized in 1946; was expelled from
Paris in 1952 for "fifth column activities."
The WFTU moved to Vienna;. was again ex-
pelled from that city in 1956. It finally
settled its headquarters in Prague.
The. World Federation of Teachers Unions
claims a membership of some 6 million from
30 countries. However, the bulk of its mem-
bership comes from the Communist bloc.
Among its objectives it lists the establish-
ment of universal free education, meaning
under Communist control; .and the outlaw-
.ing of all textbooks propagating militarism,
imperialism,, or racial domination, meaning
all those- not written from a Marxist-
'Leninist point of view.
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Under the sponsorship of the World
Federation of Teachers a third World Con-
ference of Teachers was held in Conakry,
Guinea, in July 1960. This conference was
attended principally by delegates from
Communist countries and Communists from
Western countries. There were actually
more minor officials from the various
ministries of education present than there
were teachers. There was little serious dis-
cussion of the problems in education facing
Africa, but considerable political propaganda
was directed at the United States. The
tactics were in keeping with the pattern
established by the World Federation of
Teachers Unions, wherein educational prob-
blems are never studied as such, but always
from the viewpoint of the so-called class
war.
To propagate its philosophy the World
Federation of Teachers Unions publishes an
illustrated monthly magazine, Teachers of
the World, in English, French, German,
Spanish,. and Japanese. This is but one
of the many Communist publications
designed to have an impact in the field of
education.
The Communists have long recognized the
tremendous impact of the printed word
But in their use of the printed word they
are extremely careful to see that the stu-
dent and intellectual see only the right
words. It should be noted here that with-
out exception education in the Soviet orbit
is praised, while that in the United States
and the British Commonwealth is ceaselessly
criticized.
In the United States and other free coun-
tries the students in courses of political
philosophy and economy are given a careful
objective analysis of the various types of
political and economic systems. Original
documents and publications from the
various countries of the world are used.
In Communist countries a course in po-
litical economy presents the capitalist sys-
tem within the framework of a. Marxist in-
terpretation of history. Students are not
allowed access to current Western texts. In
the political economy course required of all
students, in Communist universities there
are books by only four authors; Friedrich
Engels, Karl Marx, V. I. Lenin, and Josef
Stalin.
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Such is education in the Communist bloc. of Students which was founded in Prague
These efforts are not so obvious in areas of in 1946 and which - claims a membership
the free world, but equally dangerous. In of more than 3 million students in some
one important area of southeast Asia, where 36 affiliated organizations. Most of the non-
as you know there are large Chinese com- Communist affiliates of this organization
munities, it is estimated that as high as 90 left it by 1950.
percent of the students in the Chinese sec- The International Union of Students holds
ondary school systems are under Communist periodic World Student Congresses, and
influence. With few exceptions the text- works closely with the World Federation
books used are identical with those used in of Democratic Youth, another Communist-
Communist China. They are carefully writ- front, in running the biennial World Youth
ten in order to create a sense of identifica- Festivals. It uses every opportunity to
tion with China, so that the schooling, criticize conditions in the free world eulo-
rather than providing an objective and bal- gizing life in the Communist countries. In-
anced education, is in effect creating a fifth dicative of the wide extent of its activities
column for Peiping. are the departments in the secretariat in
In a major Latin American city a new Prague. (1). Education, culture, and travel;
school is being organized under the direction (2) student needs and welfare; (3) press
of two prominent Communist activists information; (4) administration and fl-
whose role, if they are successful in their nance; and (5) faculty bureau.
covert activity, will be unknown to the pub- This organization is among those respon-
lie, to most of the teachers and to the stu- sible for the mass of Communist literature
dents. In other words they are using re- available to the students from secondary
spectable citizens and educators as a front. schools and universities. Attractive books
The courses which will be presented have and periodicals are sold for very little.
most respectable names: Political Econom- These print distorted reports and half-truths
ics, Philosophy, and History. What these about the United States and the free world
courses will actually present are the political and extol the conditions of life in Commu-
economics of Marxism, dialectical material- nist countries. It is small wonder that many
ism, and the history of socialism. students are tempted to travel to Commu-
Perhaps we should note here in passing nist countries for university education.
that the Cuban public schools have recently Chukwuemeka Okonkwo, of Nigeria, wrote
received an order from the government to of his experiences in this regard in the Ni-
give instruction in Communist doctrine. gerian Sunday Times. He reported that he
Under the Communist scheme of things was consciously trying to test the suitability
the student is not just a passive recipient of communism as a state system in order to
of indoctrination. The objective is to bring prepare himself to play a part in the develop-
him under firm control and to make him an ment of Nigeria. He obtained U.N. spon-
activist. sorship to study in the Soviet Union. Be-
Terror is not an unknown weapon in this fore going he read everything he could lay
effort. Force is used against teachers and his hands on about the U.S.S.R. and about
nonconformist students-something that Marxism??Leninisrn. He was impressed by
never fails to affect the impressionable the promises of aid to Africa and by the
young. Social ostracism is used by listing objectives stated.
the names of opponents on the blackboard Here is his report in his own words: "On
and labelling them as traitors. the basis of what I had read " * * I formed
Enticing scholarship offers attract many, a mental picture of a perfect society, devoid
particularly those students who are bright of social, economic, and political injustice,
but poor. In order to get and keep their a highly organized state, potentially greater
scholarships students are required to read than any other."
prescribed books and to follow the orders of He goes on to say that upon first arriv-
all leaders. Ing in Moscow the students were pampered
Tool of the Communists in their activities and feted. They were allowed to mix with
among students is the International Union the Russians. "It was hoped no doubt that
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they would influence us." But he reports
that the reverse was true. The Russian
students had never experienced such free
and open discussions and questions in
class-"they could not understand this at
first; but they, too, began to imitate us be-
cause we * * * got away with it" The in-
evitable followed: "The authorities called a
halt to fraternization. They put us in sepa-
rate hostels and gave us passes. * * * From
your hostel through the Russian sectors to
the classroom you had to use three passes."
Okonkwo said many of the African stu-
dents had a grudge against the West for
what they considered the injustices of colo-
nialism, and were urged to make statements
favorable to the U.S.S.R. and anti-Western,
He said: "We did not know it then, but later
it dawned on us that not only were the Rus-
sians striving to convince the world of their
own system, they were hard put to it, try-
ing to convince their own people about
communism." He wrote: "Today I know
that communism in theory reads better than
any ideology on earth; but I know, also, that
communism in practice is the most oppres-
sive, the most abominable and the most
inhuman government machine that has yet
been evolved."
Okonkwo isn't the only African who had
illusions shattered by the realities of the
Communist system of education. Another
commented: "In Africa they all want to come
here. We come to be taught but we find,
when we get here, that you cannot be neu-
tral in this country. They won't let you."
And a third student said: "The best way to
become an anti-Communist is to live here."
We would be foolish to presume that edu-
cation in the Communist countries affects
many in this manner. But even if a few
students see through the sham, we cannot
conclude that Communist manipulation of
education is so obvious that it is self-defeat-
ing. Young people are often intelligent but
rarely wise.
Most students are selected with care by
the Communist embassies, or the Commu-
nist Party, or front organizations. Several
countries have expressed concern over the
direct recruitment of students in this man-
ner. The Indian Government has indicated
that it will not permit it, and further that
the 30 to 40 students selected to attend the
new Friendship University in Moscow will
not be permitted to take political or ideo-
logical courses.
The Friendship University will be the lode-
stone by which the Communists will try
to attract more and more foreign students
to Moscow.. It opened October 1, 1960, with
500 students-only about 10 percent from
the Soviet Union and all the rest from Asia,
Africa and Latin America. It has been
stated that the foreign students will not
have to take courses in Marxism-Leninism
which are compulsory for all Russians.
Foreign students will get free tuition, a free
room, medical care, a clothing allowance
and $70 a month. Transportation will be
provided to Moscow-and home again after
5 years. In 3 years this university will have
3,000 to 4,000 undergraduates in everything
from engineering to Marxist economics.
The Soviet Union is not alone in offering
expanded opportunities for foreign students.
African youth leaders are trained free at the
Wilhelm Pieck Youth College in Bernau.
Czechoslovakia has offered 40 technical
scholarships to Mali, each for a 2- to 3-
year period with all expenses paid. Leipzig
University has a department of African
studies and many other opportunities are
offered in schools and universities from
Prague to Peiping.
The challenge that this Communist of-
fensive poses for the free world is impres-
sive. It is a challenge which must be met
or we will truly be buried.
First, as Allen Dulles said in a speech
to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Detroit
last August: "We need far and wide in this
country more education on the whole his-
tory of the Communist movement.
"We should not be afraid to teach the
subject. A history of communism and all
of its works would bear its own indictment
of the system. Let the facts speak for them-
selves."
There is no shortage of literature on the
subject. Your own Dr. Kenneth Colegrove
produced the book "Democracy Versus Com-
munism" under the auspices of the institute
of fiscal and political education. J. Edgar
Hoover's book "Masters of Deceit" should
be required reading. And there are other
studies produced, by many research organi-
zations throughout the country.
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Second, every effort should be made to
permit others the opportunity to study not
only communism but the free world. Al-
ready many fine research institutions in the
free world are studying the problems of the
Communist world particularly in such coun-
tries as West Germany, England, and Japan.
There should be more such institutions and
they should particularly be open to scholars
from the new and underdeveloped nations.
Third, worldwide efforts are required to
improve the status of the teacher. I have
described what attracts teachers to com-
munism, and perhaps the most important
is the poor economic state in many parts of
the world. Salaries of teachers are all too
often insufficient to meet the necessities of
life. The Hong Kong Government reported
that a growing interest on the part of teach-
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era in communism vanished when a more
adequate salary scale was adopted,
Fourth, students in the world should not
be permitted to have empty stomachs and
intolerable living conditions. These condi-
tions 'breed communism regardless of the
education they receive.
Finally, there should be a full and free
interchange of unclassified information.
When a chemistry student spends 6 months
in the Soviet Union without being permitted
to see the list of chemistry courses offered by
the university in which he is enrolled, it is
obvious that Communist practices do not
match their promises of freedom.
The Communists are terrified of the
searchlight of truth-they will not allow it
to shine on their own people; they will strive
to keep the light from all others.
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