SLAVE-SCIENTIST IN RUSSIA EXCLUSIVE! An eye-witness Error pitied IR. six months we have been imprisoned in the Bautzen detention camp—the first report on the fate of German six months of a 25-year sentence to which we scientists enslaved behind were condemned by a Soviet Military Court for supposed espionage and “anti-Soviet prop- aganda.” We squat all day on our bunks, be- ‘cause the cell is so small that we cannot move around in it. ‘One begins to run out of conversation after half a year and the only break comes at meal-“R heavy key is turned in the lock—betore ‘the cell door a open we are wide awake.” times. It is an advantage to have studied physics and mathematics; you find many problems to ponder and in the seclusion of a cell it is easier to think ‘out many of these than when free. But it is tiresome to solve differential equa- tions in your head. A kingdom for a serap of paper and a pencil! Tt is two o'clock in the morning; al- though the cell is brightly lighted we are fast asleep. Suddenly a heavy key is turned in the lock, a noise that electrifies us. Before the cell door is opened we are wide awake and alert. We have had nperience and we know that ¢ vist from the Russian guard, especially at such an unusual hour, bodes no good. If something in our cell displeases him, we may all land in solitary. the is making his customary search, we may lose val- uable bits of our pitiful possessions. A multitude of unpleasant possibi trwail wo when the key ture in the look. The guard appears in the doorway and calls ‘my, name; as I answer he merely says, “Dress! Come along!” I roll out my bunk, jump into my uniform and walk out of the cell. My heart is beating in my throat and my whole body trembles. On the way we are met by a guard oo ‘and another prisoner, obviously on his way back to the cell.’ As the two come near us, I cough and whisper in front of me, “What is it?” “Scientists,” says the other. ‘This little talk costs me a kick and a curse in Russian. But I am briefed ‘on the picture. ‘They are taking special ists for some work project. If you re- ‘main in Germany, very nice. But if you end up in Russia... In a comfortless basement room sits Russian in civilian clothes. Ina tone- Jess voice and in good German, he asks me to sit down. He takes up a folder, ‘on the cover of which my name appears in Russian, and he turns the pages. After ‘awhile he asks me about my profession ‘and my experience up to now. I don't know how to answer. I try to discover what he knows about me. I describe my education and I throw in a little lie or two to see how far I can go. ‘The ex- amination continues: “What did you do during the war?” do not like this question because I had worked on the development of an ‘acoustic torpedo and later was technical advisor for acoustic-guided missiles. Naturally I don't want to let that out here. ‘So I answer, “I trained technical assistants.” The man sneers: “Were you so engaged for the whole war?” Natu “Aa they come near us I cough and whisper ‘What Is HY ‘Scientist’ says the other.”rt on the Russian prison camp at Kutschino, studied electrical engineering and physics at the uni- versities of Darmstadt and Jena. He began his professional career in the electro-acousties lab of a Berlin rally I cannot make that seem credible. “T took acoustical measurements. in the Baltic. We had to do research on the transmission characteristics of sea water.” He raises his finger to show me that this answer pleases him better. Tt is clear that he knows something about me. I realize that the acoustic- © foneleas voice and in good German ‘orks me to it down, takes firm. During World War I he worked in the German Navy Depart- Tent’ on the devalopmect of acoustically guided torpedo and in ‘the Navy High Command as a tech- nieal advisor. After the collapse of Germany he became a. school teacher in a small town in Thuringen, a province in East Germany. . He entered politics, was elected to the Thuringen As- sembly, His attacks on compulsory socialization earned him the hatred of the Reds who arrested him on trumped-up charges. He was sen= teneed by a Soviet Military Tribunal to 28 years compulsory labor for “espionage ahd anti-Soviet propa- ganda.” This article and the sequel in the October MI are reprinted from the German magazine Der Monat. controlled torpedo is known to the Reds and T determine to speak as much as Paes nee at ne ste cnown, saying things about which they are ignorant. So I describe how, in Danzig Bay, we tested torpedoes ‘which automatically run in the direction of the sounds of ships. In our experi- “"We go ia choins through BreatLitowak; oc: Couplaied by heury armed Red Guarda”