Time no longer st
in Mecklenburg p

OU WILL NOT find Mestlin

on many maps. It is a vil-

lage in a rather backward
province in East Germany.

Mestlin lies in'the province of
Mecklenburg, where 20 years
ago the peasants were cattle for
_ the owners of the province. It

was so under the nazis; it had
not been different under the
Kaiser. And it was the same in
the Weimar Republic in 1918-
1933 — the period between the
Kaiser and Hitler, when Ger-
many was a leading democracy.

Under the Kaiser, Janitschau
represented Mecklenburg in the
Reichstag, the German parlia-
ment. The Janitschaus were an
old, famous Junker family—the
landed aristocracy. In a debate
on education in the Reichstag
in 1918, this was Janitschau’s
contribution:

“I need three oxen for my
plough. Two in front and one
behind. And if the ox behind the
plough knows how to say
‘Whoa’ at the right. moment, he
knows enough.”

During the Weimar Republic
the villagers of Mestlin thought
they could take their constitu-
tional rights seriously and they
elected a farm laborer as their
mayor. Berkemayer, the local
landowner, evicted the newly-
elected mayor, put him and his
belongings on a cart and moved
him out of the village. The dan-
ger of democracy had been
averted.

Most of the people of Meck-
lenburg were farm laborers.
They lived in villages that had
no electric light, in\clay hovels,
often one room for a whole fam-

A first
President Sukarno’s recent
statement that Indonesia
“would never start a war”
against Malaysia may have
confused many readers of the
daily papers, which have been
misinterpreting Sukarno’s
“crush Malaysia” program.
This article by a member of
the central committee of the
Communist Party of Australia
who was recently in Indonesia,
explains the Indonesian posi-
tion.

By REX MORTIMER

VERY Indonesian  govern-
ment and party leader I met
asked me to emphasize that

Indonesia has no _ territorial
claims against any other coun-

try.

Indonesia, I was told, respects
the right of any nation to
choose its own form of political
asociation, be it Malaysia or any
other grouping.

But they oppose, and wil! op-

ily, a few children sharing one
bed. :

Many villages had no road to
the outside world. On occasion,

villagers had to die because the
doctor could not reach them.

Two-thirds of all Mecklen-
burg schools were one-class
schools. Herded into a single
classroom were 50 to 60 pupils
of all ages, instructed by one
teacher. Often the teacher was
but an artisan who knew how
to read and write and for whom
teaching was a spare-time job.

Wages were low, up to 80
percent in kind. A_ ten-hour
working day, six days a week,
was the rule.

For centuries up to 1945
Mecklenburg was the never-

disturbed domain of Germany’s .

land-owning Junkers. Some
2,200 Junkers ruled the province
and owned everything — the

land, the dwellings, the imple-

ments, the cattle and, for all
practical purposes, the people.

The Junkers did everything to
artificially retard progress, even
preventing industry from mak-
ing inroads into their preserve.
In Germany, the leading indus-
trial nation in Europe, Mecklen-
burg remained a sacrosanct pre-
serve ‘wr feudalism and the
Middle Ages. Time stood still.

“Should the world come to an

end, I will escape to Mecklen- °

burg. There everything comes
500 years later.” This is how the
Junkers- characterized “their”
province. ~

The ruling caste of the prov-
ince supplied a reliable cadre for

~

and report from Indonesia |

pose, any attempt by colonial
powers to impose their wishes
on the people of Southeast Asia
and to pose threats to Indone-
sia’s Own independence.

This is the key to their hostil-
ity to the present Malaysian
scheme.

_ Indonesian ‘First +. Deputy
Foreign Minister Suwito put the
official version to me in this
way:

“When the Malaysian proposal
first came up, Foreign Minister
Subandrio said we would wel-
come the federation if it was

_ based on the wishes of the

people concerned. That has al-
ways been our position.

“But the interests of the
people of North Kalimantan
(North Borneo) in particular
were ignored and their striving
for independence suppressed. It
became clear that Malaysia was
a disguise to perpetuate the
vested interests of British im-
perialism and carry on subver-
Sive activities against Indonesia.

“A federation of Malaysia

From MAX REICH

BERLIN

German militarism. The Buelow
family in the 20th century alone

(up to 1945) supplied 141 offi-.

cers for the German army, in-
cluding eight generals and one
field marshal. -

During the Weimar Republic
the province was an undisturb-
ed training ground for terrorist
and nazi organizations. Reaction
practised cold-blooded murder
under the benevolent eyes of an
Official ‘democratic’ Germany.
Here also was a safe hideout for

In backward Mecklenburg
the future had always been
500 years away.

freed of colonial influence would
be acceptable to us. So there
should be a reinvestigation of
the real wishes of the people of
the federation. That is all we
ask and all we have sought. We
want the imperialist powers to
leave us alone, to let Asians
solve their own problems. ‘If
they do this, there will be
in Asia.”

There is nothing here to sup-
port the ceaseless propaganda
in the West about “Indonesian
aggressiveness” on which the
military build-up is based.

The position is complicated,
however, by divisions within the
Indonesian government itself,
This government is an unusual
and uneasy alliance of elements
ranging from the extreme right
to the Communist left.

Recently the government has
been shifting steadily to the left,
but right-wing elements are still
strongly _entrenched and the
balance is held by the centre.

While Communists are repre-
sented in the cabinet, they have
as yet no portfolios.

peace’

extremists who had to- “dis-
appear” for a while.

Occasionally light was shed
on what was going on in the
preserve of reaction. In 1923 a
certain ‘undesirable’ Kadow
had been lured into a forest and
bludgeoned to death. When his
mutilated body was discovered
the authorities were forced to
act. :

The highest court of Germany
sentenced Rudolf Hoess, the
murderer, to two years, and
Martin Bormann, the instigator
of the murder, to four weeks.
Bormann later became deputy
fuehrer to Hitler and MHoess
commander of the Auschwitz
extermination camp.

Only in 1945, when the Junk-
ers were dispossessed by the
land reform was a decisive step
taken to create human condi-
tions for the people of Mecklen-
burg. The first authorities in
German history to do something

* for the poverty-stricken, back-

ward farm laborers later became
the government of the German
Democratic Republic.

Before leaving the Junkers
had driven off much of the
cattle. There were few farm im-
plements. He who owned a

Within the government, there
are differences on how the
struggle against the Malaysia
scheme should be prosecuted, as
there are on all other matters
of: policy.

D. N. Aidit, chairman of the
Indonesian Communist Party,
puts it that there are three
groups and three standpoints to-
ward the question of Malaysia.

Firstly, there are moderates
or reformists, who want to
reach some accommodation with
the imperialists, and for this
purpose are prepared to make
concessions at the expense of
the interests of the people of the
federation and of Indonesia it-
self.

Secondly, there are the
counter-revolutionary adventur-
ers, who have long striven to
bring about the downfall of the
Sukarno government. They use
fiery “revolutionary” words with
the aim of provoking limited
armed action by the British,
which they hope would create
panic at home and present them
with a good opportunity to put

ands still
rovince —

scythe was considered rich

In many cases the ni
created farmers had to start
ing the land with spades.
had no nails to build hous,
Iron railing had to be torn dh,
as material for nails. ’

Nevertheless, within a
years the province had c |
its face. The old hovels we!
placed by decent housing.
are nurseries, kindergart
services (like pick-up and
liver laundries). And__ villile
stores are so well supplied W
merchandise that the s
among townspeople is:. “df
want to shop well, go to th
lage.” :

The last one-class school We,
out of existence in 1952. 4
former farm laborers, kept}
appalling ignorance, have ™,
become culture conscious.

Orchestras and theatres g0/0
the villages to perform to appt
ciative and enthusiastic aude
ces and villagers arrange gt
visits to the city for culll
performances. 4

It is symbolic that the p
of the former prince who
Mecklenburg is now a cd
for training teachers.

Meanwhile, the Junkers
found a haven in West %
many. They speak of “dem;

racy” and of “reuniting” [n;

many. They plan and plot I;
prepare for the day when Ure
think they will return to “liir
ate” their “home” from the ¥e;
Terror, and bring greater “I:
dom” and “human conditi
back to their lost province.

an end to the Sukarno regi
or at the very least to make”),
karno their captive. In such
situation they would wor
establish close relations -
Malaysia and the British, as
as presenting their victory —
the United States. :

Finally, there are the rev)
tionaries, including the ©
munists, who hold that onl
forcing the imperialists tO %;
treat by a consistent policy 9,
confrontation in all fields
tary, political, economic, CY,
ral) can the way be opened i
fruitful negotiations that
achieve real independence
peace for the people of =
region. a

In the view of the CommU! hi
Party of Indonesia, confro™
tion will continue for some
and its main content should
asistance to the people of NO!
Kalimantan to free themselVi
Aidit stresses that the prine f
must be adhered to that #
the North Kalimantan pe%
who are liberating their cou
while Indonesia’s role is th@
giving assistance.”

a

January 29, 1965—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Padé