Terror in the street

In retrospect of the past Jose' my father-in-law saw in 1962 what we have to worry about today Jose' said "It's Everybody's Battle" --Ian Jay Germaine Not after the first telephone calls to my office and the incident of the militia girl outside my home, my wife and I were returning one night in our auto from a wedding.

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In the rear view mirror of my auto I saw several other cars hovering just behind me. A siren began screaming. I pulled over to the side of the street. Several of the cars surrounded mine, blocking the way in the front and rear. Those cars were occupied by men dressed as police, as civilians, as members of the militia. They carried machineguns raised and pointed. They ordered us to get out of our car. We got out, and a militiaman motion at me with his machinegun an snapped: "Face the car, put your hands against it." I took that position, and one of the policemen searched my pockets. Another meanwhile, searched my car. "What have I done?" I asked "Just wait," said the man with a machinegun. By this time my wife was terrorized. I noticed that she was visible trembling. They held us there for some time , talking among themselves, looking at us and searching the car. Finally, the man with the machinegun smirked and said: "Just a mistake." He seemed quite amused that the halting and questioning of two innocent citizens under the barrels of machineguns should have produced the trembling and fear which we displayed. His face showed clearly that to produce terror in us was the only aim of the search in the first place. The same "mistake" happened still another time. And in this occasion, the militiamen who stopped us held a clipboard carelessly exposed so I could see a list of license tag numbers. One of them was mine. Not long after that my wife and I were awakened one morning at three o'clock by the ringing of the telephone on a bedside table. My wife answered. A voice said to her: "If your husband continues collaborating with the imperialist, your children are going to suffer." The effect on my wife was painful to see. Nerves can take just so much. It was this telephone call which started me thinking definitely about escaping the nightmare that was ruining our lives. Soon after that shattering telephone call in the middle of the night, the Castro regime took over my company. Castro made one of his infamous television speeches accusing all oil companies of being imperialistic and therefore opposed to revolution. He charged that the companies did not want to use the oil of Russia, Cuba's fine new friend. Next a notice appeared in the newspaper that the oil companies were to be confiscated and the government managers would be named. For once the Communists were true to their word....Oh they did not throw me out on the street. I remained on the job. Castro's manager told us, "There will be no change. Except this: Formerly you were working for the imperialists. From now on you will be working for your own country. The company belongs to us!" Among the four or five government people who came into my firm was a woman. Her manner of speaking clearly identified her as a communist. She said to me, "I am hear to investigate the financial side of the business." From that moment on I had no authority in the company I had worked for 14 years, in which I was one of the principle officials. I merely sat in my office. All papers, all communications that ordinarily would have come to me were directed to this woman. I was bypassed and left as a little island with no power, no purpose. The Communist knew I would not be an active collaborator. They also knew that I had the respect of workers in my company. They did not care to get rid of me if they could silence me, if they could make it appear at least that I accepted the changes. When they found that I had no intention of silently, abjectly accepting what the Communists were doing, they threatened me. When I refused to be silenced, they made life impossible for me and my family. Little by little as they became convinced I was not at all sympathetic with murder, intimidation and theft, they isolated me. Communism permits no dissension. If you dissent, you are shot or sent to prison., or relieved of your property and chased out of the country. (NEXT: DEATH OF AN ORGANIZATION) Column reprinted with permission of the Long Beach Press-Telegram