Hermann Field (part 2), D11, Drew Pearson Films, Washington Merry-Go-Round.

Duration: 12:26 1943 transcript words EN summary

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Hermann Field recounts his harrowing five-year ordeal in a Polish interrogation center rather than a traditional prison, where he faced constant pressure from the secret police without ever seeing a judge or jury. His primary hope during this period was simply to face a trial, as witnessing new prisoners being brought in and processed while remaining stuck in the "cellar" of uncertainty made him fear that his suffering would be endless. The interrogators failed to extract any information about alleged British espionage because Field did not possess such knowledge, yet they maintained their pressure tactics until Stalin's death was eventually discovered by the inmates after a month-long silence regarding the news in censored newspapers. Field describes his unexpected release as ambiguous and frightening at first, given that prisoners were conditioned to view any change with deep suspicion; however, he soon learned that his imprisonment had been a grave mistake for which the authorities issued an apology. The Polish government agreed to publicly acknowledge their error, allow him to take out his written materials composed in solitary confinement to prevent madness, and provide financial restitution along with medical coverage for his recovery. Specifically, Field received an indemnity of 50,000 zlotys and a public statement clearing his name, marking the beginning of a slow but noticeable shift toward greater independence from Russian control within Poland over the subsequent years. Looking at the broader political landscape, Field notes that there is no genuine sentiment in favor of Russia among the Polish people due to deep historical roots and traumatic wartime experiences, yet he argues against encouraging immediate revolts similar to those in Hungary because such actions could lead to brutal suppression by Moscow. He expresses confidence that if Poland can maintain its current gains toward liberalization and reduced secret police power, the population will naturally seek even more freedom over time without needing external pressure to ignite a spark that might destroy their progress. In his personal life following his return to the United States with his family, Field is working on publishing a book based on the novels he wrote in prison as a coping mechanism against insanity, which has already been accepted by an American publisher and will soon be translated for release in Poland itself—a development that would have seemed impossible just two years prior. After completing this literary project, he plans to return to his original career in architecture, having spent too many years away from the profession he loves while documenting the resilience of the human spirit under totalitarian rule.

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Now, last week, ladies and gentlemen, we talked with a man who knows more about conditions behind the iron curtain than perhaps any other living American, even from inside a communist prison, Mr. Herman Field. He spent five years very unfairly and unjustly imprisoned by the Polish government and was paid in an indemnity for the injustice done to him. He was trying to find his brother Nfield at the time he was imprisoned. And last week he told us about some of his experiences. And this week I want to ask him about what we as Americans should do for the people behind the iron curtain and also to tell us a little bit more about how for instance he was released. Just a minute we'll talk further with Herman Field. Mr. Field, during this long five years in prison, what did you hope for most? Well, in a practical way, what I um hoped for uh was a trial. Well, that seems very strange uh considering that I would have knew perfectly well that such a trial would not uh be a trial in our sense at all. But you have to realize that I was an interrogation center, >> not a jail. >> Not a jail. And that's a very different thing from being Oh, much worse. uh you are there under the secret police. You are continually being um put under pressure. You never know from day to day what's going to happen to you. Uh therefore every prisoner's dream in an interrogation center is to get out of it as soon as possible >> to face a trial. to face a trial. And uh what was especially depressing is when you're in a solo like that and you can't help noticing that there are people coming in fresh and going through the works, going through the ringer, so to speak, and coming out again and you are still in the cellar. And that that is very hard to take because you see it going on and on and you wonder whether you're ever going to get out of the cellar. And you finally get to the point, well, um is this oblivion? That's why you dream about a trial. Finally, >> did you come to understand what happens to our GIS when they've been brainwashed? >> I think that I would say that uh after what I've seen and experienced, I'm quite convinced that if you want to pay the price, you can break anybody. >> Did they get from you the information they wanted? No, I didn't have it. >> They had wanted to find out that you were a a British agent and you just weren't. >> Which I wasn't. That's right. >> Well, now did you know when you were in prison that Stalin had died? >> Well, that was a a funny thing. They um apparently realized that the news of Stalin's death would be a big booster to us and that that might mean that we might let off steam. And um the result was that they very carefully cut out any mention of Stalin's death in the newspapers which I did get at that time or published newspapers and finally eliminated the newspapers altogether because it was impossible as you can imagine. And yet after about a month uh we finally managed to discover what the cause was. But then the problem was that we um had to be very careful not to let them know that we had discovered it because otherwise they would stop >> that you discovered that Stalin was dead. >> No, I did because then they'd they'd take us upstairs and start investigating us. How do you happen to know that Stalin died? >> In other words, they realized that with Stalin's death there might be a new era behind the Iron Curtain, >> I think. So I think very soon they began to realize that and actually >> And did did that occur? >> Yes. Uh in 1954, I didn't understand it at the time. my conditions very slowly. I think they didn't want to show it to me um got better and better all through the spring and the summer. >> Now, what happened when you were first let free? What did they do? >> Well, it again uh I wasn't there was no explanation. One fine afternoon uh I was uh asked to come out of the cellar and I was put into the car and off I went without any idea what was going to happen. >> Do you think this was good or bad? Well, uh, the trouble is a prisoner in in the situation I was in always regarded change as bad because it always had tended to be bad. And so you're very suspicious. But there was one positive factor and that I found myself going into Warsaw, in fact, ending up in the place where it all started at the Ministry of Public Security. And they finally made an apology to you. They um explained to me finally that they realized that the whole thing had been a frightful mistake and went further to say that they felt that um they wanted to if possible uh find some adjustment uh to make good the damage they've done to me. And they asked me what I felt about it. And I uh and I said that I thought that I should receive an indemnity. Um and that uh the question of my health should be looked into, that uh they would publicly state that I had been falsely imprisoned and that there was nothing to it. Uh that they would um let me take all my written material out with me and a number of things of that sort and they agreed to that. >> How much did they finally pay you then? and paid me an indemnity of 50,000 and also agreed to carry any medical costs in connection with my convolescence. >> I see. Well, now Mr. Field, in just a minute, I want to talk to you a little further about what's going on today behind the iron curtain and what we Americans might be able to do about it. Now, Mr. field. Turning to present day conditions, how much sentiment is there in Poland in favor of Russia? >> Well, I'd say none really. >> None at all. >> No, they don't like the Russians. >> No, that of course has it's not a just a present day thing. It has historic roots way back through the history of Poland, but also was reinforced by very unfortunate experiences they'd had with Soviet Russia during the war and afterwards. >> Now, why didn't the Poles revolt the way the Hungarians have done? Well, I think they showed much more maturity uh in view of the real situation. Uh I think that the main credit for that probably goes to Mr. Gumulka, >> the new prime minister. >> Yes. Uh because he really was ahead of the situation rather than uh behind it like in Hungary. In other words, uh he took the initiative to make the moves before the pressure of the of the popular pressure became such that it had to be done. >> Now, if the people of Poland had revolted, would they have been crushed the same way Hungary's been? >> I'm afraid so. It's it's very hard to tell, but it seems to me exactly the same thing applies. And perhaps even more. I think the Russians will be still more nervous about anything happening in Poland being the strongest of the satellite countries. and strategically at the center of their whole um satellite empire. >> Now, what's the future of these satellite countries? Can they gradually become independent? >> Well, all we can do is to hope so. I don't see any other course we can follow at the present time because uh otherwise it just means a a um a um bloody suppression and with it probably a a very marked setback in in the small leeway that there is. I think that uh even the advances that have been possible in Poland during these last two years and especially that have developed this past year are a tremendous gain. And if they can be held, I I have a fairly strong confidence that when people taste freedom, a little bit of it, they're going to see to it that they get more and more all the time. >> Well, what should we, the American people do to help them? Well, I think the most important thing is at this point really is restraint. I think we we um must be very careful not to uh um push them over the edge. Uh we we we realize very well >> encourage them to revolt. >> That's right. Uh we we sympathize with their desire perhaps to revolt, but I think we've got to help them to hold back. And it's so easy to set a spark going and and everything will be lost. Whereas now they have at least registered some gains over these years. I I I am quite amazed at how much has happened since my release in both in the direction of of greater independence from Russia and the boldness in that respect and in a liberal trend in cultural fields and uh in the lessening gradually of the um power of the secret police. We saw that very came out very clearly in the way the posn trial was handled this last summer. By the way, you're back in the United States with your family now. Just uh what are you doing? >> Earlier on, I I think in the last time we talked together, I mentioned that uh we had written these giant novels down in our solar as a method of not to go of not going crazy. Uh I was lucky in being able to bring this material out with me. And um unfortunately there we had no end of time. In fact, our whole point was to try to stretch the work out as much as we could. Now, of course, I have a a real public involved and therefore it's got to be cut. Uh, not being a writer, I feel very much that I've got a lion by the tail in this. But, uh, I do have hopes that the book will be out about a year from now. It's already been accepted by a publisher. >> Is it going to be published in uh, this country or other countries or where? uh this will be in this country. But uh there is an interesting side aspect to this which goes back to what we were saying about changes in Poland. Uh I understand that uh this book in a Polish translation is and uh jointly under my authorships and my soulmates uh is to be published in Poland too. Now, uh, that's quite unthinkable. Uh, that would have been quite unthinkable two years ago. >> And your future plans? >> Well, as soon as I get this out of the way, I I certainly want to get back into architecture because that's after all my field and that's what I've been dying to do all these years. >> Well, thanks very much for being here and good luck for the future. Next week, I'm going to interview one of the most respected and interesting members of Congress, Representative William Dawson of Chicago, the senior negro member of Congress. Heat. Heat.