One of the world’s leading Communist con men has succeeded in fleecing some new capitalist suckers. Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito and his retinue of 50 Communists enjoyed a three-day vacation at an expensive French resort, and then walked out without paying the bill.
It is unlikely that Tito had any qualms of conscience. The Communist slogan “from each according to his means, to each according to his needs” would rationalize Tito’s exploiting the expensive hotel and cuisine in order to provide a lavish scale of living for himself, four of his ministers, one ambassador, six advisers, his doctor, two nurses, his interpreter, his cook and butler, and 30 bodyguards.
The only good thing about Tito’s vacation was that it wasn’t in the United States. If he had wanted to come here, there probably would have been diplomats and businessmen who would have been taken in as easily as the French.
The long love affair that some Americans have had with Tito is a classic example of Communist brainwashing. The $2,500,000 he received in American foreign aid was defended by the false illusion that Yugoslav Communism is different from Russian Communism.
When Yugoslavia was invaded by Hitler’s troops, Tito and the Communists did not oppose them because the Red Line demanded Soviet-Nazi cooperation. It was only after Russia was attacked by the Nazis that Tito joined the fighting against Yugoslavia’s invaders.
During that period, the United States and our allies gave Tito and his Partisans rifles, light machine guns, radio-wireless sets, boots, and small arms ammunition. After Tito was firmly lodged in power by such U.S. aid, plus U.S. funds channeled through UNNRRA, he executed the Yugoslav patriot who opposed the Nazis from the beginning, Draza Mihailovich.
The belief of some Americans that Tito’s Communism is somehow different from the other kind is a real achievement in the art of self-deception. It has persisted in despite Tito’s own admission, “I am a Communist, and nothing but a Communist.”
This was constantly reinforced by official Yugoslav spokesmen who reiterated: “Our destiny is linked with world socialism and above all with the Soviet Union. We say there is only one scientific socialism — Marxism-Leninism — and that there can be no question of some specific Yugoslav or any other ‘national’ socialism.”
Tito repeatedly demonstrated his unbending loyalty to Marxism-Leninism. He was responsible for the murder of hundreds of clergy in a savage campaign to destroy religion, and for the imprisonment of Cardinal Stepinac.
Yugoslavia Makes no pretense of free elections. Members of the Yugoslav Executive Council are appointed, not elected. Tito’s appointed claque declared Tito President for life.
Tito’s devotion to international Communism above all other values is indicated by the recent charges that he has permitted to circulate against his own wife. She is accused of engaging in “nationalist” activities in trying to influence senior appointments.
Apparently, Mrs. Tito remained under house arrest while Tito enjoyed his luxury vacation in France. One wonders if, like Mao Tse-tung’s widow, she will find that neither love nor prestige can ever be permitted to stand in the way of Communist goals.
