"Whenever we hear it said that Communism threatens us from within and without; whenever we are told that the Soviet Union menaces our "way of life" and wants to conquer the world; whenever we are summoned to a Holy Crusade that- if it is allowed to begin- will ravish the entire earth, we recall the following simple facts of history: Mussolini killed whatever democracy existed in Italy by claiming that Italy was threatened by Communism; Hitler destroyed the German Republic with the same weapon; Tojo broke the resistance of the people of Japan by using the identical thesis; Franco murdered the Spanish Republic in the name of the "Red menace"; The Axis launched World War II under the slogan of saving the world from Communism."
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Anti-fascistsJews from the United StatesScreenwriters from the United StatesNovelists from New York CityMembers of the Communist Party USA
Original Language: English
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Foreword to the 1954 reprint.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alvah_Bessie
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Alvah Bessie
Alvah Cecil Bessie (June 4, 1904 – July 21, 1985) was an American novelist, journalist and screenwriter who was imprisoned for ten months and blacklisted by the movie studio bosses for being one of the group known as the Hollywood Ten. In 1938, Bessie fought in the "Abraham Lincoln Brigade", an all-volunteer unit of Americans who fought for the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War.
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