GERMANY: The Sedist Sausage

Sedosan, with the well-known unity trade mark, is the most sensational discovery of the new age—more effective than aspirin . . . more victorious than penicillin. For Sedosan . . . cures everything . . . Sedosan stills the worker’s hunger, protects the freezing intellectuals . . . eliminates “reactionaries” . . . transforms Nazis, according to a guaranteed process, into screaming red SEDers.

“Dear Child.” With such sarcastic editorials, Berlin’s non-Communist newspapers last week ridiculed the cure-all campaign promises made by SED (the Communist-run Socialist Unity Party) in a desperate attempt to win votes for Berlin’s municipal elections Oct. 20. Sedists (as Berliners have begun to call SEDers) personally took credit for such timely Russian favors as last week’s distribution of cigarets and liquor to Berliners, and the special allotment of clothing and shoes to 60,000 children. SED distributed notebooks to children with the inscription: “Instead of using this paper for a campaign pamphlet, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany . . . gives you, dear Berlin child, this notebook. Study diligently and thus make your parents happy. Signed, SED.”

Sedists know that this time, as Berlin slang puts it, “Es geht um die Wurst” (“The sausage is at stake,” meaning: this is it)..The elections (at which Berliners will choose 130 city councillors and 805 district assemblymen) are Germany’s first to be supervised jointly by all four occupying powers. This means that, for once, SED will have to compete honestly with its rival parties (the Liberals, Christian Democrats and Social Democrats). Even without joint central control, in Russian zone elections last month SED polled only a bare 52% majority.

Worst of all, the Russians are getting impatient. They are beginning to suspect that their heavy investment of monetary and moral support for SED has been unsound. In addition to the Sedists’ relatively poor performance at the polls, several political divergencies have appeared. Foreign Minister Molotov recently had to slap down a suggestion by SED Leader Otto Grotewohl that Poland might give up some of the German territory she got at Potsdam. Grotewohl also objects mildly to Russia’s super-combine of German industries in the Russian zone (TIME, Aug. 26) and to her peace-delaying tactics (cried he in an interview with TIME: “Please, a peace treaty! And quickly!”).

Holiday Ahead. Some of these disagreements may well be faked in order to persuade Germans that SED is really not Soviet-controlled. But there could be no doubt that the Russians no longer relied on SED as an instrument of control. They were tightening their grip through other means, such as the top-secret creation of a German zonal police organization (reportedly including a new German secret police).

Said Communist Boss Wilhelm Pieck: “SED will not have the majority in Berlin.” If his prediction is right, Russia is likely to abandon the party, and party leaders know it. Last week, a U.S. newsman, roaming through SED’s Berlin headquarters, ran into fat, pink Max Fechner, leading Sedist candidate.

Cried Fechner: “Very busy, very busy.” “Naturally,” replied the correspondent. “With the elections coming up.”

Fechner grinned: “That’s right. But you wait, after the election we’ll have a long holiday. . . .”