New "Purge" Revealed By "The Times"
London, Aug. 31.
The Riga correspondent of the "Times" today states that for the first time the Soviet Naval Ministry admitted that the chief Russian admirals and-naval experts were shot a few months ago.
The correspondent adds that official announcements state that the G.P.U, have recently shot Admiral Orloff, Commander-in-Chief of the Red Navy, who represented the U.S.S.R. at the coronation of King George VI; Admiral Sivkoc, Commander of the Baltic Fleet, and Admiral Ludry, Head of the Naval Academy.
Others who are stated to have "disappeared" with the stigma of "traitors" or "enemies of the-people" and therefore, according to "The Times" correspondent, "have almost certainly shared the same fate," include. Admiral Victoroff, Admiral Orloff's successor; Admiral Kireyeff, Commander of the Pacific Fleet, and Admiral Kadatsky, Commander of the Far Eastern Amur Flotilla.
The correspondent declares that "after this massacre, the Soviet Navy has not today a single officer who occupied a high post last year."
The correspondent states that the Ministry says the Admirals and experts "treacherously insisted on building a defensive navy" consisting of submarines and small units, whereas the U.S.S.R. "obviously required a strong navy, capable of offensive operations," with big battleships and cruisers.
These latter, it is added, are now in the course of being built—Reuter.
Trotsky's Secretary's Body Paris, Aug. 30.
'A body recovered in the River Seine a few days ago is believed to be that of Rudolf Klement, former Secretary to Leon Trotsky and Administrative Secretary of the Fourth International, who disappeared in mysterious circumstances last July.
The body was recovered near Meulan, and bore signs of having remained immersed for a considerable length of time. Several of Klement's friends identified the corpse.
The French section of the Fourth International lodged 'a complaint with the authorities the day after Klement's disappearance accusing the Ogpu of having kidnapped him, The police, however, were not con-vineed and stated that the body was in such a state of decomposition that it was practically impossible formally to identify it, but are- pursuing their investigation—Havas.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.