The Dossier

The dossier is one of tyranny's most useful tools. Under the Communists, not even the highest official is exempt. In his dossier are recorded the youthful mistake, the relative's sin, the forgotten careless statement. The victim may walk free as air, but the dossier is like a terrible hook, invisibly lodged in his vitals. With a twitch of the string, it can bring a man down. It can even humble a nation.

Dr. Alfred Sokolowski has served Austria well. In Vienna, city of shadowy relationships and shifting allegiances, no one worried too much about his past. It was known that he was born in Poland, that his father had been an officer of the old Austrian Empire's army and a comrade-in-arms to Austria's President Theodor Korner. A cultivated man, Dr. Sokolowski speaks excellent Russian, German, Polish, French and English, a valuable asset in a city quartered between four languages. For his services to Austria, he got Austrian citizenship in 1945, became chief interpreter for the Vienna city council.

Two weeks ago, a Russian official telephoned him, asking him as a favor to bring over some tickets to an ice revue. Sokolowski, who knew many Russians in the course of the city's dealings with the occupation authorities, obligingly took them over to the Soviet High Commission building. There he was ushered into the office of High Commissioner Ivan Ilyichev, and abruptly arrested as a "deserter and traitor."

Steaming with indignation, Austria's Chancellor Julius Raab himself stalked into Ilyichev's office to protest. Blandly, Ilyichev produced the dossier, which included a picture of Sokolowski in a German uniform and a 1944 Austrian police record listing him as a deserter from the Russian army. The Russians had thoughtfully stolen both from Vienna police headquarters in 1945, tucked them away for use in their own time.

Last weekend Chancellor Raab took to the air. He reminded the Russians that officials who called at the High Commission are "representatives of the Austrian people," and that any charges against them could be investigated only through Austrian channels. Snapped Raab: "This is an unprecedented abuse of right and justice, but it will never break our will." With a flick of a dossier, the Russians had effectively reminded occupied Austria who pulls the strings--and who must jump.

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