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ECT: John P. Hayes
)
FROM :
1- Johnmerican missionary who was put under brainwashingrolonged period in Red China, has giTen xe the following impressions:
2. Regarding his success in surviving this agonising period:
a. Re attributes this first to faith. In this he agrees with the statements nadey persons such as Robert Bryan,lln Stockwell and others withave discussed this point. None of these senonent on their reply. Hayes said he had recourse to prayer, and it literally gave him stamina for Hayes amplifiedignificant manner. Re said,ained strength from feeling that other people, friends and strangers alike, were thinking about me, and praying for aa." Thiswofoldhe revealstrust In an unbeatable, divine order, and certainly that In some manner other huisan beings can influence his des.tiny, too, by their sympathy and feelings for hia. ave cone across this frecjjently. Vme. XaslerJco, the Soviet schoolteacher who leapedindow of the Soviet Consulate General in New York, has testified to the strength she derived froa hearing her name on the radio froa time to time, although she couldn't understand English, and seeing reporters in front of the building. Fellow travelers and so-called liberals were then uttering cries of indignation over her "persecution" by not being let alone. Far from persecution, it was the decisive element in saving her- Allelieve froa my whole background and experience, is closely related, and to the situation in Red China. The feeling that there is no hope is the main weapon that the Comnuniats have utilized, and in thishave been manipulated into supporting them. They require, just as Hayes had toeeling of faith, that there is hope, before they can shake off Coomunism. ound certainty inayes also said.
b. Hayes also attributes his survival to "ay sense of mission." In this, he superficially disagreed with some of tha others who had gone through sinilar brainwashing. He was closer to the Protestant attitude than to the usual Catholic, as told me by priests who survived. The difference, however, is not in how it seems to the listenerto the Coooonist indoctrinator,but to the man himself who is being brainwashed. "Aftere said. He retained this sense of mission work all the time, and this, too, gave him strength. This was, in other words,
VED fORRElEAS'
a sense of duty, deeply felt. The question arises whether thi3 sense of duty can be felt equally in other fields, such as theelievethat patriotism can be such an element. The point is not which of these faiths or loyalties is concerned, but whether the individual has developed an attachment to it that cannot be destroyed. Hayes said he was sincere in all that he told the Beds. Ha said he never lied. This was in direct conflict with what other missionaries did, and other non-missionaries. They told me they had kept their minds busy by outwitting the Reds, by "lieingroopers to give the impression that they were being convinced by the Red logic, which took every ounce of one's acumen, for themunists exert great efforts to aske sure that their victins actually are sincere, and not trying to put over an act.
Then Rayes explained his interpretation of sincerity end truth-telling. He said he told the Reds that. Indeed, he was guilty of not showing the proper feeling for the plain people, the masses. His contacts had been the better-placed Chinese. id not go to the peoplehould have done." The Reds were right in this, he said, actually, Hayes was selecting this portion of the Redwith which he tight find it possible to beo agree. He was being cooperative, not "stubborn." He said, too, that he confessed he hadpy. old themadpy under their laws, but not in spirit." He pointed out to ae that Chinese Communist law forbids the sending of news or any otherto America, allowing this only to go to Soviet Russia.ent information to my mission board in America,e went on. In this, he showed that he was seeing the Redenabling hie to answer yes to thea, while his reply to the sane question asked by anyone else would have been in the negative.
what he was doing was showing that his "sense of mission" worked out very much like the deliberate contest of wits engaged in by the others who said they were 'deceiving the Reds" as to their views. Rayes, however, was intellectually fitted to do the sane thingramework that was truthful to him, and therefore no special strain on his conscience. Where an individual is able to do this, it is muchhould think, froo the survival viewpoint, than having to think out what untrue twist you might be able to get away with. This ia the method utilised by Catholic priests and nuns on most occasions, the Jesuitical approach. Xt works.
c Theretriking contradiction even here, which revealed how against the grain even the thought of lieing is to this upright character. He remembered eagerly his "sense of mission" and how he had been "sincere" and "told theven though this was cutting hairs. Re admitted, though, "There werepparently said thingsouldn't remember afterwards having said, and
which were false." He had told untruths, buturess that had In it the most sinister aspects of brainwashing. All who have survived the Reds in this, it is to be noted, have confessed what the Coaaies wanted then to confess. Some, like Bryan, had to undergo sore rigorous treatmentBryan told me he was grabbed, thrust onto the floor, and given an injection in the spine, twice. Hayes didn't tell me anything of this sort. How he explained it follows;
he declared, is part of thetechnique. it hungry all the time, Toua satisfactory diet. You're sleepy all the time. Youget them confused. You admit and believe things thatwhile in this fog." In this, he is in completestwith everyone toave spoken, who has goneChinese and non-Chinese alike. This imposedphysical fog is the secret of the Cossunist confessionanalysis of Communist movie or. germ warfare, andconfessed.*
is primarily the determinationerieshe pointed out, and their synthesis or Juxtaposition toconclusions. Facts are rearranged inanner asa seemingly logical pattern, only it never happened. This
is nothing new; only it's callous use in this manner is new. Editors of our newsmagazines and foreign affairs specialists ln public and private life, who collect facts from items and articles culledhole series of different agencies and sources, and who arrange themattern to give an analysis that sounds perfectly logical and indisputable, do this all the time. Wherever the individual is cut off from sources, or operates through third parties, this is the result. Where the environment can be controlled completely, the result is even sore pronounced, as it was with Hayes.
f. Hayes pointed out emphatically that this calculatedof facts to create the illusiononclusion that never occurred in reality requires some form of threat, "actual threats." There must be pressuresoo, he stressed. These threats differ according to the individual being treated, the indoctrinator giving the treatment, the tice and the occasion. Treatment, like in any psychiatric establishment or hospital in America, is geared to the patient. erson is hungry and sleepy, the implied docrease or increase of rations or sleeping time constitutes threats of the most effective kind. These actions are pressures, too. The foreigners are not threatened or put under violence as openly as the Chinese, but threats and violence play their part. These are adjusted to the need, though, which is for "voluntary" confession so you can be trusted to go out and "confess" in public, or react in public as the authorities desire, under all
circumstances. Kayos did not go deeply into this with maope to do so later with hia. He was emphatic about this, though.
g. He, as did the othernterviewed, said it was most important to keep your mind busy so as to survive without actually being brainwashed. He did this through his sense of mission, he said, by his sincerity. elt deeply hurt that the Communists shouldadpy, and the Communistsase said. They could tell, and wereere again he gave evidence cf an element of strengthelieve would be difficult if not impossible for many of our Intellectuals to attain. Hayes did not seem bothered with evident contradictions; they were in different grooves in his mind. Our trained thinkers, who are mechanically logical, indoctrinated by our higherof learning this way, would have the greatest difficulty being able to do things and say things that did violence to their sense of harmony, of logic. They would have to be "insincere" about it, and this would create another problem, for Reds work hard to see through "insincerity."
3. Regarding his future plans:
eagerly desires to go to Korea, to talk toReds who have been caught by us, and are in our POUbeliever that they can be brought over to work for us. Hewould, in turn, be our best and most effective approachRed Chinese, and others who have bean under Communist influence.
feels that in order to win against Chinesemust get into the minds of these people." The languageone way, he fervently believes. He was bom and brought upand reads and writes it, apparently fluently. In hiswith me regarding Chinese Communist lingo, he showedknowledgeeep affection for fine points in thein the written characters, fly using the terminology thatuse, he feels, we canapport that can enable usanti-CoEHunlst ideas and turn Reds into decant folk. agrees that thisost important factor. Thepoints out, have been hearing and reading atypefor seme years now; inevitably they are used to it. of spBaking would strike them ao strange, and could createeven among those who want to free themselves from the Hayes pointed out that the Communists are extremelytheir propaganda terminology. They make sure they do notfeelings. They operate inalculated manner thatdo this, whereas we, confident of our sincerity,eemingly callous approach, and this makes ourand sometimes impossible, oftenevelopment in
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our favor that otherwise secaed assured. For instance, Hayes said the Red Chinese do not refer to this conflict as "psychological warfare." Heit over the tens- The Reds call it "ideologicale pointed out. This pits idea against idea, and doesn'tly or underhand connotation. For instance, he didn't like the translation, "thoughts used in the book, "Brain-Washing in Redlthough he said the book wae thoroughly accurate; and could not understandriter could produce it without having himself gonerainwashing. "Thought seduction" wasn't wrong, but doesn't quite convey the Chinese tone, he said. He said tbo Reds talk frankly about this, referring openly to "thought control." This open approach removes such of the suspicion of itcakes it seen perfectly natural and desirable. Itost effective propaganda trick. Hayes feels that he has the experience and ability to "get into the Chinese mind" this way, and wants more than anything else to be given the opportunity to do so.
c. He stressed that we must not underestimate our enemy, or his motives. This is another matter onntend to go more deeply with him. eel that here he is stressing the approach that he used when he was "sincere" and remaining true to his "sense of mission" while under brain-wa3hing, which enabled him to determine what the Reds insisted on his confessing, and finding points on which he could confess without doing violence to his own loyalties, while yet satisfying the Connies. erson who can do this is natural psychological warfare material!
Ii. He is robustall, strong-lookingeard. He remarked that his beard helps him look likeand he is proud toissionary; he wants toone. His wife, whov he married in China, does not haveknowledge of the language and its writing,eryof it. She is Britisha Scotswoman. a notshe- citizen.) They have five children, fourChina. Shehin, elderly lady who shies away withand harsh verdicts. They went through prison campJapanese, but she had no bitterness, nor harsh words. sees the other fellow's side,ronouncedly "The Communists are not all bad; some of their motivesshe pointed out. Sheood woman, but veryI feel, than her husband, whoood can, but.
5. In prison in Red China, Hayes had three booksall in Chinese, and all written by tfao Tse-tung. now them by hearte said. This is part of his training to "get into the minds of the Chinese Reds." He feels that what he went under was for eventual good. This could, indeed, be the case, in our cold war.
6. Another point which he stressed was tha "conditioning" of the Chinese for Red propaganda pressures and brainwashing. ould ratherlimatewe in. have known this sort ofolitical climate that made it almost impossible to ferret out Communism or criticize Communismong period of time. What this really means is that reactions and attitudes are "conditioned" to consider certain approaches, certain points of view, as fundamentally normal, as natural, and other standpoints as basically wrong, and to have an open or closed mind to everything they see or hear in accordance with this. Hayes believes he would not jar against the Chinese Red, that he could fit into their prejudices, and so betrategic position to undermine Communism. Thisorm of mind infiltration, of individual fifth column!so, that can be invaluable, if correctly pursued.
He is under his modest mission pay. If he went abroad, to Korea, for instance, this would continue normally, but he might be helped by having his expenses and other costs refunded.
9. ave talked toumber of these brainwashed gentry. m convinced so far, byave noted, that everyone who goesrainwashing carries traces of it for prolonged periods, or always- This is not necessarily bad; this can be good. What is important is to keep it in cind.
Original document.
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