In many instances we know, joining the Communist Party comes from a loss of faith, so to speak, in our Judaic-Christian heritage and earnest, though perverted, seeking for a new faith. The individual is trying to find solutions to problems, real or fancied, that disturb his life. Many reasons cause individuals to join the Party, but undoubtedly most important is the Party’s appeal to idealistic motivations, to a “bright new world” where justice, peace, and freedom will replace strife, injustice, and inhumanity. “I believed that in the Communist Party was the beginning of a true brotherhood of man, working with devotion for socialism, peace and democracy,” wrote Howard Fast, one of the Party’s best-known writers, later to become bitterly disillusioned. “... I believed, as did millions of men of good will, that the only truth about the Soviet Union was the picture presented by friends of the Soviet Union.” Communism with its deceitful double talk exploits these basic human yearnings for better social conditions, racial equality, justice, and peace, and places them in the service of tyranny. In this way, strange as it may sound, communists are able to entice free men to fight for slavery in the name of freedom. Unfortunately, this idealistic motivation has given thousands of members, from brilliant scientists like Klaus Fuchs to ordinary laboring men, undaunted zeal and enthusiasm. Members driven on by this idealism have been willing to sacrifice their homes, families, and lives for the cause. They have become inflamed with a passionate, though twisted, courage. This is the motivation of the New York functionary who thought that five or six hours of sleep a night were sufficient for any member and regarded any request for time off as traitorous. “You can get your recreation after the revolution,” she once snapped at an associate. The Communist Party, in a very true sense, becomes as in the case of Jack a new but bigoted faith. The FBI has interviewed many hundreds of Party members. A few case histories will illustrate why many joined. By understanding these influences we can do much to defeat the Party’s present recruitment drive. Let’s take the case of Eric. He is typical of the many who joined the Party during the economic depression. He remembered his youth as days of “deprivation.” He worked at odd jobs, such as helping the milkman and caring for chickens. But everywhere he went he met bitter frustrations. He became more and more dissatisfied with existing economic conditions.