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1422 COMMUNISM IN MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY Mr. Tavenner. After you served as a member of the Hollywood street section or group, were you transferred to another section? Mr. Ashe. I was transferred to the downtown section, and be- cause of certain difficulties I was experiencing in Hollywood with a man by the name of Tashjian, who was, apparently, out to give me a very bad time. Bob Minor intervened and, I understand, gave Mr. Tashjian a bad time. Mr. Tavenner. Let me ask you: Was he a member of the Com- munist Party? Mr. Ashe. Dr. Tashjian? Mr. Tavenner. Yes. Mr. Ashe. Yes. Mr. Tavenner. What position did he hold, if any, in the Communist Party? Mr. Ashe. At that time I was unable to find out whether he held any position or not, but he exerted a great deal of influence. He had a considerable gift for intrigue and also for stirring up factional disputes. Mr. Tavenner. Would you describe the doctor a little more fully. What type of doctor was he ? Was he a medical doctor ? Mr. Ashe. He was what Bob Minor referred to contemptuously as a "proletarian dentist." Mr. Tavenner. As a result—he is not living at this time; is he ? Mr. Ashe. I believe that he died sometime ago after leaving a Com- munist meeting. Mr. Tavenner. Was there any effort to discipline you as a member of the Communist Party as the result of the complaint or dispute which the doctor had aroused? Mr. Ashe. Well, Dr. Tashjian was a rigid little disciplinarian; and, not having understood clearly how I had come into the party, which involved a considerable period of training and study under Lawrence Ross and under Elmer Hanoff, the organization secretary and organ- izer of the party, respectively, which involved meetings sometimes two and three times a week with them, Dr. Tashjian decided that I had not gone to a beginner's class and that I should go to a beginner's class. Well, I had been to about the equivalent of three beginner's classes, and I had been speaking officially in the name of the Communist Party throughout the State at mass meetings and had been meeting in closed meetings of the Communist Party to help them straighten out matters; so, I thought this was going a little bit too far. However, he did enforce his point, and I was obliged to go to one beginners' class in Hollywood, the only time I attended. The next day, when the county leadership found out what happened and when Bob Minor found' out what happened, they went into a huddle and gave Dr. Tashjian, I understand, a very, very bad time. Mr. Tavenner. Well, was the doctor known as the chairman of the disciplinary committee? Mr. Ashe. Not at that time. Mr. Tavenner. Not at that time? Mr. Ashe. He later succeeded to that. Mr. Tavenner. Now, you have stated that you were assigned to the downtown section. Mr. Ashe. That's right.