Production Brigade 189 has had problems with slowdowns and sabotage of late. The brigade’s security staff has narrowed the problem down to three work teams of three workers each. They believe that there are three counterrevolutionary saboteurs hidden among the nine members of teams X, Y, and Z. To identify them, they need the aid of a political commissar like yourself.
For a trained commissar, ferreting out class enemies is simple. A good party member invariably speaks the truth, while a counterrevolutionary always twists the truth into lies, in an attempt to resist the dialectic of history. Ordinary workers mean well, but can be confused by enemy propaganda; they sometimes tell the truth and sometimes parrot counterrevolutionary filth. (In any conversation, an ordinary worker will tell at least one truth and one lie.)
Each member of the three suspect teams was interviewed. They were first asked to describe their own status. Next, the cadres in charge of each team were asked to evaluate the other members of their team, while the team members were asked to evaluate their leaders. Finally, the cadres were asked to comment on one of the other teams, while the team members were asked to evaluate the other subordinate member of their team.
The interviewees’ responses were as follows:
Alex (Cadre, X Team)
1. I am a good party member.
2. The members of my team are not good party members.
3. The members of Z Team are not good party members.
Boris (X Team)
1. I am an ordinary worker.
2. Alex is an ordinary worker.
3. C is a good party member.
Chiona (X Team)
1. I am a good party member.
2. I denounce Alex as a counterrevolutionary.
3. Boris is a good party member.
Dominika (Cadre, Y Team)
1. I am a good party member.
2. The members of my team are not counterrevolutionaries.
3. 2 members of X Team are counterrevolutionaries.
Eva (Y Team)
1. I am a good party member.
2. Dominika is a good party member.
3. Felix is an ordinary worker.
Felix (Y Team)
1. I am a good party member.
2. Dominika is a good party member.
3. Eva is an ordinary worker.
Gabriel (Cadre, Z Team)
1. I am a good party member.
2. I denounce the members of my team as counterrevolutionaries.
3. X Team is entirely composed of ordinary workers.
Helena (Z Team)
1. I am an ordinary worker.
2. I denounce Gabriel as a counterrevolutionary.
3. I denounce Jaroslav as a counterrevolutionary.
Jaroslav (Z Team)
1. I am a counterrevolutionary.
2. Gabriel is a good party member.
3. Helena is an ordinary worker.
Who was purged?