First Impressions

His first impressions of the Soviet Union contrasted with what he had seen elsewhere. He described poverty and the brutality of the militiamen in Italy, the freedom of unrepentent Nazis in Vienna. Then he took us to Brest Litovsk—not a militiaman in sight, but cleanliness, happiness.

Here, too, there were contrasts: he saw, almost facing each other across the street, a crucifix on a church wall, and a statue of Stalin on a government building.

Food and clothing were abundant. He saw the tremendous extent of reconstruction of the havoc wrought by Hitler's vandals. After giving us a picture of Stalingrad, population 1 million, razed to the ground five years ago, and now almost entirely rebuilt, the Professor said: "These people cannot possibly want war." He thought that, difficulties resultant from the last war included, the Russian standard of living was high.