tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25886388025584871352024-03-18T21:17:18.392-04:00Bill Downs, War CorrespondentKDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comBlogger886125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-62707040114503639532024-03-11T15:23:00.000-04:002024-03-11T15:23:47.334-04:00The Murrow-McCarthy Broadcasts<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">A Report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy – March 9, 1954</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dMgoi9pBRwg/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dMgoi9pBRwg?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>EDWARD R. MURROW:</b> Because a report on Senator
McCarthy is by definition controversial, we want to say exactly what we mean to
say, and I request your permission to read from script whatever remarks Murrow
and Friendly may make.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If
the senator feels that we have done violence to his
words or pictures and desires so to speak to answer himself, an
opportunity
will be afforded him on this program. Our working thesis tonight is this
quotation: "If this fight against communism is made a fight between
America's two great
political parties, the American people know that one of these parties
will be
destroyed, and the Republic cannot endure very long as a one-party
system."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We applaud that statement, and we think Senator McCarthy
ought to. He said it seventeen months ago in Milwaukee.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>SENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHY:</b> The American people realize
that this cannot be made a fight between America's two great political parties.
If this fight against communism is made a fight between America's two great
political parties, the American people know that one of those parties will be
destroyed, and the Republic can't endure very long as a one-party system.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MURROW:</b> But on February 4, 1954, Senator McCarthy spoke
of one party's treason. This was Charleston, West Virginia, where there were no
cameras running. It was recorded on tape.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> The issue between Republicans and Democrats
is clearly drawn. It has been deliberately drawn by those who have been in
charge of twenty years of treason. Now the hard fact is—the hard fact is that
those who wear the label—those who wear the label "Democrat" wear it
with the stain of a historic betrayal.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MURROW:</b> Seventeen months ago, candidate Eisenhower met
Senator McCarthy in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and he laid down some ground rules on
how he would fight communism if elected.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>DWIGHT EISENHOWER:</b> Now, this is the pledge that I make. If I
am charged by you people to be the responsible head of the executive department,
it will be my initial responsibility to see that subversion, disloyalty, is
kept out of the executive department.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We will always appreciate and welcome congressional
investigation, but the responsibility will rest squarely on the shoulders of
the executive, and I hold that there are already ample powers in the government
to get rid of these people if the executive department is really concerned in
doing it. We can do it with absolute assurance that American principles—of a
trial by jury, of the innocent until proved guilty—are all observed, and I
expect to do it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MURROW:</b> That same night in Milwaukee, Senator
McCarthy stated what he would do if the General was elected.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> I spent about half an hour with the General
last night. While I can't report that we agreed entirely on everything—I can
report that, when I left that meeting with the General, I had the same feeling
as when I went in. And that is that he is a great American, will make a great
president; an outstanding president. But I want to tell you tonight, tell the
American people: as long as I represent you and the rest of the American people
in the Senate, I shall continue to call them as I see them, regardless of who
happens to be president.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MURROW:</b> November 24, 1953.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> A few days ago, I read that President
Eisenhower expressed the hope that, by election time in 1954, the subject of communism
would be a dead and forgotten issue. The raw, harsh, unpleasant fact is that communism
is an issue and will be an issue in 1954.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MURROW:</b> On one thing the senator has been consistent.
Often operating as a one-man committee, he has traveled far; interviewed many;
terrorized some; accused civilian and military leaders of the past
administration of a great conspiracy to turn over the country to communism;
investigated and substantially demoralized the present State Department; made
varying charges of espionage at Fort Monmouth. The Army says it has been unable
to find anything relating to espionage there. He has interrogated a varied
assortment of what he calls "Fifth Amendment Communists."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Republican Senator Flanders of Vermont said of McCarthy
today, "He dons his war paint. He goes into his war dance. He emits his war
whoops; he goes forth to battle and proudly returns with the scalp of a pink Army
dentist."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Other critics have accused the senator of using the bullwhip
and the smear. There was a time two years ago when the senator and his friends
said he had been smeared and bullwhipped.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>FRANK KEEFE:</b> Well, you'd sometimes think to hear the
quartet that call themselves "Operation Truth" damning Joe McCarthy
and resorting to the vilest smears I have ever heard. Well, this is the answer.
If I could express it in what's in my heart right now, I'd do it in terms of
the poet who once said:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ah 'tis but a dainty flower I bring you,<br />
Yes, 'tis but a violet, glistening with dew,<br />
But still in its heart there lies beauties concealed<br />
So in our heart our love for you lies unrevealed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> You know, I used to pride myself on the
idea that I was a bit tough, especially over the past eighteen or nineteen
months when we've been kicked around and bullwhipped and damned. I didn't
think that I could be touched very deeply. But tonight, frankly, my cup and my
heart is so full I can't talk to you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MURROW:</b> But in Philadelphia on Washington's Birthday,
1954, his heart was so full he could talk. He reviewed some of the General
Zwicker testimony and proved he hadn't abused him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> Nothing is more serious than being a traitor
to the country as part of the communist conspiracy. Are you enjoying this abuse
of the General?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A question: "Do you think stealing fifty dollars is more
serious than being a traitor to the country and part of the communist
conspiracy?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Answer: "That, sir, was not my decision."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Shall we go on to that for a while? I hate to impose on your
time, but I've just got two pages. This is the abuse which is the real meat of
abuse. This is the official reporter's record of the hearing. After he said he
wouldn't remove that General from the Army who cleared a communist major I
said to him, "Then, General, you should be removed from any command. Any man who
has been given the honor of being promoted to general and who says, 'I will
protect another general who protects communists,' is not fit to wear that
uniform, General."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think it is a tremendous disgrace to the Army to have to
bring these facts before the public, but I intend to give it to the public,
General. I have a duty to do that. I intend to repeat to the press exactly what
you said, so that you can know that and be back here to hear it, General.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And wait till you hear the bleeding hearts scream and cry
about our methods of trying to drag the truth from those who know, or should
know, who covered up a Fifth Amendment Communist major. But they say, "Oh, it's
all right to uncover them, but don't get rough doing it, McCarthy."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MURROW:</b> But two days later Secretary Stevens and the senator had lunch, agreed on a memorandum of understanding—disagreed on what
the small type said.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>ROBERT T. STEVENS:</b> I shall never accede to the abuse
of Army personnel under any circumstance, including committee hearings. I shall
not accede to them being brow-beaten or humiliated. In the light of those
assurances, although I did not propose the cancellation of the hearing, I
acceded to it. If it had not been for these assurances, I would never have
entered into any agreement whatsoever.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MURROW:</b> Then President Eisenhower issued a statement
that his advisers thought censured the senator. But the senator saw it as
another victory—called the entire Zwicker case "a tempest in a
teapot."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> If a stupid, arrogant, or witless man in a
position of power appears before our committee and is found aiding the
Communist Party, he will be exposed. The fact that he might be a general places
him in no special class as far as I am concerned. Apparently the president and
I now agree on the necessity of getting rid of communists. We apparently
disagree only on how we should handle those who protect communists.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When the shouting and the tumult dies, the American people
and the president will realize that this unprecedented mudslinging against the committee
by the extreme left wing elements of press and radio was caused solely because
another Fifth Amendment Communist was finally dug out of the dark recesses and
exposed to public view.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MURROW:</b> Senator McCarthy claims that only the left
wing press criticized him on the Zwicker case. Of the fifty large circulating
newspapers in the country, these are the left wing papers that criticized him.
These are the ones that supported him. The ratio is about three-to-one. Now let
us look at some of these left wing papers that criticized the senator.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The Chicago Tribune</i>: "McCarthy will better serve his
cause if he learns to distinguish the role of investigator from the role of
avenging angel."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The New York Times</i>: "The unwarranted interference of
a demagogue…a domestic Munich."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The Times Herald of Washington</i>: "Senator McCarthy's
behavior towards Zwicker not justified."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The Herald Tribune of New York</i>: "McCarthyism involves
assaults on basic Republican concepts."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The Milwaukee Journal</i>: "The line must be drawn and
defended or McCarthy will become the government."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The Evening Star of Washington</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">:</span> "It was a bad day for everyone who resents and detests the
bullyboy tactics which Senator McCarthy so often employees."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The New York World Telegram</i>: "Bamboozling,
bludgeoning, distorting way."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The St. Louis Post Dispatch</i>: "Unscrupulous McCarthy
bullying. What a tragic irony it is that the president's political advisers
keep him from doing what every decent instinct must be commanding him to do."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, that's the ratio—about three-to-one—so-called "left-wing"
press.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another interesting thing was said about the Zwicker case,
and it was said by Senator McCarthy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> Well, may I say that I was extremely
shocked when I heard that Secretary Stevens told two Army officers that they
had to take part in the cover-up of those who promoted and coddled communists.
As I read his statement, I thought of that quotation, "On what meat doth
this, our Caesar, feed?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MURROW:</b> And upon what meat does Senator McCarthy
feed? Two of the staples of his diet are the investigations, protected by
immunity, and the half-truth. We herewith submit samples of both. </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
First, the half-truth. This was an attack on Adlai Stevenson
at the end of the '52 campaign. President Eisenhower, it must be said, had no
prior knowledge of it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> I perform this unpleasant task because the
American people are entitled to have the coldly documented history of this man
who says, "I want to be your President."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Strangely, Alger—I mean, Adlai...but let's move on to another
part of the jigsaw puzzle. Now, while you would think—while you may think there
could be no connection between the debonair Democrat candidate and a dilapidated
Massachusetts barn, I want to show you a picture of this barn and explain the
connection.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here is the outside of the barn. Give me the pictures showing
the inside, if you will. Here is the outside of a barn up at Lee,
Massachusetts. It looks it couldn't house a farmer's cow or goat.
Here's the inside: a beautifully paneled conference room with maps of the
Soviet Union. Well, in what way does Stevenson tie up with this?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My investigators went up and took pictures of this barn
after we had been tipped off of what was in it, tipped off that there was in
this barn all the missing documents from the communist front, IPR. The IPR
which has been named by the McCarran Committee. Named before the McCarran
Committee as a cover shop for communist espionage.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, let's take a look at a photostat of a document taken
from that Massachusetts barn. One of those documents was never supposed to have
seen the light of day—rather interesting it is. This is a document that shows
that Alger Hiss and Frank Coe recommended Adlai Stevenson to the Mont Tremblant
Conference, which was called for the purpose of establishing foreign policy—postwar
foreign policy—in Asia. Now, as you know, Alger Hiss is a convicted traitor.
Frank Coe has been named under oath before congressional committees seven times
as a member of the Communist Party. Why? Why do Hiss and Coe find that Adlai
Stevenson is the man they want representing them at this conference? I don't
know. Perhaps Adlai knows.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MURROW:</b> But Senator McCarthy didn't permit his
audience to hear the entire paragraph. This is the official record of the
McCarran hearings. Anyone can buy it for two dollars. Here's a quote: "Another
possibility for the Mont Tremblant conferences on Asia is someone from Knox's
office or Stimson's office. Frank Knox was our wartime Secretary of the
Navy; Henry Stimson our Secretary of the Army. Both distinguished Republicans."
And it goes on: "Coe and Hiss mentioned Adlai Stevenson, one of Knox's
special assistants, and Harvey Bundy, former Assistant Secretary of State under
Hoover and now assistant to Stimson, because of their jobs."</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
We read from this documented record not in defense of Mr.
Stevenson, but in defense of truth. Specifically, Mr. Stevenson's
identification with that red barn was no more, no less than that of Knox,
Stimson, or Bundy. It should be stated that Mr. Stevenson was once a member of
the Institute of Pacific Relations. But so were such other loyal Americans as
Senator Ferguson, John Foster Dulles, Paul Hoffman, Harry Luce, and Herbert
Hoover. Their association carries with it no guilt, and that barn has nothing
to do with any of them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, a sample of an investigation. The witness was Reed
Harris, for many years a civil servant in the State Department directing the
Information Service. Harris was accused of helping the communistic cause by
curtailing some broadcasts to Israel. Senator McCarthy summoned him and
questioned him about a book he had written in 1932.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> May we come to order. Mr. Reed Harris? Your
name is Reed Harris?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>REED HARRIS:</b> That's correct.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> You wrote a book in '32, is that correct?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> Yes, I wrote a book. And as I testified in
executive session—</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> At the time you wrote the book—pardon me, go
ahead. I'm sorry.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> At the time I wrote the book, the atmosphere
in the universities of the United States was greatly affected by the Great
Depression then in existence. The attitudes of students, the attitudes of the
general public, were considerably different than they are at this moment, and
for one thing there certainly was no awareness to the degree that
there is today of the way the Communist Party works.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> You attended Columbia University in the
early thirties. Is that right?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> I did, Mr. Chairman.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> Will you speak a little louder, sir?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> I did, Mr. Chairman.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> And were you expelled from Columbia?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> I was suspended from classes on April 1,
1932. I was later reinstated, and I resigned from the university.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> And you resigned from the university. Did
the Civil Liberties Union provide you with an attorney at that time?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> I had many offers of attorneys, and one of
those was from the American Civil Liberties Union, yes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> The question is did the Civil Liberties
Union supply you with an attorney?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> They did supply an attorney.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> The answer is yes?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> The answer is yes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> You know the Civil Liberties Union has been
listed as "a front for, and doing the work of," the Communist Party?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> Mr. Chairman, this was 1932.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> Yeah, I know this was 1932. Do you know
that they since have been listed as a front for, and doing the work of, the
Communist Party?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> I do not know that they have been listed so,
sir.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> You don't know they have been listed?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> I have heard that mentioned, or read that
mentioned.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> Now, you wrote a book in 1932. I'm going to
ask you again. At the time you wrote this book, did you feel that professors
should be given the right to teach sophomores that marriage, let me quote,
"should be cast out of our civilization as antiquated and stupid religious
phenomena?" Was that your feeling at that time?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> My feeling was that professors should have
the right to express their considered opinions on any subject, whatever they
were, sir.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> All right, I'm going to ask you this
question again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> That includes that quotation. They should
have the right to teach anything that came to their minds as being a proper
thing to teach.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> I'm going to make you answer this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> All right, I'll answer yes, but you put an
implication on it, and you feature this particular point out of the book which of
course is quite out of context; does not give a proper impression of the book
as a whole. The American public doesn't get an honest impression of even that
book, bad as it is, from what you're quoting from it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> Well, then, let's continue to read your own
writing, and—</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> Twenty-one years ago, again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> Yes, but we'll try and bring you down to
date, if we can.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> Mr. Chairman, two weeks ago, Senator Taft
took the position that I took twenty-one years ago, that communists and socialists
should be allowed to teach in the schools. It so happens that nowadays I don't
agree with Senator Taft as far as communist teaching in the schools is
concerned, because I think communists are in effect a plainclothes auxiliary of
the Red Army—the Soviet Red Army—and I don't want to see them in any of our
schools teaching.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> I don't recall Senator Taft ever having any
of the background that you've got, sir.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCCARTHY:</b> I resent the tone of this inquiry very
much, Mr. Chairman. I resent it, not only because it is my neck, my public
neck, that you are, I think, very skillfully trying to wring, but I say it
because there are thousands of able and loyal employees in the federal
government of the United States who have been properly cleared according to the
laws and the security practices of their agencies, as I was—unless the new
regime says no—I was before.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>SENATOR JOHN MCLELLAN:</b> Do you think this book that
you wrote then did considerable harm—its publication might have had adverse
influence on the public by an expression of views contained in it?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HARRIS:</b> The sale of that book was so abysmally small,
it was so unsuccessful that a question of its influence—really, you can go back
to the publisher. You'll see it was one of the most unsuccessful books he ever
put out. He's still sorry about it, just as I am.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MCLELLAN:</b> Well, I think that's a compliment to
American intelligence. I will say that to him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>MURROW:</b> Senator McCarthy succeeded in proving that
Reed Harris had once written a bad book, which the American people had proved
twenty-two years ago by not buying it. Which is what they eventually do will
all bad ideas. As for Reed Harris, his resignation was accepted a month later
with a letter of commendation. McCarthy claimed it as a victory.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Reed Harris hearing demonstrates one of the senator's
techniques. Twice he said the American Civil Liberties Union was listed as a
subversive front. The Attorney General's list does not and has never listed the
ACLU as subversive, nor does the FBI or any other federal government agency.
And the American Civil Liberties Union holds in its files letters of
commendation from President Truman, President Eisenhower, and General
MacArthur.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now let us try to bring the McCarthy story a little more up
to date. Two years ago Senator Benton of Connecticut accused McCarthy of
apparent perjury, unethical practice, and perpetrating a hoax on the Senate.
McCarthy sued for two million dollars. Last week he dropped the case, saying no
one could be found who believed Benton's story. Several volunteers have come
forward saying they believe it in its entirety.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today, Senator McCarthy says he's going to get a lawyer and
force the networks to give him time to reply to Adlai Stevenson's speech.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Earlier the senator asked, "Upon what meat does this,
our Caesar, feed?" Had he looked three lines earlier in Shakespeare's Caesar,
he would have found this line, which is not altogether inappropriate: "The
fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No one familiar with the history of this country can deny
that congressional committees are useful. It is necessary to investigate before
legislating, but the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine
one, and the junior senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it repeatedly. His
primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind as between the internal
and the external threats of communism. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must
remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon
evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We
will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our
history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful
men. Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend
causes that were, for the moment, unpopular.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy's
methods to keep silent, or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and
our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no
way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his responsibilities. </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a nation
we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We proclaim ourselves,
as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in
the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The actions of the junior senator from Wisconsin have caused
alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad, and given considerable comfort to
our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn't create this
situation of fear. He merely exploited it, and rather successfully. Cassius was
right. "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in
ourselves."</div>
<br />
Good night, and good luck.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
_________________________________</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Senator McCarthy Responds on See It Now – April 6, 1954</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kZW142WUgXM/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kZW142WUgXM?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">EDWARD R. MURROW</span></b><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">: One month ago tonight we presented a
report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy. We labeled it as controversial. Most
of that report consisted of words and pictures of the senator. At that
time we said, "If the senator believes we have done violence to his words
or pictures, if he desires to speak to answer himself, an opportunity will be
afforded him on this program." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The senator sought the opportunity; asked
for a delay of three weeks because he said he was very busy and he wished
adequate time to prepare his reply. We agreed. We supplied the senator
with a <span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">kinescope</span>
of that program of March 9, and with such scripts and recordings as he
requested. We placed no restrictions upon the manner or method of the presentation
of his reply, and we suggested that we would not take time to comment on this
particular program. The senator chose to make his reply on film. Here
now is Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, junior senator from Wisconsin.</span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">SENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHY</span></b><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">: Good evening. Mr. Edward R. Murrow,
Educational Director of the Columbia Broadcasting System, devoted his program
to an attack on the work of the United States Senate Investigating Committee,
and on me personally as its chairman. Now over the past four years he has made
repeated attacks upon me and those fighting communists.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now, of course, neither Joe
McCarthy nor Edward R. Murrow is of any great importance as individuals. We are
only important in our relation to the great struggle to preserve our American
liberties. The Senate Investigating Committee has forced out of government, and
out of important defense plants, communists engaged in the Soviet conspiracy.
And you know, it's interesting to note that the viciousness of Murrow's attacks
is in direct ratio to our success in digging out communists.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now, ordinarily I would not take time out from the important work at hand to answer
Murrow. However, in this case I feel justified in doing so because Murrow is a
symbol, the leader, and the cleverest of the jackal pack which is always found at
the throat of anyone who dares to expose individual communists and traitors.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">I
am compelled by the facts to say to you that Mr. Edward R. Murrow, as
far back
as twenty years ago, was engaged in propaganda for communist causes. For
example, the Institute of International Education, of which he was the
acting director, was chosen to act as a representative by a Soviet
agency to do
a job which would normally be done by the Russian secret police. Mr.
Murrow
sponsored a communist school in Moscow. In the selection of American
students
and teachers who were to attend, Mr. Murrow's organization acted for the
Russian espionage and propaganda organization known as VOKS (V-O-K-S).
And many of those selected were later exposed as communists. Murrow's
organization selected such notorious communists as Isadore Begun, <span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">David
Zablodowsky</span>—incidentally, Zablodowsky was forced out of the United
Nations, when my chief counsel presented his case to the grand jury and gave a
picture of his communist activities.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now, Mr. Murrow, by his own
admission, was a member of the IWW—that's the <span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Industrial Workers of the World</span></span><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">—</span>a terrorist organization
cited as subversive by an attorney general of the United States, who stated
that it was an organization which seeks, and I quote: "to alter the
government of the United States by unconstitutional means." Now, other
government committees have had before them actors, screenwriters, motion
picture producers, and others, who admitted communist affiliations but pleaded
youth or ignorance. Now, Mr. Murrow can hardly make the same plea.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">On
March 9
of this year, Mr. Murrow, a trained reporter who had traveled all over
the
world, who is the Educational Director of CBS, followed implicitly the
communist line, as laid down in the last six months; laid down not only
by the communist <i><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Daily Worker</span></i>, but by the communist magazine <i>Political Affairs</i> and by the National Conference of the Communist Party of the United States of America.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now the question: why is it
important to you, the people of America, to know why the Educational Director
and the Vice President of CBS so closely follow the Communist Party line? To
answer that question we must turn back the pages of history.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">A little over a hundred years
ago, a little group of men in Europe conspired to deliver the world to a new
system, to communism. Under their system, the individual was nothing, the
family was nothing; God did not even exist. Their theory was that an
all-powerful State should have the power of life or death over its citizens
without even a trial; that everything and everybody belonged to the rulers of
the states. They openly wrote—nothing's secret about it—that, in their
efforts to gain power, they would be justified in doing anything. They would be
justified in following the trail of deceit, lies, terror, murder, treason,
blackmail. All these things were elevated to virtues in the communist rule
book. If a convert to communism could be persuaded that he was a citizen of the
world, it of course would be much easier to make him a traitor to his own
country.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now, for seventy years the communists made little progress. Let me show you a map of the world as it stood
in the middle of the First World War in 1917, before the Russian Revolution.
You will see there is not a single foot of ground on the face of the globe
under the domination or control of the communists, and bear in mind that this
was only thirty-six years ago.</span> </span></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YuyCjGxK7W8/Vi_BpfU8REI/AAAAAAAACgc/Z6vF9t71p_A/s1600/mccarthymap.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YuyCjGxK7W8/Vi_BpfU8REI/AAAAAAAACgc/Z6vF9t71p_A/s640/mccarthymap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">In 1917 we were engaged in a great world war in defense
of our way of life and in defense of American liberty. The Kaiser was obliged
to divide his armies and fight in both the Eastern and the Western fronts. In the
midst of the war, the Russian people overthrew their Czarist master and they
set up a democratic form of government under the leadership of <span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Alexander Kerensky</span>. Now, Kerensky's government instantly pledged all-out
support to the Allies. At this instant the Imperial German government secretly
financed the return to Russia of seven communist exiles led by <span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Nikolai Lenin</span>, exiles who had been forced to flee the country. A rather important event in the history of the world.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now once in Russia, by the
same methods which the communists are employing in the United States today,
they undermined the Army; they undermined the Navy; the civilian heads of the
government. And in one hundred days those seven communists were literally the
masters of Russia. Now, with all of the wealth of the nation at their
command, they proceeded to finance communist parties in every country in the
world. They sent to those countries trained propagandists and spies. In every
country they of course had to find glib, clever men like Edward R. Murrow who
would sponsor invitations to students and teachers to attend indoctrinational
schools in Moscow, exactly as Murrow has done. They trained communists in every
country in the world. Their sole purpose was to infiltrate the government,
and once communists were in government they in turn brought others in.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now let us look at the map of
the world as it was twenty years ago. At that time there was one country with
180,000,000 people in communist chains.</span></span></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sWBsVPVfLfA/Vi_Ec9Z-ncI/AAAAAAAACgs/WWw9O4fW1bo/s1600/mccarthymap3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sWBsVPVfLfA/Vi_Ec9Z-ncI/AAAAAAAACgs/WWw9O4fW1bo/s640/mccarthymap3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now let us look at a map of
the world as of tonight, this sixth day of April, nineteen hundred and
fifty-four. </span></span><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Over
one-third of the earth's area under communist control and
800,000,000 people in communist chains, in addition to the 800,000,000
in communist chains in Europe and Asia. Finally, the communists have
gained a
foothold and a potential military base here in our half of the world, in
Guatemala, with the communists seeping down into the Honduras.</span></span> </span></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gil8OJjBCEg/Vi_DgRNrZYI/AAAAAAAACgk/_2ChFw9UxOc/s1600/mccarthymap2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gil8OJjBCEg/Vi_DgRNrZYI/AAAAAAAACgk/_2ChFw9UxOc/s640/mccarthymap2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">My good
friends,
how much of this was achieved by military force and how much was
achieved by
traitors and communist-line propagandists in our own government and in
other
free governments?</span></span></span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Let's start in Europe, if we
may. They took by military force a little piece of Finland. In the same way
they took three small Baltic States: Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. They took
half of Poland in the same way. They acquired the rest of Poland through Polish
traitors and communists in our own government, who gave American dollars and
American support to the communists in Poland. They took over Romania, Bulgaria,
and Hungary without firing a single shot. They did this by the infiltration of communists in the key spots in the governments.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The
communists took over
Czechoslovakia without firing a shot. This they did by the infiltration
of communists into the Czechoslovakian government also. And listen to
what a high
official in the anticommunist government of Czechoslovakia had to say
about
the communist enslavement of Czechoslovakia. Here's what he said. He
said:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">"In
my country, the pattern
was identical to what it is in the United States. If anyone, before the
communists took over, dared to attack those communists who were
preparing and
shaping the policy of my government</span><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">—</span>shaping the policy to betray my people—he
was promptly attacked and destroyed by a combination of communists, fellow
travelers, and those unthinking people who thought they were serving the cause
of liberalism and progress, but who were actually serving the cause of the most
reactionary credo of all times: communism."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Still quoting: "Because
of those people, night has fallen upon my nation and slavery upon my
people."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now,
shifting to another area
of the world, to the East, how about this vast land area and the teeming
masses
of China? Let's just take a look at that map, if you please. Keep in
mind that
a few short years ago China was a free nation friendly to the United
States.
Now, were the—were—let's take a look at that map. Were those 400,000,000
Chinese captured by force of arms? Certainly not. They were delivered.
Delivered to communist slave masters by the jackal pack of
communist-line
propagandists, including the friends of Mr. Edward R. Murrow, who day
after day
shouted to the world that the Chinese Communists were agrarian
reformers, and
that our ally, the Republic of China, represented everything that was
evil and
wicked.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now, my good friends, if there
were no communists in our government, would we have consented to and connived
to turn over all of our Chinese friends to the Russians? Now, my good friends,
if there had been no communists in our government, would we have rewarded them
with all of Manchuria, half of the Kuril Islands, and one half of Korea? Now
how many Americans—how many Americans have died and will die because of this
sellout to Communist Russia? God only knows.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">If there were no communists
in our government, why did we delay—for eighteen months—delay our research on the
hydrogen bomb, even though our intelligence agencies were reporting day after
day that the Russians were feverishly pushing their development of the H-bomb?
And may I say to America tonight that our nation may well die—our nation may
well die—because of that eighteen-months deliberate delay. And I ask you, who
caused it? Was it loyal Americans? Or was it traitors in our government?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">It
is often said by the left
wing that it is sufficient to fight communism in Europe and Asia, but
that communism is not a domestic American issue. But the record, my good
friends, is
that the damage has been done by cleverly calculated subversion at home,
and
not from abroad. It is this problem of subversion that our committee
faces.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now, let us very quickly
glance at some of the work of our committee—some of the work it's done in
slightly over a year's time. For example, 238 witnesses were examined in public
session; 367 witnesses examined in executive session; 84 witnesses refused to
testify as to communist activities on the ground that, if they told the truth,
they might go to jail; 24 witnesses with communist backgrounds have been
discharged from jobs in which they were handling secret, top secret,
confidential material, individuals who were exposed before our committee.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Of course you can't measure
the success of a committee by box score, based on the number of communist
heads that have rolled from secret jobs. It is completely impossible to even
estimate the effect on our government of the day-to-day plodding
exposure of communists. And that is, of course, why the Murrows bleed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">For
example,
the exposure of only one Fifth Amendment communist in the Government
Printing Office, an office having access to secret material from almost
every
government agency, resulted in an undisclosed number of suspensions. It
resulted in the removal of the loyalty board, and the revamping of all
the
royal—of the loyalty rules, so that we do have apparently a good, tight
loyalty set up in the Printing Office at this time. Also disclosure of
communists in the military and the radar laboratories resulted in the
abolition of the Pentagon board which had cleared and ordered reinstated
communists who had for years been handling government secrets. Also, as
a
result of those hearings, Army orders have been issued to prevent a
recurrence
of the <span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Major Peress scandal</span>, which was exposed by the committee.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now to attempt to evaluate the effect of the work of an investigating
committee would be about as impossible as to attempt to evaluate the effect of
well-trained watchdogs upon the activities of potential burglars.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">We
Americans live in a free
world, a world where we can stand as individuals, where we can go to the
church
of our own choice and worship God as we please, each in his own fashion;
where
we can freely speak our opinions on any subject, or on any man. Now
whether we shall continue to so live has come to issue now. We will soon
know whether we are going to go on living that kind of life, or whether
we are
going to live the kind of life that 800,000,000 slaves live under
communist
domination. The issue is simple. It is the issue of life or death for
our
civilization.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now, Mr. Murrow said on this
program—and I quote—he said: "The actions of the junior senator from
Wisconsin have given considerable comfort to the enemy." That is the
language of our statute of treason—rather strong language.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">If I am giving
comfort to our enemies, I ought not to be in the Senate. If, on the other hand,
Mr. Murrow is giving comfort to our enemies, he ought not to be brought into
the homes of millions of Americans by the Columbia Broadcasting System.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now, this is a question which
can be resolved with very little difficulty. What do the communists think of
me? And what do the communists think of Mr. Murrow? One of us is on the side of
the communists; the other is against the communists, against communist slavery.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now,
the communists have three
official publications in America, and these are not ordinary
publications. They
have been officially determined to be the transmission belts through
which communists in America are instructed as to the party line, or the
position
which communist writers and playwrights must take—also, of course,
telecasters, broadcasters.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The first of these is a booklet which I would like
to show you, if I may. It's entitled "The Main Report," delivered at
the National Conference of the Communist Party of the USA, published in
New York in October 1953.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The report states, quote: "The struggle against
McCarthyism is developing currently along the following main lines"</span><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">—k</span>eep
in
mind this is the communist publication giving instructions to members
of the party—"...along the following main lines: struggle against witch
hunting, struggle against investigations of the McCarthy/<span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">McCarran</span>
type, and defense of the victims of McCarthyism such as <span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Owen Lattimore</span>,
etc. In addition there is the direct attack on McCarthy." May I ask you,
does that sound somewhat like the program of Edward R. Murrow of March 9 over
this same station?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now, in this
report the communists do not hesitate to instruct the comrades
that their fight on McCarthy is only a means to a larger end. Again, let me
quote from the instructions from the Communist Party to its membership, from page thirty-three. I quote:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">"Our main task is to
mobilize the masses for the defeat of the foreign and domestic policy of the
Eisenhower administration and for the defeat of the Eisenhower regime itself.
The struggle against McCarthyism contributes to this general objective."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Just
one more quotation, if I
may, from page thirty-one of these instructions from the Communist Party
to its members. I quote: "Since the elections, McCarthyism has emerged
as a menace of
major proportions." I think maybe we know what the Communist Party means
by "a menace of major proportions." They mean a menace of major
proportions to the Communist Party.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now let's take thirty seconds or
so, if we may, to look a little further to see who's giving comfort to our
enemies. Here is a communist <i>Daily Worker</i> of March 9, containing seven
articles and a principal editorial, all attacking McCarthy. And the same issue
lists Mr. Murrow's program as—listen to this—"One of tonight's best
bets on TV."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">And then—just one more—here's the issue of March 17.
Its principal front page article is an attack on McCarthy. It has three other
articles attacking McCarthy. It has a special article by <span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">William Z.
Foster</span>, the head of the Communist Party in America—and now under
indictment on charges of attempting to overthrow this government by force and
violence—this article by Foster, praising Edward R. Murrow.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Just one more,
if I may impose on your time: the issue of March 26. This issue has two
articles attacking witch hunting, three articles attacking McCarthy, a cartoon
of McCarthy, and an article in praise of Mr. Edward R. Murrow.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">And now I would like to also
show you the communist political organ, entitled <i>Political Affairs</i>. The
lead article is a report dated November 21, 1953 of the National Committee of
the Communist Party of the United States, attacking McCarthy and telling how
the loyal members of the Communist Party can serve their cause by getting rid
of this awful McCarthy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now, as you know, Owen
Lattimore has been named as a conscious, articulate instrument of the communist
conspiracy. He's been so named by the Senate Internal Security Committee. He is
now under criminal indictment for perjury with respect to testimony in regard
to his communist activities. In his book <i>Ordeal by Slander</i> he says, and I
think I can quote him verbatim, he says: "I owe a very special debt to a
man I have never met. I must mention at least Edward R. Murrow."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Then
there's the book by <span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Harold Laski</span>, admittedly the greatest communist propagandist
of our time in England. In his book <i><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Reflections on the Revolution of Our Times</span></i> he dedicates
the book to "my friends E.R. Murrow and Latham Tichener, with
affection."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now, I am perfectly willing to let the American people decide
who's giving comfort to our enemies. Much of the documentation which we have
here on the table tonight will not be available to the American people by way
of television. However, this will all be made available to you within the next
two weeks.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">In conclusion, may I say that
under the shadow of the most horrible and destructive weapons that man has ever
devised, we fight to save our country, our homes, our churches, and our
children. To this cause, ladies and gentlemen, I have dedicated and will
continue to dedicate all that I have and all that I am. And I want to assure
you that I will not be deterred by the attacks of the Murrows, the Lattimores,
the Fosters, the <i>Daily Worker</i>, or the Communist Party itself.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now, I make no claim to
leadership. In complete humility, I do ask you and every American who loves
this country to join with me.</span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">MURROW</span></b><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">:</span><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"> That was a film of Senator Joseph R.
McCarthy, presented at our invitation. It was in response to a program we
presented on March 9th. This reporter undertook to make no comment at this
time, but naturally reserved his right to do so subsequently.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Good night, and good luck.</span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
_________________________________</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Murrow Addresses McCarthy's Accusations – April 13, 1954</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/z6j6iTN7Tkw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z6j6iTN7Tkw?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe></div>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>EDWARD R. MURROW</b>: Last week, Senator McCarthy appeared on this program to correct any errors he might have thought we made in our report of March 9th.
Since he made no reference to any statements of fact that we made, we
must conclude that he found no errors of fact. He proved again that
anyone who exposes him, anyone who does not share his hysterical
disregard for decency and human dignity and the rights guaranteed by the
Constitution, must be either a communist or a fellow traveler.<br />
<br />
I
fully expected this treatment. The senator added this reporter's name
to a long list of individuals and institutions he has accused of serving
the communist cause. His proposition is very simple: anyone who
criticizes or opposes McCarthy's methods must be a communist. And if
that be true, there are an awful lot of communists in this country.<br />
<br />
For
the record, let's consider briefly some of the senator's charges. He
claimed, but offered no proof, that I had been a member of the
Industrial Workers of the World. That is false. I was never a member of
the IWW, never applied for membership. Men that I worked with in the
Pacific Northwest in western Washington in logging camps will attest
that I never had any affiliation or affinity with that organization.<br />
<br />
The senator charged that Professor Harold Laski, a British scholar and
politician, dedicated a book to me. That's true. He is dead. He was a
socialist, I am not. He was one of those civilized individuals who did
not insist upon agreement with his political principles as a
precondition for conversation or friendship. I do not agree with his
political ideas. Laski, as he makes clear in the introduction, dedicated
the book to me not because of political agreement, but because he held
my wartime broadcasts from London in high regard—and the dedication so
reads.<br />
<br />
Senator McCarthy's principal attack on me was an
attack on the Institute of International Education, of which I was
Assistant Director and am now a trustee, together with such people as
John Foster Dulles, Milton Eisenhower, Ralph J. Bunche, Virginia
Gildersleeve, Philip Reed; to name just a few. That institute sponsored,
acted as the registering agent for summer schools in foreign countries
including England, France, and Germany, and one in the Soviet Union in
1934. It has arranged in all some 30,000 exchanges of students and
professors between the United States and over fifty foreign countries.<br />
<br />
The
man primarily responsible for starting this institute was Nicholas
Murray Butler in 1919. Its work has been praised as recently as 1948 by
President Eisenhower. It has been denounced by the Soviet press and
radio as a center of international propaganda for American reaction, and
I have been labeled by them as a "reactionary radio commentator."<br />
<br />
The senator alleged that we were doing the work of the Russian secret
police, training spies. We were in fact conducting normal cultural and
educational relations with foreign nations. The Moscow summer session
was cancelled in 1935 by the Russian authorities.<br />
<br />
I
believed twenty years ago and I believe today that mature Americans can
engage in conversation and controversy, the clash of ideas, with
communists anywhere in the world without becoming contaminated or
converted. I believe that our faith, our conviction, our determination
are stronger than theirs, and that we can compete and successfully, not
only in the area of bombs but in the area of ideas.<br />
<br />
Senator
McCarthy couldn't even get my relationship with CBS straight. He
repeatedly referred to me as the Educational Director, a position I have
not held for seventeen years.<br />
<br />
The senator waved a copy
of <i>The Daily Worker</i>, saying an article in it has praised me. Here is an
example for what Senator McCarthy calls "praise" by William Z. Foster
in the March 17 issue of <i>The Daily Worker</i>. Quote:<br />
<br />
"During
the past ten days, Senator McCarthy has received a number of resounding
belts in the jaw. These came from Adlai Stevenson, E. R. Murrow, Senator
Flanders, the Army leadership, broadcasting companies; even Eisenhower
himself had to give McCarthy a slap on the wrist."<br />
<br />
That was the sole reference to me in Mr. Foster's article.<br />
<br />
Another
charge by Senator McCarthy was that Owen Lattimore mentioned me in a
book. What Lattimore said in substance was that he had never met me, but
that I had done a fair job of reporting his testimony; in short, that I
had not presumed his guilt. Everything I said on that case is a matter
of record and can be examined by anyone who is interested.<br />
<br />
I
hope to continue to present evidence developed before Congressional
committees as impartially as I am able. And that specifically includes
the hearings before which Senator McCarthy is shortly scheduled to
appear.<br />
<br />
I have worked for CBS for more than nineteen
years. The company has subscribed fully to my integrity and
responsibility as a broadcaster and as a loyal American. I require no
lectures from the junior senator from Wisconsin as to the dangers or
terrors of communism. Having watched the aggressive forces at work in
Western Europe; having had friends in Eastern Europe butchered and
driven into exile; having broadcast from London in 1943 that the
Russians were responsible for the Katyn massacre; having told the story
of the Russian refusal to allow Allied aircraft to land on Russian
fields after dropping supplies to those who rose in Warsaw and then were
betrayed by the Russians; and having been denounced by the Russian
radio for these reports, I cannot feel that I require instruction from
the senator on the evils of communism.<br />
<br />
Having searched
my conscience and my files, I cannot contend that I have always been
right or wise. But I have attempted to pursue the truth with some
diligence and to report it, even though, as in this case, I had been
warned in advance that I would be subjected to the attentions of Senator
McCarthy.<br />
<br />
We shall hope to deal with matters of more vital interest for the country next week.<br />
<br />
Good night, and good luck.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>(Thanks to Noah C. Cline for helping locate the footage) </i></div>
KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-34069164959027447712024-03-07T15:55:00.000-05:002024-03-07T15:55:23.600-05:001943. The Moscow Reports<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Bill Downs Reporting From the Soviet Union</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DOhhiCCckjo/U_T-IeBfSKI/AAAAAAAABA0/ElBa_l_0FRY/s1600/VGUrNGV.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DOhhiCCckjo/U_T-IeBfSKI/AAAAAAAABA0/ElBa_l_0FRY/s1600/VGUrNGV.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill Downs' Soviet ID: "The People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs certifies that [Bill Downs] registered as a correspondent."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Eastern Front, 1943</span></div>
<br />
Bill Downs wrote stacks of articles and broadcast scripts while serving as the Moscow correspondent for CBS News and <i>Newsweek</i> in 1943. These reports, featured below, provided updates and analysis of the war on the Eastern Front as it happened. They tell the dramatic stories of civilians and Red Army soldiers on the front lines in Russia and Ukraine, from Leningrad to Stalingrad to Kyiv.<br />
<br />
Parentheses are used to indicate text that was <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2014/09/1943-war-correspondents-vs-soviet.html">censored by Soviet officials</a>. While censorship was not unique to the Soviets, Moscow's censors were remarkably strict. Downs also dealt with significant technical difficulties broadcasting to New York. As a result, many of these reports were never heard in the United
States.<br />
<br />
Reporters on the Eastern Front relied heavily on state-run newspapers and government communiqués. Some of their military news updates reflected this. Part of the discrepancy was due to the heavy restrictions placed on foreign correspondents by Soviet officials. Downs recalled in 1951:<br />
<blockquote>
"Within the scope of Soviet censorship, the resident correspondent can report accurately on government policy as announced by the Kremlin. However, the resident correspondent is not allowed to report such details as the living standards of the people he sees or the state of the national economy . . . He is not allowed to report on conversations, say, overheard on the subway or on the buses and streetcars. His isolation from the Russian people is manifold—first by the language barrier, second by the fact that he is restricted for the most part to Moscow, thirdly by government orders against association with foreigners, and fourthly by the atmosphere of fear and suspicion, which is part of the daily life of the people.<br />
<br />
"Outside of a few officials, it is doubtful that even the Russians themselves know what transpires in their country . . . Only occasionally does rumor or a leak in the press break through these barriers which the government has inflicted on the people."</blockquote>
Reviewing the scripts was only part of the process, as Downs wrote:<br />
<blockquote>
"The correspondent could not find out what had been cut from his copy until he was advised by his home office . . . radio scripts were submitted and had to be returned to us for reading on the air. Thus we could see what the censors had cut, and we were able to assess the government's attitude on subjects of a sensitive nature. The government obviously felt that its censorship was not complete. There was a fear that the correspondent could, by intonation, change the meaning of his report . . . When reading your dispatch on the air, there was always an English-speaking Communist broadcaster sitting alongside with his hand on the cut-out switch. If you unintentionally changed the grammar of the sentence, as sometimes happens, down would go the switch and you'd be off the air."</blockquote>
Regarding the role of the press, he wrote:<br />
<blockquote>
"The Soviet government sees the press only as an arm of the government whose chief duty is to forward the Communist cause. They do not understand—or at least pretend not to understand—the role of the free press outside their country. The Soviet concept of news is that all information about Russia, no matter how trivial, comes under the heading of intelligence in the espionage meaning of the word. Consequently the foreign correspondent is tolerated as a kind of second-rate spy."</blockquote>
Some of his most chilling reports, such as those on <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2014/09/1943-nazi-colonization-of-ukraine.html">Kharkiv</a>, <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/08/1943-aftermath-in-stalingrad.html">Stalingrad</a>, and <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2013/07/blood-at-babii-yar-kievs-atrocity-story.html">Kyiv</a>, are firsthand accounts of what Downs witnessed in those cities, and he had more latitude to convey the absolute brutality on the Eastern Front rather than simply reciting official statements. In their 1996 book <i><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Murrow_Boys.html?id=1iMQkS19lkQC">The Murrow Boys</a>: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism</i>, authors Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud recount Downs' experience in the city of Rzhev (pp. 195-196):<br />
<blockquote>
"After the German occupation of Rzhev, only two hundred fifty people remained of the town's original forty thousand. Downs described how in one house he stepped over the body of an old woman, her face battered to a pulp. Near her were the bodies of her grandchildren—a nine-year-old boy and an eleven-year-old girl, both shot in the head. In another room lay the body of a second grandson, about fourteen years old, shot at least seven times. As Downs reconstructed it, the Germans had ordered all the women and children to go to the town's church. But the woman's older grandson was desperately ill with typhus, and she refused to move him. So the Germans killed them all on the spot, beating her to death for her disobedience and riddling the fourteen-year-old with bullets.<br />
<br />
"Downs was haunted by what he had seen in Russia. He told friends that 'coming back . . . is something like stepping out of a St. Valentine's Day massacre into a Sunday school classroom.' Over and over he described what he had witnessed but soon discovered that not everyone shared his strong feelings for the Russian people and the horrors they had experienced. Some looked at him curiously. Others expressed pity. Still others said he was a liar. On a lecture tour of the United States before returning to London, he even received an anonymous postcard calling him a Russian agent and threatening his life."</blockquote>
The links to Bill Downs' full reports are featured along with excerpts below, with the censored text restored.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Moscow Reports</span></div>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/12/1943-bill-downs-meets-up-with-soviet.html">January 1943</a>: Drinks with Red Army men back from Stalingrad</b><br />
<blockquote>
"I walked into the airport waiting room and saw Russian soldiers sitting around while a chess game progressed in one corner. Someone brought me a cup of tea—I had no Russian money and don't know who paid for it. The atmosphere about this place had the same sort of isolated comradeship you find in old-time village grocery stores. All it needed was a cracker-barrel and a potbellied stove."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/12/1943-why-do-russians-fight-way-they-do.html">January 1943</a>: Why do the Soviets to fight the way they do?</b><br />
<blockquote>
"I explained what I wanted to know, after which Sukhanov said: 'You want to know why we fight Germans the way we do? Well, we just don't like them.' Nazaryan said: 'Most of my people in Armenia had never seen a German before, but we have been taught what fascism means. We don't like Germans either—or anyone like them.'"</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/11/1943-writing-to-red-armys-soldiers-on.html">January 6, 1943</a>: Folks at home write to Red Army soldiers on the front lines</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Whole regiments will get letters addressed to the 'Liberators of Boguchar' from people they have never heard of before. Russian girls will write individual soldiers asking Private Ivanovich to 'kill just one German more today.'"</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://billdownscbs.com/2017/08/1943-russias-civilian-war-effort.html">January 15, 1943</a>: Civilians aid the war effort</b><br />
<blockquote>
"As the work progressed, the nearby townspeople also came in on the job. Then someone started a competition. The furnace became a sort of goal. Whole families, including the kids, helped carry fire bricks. Others dug pipelines. When the super-structure started going up, people got in each other's way trying to get things done."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/01/1943-women-doing-labor-in-moscow.html">January 20, 1943</a>: The women doing the labor in Moscow</b><br />
<blockquote>
"By closely observing this daily battle against the snow, you can pretty well tell how all of Moscow feels about things. When the Red Army isn't doing so well, this army of women prod viciously at the ice. They glare at pedestrians and at each other. They don't do much talking, even when they stop for a breather."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/09/1943-end-of-siege-of-leningrad.html">January 22, 1943</a>: Life in Leningrad</b><br />
<blockquote>
"No one knows what Leningrad is suffering tonight. It is not likely that the German command is letting Russia's greatest seaport city sleep while the Red Army continues its dirty job of throwing German soldiers out of pillbox after pillbox." </blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/12/1942-1943-success-in-north-africa-as.html">January 23 to May 13</a>: The turning point of the war in Europe</b><br />
<blockquote>
"It is a cheering sign that there are no such foolish arguments or discussions going on in Moscow tonight such as those which arose in America after the last war—you know the old argument that 'we won the war for the Allies.' Russians simply don't think that way. After what the Soviet Union has suffered, the people of Russia don't care to waste time talking about who won what. It has become pretty clear over here that unless everyone puts every ounce of fight and energy into this war, no one is going to be able to talk about winning anything for a long, long time."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/04/1943-breaking-encirclement-of-leningrad.html">January 24, 1943</a>: The Red Army pushes back at Leningrad</b><br />
<blockquote>
"During their sixteen month encirclement of Leningrad, the Germans built a three-to-five mile zone of concentrated Siegfried Line. It was a military nightmare. First there was row after row of coiled barbed wire. Then came the minefields."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/01/1943-decimating-axis-forces.html">January 26 to February 23, 1943</a>: Decimating the Axis forces</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Hitler calls his great Russian winter retreat an 'elastic defense.' It is fairly certain he is going to try to put some snap into it this spring. But he's working with synthetic material that he can only stretch so far. Hitler's ersatz allies have already been badly broken under the strain."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/12/1943-comparing-moscow-and-london-in.html">January 1943</a>: Comparing wartime Moscow and London</b><br />
<blockquote>
"You see in the people of Moscow the same determined, grim look that you could see in the brave citizens of London during their heaviest bombings. And when a Muscovite looks grim, I mean he <i>really</i> looks grim."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://billdownscbs.com/2017/08/1943-aftermath-in-stalingrad.html">February 8, 1943</a>: The aftermath in Stalingrad</b><br />
<blockquote>
"There was not a single manhole in Stalingrad's streets with a cover. Germans and Russians not only used the city's basements, housetops, and alleys for battlegrounds, but the sewers as well. Snipers were known to crawl through sewers and come out behind German positions to create panic . . .</blockquote>
<blockquote>
"Veterans of the Stalingrad fight said it was not uncommon to find Russian and German soldiers locked in each other's death grip during the height of the fighting. That was the way these two armies locked in the city of Stalingrad fought until the Red Army proved itself more powerful and skilled and brought the Wehrmacht to its knees."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/06/1943-aftermath-in-stalingrad.html">February 8 to February 9, 1943</a>: Reports on Stalingrad</b><br />
<blockquote>
"There are sights and sounds and smells in and around Stalingrad that make you want to weep, and make you want to shout and make you just plain sick to your stomach."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/09/1943-war-surgery-for-sex.html">February 8, 1943</a>: "War Surgery for Sex"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"'Young soldiers brought here on the verge of suicide are as much mental cases as surgical. However, when they see other men undergoing plastic treatment and when they have talked with similarly wounded comrades, one can notice a psychological change within as little as one hour.'"</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/04/1943-von-paulus-in-custody-after.html">February 9, 1943</a>: German Field Marshal Paulus in custody after Stalingrad</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Typical of the daring, devil-may-care spirit of these new Red Army forces was the almost comic capture of Field Marshal Von Paulus. Von Paulus, the only German field marshal ever to be made a prisoner of war, was taken after initial negotiations conducted by a 21-year-old Red Army first lieutenant."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/09/1943-stories-from-eastern-front.html">February 9 to April 28, 1943</a>: Stories from the Eastern Front</b><br />
<blockquote>
"At one point in the Stalingrad line, the German and Russian soldiers used to amuse themselves by shouting insults back and forth to each other. My Russian friend said that one German soldier shouted across the lines and offered to exchange his automatic rifle for a Red Army fur cap."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/10/1943-moscow-schoolboys-speculate-about.html">February 19 to February 20, 1943</a>: Moscow schoolkids make predictions about a second front</b><br />
<blockquote>
"So I decided I would beat them to the draw. I asked the class just how and where <i>they</i> thought a second front should be started." </blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/10/1943-german-spies-on-eastern-front.html">February 20, 1943</a>: The Soviet government warns of Nazi spy tactics</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Germans used local children, usually ages twelve to sixteen, and brought them before their trussed-up parents. They made them watch as their parents were severely beaten. The Germans then promised to stop the beatings if the children agreed to go to the Soviet rear and obtain the desired information. These kids were assured that if the information was not forthcoming, or if they failed to return, their parents would be shot. It is notable that Germans always keep these kinds of promises."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/12/1943-25th-anniversary-of-red-army-day.html">February 22, 1943</a>: The 25th anniversary of Red Army Day</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The letters that the Russian kids write to the soldiers usually congratulate the men on the 25th anniversary and urge them to continue the stuffing out of the Germans. And often the letters end up with a promise that, as a token of appreciation, the schoolchildren will see that they make better grades and stop whispering in classrooms."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/01/1943-russian-reverence-for-red-army.html">February 23, 1943</a>: Russian reverence for the army</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Down in Stalingrad, in the fight for a tractor factory, one Red Army storm unit of a couple dozen troops were trying to outflank a pillbox which covered a vital communications area with murderous fire. Three times the storm group tried to outflank the German position. Each time they lost several more men. The group was led by a young lieutenant. He assayed the situation, took out a couple of grenades, and ordered the group to drive for the flank while he threw grenades. Under cover of the explosion, the lieutenant didn't run with comrades to flank. Instead he ran directly toward the aperture of the pillbox and blocked it with his body. His unit later picked up the body, half hung over a machine gun."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/02/1943-soviets-retake-territory-across.html">February 23, 1943</a>: The fighting for Oryol and Donbas</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Donbass is not an area of separate communities. In reality, it is one big suburb interconnected and intertwined with interurban lines, highways, and roads. It is the first complete frontal street fighting that any army in the world has encountered on such a large scale. The Germans are putting up a desperate defense. It is natural that the Donbass advance should progress more slowly than the Russian progress has been over the steppe-land to the north."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2014/09/1943-nazi-colonization-of-ukraine.html">February 27 to March 16, 1943</a>: The Nazi occupation of Kharkiv and the colonization of Ukraine</b><br />
<blockquote>
"During the first days of the occupation about 18,000 people were executed. Bodies hanging from balconies were a common sight. Among these 18,000 executed were about 10,000 Jews—men, women, and children—who were taken nine miles out of the city, shot and buried in a big ditch."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2016/12/1943-soviet-general-pavel-belov-talks.html">March 1, 1943</a>: General Belov discusses German tank tactics</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The only major change in tank warfare, as the Germans fight it, is in the number of tanks employed in a single battle. Early in the war, in the fighting around the Polish city of Lutsk, the Red Army and the Wehrmacht engaged in a gigantic tank battle in which four thousand tanks were used. Later, the tank engagements involved only one hundred tanks at a time. And now the Germans are using only thirty to fifty tanks in a single engagement."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2016/12/1943-fall-of-fortress-of-demyansk.html">March 1, 1943</a>: The fall of the fortress of Demyansk</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Eleven thousand Germans have been killed or captured in these eight days of fighting. 302 population points have been taken, and tonight the 16th German Army is retreating westward."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/02/1943-soviet-military-strategy-after.html">March 2, 1943</a>: The Soviet winter counteroffensive after Stalingrad</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Germans didn't leave Rzhev voluntarily. This is shown by the great amount of equipment they left behind. They were kicked out of Rzhev in a blow that eliminated the main Axis threat to Moscow."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/01/1943-moscow-velikiye-luki-railroad-line.html">March 4, 1943</a>: Blitzkrieg tempo </b><br />
<blockquote>
Marshal Timoshenko's troops are still advancing south of Lake Ilmen. The Red Army drive from Rzhev has assumed a blitzkrieg tempo, and there has been no halt in the march of the Soviet forces threatening Bryansk and Oryol.</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/04/1943-russias-tank-desant-tactic.html">March 5, 1943</a>: The Red Army's tank desant tactics</b><br />
<blockquote>
"This is the formation of groups of 'hitchhike troops' specially trained to operate mobile tank forces which have acted as spearheads for the Russian drive westward."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/02/1943-red-army-sappers.html">March 7, 1943</a>: Sappers get to work</b><br />
<blockquote>
"It was quiet at night and no nails could be pounded, so the engineers used screws instead. As dawn approached, the sappers had to cover up their work with snow so that the Germans wouldn't know what was going on."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/05/1943-stalin-names-himself-marshal-of.html">March 7, 1943</a>: Joseph Stalin names himself Marshal of the Soviet Union</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Premier Stalin now holds the position of Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the USSR. He also is Chairman of the State Defense Committee, the People's Commissar of Defense, and Chairman of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2022/12/1943-foreign-correspondents-visit.html">March 8, 1943</a>: The destruction of Kharkiv</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Kharkov today looks like a city which has undergone earthquake, the Black Plague, and the Chicago Fire all at once. But the city's wounds are not so much on the surface as at its foundations—they are spiritual rather than material."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/05/1943-western-allied-contribution-to.html">March 8, 1943</a>: Lend-Lease to the USSR</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Russian people also have no idea of the scope of such American and British organizations such as the Aid to Russia funds. They know virtually nothing of the tremendous personal interest the people of the United States and other Allied nations are taking in their problems." </blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/12/1943-ambiguity-in-russianamerican.html">March 8, 1943</a>: Ambiguity in Soviet-U.S. relations</b><br />
<blockquote>
"As he said in his statement tonight, the American people realize and sympathize with the stupendous courage and effort with which the Russian people have met the Axis onslaught. But, he said, the Russian people have little idea of the American's feeling for <i>them</i>."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/03/1943-soviets-capture-vyazma.html">March 9 to March 12, 1943</a>: Vyazma is liberated</b><br />
<blockquote>
"At nightfall, fresh Russian troops, who have been sleeping and resting all day, will take over the offensive and keep the Germans up all night. Then at dawn the day shift will take over again."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2024/02/1943-ambassador-william-h-standley.html">March 15, 1943</a>: Ambassador Standley discusses aid to the USSR</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Admiral William H. Standley, United States Ambassador to Russia, invited correspondents to the American Embassy in Moscow on Monday of this week. His talk: a blunt accusation that American aid to Russia was being concealed from the Russian people."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/02/1943-german-blitzkrieg-for-kharkov.html">March 15 to March 17, 1943</a>: The Germans retake Kharkiv</b><br />
<blockquote>
"After the Red Army captured Kharkov last February 16th, the German command concentrated and reformed over 250,000 men for a counter blow. This was in addition to forces already fighting west of Kharkov and in the Donbass. The blow came two weeks later."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/04/1943-nazis-struggle-in-frozen-ukraine.html">March 19, 1943</a>: The Nazi offensive is bogged down by the weather in Ukraine</b><br />
<blockquote>
"They sent a group of tanks across to attack some Russian fortifications on the left bank. When the two loading tanks reached the middle of the stream, the ice suddenly gave way and they went through and were lost. The following tanks immediately retreated to safety."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/04/1943-red-armys-aircraft.html">March 21 to April 21, 1943</a>: Soviet bombers fight for air supremacy</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Soviet bombers have proved just how impressive they are to the citizens of Königsberg and Danzig. And a lot of other German cities are going to find out this summer when flying weather gets better. The Russian bombing force is growing."</blockquote>
<b><br /></b> <b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/11/1943-advent-of-spring-in-russia.html">March 21 to May 23, 1943</a>: The advent of spring in Russia—two censored reports</b><br />
<blockquote>
"We are told it is almost a certainty that Hitler will start the fighting this spring. But he is hesitating because this time he feels he must not fail. He must get this campaign rolling before he has to organize another to protect his 'European fortress' from a second front."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/05/1943-stalin-prize.html">March 23, 1943</a>: The State Stalin Prize</b> <br />
<blockquote>
"The occasion for even hinting that these things exist was the first annual list of Stalin science awards. These awards range from $18,000 to $5,000, and are given to engineers, professors, and scientists who have distinguished themselves in Soviet science and industry for the past year."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/03/1943-renewed-heavy-air-fighting-on.html">March 23 to April 12, 1943</a>: Renewed heavy air fighting</b><br />
<blockquote>
"A lot of Lend-Lease aircraft from the United States this winter and more are coming every day. Hitler's aircraft industry already is overstrained by the Allied air offensive in Western Europe. It's going to be even heavier taxed this spring and summer as the Red Air Force increases its offensive in the East."</blockquote>
<b><br /></b> <b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/03/1943-red-army-death-toll-so-far.html">March 24, 1943</a>: The Red Army's death toll so far</b><br />
<blockquote>
"According to the comparative losses during the German counterattack, 2,936,000 Red Army men have died in defending their country during this fighting. But I must point out that this figure is based merely on one small fact from one small sector of the Russian front. But whether the figure is larger or smaller, 2,936,000 men lost in the cause of democracy gives the Allies of Russia something to think about—and throws new light on Russia's desire for a second front."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/05/1943-soviets-look-to-western-allies-to.html">March 26, 1943</a>: The Soviet Union waits for the Western Allies to open a second front in Europe</b><br />
<blockquote>
"When they learned that there was some Congressional opposition to extending the Lend-Lease agreement, they could not understand it. Their one question was always, 'If it helps to win the war, then why argue about it?'"</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/03/1943-small-scale-fighting-on-front.html">March 27 to March 29, 1943</a>: Small-scale fighting as mud season hits</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Right now the Germans are confining their thrusts to small raiding parties. During the daytime, the Nazis carefully scout out the Russian positions. Then at night they send small groups of Tommy gunners—fifty or so at a time—across the river to attack the Red Army positions. These military jabs are designed to feel out the Russian defenses and might well be preliminary sparring preceding another German attempt to land a knockout blow."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/03/1943-soviet-engineers-work-miracle.html">March 28, 1943</a>: Soviet engineers work a miracle as the Nazis retreat</b><br />
<blockquote>
"And when the Germans were chased from the area, they did one of their most complete jobs of earth scorching along the Velikiye Luki-Moscow railroad. Every bridge was blown up. Switches and sidings were destroyed. In some places the Germans even burned the forest around some vital bridges so that the Russian engineers would have no material with which to reconstruct them."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/01/1943-looming-summer-offensive-on.html">March 31, 1943</a>: The looming Soviet summer offensive</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Hitler cannot afford to sit on his present battle lines and expand his diminishing military energy by defensive action. This would allow the Soviet command to a mass overwhelming strength against him. The experience at Stalingrad is a clear demonstration of what happens when he neglects the massing of Soviet reserves."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/04/1943-alyosha-and-his-pet-pig.html">April 1, 1943</a>: Alyosha and his pet pig</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Alyosha was raising a pet pig named Khrushka when the Germans came to the village. He loved his friend Khrushka and was very much afraid when the Germans started collecting all of the other pigs and cows and chickens in the village to send back to Germany."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/02/1943-strapping-explosives-to-cats.html">April 2, 1943</a>: The Nazis leave behind horrific booby traps</b><br />
<blockquote>
"He opened up the door and one cat jumped out. The second cat just started to leave the stove when the lieutenant pushed it back inside. On investigation, he found that the second cat had a string attached to one of its rear paws. The other end of the string was attached to the fuse in 25 pounds of high explosive."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/04/1943-red-armys-massive-winter-offensive.html">April 3, 1943</a>: The Red Army's massive winter offensive comes to an end</b><br />
<blockquote>
"In just 141 days of some of the bloodiest fighting that the world has ever witnessed, the Germans lost over 1,193,000 men in killed and captured."</blockquote>
<a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/02/1943-soviet-commission-on-nazi-war.html"><br /></a> <b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/02/1943-soviet-commission-on-nazi-war.html">April 6 to May 12, 1943</a>: The Soviet commission on Nazi war crimes</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The report ends with the statement, 'These men must bear full responsibility and merited punishment for all these unprecedented atrocities.' And this morning's Izvestia editorial adds 'The Russian people will not forget.'"</blockquote>
<a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/03/1943-heroic-czechoslovak-soldiers-hold.html"><br /></a> <b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/03/1943-heroic-czechoslovak-soldiers-hold.html">April 8, 1943</a>: Heroic Czechoslovak soldiers hold the line</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Germans launched a counterattack. It was a big show, and sixty tanks appeared on one narrow sector opposite the dug-in Czech troops. A young lieutenant named Yarosh was in command on this sector. His field telephone rang, and Colonel Svoboda said the unit would have to hold out alone. There were no reinforcements to help the lieutenant stop the sixty tanks. The colonel's orders were 'it is impossible to retreat.'"</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/03/1943-nazi-assault-on-izium-is-repelled.html">April 8, 1943</a>: The German assault on Izium ends in defeat</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Germans began their major assaults south of Izium five days ago. This local offensive was aimed at establishing a river crossing at Izium and at the same time cutting the important railroad running northwestward from the city."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/01/1943-downs-writes-home-from-russia.html">April 8 to October 31, 1943</a>: Letters home from Moscow</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Our entertainment here consists of vodka, which is liquid dynamite, and the ballet or opera; and the occasional poker game with a general or an admiral; and an occasional date full of gestures and shouting with a Russian girl."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/01/1943-free-french-squadron-in-russia.html">April 9, 1943</a>: The Free French squadron fighting in Russia</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Many of them are veterans of the Fighting French air force in Britain. Here they operate under Russian command and have a great respect for the fighting abilities of the Russian fliers. One of them told me he was learning how the Soviet pilots ram German planes in combat. He said the Russians had developed a technique in which a pilot could knock the tail or wing off an enemy plane and do very little damage to his own ship."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://billdownscbs.com/2015/12/1943-red-army-soviets-place-hitler.html">April 10, 1943</a>: Cartoon Hitler</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"One night a group of soldiers went out on a strategic clearing that formed the no-man's-land between the two trenches and put up two poles. Between these two poles they stretched a canvas cartoon of Hitler—it was not complimentary to the Führer. Under the cartoon was written in German in large letters: 'Shoot at me.' Then the unit waited until morning to see what would happen."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/10/1943-city-where-hitlers-dream-ended.html">April 11, 1943 (by Quentin Reynolds)</a>: Revisiting Moscow, the city where Hitler's dream ended</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Every civilian in Moscow has made it his war. Perhaps New York can learn something from this city of courage."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2016/05/1943-little-news-from-russia.html">April 14, 1943</a>: The little news from Moscow</b><br />
<blockquote>
"All of us here, from the government leaders in the Kremlin down to the correspondents in the Metropol hotel, are waiting for developments from North Africa."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/04/1943-soviets-commend-anglo-american-war.html">April 14, 1943</a>: Optimism over decisive Allied victories in Tunisia</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Soviet Union is expecting big things from the American, British and French forces now advancing in Tunisia. For many days now the Allied North African offensive has been the biggest military news in the Soviet press."</blockquote>
<b><br /></b> <b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/04/1943-red-army-convicts.html">April 14, 1943</a>: Convicts enlisted in the fight</b><br />
<blockquote>
"It seems that there are scores of men with criminal records serving in the Red Army. Some of them have completed terms and joined. Others are serving while under conviction and may have terms to finish after the war is over. And there are others who have joined the army who are waiting for conviction. Settlement of their cases will also be made after the war."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2016/02/1943-soviet-air-campaign-targets.html">April 15, 1943</a>: Soviet bombing campaign forces Nazis to change tactics</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Germans have felt the damaging weight of the Russian bombs and have resorted to all kinds of trickery—it's an improved type of trickery which the Nazis started using during the early bombings of Germany by the Royal Air Force."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/03/1943-president-kalinin-puts-russian.html">April 16, 1943</a>: Kalinin signs martial law decree</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Upon conviction of a crime on the railroads, the worker is subject to dismissal from his job, after which he will be sent to the front to join special penalty brigades. In addition, executives of the railroad lines have the right to put a worker under 'administrative arrests' for minor infractions for up to a period of twenty days."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/03/1943-indecision-on-donets-front-hurts.html">April 16, 1943</a>: The German command's strategic missteps</b><br />
<blockquote>
"It would appear that the Nazis don't quite know what offensive to put on and where. They have alternated attacks between Chuguev, Izium, and then Balakleya. All of these attacks have failed, and apparently the German command is still 'shopping' for a front on the Donets line where they can gain a victory. And any choice the Germans make will be a dangerous one."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/03/1943-crimean-offensive.html">April 17 to May 28, 1943</a>: The battle for the Kuban bridgehead</b><br />
<blockquote>
"It took forty minutes of inching forward through the mud on their stomachs before the Russian soldiers reached the first German lines. Then there was a period of furious and bitter hand-to-hand fighting before all the Germans were bayoneted out of their trenches."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/10/1943-soviet-officials-deny.html">April 19 to April 27, 1943</a>: Soviet officials deny responsibility for the Katyn massacre</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The newspaper <i>Pravda</i>, organ of the Communist Party, this morning violently attacks the Polish government of General Sikorski for giving official cognizance to the German propaganda charges that the Soviet government allegedly murdered 10,000 Polish officers near Smolensk in 1940."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/03/1943-no-fun-in-moscow.html">April 21, 1943</a>: No time for fun in Moscow</b><br />
<blockquote>
"There are no nightclubs or dance halls or anything like that in the capital of the Soviet Union. There is only one cocktail bar, and you have to stand in line to get into it. Occasionally some of the artist's clubs or other such organizations will throw a dance, but it's not very often."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/05/1943-russian-civilians-train-for-air.html">April 21, 1943</a>: Russian civilians train for air raids</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Moscow has not had a bombing for a year. Quite naturally the city is relaxed. People have forgotten where they put their gas masks. Fire watchers and shelter wardens have been more lax than they should be with Nazi bombers only a half hour's flight from the city."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/02/1943-film-and-theater-in-wartime-russia.html">April 21 to July 6, 1943</a>: Film and theater in wartime Moscow</b><br />
<blockquote>
"In an exclusive <i>Variety</i> interview, Krapchenko said the wartime Moscow theatre is tending toward serious drama and tragedy."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/03/1943-air-war-in-crimea-and-east-prussia.html">April 23 to April 24, 1943</a>: The air war in Crimea</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Germans more and more are putting Romanian troops into the vanguard of their local attacks. Thus the Romanians suffer the heaviest losses. The dispatch says that when the unlucky Romanians show a reluctance to attack, or when they appear on the verge of retreat, the German soldiers behind them liven their spirits with Tommy gun bullets. A good number of these Romanians have been killed by their own allies."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/04/1944-stalins-cult-of-personality.html">May 2, 1943</a>: Stalin's cult of personality</b><br />
<blockquote>
"This week all over the Soviet Union, pictures of Josef Stalin are being displayed on every factory and office building in the country. It means that this week his picture is getting larger display and his name on more banners and posters and that he is getting more personal publicity than any man has ever received."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2024/01/1943-moscows-mood.html">May 3, 1943</a>: "Moscow's Mood"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Military analysts of leading newspapers gave detailed explanations of each stage of the Tunisian battle, fully picturing its difficulties. They all took pains to praise the British Eighth Army—which received ten times more attention than the United States forces in North Africa."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/04/1943-germans-on-defensive-in-russia-and.html">May 4, 1943</a>: Axis setbacks in Russia and North Africa</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Last winter, while the Russian army was advancing westward, the Soviet people had a strong taste of victory in their mouths. That taste is beginning to return as they read of the continued American, British, and French successes in Tunisia."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2016/12/1943-fighting-rages-from-belarus-to.html">May 5 to May 30, 1943</a>: The fighting rages along the Central Front</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Germany is fighting on this front with the desperation of a nation who knows the loss of this war on her eastern front means the absolute end to everything that millions of Germans have died for since September 1939. On the other hand, Russia too has had a taste of just what a complete German victory would mean. The people who come from occupied Russia are enough to convince her that her cause is just. And that's the way things stand now, as both armies fret in their trenches awaiting the word to attack."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/03/1943-soviet-maskirovka.html">May 7, 1943</a>: Red Army military deception tactics</b><br />
<blockquote>
"No one is fooling down in the Caucasus tonight as the Red Army presses the Axis forces back to the Black Sea coast. But on the rest of the front there is a real war of nerves that, in plain deception, provides the greatest mystery show on earth. And strangest of all, these mystery tactics are good military practice."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/11/1943-moscow-addresses-relations-with.html">May 7, 1943</a>: Strained Polish-Soviet relations</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Vyshinsky is a white-haired, neat-looking lawyer, and he read his two thousand word summary of Soviet-Polish relations like a person adding up a column of figures. And that is the tone of the whole long list of Russian accusations against the Polish government."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/11/1943-russians-react-to-victory-in.html">May 13, 1943</a>: The Russians react to the Allied victories in Tunisia</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The American and British and French troops in North Africa don't know it, but their heroism and sacrifices and courage have achieved something here in Russia that a thousand diplomats and a million words could never have done."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/04/1943-diplomatic-front-in-russia.html">May 16, 1943</a>: Allied diplomats convene in Russia</b><br />
<blockquote>
"As the war approaches a climax and as victory becomes more and more of a reality, these two men are going to have more and more to do here in Moscow. There already are indications that the diplomatic front here in Russia is becoming more active."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2018/12/1943-soviets-warn-of-pending-summer.html">May 18, 1943</a>: Soviets warn of pending summer fighting</b><br />
<blockquote>
"This is the kind of talk we heard during the early days of the war and during the defense of Stalingrad. These warnings are designed to make the entire nation conscious of the situation at the front—a situation which, because of military security, cannot be described in detail. However, it is well to note that these press warnings make no mention of plans for the Red Army."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/05/1943-american-ambassador-visits-ruins.html">May 19, 1943</a>: Former US ambassador to the Soviet Union visits the ruins of Stalingrad</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Mr. Davies said he wished every American fighting man could have a look at the tragedy of Stalingrad before he went into battle against the Germans."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/04/1943-stalin-hosts-top-dignitaries-at.html">May 24, 1943</a>: Top dignitaries visit the Kremlin</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Stalin made only one toast last night, and it was a good one. He lifted his glass and simply said: 'To the armed forces of America and Britain.'"</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/03/1943-moscows-goodwill-banquet.html">May 25, 1943</a>: The Soviets throw a goodwill banquet for the British</b><br />
<blockquote>
"They represent an exchange of ideas—not between governments, but between peoples. Neither America, Britain, nor the Soviet Union is trying to impose ideas in this campaign for better cultural relations. That's what got Germany into trouble. If there is one thing that this war has proved, it is that it's much better to exchange ideas than it is to exchange bullets."</blockquote>
<b><br /></b> <b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1943-joseph-davies-concludes-his-moscow.html">May 27, 1943</a>: Joseph Davies concludes his Moscow visit</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Davies mission hit Moscow like a small whirlwind. It was exactly a week ago tonight that the former ambassador went to the Kremlin and delivered Mr. Roosevelt's letter to Stalin. At that time, Stalin said he would take the points raised in the President's letter under consideration and advise Mr. Davies later."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2016/12/1943-soviets-capture-enough-equipment.html">May 28, 1943</a>: Immense stockpile of Nazi armament seized</b><br />
<blockquote>
"When the French were defending Verdun in 1916, they used some four million shells in the fourteen-day offensive. The Verdun fortress hurled six tons of metal on every yard of the front during the battle. With the shells that the Red Army captured this winter, it is calculated that the Russian troops could fight four Verduns."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/03/1943-allied-bombing-of-germany.html">May 30, 1943</a>: Western Allied bombing of Germany threatens morale on the Eastern Front</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Anglo-American bombing of Germany is having a very real effect on the German soldier, who has been given the impossible job of defeating Russia. When a Fortress or a Liberator or a Lancaster drops a bomb on Berlin or Duisburg or Essen, this bomb not only smashes Nazi war production, it also smashes just one more grain of confidence and resistance in the morale of the Fritz on the Russian front who sooner or later hears that his hometown has taken it in the neck again."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2022/09/1943-davies-in-sovietland.html">May 31, 1943</a>: "Davies in Sovietland"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"However, Davies's trip augurs well and portends success. The Russians at least know where they stand with him. They operate on a principle which he himself quotes, saying that the Russian officials told him: 'If you find any faults with us, you tell us—if you find something good, you tell the world.'"</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2013/09/1942-or-1943-nazi-rockets-provide.html">June 1, 1943</a>: Nazi rockets provide light for Soviet troop shows</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Recently one group performed for a tank unit assigned to crack a river fortification. The artists reached the front late in the evening. They were held up picking their way through narrow trails in minefields. When they arrived, the soldiers insisted on seeing the entire program. The troupe performed in the open air; the illumination was furnished free by German rockets. The concert really got a big windup with artillery barrage. Before the troupers had packed, the first tanks had crossed the river."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2013/07/red-justice-by-bill-downs-in-newsweek.html">June 7, 1943</a>: "Red Justice"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"With the German attack of 1941 a decree was promulgated reclassifying murder, attempted murder, highway robbery, resistance to representatives of the government, and refusal to join the labor front as crimes subject to martial law."</blockquote>
<b><br /></b> <b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/01/1943-film-she-defends-her-country.html">June 8, 1943</a>: The film "She Defends Her Country" debuts in Moscow</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Atrocity is brutally treated in this film, and if shown in America could give reaching confirmation of what every foreign correspondent has seen. The film's sincerity overcomes its shortcomings."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2016/10/1943-stalin-previews-hollywood-film.html">June 14, 1943</a>: Stalin previews "Mission to Moscow"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Stalin's poker face may have derived from the fact that the film's portrayal of the Soviet Premier was judged the least adequate in a roster of generally excellent characterizations. Playing Stalin for sweetness and light, Manart Kippen missed the strength and power and twinkling humor with which Stalin invariably impresses foreign visitors."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/01/1943-bogdan-elusive-of-ukraine.html">June 17, 1943</a>: "Bogdan the Elusive" in Ukraine</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Once, the Germans thought they had Bogdan. They carefully threw a cordon around his camp. When they finally closed in on the camp they found warm campfires, empty tin cans—and a goat. Around the neck of the goat was a note saying 'A hurried good-bye—but I'll be back.'"</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/12/1943-soviet-perspective-on-japanese.html">June 19, 1943</a>: The Russian perspective on Japanese imperialism</b><br />
<blockquote>
"'In May 1943, a serious reverse befell Japan,' the Russian expert says. 'In the Northern Pacific, American troops drove the Japanese out of Attu Island which, incidentally, the Japanese militarists prematurely gave a Japanese name.'"</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/05/1943-womens-summertime-fashion-in-moscow.html">June 25, 1943</a>: Summertime fashion in Moscow</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The most popular summer footwear are sandals. I've seen some made out of worn out automobile tires. The tire is simply cut into the shape of a show. Another thickness is nailed onto the heel—two straps are attached—and there you have a perfectly good pair of summer shoes."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/04/1943-wehrmachts-lice-epidemic.html">June 27, 1943</a>: The Wehrmacht's lice epidemic</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The German command is trying to combat the louse that infests the invincible, Aryan Nazi soldier. They are using all kinds of propaganda. Soap is scarce in the German army, and propaganda has not been a very good substitute."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/04/1943-axis-espionage-in-russia.html">July 5, 1943:</a> "'Rick' in Russia"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The arrival of Rickenbacker's Liberator plane caught the American military and embassy officials by surprise. The knowledge that he was even in this part of the world reached Moscow only a half hour before he landed."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/04/1943-hitlers-plans-for-battle-of-kursk.html">July 11, 1943</a>: What are Hitler's ultimate plans for the new offensive?</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The third theory is that this present attack is the beginning of an all-out attack on the Soviet Union, with Hitler ignoring the impending second front and setting out once and for all in an attempt to defeat the Red Army. In this event, he would depend on his European defenses to protect his rear."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/04/1943-axis-espionage-in-russia.html">July 14, 1943:</a> Axis espionage in Russia</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The business of spying is no longer a glamorous job of pumping a victim full of champagne and getting him to talk. Axis agents have been discovered disguised as beggars, as wounded Russian soldiers, as government officials, and a number of other things."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2024/02/1943-moscow-hosts-concert-of-american.html">July 19, 1943:</a> "Rhapsody in Red"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Moscow critics are trying to decide whether the first concert of all-American music in the history of the Soviet Union had greater musical or political significance."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/02/1943-soviet-play-features-heroic.html">July 27, 1943</a>: Russian play features heroic American war correspondent</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The correspondent is depicted as about 40, grayish, with an intense interest in getting the story but with little interest in taking a personal part in the war. He is constantly taking notes and snapping pictures and making what are, to the Russian mind, wisecracks. The author allows the correspondent to jibe the Russians about their love for tragedy, maintaining that Tolstoy should have ended 'War and Peace' with 'everyone loving everyone else.'"</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2016/09/1943-great-orel-sweepstakes.html">August 2, 1943</a>: The "Orel Sweepstakes"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Orel sweepstakes is typical of the difficulties under which American and British reporters must compete for headlines and at the same time keep within reason in trying to interpret the progress of military movements in Russia. There is not one who had not been screaming at the press department for trips to the front or, second best, for conferences with reliable political and military authorities for guidance in covering this and other stories."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2016/09/1943-great-orel-sweepstakes.html">August 9, 1943</a>: Britansky Soyuznik</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Britansky Soyuznik (British Ally) is the only publication sponsored by a foreign government in Russia. It was started shortly after twenty Britons, all assigned to public relations, arrived in Moscow six months ago."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/04/1943-red-armys-high-spirits.html">August 14, 1943</a>: The Red Army's high spirits</b><br />
<blockquote>
"These campfires are a beautiful sight. I saw them from an army headquarters on a height overlooking the Oka river valley. These fires, spotting the ridges and slopes of the rolling steppe, make an unforgettable sight, particularly if you look to the horizon and see the reflection of the burning ruins of Nazi occupation. Those peaceful looking army campfires are flames of vengeance. The big light on the horizon is reflected fear."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/01/1943-soviet-partisans-strike-back.html">August 15, 1943</a>: The Bryansk partisans</b><br />
<blockquote>
"I sat next to Romashin during a lunch the Orel city government gave the correspondents. He told me that, if I wanted to turn him over to the Germans, I would be a rich man. The Germans know his home. To the person who can produce him dead or alive they will give 15,000 rubles, thirty acres of land, a house, one horse, and two cows."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/11/1943-ending-coeducation-in-moscow.html">August 16, 1943</a>: "Revolution in Soviet School System Kills Coeducation for Youthful Reds"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"This statement represents a new conception of the Soviet woman and her place in family and national life. Sociologically it is a significant change from the early conceptions which simplified divorce processes, provided state contraceptive service, and put emphasis on the nursery instead of the family. In recent years the trend has been in the opposite direction; the Soviet Union is taking measures to increase the birth rate, which since the war has been declining because of the separation of families, improper feeding, and casualties. The new system is the first step in this direction."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://billdownscbs.com/2017/01/1943-it-happens-in-moscow-by-quentin.html">August 21, 1943</a>: "It Happens in Moscow" by Quentin Reynolds</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Two American correspondents, Bill Downs of the Columbia Broadcasting System, and David Nichol of the Chicago Daily News, were among the lucky ones to obtain tickets. They joined in the parade, jostling elbows with gold-epauletted Red Army generals, with American and British generals, with ambassadors and with the beauty and culture of Moscow. But they wanted to smoke, and neither had a cigarette."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2022/09/1943-soviet-summer-offensive-repels.html">August 23, 1943</a>: "Guns, Tanks, and Chopin: A Look at the Russian Front"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"I have seen scorched earth in other sectors of the Russian battle front, but nowhere is the destruction so complete and so calculated as that now being carried out by the Germans as they are pushed back toward Bryansk. Every village is literally razed to the ground. All brick and stone buildings, whether important or not, are blown up. Wooden houses are burned."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/04/1943-curfew-in-moscow.html">August 26, 1943</a>: Downs tells of the curfew in Moscow</b><br />
<blockquote>
"While walking from the foreign office to the radio studio, a young soldier packing a very business-like rifle and bayonet stopped me and asked to see my documents. I handed him my official press card, the pass which allows me on the street during air raids, and my precious night pass. Everything was in order except for the night pass. It had run out and had to be replaced."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2024/01/1943-foreign-press-preview-soviet-film.html">August 30, 1943</a>: Foreign press preview Soviet film "The People's Avengers"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The foreign press has just seen a preview of "The People's Avengers," a new documentary which promises to make cinema history. It is surely the best war film that has been produced by the Russians."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/12/1943-death-on-steppe-front.html">September 4, 1943</a>: Tragedy on the Steppe Front</b><br />
<blockquote>
"We came to a little farm railroad called Maslova Pristan. Our convoy of jeeps stopped. An air raid had started someplace on the horizon. The ack-ack and bomb flashes lit up the skyline so brightly that it didn't seem real. If you saw it in the movies you would say it was too Hollywood; too overdone."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/05/1943-ukrainians-persevere-in-wake-of.html">September 6, 1943</a>: Ukrainians persevere in the wake of Nazi destruction</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The damage is so extensive that the occasional house that was new—unburned, without shell holes and not charred by fire—such scattered houses seemed almost to be showplaces. They stood out like the pyramids in a desert of destitution."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2024/02/1943-boxing-match-hosted-in-moscow.html">September 6, 1943</a>: Boxing match hosted in Moscow</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The biggest fight in the world is only a few hundred miles away, yet Moscow fight fans jammed dignified Hall of Pillars last Wednesday to witness a boxing card which featured the 'Absolute Championship of Russia and Moscow.'"</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/08/1943-soviets-celebrate-fall-of-italy.html">September 9, 1943</a>: Italy falls as Donetsk is liberated</b><br />
<blockquote>
"'A victory for one of the United Nations is a victory for all the United Nations.'"</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2016/12/1943-fireworks-and-salutes-in-moscow-as.html">September 11, 1943</a>: Salutes in Moscow as the Red Army advance continues</b><br />
<blockquote>
"What I'm trying to say is that, despite the apparent lack of what we call 'big' news, the Red Army's advance is continuing. A lot of these unknown inhabited points might be, for individual groups of Russian soldiers, battles as bitter and bloody as the fighting that separate units did for Stalingrad. You don't need a special communiqué to die—you also don't need a special communiqué to capture an inhabited point."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/01/1943-red-army-enters-ukraine.html">September 11 to September 27, 1943</a>: The Nazis retreat from the Panther-Wotan defense line</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Adolf Hitler's dreary words to the German people will be of little comfort to the Nazi armies which now are running westward with their tails between their legs. The main job of the German command today is to keep this retreat from becoming a rout—which it is threatening to develop into on several sectors."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/07/1943-march-to-bryansk.html">September 12 to September 17, 1943</a>: The Red Army approaches Bryansk</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Red Army in the past ten months of its winter and summer offensive has almost completely wiped out the gains that the German army spent two years in achieving. As the Russians drive for Kiev and the Dnieper bend, they soon will be on the same lines where they fought the Nazis in September 1941."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2023/01/1943-red-armys-major-fronts.html">September 13, 1943</a>: The Red Army's major fronts</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The Germans, for their part, admitted that they were withdrawing in most sectors. The tone of their High Command communiqués was more defensive than at any other time since the start of the war. But there were still no indications of a Nazi rout or a disaster approaching that of Stalingrad. One sure sign of disaster is large-scale surrender and even the Russians did not claim the capture of any great numbers of Nazis."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/01/1943-anti-nazi-ukrainian-partisans.html">September 14, 1943</a>: The Young Guard in Ukraine</b><br />
<blockquote>
"These high school students played a lot of tricks on the Germans, such as taking empty mine cases and planting them like booby traps. The Germans would worry for days over such tricks. They wired officers' cars so that when they stepped on the starters, the car would blow up. They cut the telephone lines, and always they put out their daily bulletin, carefully written by hand and passed among the people."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1943-moscow-urges-bulgaria-to-abandon.html">September 16, 1943</a>: Moscow urges Bulgaria to abandon the Axis</b><br />
<blockquote>
"An article in today's <i>Pravda</i>, organ of the Communist Party, calls on Bulgaria to abandon her collaboration with Germany before the Balkans are turned into a battlefield."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2014/07/1943-harvest-of-death.html">September 20, 1943</a>: "Harvest of Death: Behind the Lines in Russia's Reconquered Villages"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The jeep was blown a dozen feet off the road, turned over, and was almost torn in two. The driver escaped miraculously with only a wound in the back of his head. It was a freak mine that somehow hadn't gone off although hundreds of cars had driven over the spot on the road throughout the day."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1943-skyrockets-fly-over-moscow.html">September 20, 1943</a>: "Donbas Jubilation"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The first celebration on Aug. 6, signalizing the Orel-Belgorod break-through, was the most colorful. Light anti-aircraft gunners, who had been sitting with nothing to do atop the city's buildings for more than a year and a half, contributed to the demonstration with great bursts of tracer bullets."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/06/1943-second-battle-of-poltava.html">September 23, 1943</a>: The "Second" Battle of Poltava</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The German base of Poltava was one of the most powerful in the Ukraine. It was taken with much greater casualties for both sides than either the Russians or the Swedes suffered two centuries ago."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2016/12/1943-bolshoi-theatre-reopens.html">September 25, 1943</a>: The Bolshoi Theatre reopens</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The entire diplomatic community was there—representatives of the United States embassy; Australians; the British ambassador; heads of military missions—and the Japanese."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/08/1943-massive-dnieper-offensive-continues.html">September 26 to September 29, 1943</a>: The massive Dnieper offensive continues</b><br />
<blockquote>
"An article in the Army journal, <i>Red Star</i>, today puts the question that is on everyone's lips here in Russia: 'Where is Hitler's army going to stop?' This same question must be on the lips of the people of Germany."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2017/03/1943-new-soviet-academies-foster.html">September 27, 1943</a>: Suvorov schools</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Originally designed to 'aid the education of the children of the Red Army soldiers, partisans, workers, collective farmers, government, and party workers, whose parents perished at the hands of the invaders,' the schools will be replenished yearly by the application system."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2024/02/1943-proletarian-opera-is-staged-with.html">October 11, 1943</a>: "Proletarian Opera Is Staged With Czars' Pomp and Show"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"Throughout the performance of Glinka's "Ivan Sussanin" the audience looked constantly at one of the boxes, which was empty, and it was amusing, looking through opera glasses at the opening chorus number, to see 100 men and women singing the stirring opening number and constantly rolling their eyes to make sure that Stalin was not there."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/01/1943-third-moscow-conference.html">November 1, 1943</a>: The Third Moscow Conference</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The welcome accorded Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden on Oct. 18 set the tone for the meeting. At the very moment that Hull stepped down from his four-engined Douglas transport at the Moscow airport, a military band struck up 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' and quickly followed with the 'Internationale.'"</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2016/10/1943-us-ambassador-harriman-takes.html">November 15, 1943</a>: A new U.S. ambassador arrives in Russia</b><br />
<blockquote>
"The long time that Spaso House had been without an official hostess had turned the Ambassador's official residence into what was almost a super-luxurious fraternity house. The Mokhovaya House across the street from the Kremlin with embassy offices and apartments for military, naval, and Lend-Lease staffs was almost the same. No one had enough to do. Consequently the embassy military and naval staffs spent a lot of time chasing ballet and theater tickets."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2013/07/blood-at-babii-yar-kievs-atrocity-story.html">December 6, 1943</a>: "Blood at Babii Yar: Kiev's Atrocity Story" </b><blockquote>
"The first foreign witnesses this week returned to Moscow from what are probably the most terrible two acres on earth—a series of desolate ravines in the Lukyanovka district three miles northwest of Kiev."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2022/09/1943-russian-orthodoxys-offensive.html">December 27, 1943</a>: "Russian Orthodoxy's Offensive"</b><br />
<blockquote>
"From the historical point of view, there is nothing hypocritical or devious in this shift of attitude toward the Orthodox Church. Briefly, the situation is this: Before the revolution, the church was one of the wealthiest institutions in Russia. Its corruption was notorious, and its subservience to the czarist government—which employed the church as a weapon—made it an enemy to the revolutionaries, who were also inspired by the atheistic concepts of Marxism. Hence the Soviet Government included most church land and property in its declaration of common ownership. the official attitude was that the church, with its ritual and dogma, must not have a chance—either by interference or tradition—to act as a brake on the progressive drive of the new Soviet Government."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="http://billdownscbs.com/2015/05/1944-retaking-russian-railways.html">January 23, 1944</a>: Retaking the Russian railways</b><br />
<blockquote>
"There are probably more American trucks and jeeps and weapon carriers in Russia than any other country outside the United States. Supplies for the Stalingrad victory were largely carried on American ten-wheelers which can negotiate the deep Russian snow. It was the same at Oryol and Belgorod last summer, and again at Kiev where these American trucks were able to cope with Ukrainian mud."</blockquote>
<br />
<b><a href="https://billdownscbs.com/2017/07/1944-american-foreign-correspondents-on.html">February 21, 1944</a>: Bill Downs looks back on Russia</b><br />
<blockquote>
"When I entered Russia on Christmas Day, 1942, the country was in the midst of the Battle of Stalingrad. The strain was evident in Moscow. Tired, red-eyed officers from the southern front who were reporting to headquarters could be seen in Moscow hotels trying to snatch a few hours' sleep before rushing back to the battle. But the victory, although its cost was scores of thousands of Russian men, was the turning point of the United Nations war against the Axis. This victory was also a turning point for the Soviet. It marked the end of one era inside Russia and the beginning of another. Only today are we beginning to see manifestations of a new era."</blockquote>
KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-83848255871316584502024-03-04T14:54:00.000-05:002024-03-04T14:54:00.339-05:001962. Local Kansas City Boy Covers John Glenn Flight<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Bill Downs from the U.S.S. Randolph</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7BdJ_PSwi-0/WE665ZB7aXI/AAAAAAAADTo/xSQn0LmcQCYbqCDd8f0d6htO-Mozh1dZACLcB/s1600/Randolph.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7BdJ_PSwi-0/WE665ZB7aXI/AAAAAAAADTo/xSQn0LmcQCYbqCDd8f0d6htO-Mozh1dZACLcB/s640/Randolph.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The recovery team stands on the U.S.S. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Randolph_%28CV-15%29"><i>Randolph</i></a> for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Glenn">John Glenn's</a> historic orbital spaceflight mission, February 20, 1962</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
From <i>The Kansas City Kansan</i>, March 2, 1962:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"></span></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">This and That Around Town</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>In the Telecast of the Historical Achievement of Col. John Glenn, Jr., a Local Boy Was on the First Team</b></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><b></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"We take you now to the aircraft carrier, <i>Randolph</i> and Bill Downs."<br />
<br />
It was Walter Cronkite, ace of the CBS staff speaking, as he directed coverage of the orbital flight of Col. John Glenn, Jr., on February 20.<br />
<br />
To thousands of TV viewers the name "Bill Downs" meant merely another member of the first team that had been assigned to coverage of this historical event. To hundreds of local residents it meant Bill Downs, former schoolmate, close friend, good guy, crackerjack newspaperman and top-flight radio and television broadcaster.<br />
<br />
Bill, whose rating in his profession would be comparable to Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and some of the other select major leaguers, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Downs, [address]. Mr. Downs is a member and former chairman of the city civil service commission.<br />
<br />
Bill served briefly on the staff of the <i>Kansan</i>, then joined the United Press as a reporter following his graduation from the University of Kansas in 1936. He was stationed at the Denver and New York bureaus before he was assigned to London.<br />
<br />
It was in London that Bill met Edward R. Murrow, the famed <i>Person to Person</i> announcer, now doing a public information stint for the government. Murrow was impressed by Bill's ability as a reporter, his distinctive voice and his all-around radio qualifications.<br />
<br />
Bill changed from writing about international events to telling about them and over a span of a quarter century has broadcast from Moscow, Rome—virtually every place in the globe. During the war he was assigned to the American and British armies in their far-flung battles.<br />
<br />
A close friend of the late Clarence A. Mott, Bill and Clarence promoted presentation here that antedated the popular panel shows of today. It was at the Legion hall at Hiawatha and Quindaro.<br />
<br />
Bill, home from a foreign assignment, was interviewed by the late Clyde Roberts, who, for years was assistant manager of the local news office of <i>The Star</i> and by a <i>Kansan</i> reporter. Later members of the Third Ward Republican club joined in the questioning.<br />
<br />
Around the world assignments keep Bill on a constant alert and the demands of his job allow for only infrequent trips here. He visited with his parents Christmas Day.<br />
<br />
As a member of the No. 1 team Bill will be heard from when big things are happening. It gives more meaning to the events to his many friends who can say:<br />
<br />
"I know him. He's from Kansas City, Kansas."</blockquote>
KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-6089805923122892542024-02-27T15:31:00.000-05:002024-02-27T15:31:32.764-05:001943. The Occupation of Kharkiv<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Nazi Germany's Colonization of Ukraine</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NHW0ZnnLo20/VA81a9HCS0I/AAAAAAAABHQ/FqVoKGn9O6Y/s1600/kharkov.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NHW0ZnnLo20/VA81a9HCS0I/AAAAAAAABHQ/FqVoKGn9O6Y/s1600/kharkov.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A delicatessen Kharkiv, Ukraine during the Nazi occupation in 1941 (Photo by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_H%C3%A4hle">Johannes Hähle</a> <span class="ILfuVd"><span class="hgKElc">–</span></span> <a href="https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/german-occupation-kharkov-color-1941/">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>
Bill Downs visited the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv following its initial liberation in February 1943. He later reported on the city's reoccupation during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Battle_of_Kharkov">Third Battle of Kharkov</a>. Parentheses in the reports featured here indicate text that <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2014/09/1943-war-correspondents-vs-soviet.html">did not pass Soviet censors</a> for military security or propaganda reasons.<br />
<br />
(For more, see the complete <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/05/1943-complete-moscow-broadcasts.html">1943 Moscow reports</a>.)<br />
</p><blockquote>
<b>Bill Downs</b><br />
<br />
<b>CBS Moscow</b><br />
<br />
<b>February 27, 1943</b><br />
<br />
I have just had a close-up of how Adolf Hitler's New Order makes history—you know, the kind of history he raves about at the drop of a helmet. The Nazi brand of history he has sold to Italy and certain other countries in Europe. The kind of history Japan is trying to market in the Far East.<br />
<br />
At 9:30 this morning I took a plane out of Russia's rich Ukraine. I spent Thursday and Friday wandering around the streets of Kharkov talking to people and seeing what I could see.<br />
<br />
Right now, Kharkov is a very special place. It is more than just another city which the Red Army has recaptured. It's the <i>first</i> big city in Europe that has been retaken from the Axis in which Hitler's New Order had a chance to work. You remember the Germans held Kharkov for fifteen months. And I got to Kharkov with a party of other news reporters only eight days after the New Order was kicked out<span class="ILfuVd"><span class="hgKElc">—</span></span>before the smell of it had completely left the city.<br />
<br />
(Yes, you can still smell Hitler's New Order tonight, if you were in Ukraine. It's the stench of cordite, and the dry smell of bombed buildings and the wet smell of charred wood. It's the sweet smell of blood and the bitter smell of people too weak from hunger to walk a couple of miles to the river to wash.)<br />
<br />
(When we flew with a Russian fighter escort towards Kharkov the other day, you could follow the path of the New Order very easily. The miles were marked with the walls of ruined villages where fighting had occurred. Along the railroad leading eastward from the city were the hulks of ruined tanks and occasionally Junkers or a Heinkel bomber.)<br />
<br />
(After we landed on the ruined airport—there wasn't a building left standing—we saw our first definite sign that the Germans had actually possessed this Ukrainian industrial center. It was a German sign which read, "Parking verboten." We found out that a lot of things were "verboten" during the German occupation of Kharkov.)<br />
<br />
There is no doubt that the Germans thought they were in Kharkov for keeps. All the street signs were written in both German and Ukrainian—German first, of course.<br />
<br />
German colonists—at least that's what Hitler calls them—had set up business, and there were restaurants and shops with German signs on them. Yes, the Nazis sent a lot of loyal German families to (examine the corpse of Kharkov) collect what they thought was going to be easy money and a pleasant life in the wake of Hitler's Wehrmacht. No one knows just how many colonists Hitler sent to Kharkov. They were a little difficult to count—like flies on a sugar stack. For months they played at being super-men. Ukrainians couldn't ride in the same street cars with them—they had to catch the one hitched on behind.<br />
<br />
If Ukrainians had better homes or business than [the colonists] had been allotted, the colonists went around to authorities and arranged to take over. That's the way the New Order works. But these good Nazi families were too smart to get themselves caught by the Russians. They ran away with everything they could carry early in January when the Red Army started to march.<br />
<br />
Two days before the German army fled the city, the Nazi command destroyed every major building in Kharkov. There literally is not one single store, office building, hotel, or government house in the main part of the city which has not been gutted by fire, blown to bits, or bombed.<br />
<br />
But during the occupation, the Germans did something else—something much more damaging than making piles of rubble out of buildings.<br />
<br />
It's something you can see in the face of every kid you run into on the streets. The women and old men who are left have the same look.<br />
<br />
The people are pale from hunger. The boys and girls, particularly, have faces the color of wet dough. They have rings under their eyes like old people.<br />
<br />
I stopped what I thought was a 10-year-old boy on the street to talk with him. He was thin and had black hair that hung down into his eyes.<br />
<br />
He grinned when I introduced myself and said in a tough kind of way that he supposed he would tell me his name. He was Vladimir Voskresensky, a good Ukrainian name. He was 14. You see, kids just don't grow very fast without food.<br />
<br />
I asked him what he did while the Germans were there. He shrugged and answered, "Oh, sometimes I begged for food. Some bread or a piece of chocolate if I was lucky. And sometimes I could earn some food by taking my sledge and dragging luggage to the station for German officers. I would get half a slice of bread for that."<br />
<br />
I noticed that Vladimir had on an outside man's suit coat which struck him below the knees. He looked a little bit like Jackie Coogan used to in the silent pictures. I asked him where he got that coat—I should never have asked.<br />
<br />
Vladimir started out bravely enough. "It belonged to my father," he said. "He was an engineer. They took him to the hotel over there and beat him for four days. He died. I never saw him again."<br />
<br />
He was crying when he finished the story. He was a tough kid, like all the kids that survived the New Order in Kharkov.<br />
<br />
But those kids won't forget. And neither will the rest of the world.<br />
<br />
During the fifteen months of German occupation, a lot of things happened to Kharkov—all of them bad. For example, there are some facts repeated to me at random by a half-dozen people to whom I talked on the streets of the city.<br />
<br />
A year ago last October when the Germans <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Kharkov">took the city</a> they started hanging people. By the second day of the occupation, every balcony stretching for two miles on the main street through the center of the city had become a gallows. Scores of men and women were trussed up and left to hang.<br />
<br />
Six weeks after the occupation, every Jew in the city was ordered to go to an empty machine tool shop nine miles out of town. Women cried as they told me about this. 10,000 Jews were herded into this camp. Ten days later a huge ditch was dug and a squad of German Tommy-gunners shot every man, woman, and child.<br />
<br />
It is estimated that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drobytsky_Yar">18,000 people were executed</a> in the first weeks of the occupation, but no one knows the exact number. The Germans didn't bother about death proclamations or keeping records. I have checked that figure not only with Soviet officials now in charge of Kharkov, but also with a school teacher, a college professor, and four other people who were in the city at the time.<br />
<br />
This is simply another example of how the New Order works.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
____________________________</div>
<blockquote>
<b>Bill Downs</b><br />
<br />
<b>CBS Moscow</b><br />
<br />
<b>February 28, 1943</b><br />
<br />
Hitler's guns, which for fifteen months were held against the heart of Kharkov, were pushed further back westward from the city last night. This morning's communiqué announced that another series of inhabited points have been taken west of the wreckage and ruined buildings which today mark the site of one of the proudest cities in the Ukraine.<br />
<br />
I left Kharkov yesterday morning after spending Thursday and Friday wandering around the city's streets talking to people and seeing what I could see.<br />
<br />
Kharkov was about the size of Washington, D.C. before Hitler got to it. It had a peacetime population of 900,000 which swelled to over a million inhabitants as the war progressed.<br />
<br />
Imagine every major building in Washington gutted with fire. Imagine all of the buildings across the Potomac blown to bits. Imagine every railroad station deliberately wrecked. Imagine street car and bus trolley wires lying over the street. Imagine Washington with just two water fountains and the sewage system wrecked with the streets thick with ice. Scatter a goodly number of bomb craters throughout the city. Then you will have a pretty good picture of Kharkov after fifteen months of Hitler's New Order.<br />
<br />
But the New Order has done something else to Kharkov. Something more terrible than mere wrecking of buildings and homes and streets. Something more deeply significant than putting up street signs in German and deliberately looting the city. Something more than taking warm clothing from men and women who walked the streets.<br />
<br />
Kharkov has a hungry population of only 350,000 today. This means that during the fifteen months of Hitler's New Order, something has happened to about 600,000 people. This does not include a quarter of a million people which the Russian government succeeded in evacuating from Kharkov before the Germans took the city a year ago last October.<br />
<br />
In talking with Soviet officials, college professors, and people on the street, here's all I could find out about the 600,000 Kharkov citizens who have disappeared under Hitler's New Order.<br />
<br />
During the first days of the occupation about 18,000 people were executed. Bodies hanging from balconies were a common sight. Among these 18,000 executed were about 10,000 Jews—men, women, and children—who were taken nine miles out of the city, shot and buried in a big ditch.<br />
<br />
One hundred and ten thousand people were shipped to Germany for forced labor.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, it is estimated unofficially that at least 70,000 people died of starvation under the German rule. (And all the time during the fifteen months the executions went on. As conditions grew worse, more and more people escaped from the city to unoccupied Russia.)<br />
<br />
All in all, it is estimated that between 90,000 and 100,000 Kharkov citizens will never be accounted for. It's something to think about as Doctor Goebbels prattles about saving European civilization from the "eastern hordes."</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iEh0hqWYAxQ/V35JvtFfiKI/AAAAAAAAC6Q/TIL0JcEpf3MoqC1KfE3IKCZVr8TFLrdMgCLcB/s1600/kharkov%2Bpartisans.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="582" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iEh0hqWYAxQ/V35JvtFfiKI/AAAAAAAAC6Q/TIL0JcEpf3MoqC1KfE3IKCZVr8TFLrdMgCLcB/s640/kharkov%2Bpartisans.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soviet partisans hanging from the balcony of an administrative building on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mius-Front">Mius-Front</a> near the Ukrainian village of Dyakivka in March 1943 (<a href="http://waralbum.ru/36875/">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote style="text-align: left;">
<b>Bill Downs</b><br />
<br />
<b>CBS Moscow</b><br />
<br />
<b>March 9, 1943</b><br />
<br />
(Ever since Hitler took over Czechoslovakia and marched into Poland, we have been hearing about the slavery and semi-slavery into which has been throwing the conquered European peoples. With the Red Army killing his soldiers in Russia—and with the United States and British air forces knocking out his factories in Germany and Western Europe—the Fuehrer has been forced more and more to rely on kidnapped labor to keep his war machine working.)<br />
<br />
At Kharkov a couple of weeks ago, I got my first glimpse of just what Nazi "forced labor" means. Simon Legree, with his whip and bloodhounds, was a sissy compared to the Nazi with his rubber hose, his barbed wire, and his hangman's noose.<br />
<br />
An estimated 110,000 Kharkov citizens are doing forced labor in Germany today. They range from boys and girls of fourteen years of age to men and women of forty. The only requirements for work in Germany is a strong back and a brace of biceps.<br />
<br />
According to the people to whom I talked in Kharkov, the Germans there used two methods of getting workers to work in their factories. They simply picked them up off the street and packed them off, or they sent around a notice saying the workers should report to a recruiting headquarters—or else.<br />
<br />
The Germans have an efficient, standard identification card with which they register their foreign workers. It's printed in eleven languages, so it comes in handy for a dozen countries from which they can kidnap labor.<br />
<br />
This identification card serves as a passport. When the kidnapped worker gets to Germany, he finds that it allows him to move from his factory, or his labor gang, to his barracks—and no place else.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
____________________________</div>
<blockquote style="text-align: left;">
<b>Bill Downs</b><br />
<br />
<b>CBS Moscow</b><br />
<br />
<b>March 16, 1943</b><br />
<br />
We (the American and British foreign correspondents who live at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Metropol_Moscow">Metropol Hotel</a>) here in Moscow are a pretty sad group of people today.<br />
<br />
It's because of the bad news from Kharkov.<br />
<br />
It was only two weeks and two days ago that we were in that Ukrainian city—and every one of us came away with a clearer picture of what Hitler's New Order means to the conquered people of Europe than any one of us ever had before.<br />
<br />
(During the fifteen months of occupation by the German forces, Kharkov had all but died of Nazism. Over 18,000 people had been executed. 70,000 had died of starvation. Over 110,000 had been shipped off to Germany. And about 90,000 were simply listed as "missing.")<br />
<br />
Today the Germans are back in Kharkov. (It is depressing to think just how many of the 350,000 Kharkov residents we found there two weeks ago will be left when the Red Army again takes the city. And it will be retaken—make no mistake about that.)<br />
<br />
(Another thing which saddens the foreign press corps here is the uncertainty of) We are wondering what is going to happen to the people to whom we talked. The people who told us the horrible story of the German occupation.<br />
<br />
For example, the little 14-year-old boy who (broke down and) cried as he told how his father was killed by the Germans. (The indigent Ukrainian housewife who wept when she told how her sister had been shipped away to Germany.) The kindly little college professor who was trying to reorganize Kharkov's educational and social services to care for the children orphaned by German executions. He was very pleased when we talked to him that he had found homes and food for 300 of these orphans.<br />
<br />
(You see, as news reporters, we used the names of all these people so that you people in America reading our stories could have verified evidence of what the Nazis did to Kharkov.)<br />
<br />
If I know anything about the efficiency of the Gestapo, (the names of) these people today head the list of German reprisals. I and the rest of my colleagues here in Moscow can only hope that those people evacuated the city with the Red Army. Or that they go into hiding until the city is captured again.<br />
<br />
I know, as every correspondent does, that it is not often the problems of news reporting make significant news. (These things are part of our job).<br />
<br />
But there is no better demonstration of just what Hitlerism stands for in this world than Kharkov.<br />
<br />
Usually, discussions about "truth" have a nebulous quality that almost always end up in confused arguments about what is right and what is wrong.<br />
<br />
I don't want to preach any sermons. There is nothing nebulous about "truth" in Kharkov today. The people who told the truth to us American and British reporters now stand under the thread of execution.<br />
<br />
Truth in that Ukrainian city today is a matter of life and death. (And so it is in this whole war raging throughout the world.)<br />
<br />
One writer in the Moscow newspapers said this morning that "it is not easy to give up Kharkov." Kharkov is a city of tears. Then he added, "but for every Russian tear, let there be mountains of dead Germans."<br />
<br />
That's the way the foreign press corps in Moscow feels this morning.</blockquote>
KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-8946026933180924342024-02-24T13:55:00.004-05:002024-02-24T22:19:09.733-05:001940. "Eyes of the World Turn to America's Election"<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Urgency of the 1940 Presidential Election<br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggW2pPAwqfpJtggGcSEjHdmOfL7G4NvRfGr_KLquIwogOKngPvSjDbi410PTHMQfdVEiRx2KrFsDCKtWgOss8kakI7nu7LN9MJLLEcfYGxJYEGEKXBiw12ZyQ_uFLpEkm-3U_9eG3CMesfQQMSD90cqw4No2ANhffJLtT57fPd0Izz3SlNa32O1SAulj4/s3000/fdr%201940.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="3000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggW2pPAwqfpJtggGcSEjHdmOfL7G4NvRfGr_KLquIwogOKngPvSjDbi410PTHMQfdVEiRx2KrFsDCKtWgOss8kakI7nu7LN9MJLLEcfYGxJYEGEKXBiw12ZyQ_uFLpEkm-3U_9eG3CMesfQQMSD90cqw4No2ANhffJLtT57fPd0Izz3SlNa32O1SAulj4/w640-h426/fdr%201940.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">President Franklin Roosevelt in Kingston, New York on Election Day, November 5, 1940 (<a href="https://www.historynet.com/fake-news-1940s-style/president-roosevelt-in-kingston-2/">source</a>)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>From <i>The New York Times</i>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1940/11/03/archives/eyes-of-the-world-turn-to-americas-election-our-decisive-power-in.html">November 3, 1940</a>:<blockquote><p>
</p><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">EYES OF THE WORLD TURN TO AMERICA'S ELECTION</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Our Decisive Power in Both War and Peace Fully Recognized Abroad</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>By ANNE O'HARE McCORMICK</b></div><p>Not since the wartime vote of 1916 has the choice of an American President interested the outside world so keenly as the present election. People everywhere, in the depths of Russia and China as well as in Britain and occupied Europe, will watch us anxiously as we cast our ballots next Tuesday. They will watch us because popular elections are becoming a rare sight on this planet. In most countries free choice is just a remembered luxury, like safety, coffee, planning ahead.</p><p>But the main reason for their intentness is selfish—the feeling that they, too, are involved in our choice. Sometimes vaguely, sometimes acutely, they feel that the man empowered to head this government for the next four years is destined to play a leading part in the widening drama of war and peace.</p><p><b>A Hope Disappointed</b></p><p>At home it was hoped that the candidates' agreement on such fundamentals as full aid to Britain, conscription, armament, to the limit of our speed and capacity, would expunge foreign policy from the political debate. Inevitably, however, the argument has tended to focus more and more on this issue. The earth revolves in a red fog of war, and as the campaign developed nothing could prevent the war from dominating all other questions in the mind of the American people.</p><p>The President recognized this when he changed his plan and went out to explain his attitude to the country. In the early days of his administration, scenes from his first campaign were thrown on a screen one evening in the upper hall of the White House. "How I miss the crowds!" was his comment as he looked. He is an extremely perceptive and observant man, and as he resumed the role of campaigner, in touch with the crowds, it is noteworthy that he laid increasing stress on his determination to keep the country out of the war.</p><p>Mr. Willkie also met the American crowd. In a few places they greeted him with eggs and "boos." Most of the time he was received with enthusiasm, louder, it seemed, as his own voice grew hoarser.</p><p><b>Thoughtful Americans</b></p><p>But what struck him in all the crowds was their seriousness. Hostile or friendly, the people were thoughtful and deeply in earnest, he told a friend after a cross-country tour. He, too, sensed the reason for this anxiety; his later speeches were almost entirely devoted to questions rising out of the war and the defense program.</p><p>The people, in short, raised the question the candidates at first wished to ignore. As the race neared the end, with Mr. Willkie demanding greater help to Britain and Mr. Roosevelt dispatching ships and planes and promising more, the main issues had narrowed down to two: Which contender will arm us fastest? Which is more likely to keep us out of the conflict?</p><p>Abroad, likewise, these questions overshadow more immediate concerns. For the past week or two, despite the thrust into Greece, the major struggle seems to have been held in suspense, almost as if the war were waiting for the result of the election. In the heat of the electoral battle it was charged that the British hope for the re-election of Mr. Roosevelt and the Axis Powers favor Mr. Willkie. If this is true, in each case the preference is based on the fact that both the Germans and the British know the President. Mr. Willkie is an unknown quantity; while he has given every assurance that his foreign policy will be identical with Mr. Roosevelt's, the Germans may figure that any change would be for the better and the British are quite satisfied with things as they are.<br /></p><p>True or not, the preference does not affect many voters in this country. As between the two sides of the war, the American preference is solidly and almost unanimously "set." Few oppose helping the British or blocking the Axis. As between the two candidates, however, Americans were never so bent on deciding for themselves, according to their own conception of the national interests.<br /></p><p>The injection of this red-herring issue is nevertheless significant. It proves that next Tuesday's balloting is an international event of far-reaching importance. The choice of Mr. Willkie may be taken in Germany as a sign of American unwillingness to enter the war. The choice of Mr. Roosevelt may be interpreted in England as an augury of more active participation. Europe inclines to echo our most contradictory campaign arguments—that the President will move more rapidly toward intervention than his opponent and that the Republican candidate will put more speed into the building of a war machine.<br /></p><p><b>Fear of America Itself</b><br /></p><p>The inner recesses of governmental minds are not likely to harbor these contradictions. If Hitler and Mussolini discussed this election at Florence, doubtless they agreed that we are already virtually in the war. Publicly they might cheer the defeat of Mr. Roosevelt; privately what they fear is America itself, the incalculable power of the people in a democracy. They are under no illusion that American policy in a crisis can be decided by any will but the will of the people.</p><p>The British know this even more certainly. Mr. Churchill is on close terms with the President and would regret to see him leave office. But the relations between the White House and Downing Street were just as intimate when Mr. Chamberlain was Prime Minister. Methods, persons, emphasis and conditions alter, but representative governments do not reverse their policies overnight, as dictators can. In the present case, moreover, a change of administration does not mean a change of policy, and this implies far more than a unity of view on the part of the candidates; it is striking proof of popular agreement on our primary interests.</p><p>Why, then, if the election supposes no drastic shift in policy, is it watched with such interest from Singapore to Narvik?</p><p>The answer lies in the nature of the world struggle now in process. It lies in the preponderant weight America throws into the balance as other powers are absorbed drained or by war. This conflict has a tidal quality; it ebbs and flows, roars and subsides. The spurts and lulls indicate that it is only partly military. From the beginning armies, navies and air fleets have merely supported other means of pressure. Between battles, behind the war front, all the manoeuvres have but one object—to anticipate and determine the shape of the peace.</p><p><b>Where Great Battles Lie</b></p><p>In this contest, in fact, military operations constitute only one phase. The great engagements are political, diplomatic and psychological. This is why the leader we select is of such importance in the international view.</p><p>People in Europe who are still able to think ahead look more and more to the White House as a lighthouse in the universal blackout. It is about the only normal seat of government to which they can look as a point of reference. This is true of the subjugated peoples and also of the British; engrossed wholly just now in the struggle to survive, they turn to us not for material support only but for visible reassurance that the life they are defending is still going on. Be sure, moreover, that the Germans and Italians regard this Federal union as the supreme standard of comparison, the challenging alternative to Hitler's "new order."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfDr7_BpTQ8hxb-Khb8YOa4vuP_IO-I4AGE7tcpqHeGSMvoi0TuiVSIYaq3kP7WioKhFs4kjBlKwYJt8-RA_o_vWTLi1dGS_hR2nf-VQFOtEn1bjnrZqJVU3MCeYD9XS6w2oyi8RDUsKD11jfGurkNXlBu2X_iJwu5fRwQXGsbb1ebysj7141qtvuS3kU/s457/nytimes%201940.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="367" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfDr7_BpTQ8hxb-Khb8YOa4vuP_IO-I4AGE7tcpqHeGSMvoi0TuiVSIYaq3kP7WioKhFs4kjBlKwYJt8-RA_o_vWTLi1dGS_hR2nf-VQFOtEn1bjnrZqJVU3MCeYD9XS6w2oyi8RDUsKD11jfGurkNXlBu2X_iJwu5fRwQXGsbb1ebysj7141qtvuS3kU/w321-h400/nytimes%201940.jpg" width="321" /></a></div><p></p></blockquote><blockquote><p>Even last Spring, before the Continent was "occupied," unofficial Europe was thinking of the United States as a factor in the war and as the arbiter of the peace that would eventually follow. Repeatedly, especially from government heads in small capitals, now no more, the writer heard remarks like these:</p><p>"The next Administration in your country will represent the new balance of power in the world." "In the next four years you will decide the fate of your country and ours." "The next President will have to be a greater statesman than your last Messiah, Wilson, presumed to be; he will have to make terms with a revolution."</p><p>With the world background in mind supporters of Mr. Roosevelt argue approximately thus: "The President is a great figure. He has played a conspicuous role in a world drama that has already destroyed most of the performers. His relations with foreign powers have been closer and more constant than those of any of his predecessors. This experience is invaluable; in foreign affairs he has knowledge, a sure touch, a horse trader's shrewdness, a useful confidence in the ability of this country to hold its own against any combination of brains or power. Above all he has imagination, a sense of American destiny as well as his own. He has been working for a long time on plans for peace, for a new order to oppose to Hitler's. If he ever fulfills his ambition to be a peacemaker, he will produce a blueprint that would inspire the world and reduce the Nazi organization to something like a prison code."</p><p><b>The Counter-Arguments</b></p><p>On the other hand, the arguments for Mr. Willkie might be these:</p><p>"Internationally, Mr. Willkie starts from scratch. If he lacks the advantages and renown of the President's experience he also lacks the disadvantages. Mr. Roosevelt has aroused great confidence abroad and sharpened deep antagonisms. The bitterness and disappointment of defeated peoples like the French are sometimes transferred to him. Some blame him for his part in Munich, others because his words encouraged the democracies to rely on American support we were not prepared to give. His name is associated, one way or another, with the tragic controversies that divide nations within themselves. Mr. Willkie has uncommon sense, the drive and energy needed to speed up our defenses, a fervent and contagious faith in the genius of this country and the benefit of being a new man with a fresh approach to problems the old hands have failed to solve."</p><p>Europe hangs on our choice—because Europe hangs on America. To the watching world, dictators and democrats, it is America and American power that count. The President may give a direction and emphasis to this power, but he cannot control it, and Hitler knows this as well as Churchill does.<br /> <br />As for Americans, they know that both candidates put American interests first. They are aware that this country will influence outside events in the degree in which it is strong, united, wise and faithful to itself. The President who will best mobilize that strength and express that unity and faith will be the best minister of our foreign policy and therefore the best hope of the world.</p></blockquote>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-66633685927249620092024-02-23T16:07:00.001-05:002024-02-23T16:07:24.146-05:001970. Aircraft Hijacking Foiled<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Calls for a Federal Commission on Aircraft Hijacking</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkONh9HEFqEs8UyYMIgytL-Ep54LIULezNj-220smx9sBikzq-mYptZJ2TVRe5c6ycxPvKNhHEoMabqS2nDbsRyWVMIUZRJUoxR-Jxt8IGwEBda3k-aHE0Z8uyQYq4F0n6X-SWjCbb4JkJXmjK40nfr94GqseGTFXm2Rliye7AbK60HjeWvyhJgRT_Fkc/s784/june%205%201970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="784" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkONh9HEFqEs8UyYMIgytL-Ep54LIULezNj-220smx9sBikzq-mYptZJ2TVRe5c6ycxPvKNhHEoMabqS2nDbsRyWVMIUZRJUoxR-Jxt8IGwEBda3k-aHE0Z8uyQYq4F0n6X-SWjCbb4JkJXmjK40nfr94GqseGTFXm2Rliye7AbK60HjeWvyhJgRT_Fkc/w640-h468/june%205%201970.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front page of <i>The Arizona Republic</i> on June 5, 1970 (<a href="https://azcentral.newspapers.com/article/arizona-republic-hijacking-june-4-1970/117457620/">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b></b></p><blockquote><p><b>Bill Downs</b></p><p><b>ABC Washington</b></p><p><b>June 5, 1970</b></p>Next to treason and murder, the crime of piracy has for centuries been one of the most heinous in the catalogue of evils that one man can commit against his society. It was true in the olden days because nations depended on shipping to provide the essentials of life for their people. Even so, Spain, France, Holland, and England have used pirate ships as unofficial men-of-war—and many captured pirates ended their lives at the end of a yard-arm.<p>Air piracy, of course, is a twentieth century innovation. And the <a href="https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,909374,00.html">abortive hijacking</a> of the TWA Jetliner yesterday demonstrates the difficulty of preventing and stopping this most dangerous crime. However the Airline Pilots Association, the aircraft industry, and the government are determined to crack down on hijackers. And Arthur Barkley, the Phoenix, Arizona cookie truck driver charged with taking over the TWA plane, is in a serious position. Aircraft piracy is a federal charge, and it carries a penalty, on conviction, ranging from twenty years in prison to the maximum sentence of death.</p><p>Like ocean-going ships of old, the commercial airliner has become the major long-distance passenger carrier for most nations of the world. The successful hijacking of a plane consists of an implied threat to the safety of every other airliner in the world. Had not airborne pirates been successful in hijacking more than fifty airliners from the US to Cuba, there probably would not have been the subsequent rash of hijackings in South America, nor attacks on Israeli and other planes in Europe and the Middle East.</p><p>All the same, there is a difference between today's serial hijacker and the men like Blackbeard and others who terrorized the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Main">Spanish Main</a> of old.</p><p>The swashbuckling scoundrels who lived by piracy those days were mostly pirates in search for gold.</p><p>By contrast, the serial hijacker of today is lucky to get away with his life.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/06/archives/transport-aides-call-for-a-commission-on-hijacking-us-aides-favor.html">federal commission</a> is now studying ways to prevent the piracy of commercial airliners. Possibly the most effective weapon is the psychiatrist.</p><p>This is Bill Downs in Washington for the American Entertainment Network, a service of ABC News.</p></blockquote>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-73401389612269101222024-02-22T14:51:00.000-05:002024-02-22T14:51:03.101-05:001934. "Concept of Third Reich Begins to Take Reality"<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Nazis Use Nationalist Nostalgia to Claim Legitimacy</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TdmuIxUqYzM/W0420x3y2HI/AAAAAAAAFVg/bprSCMhzTDQWj4q-8kgVXz5WeaYTTko9ACLcBGAs/s1600/nyt%2Bmap%2Bmarch%2B27%2B1938.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1464" height="402" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TdmuIxUqYzM/W0420x3y2HI/AAAAAAAAFVg/bprSCMhzTDQWj4q-8kgVXz5WeaYTTko9ACLcBGAs/s640/nyt%2Bmap%2Bmarch%2B27%2B1938.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map featured in <i>The New York Times</i> on <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1938/03/27/archives/ten-basic-forces-that-are-reshaping-europe-aims-in-czechoslovakia.html">March 27, 1938</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>From <i>The New York Times</i>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1934/10/07/archives/concept-of-third-reich-begins-to-take-reality-with-their-leader.html">October 7, 1934</a>:</p><blockquote><p>
</p><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">CONCEPT OF THIRD REICH BEGINS TO TAKE REALITY</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
With Their Leader Firmly Entrenched in Power, the Nazis Hope for a New Era of German Greatness</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>By EMIL LENGYEL</b></div>
<p>Adolf Hitler, heavily entrenched in power, recently predicted that the Third Reich would last a thousand years. Even if, to those outside Germany, it does not seem firmly established, in the minds of the Nazis the concept of the new Reich is taking a definite form. For a year and a half the Third Reich has been a hope and a slogan, with Hitler sharing his power with Field Marshal von Hindenburg. Hindenburg's tomb at Tannenberg was also the Third Reich's birthplace.</p><p>What is the Third Reich, and what were the First and Second Reichs from which the new order seeks inspiration?</p><p>To Hitlerites the Third Reich is a new Germany in which Nazi supreme authority is exerted by a Leader to whom Germans everywhere bow. Its sources and ideology were described by the theoretician Moeller van den Bruck, whose volume "Das Dritte Reich" is Nazi gospel, second in importance only to Hitler's own book. In the view of van den Bruck and his disciples, the Third Reich must comprise all people of German blood, whether born in Germany or outside. A German, they say, owes allegiance to the Third Reich notwithstanding that he may be the citizen of another country.</p><p>It may be pointed out that among the principal Nazi leaders are some who were born in Austria, Egypt, Argentina and Russia. Dr. Alfred Rosenberg, born a Russian but withal the spiritual director of the Third Reich, thus expresses the essence of that realm: "Under its rule race ranks higher than the State, and the protection of the race is the supreme aim of law."</p><p><b>Conformity a Duty</b></p><p>Hence, while Germany's present boundaries contain about 65,000,000 inhabitants, the population of the Third Reich is regarded as 100,000,000. According to the Nazi doctrine, it is the duty of all members of this Reich to feel and think alike. This can be accomplished only by ultimately uniting the Germans living outside of the geographical Reich with their fellows at home.</p><p>The Third Reich, as the Nazis set it forth, seeks to emulate the autocratic greatness of the First Empire in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when Germany's famous Hohenstaufen family ruled over a large part of Europe as Holy Roman Emperors. It seeks at the same time to eclipse the greatness of the Second Reich, that was born in 1871 in the Versailles Hall of Mirrors, at the end of the Franco-Prussian War, and died in the same hall in 1918, at the end of the World War. Both the first and Second Reichs are considered by the Nazis in many ways the high points of their country's history.</p><p>In adopting the name "Third Reich" the Nazis have taken a label that might militate against Communist gains in Germany. The phrase "Third Reich," it is their hope, will hold greater appeal for Germans than the Third International. It has often been suggested that number three stands for finality. Whereas the First and Second Reichs together lasted for less than two centuries, the Hitlerites expect the Third Reich to endure for a millennium.</p><p><b>Heroes of the First Reich</b></p><p>What inspiration can a twentieth-century Third Reich draw from a twelfth-century First Reich? Nazi leaders express admiration for the sterling virtues of German forefathers. They take particular pride in the two great heroes of the First Reich, who have also been adopted as the heroes of the Third Reich, and about whom books and plays have been written in profusion.</p><p>In Adolf Hitler a reverent Nazi author sees the reincarnation of one of these First Reich chieftains, Frederick Barbarossa. According to an ancient legend, Emperor Frederick of the ruddy beard fell asleep centuries ago in a cavern of Thuringia's Kyffhaeuser hills. Ever since then his red whiskers have been growing around the marble slab on which his head rests. In Germany's hour of need he will return and, mounted on a white charger, lead his nation against the enemy.</p><p>During his glory-filled lifetime, Frederick Barbarossa was a German Fuehrer in the Nazi sense. He struck terror into Europe's heart and extended Germany's frontiers far beyond the language boundary. The great herald of the German idea of the "Drang nach Osten," he led his army toward the eastern star, bound on the conquest of the Holy Land.</p><p><b>Progress in Second Reich</b></p><p>But the First Reich's greatness was fully revealed only at the court of his grandson, Emperor Frederick II, who was known to his contemporaries as the Marvel of the World. Frederick was a master not only of a large part of Europe's body but also of its soul. He gave Europe a new idea of culture and made the German name respected as far south as Sicily.</p><p>In his declining years he showed a desire to return to paganism. His words and deeds are quoted today by anti-Christians of the Third Reich. Dr. Rosenberg takes these words from Frederick's mouth: "The cross must be removed from the altar, because it is the sign of suffering and humility."</p><p>As the Nazis survey history, the First Reich was followed by centuries of darkness in which German fought German in wars of religion, of territorial expansion, or merely as a manly sport or whim. The Thirty Years' War left German land reduced to mounts of ruins on which stray humans fought stray wolves for scraps of food. Eventually Prussia took the lead and gave unity to German purpose; yet as late as 1866 German again fought German in battle.</p><p>The proclamation of the Second Reich was another triumph of unity. When Wilhelm I, King of Prussia, became German Emperor on January day of 1871, the way was open for a breath-taking phase of German influence. The Nazis, looking back, see the Second Reich forging the arms with which to force its way to a higher place in the sun. They see it acquiring colonies and spheres of influence, challenging for supremacy of the world.</p><p><b>"Crime" of Weimar Republic</b></p><p>The Second Reich is too near the present, however, to receive the unqualified endorsement of the Nazis; too fulsome praise might inspire the Germans to seek the return of the Hohenzollerns. Nor can the Nazis afford to extol too much of the giant of the Second Reich, Prince Bismarck, without inviting comparison with Adolf Hitler, their own idol. Yet it is the policy of the Nazis to give a friendly picture of the Second Reich, so that the "crime" of the Weimar Republic in "stabbing it in the back" may be emphasized. The Nazis do not forget they were aided in their upward climb by the assertions that the republicans had dug the grave of German greatness.</p><p>The Hitlerites see the Third Reich as cultivating the best virtues of the First and Second Reichs plus their own. They insist on even more complete obedience to authority than did Frederick Barbarossa or Wilhelm II. They believe that their Fuehrer is to be viewed not only as a leader but also as an oracle and seer. The Third Reich is expected to become a sovereign power in the most pronounced sense of the word.</p><p>There are some aspects of the First and Second Reichs that the Nazis do not wish to emulate. They do not want, for the time being at least, to mix their blood with that of other races, as Frederick II did. They are satisfied with ruling over the 100,000,000 people of German blood.</p><p>The Nazis have criticized the Second Reich for opening its Parliament to "destructive" Socialists and liberals. They have chosen an opposite course; they have not only driven dissenting parties out of the Reichstag but have also outlawed all political party organizations except their own. Starting with the Communists and following with the Socialists, they have driven underground one group after another that has dared to dispute their power.</p></blockquote>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-89552981856785540482024-02-21T14:37:00.001-05:002024-02-21T14:37:22.482-05:001970. The Political Implications of the 1970 Census<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Midterm Elections<br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6_Vz7CENHFBNKPhbtbcSTLR4TYqCYBdpD-kjjDEEqEurAURGcLG4p1WvTrkBjrWqnv3G2Ufcgw559a7WuLikAOSXf30IKKxKyodgRCtpuP3Ld3uQplkJjSUrZ1m8C_NYStY1QIdLvcVhGQjGumy-rdtHRJ3g7kCkT97sVbQ5Wg7WWLP02FeZSLq8QW2Y/s1006/nixon%20congress%201971.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1006" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6_Vz7CENHFBNKPhbtbcSTLR4TYqCYBdpD-kjjDEEqEurAURGcLG4p1WvTrkBjrWqnv3G2Ufcgw559a7WuLikAOSXf30IKKxKyodgRCtpuP3Ld3uQplkJjSUrZ1m8C_NYStY1QIdLvcVhGQjGumy-rdtHRJ3g7kCkT97sVbQ5Wg7WWLP02FeZSLq8QW2Y/w640-h436/nixon%20congress%201971.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The opening session of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/92nd_United_States_Congress">92nd Congress</a> on January 21, 1970 (photo by <a href="https://art.state.gov/personnel/marion_trikosko/">Marion S. Trikosko</a> – <a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.50343/">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><blockquote><b>Bill Downs</b><p><b>ABC Washington</b></p><p><b>August 12, 1970</b></p><p>The Ides of August are rapidly approaching, which means the nation's political bookmakers should be establishing the odds on the Republican and Democratic candidates for this November's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_United_States_elections">off-year elections</a>. The more than 30 Senate, 435 congressional, and a phalanx of state gubernatorial seats up for grabs in November have all been charted—and the party hopefuls have been weighed in, saliva-tested, and now are making training runs across the grassroots in preparation for the real campaign races which get underway around Labor Day.</p><p>However, this muggy mid-August season have really been the dog days for political prognosticators. The reason? The United States Census returns, which now are just beginning to be released by the Census Bureau. The data from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_United_States_census">1970 headcount</a> records the migration of the electorate over the past ten years.</p><p>The preliminary census returns already show that for the first time in US history, more Americans live in the suburbs than those within the city limits and on the farms put together.</p><p>For Washington's political pros, it means further diminution of the once-powerful farm vote, and it probably means further concentration of Blacks and other minorities in the urban ghettos. But here too the statisticians are not sure because these families, too, are escaping the central core tenements and heading for exurbia.</p><p>The census indicates that every major city north of the so-called "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Belt">Sun Belt</a>" that runs from the Gulf Coast and across the Southwest to California has lost its population—a fact of great political and career significance to men like Mayors <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lindsay">Lindsay</a> of New York, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Stokes">Stokes</a> of Cleveland, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_J._Daley">Daley</a> of Chicago.</p><p>California now is unchallenged as the most populous state in the Union, and if the figures stand up it means the state may get as many as four additional congressmen, while New York state may lose two seats in the next reapportionment of the House of Representatives.</p><p>Republican National Committee leaders here say they are most pleased with the demographic portrait now being painted by the Census Bureau. Democratic leaders are sad—as befits the party out of the White House this time of year.</p><p>So the summer book on the November elections will be late this year, because privately the political pros confess they just don't know.</p><p>Former Census Director <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_M._Scammon">Richard Scammon</a>, now a private research specialist, says the 1970 and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_United_States_elections">'72 elections</a> will be settled in the suburbs—that's where the action is. But, says Scammon, neither political party can stake out a claim on the commuter vote—it's moving too much.</p><p>This is Bill Downs for ABC in Washington.<br /></p></blockquote>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-46828028221871727652024-02-20T14:14:00.000-05:002024-02-20T14:14:13.450-05:001948-1950. The Berlin Blockade Reports<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Bill Downs Reports from Blockaded Berlin</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D0WkX5ZaTuU/VVY-JaGWfjI/AAAAAAAACGw/6D_8WyxHfoE/s1600/murrowdowns2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D0WkX5ZaTuU/VVY-JaGWfjI/AAAAAAAACGw/6D_8WyxHfoE/s640/murrowdowns2.jpg" width="634" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill Downs and Edward R. Murrow in East Berlin standing under a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_German_Youth">Free German Youth</a> banner in 1948</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 30px;">Berlin, 1948 - 1950</span></div>
<br />
Bill Downs served as the CBS correspondent in Berlin for nearly two years to cover the blockade and airlift. He stayed in the city from 1948 to 1950 with his wife, writer Rosalind "Roz" Downs (née Gerson). During that time he reported extensively on political developments in postwar Germany. In one <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2014/04/1948-letters-from-berlin-blockade.html">letter home</a> dated October 1948, he wrote:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
You know just about as much as we do about what is going to come out of this mess. The decisions will not be made here. However the reflection of our policy shows here first and as far as I can make it out, we are preparing to continue this air lift for two years if necessary. There has been nothing that gives any hope for the lifting of the blockade in the near future. The Russians go as far as they dare without overtly precipitating war. I get the feeling that we do the same more or less. And the feeling is that there will not be any open, official conflict between the two major powers.</blockquote>
In another letter dated September 1948, Roz wrote about the devastation in Berlin:<br />
<blockquote>
We drove into the city the other day. [Edward R. Murrow] wanted to see what was left of it. The only opinion I have of the Germans after seeing Berlin and the other parts of Germany we've driven through is that they sure were damn fools. I think before the war Berlin must have been one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Now, there is no city. For miles on end there is nothing but rubble. You are startled when you see a building standing until you drive close to it and see it's only four walls with no insides. . . . It is very depressing to go into Berlin proper. As Ed said, it looks like the end of the world. It looks like something out of a fantastic story magazine; something that looks like a civilization of the past, now dead. </blockquote>
Below are some of Bill Downs' reports from 1948 to 1950. The text is adapted from his typewritten scripts.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 35px;">1948</span></div>
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/10/1948-berlins-newspaper-propaganda-wars.html">July 22, 1948 to September 22, 1948</a>: Berlin's newspaper propaganda wars<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/09/1948-politics-and-black-market-in-west.html">July 30, 1948</a>: Politics and the black market in West Berlin<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/07/1948-victims-of-fascism-rally-in.html">September 12, 1948</a>: Communists hold "Victims of Fascism" rally in Berlin<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/02/1948-rumors-of-x-day-putsch-in-berlin.html">September 13, 1948</a>: Rumors of an "X-Day" putsch<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/06/1948-outcry-over-sentencing-of-berlin.html">September 14 to September 16, 1948</a>: Outcry over the sentencing of West German protesters<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/01/1948-east-west-standoff-shakes-berlin.html">September 17, 1948</a>: The East-West standoff rattles the city<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/07/1948-us-celebrates-air-force-day-by.html">September 18, 1948</a>: US celebrates Air Force Day by ramping up the airlift<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/07/1948-uneasy-quiet-ahead-of-meeting-of.html">September 19, 1948</a>: Uneasy quiet ahead of UN meeting<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/09/1948-western-allied-commanders-convene.html">September 20 to September 23, 1948</a>: Western Allied Commanders convene on the eve of UN meeting <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/10/1948-americans-increase-airlift.html">September 24, 1948</a>: US increases the airlift operation<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/07/1948-worried-speculation-of-soviet.html">September 25, 1948</a>: Worried speculation of Soviet interference in the airlift <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/02/1948-western-powers-appeal-to-un-over.html">September 26 to September 28, 1948</a>: The Western occupation powers appeal to the UN<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/02/1948-struggle-for-berlin-on-tenth.html">September 30, 1948</a>: The tenth anniversary of the Munich Agreement<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/02/1948-berlin-blockade-after-one-hundred.html">September 30 to October 12, 1948</a>: One hundred days of blockade<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/02/1948-war-of-nerves-behind-iron-curtain.html">October 2, 1948</a>: War of nerves behind the Iron Curtain<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/04/1948-moscow-withdraws-recognition-of.html">November 16, 1948</a>: Moscow withdraws recognition of Ernst Reuter <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/11/1948-american-and-british-pilots.html">November 18 to November 26, 1948</a>: Elections near as the Anglo-American airlift continues<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/07/1948-strange-incident-at-downs.html">November 21, 1948</a>: Downs' car vandalized<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/07/1948-eastern-sector-communists-oppose.html">November 28 to November 30, 1948</a>: Eastern sector Communists oppose West Berlin elections<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/09/1948-growing-east-west-divide-in.html">November 30 to December 4, 1948</a>: The East-West divide widens <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/04/1948-west-berlin-holds-elections-as.html">December 4, 1948</a>: West Berliners go to the polls<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/12/1948-berlin-island-of-anti-communist.html">December 6, 1948</a>: Berlin, the "island of anticommunist opposition"<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/03/1948-isolation-of-west-berlin.html">December 7 to December 10, 1948</a>: The deepening isolation of West Berlin<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/02/1948-french-destroy-soviet-controlled.html">December 16 to December 20, 1948</a>: The French destroy Soviet-controlled radio transmission towers<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/09/1948-signs-of-economic-difficulty.html">December 18, 1948</a>: Signs of economic difficulty reported in the Soviet zone<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/12/1948-berliners-celebrate-christmas-as.html">December 19 to December 30, 1948</a>: Christmas in Berlin<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/08/1948-germans-making-most-of-christmas.html">December 1948</a>: Germans making the most of the holiday</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZuTOBevvvQ/WVPT1ntJT7I/AAAAAAAAEYM/Do0MDqRPtpMsXZLIFre1hI9YFOyFdX7jACLcBGAs/s1600/september%2B1948.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="736" height="460" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZuTOBevvvQ/WVPT1ntJT7I/AAAAAAAAEYM/Do0MDqRPtpMsXZLIFre1hI9YFOyFdX7jACLcBGAs/s640/september%2B1948.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A crowd of approximately 200,000 listens to Mayor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Reuter">Ernst Reuter</a> speak in Berlin at a demonstration against the policies of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Unity_Party_of_Germany">SED</a> and the Soviet military government, September 9, 1948 (<a href="http://www.dhm.de/archiv/ausstellungen/berliner-blockade/eng/raum3.html">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 35px;">1949</span><b><span style="font-size: 35px;"> </span></b></div>
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/07/1949-moral-reconstruction-of-germany.html">January 1949</a>: Bill Downs on the "moral reconstruction" of Germany<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/05/1949-stalingrad-prisoners-forced-into.html">January 4, 1949</a>: The Kasernierte Volkspolizei <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/11/1949-harnack-house-club.html">January 5, 1949</a>: The Harnack House club<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/01/1949-fascist-remnants-in-germany.html">January 10 to January 24, 1949</a>: The fascist remnants in Germany<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/09/1949-simmering-tensions-over-ruhr.html">January 12, 1949</a>: Simmering tensions over the Ruhr <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/01/1949-dispute-over-missing-german-war.html">January 13, 1949</a>: Dispute over missing German war prisoners in Russia <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1949-berlin-assembly-prepares-to-meet.html">January 14, 1949</a>: The West Berlin assembly prepares to meet in Schöneberg<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/11/1949-communist-socialist-divide-in.html">January 14, 1949</a>: The Communist-Socialist divide in East and West Berlin<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/01/1949-germans-protest-three-power.html">January 17, 1949</a>: Protests against the Ruhr occupation<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/08/1949-kremlin-realpolitik-in-east-germany.html">January 24 to January 29, 1949</a>: The Socialist Unity Party convenes in Berlin<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/07/1949-future-of-two-germanies.html">January 26, 1949</a>: The future of the two Germanies<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/06/1949-west-germanys-booming-industry.html">January 28, 1949</a>: West Germany's booming industry alarms Britain and France<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/10/1949-reports-of-shakeup-for-us-military.html">January 30, 1949</a>: Reports of a shakeup for the US military government in Germany <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/11/1949-joseph-stalins-conditions-for.html">January 31 to February 13, 1949</a>: Stalin's conditions for lifting the blockade<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/04/1949-social-democrats-accuse-soviets-of.html">February 7, 1949</a>: Social Democrats accuse Soviets of espionage <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/07/1949-debate-over-cardinal-mindszentys.html">February 9, 1949</a>: Debate over Cardinal Mindszenty's sentencing in Budapest <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/08/1949-tensions-grow-as-berlin-blockade.html">February 16, 1949</a>: Tensions grow as the Berlin blockade continues <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/01/1949-eight-russians-who-refused-to.html">February 17 to March 4, 1949</a>: The eight Russians who refused to leave Frankfurt <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1949-criminal-trials-held-in-munich.html">February 19, 1949</a>: Criminal trials in Munich<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/03/1949-czechslovak-spy-ring.html">February 19 to February 20, 1949</a>: Five men charged with espionage against the United States<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/03/1949-soviets-decide-to-remain-in-germany.html">February 23 to February 24, 1949</a>: The Soviets opt to remain in Germany<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/06/1949-ultranationalism-in-west-germany.html">March 2, 1949</a>: Ultranationalism in West Germany <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1949-leipzig-under-iron-curtain.html">March 8, 1949</a>: Fear dominates Leipzig<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1949-soviets-said-to-be-conducting.html">March 11, 1949</a>: Soviets conduct defensive exercises along the Elbe<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1949-west-prepares-for-indefinite.html">March 13, 1949</a>: The West prepares for indefinite blockade<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/04/1949-easter-in-west-berlin.html">April 17, 1949</a>: Easter in West Berlin<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/08/1949-occupation-powers-stage-spring.html">April 18, 1949</a>: The US stages a major field exercise in Germany<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/08/1949-rumor-happy-berlin.html">April 19, 1949</a>: New wave of blockade speculation in Berlin<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/04/1949-kremlin-reconsiders-berlin-blockade.html">April 20, 1949</a>: The Kremlin reconsiders its blockade policy<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/12/1949-drafting-german-constitution-amid.html">April 23, 1949</a>: The SPD and CDU work on drafting a constitution<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/08/1949-western-occupation-powers-urge.html">April 23 to April 25, 1949</a>: Western occupation powers urge statehood for West Germany <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/07/1949-kremlin-calls-for-big-four.html">April 26 to April 27, 1949</a>: The Kremlin calls for a Big Four conference <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/09/1949-general-clay-to-step-down-as.html">April 28, 1949</a>: General Clay announces he will step down as military governor<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/08/1949-berlin-readies-for-may-day.html">April 29 to April 30, 1949</a>: Berlin readies for May Day<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1949-price-to-pay-for-lifting-berlin.html">May 5, 1949</a>: The price to pay for lifting the blockade<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/07/1949-soviets-lift-berlin-blockade.html">May 7, 1949</a>: Strategic failure as the Soviets plan to lift the Berlin blockade <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1949-soviets-mark-fourth-anniversary-of.html">May 8, 1949</a>: Victory Day ceremony in Treptower Park<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1949-soviets-dispute-western-claims-of.html">May 10 to May 13, 1949</a>: Soviets dispute Western claims of ending the counter-blockade<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/11/1949-celebration-as-berlin-blockade-is.html">May 11 to May 12, 1949</a>: Celebrations as the blockade is lifted<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1949-western-occupation-powers-grant.html">May 14, 1949</a>: Western powers grant West Berlin more autonomy<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1949-unexpected-opposition-in-east.html">May 15 to May 17, 1949</a>: Unexpected anti-Communist movement in East Berlin elections<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1949-battle-for-berlin-railway.html">May 21 to May 27, 1949</a>: Massive worker uprising hits East Berlin<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/05/1949-council-of-foreign-ministers-meets.html">May 28, 1949</a>: Council of Foreign Ministers meets in Paris to discuss Berlin crisis<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/08/1949-gerhart-eisler-criticizes-america.html">June 3, 1949</a>: Gerhart Eisler criticizes the United States<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/06/1949-no-end-in-sight-for-berlin-rail.html">June 4 to June 10, 1949</a>: No end in sight for the elevated rail workers' walkout<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/08/1949-pro-soviet-propaganda-downplays-d.html">June 6, 1949</a>: Pro-Soviet propaganda downplays D-Day's significance <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/06/1949-berlin-rail-workers-vote-to.html">June 11 to June 16, 1949</a>: Rail workers vote to continue strike<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/08/1949-occupation-powers-in-berlin-clash.html">June 18 to June 29</a>: Occupation powers clash over rail strike <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/06/1949-deal-sought-to-end-berlin-rail.html">June 19 to June 23</a>: Deal sought to end rail strike <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/06/1949-berlin-airlifts-first-anniversary.html">June 25, 1949</a>: Airlift marks its first anniversary<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/09/1949-partial-blockade-slows-traffic-to.html">June 30 to July 1, 1949</a>: Traffic snafu in Berlin<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/03/1949-anticipating-economic-collapse-of.html">July 2 and July 8, 1949</a>: The East awaits the economic collapse of the West<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/08/1949-john-mccloy-poised-to-head-allied.html">July 3 to July 6, 1949</a>: American High Commissioner John McCloy in Berlin<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/06/1949-american-occupation-troops-in.html">July 4, 1949</a>: American occupation troops celebrate the Fourth of July<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/02/1948-little-blockade-of-berlin.html">July 10 to July 14, 1949</a>: The "Little Blockade" of Berlin<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/06/1949-tragic-accidents-in-prum-and.html">July 16, 1949</a>: Tragic accidents in Germany<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/03/1949-catholic-church-escalates-its.html">July 17 to July 29, 1949</a>: The Catholic Church's "open warfare" with communism<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/06/1949-east-germany-seeks-united-national.html">July 19 to July 22, 1949</a>: East Germany seeks a united front <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/06/1949-berlins-little-blockade-finally.html">July 25 to July 27, 1949</a>: "Little Blockade" finally ends<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/06/1945-allies-pay-tribute-to-lives-lost.html">July 29, 1949</a>: Western Allies pay tribute to lives lost during the airlift<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/04/1949-allied-occupation-officials.html">July 31 to August 2, 1949</a>: Allied occupation officials convene ahead of West German elections <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/07/1949-factions-vie-for-power-in-west.html">August 7 to August 15, 1949</a>: Factions vie for power in West Germany<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/06/1949-united-states-backs-right-wing.html">August 15 to August 17, 1949</a>: United States backs right-wing coalition government <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/01/1949-communists-lose-influence-in-west.html">August 19 to August 21, 1949</a>: The Communists lose influence in the West<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/07/1949-american-officials-promote.html">August 22, 1949</a>: American officials promote the Marshall Plan<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/07/1949-adenauer-set-to-form-coalition.html">August 24, 1949</a>: Adenauer set to form coalition<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/10/1949-dueling-governments-take-shape-in.html">August 26, 1949</a>: Intelligence reports of increased Volkspolizei activity<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/09/1949-us-officials-appeal-to-soviets-to.html">August 29 to September 10, 1949</a>: US officials appeal to Soviets to release two American youths<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/11/1949-volkspolizei-allegedly-train-for.html">September 3, 1949</a>: Tensions rise with the Yugoslav-Soviet split<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/10/1949-fragile-beginnings-of-federal.html">September 7, 1949 to September 9, 1949</a>: The West German parliament meets in Bonn for the first time <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2016/10/1949-bonn-government-elects-west.html">September 11 to September 15, 1949</a>: Konrad Adenauer becomes Chancellor of West Germany<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/09/1949-son-of-communist-leader-max.html">September 18, 1949</a>: Son of Communist leader Max Reimann escapes the Volkspolizei <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/07/1949-adenauer-government-begins-work.html">September 22, 1949</a>: Adenauer government begins work<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/07/1949-germany-reacts-to-soviet-atomic.html">September 26, 1949</a>: The Soviets successfully develop nuclear weapons<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/06/1949-dawn-of-german-democratic-republic.html">October 11, 1949</a>: Massive pro-Communist parade down Unter den Linden<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/10/1949-secretary-acheson-lays-out.html">November 14 to November 15, 1949</a>: Secretary Acheson meets with Allied High Commissioners<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/10/1949-chancellor-konrad-adenauer-signs.html">November 16 to November 25, 1949</a>: Adenauer signs the Petersberg Agreement <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/11/1949-gloomy-news-updates-as-east-berlin.html">November 30, 1949</a>: East Berlin marks anniversary of rump magistrate's founding<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/10/1949-labor-leader-walter-reuther-visits.html">December 4, 1949</a>: American labor leader Walter Reuther visits Germany<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/07/1948-threats-of-violence-overshadow.html">December 5, 1949</a>: Threats of violence overshadow West Berlin elections<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/12/1949-another-east-berlin-political.html">December 6, 1949</a>: East Berlin criticizes West; Germans clean up World War II battlefields<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/11/1949-yugoslav-diplomats-detained-in.html">December 9, 1949</a>: Yugoslav diplomats detained in East Berlin<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/08/1949-question-of-rearming-west-germany.html">December 10, 1949</a>: The question of rearming West Germany <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/11/1949-more-purges-in-east-germany-as.html">December 11, 1949</a>: More purges in East Germany as technicians flee to the West <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/12/1949-soviet-union-expands-influence-in.html">December 14, 1949</a>: Soviet Foreign Minister Vyshinsky visits Berlin<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/11/1949-occupation-powers-back-german.html">December 15, 1949</a>: Occupation powers back German youth movements<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/12/1949-united-states-ramps-up-economic.html">December 17, 1949</a>: US ramps up economic ties to West Germany<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/11/1949-far-right-nationalist-movement.html">December 18, 1949</a>: Far-right nationalist movement emerges in Bavaria <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/11/1949-east-berlin-celebrates-stalins.html">December 21, 1949</a>: East Berlin celebrates Stalin's birthday <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/12/1949-bill-downs-reports-for-american.html">December 23, 1949</a>: Downs reports for the American Forces Network <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/12/1949-berlin-prepares-for-its-first.html">December 24, 1949</a>: Berlin prepares for its first Christmas after the blockade <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/12/1949-positive-news-for-west-germany-on.html">December 24, 1949</a>: Positive news for West Germany on Christmas Eve <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/12/1949-another-christmas-in-west-berlin.html">December 25, 1949</a>: Downs celebrates another Christmas in West Berlin</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2OdS16fPa5w/WIjbSkb8ePI/AAAAAAAADiY/1HAWJQ4wD_oUG4Wtg6elGnH7tEH9IztqgCLcB/s1600/berlin%2Byouth%2Brally%2B1950.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2OdS16fPa5w/WIjbSkb8ePI/AAAAAAAADiY/1HAWJQ4wD_oUG4Wtg6elGnH7tEH9IztqgCLcB/s640/berlin%2Byouth%2Brally%2B1950.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Free German Youth marches in East Berlin to protest the Marshall Plan and the Western Powers, with a banner reading "Yankee, go home," May 1950 (<a href="http://www.stripes.com/blogs-archive/archive-photo-of-the-day/archive-photo-of-the-day-1.9717/communist-youth-rally-in-berlin-1950-1.240940">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 35px;">1950 </span></div>
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/12/1950-downs-returns-to-berlin.html">January 6, 1950</a>: Downs returns to Berlin from New York<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/10/1950-germany-reacts-to-british.html">January 8, 1950</a>: Germany reacts to British recognition of Communist China <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/10/1950-adenauer-and-schuman-meet-in-bonn.html">January 13 to January 15, 1950</a>: Adenauer meets with French Foreign Minister Schuman Meet in Bonn <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/11/1950-east-germany-threatens-to-impose.html">January 18 to January 22, 1950</a>: East Germany threatens to impose new traffic blockade on Berlin <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/08/1950-soviets-liquidate-internment-camps.html">January 25, 1950</a>: Soviets shut down internment camps in East Germany <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/11/1950-east-berlin-announces-creation-of.html">January 27 to January 28, 1950</a>: East Berlin announces the creation of the Stasi <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/11/1950-opposite-reactions-in-germany-to.html">February 1, 1950</a>: Traffic slowdown at Helmstedt-Marienborn checkpoint <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/10/1950-klaus-fuchs-arrested-in-britain.html">February 6 to February 10, 1950</a>: Klaus Fuchs arrested in Britain<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/11/1950-east-criticizes-western.html">March 1 to March 3, 1950</a>: East criticizes Western preconditions for reunifying Germany <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/11/1950-soviet-deportation-plan-for.html">March 4, 1950</a>: Soviet deportation plan for Germans stokes tensions with British <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/08/1950-german-communists-react-to.html">April 2, 1950</a>: German Communists react to Senator Joseph McCarthy<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/09/1950-east-german-lieutenant-testifies.html">April 28, 1950</a>: East German lieutenant testifies Soviets building a German army <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/08/1950-east-and-west-berlin-hold-dueling.html">April 29 to May 2, 1950</a>: East and West Berlin hold dueling May Day demonstrations <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/09/1950-political-reshuffling-on-both.html">May 7, 1950</a>: Political reshuffling on both sides of Germany <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/08/1950-west-germans-scoff-at-communist.html">May 8, 1950</a>: West Germans scoff at Communist declaration of "Liberation Day"<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2017/09/1950-west-germany-celebrates-holiday-as.html">May 18, 1950</a>: West Germany celebrates holiday as the East prepares for elections<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2022/04/1950-us-stages-armed-forces-day-parade.html">May 20, 1950</a>: US stages Armed Forces Day parade in Berlin
</blockquote>
KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-78870145815572193882024-02-18T18:29:00.000-05:002024-02-18T18:29:12.896-05:001944. "The Battle of Nijmegen Bridge" by Bill Downs<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Battle of Nijmegen</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O5wY58NmdR4/XfvOomM_2bI/AAAAAAAAFrg/RYf_UdOd8uwpCXmY4NxAeNMfNAV6AYa4QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/nijmegen%2B21%2Bsept%2B1944.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1584" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O5wY58NmdR4/XfvOomM_2bI/AAAAAAAAFrg/RYf_UdOd8uwpCXmY4NxAeNMfNAV6AYa4QCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/nijmegen%2B21%2Bsept%2B1944.jpg" width="632" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Cromwell tanks of 2nd Welsh Guards crossing the bridge at Nijmegen, 21 September 1944" (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cromwell_tanks_of_2nd_Welsh_Guards_crossing_the_bridge_at_Nijmegen_in_Holland_during_Operation_%27Market_Garden%27,_21_September_1944._B10172.jpg">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This report by Bill Downs on September 24, 1944 was published in the BBC's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Listener_(magazine)"><i>The Listener</i></a> magazine on September 28, 1944. As an eyewitness, Downs described the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nijmegen">Nijmegen bridge assault</a> as "a single,
isolated battle that ranks in magnificence and courage with
Guam, Tarawa, Omaha Beach."<br />
<br />
From <i>The Listener</i>, September 28, 1944:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Battle of Nijmegen Bridge</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>By BILL DOWNS</b></div>
<br />
The story of the battle of Nijmegen bridge should be told to the blowing of bugles and the beating of drums for the men whose bravery made the capture of this crossing over the Waal River possible. You know about the Nijmegen bridge. It's been called the gateway into northern Germany. It stretches half-a-mile over the wide tidal river and its flood land. And without the bridge intact the Allied airborne and ground operation northward through Holland could only be fifty per cent successful.<br />
<br />
The Nijmegen bridge was built so it could be blown, and blown quickly. Its huge arching span is constructed in one piece. Only two strong charges of explosives would drop the whole thing into the river. Special cavities for these dynamite charges were built into the brick by the engineers that designed it. The bridge was the biggest single objective of the airborne invasion and its capture intact is a credit to all the American and British fighting men.<br />
<br />
American airborne patrols reached the area at the southern end of the bridge on Sunday night, September 17th, shortly after they landed, but at that time they were not in enough strength to do anything about it. On Monday the paratroops and glider forces were too busy beating off the German counter-attacks to co-ordinate an assault on the bridge. By this time the armour of the British Second Army was on its way northwards from the Escaut Canal. Then on Tuesday the British tanks arrived on the outskirts of Nijmegen and an attack was commenced, but still the Germans held on strongly in the fortification and houses on the south end of the bridge. American airborne infantry and British tanks were only 300 yards from the bridge in the streets of Nijmegen, but they couldn't get to it.<br />
<br />
Tuesday night was the strangest. The American troops took machine guns to the top of the houses and sprayed the approaches and the entrance to the bridges with bullets. All night they shot at anything that moved. Perhaps it was this constant fire that kept the Germans from blowing the bridge then. But still the shuddering blast that would signal the end of the bridge did not come. And when morning arrived a new plan was devised. It was dangerous and daring and risky. The commanders who laid it out knew this; and the men who were to carry it out knew it too. Thinking a frontal assault on the bridge from the south was impossible, American infantry were to fight their way westwards down the west bank of the Waal River and cross in broad daylight to fight their way back up the river bank, and attack the bridge from the north.<br />
<br />
On Wednesday morning the infantry made their way westward through the town and got to the industrial outskirts along the river bank near the mouth of a big canal. Some British tanks went with them to give them protection in the street fighting and to act as artillery when the crossings were to be made. Accompanying this task force were trucks carrying twenty-six assault boats brought along by the British armoured units in case of such an emergency. Most of the men who were there to make the crossing had never handled an assault boat before. There was a lot of argument as to who would handle the paddles and preference was given to the men who had at least rowed a boat. Everything was going well. The Germans were supposed to be completely surprised by the audacity of the move.<br />
<br />
But late in the morning the impossible happened. Two men showed themselves on a river bank and were fired at by the enemy. No Americans were supposed to be in that part of the town. The 88 mm. shells began plastering the area. The gaff was blown. Reconnaissance spotted batches of German troops being transferred to the opposite bank. A few hours later, machine guns were dug into the marshes on the far side—the plan had been discovered. The task force was under shell-fire, and several hundred Germans with machine guns were sitting on the opposite bank waiting for the crossing. This was about noon.<br />
<br />
There was a quick conference. It was decided that the original plan would proceed, but this time the men crossing the river would have the help of heavy bombers: Lancasters and Stirlings flying in daylight a few miles from the German border to drop their bombs on the opposite bank in tactical support of the men from the assault boats.<br />
<br />
Working under enemy shell-fire, the assault boats were assembled. When they were put into the water, another difficulty arose. The tide was moving out with a downstream current of eight miles an hour. Some of the boats drifted 300 yards down river before they were retrieved and brought back. Meanwhile machine guns spluttered on the opposite bank and German artillery kept smashing the embarkation area regularly.<br />
<br />
At last everything was ready. The bombers went in but didn't drop their bombs close enough to knock out the machine guns. Twenty-six assault boats were in the water. They would carry ten men each: 260 men would make the first assault. Waiting for them on the other bank were some 400 to 600 Germans. The shelling continued. Every man took a deep breath and climbed in. Someone made a wisecrack about the airborne navy and someone else said they preferred airborne submarines to this job. And off across the river they started. At the same time behind them, the British tanks fired their heavy guns, and our own heavy machine guns fired into the opposite bank giving the little fleet as much cover as possible.<br />
<br />
And over on the other side of the river the enemy tracers shrieked at the boats. The fire at first was erratic, but as the boats approached the northern bank the tracers began to spread on to the boats. Men slumped in their seats—other men could be seen shifting a body to take over the paddling. One man rose up in his seat and fell overboard. There was no thought of turning back. The paddling continued clumsily and erratically, but it continued. One of the boats had so many holes in it that the men were baling out with their tin helmets—it was almost splintered when it reached the other side.<br />
<br />
The fighting, though, had only just begun. The hundred or so men who had arrived on the opposite side fought their way forward with bayonet and grenade, going from one machine gun nest to the other until they had established a bridgehead only a few yards deep and several hundred feet wide. The thirteen boats had hardly left for the return trip for the reinforcements, when the men on the north bank saw specks in the water. The men on the opposite bank, seeing the casualties suffered in the landing under fire, were not waiting for the boats. Some of them had stripped off their equipment, and taking a bandolier of ammunition, were swimming the river with their rifles on their backs. And thus it went—the thirteen little boats going time after time across the river under fire; the men on the bridgehead digging in and firing as rapidly as possible, routing out the German machine gun nests by hand while British tanks fired for all they were worth. After an hour and a half of concentrated hell, the infantry were over. They held a bridgehead several hundred yards wide and one hundred yards deep. At that time, one officer counted 138 Germans dead in a space of sixty yards of that bloody beachhead.<br />
<br />
There was a welcome pause as the men consolidated and rested in their foxholes. Some had thrown the German bodies out of the Nazi machine gun nests and were using these to stiffen their defences. The plan was to turn eastwards and assault the northern end of the bridge. But on the left flank of that minute bridgehead was another menace—for there on the high ground overlooking the bridge and firing at us with some 88 mm. guns, was an ancient fort. It is called Hatz van Holland and was supposed to have been used centuries ago by Charlemagne as a fortress. The Germans had been using the fort as an anti-aircraft gun position to defend Nijmegen, and now they turned the ack-ack guns downward to bear on the bridge and the airborne bridgehead across the Waal. While these guns were firing at the back, the troops could not fight their way to the northern end of the bridge. A detail was formed to attack the Hatz van Holland and put its guns out of action.<br />
<br />
That, as warriors centuries ago found out, was extremely difficult because the Hatz van Holland was surrounded by a moat. This moat had a few feet of water in it—black dirty water, covered with a layer of bright green slime. Also, the attacking party would have to advance under point blank 88 mm. fire. But anyhow the party set out. They crawled towards the high ground and the 88s banged away at them. And then they came to a zone where there were no 88 shells. It was found out that the other 88 guns were so installed that the guns could not reach downward that far. The German gun-crews discovered this too late and rushed to put up a rifle and machine gun defence along the moat.<br />
<br />
But the Americans by this time had faced so much that a few machine guns were nothing. They made a stand-up attack, shouting like Indians, and, with tommy-guns blazing, knocked out the historic Hatz van Holland. A few Americans with blood in their eyes left seventy-five Germans dead in that moat. The remaining troops fought their way up the river all right. They captured the northern end of the railroad bridge and worked their way to the junction of the railroad highway from the main bridge. The entire German position on the northern side of the river was cut off. There was bitter bayonet fighting and Americans died, but more Germans died. And finally, British tanks made their way across the bridge and it was ours.<br />
<br />
British tanks and airborne American infantry had begun their frontal assault on the southern end of the bridge at the same time as the river crossing was started. They had to make their way down streets alive with Germans. And this is how it was done. The tanks went down the streets firing at targets of opportunity, which means any German or German tank or vehicles that appeared. And the Americans went <i>through</i> the houses on either side of the street. Yes, literally through the houses—for instead of going along the outside of the houses and risking cross-fire from the Germans within, the American troops blew holes through the sides of the houses with bazookas. That was how they made their way through the strong defence area built to protect the bridge—blowing a hole with a bazooka into a house, clearing it of Germans and going on.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the tanks had discovered that sitting on one street corner was a German Tiger tank waiting for them to make their appearance. It was out of sight and protected by the houses, but one of the Sherman tanks mounting a big 17-pounder gun decided to have a shot anyway. It aimed its armour-piercing shell in the general direction of the tank. There was a great boom: the shell plunged through twelve houses and came out with a great crash, taking a large section of the last house with it. The Tiger, seeing this destruction, decided he did not like the neighbourhood so well and retreated.<br />
<br />
At the southern end of the bridge were stationed four self-propelled German guns guarding the streets leading to the bridge area. There was nothing to do but rush them. So the tanks lined up four abreast around the corner of the wide main street leading to the bridge and, at a signal, all roared into the street firing their mortars, their heavy guns and even machine guns. The assault was so sudden and heavy that three of the self-propelled guns were knocked out before they could bring fire to bear. The fourth gun ran to safety. Between the two—the American airborne troops and the British tankmen—the south end of the bridge was seized. At first only tanks could get across the bridge because a half-dozen fanatical Germans remained high in the girders of the bridge sniping. These were soon cleaned up. Today the Nijmegen bridge is in our hands intact—a monument to the gallantry of the Americans who crossed the river and the British and airborne troops who stormed it from the south.</blockquote>
KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-66912827059145190312024-02-16T15:22:00.000-05:002024-02-16T15:22:34.643-05:001970. Today's Youth and the Environmental Crisis<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Generation Gap</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nqYuJ-4L5tfI0mJo41ZHZ0eRQHpwk05Gd-Feh3h7hyAbEhHQtH0JMluNBYmZbtPdzJFqcTdtAmpPRQQFmZvLvAESwLRhpBivobprwx9zSuqI_SZM075GHPl9SEocDELrm3U1FctHmlp7-qd177SVDaaezWVLQo-cMr9Vr5faOL7M5WObKFAnWwFDiX8/s1050/new%20york%20city%20earth%20day%201970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="1050" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nqYuJ-4L5tfI0mJo41ZHZ0eRQHpwk05Gd-Feh3h7hyAbEhHQtH0JMluNBYmZbtPdzJFqcTdtAmpPRQQFmZvLvAESwLRhpBivobprwx9zSuqI_SZM075GHPl9SEocDELrm3U1FctHmlp7-qd177SVDaaezWVLQo-cMr9Vr5faOL7M5WObKFAnWwFDiX8/w640-h424/new%20york%20city%20earth%20day%201970.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"New York City Earth Day crowd, April 22, 1970" (<a href="https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/954">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><blockquote><b>Bill Downs</b><p><b>ABC Washington</b></p><p><b>August 13, 1970</b></p><p>We of the barbershop, square generation might as well face up to it. All the tortured, masochistic, and guilt-ridden adult talk about bridging the generation gap is a lot of bunk and time-wasting twaddle.</p><p>It's <i>my</i> generation gap, too—and I want to keep it that way, just as did my father and his father before him.</p><p>So it ill-behooves the older generations who couldn't keep themselves out of a half-dozen wars of living memory to be shocked at the antics of a small minority of young peace protestors. And for the generations which invented bootleg booze, goldfish swallowing, and the Black Bottom—their professed shock at long hair, pot parties, and adenoidal guitar pickers smacks of hypocrisy.</p><p>Parents who deplore the bas couture, low-style hobo-jungle look that is now the "thing" among the young should come off it. They should welcome the fact that junior and his sister are shopping at the Goodwill Industries and Salvation Army store. It certainly doesn't hurt the family budget.</p><p>For our money, the only group of adults who have a legitimate gripe about the bedraggled mode of the flower children are the hair stylists and barbers union. But just wait, their day will come when the pendulum returns and everyone goes on a Yul Brynner kick. In case you've forgotten when <i>you</i> were a younger generation: as far as youth groups are concerned, they are about as non-conformist as West Point cadets.</p><p>As a parent of two college students and one high school type, their mother and I worry—just as my parents did when I decided to leave home and work in a soap factory. But that's about all we can do, because by now we've made them what they are, and so did you.</p><p>So concerned parents may take comfort from the words of battling <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mead">Margaret Mead</a>, a venerable little lady who has fought anthropological battles across the world.</p><p>Speaking in New York on last April's Earth Day, Miss Mead had this assessment of today's younger generation:</p><p>"Young people have a sense of this planet that older people did not have when they grew up." Margaret Mead goes on to say, "They have a sense of the unity of the human race that older people had only as a dream . . . All these things are linked together . . . their feeling about the whole planet . . . about war . . . about population balance and the environment."</p><p>And Miss Mead concludes: "If we put all these things together in a new ethic . . . that ethic ought to give us the possibility of inventing the kind of scientific advances which will cope successfully with the ecological crisis mankind has inflicted on the Earth."</p><p>Margaret Mead is 68 years old. It appears it is we of the middle-aged generation and those with intellectual arthritis that she objects to. So do I.</p><p>After World War I, there was the "Lost Generation," then the Depression Generation, and after World War II the Silent Generation which, in part, fathered this present tribe of kids.</p><p>Discounting the Charles Mansons and the lunatic fringe that turns up in every age, I'm betting the flower children are going to turn out all right.</p><p>This is Bill Downs in Washington with "The Shape of One Man's Opinion," a service of ABC News.</p></blockquote>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-59253448676205696352024-02-13T14:39:00.002-05:002024-02-14T22:29:47.249-05:001957. Senator Richard B. Russell Rejects Criticism of South on Civil Rights<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Civil Rights Act of 1957</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixh-459qF_jiFefr5ZQLaLvEAXdT_zq4T_tPYvZ_omoJBLqlGz-XIpHw-dxZWjyrQ0C0hBFdzAE1E6_mO07yiVdxgq-asxcibYWFkYlfS9LCj0Z83_iuCM5_h1i678Nf1wjB4pSKx3rTg0SoH5KdBApVe-ZPNc3D5EBzedZOo14gK0Wbt8dYaK7TrS_jY/s1024/johnson%20and%20russell%201960s.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1024" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixh-459qF_jiFefr5ZQLaLvEAXdT_zq4T_tPYvZ_omoJBLqlGz-XIpHw-dxZWjyrQ0C0hBFdzAE1E6_mO07yiVdxgq-asxcibYWFkYlfS9LCj0Z83_iuCM5_h1i678Nf1wjB4pSKx3rTg0SoH5KdBApVe-ZPNc3D5EBzedZOo14gK0Wbt8dYaK7TrS_jY/w640-h428/johnson%20and%20russell%201960s.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Lyndon B. Johnson (left) and Richard Russell (right) in 1963. The two Democrats were on opposing sides in the argument around the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1957">1957 Civil Rights Act</a>" (<a href="https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2021/1/3/americas-1957-civil-rights-act-modern-reconstruction">source</a>)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Transcript of "Capitol Cloakroom" entered into the <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-CRECB-1957-pt8/GPO-CRECB-1957-pt8-13"><i>Congressional Record</i></a> on <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1957-pt8/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1957-pt8-13-3.pdf#page=7">July 10, 1957</a> (PDF):</p><p></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">CAPITOL CLOAKROOM</span></p><p><i>(Broadcast over the CBS Radio Network, July 8, 1957, 9:30 to 10 p. m.—guest: The Honorable <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Russell_Jr.">Richard B. Russell</a>, United States Senate, Democrat, of Georgia—CBS news correspondents: Griffin Bancroft, Bill Downs, Paul Niven—producer: Michael Marlow)</i></p><p><b>GRIFFIN BANCROFT:</b> Senator Russell, will there be a real showdown on civil rights?</p><p><b>BILL DOWNS:</b> Senator, would this bill really punish the South?</p><p><b>PAUL NIVEN:</b> Senator, would the South accept a compromise on civil rights?</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Senator Russell, welcome to "Capitol Cloakroom." One of the real veterans here, you have been in the United States Senate now for more than 24 years.</p><p>And right now you are the leader of the southern Senators in this current battle over civil rights. So let's start with that.</p><p>Do you think this time there will be a real showdown on civil rights?<br /></p><p><b>SENATOR RUSSELL:</b> Well, there is, of course, a very decided disposition to press this bill which is titled a civil-rights bill to a conclusion in this session of the Congress. Now we have a very attractive habit here of labeling bills, sometimes, when they don't always live up to their label.</p><p>But if you are referring to the bill that is now being discussed on the floor of the Senate, it is apparent that a very determined effort will be made to force a legislative conclusion on that measure.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Well, we want to ask you what might happen on that, but first, you say whether this should properly be called a civil-rights bill.</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Well, in some of its aspects it is more of a force bill aimed at the customs and laws of the South that were upheld for a hundred years than it is a civil-rights bill.</p><p>It has been presented to the public generally as being a bill to assure the right to vote. But as a matter of fact that is the mildest of all the provisions of the bill.</p><p><b>DOWNS:</b> Well, Senator, there was a coalition of so-called liberal Republicans and liberal northern Democrats that got this bill to the floor in the first place.</p><p>What happens to the conservative coalition among southerners and conservative Republicans under these circumstances?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Well, I don't know just exactly what that term
"coalition" implies. At times it seems to be used as a term of condemnation or derision.</p><p>In times past when some of the southern
Democrats have voted with the Republicans not to move quite as fast in
some areas as some of our Democratic Presidents would have had us to
move, that's been called a coalition between southern Democrats—Mr.
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Reuther">Reuther</a> and his crowd always said Dixiecrats without regard to how
loyal we had been to the Democratic Party—and the reactionary
Republicans.</p><p>We do have a most unusual coalition this time in that
the Republican leadership has joined hands with some of our very
liberal friends, such as Senator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Douglas">Douglas</a> and Senator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_Humphrey">Humphrey</a> and others to force this bill to a conclusion.</p><p>But,
then, politics makes strange bedfellows. In this case we undoubtedly
have a game where the South is a mere pawn on the political
checkerboard. The minority groups have apparently convinced the
leadership of both parties that the party that is willing to wage
the furthest punitive expedition into the South will win the Presidency
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_United_States_presidential_election">in 1960</a>.</p><p><b>NIVEN:</b> Senator, some Republicans have charged and northern
Democrats have denied that there was a deal in the voting over the
procedure of the civil-rights bill and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1957/06/22/archives/potter-charges-damrights-deal-says-northerners-traded-votes-for.html">Hells Canyon bill</a>.</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Yes; I saw that in the press. If there is anything to that, I have no knowledge of it. I saw the article.</p><p>I
happen to be one of the five Democrats who changed his vote on Hells
Canyon. I did it because of the tax amortization feature which made it
very apparent that the Federal Government was going to pay for the
dam in any event. If we were going to pay for it, I thought we
ought to have title to it.</p><p><b>NIVEN:</b> But you did not offer and were not offered any kind of deal?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> No; there was no deal in any sense I know of. I hope,
however, such a thing as appreciation still exists even in the Senate of
the United States where any citizen. Senator finds that he can out of
his heart do so to vote to make this bill a tolerable bill or a
reasonable bill and not a force bill, that they will vote for
amendments.</p><p>I hope that the purpose of this charge was not to
frighten the true liberals in the Senate who will support, for example a
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1957#Jury_trial_amendment">jury-trial amendment</a>.</p><p>We have a very anomalous situation when so-called liberals are trying to
abolish the right of trial by jury, as is being done in this bill. </p><p></p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Well, Senator Russell, if there was a deal made, you
apparently lost it anyway, because the bill went on the calendar over
your objections. </p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Yes; and very frankly, when I saw the coalition that was there—that I called the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Knowland">Knowland</a>-Douglas-Humphrey
axis—I had very little hopes of getting a majority vote. I did make a
fight because I believe in orderly procedure in the Senate, by just such
charges as that, that the whole and I did not think that the procedure
that was followed was orderly, and we are paying If it is not a
civil-rights bill, what is it? the penalty for it right now.</p><p>We put the bill on the calendar and it comes out later that there's been
an error in the print of the bill that was sent over that they are
undertaking to correct today.</p><p>When you get away from established
precedents in the Senate, when you try to take shortcuts for temporary advantage, it nearly always brings a great deal of trouble.<br /></p><p><b>BANCROFT: </b>Well, now, coming back just one moment to this bill, President Eisenhower, who claims that this is a moderate bill and who says at least his principle desire is to protect voting rights has expressed some surprise at your statement, I believe, about how far you think this bill could go.</p><p>And there was some talk that you might have a conference with the
President to talk about this. Is there any conference now set for you at
the White House?</p><p><b>RUSSELL: </b>Well, now you ought to go back to what you were talking about—</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> All right.</p><p><b>RUSSELL: </b>Before you get down to that.</p><p>President Eisenhower also stated that he had gotten out the bill and tried to read it and had found some of its provisions very confusing.</p><p><b>BANCROFT: </b>That is right.</p><p><b>RUSSELL: </b>An I may say that he has a great deal of company, because it is a very adroitly and cunningly drafted bill.<br /></p>I have no comment to make on the other because I am of the old school, came up here at a time when Senators didn't go out and make an announcement they were trying to get down to the White House or were invited to the White House.<br /><p>I would only say that I earnestly hope that I may have an opportunity to discuss this bill with President Eisenhower, either personally or with any legal adviser that he wants there, to show him that the right-to- vote provision in this bill is the least momentous of all its provisions.</p><p><b>DOWNS:</b> Well, Senator, you said that in the case of jury trial, in
demanding a jury trial in voting rights cases, for example, that this
bill should contain that provision. </p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Yes.</p><p><b>DOWNS:</b>
Isn't it true, sir, that in the South, and hasn't it been proved in the
South, that when you have an all-white jury voting on the rights of a
Negro voter, that he doesn't have much of a chance of winning?<br /></p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b>
Well, that's one of the common slanders that's been repeated against
the South without a word of evidence to substantiate it. You have got
any number of criminal statutes on your books now where it is made a
violation of criminal law, punishable by
imprisonment and fine, to interfere with the voting rights of any citizen.<br /></p><p>Now
the South is entitled to have at least threat in the bill. some proof
brought forward of this charge that is repeatedly bandied that every
southern white man is so irresponsible that he would forswear himself or
perjure himself in a case involving a Negro citizen.</p><p>I practiced law for many years before I came into the Senate, and I did not find that to be true. And we were at least entitled, before a
whole great section of this country was indicted as everyone of us
being perjurers, we were at least entitled to have the Attorney General
come out and say, "Here, I tried to get an indictment in this case
before a grand jury for a violation of a right to vote, and I didn't get
an indictment," or if "I did get an indictment," that the jury "didn't do justice."</p><p>They haven't done that; they have just
gone on this wave of public sentiment, this anti-Southern feeling that
has been built up by just such charges as that, that the whole white South would just forswear themselves. </p><p>As a
matter of fact, there is no great problem about the Negro voting in the
South today. In my own State, and that's the only one I have personal
knowledge of, there's no limitation or prohibition on the right of
qualified Negroes to vote. Why in the city of Atlanta they elected a
Negro over one white man to one of the most responsible of all the city
positions, a member of the board of trustees for the schools. He was
reelected within the past few months by white votes. And the Negroes
vote there, they vote generally over the State. And this is just part of
this campaign to make it appear that throughout the entire South that
Negroes are denied the right to vote. It is certainly not the truth.</p><p><b>NIVEN:</b> Senator, isn't there a good deal of social and economic pressure against Negroes to restrain them from voting? </p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b>
I have heard that that was true in some areas. I was giving you what I
know of my own knowledge in my own State. And there may be, I don't say
there aren't, isolated instances where Negroes are denied the right to
vote—in every State of this Union you've got wards and communities
and counties where you have got so-called courthouse gangs, and they
deny some white people as well as some Negroes the right to vote if they
don't belong to that gang.</p><p>But we have got criminal statutes to
punish that, and why doesn't the Attorney General invoke them before
coming in here and making a blanket indictment of the South, "The white
man in the South is so venomous against the Negro that he won't do
justice." For that is not true.</p><p>The relations between the races in
the South have been gravely disturbed in the last 2 or 3 years; but
until that time there had never been any place in all the history of
human civilization where two races so equal in number had started out
with the disparity that there was between them—one coming out of
slavery—and had made the progress over the period of 80 years that
has been made in the South.</p><p>The white South should be commended
for what they have done. They have taxed themselves even in the
desolation of destruction following the Civil War to create schools. And
for a hundred years, under the protection of the law, they have paid
taxes and bonded themselves to build separate but equal schools for the
white and colored people.</p><p>And that's the purpose of this bill, to forcibly commingle the white
and Negro children of the South in the schools. This voting business is
all a smokescreen for that vicious provision of the bill—and not only in the schools, but in all our places of public entertainment.<br /></p><p><b>NIVEN:</b> Well, Senator, you and other southern Democratic Senators are now emphasizing the segregation—this integration threat in the bill.</p><p>The bill was debated for about a week in the House and the
southerners there did not place great emphasis on this, they seemed to
debate the bill on its open merits.</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Well, I of course don't know what took place over there. They perhaps were taken in by this campaign that it was just a voting bill. I haven't read the debate in the House. I did
read the bill here. I spent the better part of 3 days with about 40 law
books running down this cunningly contrived bill. And I leave it up to
you and your personal attorneys, right now, to take the remarks that I
made in the Senate last Tuesday on this bill and take this bill
and if he doesn't come up and tell you that it can be used as a force
bill to bring the whole might of the United States Government to bear to
integrate the schools of the South, why you'd better get you another
lawyer.</p><p>It's very clear, when you run it down.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Senator Russell, it seems to me you go a little further than that. You say that not only can it do that, but that that was the intention of those who sponsored the bill.</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Undoubtedly. This section, this part—</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Well then, whom do you—</p><p><b>RUSSELL: </b>I don't know who drafted this bill.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Accuse of doing this? Do you think Attorney General <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Brownell_Jr.">Brownell</a>—</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> I don't know whether—</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Deliberately brought in a bill that goes—</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Mr. Brownell knew what was in this bill or not. I am confident that he didn't draft it. But I would certainly like to meet the man who did draft it because it is a masterpiece of obscuring the purpose.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> If this is a deliberate plot, who do you think was—</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> I don't know who is responsible for it. But I assert unhesitatingly that this part 3 of the bill was drawn for the express purpose of obscuring a vast grant of power to destroy any system of separation of the races in the South.<br /></p><p>And I will say that after the people of the South have known no other
way of life, no other social order for a hundred years, this is a
monstrous proposal to come in and to ask for any such grant of power as
that over night.</p><p>This condition wasn't changed by an act of
Congress, where it was debated, people had an opportunity to see what
was said and discuss it themselves—it came through a decision of the
Supreme Court, based on a book by the Swedish Socialist who said that
our Constitution is a plot against the common people of the United
States. And it came overnight—like that—with no preparation.</p><p><b>BANCROFT: </b>This is the Supreme Court school segregation <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education">decision</a> you are talking about?<br /></p><p></p><p></p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Yes, this bill proposes to enforce judicial law, a law that has been written by the courts rather than legislative law, a law that's been written by the Congress, that's what it does.</p><p><b>DOWNS:</b> Senator, you also expressed I think last week the fear or prediction that American troops could be used.</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Why this bill is tied in with one of your old reconstruction statutes that was passed by Sumner and Stephens when they set out, as they said themselves, to put black heels on white necks in the South. The criminal counterpart of this civil statute was stricken down by the Supreme Court declaring that it was passed by an impassioned Congress at a time when the Southern States were being treated as conquered provinces.</p><p>And yet that is the law that it skillfully ties into without being apparent on its face. Why didn't they write out in this bill what they propose to do where we could read it, instead of saying "section 1895," and then having that section refer to section 1993, where it requires a lawyer who is a jigsaw puzzle expert to put it all together to see exactly what it does?</p><p>But you will see that the real lawyers of this Senate will not refute one iota of what I said when they have studied this bill, and I care not which side of it they're on. They may say "We don't intend to do it," but they won't say it can't be done.</p></blockquote><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_QaEk9VgGJq2FSAwHsx-FAKKFqC2imXZBHZZvFozb1S8otzrO6rN1eSlSYkY2dH70ZEbnaaUn48xrgllno8IK_JSVVYNZ-DDfQw9Rt8kzCs3WnL7Xnx0OClp2zvvrT0J_VW5SYUfHhtl8FBO7s2Tlu2NzoODXrTeDm0QTkx4k0PE-qwexYHpyO4WSfs/s2048/russell%20campaign%20dnc%201952.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1630" data-original-width="2048" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_QaEk9VgGJq2FSAwHsx-FAKKFqC2imXZBHZZvFozb1S8otzrO6rN1eSlSYkY2dH70ZEbnaaUn48xrgllno8IK_JSVVYNZ-DDfQw9Rt8kzCs3WnL7Xnx0OClp2zvvrT0J_VW5SYUfHhtl8FBO7s2Tlu2NzoODXrTeDm0QTkx4k0PE-qwexYHpyO4WSfs/w640-h510/russell%20campaign%20dnc%201952.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Supporters campaign at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952_Democratic_National_Convention">1952 Democratic National Convention</a> for the presidential nomination of Richard B. Russell Jr." (<a href="https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/richard-b-russell-jr-1897-1971/">source</a>)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><blockquote><p><b>NIVEN:</b> Senator, can you imagine Federal troops actually being sent into the South?</p><p><b>RUSSELL: </b>I certainly can. I certainly can. When they can make such a political pawn out of the South, as has been done now, and where they can—when men are seeking political preferment, they make all kinds of commitments, and I can very readily see that Federal troops could be sent into the South to enforce—why we have had troops and tanks at two schoolhouses in the South already, without this law.<br /></p><p><b>DOWNS: </b>That was National Guard troops.</p><p><b>RUSSELL: </b>Yes, that's true. But you're just as dead if you're shot by a tank bullet from a National Guard man as if you were shot by a regular or a marine.</p><p><b>DOWNS:</b> Senator Russell, in answer to my question you said that you do believe, then, that this bill is really designed to punish the South?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> I have no question about it. Now I don't know why they
take such an admonitory attitude toward the South, as if we were a group
of wild and uncivilized people. Some of them feel that they are doing
a very meritorious thing. to resort to any means to force the South to
conform to what the rest of the Nation thinks is the proper social order
for the South.</p><p>Well, this is a great Nation of ours—</p><p><b>NIVEN:</b> Senator, I want—</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> If a man wants to move from
one State to another, if the southern people want their children in
integrated schools, it's mighty easy to move to a State where they have
them; they are not more than 300 miles away from anywhere in the South.
If any other person preferred for his child to go to school with
children of his own race, why, he might move to the South. Then he'd be
safe for the time being, until this bill passes and is enforced.</p><p><b>DOWNS: </b>Don't you believe, sir, that the social order in the South has changed and is changing?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Oh, of course, it has, and is. But it has happened through a process of evolution, and this proposes to enforce a revolution on the South and to drive men. There's a great deal of difference between leading and in driving or letting people themselves lead and drive.<br /></p><p>We have made great progress in the South. Why, in the voting, not in my time have there been any restrictions on Negroes in general elections in the South, but we did have a law for a long time that they couldn't vote in the Democratic primaries. Now that's all been done away with, and they do vote; there's no longer a white primary. We have moved forward very rapidly when you consider the full impact of it.</p><p>It's all well and good for a man that lives in a State where it is 98
percent white and 2 percent Negro to say, "Why, where is this problem?
There's nothing to it." Let him go to a State where they are nearly
equal in numbers, where the races in communities are about equal in
numbers, and then undertake to enforce overnight such a bill as this.</p><p><b>NIVEN:</b>
Senator, the colored leaders reply that, despite this evolution and
this progress, large numbers
of them are still denied a right which they have been guaranteed by
the Constitution for 90 years.</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> You mean the right to be in integrated schools?</p><p><b>NIVEN:</b> The right to vote.</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Well, the Supreme Court said that for
90 years they had been denied right that they
were entitled to be in integrated schools. The Constitution hadn't changed; the complexion of the Court has changed.</p><p>And I deny that statement as to voting. At least, as far as the greater portion of the South is concerned, there is there is no real limitation or restriction on the right of qualified Negroes to vote.</p><p><b>DOWNS:</b> Well, the qualifications, sir—</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> You can come to my State when they are having an election and see them; they are lined up there for blocks to go and vote, and their votes are counted just like anyone else.</p><p><b>NIVEN:</b> Well, Senator, would you concede that qualification has been interpreted differently for white and colored persons?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> I have heard that, but I don't concede it—no; I don't concede it, generally, in my State; no. There may be areas where it has been, small communities, it is probably true.</p><p><b>NIVEN:</b> Well, why don't Negroes vote in larger numbers, then?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Well, they vote in—we have practically 225,000
registered in Georgia, and they vote. Perhaps in some of the elections
they have a higher percentage voting than white people.</p><p>Oh, you
pillory the South by giving the figures voting in a general election
and saying only 45 percent of the people voted. But as a matter of
fact we have had the one-party system in the South, and our people
vote in the primaries. And you compare the vote in the primaries, when
we really settle our election, and it's not too much behind the rest of
the country. But we don't vote in
the general election because everything has been settled in the primary.</p><p>But that's the figures they always give you, just 45 percent here in
the general election.</p><p></p><p><b>NIVEN:</b> But the percentage of Negro voting is not anywhere near as high as the percentage of whites voting: is it?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> No; because there are a great many more white people in my
State than there are Negroes. We have about 2,300,000 white people and
about 1,200,000 Negroes.</p><p><b>NIVEN:</b> Isn't that a proportionate basis?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Well, that may be slightly true. I concede that, because they haven't been voting long. They haven't been voting too long. We only abolished the poll tax in Georgia about 10, 11 years ago.</p><p>But where can the Attorney General come in and say, "In Georgia they violated the criminal law by denying this man, Bill Jones, the right to vote"? And he should do it and prove, "I tried to indict and I tried to convict before a jury," before you come in and indict the whole State of Georgia and say we have deprived the Negro of his right to vote illegally.</p><p><b>NIVEN:</b> Sir, is it your case that until recently there were impediments in the way of the Negro voting?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Of course there were in voting in the primary. I explained that a while ago. They could vote in the general election, but it didn't mean anything because the man who was nominated in the primary was going to win the general election. That may be a mistake, we may have—should have been a two-party State. I sometimes think that we would have fared much better if we had been.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Senator Russell, I wonder if I could explore a moment what's apt to happen here on the floor of the Senate.</p><p>You are leading this strategy. And the motion made today, of course, is a motion to take up the bill.</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Yes.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Which, if it prevails, would of course be followed by the discussion and the motion to pass or to act on the bill and amendments. There has been some talk that you might not filibuster or unduly prolong and defeat a vote on the motion to take up. How about that?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Well, Mr. Bancroft, I intend to act as each
circumstance presents itself and as this matter unfolds in such a way
that I think will cause us to be able to get our maximum strength for
the amendments to this bill that will see that it is a right-to-vote
bill instead of a punitive bill against the South.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Well, now, on that, Senator Russell, an amendment cannot be offered or acted upon—</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Oh, no.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Until after this motion to take up the bill acted on.</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> We are now debating this bill strictly on its merits. There is no part of this discussion that consists of reading long papers, the ordinary earmark of a filibuster.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Well, I'm trying to find out if and when—</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> I'm not prepared to say just when we'll let the bill be made the unfinished business. We want to discuss it. We have found that there are a number of Senators who have been busy with other matters and didn't really understand the full impact of this bill.</p><p>I want the situation in the Senate to jell a little where we can see just where we are going with these different amendments.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Well, then, after it has jelled a little, then presumably you will allow a vote to take place on the motion to take up?<br /></p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Oh, I think the Senate will vote on amendments to this bill.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> On the motion to take up, first? And—</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> I think the Senate will vote on amendments to this bill.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Then to vote on amendments?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Well, I'm not prepared to say just when, but I'm very confident that it will.</p><p><b>DOWNS:</b> Senator, you indicated strongly that this is a political measure—</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Yes; I feel that strongly.</p><p><b>DOWNS:</b> Being presented by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans, and then—</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> I feel this—</p><p><b>DOWNS:</b> Also you said perhaps it would be a good thing if the South did have a two-party system.</p><p>Do you think that your opposition to the bill, Democratic opposition to the bill might strengthen the Republican Party in the South?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> No; not when the Republican Party is furnishing more votes for this particular bill than the Democratic Party is in the Senate. I don't think that it would. I was talking about we would have been in a better bargaining position if we had not all been tied up in what's called the Southern Democratic Group.</p><p>As it is now, the minority groups outside the South, though they are relatively small in numbers compared to the voting strength of the white South, they can go to the political leaders there and convince them that these elections depend on their action in these doubtful States.</p><p>And by having had strictly a one-party political system in the South, I think we have denied ourselves a similar bargaining power.</p><p>But the Republicans, of course, are going at it in a very poor way to improve their position by putting more votes behind this force bill than the Democratic side of the aisle, here in the Senate.</p><p><b>DOWNS:</b> Well, what do you think the general outcome, say, in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_United_States_elections">next year's elections</a> will be as a result of this debate?<br /></p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Well, I couldn't say—my crystal ball is not that good. I can't pass on what it will do.<br /></p><p>I don't believe that the great mass of the American people favor extreme measures—we are all in favor of civil rights, everybody is in favor of civil rights.</p><p>The question is, where do my rights end and where do yours intervene? That's the question that's involved here, wholly aside from this voting proposition and this separation of the races. And they put a tag on it and call it civil rights.</p><p>But if this bill were explained to the American people, there is no doubt in my mind that an appeal from the politicians to the people would be sustained and that the American people would vote down this bill in a referendum, because it is a very unfair piece of legislation.<br /></p><p><b>NIVEN:</b> Senator, can you project any kind of compromise on this bill that would be acceptable to you?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Well, I would have to see it. I would have to see it. I am perfectly willing to entertain any ideas that any responsible leader of those that are pressing this bill might care to discuss. I do resent this whole theory of the bill that the South needs a guardian in the person of the Attorney General.</p><p>Now if there is any one State where the Negro is denied the right to vote, you have got clauses in the Constitution guaranteeing a republican form of government. Apply that without coming in here and abolishing the right of jury trial and tying it into the force bills of reconstruction so you will have the power to bring the Armed Forces of the United States to bear on the southern people.</p><p>We—the country as a whole doesn't realize what we have gone through with
in this whole period. We have been a very poor people. It was from
1940, 80 years after 1880, until the tax values of my State got back to
where they were, prior to the great fratricidal war.</p><p>And we have taxed ourselves, taxed our poverty heavier proportionately
than any other section of the country to try to carry on this separate
but equal system of education. And you can get your statistics and you
will see that the tax according to wealth has been heavier in the Southern States than anywhere else for education.</p><p>We don't like to be threatened with this kind of force legislation.</p><p><b>NIVEN:</b> You may recall that a national poll a couple of years ago found that 55
percent of Southern whites expected that integration in public
schools would eventually take place. Would you agree with that?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> I didn't see it, but I am not in a position to
challenge your statement because I don't know. I didn't understand your
question.</p><p><b>NIVEN:</b> Apart from your preferences in the matter, do you feel that school integration is inevitable in the long run?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Well, forever is a long time. In the foreseeable future I
don't see any integration of the schools in my State, particularly with
this force legislation, because you can badger and arrest and bait
people until they get in a frame of mind to close down the schools
before they will do it.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Senator Russell, you said that
amendments, in your opinion, amendments to this bill would be voted
on, and I—</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Yes.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Presume you think some would be accepted?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Well, I would certainly devoutly hope so. If it is not amended it will be the worst piece of legislation ever considered.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Now I presume one would be the jury trial amendment, for example, the one that was defeated in the House?<br /></p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Yes, and the one to strike part 3 of this bill, the force provision. It is not related to the right to vote.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> In other words, Senator,that would leave in it simply the provision for a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Commission_on_Civil_Rights">civil-rights commission</a> and a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice_Civil_Rights_Division">new division</a> in the Department of Justice?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Yes. Of course, that's a rather unusual provision.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Would you accept that much of the bill?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> No; I wouldn't be prepared to vote for a bill that was such a reflection on the people of Georgia as I deem this one.</p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> In other words, no matter how many amendments are adopted you still won't vote for this bill?</p><p><b>RUSSELL:</b> Oh, I didn't say that, now. You just narrowed it down. You just narrowed it down to—in the first place, this bill is wrong in policy. Here you have got a proposal that you are going to establish an entirely new division in the Department of Justice to take up all these cases, whether a man wants it done or not, and do it at Government expense.</p><p>Now the National Colored People Association and their kindred organizations have had no difficulty at all in getting up money to bring all these lawsuits.</p><p>You are starting a new system there, and the next thing you are going to do is to have some system where labor will be able to have a division in the Department of Justice to enforce their rights on employers at the expense of the Government, or vice versa, and in other fields. I don't approve of that.</p><p>I could not support such a measure. I think it is wrong in policy where a man is able to hire a lawyer, to say because it is a certain kind of case that the Attorney General can proceed at the taxpayers' expense whether the man involved wants him to or not. I don't approve of that general philosophy. </p><p><b>BANCROFT:</b> Well, I'm afraid that's all the time we have, and Senator Russell, we want to thank you very, very much for being with us on Capitol Cloakroom, and we will watch with interest to see what happens down there on the floor of the Senate.</p><p>Thank you, sir. </p></blockquote>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-15970667934689551122024-02-12T15:30:00.000-05:002024-02-12T15:30:09.080-05:001943. Ambassador William H. Standley Discusses Aid to USSR<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">"Prodding Russia"</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRF5u47q2McU_P2lKiV0OIraCscex5NAxtHg9NQa3lo3lB7hFYol38PkDfwh-6qod0JPO0rhiaYb-vuy-ICna9YXAfBBY8RYi6yo2CDzTxUqtmYOpd1ajYKUevuqdQhB9ZSdfWdkiuyrxaOH7JoBwHt0S0212BBnKstcgg6vfiSWjiRYCqUiC3OvMgG0/s1280/standley%201941.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="929" data-original-width="1280" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRF5u47q2McU_P2lKiV0OIraCscex5NAxtHg9NQa3lo3lB7hFYol38PkDfwh-6qod0JPO0rhiaYb-vuy-ICna9YXAfBBY8RYi6yo2CDzTxUqtmYOpd1ajYKUevuqdQhB9ZSdfWdkiuyrxaOH7JoBwHt0S0212BBnKstcgg6vfiSWjiRYCqUiC3OvMgG0/w640-h464/standley%201941.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Admiral William H. Standley presents his credentials as Ambassador to the USSR, to Mikhail Kalinin, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR" (<a href="http://tinyurl.com/bdhtdepb">source</a>)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>From <i>Newsweek</i>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1943-03-15_21_11/page/32/mode/2up">March 15, 1943</a>, pp. 33-34 (based on an earlier CBS report from Bill Downs):<br /><p style="text-align: left;"></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Prodding Russia</span></p><p>Admiral William H. Standley, United States Ambassador to Russia, invited correspondents to the American Embassy in Moscow on Monday of this week. His talk: a blunt accusation that American aid to Russia was being concealed from the Russian people.</p><p>The white-haired admiral, reported Bill Downs of the Columbia Broadcasting System and <i>Newsweek</i>, was worked up over his subject, and his expressive eyes were "shooting sparks."</p><p>The ambassador declared: "I have been looking for evidence of some recognition of the aid that the Soviet Union is getting from America . . . The American people in their sympathy are digging into their own pockets, thinking that this help is going to the Russian people. Maybe it is. But the Russian people don't know it."</p><p>As for the motive of the Russian authorities, the 70-year-old admiral replied: "They seem to be trying to create the impression at home as well as abroad that they are fighting the war alone."</p><p>Discussing the extension of the Lend-Lease bill (debated in Congress this week), Standley said: "The American Congress is rather sensitive. It is generous and big-hearted as long as it feels that it is helping someone. But give it the idea it is not helping and it might be a different story."</p><p>Standley's statement caught Congressional leaders in Washington by surprise. The frank talk was expected to provide Lend-Lease opponents some material on the topic of gratitude but not to affect expected passage of the bill. Other observers believed that it was an attempt to break down Russia's aloofness to United Nation collaboration in the war and in the postwar peace.</p></blockquote>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-63425660795190875802024-02-10T13:56:00.001-05:002024-02-10T13:56:13.200-05:001943. Boxing Match Hosted in Moscow<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">"Moskva Maulers"</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6RnJTaZDL6s7EbyoNFmtvxxx4eAT1NOlewZZZQSiPyyBvwa7DWpObOzoVTxt8ikoYLueV8gLoc2uR59ft_ST_YuVrBtaKN2MP5FhY3ZZp2rWgLQn1r3kh6SzsbzFbjnJ3pFBbhnyHIgsVx9LJ1IiMza0D_6jrV0WXIex0ch9jLHZOBUjAaz5xZVYFp4/s774/korolev%201954.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="774" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6RnJTaZDL6s7EbyoNFmtvxxx4eAT1NOlewZZZQSiPyyBvwa7DWpObOzoVTxt8ikoYLueV8gLoc2uR59ft_ST_YuVrBtaKN2MP5FhY3ZZp2rWgLQn1r3kh6SzsbzFbjnJ3pFBbhnyHIgsVx9LJ1IiMza0D_6jrV0WXIex0ch9jLHZOBUjAaz5xZVYFp4/w640-h396/korolev%201954.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soviet boxer Nikolai Korolev (left) in 1954 (<a href="https://www.bild.bundesarchiv.de/dba/de/search/?query=Bild+183-26720-0008">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><p> From <i>Newsweek</i>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1943-09-06_22_10/page/90/mode/2up?q=%22Moskva+Maulers%22">September 6, 1943</a>, pp. 90-92:</p><p></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Moskva Maulers</span></p><p><i>In the June 7 issue of </i>Newsweek<i>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/07/obituaries/albert-h-newman-74-editor-and-a-world-war-ii-reporter.html">Al Newman</a> described the AEF boxing championships in London. Now another report on boxing in the United Nations comes from Bill Downs, </i>Newsweek's<i> Moscow correspondent. Here is his story on the fine art of pugilism as practiced in the Land of the Soviets:</i><br /><br />The biggest fight in the world is only a few hundred miles away, yet Moscow fight fans jammed dignified Hall of Pillars last Wednesday to witness a boxing card which featured the "Absolute Championship of Russia and Moscow."<br /><br />Although the German-Soviet go is distinguished by dirty tactics, inter-Soviet fisticuffs are of a brand to make the Marquess of Queensberry feel completely at home. The boxing was the most polite I have ever seen. Infighting in the clinches is allowed here, but Russian boxers, unlike America's Tony Galento, behave in gentlemanly fashion—no elbows, no thumbs, no butting.<br /><br />The crowd was more or less typical—for Moscow. The hall was crammed with soldiers and women. However, there was little to make a cigar-chewing American fight fan homesick. No smoking is allowed. It is considered uncultured to shout "Moider the Bum." Polite applause greets a good blow, and vocal encouragement is discouraged by disapproving stares. When blood flowed in one of the six four-round preliminaries, the bout was stopped. Boxing and blood don't mix in Moscow arenas.<br /><br />The crowd tensed when the feature fight was announced. There was much applause as Master Sportsman <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Korolyov_(boxer)">Nikolai Koroloff</a>, defending champion, appeared in baggy white trunks. A squat 190-pounder with shaved head, Koroloff is a popular public figure at 26. He joined the Partisans shortly after the outbreak of war and later became an officer in the Red Army. He looks something like a gentle, bleached Galento.<br /><br />The challenger, Ivan Ganikin, is also a Master of Sports—a government-awarded title for specialists in the Russian sport movement. Tall and wiry, Ganikin spotted the champion 36 pounds.<br /><br />For six unexciting rounds, Koroloff, who entered the ring with an injured left hand, shot his right fist out with piston-like regularity. Ganikin couldn't get out of the way often enough, and even with two good hands he couldn't outpoint the champ. No one was surprised when Koroloff got the nod.<br /><br />I got the feeling, in this polite atmosphere, that perhaps it would have been bad manners to have taken the title away from a nice guy like Koroloff.</p></blockquote>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-24288859410699441152024-02-08T14:19:00.004-05:002024-02-13T14:40:05.662-05:001945. Associated Press Breaks Allied News Embargo on German Surrender<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Controversy and Criticism Over Associated Press Scoop</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLYiHjT282eUUPWCxveuiym3gOqTN476431UakNWGEUdjbhq3U-TDcTxz3U41496U0KewXWoyJi8r-8SoDweAuB3tC_pdY0jFqh3Jhw9juyKXD8NXWKqYy7T_fwmDaK2BmnXwrDMPZ3GqDbk_lubqbXZfnsJdhlw4PhnijfVBgfl8TgkxLSt8lVI_yHnU/s1117/edward%20kennedy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1117" data-original-width="850" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLYiHjT282eUUPWCxveuiym3gOqTN476431UakNWGEUdjbhq3U-TDcTxz3U41496U0KewXWoyJi8r-8SoDweAuB3tC_pdY0jFqh3Jhw9juyKXD8NXWKqYy7T_fwmDaK2BmnXwrDMPZ3GqDbk_lubqbXZfnsJdhlw4PhnijfVBgfl8TgkxLSt8lVI_yHnU/w488-h640/edward%20kennedy.jpg" width="488" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Associated Press journalist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Kennedy_%28journalist%29">Edward Kennedy</a> (Sam Goldstein / AP)" (<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1948/08/surrender-world-war-2-edward-kennedy/618830/">source</a>)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>From <i>Newsweek</i>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1945-05-14_25_20/page/80/mode/1up">May 14, 1945</a>, pp. 80-82:</p><p></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Kennedy of AP Scoops Whole World but Writers Call Him Double Crosser</span></p><p>As a veteran Associated Press man put it: "The Old Lady certainly came back." But for nerve-racking hours he couldn't be sure.<br /><br />The horrendously wrong V-E Day report out of San Francisco on April 28 (<i>Newsweek</i>, May 7) still was a raw memory on Monday this week when the London Printer in the AP's tense New York office coughed out this flash: "Allies officially announced Germany surrendered unconditionally."<br /><br />Glenn Babb, the AP's foreign news editor, hesitated until succeeding bulletins bore out the flash, then ordered: "Let it go."<br /><br />The AP desk's reaction was duplicated in newsrooms throughout the country, but one minute after the flash at 9:35 a.m. (EWT), the AP sent a bulletin that mollified fears. It read:<br /></p><blockquote>BY EDWARD KENNEDY<br /><br />REIMS, FRANCE, MAY 7—(AP)—GERMANY SURRENDERED UNCONDITIONALLY TO THE WESTERN ALLIES AND RUSSIA AT 2:41 A.M. FRENCH TIME TODAY.</blockquote>Adds to Kennedy's bulletin unfolded the details swiftly, simply, and convincingly (see <a href="https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1945-05-14_25_20/page/n32/mode/1up">page 31</a>). But news editors, still groggy from the ten-day-old AP boner, still almost numb after a month's record of war news, now were jittery. International News Service and United Press, twitting AP only ten days before, could help with no official confirmation. Nor would Washington, London, or Moscow. Supreme Allied headquarters in Paris angrily suspended AP's sending privileges.* These later were restored for all AP men except Kennedy. But no one denied the facts in Kennedy's story.<br /><br /><b>'Get It Out':</b> With fingers crossed, news editors extraed the from coast to coast. Radio stations interrupted programs, but labeled the report unofficial. The AP continued to have its jitters, but stood pat—convinced its 39-year-old veteran correspondent had the biggest beat in history.<br /><br />But on Tuesday, 54 irate correspondents at SHAEF charged Kennedy with violating a pledge not to break the news until SHAEF cleared it. His beat, their petition to General Eisenhower said, was the "most disgraceful, deliberate, and unethical double cross in the history of journalism." Official Washington shared this view.<br /><br />Earlier, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_W._Howard">Roy Howard</a>, head of Scripps-Howard newspapers and himself the victim in the UP's premature Armistice flash in 1918, had protested the AP's punishment in a telegram to President Truman. He was wiring, Howard said, "as a correspondent in the last war who was personally pilloried and whose organization was unjustly condemned for doing a legitimate reporting job."<br /><br />From Paris, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relman_Morin">Relman Morin</a>, Kennedy's AP colleague, said most of the correspondents at SHAEF had congratulated Kennedy on his beat—even though it was at their expense. Here's how it came about, as Morin told it:<br /><br />Kennedy returned from Rheims with 1,500 words of his story cleared by a field censor. He wrote the rest in Paris and filed it with SHAEF. Then Paris began to buzz with the news. When the Germans broadcast it from Flensburg, Kennedy went to the censors and demanded they free his story. His argument: There no longer was any question of military security and SHAEF could hold him to no considerations of political censorship. Turned down on his demand, Kennedy bluntly warned the censors he would try to get the story out.<br /><br />Then he telephoned it to the AP's London Bureau. "This is official, get it out," he barked. Censors in London cleared it as a routine relay.<br /><br /><b>Too Many Headlines:</b> The Brooklyn-born Kennedy quit the study of architecture at Carnegie Tech to take up newspaper work twenty years ago. He went to Paris for the AP in 1935 and his newspaper odyssey since has taken him through the Spanish civil war, the conquests of Yugoslavia and Greece, the North African battles, Sicily, Italy, and back into France.<br /><br />His beat this week climaxed ten days of the biggest news breaks since the war began. News editors could remember nothing like the week before V-E Day. It had been one of cumulative surrenders in which, for instance, the fall of Rangoon, the invasion of Dutch Borneo, President Truman's first Cabinet appointment and veto (upheld), and the anthracite-coal walkout could get but secondary headlines.<br /><br /><b>Radio's Part:</b> In Europe, news was made as well as broadcast by radio during the momentous week preceding the V-E announcement. It was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordwestdeutscher_Rundfunk#Reichssender_Hamburg">Radio Hamburg</a> that carried the news of Hitler's death and Admiral Karl Doenitz's succession. Four days later, Bill Downs, CBS correspondent, <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2013/04/cbs-radio-broadcast-by-bill-downs-in.html">broadcast</a> from the same studios.<br /><br />The radios of the Allied and neutral capitals in Europe played the week's news with composure and, unlike American networks, waited for official confirmation of victory before going all out.<br /><br />In the United States elaborately planned V-E programs—in the making since D-Day—remained on the shelf as news came in fragments throughout week. Only extra news programs indicated the growing excitement over the German piecemeal collapse. Then on Monday the networks and most of the independent stations carried the AP flash. Morning schedules were hashed, but by mid-afternoon the networks had resumed commercials while newsrooms waited on tenterhooks. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Goddard">Don Goddard</a> of NBC voiced radio's dilemma when he said on Monday morning: "We are staying on the air expecting some kind of an announcement from some headquarters somewhere."<p></p><p>When the official announcement finally came, all networks and stations hauled out their special programs—which now served only as a weary anticlimax to the rumors of the preceding ten days.<br /></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "times" , "freeserif" , serif; font-size: 17.5px;">⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯</span></p><p>* Another AP worry: The <i>Chicago Sun's </i>London bureau reported that virtually all London papers began a boycott of AP news as of Sunday. London and AP sources refused comment; the United Press carried nothing on the boycott.</p></blockquote>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-46363052945988861712024-02-07T14:14:00.002-05:002024-02-07T14:14:44.159-05:001941. President Roosevelt Sounds the Alarm on Hitler<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Roosevelt Declares a State of Unlimited National Emergency<br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ1U3zxvrB79TIBQKOoawsjmRRgVG1sEqGXkjVNMXuIdDq2XH5wDVmgC7v9DXz0YjOw-Bf-04L9iR4EUTc50QoR7St5FbfvVzKrz6bEwELHwDFYah-8mm4VhLec4J_xln8XPKQP5A6IcyHgzBCsnE2XgFMGVj_0Noks0YktNsyQsXHnhb4MEUSA-3e3Eg/s970/life%20magazine%20june%209%201941.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="909" data-original-width="970" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ1U3zxvrB79TIBQKOoawsjmRRgVG1sEqGXkjVNMXuIdDq2XH5wDVmgC7v9DXz0YjOw-Bf-04L9iR4EUTc50QoR7St5FbfvVzKrz6bEwELHwDFYah-8mm4VhLec4J_xln8XPKQP5A6IcyHgzBCsnE2XgFMGVj_0Noks0YktNsyQsXHnhb4MEUSA-3e3Eg/w640-h600/life%20magazine%20june%209%201941.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />From <i>LIFE</i> magazine, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=jUwEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA31#v=onepage&q&f=false">June 9, 1941</a>, pp. 31-32:<p></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">ROOSEVELT ON AMERICAS</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>HE SAYS HITLER THREAT IS REAL</b></p><p>On the day after President Roosevelt's historic East Room <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClhkORXeOPQ">broadcast of May 27</a>, a U. S. shortwave listening post heard the BBC in London re-broadcast a recorded excerpt from his speech. Back across 3,000 miles of ocean came the serene voice, the measured diction in which an estimated 85,000,000 people around the world had listened to the night before. It was followed immediately by another voice, shrill, frenzied, guttural, rising and falling in geysers of ungrammatical German as Adolf Hitler addressed a recent Nazi meeting. Then came a third voice, that of the British announcer, saying: "We leave it to you listeners to judge which voice is the voice of calm and strength and which is that of hysterical violence."</p><p>As Alf Landon and Wendell Willkie can testify, the quality of a man's voice and speech has much to do with his ability to sway mass emotions. In this respect, President Roosevelt has entered his battle with Adolf Hitler possessed of a mighty weapon. But without ammunition, the biggest of guns is worth nothing. More than voices and perhaps even more than arms, it is ideas which will decide the Roosevelt-Hitler duel.</p><p>This week <i>LIFE</i> is able to present in dramatic juxtaposition the ideas with which the President and the Führer are contesting for the minds and hearts of the world, and especially for those of the American people. The immediate issue between them is whether, in the present crisis, Americans shall act with whole-souled vigor and conviction or whether they shall continue to be plagued by what Hitler has named as his weapons: "mental confusion, contradiction of feeling, indecisiveness, panic." Four days before President Roosevelt sounded his stirring call to action from the East Room, <i>LIFE's</i> special correspondent in Europe, ex-Ambassador John Cudahy, went to Berchtesgaden for an <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/11/1941-adolf-hitler-on-united-states.html">exclusive interview</a>. There Hitler presented to him boldly and baldly the ideas with which he hopes to divide, lull and scare the American people into inaction.</p><p>As published here, the Hitler interview documents the passage in the <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/radio-address-announcing-unlimited-national-emergency">President's speech</a> in which he declared: "There is, of course, a small group of sincere patriotic men and women whose real passion for peace has shut their eyes to the ugly realities of international banditry and to the need to resist it at all costs. I am sure they are embarrassed by the sinister support they are receiving from the enemies of democracy in our midst—the Bundists, the Fascists and the Communists. . . . It is no mere coincidence that all the arguments put forward by these enemies of democracy . . . are but echoes of the words that have been poured out from the Axis bureaus of propaganda. Those same words have been used before in other countries—to scare them, to divide them, to soften them up. Invariably, those same words have formed the advance guard of physical attack."</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>PRESIDENT COMMITS U. S. TO FAR-RANGING ACTION IN NATIONAL EMERGENCY</b></p><p>A dozen photographers' floodlights beating down on him from every side of the East Room blinded the President to everything but his microphone-littered desk as he entered the East Room and sat down. After they dimmed, he could see, on the east wall, the portrait of George Washington which Dolly Madison carried away when she fled from the British advancing to burn the White House in 1812. He could also see the pretty faces of two Latin American diplomatic ladies, Señoritas Maria Elena Dávila and Erma Castillo Nájera, niece and daughter of the Mexican ambassador, in the front row of his little audience. The ladies and their escorts were there for a reason. The President had summoned the representatives of the 20 other American republics and of Canada to be present because his speech was to be a supreme warning and appeal for unity to the whole Hemisphere.</p><p>Sitting among the diplomats in a blue-gray tulle dress, Mrs. Roosevelt was having some solemn thoughts which she duly reported in her column. "I looked at the President," she wrote. "Like an oncoming wave, the thought rolled over me: 'What a weight of responsibility this one man at the desk, facing the rest of the people, has to carry. Not just for this Hemisphere alone, but for the world as a whole! Great Britain can be gallant beyond belief, but in the end, the decisive factor in this whole business may perhaps be the solidarity of the Hemisphere and, of necessity, the President of the United States must give that solidarity its leadership!'"</p><p>For a half hour before broadcast time the President, fortified with cigarettes and ice water and completely at ease, sat at his desk cheerfully submitting to photographers' demands that he look up, look down, smile, read, look solemn. Then, after the guests had filed briefly by for a handshake, came time to speak. In the back row Playwright Robert Sherwood, who with Justice Sam Rosenman had collaborated in writing the speech, nudged Songwriter Irving Berlin each time the President drove home a strong point with a life of his voice and a beat of his clenched left fist. These points:</p><p><b>On Hitler:</b> He definitely intends to conquer the Western Hemisphere.</p><p><b>On defense: </b>To forestall attack, the U. S. must and will take military action without further notice to prevent Germany from acquiring bases in Greenland, Iceland, Dakar, the Azores and Cape Verde Islands.</p><p><b>On freedom of the seas: </b>The U. S. insists on it. All measures necessary to insure delivery of U. S. goods to Britain will be taken.</p><p><b>On duty: </b>All citizens are expected to take loyal part in the common defense from this moment forward.</p><p><b>On arms production: </b>The U. S. Government will use all its powers to see that neither capital nor labor interferes with it.</p><p><b>On war aims:</b> "We will not accept a Hitler-dominated world. And we will not accept a world, like the post-war world of the Nineteen Twenties, in which the seeds of Hitlerism can again be planted and allowed to grow. We will accept only a world consecrated to freedom."</p><p>The President ended by announcing that he had proclaimed a state of unlimited national emergency.</p><p>It was a strong and stirring speech. But many a listener who clicked off his radio with conviction that the nation was now on a virtual war basis and that action would follow swiftly was bewildered by events of the next few days. No defense strikes were ended. Wheeler, Lindbergh & Co. talked on unhindered. (Said Lindbergh: "If we say our frontier lies on the Rhine, they [the Germans] can say theirs lies on the Mississippi"—which by a strange coincidence was the same geographical figure Hitler employed in his interview with Mr. Cudahy.) The President roused vast excitement by calling a special press conference, only to send reporters away scratching their heads over the purely negative news that he did not intend to order convoys, that despite his insistence on freedom of the seas he did not intend to ask repeal of the Neutrality Act, that his emergency proclamation meant nothing until he implemented it with specific executive orders.</p><p>The fact remained, nonetheless, that the President had publicly committed the nation to a fateful course of action, had made plain <i>what</i> he intends to do. <i>How</i> he intends to do it is, as he several times informed the press conference questioners, what Adolf Hitler would like very much to know.</p></blockquote>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-39220243457608233982024-02-06T13:37:00.002-05:002024-02-06T14:20:14.989-05:001943. "Proletarian Opera Is Staged With Czars' Pomp and Show"<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Reopening of the Bolshoi Theatre</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIZBEMmg9E1tDQQu4nIgS1HYbAdCHOpxGds28Kk8tiGM_T-iIxErDANEoSagGpp7AOsk0zxtsCdW4AnhPME2Kektz6lwvnTTcwoOn29gfJ1ePu0BgHAaylR2bB_aJj5Ek8a_dVIe3cwDGr3KAXhCO5-rU71kBQ_zygDJ3KQ3AO0E4orcjoQxr4SI4wQzg/s1400/bolshoi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="982" data-original-width="1400" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIZBEMmg9E1tDQQu4nIgS1HYbAdCHOpxGds28Kk8tiGM_T-iIxErDANEoSagGpp7AOsk0zxtsCdW4AnhPME2Kektz6lwvnTTcwoOn29gfJ1ePu0BgHAaylR2bB_aJj5Ek8a_dVIe3cwDGr3KAXhCO5-rU71kBQ_zygDJ3KQ3AO0E4orcjoQxr4SI4wQzg/w640-h448/bolshoi.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Portraits of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin hang on the front of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolshoi_Theatre">Bolshoi Theatre</a> in Soviet times" (<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/95181c8b-cc58-4ddc-80cd-ca123b653ed7">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><p>From <i>Newsweek</i>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1943-10-11_22_15/page/34/mode/2up?q=%22Moscow+First+Night%22">October 11, 1943</a>, pp. 34-36 (originally from a report by Bill Downs in September 1943):</p><p></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Moscow First Night</span><br /><br /><b>Proletarian Opera Is Staged With Czars' Pomp and Show</b><br /></p><p><i>What was probably the most brilliant social event since the start of the war took place in Moscow last week—the reopening of the Bolshoi Theater, which had been damaged by German bombs. Bill Downs, </i>Newsweek<i> and CBS correspondent, attended and sent this account of what a first night looks like in a Communist country.</i><br /><br />Although I expected to see something extra special at this opening, I was startled to observe what a dressing-up had been achieved. The theater has an exceptionally large stage. The parterre and loges have been completely recarpeted, and all the seats have been done in brand-new red plush. Designed inside in European style, six tiers of balconies run entirely around three sides. The front of these balconies displays shining gilt. The ceiling has been done in light blue and decorated with gigantic figures of the nine muses—all of them plump, Russian-looking women, who are a little bit incongruous and give a strip-tease effect to the roof.<br /></p><p>The Russians like perfume—men use eau de cologne extensively in barbershops. The soft lights, red plush, glowing gilt, and perfume gave the setting a nineteenth-century atmosphere. It was nineteenth century until I looked at the new Bolshoi curtain printed in a red and gold design. The most prominent features are various dates of the development of the socialist state—1871, Paris Communes; 1905, First Revolution; 1917, October Revolution.<br /></p><p>Next to the stage on each side are the former royal boxes, in which the family of the Czar used to sit before the revolution. These boxes are now reserved for the highest Soviet officials.</p><p>Throughout the performance of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Glinka">Glinka's</a> "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Life_for_the_Tsar">Ivan Sussanin</a>" the audience looked constantly at one of the boxes, which was empty, and it was amusing, looking through opera glasses at the opening chorus number, to see 100 men and women singing the stirring opening number and constantly rolling their eyes to make sure that Stalin was not there. There had been rumors—as there always are at such events—that the supreme commander-in-chief might attend. However, he didn't show up.</p><p>"Ivan Sussanin" was originally called "A Life for the Czar," but the title was changed several years ago. The lead was sung by Mamilhailoff, whose tremendous bass voice sounds as if it comes out of the bottom of a barrel. Many critics consider that he is the best Russian basso since <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feodor_Chaliapin">Chaliapin</a>. He's hampered by the fact that he just can't act.</p><p>The other star performer was the current darling of Moscow ballet, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_Lepeshinskaya_(dancer)">Olga Lepeshinskaya</a>. She got the biggest hand of the evening dancing a brief ballet number in the brilliant second act, where it is easy to see how Russia got its great tradition for this type of dancing.</p><p>During the first intermission reporters went in search of diplomats to find out who was attending. The diplomats did not prove difficult to find. They left a trail of their personal police which led to a private reception room where the theater had laid out a buffet supper. There is nothing quite so complete as Russian hospitality.</p><p>However, the high spot of the opening for the audience was in the men's smoking room. I was walking past there when I heard someone say: "Peevo." Several others took up the cry. I followed, and sure enough there were bottles and bottles of peevo—beer to you.</p><p>It was the first time I had seen it on public sale since I had been here. The Bolshoi opening was truly a success.</p></blockquote>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-89640193006637807812024-02-05T14:18:00.000-05:002024-02-05T14:18:40.011-05:001943. Moscow Hosts Concert of American Music<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">"Rhapsody in Red"</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUGEsVzIZgRs02Sfc0vOGzMeIZ-rdP1dI_5e3YQuYk6V6F_de0m2UnK_gY8GEEEghT3Yt1GJrzNTg4YO35CVfn0chDxyhyphenhyphenvznVcGrUGGguvmXNdGEUeo9AZ07fuOkEirZtDbh2VfpAs5Ec-KB-n3KpB52ma-4Q_MoF0t1COJqIg5jj0BqNK5WD21xO9-E/s1920/1943.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1488" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUGEsVzIZgRs02Sfc0vOGzMeIZ-rdP1dI_5e3YQuYk6V6F_de0m2UnK_gY8GEEEghT3Yt1GJrzNTg4YO35CVfn0chDxyhyphenhyphenvznVcGrUGGguvmXNdGEUeo9AZ07fuOkEirZtDbh2VfpAs5Ec-KB-n3KpB52ma-4Q_MoF0t1COJqIg5jj0BqNK5WD21xO9-E/w496-h640/1943.jpg" width="496" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The statue of a ballerina, holding a hammer and sickle, could be seen atop the building at No. 17 in this 1943 photo" (<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2021/russia-soviet-30-anniversary-tverskaya/">source</a>)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> From <i>Newsweek</i>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1943-07-19_22_3/page/79/mode/1up">July 19, 1943</a>, pp. 79-80:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><blockquote><p><span style="font-size: x-large;">Rhapsody in Red</span> <br /></p></blockquote></div><blockquote><p><i>On the Fourth of July Moscow helped celebrate our Independence Day with a gala concert of American music. </i>Newsweek<i> and CBS correspondent, Bill Downs, attended, and the following is his report of the historical event:</i><br /><br />Moscow critics are trying to decide whether the first concert of all-American music in the history of the Soviet Union had greater musical or political significance. The political facet was distinguished through the attendance of Maxim Litvinoff, United States Ambassador William H. Standley, and Sir Archibald Clark Kerr, the British envoy. Musically, the concert was distinguished for the first public playing by a Russian orchestra of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" Also, Shostakovich arranged "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" in a way that was surprisingly straight, simple, and tuneful for all his modernism, but exceedingly short.<br /><br />Moscow's staid Conservatorium—which represents to the Russian capital what Queen's Hall meant to London and what Carnegie Hall means to New York—had one of its biggest audiences of the war. But it was not a long-haired crowd. There were a lot of youngsters—Russian versions of the hepcat, who looked about the same as American jitterbugs. Obviously, this was the first time many had attended the Conservatorium. Alexander Tsfasman, who leads the best-known band, has as faithful a following as any swing master in America. Incidentally, "swing" has not yet entered Russia's musical vocabulary. But this can be expected as a musical postwar development, for the Soviet citizen dotes on American dance tunes.<br /><br />It was an expectant audience when Nathan Rachlin walked to the podium. Rachlin, a popular conductor, is considered new school. However, his style is exceedingly distracting. His conducting nears caricature, with great shakings of the head, gruntings and groanings audible in the first half-dozen rows of the audience, and heroic posturings which one American defined as "University of Southern California cheer-leading school of conducting."<br /><br />The musical commentator of the evening announced the first piece as Roy Harris's "When Johnny Comes Marching Home—With Victory." That "With Victory" is a good indication of how the ordinary Russian is thinking these days. The State Symphony Orchestra swung bravely into the Harris composition, but it soon became evident that his dissonances and difficult rhythms made it more of a struggle than a pleasure. The audience was a little puzzled but applauded vigorously, and the commentator next announced three American folk songs, whereafter on walked the dark and buxom Natalia Schpiller.<br /><br />She is one of Russia's best sopranos, and her high and flexible voice proceeded to bring down the house with excellent interpretations of "Weeping, Sad, and Lonely" and “Old Folks at Home." The Russian translations were exceedingly good. The mood of the Negro spirituals is easily understandable and adaptable to Russian artists and audiences, whose most-loved folk song is the "Volga Boatmen." The last "folk song" turned out to be the last war waltz, "Till We Meet Again," but no one cared particularly whether it was a folk song or not for the arrangement and Schpiller's singing left the audience shouting for more. </p><p>The first half of the program was completed by the orchestra's playing Samuel Barber's "Overture to the School for Scandal." Now everyone was much more at home. Barber's phrasing is surprisingly like Shostakovich's—and anything approaching him is OK with the Russian audiences.<br /><br />Jazzhounds in the audience sat up expectantly after intermission, for Tzfasman's band moved in among the regular symphony with clarinets and saxophones. They probably were the first saxophones ever played in the Conservatorium, The youngsters gave loud cheers and applause when Tzfasman himself appeared to play the piano part. The "Rhapsody" was all in all worthily performed with a not unpleasant slowing down in many parts, giving Rachlin's interpretation of Gershwin's moodiness and contrasting with the sophisticated polish usually applied in America.<br /><br />Then came the Shostakovich arrangement of "When Johnny," etc., followed by an entirely too operatic and formal presentation of Kern's "Ol' Man River" by the opera baritone Panteleimon Nortsoff. The Soviet audience, generally familiar with Robeson's singing of the riparian epic, didn't like it much. But the first playing of Walter Piston's ballet suite "The Incredible Flutist" drew almost as much applause as the "Rhapsody," although there were murmurs from some youngsters who expected to hear all jazz.<br /><br />All in all, American music stood the test of a critical Russian audience who turned out on America's Independence Day to hear the latest developments in musical culture from the United States.</p></blockquote><p></p><p></p>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-8661682694029657422024-02-03T22:30:00.000-05:002024-02-03T22:30:20.762-05:001943. Foreign Press Preview Soviet Film "The People's Avengers"<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">"Partisans in Action"</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hZl-R3SMKr0/VMvXCFBBSDI/AAAAAAAABlo/qSAQrhwBEj8/s1600/sovietguerrillas.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hZl-R3SMKr0/VMvXCFBBSDI/AAAAAAAABlo/qSAQrhwBEj8/s1600/sovietguerrillas.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Soviet partisans in the forest near Polotsk, Byelorussian SSR (</span><a href="https://jamestown.org/program/the-partisan-movements-in-belarus-during-world-war-ii-part-one/">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><p> From <i>Newsweek</i>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1943-08-30_22_9/page/80/mode/2up">August 30, 1943</a>, pp. 80-82:</p><p></p><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Partisans in Action</span></p><p><i>The obscure paragraphs at the end of Russian communiqués—those dealing with the incredible Red guerrillas—have come to life on the Soviet screen. Here Bill Downs, </i>Newsweek<i> and CBS correspondent in Moscow, tells how the Partisan film was made. It probably will be shown soon in the United States.</i></p><p>Moscow—The foreign press has just seen a preview of "<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036194/">The People's Avengers</a>," a new documentary which promises to make cinema history. It is surely the best war film that has been produced by the Russians.</p><p>This story of Soviet guerrillas was made by sixteen cameramen sent behind the German lines early this spring. They stayed from two to three months, shooting thousands of feet that covered every phase of Partisan life. Two of them were killed in accidents getting to and from Guerrilla land—and one liked the place so much that he sent his films back but decided to stay himself. So intent was the government on doing a good job that the director, [Vasiliy Belyayev], took a camera and went along—and the composer, Dmitri Astradantseff, likewise went behind the lines to get the spirit of the thing for his excellent accompanying music.</p><p>The film covers guerrilla life from Karelia to the Black Sea. It ranged from the Leningrad district through whole Partisan-controlled districts in Byelo-Russia; from actual scenes of bridges being blown up in the Ukraine to raids on German headquarters on the Kuban. For an hour and a half it practically makes guerrillas out of the audience. And for the first time the world is given a clear picture of what the word Partisan means—what kind of people the guerrillas are.</p><p>There are kids of 12 and 14, grandfathers over 60, and women of all ages. There are shocking views of villages ruined after visits by German punitive expeditions, followed by the guerrillas' revenge. There are such human touches as a woman darning a sock and using a grenade for a darning egg. Memorable episodes show the surprisingly quiet and uneventful way in which a sniper's bullet kills a German railroad sentry, and the execution of a traitor by a calm three-man firing squad. </p><p>But the film's greatest moment is a full-scale attack on a town by a large detachment of Byelo-Russian Partisans, using captured German artillery and weapons flown in by plane.</p><p>The cameramen who came back were full of stories of their adventures. Since most guerrilla operations are conducted at night, the photographers had to beg for daylight operations which they could film. One, somewhere in the central sector, got more than he bargained for. A guerrilla leader placed him behind a bush overlooking a village and told him to wait. Then the guerrillas attacked the other side of the village and drove the Germans straight toward him. Several machine-gunners at his side waited until the Germans were almost atop the camera before they fired and killed them. But that was all the luck the cameraman had that day. He had forgotten to open his shutter and the film was a blank.</p><p>The film gives only the nicknames of the Partisan leaders—their real names will be revealed after the war. I asked the director if it wasn't dangerous to show their faces, in case the film fell into enemy hands. He replied: "We got permission of all the Partisans before the pictures were taken. Their attitude was: 'Send the Germans a marked copy—then let them come and get us'."</p></blockquote><p></p>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-48908627455839945012024-01-27T15:33:00.000-05:002024-01-27T15:33:01.071-05:001943. The Babyn Yar Massacres<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Babyn Yar<br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n1US6t3GvXA/UmYoio796lI/AAAAAAAAAdE/vcKEPbbbjzw/s1600/BabiYarPicture2.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="403" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n1US6t3GvXA/UmYoio796lI/AAAAAAAAAdE/vcKEPbbbjzw/s640/BabiYarPicture2.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"In liberated Kyiv, Jewish prisoners of war held in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrets_concentration_camp">prison camp across the road</a>. From left to right: Efim Vilkis, 33, Leonid Ostrovsky, 31, and Vladimir Davidoff, 28. (<i>Photo by A. Ioselevich / No. 8718, Siberia Photo Service</i>)."*</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babi_Yar">Babyn Yar</a> (Babi Yar) ravine in Kyiv, Ukraine is the site of some of the largest massacres of the Holocaust and World War II. The first and largest was carried out in September 1941 over a 36-hour period during which German forces murdered 33,771 Jews. Over 100,000 more Jews, Romanis, Ukrainians, and Soviet prisoners of war were murdered there over the next two years until the Soviets retook Kyiv in late 1943.<br />
<br />
Bill Downs wrote an article for <i>Newsweek</i> in 1943 titled "Blood at Babii Yar – Kiev's Atrocity Story," in which he recounted the second visit to the site taken by a group of American, British, and Soviet reporters. <i>New York Times</i> correspondent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Lawrence_%28news_personality%29">Bill Lawrence</a> was in the same press party, and wrote an article titled "50,000 Kiev Jews Reportedly Killed." The two accounts are featured below.<div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
From <i>Newsweek</i>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1943-12-06_22_23/page/22/mode/1up">December 6, 1943</a>, p. 22:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">BLOOD AT BABII YAR – KIEV'S ATROCITY STORY</span><br />
<br />
<i>The following story was cabled by Bill Downs</i>, Newsweek<i> and CBS Moscow correspondent</i>:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The first foreign witnesses this week returned to Moscow from what are probably the most terrible two acres on earth<span class="st">—</span>a series of desolate ravines in the Lukyanovka district three miles northwest of Kiev. The name Babii Yar is going to stink in history. It is the name of the main ravine where the Russians estimate between 50,000 to 80,000 people were killed and buried during the 25 months of the German occupation. From what I saw, I am convinced that one of the most horrible tragedies in this Nazi era occurred there between September 1941 and November 1943.<br />
<br />
The press party was led by the Ukrainian author and poet, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mykola_Bazhan">Nikola Bazhan</a>. The Ukrainian Atrocities Commission called three witnesses to meet us at the ravine. They were Efim Vilkis, 33, Leonid Ostrovsky, 31, and Vladimir Davidoff, 28<span class="st">—</span>all Jewish prisoners of war held in a prison camp <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrets_concentration_camp">across the road</a>. Vilkis did most of the talking, interrupted occasionally by the other two. The first act in the tragedy took place in September 1941, a few weeks after the Germans captured Kiev. One day they ordered all Jews to report at the Lukyanovka district and bring their valuables with them. Thousands of men, women, and children marched out to Lukyanovka, thinking they probably would be evacuated. Instead, Nazi SS troops led them to Babii Yar.<br />
<br />
At the wide shallow ravine, their valuables and part of their clothing were removed and heaped into a big pile. Then groups of these people were led into a neighboring deep ravine where they were machine-gunned. When bodies covered the ground in more or less of a layer, SS men scraped sand down from the ravine walls to cover them. Then the shooting would continue. The Nazis, we were told, worked three days doing the job. However, even more incredible were the actions taken by the Nazis between Aug. 19 and Sept. 28 last. Vilkis said that in the middle of August the SS mobilized a party of 100 Russian war prisoners, who were taken to the ravines.<br />
<br />
On Aug. 19 these men were ordered to disinter all the bodies in the ravine. The Germans meanwhile took a party to a nearby Jewish cemetery whence marble headstones were brought to Babii Yar to form the foundation of a huge funeral pyre. Atop the stones were piled a layer of wood and then a layer of bodies, and so on until the pyre was as high as a two-story house.<br />
<br />
Vilkis said that approximately 1,500 bodies were burned in each operation of the furnace and each funeral pyre took two nights and one day to burn completely.<br />
<br />
The cremation went on for 40 days, and then the prisoners, who by this time included 341 men, were ordered to build another furnace. Since this was the last furnace and there were no more bodies, the prisoners decided it was for them. They made a break but only a dozen out of more than 200 survived the bullets of the Nazi Tommy guns.<br />
<br />
As substantiating evidence, while walking over the mass graves, I saw bits of hair, bones, and a crushed skull with bits of flesh and hair still attached. Walking down the ravine, I constantly came across shoes, spectacle cases, and in one place found gold bridgework.<br />
<br />
The most persistent question that presents itself is why the Nazis took such pains to cover this tragedy. Previously, the Germans made little effort to conceal their pogroms in any occupied territory. If in their retreat they intend to try to cover their crimes, this represents a new and significant policy which presupposes the possibility of defeat. The United Nations declaration regarding war criminals, which closely paralleled Soviet announcements on war crimes, thus can be said to have had its first real effect.</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I-ZFHfRPZa8/Unj3aTe84oI/AAAAAAAAAeo/waqD1uxsQNc/s1600/babiyar.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I-ZFHfRPZa8/Unj3aTe84oI/AAAAAAAAAeo/waqD1uxsQNc/s640/babiyar.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"'Babi Yar,' where the Germans carried out mass executions. (<i>Photograph by A. Ioselevich / No. 8717 Siberia Photo Service</i>)"* [The photograph is of the press party being taken through the site].<i> </i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h3>
Kiev: </h3>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Russians took great care not to damage Kiev, their most beautiful city. That was one reason why the first break-through bridge was built dozens of miles upriver. By outflanking them from the northwest, they forced the German withdrawal. There was no fighting in Kiev and the Germans for the first time did not have time to do their usual job of complete demolition.<br />
<br />
Yet practically one-fourth of the city has been destroyed, either by Red Army scorched-earth actions or by the Germans. The city's main street, the Kreshchatik, is completely in ruins. However, there are many blocks of apartments and buildings intact. The Germans had a complete municipal organization ready to take over the city at the time the Reds retook it. The plans even included renaming streets such as Doctor Todt Strasse and Horst Wessel Strasse.<br />
<br />
The Soviet government reached a new high in efficiency in reestablishing Kiev's municipal government. Before Kiev was taken, food stores and sanitation squads established a dump as close as possible to the city. They then quickly moved in. City and regional Soviets were established shortly after the reoccupation. Bakeries were set up and banks opened.<br />
<br />
Today Kiev looks like an ancient city suddenly occupied by pioneers. It is not uncommon to see workmen packing pistols, and you get used to seeing women, some in fur coats and stylish hats, with rifles slung across their backs. But it is a city of old women and children. The strong and healthy have been exported as slave labor to Germany.</blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Bill Lawrence's Account</span></div><p>From <i>The New York Times</i>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1943/11/29/archives/50000-kiev-jews-reported-killed-soviet-atrocity-group-hears-nazis.html">November 29, 1943</a>, p. 3:</p><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">50,000 KIEV JEWS REPORTED KILLED</span><br />⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯<br />Soviet Atrocity Group Hears Nazis Machine-Gunned Victims in Sept., 1941<br />⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯<br /><b>BODIES LATER BURNED</b><br />⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯<br />Prisoners of War Forced to Build Pyres Were Shot to Destroy All Evidence<br />⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯<br /><b>By W. H. LAWRENCE</b><br /></div><div><br />KIEV, Russia, Oct. 22 (Delayed) — Kiev authorities asserted today that the Germans had machine-gunned from 50,000 to 80,000 of Kiev's Jewish men, women and children in late September, 1941 and, two years later—when Kiev's recapture by the Red Army seemed imminent—had forced Russian prisoners of war to burn all the bodies, completely destroying all the evidence of the crime.<br /><br />This was the story told to the Kiev Atrocity Commission and to a group of British, American and Russian newspaper correspondents after having visited bleak Babi Yar, a deep ravine northwest of Kiev, where the massacre was alleged to have occurred. The story was told by three Russian soldiers, who said they had participated in the burning of the corpses and had escaped from the Germans, and by Paul F. Aloshin, chief architect of Kiev. No witnesses to the shooting appeared before the atrocity commission or talked with the correspondents.<br /><br />On the basis of what we saw, it is impossible for this correspondent to judge the truth or falsity of the story told to us. It is the contention of the authorities in Kiev that the Germans, with characteristic thoroughness, not only burned the bodies and clothing, but also crumbled the bones, and shot and burned the bodies of all prisoners of war participating in the burning, except for a handful that escaped, so that the evidence of their atrocity could not be available for the outside world.<br /><br /><b>Remaining Evidence Is Scanty</b><br /><br />If this was the Germans' intent, they succeeded well, for there is little evidence in the ravine to prove or disprove the story. We did see a few isolated bones, including a skull and some matted hair, a shoulder bone and an arm, a gold tooth bridgework and some spots on the ground which we were told had been made by the blood of prisoners shot by the Germans after the burning of the bodies of Jewish victims had been completed. There were spectacle cases, handbags and other evidences of things left in Babi Yar. Freshly excavated earth in the floor of the ravine left no doubt that something had happened there.<br /><br />Before the war, Kiev had a Jewish population of more than 100,000 in a total population of more than a million persons. Among the estimated 70,000 total population of Kiev today, there are said to be very few Jews.<br /><br />This is the story as we heard it. Mr. Aloshin, who was the correspondents' guide on our first day in Kiev, took us out to Babi Yar and told us how on Sept. 28, 1941—nine days after the German Army took Kiev—all Jews in the city were ordered to report to the Lukyanovka district, bringing with them their most valuable possessions. Mr. Aloshin said the Jews went expecting that they were to be evacuated. Instead, they were met by German troops, who ordered them into the ravine, where they were directed to give up their valuables. Part of their clothing also was removed. Then, according to the city architect, they were placed on a platform, machine-gunned and thrown into the ravine.<br /><br />Mr. Aloshin said that war prisoners were required to bury the bodies. Some of the victims were only wounded, but were buried anyway. The job of shooting and burying the Jews took several days, he said.<br /><br /><b>Eyewitnesses Tell Story</b><br /><br />Mr. Aloshin said the story had been told to him by a German architect, who boasted of the deed, but, said Mr. Aloshin, when Kiev's recapture by the Red Army became imminent, the Germans decided to remove the evidences of their crimes because of the lessons learned by the Russian discoveries of the Stalingrad and Kharkov atrocities, and they ordered the bodies burned.<br /><br />Correspondents who heard Mr. Aloshin's story requested Soviet authorities to provide them with eyewitnesses to some of the crimes charged against the Germans. Accordingly, on the following day, in company of Mikola Bojan, Ukrainian poet and Vice Commissar of the Ukrainian Soviet, the correspondents were again taken back to Babi Yar, where the atrocity commission was meeting, and where they heard the stories of Efim Vilkis, 33; Leonid Ostrovsky, 31; and Vladimir Davidoff, 28, who said they were Soviet soldiers who had been captured by the Germans and forced to take part in the disinterment and burning, and who were among the handful of prisoners who escaped.<br /><br />The principal witness was Vilkis, an Odessa-born Jew who before the war was a freight loader in Kiev. He was a prisoner in the German concentration camp just across the road from Babi Yar, and he told how on Aug. 14, 1943, all prisoners were lined up and 100 selected by the German authorities for an undisclosed task.<br /><br />Vilkis said these prisoners were taken under heavy guard across the road to Babi Yar. He said they thought they were there to be killed by the Germans. These prisoners were shackled together and told to remove their shoes and hats and strip themselves to the waist.<br /><br />Then, Vilkis said, they were put under the command of S. S. troops headed by a major general and told to start digging in the ravine. This digging continued for several days, he said, without uncovering anything. Then, Vilkis continued, a German officer who had participated in the original shooting came to the scene and told the commanding officers that they were digging in the wrong place. He directed new digging operations at another place in the ravine and soon they began uncovering bodies.<br /><br />Ostrovsky and Davidoff listened intently to Vilkis' story, interrupting occasionally to offer corroboration or to provide additional details. The three showed correspondents wounds on their legs caused by leg shackles.<br /><br />Vilkis said that as the work of uncovering the bodies continued, other prisoners were sent to a near-by Jewish cemetery, where marble grave markers were removed and brought to Babi Yar, where they formed crude stoves. The prisoners then carried the bodies of the Jewish men, women and children and laid them on the marble foundations. More than 100 bodies comprised each layer. On each layer the prisoners were forced to place wood, and then another layer of bodies. When the first stove was filled, gasoline was poured and a fire started, but did not burn well because of lack of draft.<br /><br />Vilkis said the Germans then sent another group of prisoners back to the cemetery, where the iron railing around the graves was removed to make grates. In the second attempt, the bodies were placed farther apart, and the burning was successful.<br /><br />Each pyre took two nights and one day to burn.<br /><br />He said the work of destroying the bodies continued from Aug. 19 to Sept. 28.<br /><br />During the burning, he said prisoners who became sick or went mad were executed by the Germans in the presence of other prisoners. He said that every day three to five prisoners were shot.<br /><br />When the work of burning the corpses was completed, they knew then that the Germans intended to kill them and burn their bodies so that there would be no witnesses to the atrocity.<br /><br />Vilkis said that he and a group of other prisoners had decided to escape. He said that in going through the clothing of disinterred Jews, they had found a few keys, including one that a prisoner who had been a locksmith was able to use to open the door of their dugout. The prisoners loosed their shackles, and on the night of Sept. 28 they decided to make a break for freedom.<br /><br />By this time the number of prisoners working had been increased to about 300. As they dashed out of their dugouts, German sentries armed with machine guns poured bullets into the groups.<br /><br />Vilkis said that only a very few had escaped, but he did not know the exact number. He said that he, Ostrovsky and Davidoff found shelter near a cement factory near by, where they remained in hiding until the Red Army took the city Nov. 6.</div></blockquote><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2ipNLxR2S3U/U-kRKlmNXTI/AAAAAAAAA_Y/VugZpQmfzZo/s1600/babiyar5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="462" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2ipNLxR2S3U/U-kRKlmNXTI/AAAAAAAAA_Y/VugZpQmfzZo/s1600/babiyar5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Members of the press party some time later in Rzhev being led by Soviet officials, 1943.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Press Party's Reactions</span></div><p>
Unlike some of their counterparts on other fronts during the course of World War II, Moscow-based foreign correspondents were not allowed near the front lines; their movement was restricted and their reports were subjected to <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2014/09/1943-war-correspondents-vs-soviet.html">heavy censorship</a>. Reporters relied frequently on government news sources for important military updates and information, and press trips around Moscow and surrounding areas were directed by watchful state officials.</p><p>As the Soviets made major territorial gains in 1943, foreign correspondents were able to visit liberated cities, concentration camps, and massacre sites and see the devastation firsthand—but censorship continued to pose a major challenge. Downs wrote in 1951:<br /></p><blockquote>During my stay in the Soviet Union, the government had the excuse of military security to fall back on. However, it is my belief that fear and suspicion are as much a part of the Russian censorship policy as security. There is another quality that is embraced in censorship policy too. This is pride. For example, we had many long arguments with the censors concerning the reporting of military casualties. The government wanted absolutely no mention of them. Our argument was that the world—and particularly Russia's allies—should know the sacrifices the nation was making in fighting the war. But the attitude of the censor was that a Russian killed in battle somehow reflected on the national honor. There was a constant watch on copy to stop anything—be it a humorous story or what—that might possibly reflect on the Russian "honor."</blockquote><p>
Although the trips to the retaken areas remained as they were before—carefully orchestrated guided tours—they afforded reporters an opportunity to see for themselves the actual scale of the Holocaust, to speak to survivors and witnesses, and to inform readers and listeners at home and abroad exactly what had taken place.<br /></p><p>The press party visited Babyn Yar shortly after the area's liberation. According to <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=po95wPLPqu0C">Deborah Lipstadt (1993)</a>, some of the correspondents were skeptical about the death toll, while others questioned whether the murders took place at all. Several considered the overwhelming scale of the massacres to be implausible. <a href="http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Iterations+of+Babi+Yar.-a0278400312">Joan Peterson (2011)</a> addresses the reactions of Downs and Lawrence specifically:<br />
</p><blockquote class="tr_bq">
. . . Both men were part of a group of British, U.S., and Russian newspaper reporters who, along with the Kiev Atrocity Commission, heard the account from three Russian prisoners of war who had been forced to participate in the corpse burning in 1943 and later managed to escape from the Germans. The articles differ in tone. Lawrence's is guarded. Given the paucity of evidence after the destruction of the corpses, he stated, "On the basis of what we saw, it is impossible for this correspondent to judge the truth or falsity of the story told to us." Downs, however, wrote, "From what I saw, I am convinced that one of the most horrible tragedies in this era of Nazi era atrocities occurred there." Both men were taken to the ravine where they related slightly different versions of the few scattered bones, shoes, spectacle cases, and bridgework that they observed. Spots of blood on the ground were explained as made by the prisoners who had been shot after they completed their grisly task. (Only a dozen or so prisoners managed to escape out of the 200-300 prisoners forced to do this work.) Where Lawrence used terms such as "isolated" and "scanty," Downs said, "As substantiating evidence, . . . I saw bits of hair, bones, and a crushed skill with bits of flesh and hair still attached. Walking down the ravine, I constantly came across shoes, spectacle cases, and in one place found gold bridgework." Lawrence, however, added, "Freshly excavated earth in the floor of the ravine left no doubt that something had happened there."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<b>. . . </b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Successive writers would draw from the words used in both depictions. Lawrence described the site as "Bleak Babi Yar." Downs called the site "probably the most terrible two acres on earth," "a series of desolate ravines," and he said that "the name Babi Yar is going to stink in history." Downs used the word "tragedy" three times. It can be surmised that Lawrence's account contains a measure of disbelief at the magnitude of the action; Downs' one of shock and distress. Both responses are consistent with how many people first absorbed reports of Nazi atrocities. </span></blockquote><p>Deborah Lipstadt is highly critical of the reporting by Lawrence and <i>Toronto Star</i> correspondent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Davis_(sociologist)">Jerome Davis</a> in particular:</p><blockquote><p>By this point the Nazi threat to "exterminate" the Jews should have been understood as a literal one. There was little reason, in light of the abundance of evidence, to deny that multitudes were being murdered as part of a planned program of annihilation. But despite all the detail there was a feeling among some correspondents, <i>New York Times</i> reporter Bill Lawrence most prominent among them, that the reports that Hitler and his followers had conducted a systematic extermination campaign were untrue. Lawrence did not doubt that Hitler had "treated the Jews badly, forcing many of them to flee to the sanctuaries of the West"; but even in October 1943—ten months after the Allied declaration confirming the Nazi policy of exterminating the Jews and six months after Bermuda—he could not believe that the Nazis had murdered "millions of Jews, Slavs, gypsies. . . . and those who might be mentally retarded."</p><p>His skepticism permeated his story on Babi Yar. Though he acknowledged that there were no more Jews in Kiev, their whereabouts he simply dismissed as a "mystery." Lawrence's report surely left even the least skeptical reader unconvinced of the Babi Yar slayings.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>. . . </b><br /></p><p>Equally skeptical about the reports of mass murder was Jerome Davis of Hearst's International News Service and the <i>Toronto Star</i>. Neither Lawrence nor Davis seemed able to accept the idea of a massacre, much less of a Final Solution.</p><p>Davis's and Lawrence's doubts would have been more understandable had their colleagues who visited the site with them manifested the same suspicions. But they drew markedly different conclusions. Bill Downs, who was Moscow correspondent for CBS and <i>Newsweek</i>, was convinced that one of the "most horrible tragedies in this Nazi era of atrocities occurred there." <a href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/04/05/Veteran-UPI-foreign-correspondent-Henry-Shapiro-dead-at-84/2067670827600/">Henry Shapiro</a> of United Press, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_G._Hindus">Maurice Hindus</a>, a special correspondent for the <i>St. Louis Post Dispatch</i>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Winterton">Paul Winterton</a> of the BBC all described the flesh, human bones, hair, shoes, glass cases, and even gold bridgework they found in the dirt. Lawrence and Davis, who saw the same things the other reporters found, could not believe that they represented the remains of thousands. Though neither Lawrence nor Davis suggested it, it was obvious that they both believed that these items could have been placed in the sand by those who wished the reporters to believe that such things had happened there. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>. . . </b></p><p>Despite subsequent reports further confirming the disappearance of the Jews from cities and towns throughout Europe, Lawrence maintained his "built in skepticism" for a long time. If someone such as Lawrence, a seasoned reporter for the most important and influential American newspaper and one who had the chance to visit the site and talk with witnesses, remained so riddled with doubt, it is not surprising that the American public, which depended on the press to bring it the news, tenaciously clung to its skepticism. As we shall see, Lawrence was far from alone. In fact many of those in the highest and most powerful echelons of his profession maintained their skepticism for another year and a half.</p></blockquote><p>Lipstadt notes that <i>The New York Times</i> ran the story on page three, while other newspapers ran it on page one. She also notes that the <i>New York Journal-American</i> ran the United Press story by Henry Shapiro under the headline "100,000 Kiev Civilians Killed by Nazis: Wholesale Massacre Revealed."<br /></p><p>In the book <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buried_by_the_Times">Buried by the Times</a></i> (2005), Laurel Leff writes:</p><blockquote>Lawrence later wrote that he had doubted that "50,000 Jewish people had been murdered here," and got into "furious arguments" about how to report the story with CBS's Bill Downs, "who believed it all." . . . Lawrence was at the height of his frustration with the Moscow assignment. He had been begging his editors to transfer him for months. Just before he went to Babi Yar, he noted other Moscow correspondents' willingness to print unverified assertions and then to retract the claim in a subsequent story. "But, meanwhile, the damage of false reporting had been done," he wrote to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Leland_James">[Edwin L.] James</a>.</blockquote><p>Lawrence reflected in 1972 that "Babi Yar was the first site of an alleged atrocity that I had ever visited, and my skeptical mind simply rejected claims that more than 50,000 Jewish people had been murdered here."</p><p>He recounted one instance in which reporters and foreign dignitaries were taken in January 1944 to the site of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_massacre">Katyn massacre</a>, where 22,000 Polish officers and prisoners of war were murdered in a series of mass executions. Soviet authorities blamed the Germans, who had discovered the site a year earlier and sought to use it for their own propaganda purposes. It took decades before the Russian government admitted that the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NKVD">NKVD</a> had committed the executions in 1940. However, in a <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2014/10/1943-soviet-officials-deny.html">report</a> in April 1943, Downs relayed the Soviet denial published in <i>Pravda</i> after the Germans uncovered the site. He described the German announcement as "the latest gory German propaganda," and said that "the German story of this crime has too many holes in it to be believed."</p><p>Lawrence wrote that he ultimately concluded that the Germans had committed the atrocities at Katyn, but said that the evidence was contradictory. The manner of execution pointed toward the Soviets, but the postmortem handling of the victims was characteristic of the Nazis in 1941—the year that the murders had taken place, according to Soviet officials who denied responsibility.</p><p>Lawrence wrote that "all my skepticism about war crimes and atrocities vanished" after visiting the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majdanek_concentration_camp">Majdanek</a> concentration and extermination camp that had been operated in Poland by the Nazis until its liberation in July 1944. He described, in graphic detail, what he called "the most terrible place on the face of the earth" in an article published on August 30, 1944 titled "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1944/08/30/archives/nazi-mass-killing-laid-bare-in-camp-victims-put-at-1500000-in-huge.html">Nazi Mass Killing Laid Bare in Camp</a>." He wrote:</p><blockquote>This is a place that must be seen to be believed. I have been present at numerous atrocity investigations in the Soviet Union, but never have I been confronted with such complete evidence, clearly establishing every allegation made by those investigating German crimes.<p>After inspection of Maidanek, I am now prepared to believe any story of German atrocities, no matter how savage, cruel and depraved.</p></blockquote><p>
Many news outlets were deeply insufficient in their reporting on the atrocities against Jews. Lipstadt writes that "as late as 1944 eyewitness accounts, particularly those of survivors, were not considered irrefutable evidence even if they came from independent sources and corroborated one another. The press often categorized them as prejudiced or exaggerated." She quotes Kenneth McCaleb, the war editor of the <i>New York Daily Mirror</i>, who said that foreigners were seen as having an "axe to grind" against the Germans.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Downs' Experience<br /></span></p><p>Bill Downs, for his part, was greatly affected by what he had seen in the year he spent in Moscow. <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Murrow_Boys.html?id=AotZAAAAMAAJ">Cloud and Olson (1996)</a> write that Downs told friends upon his return home that "coming back . . . is something like stepping out of a
St. Valentine's Day massacre into a Sunday school classroom." They quote a <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/01/1943-downs-writes-home-from-russia.html">letter to his parents</a> in which he said that "I've seen more bodies
than I care to remember." In a 1946 manuscript, Downs wrote:<br /></p><p></p><blockquote>When
I returned to the United States from Soviet Russia early in 1944 I
recounted what I had seen at Babi Yar. It received mixed reaction.
People would look at me curiously. Obviously I had been taken in by
Russian propaganda. My friends expressed pity. Others called me a liar.
In fact, one fanatic <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2014/12/1944-fbi-report-on-angry-letter.html">wrote me a post card</a> charging me with being a Russian agent and threatening my life.<br /><br />This
was, you remember, before we had landed in France. It was before we had
uncovered the horror and brutality of Buchenwald, Belsen, and Dachau.
But we saw what we saw. And I suppose skepticism over facts so horrible,
details so stomach-wrenching, was not an unnatural reaction to the
sheltered, inexperienced minds at home.<br /><p style="text-align: center;"><b>. . . </b></p>The
story of Babi Yar is an important story. A story which the world should
remember in the coming days as our statesmen attempt to lay the
foundations of peace. The mortar for this foundation is mixed with the
blood of millions of people—American soldiers and the soldiers of a
dozen other of our Allies. The blood let at Babi Yar also is in this
foundation.</blockquote><p></p>While accompanying the British Second Army on its advance toward Germany, Downs lamented the doubt and indifference in another <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2014/10/1944-battle-fatigue.html">letter to his parents</a> dated October 21, 1944:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We are beginning to run into the old atrocity stories again. I tried to tell them in Russia, but no one paid any attention. Now we are finding the same Nazi prisons, the same torture weapons<span class="st">—</span>with some improvements<span class="st">—</span>and the same sad stories of persecution, execution and privation by Hitler's bad boys. I don't suppose anyone will believe these stories either, although we collect and print enough evidence to hang the whole German army.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It seems that the Presbyterian mind of the average American cannot accept the fact that any group of people can coolly sit down and decide to torture thousands of people. And if torture isn't enough, then to kill them as calmly as an ordinary person would swat a fly. This refusal to believe these facts is probably the greatest weapon the Nazis have . . . and it will operate in the post-war judgment of the Germans, wait and see. All of us more or less normal people will throw up our hands in horror even at the prosecution of the guilty<span class="st">—</span>because there are so many guilty that we again will think that we are carrying on a pogrom when actually it is only making the Nazis pay for their crimes.<br />
<br />
Unless it can be brought home as to what the Germans have done in Europe<span class="st">—</span>the cruelty and ruthlessness and bestial killings and emasculations and dismemberment that has gone on<span class="st">—</span>well, I'm afraid that we'll be too soft on them.</blockquote><p>His disillusionment had only hardened by the end of the war. Cloud and Olson recount that, after visiting Auschwitz in 1945, Downs told friends he felt like shooting the first German he saw, and later said: "By the time the war ended, all our idealism was gone. . . . Our crusade had been won, but our white horses had been shot out from under us."</p><p>Several <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babi_Yar_memorials">memorials</a> have been erected in the decades since the Babyn Yar massacres, including one dedicated in 1991 to the Jewish victims fifty years after the first killings took place.
</p></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1C8wIDNTVeA/WmthXeeF6WI/AAAAAAAAFQY/XhExi4gqrRocvKjStKLqGwY2Ds-wvWBiwCLcBGAs/s1600/menorah%2Bmonument%2B1991.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="840" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1C8wIDNTVeA/WmthXeeF6WI/AAAAAAAAFQY/XhExi4gqrRocvKjStKLqGwY2Ds-wvWBiwCLcBGAs/s640/menorah%2Bmonument%2B1991.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Menorah monument in Kyiv, Ukraine dedicated to the Jewish victims of the Babyn Yar massacres (<a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g294474-d613393-i214007295-Babi_Yar_Memorial-Kiev.html">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Notes</b><br />
<br />
* The first two photographs are from Bill Downs' personal papers. The Russian-language captions were taken from notes taped to the back of each photo. The English captions include more detail and are thus not intended to be direct translations. The original captions are below.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>First photo:</b><br />
<br />
Оставшиеся в живых
свидетели массовых казней десятков тысяч мирных жителей, совершенных
немцами в окрестности Киева "Бабий яр". На снимке /слева направо/
Вилкис, Островский и давыдовю.<i><br /> </i><br />
<i>Фото А. Иоселевич </i><br />
<i>№ 8717 Сибфотосарвис</i><br />
<br />
<b>Second photo:</b><br />
<i> </i><br />
"Бабий яр", где проводились немцами массовые расстрелы мирых жителей.<br />
<br />
<i>Фото А. Иоселевич</i><br />
<i>№ 8717 Сибфотосарвис</i></blockquote>
This post was originally published in 2013. It previously included Lawrence's account as told in his memoir, rather than the <i>Times</i> article. That excerpt can be read <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/p/bill-lawrences-1972-account-of-babyn.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>References</b></div><div><b> </b></div><div>Cloud, Stanley; Olson, Lynne. <i><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Murrow_Boys.html?id=AotZAAAAMAAJ">The Murrow Boys</a>: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism</i>. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996), pp. 195-196, 235.<b><br /></b></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><div>Downs, Bill. "Blood at Babii Yar: Kiev's Atrocity Story," <i>Newsweek</i>, December 6, 1943, p. 22. Accessible at: <a href="https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1943-12-06_22_23/page/22/mode/1up">https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1943-12-06_22_23/page/22/mode/1up</a>.</div><div> </div><div>Downs, Bill. <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/01/1943-downs-writes-home-from-russia.html">Correspondence from Bill Downs to his parents</a>, April 8, 1943. <a href="https://findingaids.library.georgetown.edu/repositories/15/resources/12189">William R. Downs Papers</a>, Booth Family Center for Special Collections, Georgetown University Library, Washington, D.C.</div><div><br /></div><div>Downs, Bill. <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2014/10/1944-battle-fatigue.html">Correspondence from Bill Downs to his parents</a>, October 21, 1944. William R. Downs Papers.</div><div> </div><div></div><div>Downs, Bill. <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2014/09/1943-war-correspondents-vs-soviet.html">Correspondence from Bill Downs to John Desmond</a>, December 26, 1951. William R. Downs Papers.
</div><div><br />
Lawrence, Bill. "50,000 Kiev Jews Reportedly Killed," <i>The New York Times</i>, November 29, 1943, p. 3. Accessible at: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1943/11/29/archives/50000-kiev-jews-reported-killed-soviet-atrocity-group-hears-nazis.html">https://www.nytimes.com/1943/11/29/archives/50000-kiev-jews-reported-killed-soviet-atrocity-group-hears-nazis.html</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Lawrence, Bill. "Nazi Mass Killing Laid Bare in Camp," <i>The New York Times</i>, August 30, 1944, pp. 1, 9. Accessible at: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1944/08/30/archives/nazi-mass-killing-laid-bare-in-camp-victims-put-at-1500000-in-huge.html">https://www.nytimes.com/1944/08/30/archives/nazi-mass-killing-laid-bare-in-camp-victims-put-at-1500000-in-huge.html</a>.<br />
<br />
Lawrence, Bill. <i>Six Presidents, Too Many Wars</i>. (New York: Saturday Review Press, 1972), pp. 91-100. Accessible at: <a href="https://archive.org/details/sixpresidentstoo00lawr">https://archive.org/details/sixpresidentstoo00lawr</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://camd.northeastern.edu/faculty/laurel-leff/">Leff, Laurel</a>. <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buried_by_the_Times">Buried by the Times</a>: The Holocaust and America's Most Important Newspaper</i>. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 172.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Lipstadt">Lipstadt, Deborah E.</a> <i>Beyond Belief: The American Press and the Coming of the Holocaust, 1933-1945</i>. (New York: Free Press, 1985), pp. 244-248. Accessible at: <a href="https://archive.org/details/beyondbeliefthea00lips/">https://archive.org/details/beyondbeliefthea00lips</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://works.bepress.com/joan-peterson/about/">Peterson, Joan</a>. "Iterations of Babi Yar." <i>Journal of Ecumenical Studies</i>. September 22, 2011. The Free Library. Accessible at: <a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Iterations+of+Babi+Yar.-a0278400312">https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Iterations+of+Babi+Yar.-a0278400312</a>.</div></div></div>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-45876002043727416962024-01-26T15:11:00.000-05:002024-01-26T15:11:26.493-05:00"The Last Flower" by James Thurber<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Last Flower</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vMutpSe6NbQ/VorLKAGCV8I/AAAAAAAACq0/r8ueD8U7j-w/s1600/thelastflower.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vMutpSe6NbQ/VorLKAGCV8I/AAAAAAAACq0/r8ueD8U7j-w/s640/thelastflower.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
This anti-war parable by James Thurber was published in November 1939, two months after the start of World War II. Click on the images to enlarge.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MY_RXbJdkws/VorKccIhXVI/AAAAAAAACog/nZGXp5NHkQY/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MY_RXbJdkws/VorKccIhXVI/AAAAAAAACog/nZGXp5NHkQY/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-001.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vkBR9FJLWd0/VorKcD8NoNI/AAAAAAAACoY/96LNaJI2Nm4/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-002.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vkBR9FJLWd0/VorKcD8NoNI/AAAAAAAACoY/96LNaJI2Nm4/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-002.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v0ngEA_JBtk/VorKcAj-i8I/AAAAAAAACoc/6jVSjjhpwco/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-003.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v0ngEA_JBtk/VorKcAj-i8I/AAAAAAAACoc/6jVSjjhpwco/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-003.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CFFU9LGzCJo/VorKchrYaDI/AAAAAAAACok/zz_PpIZBTIs/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-004.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CFFU9LGzCJo/VorKchrYaDI/AAAAAAAACok/zz_PpIZBTIs/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-004.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u7LiO1ZZmsA/VorKclIhRZI/AAAAAAAACoo/RN9V7_8Og5E/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-005.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u7LiO1ZZmsA/VorKclIhRZI/AAAAAAAACoo/RN9V7_8Og5E/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-005.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MLhNw6rxt8A/VorKcoLOIaI/AAAAAAAACos/h8YcmHYen04/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-006.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MLhNw6rxt8A/VorKcoLOIaI/AAAAAAAACos/h8YcmHYen04/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-006.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YR0l3LasSGY/VorKc9geP2I/AAAAAAAACo0/Z_VPUu3-dGQ/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-007.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YR0l3LasSGY/VorKc9geP2I/AAAAAAAACo0/Z_VPUu3-dGQ/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-007.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9W2BCbMl9es/VorKdCsHy1I/AAAAAAAACpE/qEDWEt_sJ7Y/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-008.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9W2BCbMl9es/VorKdCsHy1I/AAAAAAAACpE/qEDWEt_sJ7Y/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-008.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bE03a4SILr8/VorKdNoveFI/AAAAAAAACpA/p2lmleD6ksk/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-009.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bE03a4SILr8/VorKdNoveFI/AAAAAAAACpA/p2lmleD6ksk/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-009.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XEsQ2XKjRGg/VorKdaS8QCI/AAAAAAAACpI/b0WEBCqyvtc/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-010.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XEsQ2XKjRGg/VorKdaS8QCI/AAAAAAAACpI/b0WEBCqyvtc/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-010.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jm9-TJheiw4/VorKeFFWZeI/AAAAAAAACpU/IQNadTyaJTs/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-011.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jm9-TJheiw4/VorKeFFWZeI/AAAAAAAACpU/IQNadTyaJTs/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-011.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mw0Xh93reb8/VorKeRhuzCI/AAAAAAAACpo/_3HzqCIuHdA/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-012.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mw0Xh93reb8/VorKeRhuzCI/AAAAAAAACpo/_3HzqCIuHdA/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-012.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LKCRN1Yo3ak/VorKeZeq2LI/AAAAAAAACpg/jxtsIO59j_E/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-013.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LKCRN1Yo3ak/VorKeZeq2LI/AAAAAAAACpg/jxtsIO59j_E/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-013.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZG_APuuxuF4/VorKeU_eHwI/AAAAAAAACpk/hhw1FZU-2IE/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-014.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZG_APuuxuF4/VorKeU_eHwI/AAAAAAAACpk/hhw1FZU-2IE/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-014.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mlaVsVHT0Y4/VorKeyf-OzI/AAAAAAAACpw/fd2hL3twaCc/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-015.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mlaVsVHT0Y4/VorKeyf-OzI/AAAAAAAACpw/fd2hL3twaCc/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-015.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ULnU1MM0Et0/VorKe2s4RuI/AAAAAAAACp0/9_FGtIo8kww/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-016.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ULnU1MM0Et0/VorKe2s4RuI/AAAAAAAACp0/9_FGtIo8kww/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-016.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gN-aGYz08a8/VorKfODFyTI/AAAAAAAACp4/3jWmxDY3dLU/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-017.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gN-aGYz08a8/VorKfODFyTI/AAAAAAAACp4/3jWmxDY3dLU/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-017.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0AqnDRPJBC4/VorKfW0xUXI/AAAAAAAACqM/WJxiE-vFV9Y/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-018.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0AqnDRPJBC4/VorKfW0xUXI/AAAAAAAACqM/WJxiE-vFV9Y/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-018.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R6IhZ18pbLM/VorKfeBvZiI/AAAAAAAACqQ/Y9LK1TM_kxk/s1600/thurberlastflower-page-019.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R6IhZ18pbLM/VorKfeBvZiI/AAAAAAAACqQ/Y9LK1TM_kxk/s1100/thurberlastflower-page-019.jpg" /></a></div>
KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-33189432115935403262024-01-24T15:35:00.001-05:002024-01-24T15:40:22.718-05:001943. The Aftermath in Stalingrad<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Reporters Visit Stalingrad After the German Surrender<br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nizjJrtaRRE/WYhlCm_BWnI/AAAAAAAAEnE/_xRSkLD2Asoz_eyi_tC7WSQ6thX9zPcwQCLcBGAs/s1600/Stalingrad%2B1942%2B-%2BArkady%2BShaikhet.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1075" data-original-width="1600" height="430" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nizjJrtaRRE/WYhlCm_BWnI/AAAAAAAAEnE/_xRSkLD2Asoz_eyi_tC7WSQ6thX9zPcwQCLcBGAs/s640/Stalingrad%2B1942%2B-%2BArkady%2BShaikhet.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soviet soldiers on the roof of a factory shop in Stalingrad in 1942 (Photo by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkady_Shaikhet">Arkady Shaikhet</a> – <a href="http://waralbum.ru/316841/">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Bill Downs <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/05/1943-complete-moscow-broadcasts.html">first arrived</a> in the Soviet Union to cover the Eastern Front on December 25, 1942. He and other foreign correspondents were taken to see Stalingrad shortly after the German surrender there in February 1943.<br />
<br />
During their long journey, the group came across Axis commanders in Soviet captivity, including Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, whose 6th Army had just been encircled and defeated. The press group then entered the city, where they passed bodies strewn along the streets and came across the wreckage at Mamayev Kurgan, the site of some of the worst fighting of the Battle of Stalingrad.<br />
<br />
Recalling the experience,
Downs <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2014/06/1943-aftermath-in-stalingrad.html">said</a>: "There are sights and sounds and smells in and around
Stalingrad that make you want to weep, and make you want to shout and
make you just plain sick to your stomach."<br />
<br />
This text has been adapted from a script cabled to CBS in New York. The passages in parentheses were <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2014/09/1943-war-correspondents-vs-soviet.html">censored by Soviet officials</a> for military security or propaganda reasons.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Bill Downs</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>CBS Moscow</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>February 8, 1943</b><br />
<br />
The Foreign Office press department summoned the foreign press corps with a mysterious 6 p.m. phone call. They informed us we were leaving for Stalingrad at 8 a.m. the next morning. The trip was extremely hush-hush, although it had been announced that fighting had ceased in Stalingrad the day before. We were warned to dress warmly and take five days' worth of food.<br />
<br />
I rushed back to the hotel and collected hard boiled eggs, a slab of smoked fish, sugar, two loaves of bread, and most important of all, a liter of vodka, which is Russia's most important personal antifreeze.<br />
<br />
The next morning I dressed with three pairs of wool socks under fur boots, two pairs of wool underwear, a wool shirt, two sweaters, a ski jacket, a fur hat, and a fur coat—and I was among the lightest dressed in the party. Someone told me it was a mild winter.<br />
<br />
The five hour plane trip in a comfortable Douglas transport was spent recalling hundreds of stories of Stalingrad's four and a half months of concentrated hell, which was worse than Coventry's, Rotterdam's, Warsaw's, or London's—anything Hitler had been able to do to cities opposing him.<br />
<br />
The Douglas landed at an obscure little airfield 50 miles north of Stalingrad on steppes which looked like the Texas panhandle or Dakota plains buttered with about three feet of snow. The biting northwest wind of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalmyk_Steppe">Kalmyk Steppe</a> made me look down at my legs to see whether I was not wearing a bathing suit.<br />
<br />
The airfield was a former fighter-bomber base located in the area where the northern arm of the Red Army's tremendous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Uranus">encirclement</a> of west Stalingrad started. We sheltered in a group of a half dozen peasant farmhouses which formed a tractor station for the surrounding wheat country.<br />
<br />
We wondered how in the hell the Russians were able to concentrate an offensive army in these treeless, hill-less steppes without German reconnaissance discovering their striking power. That's mystery number one—or mistake number one—which was one of the major factors for the German defeat at Stalingrad.<br />
<br />
At nightfall we headed southward to another peasant farm village where we were liberally fed and tried to warm our freezing hands and feet, to the amusement of Red Army men and women who were interested in foreigners.<br />
<br />
We traveled by bus some 60 miles to a point 35 miles directly west of Stalingrad, where the next day we were taken to the headquarters of the commander of the Stalingrad front, Colonel General <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantin_Rokossovsky">Konstantin Rokossovsky</a>, who now takes a place as one of the great generals of history. Rokossovsky passed us en route to Moscow, where he went to the Kremlin to be awarded the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Suvorov">Order of Suvorov</a> for Stalingrad. We herded into a small peasant house where chairs were lined up like in a classroom, with desks in the corner and a map on the wall.<br />
<br />
In walked a medium-sized Red Army general, his breast lined with several medals, dressed in a simple uniform on which the Red Army's new epaulets had yet to be sewn. He is Lieutenant General <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Malinin">Mikhail Malinin</a>, chief of staff for the Stalingrad front and one of the men responsible for putting into operation plans for the encirclement of the German <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Army_(Wehrmacht)">6th Army</a>.<br />
<br />
Malinin looked 35, square-faced with hair in a short pompadour which stuck up like a schoolboy's. The only sign of age was the sprinkling of gray hairs around the temples. He picked up a stick with which to point to the map. He looked as out of place standing at the front of that schoolroom as a schoolteacher would have looked in a front-line Stalingrad trench.<br />
<br />
Malinin started speaking slowly and deliberately and explained that he wanted to outline briefly the details of the Red Army's encirclement movement where it started.<br />
<br />
"Hitler sent his best troops—the German 6th Army—against Stalingrad, containing his crack infantry, tank, and motorized divisions," he said. Continuing in the same matter-of-fact tone, he said that as German forces moved toward the Volga, they created for themselves a sort of second front on the northern flank, "and the task of the defenders was not to give up the city."</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uODUhTBv7DQ/WYR8wZKLJGI/AAAAAAAAEmQ/EKMVOUfrNcI47Igt6aJOrzCAtQx8QXhJwCLcBGAs/s1600/red%2Barmy%2Bsoldiers%2Bsteppe.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1038" data-original-width="1600" height="414" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uODUhTBv7DQ/WYR8wZKLJGI/AAAAAAAAEmQ/EKMVOUfrNcI47Igt6aJOrzCAtQx8QXhJwCLcBGAs/s640/red%2Barmy%2Bsoldiers%2Bsteppe.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red Army soldiers on the Stalingrad front patrol the snow-covered steppes (<a href="http://waralbum.ru/238932/">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Malinin has been in three wars—in addition to the Russian Civil War and the Finnish War, he fought on the Moscow and Smolensk fronts in this war. He formerly was on the faculty of a Red Army military school.<br />
<br />
(Malinin said that "Russian resistance forced the Germans to continually send up reinforcements. During the month of October and the first part of November was the fiercest fighting. The Germans continued to pour in huge reinforcements. But by the middle of November there was a certain equilibrium of strength. The Soviet High Command took advantage of its own forces at this time and ordered an offensive aimed at destroying both the Stalingrad and Don front troops of the enemy.")<br />
<br />
(This certain equilibrium which Malinin referred to represented the greatest fighting retreat in the history of warfare. It was one place where the Red Army for the first time definitely stopped an Axis advance on the southern sector of the Russian front since the Axis <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kiev_(1941)">invaded Kiev</a> eighteen months earlier.)<br />
<br />
Malinin then explained the great pincer movement (which launched simultaneously on November 19 one hundred miles northwest and some distance southeast of Stalingrad. This blow was so well-timed that in the first four days the northern and southern forces each advanced 55 miles on schedule, and the threat of encirclement became evident.)<br />
<br />
Malinin said "the German High Command apparently was unconcerned because they evidently planned to bring up a powerful group of reinforcements from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotelnikovo,_Volgograd_Oblast">Kotelnikovo</a> anyway. However, the genius of this plan directed by Joseph Stalin foresaw this and even predicted that the Germans would attempt to relieve the group. Thus the Red Army prepared for it. The Germans did just what we thought they would do. They were engaged and routed at Kotelnikovo. We captured the original <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Paulus">Paulus</a> order to commanders not to receive Red Army emissaries who advanced under white flag to present an ultimatum. This order specified that this peace delegation was to be fired upon—the exact translation read 'to see emissaries off the premises with fire.'"<br />
<br />
Malinin said that American and British equipment played very little part in the Battle of Stalingrad. "We had a small number of British tanks—Churchill tanks—but not enough to take into consideration when reckoning the entire offensive. Where they were used, they stood up well under test. No American tanks or planes were used in the battle. There were some American Dodge trucks, but they don't shoot."<br />
<br />
The interviews ended and we filed out of headquarters feeling like we had just taken a college examination for a master's degree in history.<br />
<br />
However, the Red Army moves fast, and they took us to a nearby village with a dozen or so scattered unpainted houses around which they posted heavy guard. The conducting Red Army colonel motioned us inside one house. There we found four German generals sitting around a table looking at each other, one in a sweater and the other three in full regalia. In the next room were four others standing and looking out the window, and sitting in the corner looking despondent was woebegone General [Romulus] Dimitriu, the onetime glorified Romanian general.<br />
<br />
The Germans in the first room got politely to their feet, smiling sheepishly. These men were Hitler's super-generals, leading super-Aryans against an inferior tribe. The only sign of their "super-ness" now were the magnificent decorations of iron crosses displayed on their uniforms like pictures on a gallery wall.<br />
<br />
The German generals of the first group included [Otto] Renoldi, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmuth_Schl%C3%B6mer">Schlömer</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich-Anton_Deboi">Deboi</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Edler_von_Daniels">Von Daniels</a>. All fought in the last war and are damn proud of it. We were whisked through the room and had little chance to question them, but when they heard we were American correspondents, Schlömer and Renoldi began long conversations about how they like cigarettes of the American type and had used up their ration of Russian cigarettes. Not a single reporter responded to their hint to give them a smoke. I believe if anyone had, he would have been tackled by the entire press corps when we got outside. These generals were getting a Red Army officer's rations according to the Hague Convention, which is too much considering the kind of rats they are.<br />
<br />
In the next room <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moritz_von_Drebber">Von Drebber</a>, who looks more like a college professor than a military man, dominated the group which included such nasty types as [Hans] Wulz, who is a small, bald-headed, potbellied Prussian who only managed to squeeze out an unenthusiastic "Heil."<br />
<br />
Von Drebber, six feet four inches tall, was asked what primary factors led to his defeat. He drew himself up and politely replied: "The Russians struck from the north and south—we were simply sitting in the middle. We were surrounded, cut off with no munitions and no food."<br />
<br />
We tried again asking why they didn't try to break out of encirclement. Von Drebber said: "At one time we could have broken the ring—but you will have to ask Marshal Paulus about questions of strategy."<br />
<br />
He was asked if he had Hitler's permission to surrender. Von Drebber said: "I was ordered by Paulus to hold until I pushed back to a certain line. When I reached that line I surrendered."</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7bF648vmTzA/WYNEJTAti8I/AAAAAAAAElw/b5dXMD1ygy8JeVDexsrW5MpCHI4hIJ1wACLcBGAs/s1600/paulus%2Bsurrender%2Bjanuary%2B31%2B1943.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1086" data-original-width="1600" height="434" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7bF648vmTzA/WYNEJTAti8I/AAAAAAAAElw/b5dXMD1ygy8JeVDexsrW5MpCHI4hIJ1wACLcBGAs/s640/paulus%2Bsurrender%2Bjanuary%2B31%2B1943.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Field Marshal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Paulus">Friedrich Paulus</a>, commander of the Wehrmacht <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Army_(Wehrmacht)">6th Army</a>, and his adjutant <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Adam">Wilhelm Adam</a> (left) are escorted to the Soviet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7th_Guards_Army_(Soviet_Union)">64th Army</a> headquarters following the German surrender at Stalingrad, January 31, 1943 (<a href="http://waralbum.ru/49566/">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Then we asked Wulz, who is an artillery general, how Russian artillery compared to German artillery. He made a whining, inconsequential answer that "every army has good and bad guns, good and bad artillery—that's how it is with the Russian and German armies."<br />
<br />
Schlömer, who was stationed in another house, said however: "The Red Army fought well everywhere we met them."<br />
<br />
But the most revealing statements came from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-J%C3%BCrgen_von_Arnim">Von Arnim</a> and [Fritz] Roske. Roske was asked how the Russians broke them down. Von Arnim interrupted: "That question is badly put. You should ask how we managed to hold out under such conditions."<br />
<br />
Roske ignored Von Arnim's remark with a brief statement: "Hunger, cold, and lack of munitions."<br />
<br />
However, the Russian colonel was anxious to show us the Red Army's prize exhibit and rushed us to a small farmhouse sitting apart from the others. We gathered outside around the doorway while a grinning Mongolian soldier—definitely non-Aryan—looked down on us.<br />
<br />
The door opened and out came Paulus, poker-faced except for a tic which spasmodically twitched from eye to mouth on the right side of his face. He is 53 but looked 65, his face lined and yellowish—almost the same yellowish color of the frozen corpses of men he left lying in gutters in Stalingrad.<br />
<br />
Accompanying him was his personal aide, Colonel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Adam">Adam</a>, a flat-faced Teuton who looked like a slightly overweight ball of concentrated Nazism, and Paulus' chief of staff, General <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Schmidt_(soldier)">Schmidt</a>, who looked like he'd be happier running a Berlin butcher shop. All men were dressed in fur caps pulled down over their ears against the subzero cold. Paulus answered only two questions, which he appeared to do with effort. He said his first name was Friedrich and that he is 53.<br />
<br />
The standing and gazing captured Nazis in those overheated peasant houses, as well as that bare peasant yard where Paulus was held, gave the same feeling one gets when looking in a snake pit at a zoo. But the obvious comparison that strikes when looking at German officers and German soldiers is that the officers are always well-clad while the soldiers are just the opposite. And standing there in that obscure peasant village, these much decorated gold-braided groups of Nazi bigwigs reminded you of a flock of sad-eyed peacocks standing with distaste in a hen run.<br />
<br />
The conducting colonel loaded us into drafty buses for a 60 mile trip to Stalingrad. By nightfall the temperature dropped to 40 below, and we started out on a twelve hour, all night trip through snow to Stalingrad.<br />
<br />
We would have made the trip sooner when we ran into a Russian supply column moving westward from Stalingrad toward new battlefields. There was a long black line of soldiers, horses, mobile kitchens, guns, and cars. It was an unbelievable sight out there in the steppes to come upon so many people slowly moving along the snow-choked road. But the most unbelievable of all was the sight of camels pulling sledges in three feet of snow.<br />
<br />
As we made our way slowly along the road against traffic, a curious Red Army man came up to our bus, looked in, grinned and asked: "Deutschen Soldaten?"<br />
<br />
When we explained we were Americans he immediately called all his comrades and soon there was a great crowd around our bus. We passed out cigarettes and someone made a speech with the general theme of friendship between the Soviet Union and the United States. Russians will make a speech at the drop of the hat, but it gave you a warm feeling overcoming even the steppe temperatures to get such a demonstration of friendship at two o'clock in the morning in the swirling snow and wind 30 miles east of Stalingrad on the world's bloodiest battlefield.<br />
<br />
We arrived in Stalingrad at about 4 a.m. The driver seemed anxious to get there. We drove around for two hours. The only thing in sight were the dark ruins where we spotted fires which sentries cluttered around to keep warm.<br />
<br />
Our driver finally pulled up to one of these fires, and when he got out he was crying. Our interpreter explained that the driver had once lived in Stalingrad and had not been back to the city since the battle. "He can't find any street that he knows," the interpreter explained. "He hasn't yet recognized a house."<br />
<br />
This is because there were no houses. The streets were just auto tracks over ruins up and down through bombshell holes. This was the Red October factory district, parts of which changed hands a half dozen times during the fighting.<br />
<br />
As the sun came up the scene of devastation was so great it made a lump in your throat. This was the worker's factory district's small homes. These homes were absolutely flat. Not even a gracious blanket of snow could cover the destruction they suffered.<br />
<br />
Characteristic of all bombings I have seen in Britain, one of the most indestructible items of furniture in any home is the iron bedstead. It is the same in Stalingrad. The grave of every home is marked by charred headpieces of beds sticking up like tombstones over what was a peaceful home. Occasionally one could mark where a street once existed by looking closely at poles sticking six or seven feet out of the ground. These once were telephone poles which stuck ten to twelve feet up. Now they looked like blasted trees.<br />
<br />
Sentries told us that, believe it or not, some civilians holed up in their basements and stuck through the whole bombardment. These included some women who did washing and cooking for the Red Army.<br />
<br />
What these people suffered cannot even be imagined. When they were without food, they were forced to forage and risk bombshells. Horse meat was considered a delicacy, and sometimes bread. But they stuck through it, although many are not there to tell their story.</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0PBlyynkF6g/WYRp6p1nmQI/AAAAAAAAEmI/a2oZK600a8EiJ7DLmKUp-I_CoGoorQpOQCLcBGAs/s1600/volga%2Bdugouts.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="980" data-original-width="1450" height="432" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0PBlyynkF6g/WYRp6p1nmQI/AAAAAAAAEmI/a2oZK600a8EiJ7DLmKUp-I_CoGoorQpOQCLcBGAs/s640/volga%2Bdugouts.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soldiers of the Soviet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/62nd_Army_(Soviet_Union)">62nd Army</a> walk past dugouts constructed on the banks of the Volga, 1942 (<a href="http://waralbum.ru/45275/">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
At daybreak we were directed to the headquarters of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/62nd_Army_(Soviet_Union)">62nd Army</a>, which is credited for saving the city of Stalingrad. The headquarters is built into the side of a western bluff on the Volga near the bottom of a hundred foot high clay cliff. We were led up this cliff to dugouts—<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zemlyanka">zemlyankas</a>—small timber-roofed caves dug into the side of the cliff from where the Red Army held the Germans from establishing themselves on the bank of Russia's greatest river. Just three days earlier the Germans had been only 300 yards away from my zemlyanka. But I slept well—they are now fighting on a line 200 miles away.<br />
<br />
Rising above the Volga bluff is Stalingrad's famous Hill 102, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamayev_Kurgan">Mamayev Kurgan</a>, which the Germans held and placed heavy artillery. The hill commands a view of the entire city as well as the Volga, over which the Red Army's vital supply lines are held. The summit of Mamayev Kurgan is only about a quarter mile from the Volga, and between it and the river are the Red October and Red Barricades factories. Beyond these plants is the high Volga bank wherein zemlyankas are located. This is where some of the bitterest fighting occurred.<br />
<br />
We walked single file along a narrow path through the factory. There was little need to remind us the factory was mined, as every minute or so there was a shattering explosion of rock wreckage in a nearby district which Red Army sappers were de-mining.<br />
<br />
The Red October factory once made steel for tractors and farm implements. With the war it switched over to tank armaments. After the Battle of Stalingrad the whole plant is now simply a junk heap. The Germans took almost the entire building after it was mercilessly shelled and bombed flat. The only portions of the factory still standing are extremely heavy girders which once held cranes. All other buildings are flat. There literally was not a piece of sheet iron roofing or shovel or piece of metal sticking four inches above ground which didn't have bullet shrapnel or fragment holes through it.<br />
<br />
It was in this factory that we saw our first German dead. They were lying at the bottom of a large bomb crater with only their bare feet sticking up. Most of Red October's bodies had been cleaned up earlier.<br />
<br />
The de-mined path through the factory led across wreckage and craters. We passed a German dugout in perfectly good condition, clean and well-kept. Beside it stood a sentry, and a sign on the door warned: "Keep Away—This Booby Trap."<br />
<br />
The path ended at the most forward-line trenches the Germans held at the factory. These lines are on a small hill facing another factory building which still had two walls standing. The Russians held positions in the factory building which I paced, measuring twelve yards. It was here that some brilliant conversations between warring men occurred. This Russian factory position once manufactured consumer goods. Red Army men did their fighting here among dishpans, skillets, and shovels that littered the floor.</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-paInSVpgxeY/WYS2jHdi2UI/AAAAAAAAEms/a-LGxpgAGMUrM8YlaFSs5KGPTvR0z_cwwCLcBGAs/s1600/red-october.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="1197" height="426" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-paInSVpgxeY/WYS2jHdi2UI/AAAAAAAAEms/a-LGxpgAGMUrM8YlaFSs5KGPTvR0z_cwwCLcBGAs/s640/red-october.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soviet soldiers fighting in the destroyed Red October factory during the Battle of Stalingrad, January 1943 (<a href="http://waralbum.ru/181218/">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The only ordinary looking battlefield we saw was Mamayev Kurgan. This hill is terraced in a series of five foot shelves, and there was a recently planted apple orchard with young saplings about four feet high. There is absolutely no cover, and looking down it from German gun positions are trenches. It appeared that a single squad of machine gunners could hold against advancing infantry forces indefinitely.<br />
<br />
Correspondents had trouble even walking over the slick snow uphill in broad daylight. It is hard to imagine what it must have been like for the Soviet soldiers who only a few weeks earlier negotiated slopes under a hail of bullets, artillery shrapnel, and dive bombers. The only statement on the subject I could get from a former Red Army man was a private who grimly admitted: "It was tough."<br />
<br />
But once they took positions atop the first ridge a really tough job still awaited. The Germans for weeks held two almost impregnable fortresses atop the hill. They were two circular water tanks about ten feet apart. The tanks were about 50 feet in diameter, dug 30 feet into the ground with about 15 feet of reinforced concrete surfaces sticking above ground. Around the tops these Germans threw earth embankment, forming a shell-proof, bomb-proof position virtually impregnable—until the Red Army decided to take it.<br />
<br />
The battlefield before these two fortresses was like any battlefield of the First World War. There were wrecked tanks, smashed Russian and German helmets, empty shell case remnants, and smashed guns. There were bodies which had not yet been cleaned up. There were pieces of mortars, bombs, grenades, and strips of machine gun bullets.<br />
<br />
The Russians finally took position by digging trenches up to the fortresses and then launching an infantry assault from there. Tanks were no good, only bayonets, grenades, and Tommy guns were effective in the final clean-out.</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PQxc1cSI0X8/WYRvSAQTSsI/AAAAAAAAEmM/0PW4xzj_FToThgRZe8AbhFfFO6fuQ7UxgCLcBGAs/s1600/mamayev%2Bkurgan.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="827" data-original-width="1290" height="410" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PQxc1cSI0X8/WYRvSAQTSsI/AAAAAAAAEmM/0PW4xzj_FToThgRZe8AbhFfFO6fuQ7UxgCLcBGAs/s640/mamayev%2Bkurgan.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The southern part of the eastern slope of the hill <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamayev_Kurgan">Mamayev Kurgan</a> in Stalingrad in 1943 right after the battle. A destroyed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_UE_Chenillette">Renault UE Chenillette</a>, a French armored carrier used by the Wehrmacht, sits in the foreground (<a href="http://www.ww2incolor.com/soviet-union/mamayev.html">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But the greatest shock came when we entered the city of Stalingrad proper. The way Stalingrad is laid out is strip factory districts stretching northward along the Volga, with worker's districts connected by bus and streetcar lines. These settlements were marked by wreckage. Streetcars which ran between community centers now stood burned out, wrecked on what was left of their tracks. Store shops along Communist Street—which is the main highway connecting these settlements—now only had a few walls left. About every quarter mile on Communist Street the Germans built barricades eight feet high, consisting of two fences built five feet apart and filled in with dirt bricks and rubble from nearby houses.<br />
<br />
As we approached the city center with its modern buildings, there were more and more signs of increased fighting. Around the ground floor windows, many of which were sandbagged with apertures for machine guns, there were countless chinks made by bullets or holes made by shells.<br />
<br />
As we neared the town square called "Heroes of the Revolution" we could see bodies in doorways or behind barricades or lying on sidewalks. Fragments of letters and photographs from home, all written in German, littered streets—letters from Berlin and Hamburg starting out with "Mein Lieber Karl," or Heinrich or Heinz.<br />
<br />
There was not a single manhole in Stalingrad's streets with a cover. Germans and Russians not only used the city's basements, housetops, and alleys for battlegrounds, but the sewers as well. Snipers were known to crawl through sewers and come out behind German positions to create panic.<br />
<br />
You could almost arm a full division with equipment lying about Stalingrad's ruined streets. Grenades clutter gutters. Full machine gun belts lie across sidewalks, and mortars are a dime a dozen.<br />
<br />
Veterans of the Stalingrad fight said it was not uncommon to find Russian and German soldiers locked in each other's death grip during the height of the fighting. That was the way these two armies locked in the city of Stalingrad fought until the Red Army proved itself more powerful and skilled and brought the Wehrmacht to its knees.<br />
<br />
Returning to my zemlyanka after this trip through Stalingrad, I went to the headquarters kitchen to ask for a drink of water. The Red Army girl dipped some out of a bucket with a tin cup. The water was cold and clean and good, and I told her so: "Your vodka and wine are great but nothing is better than this water."<br />
<br />
She threw back her head and replied: "It ought to be. It's Volga water. It's got Russian blood in it."</blockquote>
KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-87657014559478610882024-01-19T18:56:00.000-05:002024-01-19T18:56:42.571-05:001945. Three Accounts of the Allied Crossing of the Rhine<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">War Correspondents Describe the Crossing of the Rhine</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjLifpgSuw4VHysorRLBp1iehTR2zvVt2OHhSNaQDqpcc_rM1EvYyaskgYug06ZQ0ubyd1EKxcMqtKIyjGZKxxV00Oy_ZFJX-Uuuhxr3VUQz9FoNj1W79I5wm_KqpzcGy1dG1CVt9apcfOl_xuV2yvuA7GTx3zmz5POJqX-blN_jee42vOHjYVEW11/s800/operation%20varsity%201945.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="800" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjLifpgSuw4VHysorRLBp1iehTR2zvVt2OHhSNaQDqpcc_rM1EvYyaskgYug06ZQ0ubyd1EKxcMqtKIyjGZKxxV00Oy_ZFJX-Uuuhxr3VUQz9FoNj1W79I5wm_KqpzcGy1dG1CVt9apcfOl_xuV2yvuA7GTx3zmz5POJqX-blN_jee42vOHjYVEW11/s800/operation%20varsity%201945.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"C-47 transport planes release hundreds of paratroops and their supplies over the Rees-Wesel area to the east of the Rhine," March 24, 1945 (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:C-47_transport_planes_release_hundreds_of_paratroops.jpg">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table>Bill Downs recounted these events in two separate broadcasts on <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2014/06/1945-operation-varsity.html">March 24</a> and <a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/07/1945-operation-plunder.html">March 25</a>.<br /><p>From <i>Newsweek</i>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1945-04-02_25_14/page/28/mode/2up">April 2, 1945</a>, pp. 28-29:</p><p></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Fighting Fronts: The Shattered Rhine and the Shattered Armies</span><br /></p><p><i>Three </i>Newsweek<i> correspondents covered the crossing of the Rhine: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/07/obituaries/albert-h-newman-74-editor-and-a-world-war-ii-reporter.html">Al Newman</a> with the British <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Army_(United_Kingdom)">Second Army</a>; <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-04-mn-1385-story.html">John Terrell</a> with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)">30th Division</a> of the American <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninth_United_States_Army">Ninth Army</a>; and Bill Downs of </i>Newsweek<i> and CBS, who flew with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/373rd_Fighter_Group">the fighters</a> escorting the airborne troops. Here are their stories. </i></p><p><b>Newman: Monty's Assault Ran Through a Barrage</b></p><p>It is 10 o'clock at night in the ancient Rhine town of Xanten, but in the towerless, battered church there is no clock to strike the hour. Tiny pinpricks of light and phosphorescent buttons mark a tortuous path through the ruined city. Long white fingers of light pointing horizontally eastward from the belt of searchlights 5 miles back of the Rhine zebra-stripe the heavens. This artificial moonlight augments a three-quarter moon in a cloudless sky. It is a soft spring night.</p><p>Since 6 p.m. a tremendous bombardment has thundered, blasted, and flashed in the flat country behind Xanten. In the marshaling areas around this town, where nearly 2,000 years ago Roman legionnaires stood guard against frequent raids across the river by barbarous German tribes, the Scots are now collecting for an assault in the other direction. In other sections, Buffaloes and Ducks await the word, for it is the night of March 23—an historic night for the Empire forces as well as for the American Ninth Army to the south.</p><p><b>Hell in a Dream World:</b> By midnight the whole countryside reeks of cordite, which mingles with a slight ground fog. The increasing traffic through Xanten has so stirred up the fine, powdery dust of rubble that I move in a dream world of ghastly white moonlight fog, peopled with Roman ghosts and wraithlike Scotsmen possessing burrs rough enough to sharpen a knife on and flat tin helmets with gardens of camouflage rags atop them. Finally when sanity seems to totter, the bombardment slackens at 12:30.</p><p>Though the Commandos crossed north of Wesel at 10 p.m., H Hour for us and for the Highlanders opposite Rees is 2 a.m. At 1:30 there's no incoming fire. Intense light-caliber covering fire abruptly begins. Streams of red tracers chase each other overhead and the din is positively inhuman as the heavy stuff comes awake again.</p><p>The deserted moonlit road from there to the river bloods over redly with the reflection of each tracer. The Scotties have done well by it despite the fact that it is not the main avenue of assault, for they've equipped its shoulders with foxholes every 15 yards and the fields beside it with slit trenches every 50. Progress through this hell of flickering death, replete with sound effects, crashes, whispers, screams, yowls, and whines, is a jack-in-the-box proposition, for now somewhere in the pandemonium is the sharp roar of a big incoming shell.</p><p>Two hundred yards ahead lies the river bank and it begins to take a real pounding from the Germans. The Nazi 105s star out the white flash of their deadly shrapnel pattern as they land one after another. Then they start to walk back toward your correspondent, and the earth of the slit trench feels cool and moist.</p><p>Fortunately the shells are just 200 yards too far south, for the line of gigantic dim shapes at that distance on my left as I face the river marks the final assembly of infantry-laden Buffaloes. At precisely 2 a.m. they growl forward and the modern Scots go into battle with squealing iron treads replacing skirling bagpipes.</p><p>At 2:10, four squat shapes appear on the water front where the Buffaloes are crawling down the shallow bank and then four brilliant searchlights mounted on tanks blaze out over the water. Through their glare one cannot see the waterborne amphibians and neither presumably can the Boche. They also serve as guide lines on the confusing river and illuminate the far bank for assault. The searchlights draw more fire but inaccurate fire—most of it around my slit trench. One shell crashes less than 25 yards away, and an iron rain patters into the surrounding earth. The shelling is so close that no scream but rather an instinctive sense warns one of the projectile a second before it hits. For 30 minutes it is a definite pindown during which only fools would leave cover. Yet through it all and for the balance of the night the line of crawling, snorting behemoths 200 yards to the left keeps moving to the water like a thirsty herd.<br /></p><p><b>Terrell: The Toughest and Gentlest Go First</b><br /></p><p>H Hour was 2 a.m., March 24.</p><p>Ten hours earlier I reached the extreme left flank of the Ninth Army, taking refuge in a partially wrecked building on the river bank. Artillery batteries both up and down the river were firing spasmodically. The late afternoon sun was brilliant. The river was 1,700 feet of wide blue water, the banks green with spring grass and flowers. Occasionally, as if aggravated by our constant shelling, a Jerry threw some 88s back. Cattle grazed placidly on a dike as shells from both sides swished above them. Suddenly there was a loud crack and a cow vanished in thin air.</p><p>My place of observation was formerly a high-class country inn with a beautiful river terrace. It was named, of all things, The Watch on the Rhine. I found prewar pictures of the place in what was left of the bar, showing couples dining in the sunset and dancing under the stars while excursion boats passed.<br /></p><p><b>Just Before the Battle:</b> As dusk settled over the river and the tree-fringed fields reaching away on either bank, our artillery fire began to increase. The moon was bright, and a peculiar, bluish light outlined the great trees along the lane leading into the inn and etched in sharp relief the shattered gables of the main building and stables. No man would be invisible on the river this night.</p><p>I had been lying on the floor in the first floor room while Nazi shells landed in the dooryard, but when they stopped I went into an immense, cavernous cellar opening out toward the dairy barn. The cellar had suddenly been filled with assault troops and more were filing in from the shadow of the hedgerow. Their cigarettes burned holes in the pitch-blackness of the cellar. These were the first American assault wave.</p><p>These men believed this was the last big push of the war. Most of them were under 25. They wore life preservers and carried rations, a heavy load of ammunition, grenades, a rifle, wire cutters, and long knives. They were both the toughest and the gentlest men I ever met. As the minutes ticked off their voices became even quieter, but the language more and more vicious and filthy. Oaths and foul names were snarled in the darkness.<br /></p><p>Suspecting our location, a Nazi tank destroyer gun had opened up on us. A shell struck behind my parked jeep, dropping two men with minor wounds. The artillery roar was incessant. Tanks now began moving into position along the river bank. Assault troops had brought up both storm and assault boats to a jump-off place just behind a 10-foot dike along the west bank of the river. Now they began to drag them out.</p><p>The men took up the boats and moved off silently toward the river, looking like gigantic, shadowy centipedes carved out of moonlight. They vanished into the bluish mist and more came to take their places, then went silently off like dark ghosts into the frightful, roaring night.</p><p><b>'We Have Landed':</b> There is no way to describe the noise of the artillery barrage which opened at 1 o'clock. The earth shook and the sky roared and belched.</p><p>At H Hour minus three minutes I crawled to the edge of the building beside a walkie-talkie. Then suddenly a voice came out. It was a first lieutenant in the first storm boat. They had started across. Just a few seconds less than five minutes later a voice came again saying: "We have landed and are organizing."</p><p>No longer was the Rhine a barrier.</p><p><b>Downs: Some Paratroops Walked to Death on Flak</b><br /></p><p>It was the kind of spring day when most of the guys would have liked to do some plowing, or play tennis, or go fishing. A German wren sat in a German tree and sang the same song you could here in the States. Overhead there seemed to be more planes than there were wrens in all the world.</p><p>Capt. Tommy de Graffenreid, from Memphis, said: "OK, come on." We drove to a specially fitted two-place Thunderbolt, where I was lucky enough to ride pick-a-back with the 373rd Fighter Bomber Squadron, which was assigned to form the aerial spearhead for the biggest and best bridgehead we had yet established across the Rhine.</p><p>When we got over the bridgehead we went down to a thousand feet. On the west bank of the Rhine there was yellow smoke—this to guide the airborne army due in a few minutes.</p><p>We dropped down to within a few hundred feet and flew down the Rhine. In the water below were scores of barges. Some special seagoing tanks could be seen making their way catercornered across the Rhine against the current. Occasionally there was the puff of an enemy artillery shell.</p><p><b>The Geese Fly East:</b> Then we saw them—hundreds of planes flying like a flock of geese trying a new formation. The men dropped from only 600 feet, but it seemed an eternity that they were in the air.<br /></p><p>The Germans were waiting. Light and heavy flak began bursting among these hundreds of parachutes. Big black smudges nudged and buffeted the parachutes. Light flak burst with a whitish intensity all around. De Graffenreid said: "It's so thick you could walk on it."</p><p>That's exactly what the first waves of paratroopers did—walk on it. Casualties must have been heavy. <br /></p></blockquote><blockquote><p>The parachutes continued to come. We saw two men whose parachutes got tangled. Tommy muttered to himself over the intercom: "Break it up, break it up, please break it up." But they never got untangled, and fell to the ground with what appeared to be the gentleness of leaves. But even from there we could tell they were dead.</p><p>Any German flak man who had hunted ducks must have been struck with the similarity of the shooting in this airborne operation to that in some Bavarian duck blind.</p><p>Yet the men of the troop carrier command flew in without deviation from their formations.</p></blockquote>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-43097344549885557372024-01-18T15:44:00.001-05:002024-01-31T15:45:51.511-05:001943. "Moscow's Mood"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Moscow Watches the Allied Victories in North Africa</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIIe8i7-bX6wf-VT2LnFXMr5pk1FcZYk9iFjd3fgk2pBGctkvXveXafCg9yee8wkjtPUks92r55LDOFG4uldey8MT2F12nGIXwKyYceH8oSfsbHzwugdLdiVmQxKiDulzPBV4rYNjPqjY9rJ0-qo3O8r7bw6HFaXCtpCxS_7OjP8C1568Q7-3KSXK/s800/tunis%20may%201943.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="794" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIIe8i7-bX6wf-VT2LnFXMr5pk1FcZYk9iFjd3fgk2pBGctkvXveXafCg9yee8wkjtPUks92r55LDOFG4uldey8MT2F12nGIXwKyYceH8oSfsbHzwugdLdiVmQxKiDulzPBV4rYNjPqjY9rJ0-qo3O8r7bw6HFaXCtpCxS_7OjP8C1568Q7-3KSXK/w636-h640/tunis%20may%201943.jpg" width="636" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"A Churchill tank and other vehicles parade through Tunis, 8 May 1943" (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Churchill_tank_and_other_vehicles_parade_through_Tunis,_8_May_1943._NA2880.jpg">source</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table><p>From <i>Newsweek</i>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1943-05-03_21_18/page/24/mode/2up">May 3, 1943</a>, pp. 24-25:</p><p></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Moscow's Mood</span></p><p>Hardy Moscow families had their first taste of American ham last week. In stores throughout the city, eager housewives lined up to buy their 2-pound share of the rare luxury. In the evening, movie-goers saw the arrival of other Lend-Lease supplies in the Russian picture "Iran," which shows American supplies being delivered in Iranian ports for transshipment to Russia. Other crowds, in six of Moscow's largest movie theaters, watched the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Army_(United_Kingdom)">Eighth Army</a> in "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Victory">Desert Victory</a>."</p><p>All this added up to about the friendliest atmosphere toward the Allies since the start of the war. <i>Newsweek's</i> Moscow correspondent Bill Downs cabled a description of this new mood:</p><p>"Mounting enthusiasm has followed every step Rommel's forces have taken backward toward the sea. Russia's stolid citizens did not exactly dance in the streets, but they have other ways of showing their gratitude. British and American correspondents here all speak of greater cordiality shown by their friends. My personal experience, for example, is that the harried and overworked officials of Radio Moscow, who are usually as pokerfaced and uncommunicative as they are efficient, now sometimes smile and comment: 'Things going nicely in North Africa, aren't they?'</p><p>"Other friends who always could be expected sooner or later to make some cracks about the lack of a second front now discuss the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisian_campaign">Tunisian operations</a> instead. People even know details of the campaign. Since Montgomery <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Mareth_Line">broke through</a> the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mareth_Line">Mareth Line</a>, the back pages of Red Star, Pravda, Izvestia, and other papers, where foreign news is usually printed, have been devoted almost completely to North Africa.</p><p>"Military analysts of leading newspapers gave detailed explanations of each stage of the Tunisian battle, fully picturing its difficulties. They all took pains to praise the British Eighth Army—which received ten times more attention than the United States forces in North Africa.</p><p>"Seventy-thousand Russian soldiers and civilians saw 'Desert Victory' in the first two days of its showing in Moscow. They came away mightily impressed with the toughness, equipment, and spirit of the Eighth Army. It is noteworthy that entire units of the Red Army marched to the theaters where seats had been reserved for them. A film like 'Desert Victory' is bound to have a beneficial effect on Russia's relations with her Allies. All Americans in Moscow hope the United States can and will send something similar to Russia.</p><p>"There was a nationwide surge of optimism and admiration here when the doughboys landed in North Africa—but it gradually waned when the Anglo-American march to the east bogged down and the Eighth Army was held up at the border of Tripolitania. The ballyhoo with which the landings and the Eighth Army drive were heralded abroad was reflected in the Russian press and naturally led the Russians to believe that the Allies would stop at nothing short of a second front. They overrode this disappointment just as they overrode other second-front disappointments, but the bitterness increased.</p><p>"However, it is believed that the Allied armies now have the situation in hand and people are looking forward to what military experts tell them will be 'further developments in the military plans of the Anglo-American forces in North Africa'— which to the Russians is a hopefully polite way of saying that the next Anglo-American move to be expected will be the second front."</p></blockquote><p></p>KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2588638802558487135.post-33243180742226109902024-01-16T22:19:00.006-05:002024-01-16T22:27:24.857-05:001954. The State of Israel in 1954<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">A U.S. Reporter's Impressions of the New State of Israel</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ghur9t7fy8E/VWddUegovqI/AAAAAAAACJw/8O4ysGuZQn0/s1600/1950sdividedjerusalem.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="584" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ghur9t7fy8E/VWddUegovqI/AAAAAAAACJw/8O4ysGuZQn0/s640/1950sdividedjerusalem.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Divided Jerusalem in the 1960s (<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Divided_Jerusalem_P1010025.JPG">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This text is from a typewritten draft of a piece (including some notes) which Bill Downs submitted to CBS in 1954:<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Bill Downs</b><br />
<br />
<b>CBS Rome </b><br />
<br />
<b>May 14, 1954</b><br />
<br />
This is the last of the background series on the Middle East. Again it should be remembered that this was but a two week trip in one of the most explosive and potentially dangerous areas of the world. The conflict of custom, religion, and time is a strange and bloody piecemeal war. The aura of emotional and intellectual conflict that surrounds the problem makes it most difficult to report objectively.<br />
<br />
So this last report is on Israel. This new Zionist nation has been called many things—a "State of mind," or a "nationalized ghetto" by its critics; the most "glorious political experiment since the American Revolution"; the "Ireland of the Middle East"; and the "Indochina of the Levant."<br />
<br />
Whatever you call it, flying into the State of Israel for the first time is a notable experience. You fly in from Cyprus with a special separate visa. The Israeli diplomatic service realizes the difficulties that visitors have traveling through the Arab east. For example, before getting the Jordan visa, this reporter had to get an affidavit that he is not Jewish. (The document was a one sentence letter from the PIO official in the US Embassy in Rome. The appropriateness of the Embassy in taking such a step is open to serious question, but the guy was acting quickly as a personal favor and I don't want to get anyone into trouble.)<br />
<br />
Also, anyone caught carrying one of these special Israeli visas in the Arab countries is subject to arrest under suspicion of being a spy. Several persons have been picked up, but nothing much has happened to them except the inconvenience of an Arab jail, which is considerable. But the Israeli officials are only concerned with the fact that, after you have been everywhere else, you show up in Israel and take a look. What you see is pretty tremendous. Anyone who remembers Hitler's Belsen or Dachau—who saw the pitiful survivors of one of the most inhuman, deliberate race extermination programs in history—cannot help but be impressed by the fact that a Jewish state actually exists.<br />
<br />
As a matter of fact, this reporter was a little proud and muchly pleased that as a Gentile he, for once, was a minority person. So you might say that Israel is not only a nation, but also an experience. This is the impact, despite the fact that you had seen the moral decay and stagnation now extant in the Arab refugee camps where some 800,000 persons have been living for the past five years.<br />
<br />
As they say about Everest, Israel is there and apparently just about as permanently. It is no longer an experiment, but is now a cause with a difficult autonomy and a powerful army. The desert is not blooming, and the rocky hills are as barren for the most part as they were in the time of Moses, but terraces are being dug out and trees are being planted. And if there is a portent, the people tell you that already the planting of pine forests is beginning to change the climate.<br />
<br />
Still, there is war. Not a night or day passes without some kind of incident. Shots are fired at infiltrating Arabs. An Israeli patrol is shot up. Cars and trucks are sniped at along roads up the Jerusalem corridor, where communications are clearly under observation by both sides. The war is real for the men and women of Israeli communal farms along the border areas who each night shoulder rifles and do guard duty. On the Arab side, a newly organized home guard performs a similar duty. And whether it is in Indochina or Korea or Palestine or Jordan, the tension of the not-quite-hot war is everywhere along the border.<br />
<br />
By contrast, cities like Beirut and Tel Aviv in the Bistros flourish. The tourists are gay in bars and night clubs as elaborate as in New York or Paris. Sin and vice have their foothold there too. The irony is that the Arab home guardsman or legionnaire patrols opposite the Jewish farmer and soldier to protect this easier and flamboyant life far behind the lines.<br />
<br />
The contrast between the two sides is perhaps best seen in the frontier city of Jerusalem. We are not sure it is typical for the entire struggle.<br />
<br />
The Arab side of Jerusalem embraces the Old City, which includes Mount Zion, Calvary, the famous Christian and Moslem shrines, plus the suburban Mount of Olives and the residential section surrounding the Hebrew hospital and university.<br />
<br />
The Western Wall of the Old City forms the boundary line, and on the Israel side is the new section including the "Country Club District" and the modern shopping center. A no-man's land, sometimes a half block long, separates the two quarters. Wealthy Jews with whom I have talked resent very much the fact that they are cut off from the ancient and venerated place of worship.<br />
<br />
The difference in appearance between the two sides is tremendous. On the Arab side, it is not uncommon to see a Bedouin family with a herd of goats and a train of camels making its way along the walls. There are, of course, many automobiles, jeeps, and trucks. But the ancient ways of the tribes seem to make these later inventions seem superfluous and temporary. On the Jewish side of town, emphasis is on the twentieth century. Jews who themselves were in the night shirt of the Persian fellah a few years ago are now driving trucks or running tractors. Girls from Morocco who would have been subjected to a life of traditional slavery or worse have been mustered into the Israeli army and have emerged as individuals and citizens.<br />
<br />
The State of Israel not only has succeeded in a mass movement of populations, but has introduced a modern culture into the land. The interesting thing to watch will be to see how irresistible this culture will be in the long haul. The Egyptian revolution is a sign of the times. The question is: can the Arab states of Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and other members of the Arab League make a cultural defense against it?<br />
<br />
But the greatest contrast comes in the condition of the children. On the Arab side, where refugees sometimes live in caves (incidentally, a cave in the side of a Palestine hill is not the most uncomfortable place to live; it's dry in winter and cool in summer), the children are neglected, for the most part unwashed, allowed to run free to beg or steal or just wander. They often are dirty, diseased, underfed, and generally neglected. By way of contrast, we saw no child on the Israeli side, including the children of the few remaining Arabs, who did not look well-nourished, healthy, and content. It might be said that the children of the Arab peoples appear to have assumed their ancient burdens at birth, while Israel in the modern manner attempts to give their children a running start on life through food programs, schools, and nurseries before they take on the burden of being Israeli citizens. The Arab states create only Moslems.<br />
<br />
The above few paragraphs are an attempt to picture the contrasts between the two sides. No fourteen day wonder, which defines what this reporter is, can completely reach into the roots of the two civilizations. Again, it is oversimplification to say that the twentieth century has arrived with Israel while it is hidden behind a curtain of ignorance and tradition on the Arab side of the line.<br />
<br />
In fact, there is developing in the hearty and confident Israeli citizen the same conscious national arrogance against which the Jewish peoples struggled for so many centuries. Talk to a red hot Zionist and you get strangely reminiscent arguments about "the natural untrustworthiness of the Arab;" "the historically proven treason of the Moslem;" "the racial and religious instability of those people who amorally will jump automatically to the strongest side." In other words, say the Jews, "You can't trust an Arab." The words are the same that have echoed tragically in the history of Jewish persecution.<br />
<br />
We admit that this is an incomplete analysis of the situation, but it is as best as we could judge it in the short time available.</blockquote>
KDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12609598641075524521noreply@blogger.com