k to the man wh Sl.OO. Listen in RedoR no~s what goes on ussra: undilut d to alii" "This is truth e . •·. a Warning · · value pi d this b k :Brau" Such is the ace upon oo . by Father who in the Forb·dd the ·Soviets ~pent 12 years ' en Land of in reading ~Backataira. interested original and I was greatly 8 It is a very in Mosc.ow. obvioualy has Mission This book or presentation. being an essay sincere pretention of not not the least its author is and most of all, treatise a point. trying to prove an ecom- a philosopher, ' · have to be narra- .; One does not as this to understand, disenchant­ mist or a diplomat and utter that fear the good tive illustrates, sentiments of are the prevalent sustained ment That is the 1 .e • . he observed. Ciliberti s exp~s people from Charles thought emanating artifice ot =·' without the . ··. :. . calculation and. a surprisingly Without book gives -::( ? phrases, this o:f the depl,or; studied picture · · . ..: ; . · penetrating ·;_ -· truthful . and lovable people. ..~ '!! endured by a able reality . · the reading of out :from doe·s undiluted comes iron curtain Truth that. an 's on .·., book. The truth realitie this and hideous grate­ where suppressed . so glad · and exist, make us feel scale principles ., of a stupendous under applied ful to be livillE!: democracy. . this vivid descriP- hope that ,reach It is ~ earnest will is also a warning-- ~blic. ' tion -- whicn the unsuspecting and minds of the ears '...... ~ ~ · 1(A · i ' 1

4~ :,: . ' c:x:._ "< ofc. .f./ J -:;j ' I . . -· _,. Behind the Iro ,. 12 Years . n "urtoJn leopold 8 of New B df kept J=ather . raun, . ~ ord, ~ass., a t" of relig~on alive greysto'ne . ch •n~ ~ame ;n a sm.all •n central Moscow. •n a country urc ex here, the godlessness was he defended w~ere infant tolled, for . faJth, christened last rites received s~hperformed t:e dying and of soldiers on lea: confe.ssions to the Red Army HJs assignment ~ possible e. to th was made by a protocol oscow A th: Roosevelt-litvinov under which in 1933. United States recogn~;::m;nt.OVJet Rus~ia

of A . . of Leaders of all sections hte, clergymen commentat mencan all denominations, and plain folks BACKSTA~~sS, authors everywhere acclaim MISSION IN MOSCOW. ACKSTAIRS Mission in Moscovv

by C.HARLES CILIBERTI

Chauffeur to the Arnbassador and Mrs. Joseph E. Davies 1936-1938

The Diary of an American Worker compiled durrng three eventful journeys to the forbidden /ani of the Soviets.

With 8 Pages of Photographs and Maps

B 0 0 K TAB pREss I PUBLISHERS NEW YORK CITY 2 BOOKTAB NO. 1

CoPYRIGHT, 1946, BY NEWS STORY WoRLDWIDE, Inc. All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA At the BOOKTAB PRESS • New York City BOOKTAB NO. 1

TO THE FOUNDERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

nExcessive partiality for one foreign nation, and ex­ cessive dislike of another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other."

GEORGE WASHINGTON nyhose who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under a just God, ,they cannot tong 1'etain it." ABRAHAM LINCOLN INTRODUCTION

·B EIKG as practical as the Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's court, Charles Ciliberti looked under the hood of the Soviet political machine and found out how it runs. And, because he is a typical American working man, Ciliberti' s direct comparisons between life in the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A. give us the yardstick that is needed so urgently today. Ciliberti's fascinating diary of his three visits to Russia is something new in the field of public information. Through his wide-open eyes, we see the real inner Russia-the motor under the over-polished hood. From the top­ most level of ·wealth and power, to the bottom-rung of worker and peasant, Ciliberti moves along the backstairs of Moscow, uncovering the nerve-center of the terror that never takes· a holiday. Mr. Ciliberti, obviously, is not qualified to judge whether the Soviet system under Generalissimo Stalin conforms to the doctrines of Karl Marx. But he does know human nature and, on top of that, he does know his way around Moscow. And he has a knack of reporting what he hears and sees in terms which the average person can understan~L Furthermore, the author also took the trouble to learn the Russian language:._something mo~t professional writers have failed to do. For this and other reasons-=-a great many of .his fellow citizens will welcome · the Ciliberti apt>roach to the Soviet riddle. Toq long have they been be­ wildered by the writings of professionals who go to Moscow and report, not what they see and hear, but merely reflect political opinions they had before they entered the Soviet barbed-wire enclosures called "frontiers." Backstairs Mission in Moscqw is down to earth, street-level reporting. More than that, it is an intensely human, good~natured document that is both entertaining and informative. Before he went to Russia, Ciliberti had been urged by some friends and acquaintances to bow down and worship the Soviet system. Instead, he pro­ ceeded to make a point-by-point comparison, always asking: "What has Russia got that we would swap for what we have in our own country?" The answer to end all such questions is found in Ciliberti' s disclosures. The superb reliability of his report on Russia makes one wish that the United States could send abroad working men instead of diplomats-or if that seems too much of an innovation-working men instead of near-sighted news­ papermen.

JAMES W. BARRETT FOREWORD 5

LTHOUGH I was born in the United States, I never realized wh.at it meant until ·I set foot in Germany on the fourteenth of January, A 1937 .. On that day I became. an American, through and through. Before going to. Europe, . and especially to Germany and Russia, I was an American like any other American, who has his likes and his dislikes . . When I came back from Europe the third time, I had more likes than .dislikes. Most of the "dislikes" had gone over to the "like" side of the ledger and the "dislikes" that remained had turned into hate, a hate for dictatorship of any kind, anywhere on earth. Before 1937 _ the Constitution of the United States had been just a dry .document to ll;J.e. ~fter 1937, it became my political Bible. It took those trips to the othe:r; side of the world to mak~ me realize what the founders of . our nation had gone through to give me my freedom a_nd to prove that all men ·are created equ~l. As ~ kid, .I _never.liked schqol,. least of all hi~tory. Since going to Europe I believe l _.have. re.ad as much.. hi,story, both American .and European,. as anyone, _trying ·to figure out the reasons for world chaos. If I had read the Constitution: first (available in any ten-c-ent store) I would have been saved from beating ·my brains out with a lot of books sent to I?e from universities by · friends · of Miss Nedinia Hutton, Mrs . .Davies' daughter. As for Russia; if I am to go strictly by what I saw ··and heard, I will say· that the Russi~. .n Government d~es not represent .the Russian people, though it is composed of Russians. If a vote were taken, with ple~ty of time for the opposition to prepare for it, I think the present Government would be unable to collect ?lore than 10,000,000 votes. The current regime, from what I heard, is piling up more debts every day and I believe I may see these debts collected in my lifetime. Paid they will one day be, for a thing like this can't go on forever. The Russians love life too much· to be subjugated to tyranny forever and, like all of . us, are born free and will some day be free. As one Russian said to me: "Charlie, tolka vrema eto nada, patum vee budyit pariatki." ("Only time is necessary, then everything shall. be fixed.") The look in his eyes told me what he meant. What a day that will be in Russia, ~hen a Russian can say, as Cass Daley says over the radio, "I said it, anci I'm glad I said it," without a gang of N. K. V. D.'s (G. P. U.'s) coming down on him to give him the usual treatment. Fascism, communism, nazism. I see no difference in these "isms." Choose any one of them and you come off second best. My belief, from 6 BOOKTAB NO. 1

the time I left Europe until tOday and until I die, is that the single decision type of government is dictatorship and nothing said· in favor of these governments should· be taken in by the American people. I know that they have been, and . are, in direct opposition to the Constitution of the United States and all · I believe in. And this freedom ·that I have· must be good,· because they are after it. It isn't that they want ·it for their people; · they want it for themselves, to use to enslave others. And, so long as I am on this earth, I will do all I can to see that we keep it. · As far as I could gather,- the Russian government was. interested in only two things about America. . . . our strength and our weakness . •, The Russian common man was interested in one thing...• our welfare. Believers . in totalitarianism seem to ·me to have that old proverb about "a better mouse-trap" all bawled up. They have been, and still are, trying to tell me that' Moseow is building a better mouse-trap. They may be doing that all right, but th~ Americans I met that had been caught in it, were trying desperately 'to beat a path from; not to; their door. If this so-called Utopia 'they are trying to build is so wonderful · for the common man, why do they wrap it up in · barbed wire, and why aren't crowds of people rushing in? They may ·. tell me they are afraid of military spies ..Perhaps they are. · But, from my experience, and from what I was told, they are afraid of another kind of spies .. ·. spies for freedom. CHARLES · CILmERTI New York, N. Y. July 3, 1946 BACKS -TAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW

(PICTURE SECTION) * Few visitors to Soviet Russia have ever had access to the inner places visited by Charles Ciliberti. chauffeur to Ambassador Davies in Moscow. Still fewer of them have been able to outsmart the GPU and snap photo­ graphs. Ciliberti did. as will be seen from this group of pictures. Also included is a ro_ad map of Moscow. JOSEPH E . DAVIES BOWEN B U I LDING WASHINQTON , O . C .

343 El Bravo Way Palm Beach, Florida March 9, 1944 Two America11s-a nxillion- · Dear Charlie: aire diplomat and his loyal Mrs. Davies and I were glad 'EO hear you were well and located happily chauffeur- went to Soviet 1n war work. Russia. Ambassador Davies We have never doubted either your devotion and loyalty to us , or to your country. We enjoyed having you in came away fascinated by our service and are glad you had the opportunity to -go to Russia and Belgium what he saw. His chauffeur with us. You have alway s been efficient fine and loyal. ' reacted differently-he redis­ So I am sure that 1f you keep your feet on the ground, as I am sure the meaning of US. ~~~ ~ill, you will serve your country covered 1 democracy. Good luck, and best wishes f ( om us both and all the family.

:J02!) J~J.JXGL:t~ ROAD

October 14, 1942. ee Cil1berti, TO WHOM IT MAY COliCERN: a Avenue, ood, I am very elad to reco=end Charles C1liberti a. vho has been in my employ as chauffeur dnce 1928, "'i th the exception of a short period when, oving to the absence of one of my daughters who was living in Europe, there being no position for him, he ven\ to a friend of mine where he gave excellent eervice,

He returned to my employ, however, "in 1936, as my perso118l chauffeur and has since been in my een-ice in that capac1t;r.

I have found Charles to be a very excellent driver and reliable and honest in ever:r way. I believe him to be a clean living J:IB.n of exemplary character and absolutely sober. During the years that we lived abroad, '"h"n Mr. Iavies vas· Ambassad~r to Russia and Belgium, Charlee "ccompained uil and proved himself to be exceedingl:r adaptable and resourceful and his services were always moat satisfactory.

Charles is leaving of his own volition to ts.ke a training course preparator;r to going into defense work and I am sorr:r indeed tohave him leave my employ bnt under the circumstances, I car. only commend hie patriotiem and after the war, the posit ion "'ill be open to him if he w1 ahes to ret:urn. I shell be glad to answer any questions at...an:r time regarding Charlu and can be reached by telephone at lioodley 8283.

(Mra. Joseph. E. Iavies) Photography is not a hobby that is encouraged in Russia. These pic­ tures were snapped secretly from inside the Davies car. Above, an unusual shot of the Kremlin. Below, Lenin's tomb in Red Square. Mrs. Davies, her daughter Dennie and the governess, Mrs. Tytler, stand on a Luxembourg bridge, dividing I ine between France and Germany. Below is the Davies' yacht "Sea Cloud," which visite'd Leningrad. The Russian staff of servants at th! American Embassy take time out to enjoy a picnic. (Below) whenever Ambassador Davies• ear was parked. a curious group of Moscow citizens was quick to gather.

MOSCOW-The Forbidden City Guarded by the Moscow River on one side and the GPU on all sides, the Kremlin is the hub of a vast land of shadows. This roadmap, which Charles Ciliberti used, shows Moscow's three rings. Here, as everywhere in the. U.S.S.R., Soviet citizens must have passports to avoid arrest. GPU MEN FOLLOWED THEM EVERYWHERE

Top: The inseparable threesome - Ciliberti, the Ambassador's car and the ever-pursuing GPU guards. Center: U. S. Embassy in Mos­ cow. B o t t o m : Com­ munism pays off - for top Reds. Here is the entrance to Litvinov's swank country estate. PART I

THE Jlf!SSION BEGINS

Attgust 25, 1936-March 30, 1937 BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 9

. '

Camp Topridge, Adirondacks-August 25

T H AS been known for some time in the servants' quarters of _the Dav~es' . househol~ that big things are . afoot. Today Mr. Davies I received a long-distance call from Washmgton and ·left immediately to confer with President Roosevel't at ·the White House.

Camp Topridge, Adirondacks_:_September. 15 Mrs. Davies informed ,me today that I was to ·get ready for a trjp to Moscow as her personal chauffeur: She assured me that I would not be separated from my wife and little sori for ~ore than six months at a time and instructed me to to see Dr._Wolph in New York immediately for inoculations. Mr. Davies IS to be Ambassador to Russia.

I Am Given a Special Mission .; New York-January 2 I had never given much thought to Russia, . or. politics, but my curiosity was stirred by a talk today with my father. He said I had been given an opportunity that came to few men, in· being able· to tra'vel in Russia ·and Europe in the employ of an ambassador' under diplomatic immunity. . He told me to keep my ' eyes op~ri and n)y · mouth shut and learn all I could. Mr. Davies, he s~id, would talk to heads .of governments and men in high plac~s. I could gain much kno~ledge, he said, by observing and talking to the common man in the countries I visited.

New York-January 5 Sailed · at midnight with the'· Davies party on the · German steamship, Europa, bound for Bremen. . '· 10 BOOKTAB NO. 1 ·

At Sea-January 10 German customs officers came aboard at Cherbourg and the pleasant atmo­ sphere of the ship seemed to change. The whole crew snapped to attention. \Vhen I first saw the Hitler s~lute, as two Germans passed on deck, I almost laughed out loud. We had been making such a gag of it in America. Well, they \vcre clicking heels now and "heiling Hitler" all over the deck an~ it didn't seem so funny when I saw how serious these guys were about it.

Berlin-January 14 Arrived at Bremen and was greatly relieved to find that we wouldn't be searched again. We were treated with dignity and respect. Every official who came near us clicked heels and heiled Hitler, though none of them, it seemed, wanted to take the responsibility of passing us through. Each would call another with more gold braid, until finally the head man, covered with medals, stamped the Ambassador's papers and, without even a welcoming smile, allowed us to proceed into their precious country. We left immedi­ ately for Berlin where we stopped at the Esplanade Hotel. Visited a beer garden tonight with Mr. Davies' valet. The people seemed to be enjoying themselves, laughing; dancing and singing, until two uni­ formed men with swastikas on their left arms came ka-lumping in. Their presence put an end to the fun. There are few cars on the streets in ·Berlin and I remembered that the bread boulevards and highways we had passed coming up had been empty of cars, too. Where is the cheap little car Hitler has promised the German people? Nina Nelson, Mrs. Davies' personal maid, and I, are to leave Berlin tomorrow night for Moscow ahead of the others, with all the_Davies lug­ gage, to get things ready for Mrs. :Davies' arrival two days later. My two cars, in their crates, should be in Moscow and I want to have them shining and humming by the time the Ambassador and Mrs. Davies need them.

On the train-January 16 We are en route to Russia on the Wagonlit that connects with the Negore .. loye-Minsk-Moscow train at Negoreloye on the Russian-Polish frontier. The BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 11 train is clean and comfortable and the food is good in the diner. Nina was tired and went to her compartment almost immediately. I fooled around a bit and then turned in for a good rest, I thought, but I didn't know my Europe. At the German-Polish frontier a German in a green uniform, who said he was a Customs officer, woke me up at about 2:30 in the morning' and asked if I had any German money in my possession. I had brought some marks to cover expenses and had about 180 left. At Bremen, officials had been anxious enough to have us exchange dollars for marks. Now they wouldn't let me take the marks out of the country. The Customs fellow took them and gave me a receipt, saying I could get the money back when I returned to Germany. No, he couldn't change them into Polish money; I could use my American money for that! This Customs fellow, I noted, spoke perfect English. All through Poland cars were lopped off our train, as we came through important towns and, by the time we pulled out of Warsaw, we were really bob-tailed. Only two cars behind the engine and it seemed that all in ours were American, connected in some way or other with the Embassy. I met Dr. Rumrich and Lieutenant Commander Bunkley, who ·were going to Moscow as attaches.

The Canadian Border Was Never Like This Stolpec-January 17

E ARRIVED at Stolpce, on the Russian frontier, at about 6.15 p.m. ~twas quite dark and Polish soldiers and officers with flashlights were Wdarting about the trains, apparently hunting persons who might be clinging to the rods or understructure of the coaches. Dr. Rumrich called our attention to the barbed wire entanglements that divided the Polish and Russian territories. The twisted and gna~led wire, to a width of 70 or 80 feet, separated the two countries. After we had gone through to Russian ·territory, Russian officers and soldiers took up the job of searching for hidden persons under the coaches. Both Russians and Poles carried rifles with fixed bayonets. The feeling of oppression I had had in Germany and lost for a while crossing Poland came down on me again at these barbed wire entangle­ ments. They were like pictures I had seen of No Man's Land during the 12 BOOKTAB NO. 1

First World War. The soldiers with fixed bayonets and the darting flash­ lights at the doorste_p of this vast and mysterious land brought a feeling of gloom and suspicion. Although I had traveled a distance comparable to that between New York and Chicago on the trip from Berlin to Stolpce, I had been called upon at all hours of the day and night to exhibit my cre­ dentials, my passport, my luggage and my money. I thought of the United States, where I have traveled 3,000 miles to Los Angeles and back, without ever being called upon to identify myself or declare rriy possessions, and of the friendly formalities at our, Mexican and Canadian borders. · Our train finally crossed the Polish-Russian frontier and proceeded five or six miles into Russia to. Negoreloye station. The only passengers dis­ charged were Dr. and ·-Mrs. Rumrich, Lieutenant Coriunander and Mr:s. Bunkley, a member of the Embassy staff. and his wife,. Nina and me. The others apparently had left the train at Stolpce. The station itself was the only building we could .see that night. If there were others they were not lighted. ' ' It was bitterly cold as we stepped down from the coach and the rolling countrt seemed to stretch endlessly into the darkness. Russian border guards, heavily overcoated, paced the station platform, carrying rifl~s with fixed bayonets. Their spiked helmets were decorated with the red· star emblem, · enclosing the hammer and sickle. · . . . We had fifty or sixty pieces of luggage and these were. removed from the train by Russian porters wearing white aprons over their greatcoats. Entering the station we found ourselves in a large . room, well-heated and lighted and very clean. Running acroSs the four walls was what I imagined to be a Soviet slogan in many languages and scripts,, the letters raised and painted in gold. My eye finally picked out the slogan in English, "Workers of the World, Unite." I assumed that the same slogan was printed in other languages for the benefit of visitors from other countries. I . An attache of the American Embassy was in the station to meet us. Customs formalities were attended to and our luggage was soon stowed away on the Russian train waiting for us on the opposite side of the station. . The coach in which we now found ourselves was far ·inferior to the one· we had left. It was of wooden construction, higher than any of the coaches . on our jerkwater lines that use ancient and outmoded rolling stock. Our coach was clean inside, but when the train started up at 9.20 p.m., it groaned and squeaked with every rail connection, making sleep impossible. I got up and examined the walls and found that the coach was put together BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 13

with s-crews and that most of them were loose. For years I have ·carried a screw driver, a pair of pliers and a flashlight in my small luggage and I got them out riow. · Beginning with the screws near the door I proceeded to' do a tightening up job· in my compartment. It worked. Then I turned in and slept without waking except or1ce, · when ·we stopped at Smolensk. · I was up at 8 the next morning. for breakfast. We were passing through snow-covered country, cold and beautiful, with tall leafless trees, ·mostly white birch. The diner was clean, with white tablecloths neatly· spread and the service was excellent. I noticed that all the employees were women. The menu, printed in five languages, included good old ·ham ~nd eggs with toast and they knew how to cook them "over lightly." , The rest of the journey to Moscow was uneventful. We did pass through one little station that I found interesting. The station building was plastered with huge pictures ·of ·Stalin, Engels, Marx arid · other Bolshevik note:. worthies, but the men and women standing abm~t were· a drab-looking lot. with grim faces. They were all dressed in black. However, the clothing did look warm. Much to my surprise, during the brief halt, I noticed one girl, about 23 and pretty, carrying a pail and swabbing the switches with grease. I saw many more women working along the tracks as we neared Moscow.

Snow Was Falling on Moscow Moscow-]anuary 17

UR ~rain pulled into Gorki Vauxzal (station) at 10;30 this morning and we were met by Philip Bender, a Soviet employee of the Embassy. OHe told me that he had engaged a room for me at the National Hotel, because there wouldn't be room for me at the· Embassy when the others · came. He said I was probably ·the only one who could live outside con- veniently. . . I had my first glimpse of Moscow from the steps of the Vauxzal. It is different from any other city 1 have seen, with tall spires from the mosques piercing the grey, snow-laden sky. I saw again the black-garbed people hurrying to and fro . . . elderly women, lean and stem-faced, with im­ possibly heavy burdens on their bent backs; men, thin and grim, bundled in huge coats . . . nobody smiling, nobody meeting someone joyously at the station. And, though it had been snowing for some time, I noticed that the wide streets already had been swept, broom-clean, of snow. It was ·very cold. 14 BOOKTAB NO. 1

For some reason that I have never understood, Bender wanted to take me immediately to the hotel. I insisted upon going first to the Embassy and, although he protested vigorously, I had my way. I wanted to see that luggage loaded safely into the Embassy stationwagons and trucks and to check it into the Embassy myself. Bender snapped terse commands to the Russian porters, who scurried here and there at his bidding. I was im­ pressed by the dictatorial authority he seemed to exert and by the fact that the porters carried out his orders without a word or upward glance. Nina and I talked about it later and she agreed with me that, if he had used that tone to New York porters, he probably would have had his ears slapped down. The American Embassy in Moscow occupies what is known as the Spazzo House. Before the Revolution it had been owned by an industrialist named Spazzo, who, it seems, was murdered by a nephew to whom he had refused financial aid. It is fronted by a very pretty park and, to the right, is an old church in a pathetic state of dilapidation and used, I was told, to stable horses. Part of the Embassy staff and some of the help had come over about two months before, along with the decorator, Harry Benson, to get the place in order for the Davies. From their account it had been quite a task, but it looked wonderlul when I saw it. My first friendly contact with a Russian came when I was introduced to the house-man, Stepon (nicknamed "Step-on-the-Gas") . He gave me a beaming smile and my spirits rose. I thought then that if I got to know these Russians, learned to speak their language ·a little, we could find some basis for friendship. . I now made inquiries about my cars and found that one Packard limou­ sine had arrived and was at the embassy garage on Kropotinskaya Ulitza (street) . I went right over and, with the help of a splendid Russian mechanic, some wild sign language and a few chuckles over our inability to understand each other, we soon had the car on its four wheels. Had lunch ~d dinner at the Embassy, and met Sidney Taylor, the butler. Noticed that the Russian and American servants eat at different tables.* About 7, I went to my hotel and found I had been given a room

* I found out later that Russian Embassies never employ nationals of the countries in which they are situated. From my observations in Washington, D. C., Antwerp, and New York, Soviet embassies and consulates invariably employ only Russian nationals. Spazzo House, however, employed about fifteen Russians who had the run of the house. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 15 on the fourth floor without a private bath. It ha.S a single bed, two chairs, a wash-basin, desk and telephone. On the floor is a grass rug. But the management has promised me the first room with a bath available. While I was unpacking, the phone rang from downstairs. It was John Corcoran, a footman at the Embassy, .and I invited him up. He was wearing the hugest greatcoat I ever saw and a fur hat with earmuffs. John volun­ teered to take me for a walk around Red Square and I accepted, because I wanted to get the feel of the city in which I would soon be driving. We found the square practically deserted, except for the ever presenf guard of Red Army soldiers about the tomb of Lenin. The tomb was illuminated by floodlig~ts from the old Cavalry Officers Building. , .Als<;> illuminated was the clock tower with the blood red flag of Soviet Riissia above it, flapping in the glacial cold. We walked around to the Kremlin, which is a city within the city, and John pointed out to me a plaque on t}l,~ wall honoring one of the first American Communists, John Reed. Red st~ts graced the pinnacles of the Kremlin buildings. It was all very impressive but I was freezing to death in n1y American version of winter clothes al)d had to keep my hands cupped over my ears to protect them from ~he bitter cold. We went back to the hotel, had a few drinks of good American whiskey that John had brought along from the Embassy, and talked. John brought . me up to date on the doings of Embassy attaches and servants and I turned in as soon as he left, at about 11 : 30. Had an awful time getting to sleep due to the infernal racket of automobile horns. Thought it must be the · theatre crowd going home or a big reception at the hotel breaking up. It was neither, since it kept up all night.

If Musf ·Have Been fhe GPU Moscow-January 18 . Had breakfast at the Embassy; then went to the garage and tuned up the motor of .the limousine. They loaned me three gallons of gas and directed me to a gasoline station across the Moscow River, near the Park of Cultu.'re and Rest,· where I could get more. The Russian mechanic went with me and I let him drive. Was he thrilled! l t was the first time he had driven a 12-cylinder Packard. In Russia all oil and gas is owned by the government. You buy gas tickets from the Commissariat of Gasoline and use these to get gas. There 16 BOOKTAB NO. 1

are two classes of gasoline stations, both government owned and classified, and it is impossible to buy gas at a first class station with second class tickets and vice versa. There appears to be no limit on the amount of gas the Embassy can purchase, but there is for others. Without tickets, nobody can buy gas; there is no other medium of exchange. During the day I got better acquainted with Bender, but still can't quite make him out. He invited me to go to the movies with him tonight. We had to be there by 7 : 30 because at that time they close the doors and, if you aren't inside, you are out of luck. It was a Russian film, ~y first, and it was about the Revolution. There was one scene where a Bolshevik, armed only with a rifle, mowed down some 40 or more White Russians without reloading once and without run­ ning out of bullets. A lot of his victims plopped down before the gun was even pointed at them. I glanced at Bender to see how he was taking it and he smiled and shrugged his shoulders. Later a hundred men with rifles mopped up five divisions of cavalry with the greatest of ease. The theatre was hot and badly ventilated, the wooden benches were getting harder and harder, and I left during the intermission, having lost interest in the climax. A really fine Russian orchestra was playing American music in the lobby; that was the highlight of the evening for me. Back at t~e hotel, I wrote some letters home, then turned in. I had just gotten nicely to sleep when the telephone rang. "Hello'" I said. No answer. "Hello, hello," I repeated, and several times more. Still no answer, but I could tell the lines were open and it worried me. I thought. something might be wrong at the Embassy and they were trying to reach me. I hung up and waited for the phone to ring again, not wanting to call at that time ~f night. It was after two. No other call came.*

*These calls were to be a nightly occurence throughout my stay in Russia and I believe it was the method used by G. P. U. (secret police) agents, charged with the responsibility of checking on my whereabouts and activities, to make sure I was finally in my hotel room. The calls became more and more annoying, but when I complained to the manager he gave me a blank stare. I gradually became accustomed to them, however, and after a while I would answer, in Russian, "Ya zdess" (I am here) and hang up. But I soon found I couldn't go to sleep until after the call came and would read or write letters until then. I couldn't remove the receiver from the hook, because I never knew when I might be called by the Ambassador or Mrs. Davies. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 17

Moscow-January 19

RIED to check at the Embassy about that call, but didn't get far. Great excitement pr~vailed because of the schedul~d arriv~l of Ambass~dor T and Mrs. Davtes and the Ambassador's daughter, M1ss Emlen Kmght Davies. Charge d'affaires Loy Henderson gave me detailed instructions as to . procedure. I rriust see that the Ambassador sat on the righthand side of the car. The American flag must be fitted firmly into its stanchion on the fender. I must stand at the door of the limousine on the outside platform, and, at the approach 'of the Ambassador, ~ssume a dignity befitting his station. At about 10 I started for the station. My car was shining like a mirror and humming like a top. The little American flag was whipping out proudly in the cold Russian breeze. I arrived at Alexandrovskaya Vauxzal on the dot of 10:15. Police had lined qff the square in front, and the st.ation and . platform were crowded with Russian and foreign dignitaries. Most of the Embassies were repre~ sented. Motion picture cameras had been set in place to record the arrival. Secret Russian Police were everywhere. The Ambassador's train was still in the outlying yards and this gave me a chance to meet some of the chauffeurs connected with other Embassies. The Russian chauffeurs were very. friendly . and invariably shook . hands. Russian cameramen decided to use the spare moments to make a movie of the American flag on the front of the limousine and spent considerable time trying to catch it in motion. Old Glory had been fluttering gaily in the icy breeze, but refused steadfastly to go into action for the Russian camera­ men. They had to give up when the train pulled into the station. I stood at attention at the door of the limousine, while the Ambassador and his party were being greeted inside by foreign diplomats and Russian officials. I was still standing there when the Ambassador emerged from the station and started toward the car. When he saw me his face broke into a wide smile and he shook hands and asked after my health. Then Mrs. Davies and Miss Emlen greeted me warmly. I don't think anyone noticed when I whispered to Mr. Davies: "Sir, according to protocol, you have to sit on the righthand side of the car in this country." "I do?" he said. 18 . BOOKTAB NO. 1

Then he got in and sat on the righthand side, where Mrs. Davies usually sits, and I began to wonder if she was comfortable. As we left the station I saw, through the rear view mirror, a small black Ford sedan break through the traffic and pull in behind our car. There were three or four men* in it and it followed us all the way to the Embassy, pulling up a few yards behind us at the Embassy Gate. After lunch I drove the Ambassador, accompanied by Mr. Henderson, to the Foreign Office. The little Ford sedan was right behind us all the time. Later in the afternoon I drove Ambassador and Mrs. Davies to Red Square, where they left the car for a walk around the Kremlin and along the Moscow River. I followe'd them with the car as had been our custom. during walks in New York. I noticed that when I stopped the limousine_to let them alight, the Ford sedan stopped, too, and two of the men stepped out, thei.r hands plunged firmly into their pockets. They followed the Ambassador and his wife throughout the entire walk. I noticed that they kept about 20 feet to the rear, but closed in quickly whenever the Ambassador and Mrs. Davies might have seemed on the point of talking to pedestrians. * * * I have decided to learn Russian so as to understand these people and learn more about them. From the Embassy library I got a Russian grammar and other books and started in on them last night. This hand and arm gesture business leaves you exhausted at the end of ihe day.

We Might as Well Be Friends Moscow-January 20 Now I can fac:e this sub-zero weather as bravely as any Muscovite! Nina Nelson unpacked a fine fur coat which Mrs. Davies had obtained for me be­ fore leaving the States. It is a heavy English Melton cloth coat, lined with beaver, and it has a high mink collar. A welcome addition to my wardrobe in this bleak climate. My first assignment this morning was to dri~e the Ambassador to the American Chancery, located next to the National Hotel on Macavoia Ulitza.

*These were our G.P.U. shadow that was to "tail" us everywhere we went during our stay in Russia. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 19

The Chancery was referred to generally by the Russians as the "Macavoia~" I parked in the Court of the Chancel)' and while waiting there, met Mr. Bartley Gordon, an attache, and Colonel Philip Faymonville, both genial, pleasant men who made me feel at home. Both are held in high esteem by the Russians who consider them typical Americans. The rest of the .day was spent in driving the Ambassador on a round of the various Embassies. Later, the· Ambassador and Mrs. Davies again went for a stroll around the Kremlin, while I fo.Howed in the car. As on the day before, two G. P. U. agents followed them dbsely. The everlasting presence of G. P. U. agents around us is depressing. I reason that, regardless of their tough, grim faces, they are, after all, human beings like myself, doing a job. As long as we're going to be around each other constantly, I decided to try to win· their friendship. Asked Sidney Taylor, the butler, to get me a carton of Camels and he did. I walked out toward the gate where the G. P. U. car is always parked when the Ambas­ sador is home, and offered the ~arton to one of the men. He shoved it back at me. I took it, tossed it into the car and walked away. In the evening I was assigned to take Miss Emlen Knight Davies and a friend to the Savarin, a Gypsy restaurant around the corner from the National Hotel and Gorki Ulitza. While I was \Vaiting for them the right rear door of the sedan was sudde~ly flung open and a huge Russian climbed in and seated himself in the Ambassador's place. I ejected him. He was a very drunk Russian and made every effort to get back into the car and I had some difficulty in overcoming his vigorous and determined efforts. The Moscow subway stops running at 1 a.m. and it was after 3 when we got back to the Embassy. I was still unfamiliar with the streets and a little afraid to be out at that hour so I decided to bunk at the Embassy.

Moscow-January 21 Miss Edith Wells, secretary to. Mrs. Davies, informed the Ambassador of the lateness of my return to the Embassy last night and he has given me orders not to be out later than 1 o'clock (last subway train) except when chauffeuring either himself or Mrs. Davies. This afternoon, while driving the Ambassador and Mrs. Davies to Red Square, where they usually started their afternoon stroll, we had a near accident. A Ford car, approaching us from the top of the hill on Red Square, skidded on the ice and whirled crazily out of control. I pulled into 20 BOOKTAB NO. 1 the curb as closely as possible and saw the G. P. U. agents leap from the car behind us. The Ford car careened toward us and, for an instant, I thought it would ram the limousine. Fortunately the Russian driver finally brought it under control. Inasmuch as ice and snow were everywhere upon my arrival in Moscow, I had anticipated difficulties in driving and had provided myself with plenty of sets of chains. However, I did not find it necessary to use them. The main streets are well-paved and are kept spotlessly clean. The side streets, while covered with snow, are smooth and easy to travel.* I had noticed those wide streets, clear of snow, on the morning of my arrival, though it had snowed all night, and wondered how they did it. This is how: Night and day, during snowy weather, the streets are swept by women, using brooms made of twigs tied onto long poles. As far as I could see, the street cleaning job was reserved exclusively for elderly women. I haven't seen a single rnan engaged in snow-clearing work. Dr. Rumrich has issued detailed instructions about Russian foods 'and beverages. His list of "don'ts" leave very few items o~ the Russian menu that we can eat with immunity. Salads are completely out. We are to drink only bottled Narzan water. As a result, Ambassador and Mrs. Davies always eat at tha Embassy, except when attending official banquets.

Of Cognac, Caviar and. Russian Balloons Moscow-January 23 The last few days have been spent in driving the Ambassador to the various Embassies to make calls. A Russian chauffeur from the Embassy, Vasili Vasilivitch Garbachoff, accompanied me on all these trips to direct me to the various places visited. "The American Ambassador, being the latest arrival in Moscow and therefore junior member of the diplomatic Corps, had to visit all the other ambassadors. Diplomatic etiquette and courtesy established the order and importance of the various Ambassadors and this order was meticulously followed. The British Ambassador, Vicount Chilston, was the ranking member of the Corps in Moscow and Ambassador Davies paid his first respects to him.

* In the winter all Russian ro~ds are paved:--with ice. The side streets are full of pot holes in the summer. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 21

The British Embassyl a beautiful old building, is located on the opposite side of the Moscow Ri~r, facing the Kremlin. Our G. P. U. shadows fol­ lowed us on these trips as usual and, while waiting for Ambassador Davies at the British Embassy, these agents passed their time chatting with the G.P.U. agents assigned to the British Ambassador, and so forth. With some of my friends from the Davies' household staff I went the other night to the' Metropole, the only place in Moscow where Americans can dance to American ~\!sic. We arrived at about 10 o'clock and were told that the music wouldn't start until midnight. We stalled along with cognac and caviar. But· the orchestra was worth waiting for; they played popular American music excellently. The dining-room is of good pre-revolutionary architecture and was filled with Russians. Very few foreigners were present. The dance floor was small but good. A fish pond, built in the center, was stocked with fish which the customers could select to be cooked for them. The fish chosen was hauled out with a net, but whether that pa~ticular fish found its way to the cus­ tomer or not is a matter of conjecture with me. During the evening Russian girls caine through the dining-room selling colored balloons for five rubles each. The Russians played a game with them that seemed to amuse them mightily. They would tie a paper to the end of the string, ignite the paper and let the balloon float toward the ceiling. Whenever a balloon reached the ceiling without exploding the ~vent was hailed by the Russians with cheers and applause. Later, a troupe of gypsies, called Tskanya) came on and played stringed instruments and sang gypsy songs. The waiters at the Metropole all spoke at least two languages and were very experienced. Russians say they disbelieve in tipping on ideological grounds because the practice creates inequality and places the person tipped in an inferior position. The waiters, porters, etc., in Russia apparently don't share the view, as there is a stampede to serve foreigners . ; . especially Americans. * * * The American help at the Embassy are mad as all get out because someone is opening all the mail that goes through the regular channels. The Post Office authorities don't try to hide it. Anyone who gets a letter can see easily that it has been opened. Ambassador Davies says, after this, we can use the diplomatic pouch. 22 The Treason Trial Begins . he Soviet purges w hich puzzled both Ambassador Joseph E. Davies T and his chauffeur during the famous MISSION TO Moscow were touched off in December 1934~ by the assassination of Sergei Kirov~ friend of Stalin and head of the Communist organization in Leningrad. I<.irov was one of the ten leading Bolsheviks of his time. Beginning with the Kzrov slayers~ Stalin~s police rounded up and banished the alleged conspzrators throughout Russia. The total . is variously estimated from thousands to millions~ taking in all the rmik and file members caught in the dragnet. The reign of terror, vividly described by Ciliberti; l~sted through the spring of 1938. The Davies Mission, therefore, came on the scene at about the middle of the purge and was preseni at the finish. Each purge was carried ou't on several different levels. In the first haul were the alleged Kirov assassin~ Leonid Nikolayev, and thirteen accom­ plices, all of whom were quickly tried and shot to death. But 114 others, accused of aiding in the conspiracy, were also ((liquidated." IzvESTIA announced ~n December 30, 1936~ ihat the series was abelieved to have ended.n But Stalin's personally supervised inquisitors, head.ed by pale-faced Nicolai Yeshov, were after bigger culprits. Early in 1935, the dragnet brought in two of the most famous Bolshevik leaders, Zinoviev· and Lev Kamanev and 17 others. Zinoviev and Kamanev a confessed moral responsi­ bility" for the Ki;ov crime; the others pleaded guilty in various degrees. All received prison sentences. Again the Kirov affair ·was reported as a closed." But eighteen months later, Zinoviev~ Kamanev and 11 other alleged aTrotskyite-rightists" were again on trial, this time for treason. The spec­ tacular proceedings, held in the Hall of Nobles in August, 1936, with Vishinsky as prosecutor, constituted the first of the big trial sensations. All sixteen were · sentenced to be shot; the official record says the sentences were a carr'ied out" on August 26, 1936. Ambassador Davies attended the Second Purge Trial which began on January 23, 1937, with 17 notable Bolsheviks in the prisoners' box. Karl Radek, former editorialist for IzvESTIA and Ge9rge Piatakov, former assist­ ant Commissar for Heavy Industries, were branded as ringleaders. PiatakorJ confessed that he had me·t the exiled Trotsky in Norway, in December, 1935, to plot th-e overthrow of the regime and the assassination of Stalin, Molotov, and other leaders. The prosecution demanded the death penalty for all 17 but Radek got off with a ten-year sentence. EDITOR'S NOTE. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 23

oscow. has been in a state of excitement for several days becaus·e of the coming Radek treason trials. Karl Radek was an old Bolshevik M and had been a man of great importance in the Revolution and in the Soviet Government. Members of ·the diplomatic corps are full of the subject and it appears to be the main topic of conversation among Russians. Newspapers ·are sold out almost as soon as they reach the ·streets. The general opinion is that the trial will be a cut and dried affair and that the court procedure is just a show for worldwide propaganda purposes. The trial began today. At noon I . drove the Ambassador and Charge d'affaires .Henderson t6 the place where the trial is to be held. Radek and sixteen other old Bolsheviks are being tried by the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union·. The street in front of the building was practically deserted except for the regular, uniformed Moscow police. Several cars from various embassies had arrived and were . parked near the building, togethe·r with their G. P. U. cars and agents. This · building is still called "The Hall of Nobles." It was a clubhouse for Russian aristocrats in the old days. Admission to the trials is · strictly on pass and,· as I had not been supplied with one, I waited in the car while the Ambassador and Mr. Henderson were inside. I spent the time observing the diplomats and correspondents come . and go and studying the surroundings. I ~aw street':"cars . passing by, loaded with passengers and "loaded" states the case mildly. Most of the cars are pre-revolutionary and two or three are usually coupled together. They are always jammed to capacity, ·with passengers even hanging between the couplings and bulging out the doors. The fare (same as for the subway) is thirty kopecs, about . 30. cents. However, due to the crowded condition of the cars, the conductor often fails to come around. Whenever a Russian crowds another too closely on these jammed trolleys, it is the custom for the one crowded to snatch the hat of ·the offender and toss it into the street. This serves to decrease the pressure as the de-hatted Russian is forced to alight to retrieve his hat. I always give the Moscow trolleys a wide berth when driving. You can never know when an irate, ·de-hatted Russian will be alighting suddenly to search for his hat on the icy street and I don't want to hit a pedestrian. The day session of the trial lasted until about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. At. 6 in the evening I drove the Ambassador back for the night session which lasted until 10: 30. During the long wait I got out of the car 24 BOOKTAB NO. 1 to stretch my legs but was immediately ordered back by one of the Moscow police. I knew then that I was expected to remain in the car. This was something of an ordeal as one becomes quite cramped and cold, sitting hours at a time in the driver's seat of an automobile· in sub-zero weather. Late in the evening, though, I did~ see an interesting sight ... one I shall never forget. A column of marching soldiers, between 250 and 300 men, appeared suddenly. Marching in military formation, the cadence of their tread muffled by the snow, they seemed like a ghostly army coming out of the night. Their rifles, bayonets fixed, glittered under the street lamps, and the soldiers' long overcoats swept noiselessly through the snow. In the center of the column was a truck with a closed body, with small barred openings. This was the prisoners' truck; its appearance warned me that the trial' was about over for the night. The marching column was the guard taking the seventeen old Bolsheviks back to Lubyanka Prison.

We Present Credentials at the Kremlin Moscow-January 25

ROVE the Amoassador to the Kremlin, to present his ctedentials to President Kalinin. Accocding to protocol the entire staff was re­ Dquired to accompany the Ambassador for this ceremony. Philip Bender had announced the event to me in the morning with great emphasis. It was my first ·visit inside the walls of the Kremlin. Soldiers of the Red Army stopped us at the gates where an officer of the Soviet was waiting for us. We entered with the Soviet car leading the way and our G. P. U. shadows following behind in the Ford. A considerable city was disclosed as we proceeded into the Kremlin. We stopped behind the Soviet officers' car and a footman opened the door of the limousine for · the Ambassador. I was impressed with the staircase within the building with its crimson carpet, rising up and up to unbelievable heights. Returning from the Kremlin, we were told that our passports must be turned in at the American Chancery for safekeeping. Nearly all of us hated to part with this official symbol of our American citizenship and did so only after being assured repeatedly that it was to keep the documents absolutely safe. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 25

We were all photographed by a Russian photographer and issued a documented and sealed credential in . Russian and English. * * * The manager of the National Hotel has been true to· his promise. He has given me a room with a private bath with the proviso that the room be shared with someone else. Harry Benson, the New York decorator, has moved in with me. We have room 428. During the first week at the hotel, I had had to use the public toilets and the conditions were absolutely unbelievable. The plumbing was in sad need of repair and, during the time that I . was there, I saw no effort made to remedy the situation. The bowls were clogged and there was filth everywhere. If there was ever such a thing as a Commissar of Sanitation, he had either been purged or was on a long vacation. As a result of being compelled to use these facilities I became infested with body liCe. So it was quite a relief to have, at last, a private bath and toilet. Dr. Bunkley prepared a solution for me which took care of the body lice in 24 hours. Before using the new private bathroom I got several bottles of Zonite and C. N. from Sidney Taylor at the Embassy, and scrubbed and disinfected the place to a fare-you-well before either Benson or I used it.

Moscow-January 26 Took Mrs. Davies and her secretary, Miss Edith Wells, on a shopping tour of Moscow. We parked in front of a store on Gorki Ulitza and 'the two women entered the place. The steps inside led downward and · I could see them through the glass windows. Mrs. Davies was wearing a magnificent full-length sable coat and her appearance caused quite a furor. I became alarmed when I saw them almost completely surrounded by a crowd of men and women. I locked the car and hurried into the shop. I pushed my way through the crowd and stood with my back to Mrs. Davies to protect her from the pressure of the curious crowd that was hemming her in. Mrs. Davies was surprised when she found me behind her. "What are you doing here, Charlie?" she asked. . I replied that I didn't know what the set-up was in there and thought we shouldn't take any chances. 26 BOOKTAB NO. 1

She laughed about . it later when she returned to the car and seemed, to think my alarm was foolish. However, I think I did the right thing- as I consider myself responsible for her safety when she is on these motor trips. * · * * Moscow's streets are filled in the daytime with people, all wearing black, but warm and comfortable, clothing. The men wear black overcoats and have the habit of carrying the right arm tucked into the opening of their coats. The left is thrust into the left overcoat pocket. Most of them wear fur hats with ear flaps while the women wear scarves, tied securely under the chin. About one man in every five has a .brief-case under his arm. The Muscovites are a grim, unsmiling lot, with blank, dull eyes and they walk with a dogged kind of determination. They often collide with one another, sometimes spinning a pedestrian completely around, and continue on their way without apologizing .. In fact, I have never heard a Russian apologize to anybody for anything. Upon occasion, when I said "sorry," in Russian, after bumping someone accidentally, the expres­ sion of surprise on the person's face was something to see. These people are fascinated by the Ambassador's limousine, with its New York license plate and the American flag fluttering in its stanchion. A crowd collects quickly whenever I stop and, within a few seconds, the body of the lim~usine and the windows are covered with finger-marks. My outside, rear view mirrors are of especial interest and it is amusing to see the Russians, young and old, examining their features in the shiny surfaces. They are always changing the angle of the mirrors and, within a short time, have them turr~ed so th~t they are of no value in driving. One mirror and a door-handle finally were stolen and I decided something had to be done about it. You couldn't blame the people for being curious about automobiles. Most of them had never even ridden in one. All automobiles in Russia are owned by the government and the system of protection I adopted was borrowed from Soviet officials. Their cars are all electrified. I installed an extra coil and used a surveyor's plumb for a ground. I bored a hole through the floor to accommodate the ground. Then, when the switch was turned on, anyone touching the body of the car got a mild shock. In this way I was able to preserve the finish of the car. I was always careful not to use this device when the car was sur­ rounded by children, but even they seemed to know what to expect· when they saw me drop the plumb through the hole in the floor. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 27

Also, I never leave the car unattended and always keep the windows closed because of the widespread thievery that prevails in Moscow. This I was told to do by the G. P. U. Soviet law provides that no accusation of thievery will hold unless the thief is caught with the articles actually in his possession. Stolen articles, therefore, are passed .rapidly from one person to another and are practically impossible to trace.

Moscow-January 28 We are still making the rounds of the Embassies. Yesterday the Japanese, today the Chinese, German, British and Turkish. We have also visited museums, art galleries and the Commission Art Store. Our G. P. U. -shadows, to whom I gave the cigarettes, made their first gesture of friendliness today at the museum in the Kremlin. They saw that I wanted to go in and signaled me to go ahead, that they would watch the car. The museum was most interesting. Saddles, carriages, sleighs and trappings of px:e-revolutionary . days were on display, with each Czar represented. Many of the exhibits were of skilled craftsmanship and exemplified the splendor . and magnificence of the different emperors who ruled this vast land. A uniform coat was pointed out to me by a G. P. U. agent as one that had been worn by Czar Nicholas II. I examined it with great interest and wondered if it was the. one he had worn when he was shot. 'There was a right-angled tear on the upper lefthand side.

The Ringleader Got Off Easy Moscow-January 29

HE Treason trials ended today. I drove the Ambassador to the Hail of Nobles as usual and learned that Radek and the other old TBolshevists were making their last statements. The trials were considered unique by the Diplomatic Corps, particularly by attaches of the American and British Embassies, because of the amaz­ ing confessions and · self-accusations of the defendants. It seemed against human nature that men, ~ccused of crimes carrying the death penalty, would apparently vie with each other in confessing to even greater crimes and more reprehensible conduct. If the confessions of the defendants were true, they, of course, deserved the death penalty under Soviet law. The fact of the enthusiastic admissions, 28 BOOKTAB 'NO; 1 · however, · was amazing. This is best' -illustrated by ·imagining, if you can, a man accused· of murder· in· New· York -vigorously assisting the District Attorney in his own prosetution, not :only corife5sirig to all the gruesome details of the' crime, 'but . addirig accounts of other crimes not charged in the indictment. According to Russian ·newspapers and Moscow gossip, Radek was the ringleader of the group, yet he got only 10 years. Most of the others were sentenced to be shot. The Muscovites were amazed when this news was released. It seem~d strange tq them,_ and !o me : ~oo, that th~ ring- · leade~ of a plot should. get off ~ith _a lighter, se11_tence tha~. ~hose he led into trouble. · . . .. All kiqds of rumors have been . flyiJ?.g in ,the· Embassy during th~ trials. One was that Mada!lle .Litvino~, wife ~f Soviet Co:rp.missar of· F9~eign Affairs Maxim Litvinqv, .had been "liq~i.dated," I <;J.isc~:mn,t ,em_bassy rumors unless I get information , from . the Ru~sians themseives. This. rumor . certainly proved false ·. as I »'as called ·this__, af.terpo~n ..to grivt: . the Ambas­ sador, Mrs . .- Davies and Miss Emlen ~ Knight D.a vies to. the ~piridon_ifka where they were _entertained ~t · tea .. ~Y . ~he la?y i:n, question! -

Moscow_:_Febru_ary 2 i • ...... Drove . Ambassador Dayies . to . the Russian .. foreign Office _ to make · hi~ first .official call on . Maxim Litvinov, 9ommissar of Foreigp A_ffairs. The office is located just behind the Lubyanka Prison on Dzerzhinskovo Ulitza. The Ambassador was gone for about half an hour. These first weeks have been busy ones for Mr. Davies. Protocot ~~s _est';\plisht:d rigid, _diplo­ matic etiquette and courtesy in referenc~ to 'Soviet ··offiCials arid foreign· Ambassadors and Min_isters in connection with Mr. Davies' duties.

Moscow-February 3; My relation with the G. P. U. guards assigned· to the . Ambassador has . grown irito a weird sort of friendship. While we are always at arm's length, we have developed a measure of 'cooperation that is undoubtedly unique for these agents of ' Stalin. They only follow tis when Ambassador Davies ·leaves the Embassy. On many' occasions, Mrs. Davies . makes· an · excursion alone and, of course, the secret police do not follow. ·Consequently the G. P. U. could never be certain whether I was to -·chauffeur the Ambassador, Mrs. Davies', or some · other person. B·ecause of the extreme cold it took them some time to warm up the engine of their Ford and BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 29

I sensed that they were extremely tense and anxious everytime I drove up with the limousine. I arranged to signal two blasts on the horn, if the Ambassador was about to leave, so they could start warming their engine. One blast meant that a lesser personage was setting out from the Embassy. After this plan was in effect, I arranged for the Russian chauffeurs at the Embassy to cooperate in the same way. After this arrangement I found that the secret police desired to be cooperative with me and often, when I was late getting back to the Embassy, they would drive me to my hotel. I probably am one of the few men who has ridden 1n a G. P. U. car that didn't end in Lubyanka Prison. I must have gained some reputation among them because often I have been greeted by name by members of their group who were total strangers to me. The importance of these men's assignments should be understood. I have learned that their movements and actions are checked and counter­ checked hy other agents and that any omission of duty is reported immediately to their superiors. The result is disastrous. Militia men or ordinary policemen are on duty in front ·of the Embassy 24 ho~rs a day and, should the Ambassador arrive fit the Embassy without the secre~ police car just behind, the policeman on duty would surely report it. My concern for the fulfillment of their task was _appreciated and one result was that I have never been arrested or questioned like many other members of the Embassy staff.

"A Commissar Lives Very Simplyu Moscow-February 5 Drove the Ambassador and Mrs. Davies to a luncheon at the count!) home (dacha) of A. P. Rosengoltz*, the People's Commissar of Foreign Trade. The weather was overcast but clear. We drove out Smolenskaya Ulitza to 'the city limits of Moscow, where all civilization and habitation abruptly ended. The snow-covered countryside stretched before us like the western plains of the United States. Here we picked up the Stalin Highway. Beginning at the city limits of Moscow, this asphalt road, about 150 feet wide, stretches for about 19 miles over the flat terrain.

• Later purged. 30 BOOKTAB NO. 1

We followed the highway fpr about one and a half miles before turning /· off for the Rosengoltz'· dacha. About every mile or so, outs.ide of Moscow, we found a sentry guarding the route, either a Red Army man or a member of some branch of the Soviet police, heavily overcoated and wearing the inevitable winter fur hat with the red star in the center. Automobile traffic was practically nil. A tall tower, housing a look-out sentry, was the first indication that we were near the dacha. A tall, green fence, topped with barbed wire, surrounded the estate. Guards, stationed at the entrance, opened the gates for us and we passed through. The road led through a white birch wood and emerged again into open, rolling countryside. Here we caught our first glimpse of the Commissar's dacha. It was an imposing structure, comparable to the country homes of millionaires on Long Island. Commissar Rosengoltz greeted the Ambassador and Mrs. Davies at the steps of the house. I drove the car around the circular drive and parked it near the Rosengoltz garage. Near the garage, chained to a tree, was one of the most ferocious dogs I have ever encountered. I was unable to classify the breed, but I believe it was a French Bouvier* ;Being a lover of dogs, I started to approach him but was quickly warned by one of the G. P. U. agents. The dog was fed only by Rosengoltz himself and was trained to attack viciously any other person. I was curious to see what kind of transportation was furnished an official like the Foreign Trade Commissar and looked around the garage. I found a large black 16-cylinder Cadillac sedan, two 8-cylinder Packard sedans and one Russian manufactured M-1 Ford sedan. The maintenance equipment was comparable to that of any millionaire's garage in the United States.

* All dogs in Russia are thoroughbreds. I have never seen a mongrel. It seemed strange to me, because I have never been in any other country where all dogs are thoroughbreds. Asked a Russian friend about it and was told that, during the revo­ lution, when thousands of people were starving, no animal was immune. And, as fantastic as this may sound, I also was told that an uncle of a friend of mine had killed and eaten his last born son. I questioned this and he said, "Charlie, I don't lie. You don't know what revolution is and what it does to people." This man should know cecause he was 25 at the time and had just come back from the front. I spent hours talking to this Russian. One day he . said: "Charlie, Russia and · the rest of the world will always shed blood until all the nations become republics like the United States." He was an extremely intelligent man and spoke four lan­ guages fluently. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 31

While waiting for the Ambassador; I saw innumerable servants, coming and going. I thought, '~Not bad . . . for a servant of the people in socialistic Russia where everyone is supposed to be equal." On all these trips I had to drive with the left window down, because when it was shut my breath immediately fogged up the windows, due to the intense· cold. The cars had· automatic defrosters, but the one time I tried to use them· the windshield cracked instantly from end to end.

Liquidations and Disappearances Moscow-February 6

TALIN and his government don't believe in halfway measures. The treason trials are· over, ·but . the "purge" is . on and terror ~talks SMoscow and the rest of Russia. Just to be ahve and at large IS an indication that one is at peace with the Government. But no one kn?ws what tomorrow will bring. I have summed up the situation in Russia with this slogan: "If you're for us, you show us; if you're against us, we'll show you." Fear of · the purge seems to affect "the upper strata"-Communist Party members, the intellectqals ·and the Bolshevik leaders-more than the ordinary man in the street, but each day I hear of the· sudden disappear­ ance of this or that person. Indeed I have not met a Russian whose family has escaped completely. In every case someone has disappeared, has been "liquidated" or is languishing in prison. One of the certain signs of "liquida­ tion" among the prominent Bolsheviks is the sudden disappearance of their portrait posters . from public buildings. Once the face of a familiar, celebrated and respected Bolshevik comes down from its place on public buildings, all Moscow knows that Stalin has one less rival. "Liquidation/' in Russia, means death. A "disappearance" leaves hope that the person has merely been imprisoned, .b,ut usually it means that the person is dead. The .people live in a terror difficult for an Amerkan to understand. The sense of helplessness against ·encroachments of th~ government and accusatio"1s of disloyalty by spies • and agents keeps them cowed and curiously fatalistic. My Russian friends have a sign language to indicate that a person has been purged. They . extend the il')dex and -second finger of the left hand to form a V, cross them with the similarly extended index and 32 BOOKTAB NO. 1

sc~ond finger of the right hand, then hold the hands · to the left eye, palms outward. The gesture, accompanied by ·a sharp clicking or' the tongue against the teeth,indicates that Ivanavitch is gone forever! The most serious crime in this country is an offense against the State. Crimes in this category are considered counter-revolutionary and the penalty is usually death. A ."minor" offense like murder draws a maximum sentence of ten years. Stalin and the Soviet Government may not be criticized. So it is that Stalin's name is rarely m.entioned by the Russians them­ selves. Avoidance of it amounts almost to a religious taboo. When the Russians are greatly incensed by some act of Stalin or of the government, and, when all precautions have been taken against being overheard, St~lin's name is sometimes heard, accompanied by colorful Russian profanity. The general hatred of Stalin, smould.ering in the hearts and minds of the mas~es of Russian ~op~~' is in striking c;:ontrast to the respect they exhibit for the memory '·of Lenin. . Most Ru_ssians believe that if Lenin had lived he would havt;··:secured for th~m the ideals and objectives of the :rev<>lution. .. .

Once a person is su~pected of disloyalty, escape is impossible. Every person in Russia is classified, catalogued and identified. Each person must carry with him at all times his government identification card (called a passport hy the Russians) bearing his· photograph, place of residence, place of employment and. other pertinent data.· Heavy penalties apparently are inflicted ori persons. picked up without cards. Russians of my acquaint­ e~ce express abject ·terror at ·the very thought of losing their passports, and . I ·have been.told that thieves and criminals here make a practice of leaving a ~ost or stolen passport near the scene of a crime to send the G. P. U.

up 1 false trails~ Soviet citizens fear questioning by the police worse than the1 plague. · . . · . · . Living iri the atmosphere of terror that accompanies the purge, has mad~ us all a little jittery. ·· Tonight Harry Benson, my roommate, and I were awakened by what sounded like a fusillade of pistol or machine­ gun \shots. Harry leaped out of bed . and turned on the lights,· fully· · believing that the counter-revolution had come.-. We found that the bottles of Narzan water we keep on the window-sill between the double panes of . g~~s, ~ad exploded! N arzan water · is a distilled, carbonated, Russian soda water, used by Americans instead of ordinary water, which is not conside~ed safe. . BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 33

Moscow-February 7

Former Ambassador William C. Bullitt must have been a . good~natured, easy-going fellow if one can judge by practices in the garage. Seems he let American news correspondents and . other Americans use -his cars so much that all they had to do to get one was call the garage and ask one of the chauffeurs to drive them. During the first days here the Ambassa­ dor's cars were being used by practically every American in Moscow except the Ambassador and Mrs. Davies, though the two Packard limousines were their persqnal property. _ The Russian chauffeur, Vasili Vasilivitch Garbachoff, would answer all calls for car~ with gusto and usually roll out of the garage at -- high speed without checking to see if the doors were open or not! I took the matter up with the Ambassad<;>r and,am now in full charg~ of the garage and all the -cars in .it. He told me any· order 1 give ·will be ba~ked by him. So I've put an end to lending the cars. Visiting Americans will have .to use taxicabs. . .

Aftermath ·of the ·Treason· Trials . Moscow-February 9 UMORS still fly concerning the Radek t;ials a~d the wholesale a~ests that are taking place all over Russia. The strange conduct and R the amazing confessions of Radek and his c6-defendants is explained in many ways. One widespread rumor, which is given considerable credence is that some strange 9riental drug was administered to .Radek and the others in their food. This drug, whatever . its origin, is said to affect the will of those to whom it is given. While . the willpower . of the drugged person is ·dormant and under the direction of another,. says the rumor, the ordinary intellectual powers and the mind of the. victim are free and functioning, but under outside directiqn. The Russians who discussed this matter with me. invari'ably sought to impress me with the mystery surrounding. Oriental drugs and the queer effects these drugs produce in victims. There is little doubt in my mind that many ,Russians believed this drug .explanation to be true. Though their sources of information were the same ... a mimeographed handout from the Russian Foreign Office .... Soviet and foreign newsmen gave different impressions of the trials. According to the Russian, govern­ ment-controlled press the rtien were guilty of treason to ·the state and 34 .BOOKTAB NO. 1 their guilt was manifest in their straightforward confessions. The American and British press reported these facts ·but with a note of skepticism. The confessions seemed too glib, too stereotyped, for them. It was perhaps for this reason, that we were carefully warned to bum or destroy in some manner all American newspapers and periodicals after we had finished reading them. We were told that leaving an American newspaper or magazine where a Russian might have access to it was considered counter-revolutionary under Soviet law and that we rpight find ourselves in a serious difficulty if we did not follow these instructions carefully. I will confess right here that I have broken that nile and found a mild satisfaction in giving American newspapers and magazines to my English­ speaking Russian friends. They are anxious to know about America and I see nothing wrong in letting them get a look-see at our viewpoint. If this means that I ai:n sowing a little propaganda about the United States in Russia, why not? Their government has flooded an uri protesting America with oceans of Communistic propaganda. Will say that the Russian women are thrilled with American women's magazines and Vogue is especially in demand. Various women and their husbands have begged me to get copies of fashion magazines for them and· I do it when I can. The women are thrilled with the photos an9 sketches of fashionable clothes an~ try to remodel their .; dresses along more stylish lines.

Moscow-February 11 Mr. Davies thinks the G. P. U. agents that trail him about are "more of a protection" than otherwise but this view I do not share. Certainly the dictaphones that are continually being concealed about the Embassy, don't come in this category. It's routine practice here to check the telephone receiver before indulging ~n a private conversation, because the mouthpiece is a favorite place to ·hide a mike. I like most of the Russian help here at the Embassy but none is exempt from my suspicion regarding this dictaphone matter.

Moscow-February 12 Soviet Russia does not observe Sundays and I was surprised how soon I lost track of them. The Russians work five days and rest on the sixth, which is called a "free day." That day is easily recognized because of the BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 35 mobs of people on the streets. The foreign diplomatic corps observes the days of the week and· the Sabbath. Last Sunday I drove the Ambassador and Mrs. Davies to the· dacha of Eldridge Durbrow, secretary to the U. S. Embassy in Moscow. .. The dacha~ located about 17 kilometers west of Moscow on the Stalin Highway, is rented and maintained by Consular attaches. A Russian about 50 years old, was employed as a sort of handyman. He was a small, suave, somewhat sinister individtJ.al, who spoke good English and I felt sure that his presence in the dacha was not .accidental. Undoubtedly the place was wired for dictaphones and much information must have reached the Kremlin from the unsuspecting Americans who gathered in this place week-ends. Returning to Moscow, we passed through a small village. We saw several old women along ·the side of the road washing clothes in -the bitter cold. They had dug a hole through the ice in a pond and were washing the clothes by pounding them against the ice. To me this seemed to indicate they were a long way from Utopia.

M O$cow-February 13 While walking . today . I saw a man carrying a large box under his arm. A sash went around the box and over his shoulder. I was told that the box contained the body of his dead child and that he was takir1g it to be cremated. He walked always in the gutter. I learned that there are three types of funerals in Russia. ( 1 ) The casket is carried through, the streets by friends of the deceased; ( 2) The body is carried in an open truck, the family walking behind; ( 3) The body is carried in a truck, draped yvith the Red flag, accompanied by six or seven men playing musical instruments, while . the family follows in another truck. The only cemetery I have seen in Moscow is the one where Gorki arid StaHn'~ second wife . are buried. .

The Best-Guarded Man in the World Moscow-February 14 'When I reported at the office of the Embassy secretary today, as I usually do to find out what's going on for the day, she pulled out the telephone plug "just in case," and told me that a doctor had come from Vienna .to treat Stalin for some stomach ailment and that he had to treat six men so he wouldn't know which was th(' real Stalin·. BOOKTAB NO. 1

Stal_in is the most protected man in the world. When he or any of the other big shots roll through the · city they ride in bullet-proof cars and the streets are cleared for them. And when I say "roll," I mean roll. That is the reason why there are no left turns in Moscow, no parking on any of the big streets and why there are so many cops along the way, with one on every corner of every alley leading into the big street. When one of these "big boys" rolls through, one cop _whistles to the next, right on down the line. They take the whole street, with two cars leading and two or more cars closing in behind. I had to put two wheels on the curb once when I saw them coming. Another time, when I was comin.g back to the Embassy, the cop at Arhat Square gave me the green light as usual and I gave him my customary high sign. Just then he got the ;histie and switched the light back to red. I knew what was coming, because I could see the cops on Arhat, all excited, · chasing the people back to the sidewalks and· allowing no one to cross. In about a minute who comes rolling through but old "Uncle Joe" Stalin himself, sitting up front with the chauffeur behind thick bulletproof, green-looking glass. They just flew through the square. Another time there was a big show at the Bolshoj Theatre and all the diplomatic corps were there. Everyone knew Stalin was attending because the streets were filled with G. P. U. All the big shots were in the theatre. 1 talked with some of their chauffeurs. No one ever saw Stalin, they said, just his hands when he applauded. Although I followed the Moscow traffic regulations the G. P. U. had to.ld me I could make a left turn anywher~ I wanted to. The policemen OI?- duty didn't seem to think the same way and I got stopped a couple of times and waited while the cop and the G. P._ U: had it out. Many times the Ambassador and Mrs. Davies would stop in a shop on the main street, while I parked outside, as the G. P. U. had told me to do. The policemen would come up and almost plead with me to park on a sidestreet. I played ball with them, if it wasn't too far away. When I first got here I was allowed to make a left turn into Arhat Street, whether I had the Ambassador with me or not. Then one day I came out from our little street to turn into Arhat, the main street in that district, and the cop wouldn't let me turn left, but insisted I go right. I asked the G. P. U. about it, and they said the left turn was allowed only when I had the Ambassador, so from then on I had to go bumping through the side streets before I could get on Arhat again. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 37

The G. P. U. said it was a new regulation, but I knew what had hap­ pened. A short time before I was making that tum when the cop on my street got the whistle and Premier Molotov came rolling through. I saw them coming and got over as close as I could to the curb as they went .by, but a bus was coming the other way and sort of cramped their style. So I believe the "TOP" raised hell and, from then on, only the Ambassador could make a left tum.

Moscow-February 16

HE Ambassador and Mrs. Davies gave a party for Russian officials and A. Y. Vyshinsky, prosecutor at the Radek trials, was pointed out to Tme. He is a man of about 50 or 55, heavy set, and wore the uniform of a Red Army officer. The Embassy was full of Red Army officers. They were rugged and very stiff and it was easy to see that they weren't used to· the set·up. They stuck together to prevent being "rescued" from an em­ barrassing moment and did not walk around the ballroom. with the grace and ease of officers from the other Embassies. You could see. the difference between these men and those trained at West Point. It seemed as if all the G. P. U. boys in Moscow were at the front gate that night. I heard an argument out there and Garbachoff, the Russian chauffeur, and Perchick of the Embassy staff (also called Split Beard) were going at it hammer and tongs, but only verbally because in Russia the one that hits first is held guilty, regardless of the provocation. The battle was · over tips. Perchick wanted Garbachoff to put his tips in a pot which had been agreed upon beforehand by the help in the house and Garbachoff was holding out, claiming the garage tips were separate. I settled it by saying Garbachoff was right. Then he showed me how Perchick had been hiding tips in various places, such as behind the radiator, in the umbrella stand, etc . .He said nothing to the others about Perchick's trick and, when I asked why, he said they were all probably doing the same thing. After the party was over Garbachoff came to the garage and emptied his pockets. He had nearly 400 rubles. I told him in all fairness he ought to divide with the night watchman because he called the can for us. He did this gladly, giving the fellow about 195 rubles, which I believe was five rubles less tha~ a month's pay. Garbachoff and I had a good laugh in the garage over Perchick, Said Garbachoff: "You should have understood the names he called me; they were very, very bad!" We locked the garage and went horne. It was an interesting night. 38 BOOKTAB NO. 1

Moscow-February 19 Drove Ambassador Davies again to the Kremlin where he was closeted with Premier Molotov and Commissar Litvinov.

Moscow-February 21 Ambassador and Mrs. Davies are making preparation for a train trip to Leningrad. A railway coach, formerly used by Russian royalty, is being pro­ vided for the journey and Soviet officials apparently are making every provision for their comfort. Nevertheless, an American cook, two maids and the Ambassador's valet are to accompany them. Also a truckload of food from the Embassy ice-boxes and commissary. Philip. Bender is enthusiastic over the accomodations provided for the Ambassador and tried to impress me with the gran~eur afforded him by the Soviet Government. I couldn't resist saying: "This is nothing new for Mr. Davies. He travels in this style il! the United States all the time and doesn't have to carry his own food with him., From the day of my arrival in Moscow. I have been puzzled by Bender. I can't figure out his exact status at the Embassy. He was born in Russia. but had spent a number of years. in San Francisco as an organizer for the I. W. W. (Industrial Workers of the World). He is assigned to the Ameri­ ~an Embassy by the Soviet Government but his salary is paid by the Embassy. He speaks good English. At times I am convinced he is a member of the G. P. U.; at other times I am not so sure. He makes himself generally useful to the Ambassador and the · Embassy, but undoubtedly serves two governments. He is tall, medium-built, about 45 years old and always wears American clothes. In his dealings with Americans he is courteous; toward Russians he is extremely curt and sharp.

I Malee Progress in Russian Moscow-February 25 Since my arrival I have been studying Russian . hard, often far into the night~ Now I can hold my end of a conversation with a Russian. I have made~ practice of speaking only Russian, except when I am at the Embassy or in my room with Harry Benson. Holding conversations with Russians has made it c,ome easier. One of the first lessons I had from a Russian was the propor pronunciation of a bit of Russian profanity. Another Russian who was \ present and who spoke good English, told me not to waste my BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 39 time on that as the language was hard enough to learn without trying to learn words that were unnecessary. I followed this advice. Later I learned that Russian profanity and name-calling is a high and special art. An angry Russian, in verbal combat, is capable of a stream of lurid and descriptive profanity that would make a New York truck driver blush. My Russian is everyday stuff, but it enables me to make friends. Among these friends is the policeman on duty at the gate, who has ad­ vised me to go home different, ways late at night because the streets are full of thieves and my fur CQat and clothes look pretty nice. I not only use different streets, but walk in the· middle and I also follow the advice of a New York patrolman, who told me that a rolled newspaper, slapped against the point of the jaw, is a pretty good weapon for throwing an assailant off-balance. Am using my time while the Ambassador is. in Leningrad, to do some sight-seeing on my own. Explored the much advem:ised Moscow subway. Every entrance is closely guarded by police and the station interiors are very clean, kept that way by large crews of women. Keivskaya station is the most elaborate I've seen, with the interior colonnaded and decorated with beautiful polished marble. Both men and women operate the trains, which are like those on New York's Eighth Avenue. I was surprised to learn that all this subway equipment was built in the U. S. The subways are well­ patronized but not as crowded as the surface cars. Even in the dead of winter, though, the stench of unwashed perspiring people is always present. I never tire of studying the faces of the people who ride the trains, the same grim, expressionless faces, with eyes staring straight ahead. The sub­ way symbolized to me the sweep of events in the lives of these people. They understood the mechanism of this imported, capitalistic facility as little as they understood the mysterious intrigue that was sweeping them relentlessly on to an unknown· destiny. F~w passengers on the trains read newspapers. There's none of the hustle and conversation so familiar to me in New York's subways. Only the occasional laughter of children· breaks the silence from time to time. Red Square subway station* was being built when I arrived in Moscow. Girls and women, in heavy boots and short Chinese jackets, were doing the

*This station was decorated with figures, supposedly .in bronze, of Red soldiers and sailors. Moscow kids soon learned that they were painted plaster and were forever chipping off noses and bayonets. 40 BOOKTAB NO. 1

excavating as usual. The shaft was near the Metropole Hotel and I often saw crews of dirty women emerging from the tunnel. Moscow is full of little parks for "rest and culture." Most of them are decorated with statues of Red ·soldiers and sailors, eternally on guard, with fixed bayonets and grim, determined faces.

Moscow_:_February 26 ALKING home tonight with a Russian friend, I saw a man on the sidewalk. His left leg was doubled up under his right, both hands Wwere flung up over his head and he was bleeding from the neck. People were walking around him and jumping over his legs to pass, but no one stopped to help him or to find out what was the matter. I stopped to see if I could help him, but,. as I bent over, my friend grabbed me under the armpits and said, "Come on, Charlie, let's go." And· again, firmly, "Let's . go!" I said , " All right but that man is badly hurt. Didn't you see the blood on the sidewalk? It's cold and he may die." He answered, "It's none of our business. What do you want. to do? Answer a lot of questions? Let the police take care of it." He finally got his· bus and I went to my hotel. Boy, has this government got the people whipped! The people seem just as callous about animals. Horse freight trains are used here and some men are very cruel to the animals. Lashing a whip under the belly of a fallen horse is one of their ways of trying to get a ·horse up that has slipped on the ice. This happened one day when the Ambassador was with me and the fallen horse was taking a terrible licking. The Ambassador was shocked and one of our G. P. U. went over to talk to the driver. He tried to apologize to me, but I just said: "That man doesn't understand horses." Moscow-February 27 I'm not surprised to find that people who have lived in America are giving me their tale of woe and trying to get me to ask the Ambassador to help them. One man, a barber, said he had lived in America for 18 years. H.e started to tell me what a fool he had been to listen to Communist propa­ ganda in New York. I told him there was plenty of work for barbers here ~nd he should have looked into this closer before he left New York. He was not an American and was born in Russia. I pointed out the Chancery to him and told him if he had a just case they 'Yould help him. But he didn't want to go in. These people don't dare go to the Chancery for fear of being picked up by the G. P. U. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN ·MOSCOW 41

I did help one couple, both Americans. They had been in Russia four years and had spent most of the time trying to get 'out. The Ambassador must have done something about it because the next time I saw them they were getting ready to go. The fellow came to the garage, happy· as a lark, · and told me the news. · I said: "Remember your mistake, Teddy. I'm not the one that got you out. All I did was help you. Go back to tne States now and tell them the truth. Knowing the set-up here as you do, you ought to get up on a soap-box and praise America like all get out." This man had worked at the plant at Gorki, then at the American Embassy as a chauffeur so as to be near those who could help him and 1 earn American money to pay his fare. I went to his house for dinner, but couldn't eat the food, after seeing the way he lived and thinking of what he had given up to get this. I pay little attention ·to most of the people-who had lived in America and want me to help them get back. They made their bed; let them sleep on it.

·' Moscow~March 5 Out with a Russian friend to a house·several miles from the center of town. It was cold, but the weather had changed for the better. A truck went by with a body on the floor and, as it went over some bumps, the feet of the body moved from side to side. · I thought the man was dead. ·My friend noticed and he snapped his finger against his neck (Russian way of saying "drunk"), then he told·me the method ofsobering him up and pointed out the booths where this is done. The man is strapped up by the hands and cold water is turned on him, clothes and all. He sobers up quickly! He is allowed to stay· until his clothes are dry, then has to pay a fine. This may help explain why Russians can hold their liquor the way they do; I :see very few drunks; but they sure can stow it away. This incident will explain what I mean. Two Russians came to the back of the Embassy one day with a wagon containing a lift van filled with· furniture from the States. They struggled with it for hours and finally got it off. It was cold and they had worked hard. I said in Russian, "Everything is good now." One answered, "Yes, everything is good but one thi'ng ... a drink." I told them to wait, maybe I could fix them up. They asked for vodka, so I went to the pantry and asked the butler, Sidney Taylor, if he had any. He had no vodka but he gave me a bottle of gin, that looks like it anyway. I called the men down BOOKTAB NO. 1 to the basement, gave each a glass, and started to pour the gin out. They never said "when," but asked, "Is this American vodka?" I said, "Yes". I filled the two glasses (and they were beer glasses) to the top and they drank it like water. They smacked their lips and said: "It is good vodka, but not as strong as the Russian vodka." '.Vhen I saw that gin go down I couldn't believe what I ·"vas seeing. But they drove off all right!

Mrs. Davies and I Mcrke a Plot ·Moscow-March 7 Bartley Gordon,. a counselor at the Embassy has been friendly to me and I have tried to follow his advice in dealing with the Russians. While the r<:lnk and file of the people are extremely truthful, he said that I should always be on my guard, because I am in the land of Machiavelli, that these people began political intrigue where Machiavelli left off. Mr. Gordon \varned me that overtures of friendship might be made for the purpose of securing information, which might be pieced together with other bits of information and used for sinister purposes, even against our own country. "Don't go out on a limb for anyone or anything," he warned me, "because everything. you say, everything you do, will be promptly reported." So I am very careful about what I . say and. to whom I say it. ·. L.indy, the masseur, relayed a message downstairs one. day, due to one of the house staff getting drunk the night before and having to be carried home. He told us we all knew the Russian laws and if we got into trouble we would have to look out for ourselves. I replied that I didn't know the Russian laws and that, inasmuch as a person could get. into trouble damned easily here, I expected the person, whose job it was, to get me out. "I don't intend to do anything here I'm not allowed to do in the States," I concluded, "but over here they lock people up for nothing and you should know, Lindy." It was the truth. Mrs. Davies asked him one. day to go to the Italian . Embassy and give Mrs. Russo a massage. (She was an American, the wife of the Italian Ambassador and a friend of Mrs. Davies.) Lindy was picked up leaving the Italian Embassy but wouldn't go with the G. P. U. They grabbed him but he is a big man and started to tussle. It ended by Lindy making them take him home. The G. P. U. doesn't like daytime action. Stanley, a footman, was t~ken from a restaurant to a police station and BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 43 questioned for more than an hour and our chef was picked up on Christmas and held for four hours. Although I was never picked up, every move I made was watched. And I wa:nt to say that I believe the Russian Government is the best informed government in the world, bar none. This incident is to the point: One day Mrs. Davies called me and said she wanted me to do a mission for her but I must be very careful. She had heard that two old women, who lived across the street, had some beautiful icons and she wanted me to go to see them and find out if they would sell them. I told her that if she wanted me to do that she would have ·to take the Ambassador out so that the G. P. U. boys would follow them and give rpe a clear road. Mrs. Davies agreed and that afternoon they went out, with Garbachoff driving. I had to duck the policeman at the gate, too. I waited fo~ my chance, and slipped into the house, which was right across th~ street from the Embassy. I went upstairs and told these ladies, in Russian, the reason for my visit. They were very happy ·to let me ;see the icons and told me all about th~m. They were very beautiful icons, with rich pearl inlay. I just didn't have the heart to ask if they would sell them and. I told Mrs. Davies so afterward. These ladies asked me about my religion and how I liked Russia. They spoke softly and with a culture that could have been learned only'in anoth~r era. . Two lovelier old ladies I have never had the pleasure of m~eting. That afternoon I went to the commissary and got a whole box of groceries, . in­ cluding tea and coffee, and sent it to them. Next day one of our G. P. U. asked: "Charlie, why did you go over to that house? ~hey are two old women. There are much younger girls in Moscow." The other G. P. Us. sta;rted to laugh. That was their way of letting me kn.ow they knew I had been there and that all my precautions had been useless.

Moscow-March 9

Invited to a Russian home ~or dinner and made a polite stab at trying to eat the food. This was the first time 1 had seen caviar " for Russian con­ sumption." It was jet black a~d pressed together and looked like the rubber sole of a shoe. I asked why they couldn't have the real sturgeon caviar, since this was the country it came from, and he answered, "It is not for us.'_' He looked at me and I looked at him. I could see he didn't want to talk about it so I changed the subject. 44· BOOKTAB NO. 1

These things always start me thinking, though. The Communists claim they can improve everything. Boy, they are sure doing it here! If the people of Russia were swallowing a big pill when royalty was in the saddle, the Communists are making them take a pill they can't even get . into their mouths. What a terrible leap!

The Molotovs' Butler Was No Piker Moscow-March 14

ODAY I drove Mrs. Da~ies and Miss Wells to the Molotov dacha. The invitation is a great honor. Members of the diplomatic · corps, who Thave been here for years, have never been inside the inclosure. We drove out the Stalin highway for about a mile and turne~ right. The place is on the road to the Rosengoltz dacha, only you turn left just before teach· ing the Rosengoltz road. There was no chance, though, of my getting lost. State Police, who are always on the road, stood at the turning and directed me. They all knew I was coming and there was no likelihood that they would miss me because my cat was the only one· on the road. We went th~ough the Rublova woods and passed a house with a large brick wall which was believed to be Stalin's dacha. After several miles we came into open country and there ahead of us, abo~t half a mile, was a large tower and, when we came closer, the usual high green fence. The gates were flung open as we approached and we drove about a third of a mile through the grounds to a large gray house, as large, if not larger, than Mrs. Davies' house at Roslyn~ Long Island. The actual esta~e looked twice as large to me and Mrs. Davies' estate is not small, about 200 or more acres. There were so many greenhouses that I couldn't count them all; I just took a glance, but far more than at Roslyn. Mrs. Davies only has four. I went inside and was told that lunch was ready and was taken to the servant's dining-room. What a lunch! More food was given me than .I could eat in a week. Five different kinds of fish, five different kinds of meat, all different kinds of salads, wines and liquers. I turned the drinks down; I don't drink on the job. It really was a banquet, "from soup to nuts". At this time I saw for the first time a salad made to look like a bouquet of flowers. It was a meal I shall never forget. I have ·had. meals in some of the richest homes in the United States ,and will say that these Soviet meals BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 45

are tops. Moreover, the butlers in America are amateurs compared to the butler Madame Molotov had. After lunch the Molotov G. P. U. and their chauffeurs and I talked about things in general. They wanted to hear all about New York and I told them. A little while later I was called and as I was leaving the room, I looked out the window and saw a string of cars including a 16-cylinder Cadillac, several big Packards and a few Fords. The 16-cylinder Cadillac was familiar to me. The invitation had been delivered in it a few days before. All the big cars had the familiar bullet-proof glass. On the way back to Moscow, Mrs. Davies said to Miss Wells, "Did you notice the Barbasol shaving cream in the bathroom?" They had a great talk going home, but I did a lot of thinking and the gist of it was, "Those commissars sure do right by themselves." I thought of a Russian friend of mine who used to come to ask me if I could get him a can of meat from the Chancery commissary as there was none in the shops. He loved American meat loaf, and, since I had the privilege of buying at the commissary, I kept him supplied. I spent a lot of money, but it was worth it. I was always getting food for my friends. They were crazy about coffee and tea and all kinds of groceries we Ameri­ cans get easily. Once I gave a Russian mother a box of Lipton's tea. She held it in her hands, just looking at it, and all she could say was ... "after twenty years!" There was little, if any, waste at the Embassy. The Russian help used to take the left-overs home. As I was usually out at the regular meal-time ( 5 : 30) my dinner was saved for me. As soon as I finished eating, the food would start to go into the cans, any cans. Maxwell House coffee was well­ advertised in Moscow because the cans made such good containers. (Mrs. Davies is one of the heads of the General Foods Corporation, that produces Maxwell House, and if the Russians ever get a real Republican government that company probably will do a land-office business.) The Russians would say, "Charlie, are you through with this?" If I said, "yes," into the can it would go. All the fruits, such as canned pineapple, apricots, pears, peaches, and ·other things we take for granted, are unknown here. I have seen fruit sold only once in Moscow. That was near the subway station in front of the Bolshoi Theatre and they were oranges from Spain. I wondered why they weren't sold immediately, the way things usually are in Russia. I thought 46 BOOKTAB NO. 1

there was something phony about the deal, but I bought six. When I got to my hotel I found out all right. There wasn't a drop of juice in them. That night I told a friend of mine about it and he laughed. "All Moscow knows about those oranges. Do you think you could buy them if they were any good? You ought to know by now, Charlie, that the tongue is the best newspaper and radio in Russia." I never got tricked again.

Two Plus Two Never Makes Four Moscow-March 15

Was told that we are leaving soon for home, and I am very happy~

Talking to the G. P. U . about soldiers, I was told th~t I shouldn't refer to the Russian as a soldier but as a M~mber of the Red Army: I said, '.'What difference does it rriak¢? A soldteF\s a soldier in any man's army if he takes orders from the military." These Communists stire do split hairs. In the United States we say, "tw_o plus two equals four." In the Communists' language the people get it this way, "one-fourth; one-half, one-eighth, one­ sixteenth, one thirfy-second, one sixty-fourth, etc., etc., etc., will eventually ma~e four." But, oh, what a headache if you have to add it up their way! No wonder the people walking down the streets look neither this way nor that. When I look into the faces of the children that crowd around the car, their expressions tell me tha~ what they see and what they are told, don't make sense. Good clothes. Good f90d. Good cars. I bet any Russian would change places gladly-with any Am~rican, Englishman or Frenchman, any day one was willing to swap. Capitalism or no capitalism, they would like to add up two plus two our way. I don't know what these people had before the Bolsheviks, but I know this: I have never heard any Russian speak disrespectfully o{ the Czar. One night, in the garage, I was playing a piece on my accordion which I thought was the Austrian national anthem. A Russian chauffeur from another embassy asked sharply, "Why do you play that?" I said, "It is the Austrian national anthem." He said "No, Charlie, that is the Imperial Russian anthem; I haven't heard it in 21 years. Don't play it again or you may get into trouble; it is considered counter-revolutionary by some stupid people." BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 47

Moscow-March 17 My Russian friends have learned that I am leaving for a brief trip to the U. S. Each one comes to ask that I bring some special article back and my list is growing: shoes, stockings, paint and paint brushes (one Russian's son is an excellent portrait painter), dresses, neckties and what have you. In particular, the C. P; Us. want American contraceptives.

Moscow-March 20 I was on my way to Miss Wells office on the upper foyer this morning, to get orders for the day, when I heard someone playing the piano downstairs and playing it well. I love music, so I slipped down to see who was playing and there was Father Leopold Braun. I introduced myself to him; it was really a surprise to see a priest in Moscow. Father Braun came here with former Ambassador Bullitt, shortly after the Soviet Union had been recognized by the U. S. He is, I think, the only \Vestern representative of any church in Russia and, though he is a Catholic, he ministers to those of all faiths and is a fine, lovable man. He lives at the French Embassy and they have loaned him a car.

Moscow-March 23 Father Braun had told me that the Soviet Government didn't want him there and only tolerated his presence because the agreement with the United States insisted upon the right of Americans in Russia to worship as they wished. His car was always breaking down and he had trouble getting equipment for it, so I had said I would help him with it whenever I could. ' Today I had a long talk with Father Braun in the garage while I was checking his car over. He is a swell man and would be an asset to any religion. As to his work, he said, the Soviet government made it miserable for him, but he carried on and I take my hat off to him. He had work to do and was doing it, come what may. When he went to carry on the teaching of his church, he had to do it on the sly, but there was no doubt that the government knew about it. People were afraid to have their babies baptized and were scared stiff to see him come near their homes. He had some personal documents he wanted to get out of the country, and I hope whatever they were, he managed to do it. It could have been done in many ways. 48 BOOKTAB NO. 1

A Russian noticed our friendship and, after Father Braun had gone, I found that he was very bitter about the representatives of any religion. He blamed the White Russian leaders and religious leaders for deserting th~ people at the time of the revolution and said: "If they had stood by us and led us, we wouldn't have got into this mess." I said : "If you had listened in the first place to the words of the&e men, you wouldn't be in this mess. It is because you listened to the untrained, rather than the trained, that you are in it. And if you get a chance to listen to these people, listen, regardless of what any one else tells Y9ll·" !his man was very bitter, but he had a right to be. He went through a lot in his day and, as he h~d to blame somebody (instead of himself) he blamed royalty and religion. I reminded him of the fact that, when the revolution was going on in Moscow, he had told me how he would watch the Whites fight for a while, then go around a few side str-t

Thoughfs on L.eaving Russia Moscow-March 25 When I said that two times two doesn't equal four in Russia many small facts pop into my mind. For example, with all the illiteracy that was supposed to have existed prior to the Revolution, it is strange that I never met one Russian, between 35 and 70 years old (and I have me.t many) who couldn't read and write. Another thing. Most Russians were reluctant to go to a hospital. They told me all patients, regardless of their ailment, were put in the same ward, and they figured that i~ their illness wasn'~ bad when they went in, it would be when they came out. They also mistrusted .the young doctors and always went to an old one, if they could get into his office (always crowded) . These older doctors were the most respected Russians in BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 49

Moscow. The ones I saw were very kindly men, who talked and acted with pre-revolutionary culture. While I am on this thought, I will add that Russians also preferred old houses. They didn't want the new ap.artment houses. Two instances told me why. Driving to the ~useum on the other side of Moscow one day, I saw the first modern apartment house I had seen in the city. I was told it was for artists (artists always get the gravy in Russia and anyone who sells Communism is an "artist") . The building was about 10 stories high, with over-hanging balconies.· It had just been finished and the people, were moving in, but in the lot adjoining the apartment were about ten people. They were looking at a crack in the wall, about six inches wide~ that went all the way up to the roof. Another big apartment was finished on Bolshoe Sadovia but no one was living in it. About 10 feet down from the roof the whole wall had fallen out. I wonder what hap­ pened to the people in it? No wo·nder the Russians say: "Yah kachoo stari dome." That rpeans, "I want an old house."

Moscow-March 26 More thoughts on leaving Russia. Though most Russians seem stolid and unemotional, they aren't really. Their cup of emotion has just run dry. Fe~ belong to thy Communist Party and, though the new constitution insures equal suffrage and a secret ballot, what good does it do? There is only one party and one man to vote· for, a Communist. Underneath the surface of the unhappy Russian, there is a pleasant individual who loves life and gaiety. The Russians loved Americans. They liked our easy way of doing things, the friendship we showed among ourselves, the way we kidded each other and played tricks on each other. These were things they understood · and had· had one time themselves. Many of them knew they would never see the day when they would be as free and happy-go-lucky as the people of the· United States, and take everything in their stride as we do. When they woke up from the nightmare of the revolution they couldn't make a move. The bayonet was in their necks. They know that their newspapers are propaganda organs. They call the newspaper "Pravda," which means "Truth," "the newspaper that never speaks the truth," and "Izvestia," which means "news/ "The paper ·that has ·no news." They are never at ease because Communist spies never leave them alone. 50 BOOKTAB NO. 1

One night m the Metropole dining-room, I was introduced to two men representing these two papers. Both spoke good English and they were the long-haired, glassy-eyed type I had seen many times in Union Square, New York. Both w~re glasses. No doubt I was introduced to them for a purpose, but by this time I knew my ropes. I let them ask the questions and would generaliy answer: "I don't know. I am not in the diplomatic corps; I am just a working man like you." Once, when I said that, one of them replied: "If you feel like that why don't you go and help fight Franco in Spain? He· is against the working man." I answered, "First, because my government wouldn't let me. Second, because Spain isn't my country and what happens there is no concern of mine. Third . . . Why don't you go? You seem so interested in the outcome of the mess. Why the hell do you people always ask someone else to fight your battles for you? Are you scared? You are both younger than I am." The thing was getting hot. I left the table, saying, "In America we have a word for~t, 'yellow'." I meant their kind, NOT the Russian people. ' . .

A Russian Was Going to Poland Moscow-March 27

N THE train for Paris. Hurray, I'm out at last! We left the station at about 5: 30 in the afternoon. The Ambass­ 0 ador's secretary, Mr. Bloomingdale, and his valet, William, are with me. William knows how to travel. He never . declares any money and has his pockets ful.l of it. Mr. Bloomingdale instructed William and me never to leave his compartment unattended. We took turns being in his compartment, locking ourselves in. Most of the time, while still in Russia, both of us stayed there, though we never were told what he had.

On the train, March 28

We arrived at Negoreloe station at the frontier about 7:30 this morning. On the station platform were soldiers with pitched bayonets, walking up and down. Our bags were tak~n off the train and searched in the station; we declared our money, closed our bags and they were put back on the same train. In the station I was surprised to see a Russian I knew, who BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 51 worked at the Embassy. He told me he was going to Warsaw for the Embassy. We all got on the train and were soon rolling toward the Polish frontier. When we reached the border we went through the usual procedure . . . 'soldiers getting off the train and other soldiers peering around under it as we crossed the frontier. Then Polish officers and soldiers, armed to the teeth, doing the same thing on the other side. This time I got a good view of the barbed wire. It extended as far as the eye could see on both sides and I had a sense of relief when I was on the Polish side of it. The train continued on to Stolpce, where we changed trains. The Polish customs officers let us go right through, without looking at our luggage. It was nice to feel the hustle and bustle and watch the efficient way things were handled. The conductor was wQrried about time, because up front were pil~d all the Ambassador's and Mrs. Davies' trunks 1,-• · and there were plenty of them. But everyone pitched in to help load them and we were soon off for the next stop, Bialystok. After the train pulled out, we went into the diner for breakfast and our Russian friend went with us. (Mr. Bloomingdale stayed in the compartment with the bags.) After we were seated I asked the Russian how he liked Poland. He answered, "Fine, what I have seen of it." I couldn't understand why they didn't send Phil Bender on this assignment as the shopping was really his job.' My Russian friend showed me his passport. It was crimson. What I expected! While breakfast was being served, we talked freely. He told me he had $2,000 in American money for his shopping. I had never known this man well in Moscow and thought this would be a good charice to get a little information. Naturally we got to talking about politics, and Russia and the rest of the world. This man was about 27 and had been· raised under Communist rule. In one part of the conversa­ tion he said something in a discouraged manner and I said: "Well, you don't have to go back." He replied, "No, Charlie, I don't have to go back, but what would happen to my wife and mother? Do you think I wouid be allowed to make this trip if I didn't have anyone to bring me back?" . I knew then what he meant and didn't push the conversation further. I also knew why Bender had not been given this assignment. He had . no one to worry about and wouldn't have had to come back, as my friend did. I had heard that this was the Comm1,1nist method of keeping )2 BOOKTAB . NO. 1 tight control over the few Russians who were allow~d to travel. This co~firmed it: their families were hostages for their safe return! Arrin.'d in Posen, P~land, this. afternoon. I got off to collect thf' 180 marks taken from me when I entered Russia. Even the Customs man who had told rne (in perfect English)_ t~at I would be given the money upon my return to . Germany, just ke,pt saying "Berlin, Berl-in,'' and then, "nicht verstehe" when I tried to explain! So I had to use American· currency on the train and had a lot of rigamarole getting back the ~oney through ·an American bank in Paris.

Paris-March 29 Ambassador and Mrs. Davies arrived . today, but they . are hiring cars. Miss Wells gave me a list of things to see in Paris before I left Russia and I have been sight-seeing.- P.aris is .. :really a beautiful city, the .· only city of i~s kind in the world.

At.Sea-:March 30 \'\! e boarded the Queen Mary at Cherbourg for home. . The weather, is rough . . About 750 refugees ar.e on . board and they are very sick. Most of them are from Central Europe and ·have never seen the .oeean before. usoundings" at Sea At Sea-April 3 ' While walking alone on ,the deck, a fellow in ~vening . clothes asked if he could walk with me. He immediately wanted to know my business. I told him and said: "Now, you may as well start to walk the other way. I am not a business man. I am just a chauffeur,. coming home after :1 heluva trip to Russia." I told him_ whqm I · worked for and he started asking more questions. He· asked _my opinion of Russia and I told him the way I summed it up was thq.t it was as if the people of the United States had thrown out the .:z:eal government . and put in all the public enemies. He said, "Don't you think you a:r;e exaggerati!lg?" I said, "No, I'm probably telling only half the truth. It may be ten times worse." Then l:e asked: "How does your boss feel about it?" I said: "I don't know. I am just giving my opinion. He. ·is, a diplomat. I am not." He didn't like the tone of my voice and, after one trip around the deck, made. some excuse to go inside. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 53

New York-April 6

ANDED in New York. A car was waiting and after greeting my wife _and son, I took Mrs. Davies . to the hairdresser. She was in there L a long time and I went to the office and saw Mr. Wood, Mrs. Davies' general manager. He said: "Hello, Charlie, how arc you? How did you like Russia?" All l could say was: "When I _saw Park Avenue, I felt like getting down on my knees and giving it a great big kiss." I had been out of New York many times, but coming up the harbor and seeing the city, after being where I was, would bring te.1rs to any man's eyes. Back in America, to be an American away from fear of talking, away from suppression, is a feeling you can know only after experiencing it. I thought, "Just let some official try to take my rights away from me; I'll tell him to go. plumb to hell!" I got through early and went out to my home in Sea Cliff, Long Island. Riding out · there I could hardly believe I had been out of the country and seen the things I ·· had. It was like a dream, though it took me days to get ·over that feeling of being watched.

New York-April 9 Met my former employer, Mr. George Wagstaff, a member of E. F. Hutton · & Co~,. and one swell man to work for. He invited me to his apartment to . tell him about Russia. I told him what a terrible ·mistake I thought the Russi~~ people had made and that no ·one had a friend whom he . could . trust, arid the way they lived, and the fear of .the government they had in their hearts. As I was talking to him and to Mrs. Wagstaff I was unconsciously looking this way a~1d that and toward the door and ·he said to ine: "Charlie, why are you looking like · that? Have no fear. No one is here. This is the United States and you can talk as you like." I answered : "I know it, Mr. Wagstaff, but I can't help it. I have been doing that for the past months and it .will take a few weeks to get it out of my blood. Being ~round people who were ~oirig it over there all the time, got me doing it, _but I will _get over it." We talked some more and then I bade them goodnight and weut home. This will give an idea how that feeling gets into a person's soul after being in that atmosphere. You have to experience it to know what I mean. 54 . BOOKTAB NO. ·1

New York-April! 11 I have been shopping for my Russian friends and, .. it isn't: : easy. Tile worst is going into women's shops and buying. dresses. When they asR "\Vhat size?" I have to pick someone about the right size and take a chance, but Russian girls are clever with the ' needle and ' I figure they can fix the things up. When I went to a man's shop for shoes, . I asked for size 42, 47 and other numbers and the salesman didn't know what' I was talking about. We finally had to check on· foreign export , fdr !the equivalent size.

American "Pinks" Say I'm a Liar N e'!! Y ork~ApriZ. 1~ Since I have been back I have been. meeting a lot of "pin~s/' some of whom I knew before 1 went to Russia . .They all want to· know ·what· I think of Rus ~ ia, but when I give them the picture,' as I saw it, they are ·no longer friends of mine. They call me a liar and anything else they can thin~ of, and tell me, ."Walter Duranty ~nows _more ab

these people had never been outside the United States, and some of them thought the west side of the Hudson River was a foreign country. Yet they could tell you more about Russia than Stalin himself. They got all their info·rmation from propaganda sold them at meetings they attended. I · got so I wouldn't discuss the subject at all, not realizing that what they wanted was to shut me up. But I resolved to speak my piece some day and, if Amer-icans wanted to hear it, it would be up to them.

New York-April 17 Met my first "Former Russian." He is a . doorman at the Sherry Nether­ lands Hotel. I had taken Mrs. Davies to the hairdresser, Rose Laird, next door, and, since the doorman couldn't drive a car I helped him push one up to mine to make room. He was a man about 55 or 60 years old. We got to talking and he asked ·who Mrs. Davies was, as he had seen her many · times. Then he asked if she hadn't just come back from Russia. · This rna~ had been a Colonel in the Russian army before the revolution and, like all the others, said he would go back some day. I answered : - "Don't be too sure. From what I heard over there you had better not go back before being sure the Russian people will have you. They are pretty sore at you .for running out on them and they may not receive you' with open arms. A. lot of them think that if . you and the others had ·stuck to your posts, as you should have, that mess could have been avoided. That revolution has cost those people a lot of blood and they are not going to let you take over if they change the set-up, which will cost more blood. I told Prince Vladimir Eristavi-Tchitcherine the same thing at Palm Beach. I've met a lot of these ex-Russians and from the stories they tell, their first thought seems to have been to get out of the country and let the pe'ople, who had obeyed faithfully and honestly, take that awful licking by leaving them without leadership.

New York-April 20 Went to see my father. He was eager to hear about the trip and I told him the same story . . . how nice and kind the Russian people are and how well they treated . me. He said: Charlie, you will find all people like that. The common man is the common man, anywhere on this earth. And when the "free word" is taken from him, disaster and 56 BOOKTAB NO. 1 misery follow. It has always happened and it will always happen, until the "free \vord" is allowed to man all over the world. The "free word" is man's salvation. When he has this, everything else comes automatically. My father came to America from Italy in 1895, worked in New York a year, then settled in Jersey City. He worked for the Public Service of ~ew Jersey for 33 years. He was a man who had no use for dictator.;, foreign or domestic. He absolutely hated Mayor Hague. (Jersey City) His decisions on justice were masterpieces. He may not have been a statesman, but, after listening ·to some of the statesmen I have listened to (both on and "off" the record), I will say that many of them weren't fit to tie his shoe-strings.

If This Were Svedlova Square ... New York-April 23 Coming up from Wall Street, I saw a big crowd in Union Square and, since I had plenty of time, I pulled over to the curb, got out and listened. For a half hour I heard the speaker praise Russia and the Soviet Govern­ ment and speak of America only in reference to our ills. It made my blood boil to see him standing there, under the American flag, because I knew that all he recognized in the flag were the RED stripes. I wondered what would happen if a Russian, who liked America, 'got up in Svedlova Square and gave the Russians a pep talk about the United States. In my mind I saw a little black Ford pulling up, three men grabbing him, ar:d that would be the last anyone would ever see of him. Being a chauffeur, anp driving a great deal in New York, I know a lot of policemen. Many of them knew I had gone to Russia and when they heard the things the people. were not allowed to do there, and thought of the things the Reds got away with here, it sure burned them up. O~e mounted policeman, whom I had known for years, had had his horse slashed with a razor blade duri~g a near riot in Union Square. He certainly was furious when he heard the other ride of the story. Many of the policemen were very angry at Mayor La Guardia for taking their night sticks away from them, when everybody knew trouble was coming. Some of .. he policemen were very badly handled in a Union Square disorder and were afraid to use their clubs in case a photographer was around. They punched with their blackjacks curled in their hands. One night there was a big Communist demonstration in Madison Square BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 57

Garden. Eighth Avenue, from 49th to 50th Street was jammed with people and there were plenty of police on hand ... on foot, on wheels and on horses. But on Forty-ninth, near Eighth Avenue; the police were lined up in company formation and one policeman went down the line and took all the clubs. The Reds laughed, but were those police burned up. Everytime I saw the mounted friend of mine I used to call out, "Hi, Cossack!".· knowing that he · had been called that many time by Communists. But I noticed that one night in Times Square, when there was a disturbance between the boosters of Father Coughlin and the Reds, one Red got knocked down and was taking an awful licking when one of these same "Cossacks" . saved him. They scream for them instead of at them, when the shoe is on the other foot.

New York-April 25 We sail on the 28th. Went today to see my father and he advised me again to deal only with the common Inan in Russia. And again he said, "Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. You will learn on this trip what you didn't on t~e other. 11ake the most of it; you may never again hav,e such an opportunity." I told him about· the presents I had bought to take back and he laughed over some of the things. Then I said good-by_ to· him and my mother and told them I hoped to be back again in September.

At Sea-April 28 ~AILED at midnight on the EuropaJ after farewelling my wife and boy t.J with a heart as big as the boat. It seemed as if I had only got off the boat, yet here I was going back again. Watched the Germans loading a lot of flat steel plates (what for, I wonder) and at 12.30 we cast off. The ship is jammed with people going to the Coronation in England.

At Sea-May 1 Nothing much of interest has happened on this crossing--only this. One ·night when a bunch of us wanted to -go on dancing after the lounge was closed ( 1:30 a. m.) an elevator.operator named Eddie, whom I had been friendly with, said they were going to have dancing in the tourist dining­ room. A friend :of mine and I started down . . But it didn't turn out as planned. As we came down to the dining-room, we saw the crew l}ned up, listening to a speech. Most of the men \\'ere dressed in Nazi uniforms. 1 58 BOOKTAB NO. 1 recognized a number of men and who should be up there, giving them a spieL but one of the waiters. He was dressed in a brown uniform ... 1 think that of the Storm Troops. I believe we crabbed their act because the meeting broke up right away. And there wasn't any dancing!

London-Ma:v 3 Anin-d at Southampton and, immediately after going through Customs, t(~ok the train for London. Arrived in London about 7 p. m.

London-May 5 Rented a small car and drove around for a few .hours to get the feel of the city. It seemed strange to see· the cars passing me on the right. Ambassador and Mrs. Davies are due in a few days. We will stay for the Coronation.

Paris-June 7 Left London for Paris, where I will spend about a week before going back to Russia. I shall visit the battlefields, especially.

Berlin-June Jlj Left Paris last night for Moscow, feeling blue, very blue, and arrived in Berlin this rooming. At Charlottenburg Station I saw hundreds of German aviators, waiting "for a local train to take them somewhere. ·Went to the Adlon Hotel where I met Bill Lindstrom, a masseur and son of Agar Lind-· strom who was on the first trip, and a maid, Ebba Lindablatt. Both were coming· from America to be members of the Davies' staff in Moscow, and it 'vas their first trip to Russia. We shall take the midnight train for Warsaw, Stolpce and ... Russia.

On the train-June 17 Arrived at Stolpce at about 6: 30 p. m. and Bill's eyes popped when he saw the barbed wire entanglements and the Poles looking under the train on the Polish side and the Russians peering under them on the Russian side. At Negoreloe we went. through the elaborate' customs rigamarole and finally climbed aboard the Moscow train. We went to the dining-car about 9 p. m. and Bill had bortsch, Russia's famous soup made either from beets or cab­ bage. During the night I woke up and there was Bill, pendingup and down and rubbing his stomach. He was very, very sick and it must have been the bortsch. He s\vore he would never eat another bit.e In Russia, outside the Embassv. PART II

SECOND VISIT TO RUSSIA

Jttne 18-AugtJst 30, 1937 61

Red Army Purge

he full extent of the military purge, which took place between the Second and Third Treason trials, can only be estimated and the T estimates run into thousands. The Red Army clean-up took in all ranks, from Marshals and generals down to the comrades in the ranks. · First public intimation of purgation inside the Red Army came on May 11, 1937, when the Soviet press carried a one-paragraph ·statement that Marshal Tukhachevsky-Vice Commissar of Defense under the Stalin stalwart, Marshal Voroshilov-had been removed to command a Volga garnson. The sequel came on June 11 with official announcement that Tukha­ chevsky and seven of the top-ranking generals of the Russian army had been tried by military court, pleaded guilty to treason, confessed col­ laboration with German and Japanese agents, and been sentenced to death~ They were shot the same day. The purge of Red officers continued far into 1938. EDITOR's NOTE.

Moscow-June 18 RRIVED, in Moscow about 11:30 in the morning. It is . summertime and the people have a better look on their faces. . Many men are A dressed in white. Driving to the Embassy I saw the first .stat'ue of Stalin, which lopked as if it were made of plaster of Paris. He had one foot in front of the other and his hand in his coat, Napoleon style.* . Garbachoff had gotten fat and, when we. arrived at the Embassy, I found that the other Russians had put on weight too. , On the way to the dining-room I passed one girl that I didn't even recogn..ize. She stopped and said in Russian, "Charlie, don't you know me?'' l looked at her again and

* That summer I saw ma~y more. I was to .see 20 of Stalin to one of Lenin. Lenin's .statues look more bold. He always has his arm in the air, pointing at something. 62 BOOKTAB NO. 1

put my arms around her. "Olga," I said, "my but you got fat!" She had blossomed everywhere. She said, "Yes, I did. It is the American food and I must eat less." There are few Russians in Russia that have to diet, but at the Embassy we had the same food we had in the States, minus .good salads.

Here We Are Again Moscow-June 19 This morning, after a night listening to the horns which kept Bill awake more than me, I went to the garage and whom did I see but----­ a Russian I had seen before but only to speak to. This man knew Walter Duranty well and was in the garage fixing Duranty's car, which seemed to have trouble with the rear end. ''Aha," I said to myself, "right in my wheel-house. Now we shall see what we shall see." I plan to develop this man's confidence and find out why Duranty sings the Soviet song.

Moscow-June 20 I have distributed the gifts that I brought from the United States for my Russian friends. Everything fitted and I was happy to give the things to them. I spent about $150.00 for gifts, but, in the end, it was worth it.

Moscow-June 23 I still have a couple of days before the Ambassador and Mrs. Davies arrive. Have been taking Bill Lindstrom sight-seeing. Moscow in the summer seems gayer and the nights are long on account" of the city 'being in the far n~rth. The shops are all decked out for the benefit of tourists. "rhe windows of the shop in the Moscow Hotel are crammed full of canned food, but try to buy any! The shop was empty inside and the doo_r ·was locked. I know because I tried it. On Petrovka Ulitza there was the so-called Macy's (N. Y. Dept. Store) of Moscow. The windows were filled with c!1i!dren's toys, all m~de of wood. (My father o~ce told me if you give a Russian a hammer and saw he will build you a house, and from what I saw, that is the truth.) This is the store that has a line a block long when a box of shoes or clothes come in, with those "in the know" at the head of the line. . BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 63

Further up tint street is a f urniturc shop and, sure enough, it still had the same kitchen set in the windm"'· that was there · when I first came . to Moscow.* The price was ·14,500 rubles, or $2,900 at the standard rate of exchange of five r1,.1bles to a dollar. The set consisted of a table and three chairs, which, in the States, would cost less than $100. There were some Russians I knew whu would pay that much for it, but where would they put it after they bought it? We went walking up Petrovka and into the Hermitage, a little park where people gathered and danced on the dirt to the music of a police band. I used to go there , a lot for it was a favorite rendezvous of my Russian friends. Afterward, in our room, I said to Bill, "Well, what do you think of Russia so far?" He answered promptly by saying, "I'll take the United States." Bill was nobody's fool and had both feet on the ground. It didn't take him long to get a picture of the whole set-up. We were both born to parents who had come from Europe and our idea of the situation was the same, that the Russian government was sure giving the Russian people a lot of kicking around.

Mosr.ow-June 24 Stoleshnik Periulok is a little street where Ambassador and· Mrs. Davies do most of their shopping. Every time I parked on this street the crowds around the car were terrific and the children especially created a problem. They would climb all over the fenders and running board. One day I forgot myself in the excitement of chasing the youngsters first from one end of the car and then the other, and said to them in English, "Come on, you kids, SCRAM!" One of the children came up to me and asked in Russian, "dya-dya (means uncle in Russian) sta ta coy scram?" I started to laugh and said, "That is a word that American boys use to say 'go away'". That boy then went up to another: boy and said, "scrarp!" ~ow~ whenever I go into that street the kids ga:ther around and, if another kid gets too close to the car, one of them will call out "scram". Maybe I haye given the Russians a new word.

SHALL always remember .Stoleshnikov Periulok for another strange adventure, a sort of unfinished mystery story. One day, while waitin~ · I for the Ambassador and Mrs. Davies, I met an American whom I knew

* It was also there whcn I ldt the V. S. S. R. for good. 64 BOOKTAB NO. 1 and we were standing there talking about the crowds around the car and what a time the G. P. U. were having trying to keep them away. We noticed a blond girl standing near us and, from the little smile that was playing across her face, I knew that she could understand us. Using Russian, I asked, "Do you speak English?" She ans\vered, "I was born in Cleveland." My friend and I were dumbfounded. We asked her wh;;tt ·she was doing in Russia. She said her parents had brought her there when she was fifteen years old and that she couldn't do anything about it. A minute after that the Ambassador came out and I had to go, but my American friend stayed and talked to her. Later he told me that the girl wanted, in the worst way, to ·get out of the country and back to the United States. A week or so later I met ber again in the same street and we talked about getting her out. I told her what to do and how to go about it. As she was now 21 years old, and a citizen of the United States, she could decide for herself what she would do. From the .way she talked she surely longed for the States. She had aunts and uncles there. Whether or not she tried to get out I do not know. If she did she probably was picked up, since the Chancery 'Was watched as closely as the Embassy and anyone who visited there was suspect. If she really was an American the American authorities would. do all they could for her. She had told me she could get the money for her passage. If she did get picked .up, it was either because she went into the Chancery, or because she talked to me when the G. P. U. was with me. I know one of the G. P. U. heard her speaking English to me and I didn't like the look in his eye. He was a new boy. We had lost two of our old G. P. U.guard~*

Why Walter Duranty Sees led

ow about Duranty. I have seen quite a bit of that fellow I met in the garage the first morning I was back. He isn't much of a talker, but N. by asking questions when he wasn't expecting them I got a pretty good idea why Duranty is pro.Communist. Everytime we were alone I worked the subject around to Duranty. One day, for instance, I asked him why he

• I never saw this girl again, inasmuch as I did not know her full story and did not want to go out on a limb in case it was phony. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 65 didn't stay with the Embassy instead of going back to work for Duranty. He said: "Why should I want to stay with the American Embassy, when I make twice as much as Garbachoff? ( Garbachoff was earning 1,000 rubles a month.) The food is fine, but, then, you won't be here long and I don't want to get used to it." Another time I asked him if it were true that Duranty could go to the Kremlin anytime he wanted to. He answered, "Not when he wants to ... · only when they call him." I told him a lot of American people read what he writes and consider him an authority on Russia. He said: "Duranty doesn't know any more than the other correspondents. He gets his informa­ tion the same way, or maybe a little more, and he gets a lot of information from me, the same as the other correspondents get it frun their servants and chauffeurs. I don't know about the political end and I don't care." One day I asked flatly: "Is Duranty a Communist?" This man said: "I don't know. I don't believe he is but he speaks very· favorably of Com­ munism, maybe because he is going to make Russia his home. He has a Russian wife and two children." Then I asked this man if he himself was a Communist and he said, "No." Another time he told me that one of his relatives had been taken by the secret police. He had been a young boy when the Revolution came, so tnost of his life had been spent under the Soviet regime. He told me once that the Soviet Government is not interested in ybu after you have passed 25. After that you get smart and keep ·your eyes open. You are probably married and have a family~ and your family comes first. This man also told me that the correspondents have their "out of bounds" but find out things, of1en through their chauffeurs. He told me that many correspondents came to Moscow, but few stayed long. If they got caught out of bounds or stumbled onto something important they had cause to regret it. (I can add to this that any person of foreign extraction, regardless of his position, is hustled out of the country in one way or another if he "gets hot;") This chap also told me that the Russian government knows everything, and I believe it. Strangely enough, though, he, and G. P. U. men I talked to never seemed to have heard of the fingerprint system and were skeptical when I said I could put my thumb on my car fender in New York, and ship the car to California, and the police could tell who it belonged to by sending the print tb Washington. Even the G. P. U. thought I was pulling their leg. Well, our system protects the innocent, as well as identifying the criminal, BOOKTAB NO. 1

~md maybe they don't. think all that is necessary. Suspicion is enough in a · dictator country. I'd like to see a Russian ever hand a judge a writ of habeus corpus! Well, that is about the meat on the Duranty question and why he throws bouquets and not brickbats at the Soviet Government. They know where to hit hin1 hardest if, he ·ever changes his , tune. Again I repeat their song: "If you are for us, show us; if you are against ':IS, we will show you." And that Government throws e~ery hit from the floor, never 'above the belt. They got on top. by using a standard of rules, all right; their own.

Monuments and Museums Moscow~]une 25 , ' The Ambassador is. back ~d I shall be making the rounds of the embassies and legations again. Here is an experience typical of the Soviet tendency to over-ballyhoo their· aq:omplishments. · Across from the Museum of Fine Art.;; on Volk­ honka Ulitza, I heard compressed air. guns in action but couldn't see what was going on because of the high fence. I asked a G. P. U., "Are they building a new apartment?" He said, "No, it is to he a monument to ~ Lenin." lie told me it would be "the biggest structure in the world, higher than the Eiffel Tower and the tallest building in New ·York. He had me going until he said the monument would be 300 meters high. I then said, "Then it .won't be the tallest puilding in the world. The Eiffel Tower is 330 meters high and the Empire State Building in New York is (I took out. my note-book and .divided 1400 by three) js about 466 meters high, and, if you go to the Lenin Library down the street, you can verify it. I know he didn't like my telling him that because he asked the other G. P. U.s if he had the footage right. They said he did as if they wanted to drop the subject. I hated to bring this man out of his dream with the usual "we build them bigger in America" stuff, but I felt justified in selling America a little, when he was t,rying so hard to sell me something else. When I asked why they kept on building museums and monuments, when they n~eded houses and apartments so much, the G. P. U.s didn't want to talk so I dropped it. The city is full .of museums and .very few people . visit them. It used to be c~lled the "City of Churches." Now it is the "City of Museums." BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 67

Moscow-June 27 This is the currency situation in Russia. The official rate of exchange is 5 rubles for $1, that is to tourists. To the Embassy it was 12 to one, but anyone who can't get 20 or even 30 to $1 in Moscow just doesn't know the right people. I could name my price for foreign currency, any money as long as it wasn't Russian, because you couldn't buy an orange in Poland with a carload of Russian money. Every Russian I know seems to have plenty of rubles, but what can he do with them? One Russian I had just met took a fondness for a blue gabardine suit I was wearing and pestered me to sell it every time I saw him. To get rid of him I said, "All right, how much will you pay?" He said, "You name your price." I pegged it·high, thinking he would laugh in my face, "1,500 rubles." To my great surprise he said: "I'll have it here tomorrow." l let him have the suit but felt · a little bad because · I had put the price so high ( $300 for a suit I paid $60 for in New York). But another friend said the man had been prepared to pay 2,500 rubles! The Diplomatic Corps was flooded with rubles that were brought in, although the Russian law said that this was forbidden. You couldn't take any in or out of the country. I have seen a member of the diplomatic c<;>rps bring in 250,000 of them at one time and they were not got at· five to one but ·maybe 25 or more to one when they were bought in big lots. Thi~ is how the Soviet Government got its outside exchange to carry on its pro­ gram. From the way money was thrown around by both Russians and foreigners it . had no value. When more money was needed the Russian Government just started the presses going. Every Russian was aware that his money was no good outside his own country.

Moscow-July 4 MBASSADOR and Mrs. Davies gave a big Fourth of July party for the Diplomatic corps and Soviet officials, including Judge Ulrich who A. has presided at the recent purge trials. (This time it was the army.) The big, cars ·were lined up outside just as they are at parties in the States. I went outside and talked to the chauffeurs, then to the upper foyer to watch the guests in the main ballroom. The Russians never seem to have a good time. at these affairs. They act as if they are afraid to talk. The Am­ bassador would circulate around, joking and smiling, trying to make them feel at eare; but, with the exception of Litvinov, they would always bow from the hip and give a sort of faint smile. They would speak only when 68 BOOKTAB NO. 1 spoken to. The lesser Soviet officials would just get over in a corner and stay· there, with a glass of something in their hands , and seemed definitely· not to want. to be there. I watched thf?m and my thoughts came to this: "Look out for those birds, Charlie. They are up to no good for the .. U. S. They all have blood on their hands and it is the blood of their ow.n. people.''

Moscow-July 6 Rumors fly of new arrests, many with big names, including· Rqsengoltz where we had dinner during our last trip. Treason and Trotsky. seem syn­ onymous in these queer purges. Have learned that Trotsky never ate meals in the Kt:emlin. This was told me by the brother of the man who drove his car. He used to have a ·big meal in the morning, then go back to his dacha about four in the afternoon for what they call "tea", but it was another meal. All the cooking was done by his wife. Trotsky is still liked by a few Russians but they didn't say so openly. These Russians were Com· munists but not Stalin's kind.

Sidelights on the Sports Parade M oscow--]uly 6 This week there was a big sports parade and I took the Ambassador. Mrs. Davies was ill and did not attend. As usual the city was tied in knots because these parades last all day. Coming · home the Ambassador said~ "Charlie, how did you like it?" I answered, "They sure put on a great show." Then he said, "Charlie, watch this stuff, it niay ·get you." I replied, "From what I have seen and heard it will never get me. I've followed your advice to keep my feet on the ground." Every Russian knows that the parade is for outside consumption. I have seen pictures of these parades in the States, but the only part shown was the white portion and the parade is fifty per cent or more Asiatic. I .suppose the. Asiatic scenes are shown in Asia. When I got to the hotel at 7 p. m.; the marchers were still going by and Red Square was jammed with people. This is what Russians said about the parade 'off-side. They said every­ one that worked in the ·plants had to march; that the tennis rackets, bathing suits and skis were issued to them for the event and had to be returned and stored afterward--even the sneakers. They said if you didn't attend you'd better have a good . excuse. -some girls refused to . parade in tight-fitting BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN 1v10SCO\Xl bathing suits and these were given skis. :l never, ztt an< time; s~l\(' c'.qui.J)mcnt like this used for sports. I vi~ited swimming popls and tennis courts . and talked to the playu~s. The rackets they used were . Russian ~ hut were n.1·adc before the Revolution; and the balls \verc dead. A skier told me that those skis never saw sn~v{ . " , .·: . Stalin was suppos<;d to be at. the parade the whole time bt;~t. I have myJ doubts. It lasted at least 6 hours. I think thev used one or more doubles. ' ; . ,'

Moscqz.v-July 7 A Russian asked me today, "Is. it .. truc there arc 13,000,000 pcpplc out of work in th_e -~·nit~d States?" I said I didn't know for sure, .hut doubted it. I added that the figure was around 9,000,000 according .to .the ncwspapt";rs, when I was in. N. Y . . Then he asked why there should be 9,000,000· out of work. I tried to explain that there are always about 4,000,000 out of work in the best of times because some of them don't want to work and others are counted jobless because they are always moving about and shifting from one job to .another. I . also said the estimate seemed to depend on who was making it and. asked where he got. his figure. He said: ''From the Russian papers.". Then he showed me a picture in a Russian publication of a long line of _men in straw .hats with their coats . hanging on their anns, their shirts open, and looking hot.· It. was supposed to be an unemployment line or som~thing. I pointed out that,_ if ·it was, the people looked pretty cheerful . because many were sm:iling.. · They looked like a bunch of baseball .f~ns. The high fence in the. pictpre looked very familiar to me. I think it was a picture of the crowds waiting to get into the Polo Grounds. I said I had seen unemployment lines in New Y~rk bu~ never any that long. This shows the propaganda ha~ded , the Rus~ian people about capitalistic countries.

. Moscow-July 8 Was told to get ready for a trip to Leningrad. Have heard the roads are bad and that I had best go by rail. I am checking this, as I wbuld rather drive and sec some more of the country. Maybe there's something they don't want me to see.

·' 70 BOOKTAB NO. 1

This Russian Cussed Stalin!

ONIGHT I had. a strange experience. I was walking home to the ~otel, when a Russian I knew pu1led over to the curb and told me to JUmp T in; he would drive me there. I said "all right" and got in. We had to drive through some back streets to get on the main thoroughfare and in one little street we saw a black car at the curb with its parking lights on. One man was at the wheel and two others were mounting the stairs. Our thoughts jumped to the same conclusion. . The Russian said, aeeshaw aden" (another one). It was a scene that wasn't new to me ... the G. P. U. arriving in the night, one n1an waiting while the others went for vi~tim. I had had friends cautiously direct my attention to these raids, but this was the first time I saw the effect of one on a Russian who wasn't sold on Communism and who could speak without fear. { This Russian blew his top completely. He cussed Communism. for all he was worth; he cussed Stalin with a range of epithets I can't explain. He simply fumed. He shook the steering wheel in his rage until I thm•ght he would pull it out of the car. I have n'ever, anywhere, seen a man as mad as this Russian was, or for so long a time. I thought he was going to wreck the car. I asked him to stop the car and, when he had pulled over to the curb, I tried to quiet him. I guess ·he had held his· feelings in for so long that he simply "blew" when he knew he was with someone who wouldn't betray him. I honestly believe that if he could have got his hands on Stalin, or any member of .the Government at that time, he not only would have killed him, but would have torn him from limb to limb. He sure was a mad Russian. After he had calmed down some, we went on, but he was still raging. I kept pretty quiet, letting him do the talking, because, after all, I thought, it might be an act to sound me out. The only thing I did say, nearly started him up again. I said, "Well, you wanted them, didn't you?" "Who wanted ·them?" he yelled. I said, "Well, somebody wanted them or they wouldn't be there in the Kremlin." He said: "They· are there now, but they won't be there forever. Some day this debt will be paid back and I hope I live to see it." When he had quieted down, he told me that a number of his relatives had been "taken." Then he told me how the Soviet Government, after it had entrenched itself, had started, in an unob trusive manner, to take all guns away from the farmers. The flimsiest excuse would do. Gradually, they BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 71

got them all unarmed. They did this because they knew that any counte(­ revolutionary move would come from the .country. Also, the city people had few guns . . I believe this story w0s true, because another Russian, who had lived in the country before coming to Moscow, told me the same thing. He said a wolf got into his sheep-pen one night. His dog was making a terrible com­ motion and, from the noise, he knew that the wolf was in the pen (a sort of room in the barn) where he had two sheep. He managed to get the door shut and locked; he knew the sheep would be killed, but figured that he would be able to get the wolf so he couldn't do additional damage. Using a pitchfork, which he wielded through a hole in the pen, he managed to kill the wolf after a terrible struggle. .I had asked: "Why didn't you shoot it?" And he had replied, "We are not allowed to have guns, eto niliziya', (it is forbidden). . This Russian also told me how he came to give up his farm. He said n~ne of the farmers wanted cooperative farming, because they were the

ones that would lose by it. For one thing, he said, the Government came 1 and took his cows when they were in top condition and then brought them back for him to take care of when they got sick. This sort of thing went on for a year or two, when he gave up and moved to the city. The government then took over his farm. The same thing happened to all the other farmers. This man was a true farmer and all his people had been farmers. He loved to talk about the land, and the animals and had great knowledge of horses, dogs and cattle. It seemed a shame for him to be in the city and reminded me of the proverb: "You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy."

A Ride 1•11 Never forget Off to Leningrad-July 10

TARTED for Leningrad at 4:30 p.m., on one hell of a trip. When I first knew I was to take the car here, in preparation for the S arrival of Ambassador and Mrs. Davies,. I asked the G. P. U. boys about the roads. They told me I would do better if I put the limousine on a flat car and went by train. I thought maybe there was something they didn't want me to see, so I checked with my Russian friends and the lntourist Garage. They all said the roads were so bad I couldn't get through. A Polish chauffeur I knew, who had driven from 72 BOOKTAB NO. 1

Warsaw to Moscow, said: "If you want to get there you had better go by train. If you· drove, and it rained, you would just have to sit there until it dried." So I decided to take the train. Arrangements ·with the~: railroad were made through Philip Bender. The day we were to go he went with rrie to the freight-yard to get the car loaded and it took "l;lS about an hour to get it on. Garbachoff then stayed with the car from 6 until .10:30 p.m., when the train wasscheduled to go. The li~ousine was mounted on a four-wheeled flat car, the next to the last car .on the train. It was f9ped securely and the wheels carefully chocked. I had a berth in the rear car but couldn't reach it from the flat car. To get into it I had to wait for the train to stop and, since th.e trainman refused to leave the berth unlocked and usually wasn't there when I wanted to get in, it didn't do me mu~h good. The brakeman was cross, because he had been edged out of his post on the rear car and that was the set-up for th~ 400 mile trip. At about 11 o'clock the train pulled out and I was off · on a ride I'll never forget. If some of my chauffeur friends could have seen me sitting in my car, when that train was going like all get out, they would have had a great laugh. It was supposed to be a slow train and that was why I had taken it, but the only slow thing about it was the time it took to get there. It would go like hell for a while, then slow down and maybe stop altogether, then, bang, we'd be flying down the rails again. Even with all the precautions I had taken about chocking the :· car· up good to take the spring action out of it, it was no use. She rolled and rocked and sometimes I thought I was going to lose ·her altogether. As the brakeman was grouchy and didn't want to talk, I went to the back seat of the car and sat down. Then the car would begin to rol,l madly and I said to myself. "If she goes over, I'm not going with her!" I would get out and go around to the back. With the rolling and tos~ing, and remembering testimony about blowing up railroads at the Moscow trials, I sure was enjoying the trip! That engineer drove as if he was furiously angry about something. Apparently he would yank the throttle wide open whenever he thought of it, and I would have to get out of the limousine .and hang on to the door handle or get behind the car to get away from. the wind. To make it worse, one wheel of the flat-car had a flat side to it whieh caused an additional bumping so severe that I began to think we'd lose the wheel. BACKSTA'H\S MISSION IN MOSCOW

For about half an hour the · train_ would simply-go like mad. Then it would pull up and stop for about hatf an hour. It was supposed to take two hours longer for the.trip to Leningrad than any other train, hut, with all the stops, it actually arrived four hours .late. That was all right with me; it gave me a chance to see a few things. After stopping a fe\\. times we reached Kalinin ahout 1: 30 a. m. \\'c stayed there a while, then pulled out, crossing the Volga River. This was one of the most beautiful sights I had seen in Russia. I don't remember seeing the moon, but I could sec the rails glittering and, as we crossed the bridge, the red and blue navigation lights on the river made a lovely sight.

On the train-July 12 After a hell of a night, we arrived at Bclogoe about 8: 30 a. m. I was tired and hungry and ate a sandwich of a few I had brought along, drank some Narzan water and washed my face in the little that was left. We were on the tail end of a 1-5-car train and were too far from the station to use its facilities for fear of getting left. Some gypsies came by and asked me for money and there was a terrific scramble for it until the brakeman told them to "go away ... go to work." One old woman started to tell my fortune from a dirty pack of cards but I never heard the end of it. The train pulled out and we had the usual violent ride to the next place. When the thing slowed down I tried to get a few winks in the car. At noon we were in Chudovo and this time the train stopped right in the middle of a bridge. I got off to stretch my legs and hadn't been down a minute when a guard in the Red Army uniform came running up, grabbed me by the shoulder and started to lead me to the end of the bridge. He carried a gun with pitched bayonet. The brakeman (we had a new one) saw my fix and said, "He is with the American Embassy and he doesn't understand." I sort of cased out of his grip and got back ... on the train. As we left I gave him a good-bye wave, an~ thanked the brakeman for saving me a lot of talking and, probably, missing the train. Between Chudovo and Leningrad we traveled like mad. I was in the back, then, with the brakeman. A long repair job \vas going on and white dust was flying everywhere. The repair crews consisted of hundreds and hundreds of girls and, as we went by, they had their backs to us; covering their eyes with their hands and, I'll bet, cussing that engineer. He was really putting on the steam that time. The brakeman was hanging 74 BOOKTAB NO. 1

to his little booth. I was hanging to a handle inside the booth, and the Packard was pitching and rolling like a ship in a storm. By 4: 3'0 · that afternoon we were in Leningrad. I was met by an American official at the station and, after · a lot ·of delay and red tape, got the car off the train by seven. I took it to a garage, the most modern I had seen in Russia, and paid a girl 20 rubles to sit by it all night. Then I went to the Astoria Hotel, had a bath and dinner and tumbled into bed.

This Was Once St. Petersburg Leningrad-July 13 My room overlooks St. Isaacs Square and, to the right is beautiful St. Isaacs Church, famous for the pendulum that revolves · with the motion of the earth. Leningrad, once called St. Petersburg, is the most beautiful city I have seen, with the exception of Washington, D. · C., and I would like to have [ seen it before the Revolution. It is filled with monuments, unlike Moscow, which has none. Here I found them in every square. . . ·. Peter I, George the Something, Alexander III and many others. Peter the First did a swell job here. His statue is in what I call Diplomat Square, overlooking the Neva River. He is shown on a horse and the monument faces a palace of one of the Catherines across the river. . The beautiful Neva runs right through the city and is very pretty at dusk; which comes at about midnight here on account of the 'far north.' The people of Leningrad seem a little gayer and freer than in Moscow, though this city saw much more of the Revolution. . Went to the garage and it truly is the most modem I have seen in any city, but, as usual, girls 9-id all the work. I went up to the second floor and found the girl I had hired to watch the car, still standing beside it. She agreed to guard it all the time I was ~n Leningrad and I made the arrangements _for this with the office. Then I took the car out and drove around the city to · get the feel of it. There was very little hom blowing here and the drivers went more slowly. Nevsky Prospect is a great wide street. I remembered seeing it in pictures showing the· Revolution. I didn't have a guide with me so I didn't learn the interesting sights this time, but the people are dressed the same as in Moscow. Black clothes or white suits on the men. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCO\Xr 75

L enirz (!. r(l(l- ---]uly 14

MBASSADOR and Mrs. Davies arrived. · With them arc the It~! ian Ambasador. and Mrs. Rosso . . I picked them up at the station and Abrought them to the Astor.ia ·hotel.; where they plan to sL1y until the yacht arrives. They are on my floor, . just down the hall, and tlv· G. P. U. boys are · parked right outside the room. We have picked up a few Leningrad G. P. U, boys to help do the 24-hour duty watching the Ambassador as there. 4- re two men now posted at the door of his room all night.

How the Czar Lived Leningrad-July 15 T'oday we; went sight-seeing and visited Tsarskoe-Selo, the country home of the Czar and his· family, about 10 miles out of Leningrad. It is a beautiful building, painted yellow and white, with high pillars and about two and a ' half stories high. We went · inside and, I think, saw some 'things the Russians don't see. We saw all the big halls and then came to a room · that looked ·like an enclosed playroom for the Czarovitch, the little prince who was always so delicate. His little automobiles and other toys ·were there, just as he had left them. · Then we visited the bedrooms, which, we ·were told, were just as· the r~yal family had left them . . A little ·handkerchief · was still on the Czarina's night-table and the beds were turned · back for the night. · I expected the bathrooms to be large and fancy, with plenty of' do-dads, and was surprised to see that the royal family had bathrooms like any ordinary family had. If their living rooms and bedrooms ·were any index of the sort of people they were, I will say that .those who were responsible for their. death will have to give a good reason.for it .when they meet the R~al Judge. From the bedrooms we went to the Czar's study and, in the center of it, was a large table with a map of Europe on it, under glass. Phil Bender pointed .out a . little .balcony where . the Czarina was said to have stood and listened to the war plans so she could give the information to Germany. She is supposed to have· been a spy, but this I hardly believe. I know a maid, whom I talked to for hours, who was with the royal family and was in Leningrad when the revolution broke. Since she is a Swiss, she w::tsn't moles.ted ... She ,defended the Czarina stout_ly and said the Russians had .made a very bad mistake. 76 BOOKT AB NO. 1

\Ye also visited Catherine's Palace and the little houses about it v•lwrc her ladies-in-v•aiting had lived. There was no furniture in th -. building, but the palace ceilings were beautifully painted. I was .· told that the paintings were by Italian artists, who had to lie on their backs for hours to make them. Bender told me Catherine had been quite a girl. \Vhile the Ambassador was looking around the :building, he showed me the secret stainvay that led· to her bedroom. · He said that, when . a servant misbehaved, she would have him stripped in the courtyard in the middle of winter and frozen in water. In that way she had human statues in the winter. Some gal!

Leningrad-July ·16 This is the method that is used to get ,Russians to take jobs in far parts of the country. . First the man . is asked . to leave, say Moscow, to work hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of miles . away. The man, being settled, doesn't care .to ,leave and, possibly, refuses. In ·a. matter of time, he _is ar~ested, ~:m .the f~imsie~t of ex~uses; and se11t where. the new job. is. While . he .is not d~prived , of his salary he is de:J?rived of ·his passport and tha~ .prevents him from leaving -until tht! job i~ fii?-isl:t.ed . . This was told me by a man I knew who didn't w,ant to live. in Moscow, but was forced to go there because his setvices wer~ .needed by the government. I verified .his story . by talking to some of his friend$. in Leningrad, who ~ere extremely fond .of him. He w~s an expert in, his particular line of work. Eventually, I . am gl~d . t.o say, he got away from the job and his passport was returned. This Russian ' was one of .the kindest, gentlest people I have . ever met .. ·He was the one that" told me about the smear campaign that is brought to bear on a person, who is popular :at a plant; if ·he. refuses. to get up and ·spiel to the workers about the ·glories of. Communism. He said that, regardless of how good a technician a man is, he will be arrested or sent· to some faraway plaj:e if he . makes excuses to dodge lecturing ori Communism. He said that if you are liked by the people at the plant you have to get up and talk to them or be considered an enemy of the state. This man said that many. "chief technicians" were in their posts . only becaw:e of their· ability to get tip and talk and that many of fhem didn't know a nut from a bolt. The Russian workers, he · said, were .well aware BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 77

when this was · the case and, when these men talked, there was always a lot of tough~ng. · He told. me that he knew many men who did not put their best efforts into their work after being punished by losing someone they had· liked. It wa ~ said often in my presence that, if the Russian Government would take these political commissars o'ut of the plants, they would get· more· work done and with heart. .

Leningrad-July 17 The yacht ar.rived and th~ Ambassador and his party c~ecked out .of the hotel and went to live · aboard her. Driving to the pier Bender showed me Prince Yusupov's Palace where Rasputin was shot. We reached the pier and the Ambassador was piped aboard by an English bugler.· It was the first time I had seen the yacht sin~e ~t had been in Neir York and' the sight sure made the G. P. U. boy~' eyes pop. She is a sqtiare-rigged sailing yacht, about · ·300 feet long, and .c~rries ~. crew of about eighty . men, ·including 14 ~fficers. I .went aboard and had my first American meal in · about a week, but I had 'already done the damage. I began to have dysentery" from eating a salad in the dining-room of the hotel. Others were eating it and I · thought ~ if they could; 'why couldn't·'!. · Well, I couldn't. . .~ ' .r

Leningrad-July 18 I ' ·' We h'}ve be'e:O ' sight-s~eing all week ., · Now the yacht, with the Amt>assador a~d his guests ~board, has left for a little trip '(with the G. P. U. men following in a little speed-boat) .and I have time to poke about alone . ag~iq and make ~orne acquaintances.

American · Eng .ineer~ in. Russia ..- - Leningrad,-}uly 20 Have become friendly with a .group of Radio Corpora:tion of America engineers who are working in some plants·. in· Leningrad. They are _pretty disgusted w~th the . whole set-up, . though . they · like the 1Russian,s. ~hey have no. praise for the· government, however, . and are anxiously wai~i_ng for September to. c~rr~e around so their six months' contract. will ·be ~p 78 BOOKTAB NO. 1

and they can get out. You couldn't get them to stay here for love or money. They sure are sore about the G. P. U. following them everywhere they go...... One night when we were going out together, 1 noticed the boys following us, but not our boys, and I said: "What arc the G. P. U. following us for?" 09e of them said: "Charlie, this has been going · on for the six months we have been here. Every time I go out with a girl they pick her up. I'm sick of this place and can't wait to get out. They bring us over here to teach them and they do nothing but hound us. Well, , they haven't gotten anything out of me and they won't either." . . . These men were very bitter.

L~ningrad-July 21 An English doctor came over to my table tonight and sat down and we started to talk. He was griping like hell because of the prices he had to pay for his meals. He had cashed his good English money at the five to one exchange and, at that exchange, a meal at the Astoria cost him .from $12 to $15. He had seen the engineers and me paying for our meals and every meal we had came to $15 or $20. in his exchange and he couldn't understand it. The engineers could get all the rubles they wanted and spent them like water and I knew the tricks of exchange. I asked the doctor why he had come to Russia for his vacation. He . replied: ''I listened too damn much. I should have known better, but I'll have a Jot · to say ~hen I finish this tour." He was going to Moscow, [ then back to England. Did he sing! .

Leningrad-July 24 My dysentery has been getting worse all the time and I have been going out. only when I have to. I have lost a lot of weight. This morning I had a wire from the Ambassador that the yacht would be in and went to meet it. It had been up to the Bay of Finland and around the Baltic ports. I went aboard and down below to find out from the maids what the plans were and was told that Mrs. Davies -wanted to see me. I went to her cabin and must have looked pretty bad because she noticed it right away and said: "Charlie, you've gotten thin. What is the matter?" I said, "Mrs. Davies, I think I have dysentery." She demanded to know if I had eaten any salads and I said I had, but only once. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 79

"That once did it," she said. She gave me a bottle of Zonite and told me to put five drops of it in a glass of water and drink it and to do it every day. Zonite isn't nice to take. The smell of it alone is enough tc make you sick, so I didn't do it.

Lenin[!.rad-July 25 This afternoon she was in the dining-room of the ship when she saw me go by on the deck and called me. I went in and she asked how I felt. I said, "a little better." Then she asked pointblank if I had taken the Zonite. I said "yes". But I hadn't. "When did you take it?" she asked. "This morning." (Lying like the devil). "Well," she said, "you can take some more now. It won't hurt you." She rang for a glass of water, put some Zonite in it and I was stuck. I had to take it and I will admit it turned the trick. I hadn't eaten for about three days, but next day I was able to. But, oh, that stuff. Mrs. Davies is a hard person to fool.

Leningrad-July 26 Brought Mrs. Davies and her daughter, Miss Nedinia Hutton, to Peterhof to see the fountains. It was a beautiful display. The palace once belonged to some member of the royal family. I took· the lunch basket out of the car and we . all ate together. Mrs. Davies and Miss Nedinia didn't feel hungry and just ate a few morsels, but I was feeling starved, so I went to work on the rest. I had three big pieces of chicken, four hard-boiled eggs and some sandwiches and was just getting ready to go to work on the beautiful lettuce (outside grown) when Mrs. Davies looked up and said: "No l·ettuce for you." So I had to put it back in the basket. Miss Nedinia had a good laugh over it. The yacht is going out again soon and Mrs. Davies asked me to go along, · but I wanted to get back to Moscow so I could have a doctor 1ook me over and also attend to some other things that were on my mind. Delayed my return to Moscow to take Mr. Jo Davidson, the sculptor, ~ound to see some of his friends in Leningrad. He had their addresses and, with Phil Bender, we made the rounds. I noticed that no G. P. U. boys· were tailing us, so what he was doing must have been 0. K. with the government. When the Ambassador was not using the car, I kept the American flag covered on its stanchion. 80 · BOOKTAB NO. 1

Went to the garage . this evening, put the _car away and paid the girl who had watched it for me. When I went downstairs to go out I saw the wash-line for cars and they had a good system. The cars went up on what l0oked like an assembly line, where they were flood-lighted and washed by girls. They were then taken off the line by men. One driver forgot that the drums of the car were wet and started off the line with a spurt. He ·couldn't stop in time to avoid hitting a brick wall. The manager of the garage, who was a swell man, didn't bawl the driver out, only talked to him and cautioned him. He was an old man, who had been a chauffeur for the royal family. He took fine care of my car and was the only one , who drove it. I always felt that he had something he wanted to say to me, but I never got a chance to talk to him. Phil Bender and I leave for Moscow tonight on the Red Arrow.

Moscow-July 27 Was told that the New York lawyer, Mr. Samuel Untermeyer, had been living in th~ Embassy while I was away and that he had been iii there. A Russian friend of mine, .who asked me who he was, said he had been to the Kremlin three times. Although I had never met Mr. Untermeyer, I had seen him in New York .mariy times and knew his son Alvin and ha.d been many times to his. place in Round Hill, Greenwich, Conn.

"Tile Police, Police, flte Damned Police ..."

ONIGHT I was sitting at a table in the Metropole hotel with a Russian friend. I made some remark or other and he cautioned ·me not to Ttalk so loud. "You are watched constantly, Charlie," he said, "and must be careful." To prove what he was saying we wrote "Ochee Chornia" (meaning dark eyes) on a piece of paper, then we got up and walked over to the bar. Sure enough, a man I hadn't seen got up and walked by our table and, everytime he did, he looked . ~t the piece of paper. He couldn't read it because it was upside down. Finally he turned it over quickly and then turned it back. We had our backs half turned toward him but I could se·e him in quick glances, since the bar was darker than the dining-room and I was partly hidden behind a post separating the two rooms. That proved my friend's statement all right. I was told that the G. P. U. knows everything and I believe it. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 81

One reason I wanted to come back to the Emb~~y was to see if I could find out who was setting those dictaphones in the different rooms. I strongly suspected the Russian telephone operator, Sam Lieberman. I tried many ways to find out, but never was able to trap him. The way he fooled around the switchboard and the electrical meter box near it convinced me that he knew something about it. Then, too, all the Russians in the Embassy feared him. When they feared anyone they had good reason to. This man used to praise Trotsky to high heaven. No one] liked him or ever spoke a good word for him. I have been staying in the valet's room; which is tight over the switch­ board room. This bird has a way of taking two or three steps at a time when going up or downstairs to deliver messages to the secretary, and in my new post I could always hear him. One afternoon, when I had fallen asleep over a book, I heard some one jumping down the stairs in a great rush and, by the time I got out of my room; Sam was in the switchboard room, puffing and blowing. I went right down after him and said: "What were you doing upstairs when you know you are not allowed there unless you have important messages to deliver?" He said, "I was delivering a message." I asked, "For whom? You know perfectly ·well there is no one in the Embassy but the servants. Why didn't you deliver it to the pantry?'' He then said that Miss Wells had told him to deliver the things to her office. Then I asked, "But why the rush, you _don;t have to wreck the stairs doing it." He said then that he always went up and downstairs two at a time. · I argued, "Well, from the way you're blowing, you went down them six at a time just now and, after this, when messages come in, deliver them to the pantry and stay the hell off the second floor.;, I believe he was nearly caught in the act of doing something he shouldn't have been doing when he flew for the switchboard room. There was no doubt that microphones were placed in the various rooms. Two were found in the secretary's office on the ground floor ... placed there, I believe, by the innocent looking and soft•spoken Russian maid, who spoke English much. better than she tried to make me believe. The placing of the dictaphones wasn't hard to do, when the Ambassador was out. In the afternoons there was no one on duty, but a footman and the man at the telephone switchboard. The footman on duty was often a Russian and the switchboard operator always was. The switchboard itself was at the entrance to the Embassy, near a stairway which led to the 82 BOOKTAB NO. 1

Ambassador's room on the left at the top. Mrs. Davies' room ·was at the right. Anyone could go to either the Ambassador's or Mrs. Davies' room and do anything they wanted without the pantry knowing about it. The pantry was situated about a 100 feet from the · switchboard. To get to the switchboard from the pantry, you had to go first through a small corridor, then turn right into a big reception room, walk across this to another corridor, then down a few steps. Furthermore, the door leading from the pantry to the corridor was always closed. Anyone could walk all over the Embassy and the person on duty in the pantry would never know it.* Though I liked most of the Russian help at the Embassy, I trusted few in reference to the dictaphone matter. The kitchen girls and Garbachoff were the . only ones that didn't go around the building. Garbachoff only ate his meals there and never went above the basement where our dining-room was. Sam Lieberman was the one I went after most, but every Russian, who had the run of the Embassy, was suspected by me. It was like a mystery story. The one you least suspected might be doing the job. No matter how much a Russian liked Americans, I had been in the country long enough to know that when an order comes from a higher up to do thus or so, they do it ... or else. A Russian friend of mine returned today from one of those much publicized rest places at the sea shore near Sevastopol. I said to him, "You look swell, all nice and tanned. You must have had a good vacation on the government." He replied, "I did have a good trip, Charlie, it was my first vacation in three years. However, it cost me plenty, about 5,000 rubles. Don't believe everything you read and , hear about these free vacations. There's nothing you get for nothing here and sometimes nothing for something." This man was about 30 years old. He worked in Moscow and was not a Communist. (In fact, I've only met one person outside of the G. P. U. who was a member of the Communist Party.) This particular man had his tongue in his cheek.

*Note: No American could ever do this in a Russian Embassy. I tried it in the Russian Embassy in Washington and also in Belgium. I got as far as the door leading to the kitchen in the Belgian one and asked for a drink of water. I also noticed that the Russian cook was giving the kitchen m :.1 id ~ dressing down for leaving the, door open and allowing Albert Stevenard (Belgian chauffeur) and me to get in. In Washington, you couldn't even get to the kitchen door as there are iron gates on both sides of the Embassy. The only help they employ is Russian. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 83

Leningrad-]uly 28 Received a cablegram in Moscow saying the yacht was about to return to Leningrad, so I rushed back on the Red Arrow. The Leningrad station was packed with people waiting for trains. I was told that sometimes they had to wait days to get them and that the station is always jammed. We are spending several days here. The Ambassador and Mrs. Davies went to see a big sports parade in front of the Winter Palace. It was the same as the one we had seen in Moscow, but not as big, and all the contestants were white. It was nice to see, but, seeing what I did before the parade, I didn't take it in the spirit intended.. Nevsky Prospect and a few of the other big streets were tied up, but I was allowed through. I was parked near the place where the parade was forming, waiting for Phil Bender, and was on my way to the passport office to find out why some of the crew hadn't had their passports returned. The yacht was scheduled to leave in a few days and the Captain was furious. Childr.en and factory workers thronged the street and the so-called "leaders of the people" were shoving them about and talking to them as if they were a bunch of dogs. "Health through sports and culture" was what the parade advertised but to me it was just a stage show. I could have punched those glassy-eyed, puny-looking "leaders" in the nose for the way they treated the people. Those parades sure look good in pictures, but the back scenes tell another story and I only hope some day the whip will be in the other hand and that, when the new democratic leaders get in, they will be no more mindful of the screams. These people have taken plenty and maybe, some day, those barbed wire frontiers will serve a different purpose . . . to prevent the escape of the "leaders" who have been responsible for their suffering.

I Entertain the l.awr,nce Tibbetts Leningrad-July 29

HE yacht went out today for the last time and I said good-bye to the Ambassador and Mrs. Davies as I wouldn't see them again on Tthis trip. They are going to England, then Mr. Davies will return to Moscow and Mrs. Davies will go on to New York, where I am to meet her. 84 BOOKTAB NO. 1

First, though, I am going to Finland to have the car fixed. The springs are gone because of the jolting over terrible roads. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Tibbett are in Leningrad and, at Mr. Davies suggestion, I have been taking them around to see all the sights. Mr. Tibbett wanted to take some moving-pictures, though it is forbidden. Going to Tsarskoe-Selo we passed a man carrying his dead child in a box and, when I told him about it, he wanted to snap it. I turned around and went by again slowly and he got it. Mr. Tibbett sat up front with me with his camera in his lap and we had to be careful, as the Ambassador had )eft and I didn't want any trouble. When Mr. Tibbett. wanted to take a scene I would look around . carefully and tell him when to go ahead. If I saw someone that looked like a G. P. U. I would say "down," and he would lower the camera. While they weJ:'Ie visiting Tsarskoe-Selo, I reloaded their camera for them. While I was sitting in the car an American boy, about 16 years old, came up and asked if l was an American. Then he said his passport had been stolen on the tra1in ;and he was. scared. I told him to wire the American Embassy and to .go to the Chancery first thing' when he got to Moscow and they would fix hiii_1 up. The Soviet Government never liked the way the Chancery always went to bat for Americans. They had plenty of nationals of other countries locked up and wouldn't let the offiGial representatives see them, but we saw ours. Mr. Litvinov was annoyed many times by Mr. Davies' persistence in helping Americans. When Mr. Davies started quoting from the agreement of recognition, he may have done it in diplomatic, language, but his meaning was clear. Mr. Litvinov would give in finally and say, "Now, let's talk of bigger things.'' But to the Ambassador these were big things. After taking the Tibbetts to the Catherine Palace we went back to the Astoria Hotel. There I ran into Anna Antikanian, the laundress, who was an American of Finnish extraction and who was thought to be on a visit to Finland. She said she had got to the border the night before and had waited for a train that never came in. She reached the border at 7 p. m., had finally been turned back, and reached Leningrad at 2 in the morning. Anna said she would go to the border again tonight, that everything is fixed. I looked at her passport and she had no exit visa. "Anna," I said, "you can't leave the country without an exit visa." She· said that she had been told by officials that everything was all right and that she could go on the 5 : 30 train. I asked the Tibbetts to wait a few . BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW

. minu,tes .and phoned Benqer at the hotel about Anna's trouble. He fixed things up for her alld ~ gpt back in time to take her to the train.

· Leningrad-July 30 Went. to · Peterhof today and this time we had a Russian girl for a guide. She sat up front with me. Saw the usual sights and returned to the · Astoria. There I was told that a telegram had · arrived for me and been sent to the Europa hotel by mistake; · Bender and I went over there to inquire and they told me they didn't know anything about it, as they had just come on duty. So I looked ·for the manager's office and stumbled through the wrong door. I saw a room with desks, like a classroom, and about 20 men and women writing busily , on sheets of paper. Right neat the door was the girl we had had for a· guide! I greeted her; said "sorry," and backed out. Then I turned to Bender and asked, "Say, what is going on in that room?" He said, "What ·do you think?" I replied, "She is probably writing up everything we said today." And Bender remarked, "Charlie, you catch on quickly." T finally · got my telegram and went back to the. Astoria, but I'm glad I went to the Europa. I had heard of this procedure; now I had seen it.

Leningrad-August 1 The Tibbetts left for Moscow this morning and .I went to the G. P. U. office to get my passport to go to Finland to have the car fixed. When I told them I wanted. to drive to the border and load the car there, they were extremely ·-reluctant to let me. Finally they gave me a long form to fill out and fix up with ~y picture (I always carried about a dozen pictures for things like this) and told me they would notify me. at the hotel.

Leningrad-August 2

Didn't ~ear from the G. P. U. office so went back this morning to inquire. I parked my car in front, of what looked like a modern building about 10 stories high. Before I got to the G. P. U., a uniformed G. P. U. came after me and said I'd have to get the car out of there, so I went out and parked it in another place. I asked a policeman to keep an eye on it, though they don't crowd around the car here as they do in Moscow. I found I had originally parked in front of the prison. 86 BOOKTAB NO. 1

Went back to the G. P. U. office and up to the passport window, which was closed. There were many of these windows made of wood, of the sort used in banks. When I knocked on the window, it went up with a bang and the man behind looked annoyed at being bothered. I asked for my passport and was told to wait. While I was waiting I saw an elderly lady go to another. window and knock. That window, too, went up with a bang ·and a man asked: "What d~ you want?" She said something in a very quiet voice, which I didn't get, and he said crossly, · ''Sit down. We will call you." Then ·he slammed the window shut. She went to a seat and began to talk with a friend of about the same age. The woman looked very sad, and it made me feel .sad, too, because I could guess her mission. Scenes like this made my blood boil. I .thought: "That could just as well b~ my mother, inquiring about me or one of my brothers." After waiting a while I was told to go back to the hotel; they would call me. Iri the early afternoon, they did, and we went back and I got my passport. But I .shall never forget; the scenes. I .saw in that room. When I asked Bender about it, he told me they were. asking about relatives that had ''disappeared," bu~ not to say much about it. He a,dded: "Many of them go back many times."

The G. P. U. Discouraged the Trip En route to Finland-August 3

RIVING to the border, Bender showed me Rat Creek where many · believe Rasputin was killed. We drove five miles before being Dstopped. A long pole was across the road and an official examined our passports. We went through and now the macadam road had ended and we were on dirt. When it started to rain the dirt turned to mud and I was glad we had only 50 kilometers to travel. . Went three miles and were hailed by a Red Army officer, but he only wanted a ride. He jwnped into the back seat and rode about a mile. Where he got out I saw row after row of artillery, guns of all calibers. The rows went as far back into the woods as I could see on both sides of the road. I thought, "Aha, this may be: the reason the G. P. U. wasn't keen on letting m~ drive to the border." Never have I ~een so many guns, anywhere, any place, at any time! To me this looked like preparation for war against Finland. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 87

After we passed this outdoor arsenal, the road narrowed to a trail and there wasn't a sign. I came to a place where three dirt roads forked out, took a chance on the middle one and my guess was right. I wondered what would happen if a car met me. I couldn't have got over because there wasn't any "ov~r." On both sides I could touch the trees. We now came to a barbed wire barricade, about 25 feet wide, that extended as far as I could see through the woods. We passed this and, finally, after three or more stops at additional barbed wire barricades, reached Belostrov, a railroad frontier town on the Russian side of the Finnish border. There was a freight house there and a station. At the station we made arrangements to call the Finnish station to send over a freight car to load the automobile. The station itself was similar to the one ~t Negoreloe. The dining-room was clean, with neat cloths on the tables and litde china ornaments of Red Army and Navy men.* When the Russian customs officials started searching my bags, I realized I had pulled a boner. An envelope the Ambassador had given me to deliver to the American Minister to Finland, Mr. Arthur Schoenfeld, was lying right on top of the things in my black bag. I had forgotten to put it in the secret compartment of the car. A young officer grabbed the envelope and handed it to an elderly official. From the look in his eye I knew he thought he had something and maybe he did. I didn't know. I turned to Bender and asked him to interpret, word for word, what I had to say so that there would be no chance of my being misunderstood. Then I said: "I don't know what is in that envelope. It was gi.ven to me by the Ambassador to deliver to the Minister of Finland. If you open it I will immediately telephone the American Embassy in Moscow, and, if you take it out of my sight, I will do the same thing." · ' The custom's official went into another room and, after a few minutes, returned and said I could take the envelope, which had been· on the counter in front of me all the time, unopened . . I now went to the freight station to see about loading the car. The Finnish engine didn't come over the border. The engineer just gave the freight car a hard push and it came over by itself. Then the Russian engine picked it up and we started loading the car. After a ticklish time; due to the narrowness of the ramp, it was loaded. The Finnish train came

* I never saw a woman's statue in all Russia. 88 BOOKTAB .NO. 1

1n from L~ningrad about an hour and a half later and I got aboard, · waved to Bender and was off.

Helsinki-August 4 Arrived in Helsinki and had a hard time finding a room, . because a shooting tournament was going on in town. Thanks to the Packard manager, however, I finally located one in a hotel across from the station. Got the car unloaded, my .baggage checked by .customs and the:n drove to the Packard Garage to find out about the springs. They didn't have them for a Packard 12 and said it would take a long time to get them frorn . . i Sweden. They finally dectded, after consulting a blacksmith, that the old .ones could be fixed like new. They were good mechanics and very honest.

Impressions of Finland On the train-August 15 I have had nine days in Finland and c~nnot tell how much I liked that country · and the fine way I was treat~ by its people and officials. I met some Americans there, who were very pleasant, and a c.ollege boy from Wisconsin who went sight-seeing with me all over the city. This boy had planned • to visit Russia and I . went with him to the Soviet Legation three times to get a visa. Each time the girl . t~ere gave him some excuse. Finally, I got . suspicious. . I asked him: "Have you at any time said anything against the Soviet Government?" He said, "I don't like their method of government and I may have." Then I said, "The reason for the delay may be that' they have been' checldng up on you in Wisconsin, and I believe . the answer has come back that you are 'unde­ sirable.' You had better forget about going to Russia." He stayed around several more days, saw: it was no use, and gave up. · Today I was noti~ed that my car was ready for a test run. I went to Stockm.an's department store and bought various presents I had been asked to buy for my friends. I bought shoes, ties, overshoes, stockings, and ev~n dresses. The mechanic and I gave the car a good test and it was in fine shape, so I made plans to load it promptly for shipment back to Russia. Then I bought my ticket and made my preparations to leave. The presents were all stowed away in the secret compartment of the car · before it left the garage. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 89 - . At ten I . went to - the station and the train, with my car on it, was ready. I got to talking to a couple of Americans on the platform and found they were from Jersey City, N. J., the town I was born in. They were a doctor and Mrs. Bull and I liked them very much. On the train we met a New York school teacher and five minutes with her told me . she was·. redder than pink. She had never been to Russia but she knew all about it and the great things they were going to do for the world. I let her talk; I have met this kind before. I'd hate to think her kind might be teaching my son. During the course of conversation Dr. Bull mentioned that he had some clothes he was bringing over for a friend of his, named Levy, and wanted to know how he could deliver them. I gave him a "shut-up" look and he caught on quickly. Later I went to their compartment and warned them to be very careful what they said in Russia, because they pick you up for just looking like a foreigner. I told them to say nothing in their rooms, nothing their guide could overhear and warned: "As for tha.t girl, you don't know who she is. The only thing American about her is her passport."

Leningrad-August 16

The train stopped .thi~ morning at Viborg and we had breakfast. Then I went to inspect the car and everything was 0. K. We were off again and reached the Finnish border in the late afternoon. A short stop was made at the Rajajoki station, then' we pulled across the border very slowly with the soldiers .looking under the cars. Mrs. Bull was very interested. I showed her the l:;>arbed wire entanglement marking the border, with the little creek running desolately down the middle and the . bridge, marked with a white. line at the precise spot where the two countries touched. At the border station, a few hundred yards over on the Russian side, our bags were taken off and searched. After that they searched the car, going over every inch. I had to lift up the seats and open the dashboard compartment. The official looked under the dashboard, even under the hood, but he never found the secret compartment. It was so constructed that it looked like a unit that had no bottom to it and, if he had looked from underneath it would have been the same. In the back of the car I had three dozen oranges that Bender had asked me to bring back for him and I was told that the Agriculture Department would have to see them. They were big California navel oranges and, when this fellow 90 BOOKTAB NO. 1

s~w them, he admired them and fondled them. The look in' pis eyes told me enough. I said: "Go ahead; help yourself." He hesitated, but I insisted, and he took two. Bender was at the station to meet me and we · started for Leningrad, arriving in the mid-afternoon. My car was unloaded and I took it t.o the garage, then went to the hotel and started to make arrangements to have it sent to Moscow. I was told to be ready to load it tomorrow afternoon and that it would go out on the 7 o'clock train.

The Doors ~f file Church Were Barred Leningrad-August 17 . Went to the garage this morning and gO,~the car. Bende:r. then went with me to do some errands fo~ Mrs. Davies' in reference to some things she had bought. At one place .I stayed in the car, while Bender went into a shop. This shop was near an . old Russian Chur~h with barred doors. · While I was there an elderly Russian woman cime by, paused, faced the church and. crossed•herself. Then she walked toward the barricaded door, stopping every few steps to bless henelf again. When .$he reached the right-hand side of the door she went up. to the wall and kissed a spot where I could make out the faint outlines of Christ on the Cross. Then she backed awa}'l from the wall, made the sign of the cross arid came back toward the street and· went on her way. She was dressed in black and wore a black shawl. ' [When I saw scenes like this they really made me do a lot of thinking. ·Here, I thought, is a spirit that cannot be brok~n no matter what they do. The thought of my own mother came back to me. Instead of ~ Russian woman, I could see, in my mind's eye, my own mother going to Church and finding the doors barred against her by the governmen~. In my heart there developed an intense hatred ·for dictatorships, any dictatorship, regardless of what it promised to do for youth and for the future. I thought, "They are trying to break down th~ very foundation of national progress by destroying the spirit of its teachers, for the lessons that are taught to a child at its mother's knee are as . important to the welfare of the child and the nation as the milk that is fed to it from its BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 91 mother's breast. And any nation that denies that natural process will never succeed, regardless of what propaganda it is fed.-Author's note.] 1 This afternoon I loaded the car for tho trip back to Moscow, and we were pulled into the passenger train yards. We were supposed to leave at 7 p. m., but, at 6: 30, when we still had not been pulled into the station, I began to worry. We saw the 7 o'clock train go out, and we were then told we would leave at 9. Later they said we would go at 11. We are still here at midnight.

Leningrad-August 18 We are still in the train yards. Bender sl·ept all night on the front seat of the car and I on the back. As soon as he could pull himself together, Bender went to the station master again and was told we would go at 9 a. m. We didn't. To make matters worse I found that Bender was practically out of rubles and I had none, having just got in from Finland. Bender went out again to investigate the prospects of our moving out, came back, and still was not able to say for sure just when. Then he went off again to see if he could get some rubles. About 8 o'clock a track gang came along· and started to work on the main line a couple of tracks off. All were girls, with the exception of two elderly men. They worked at changing a rail and those girls swung their big sledge hammers as well, if not better, than any man I ever saw. The elderly men just shoveled dirt. Another man, about 40, bossed the job. He didn~t yell orders or bother the girls in any way, but they didn't need it. They wm·ked hard, letting out a heave with every stroke. Boy, what girls! I opened a bottle of Nazan water, too~ a drink and washed my face. Then I ate one of the oranges I had brought from Finland. The girls were watching me just then and I said to one of them, "Would you like one?" She said, "please," so I tossed one over. Then another wanted one. I said: "I can't give you each one, but I will giv.e you four more and you can divide them as best you can .. There were about 10 girls in this group. They got together and played some sort of game, picking up small stones, and in that way eliminated certain ones. I noticed that there wasn't any "divide equally" business about it. Either you got an orange or you didn't, proving that human nature is the same the world over regardless of ballyhoo and propaganda about share and share alike. One girl asked me, "E to Americanski a pplsin ?" (Is this an American 92 BOOKTAB NO. 1 orange?) I said, yes, from the state of Califomia. She said: "It is big. It is beautiful. I love oranges." The oranges went inside their blouses and were pushed from side to side when they got in the way as the girls worked. It really looked funny. They didn't even intrust the fruit to their lunch sacks! After a little while Bender ~arne back and, from the way he talked, I knew he had had it out with the station master. "Charlie," he said, "I don;t know when we will get out of here." When I asked, "What happened?" he said "those blankety blank, etc .., etc.," in an explosion of anger. Then he said he was going back to the hotel, . try and get some rubles and have a bath and shave. . When he returned, I was to go. I had no reading matter so I. settled back in the car to read road-maps and sleep a little. Bender came back and then I went artd returned around noon. By thi!i time we were down to about 20 rubles. We thought of wiring Moscow for some money, but it didn't seem practical since the latest word was that we would go out this afternoon. The--. way things were, we were almost afraid to leave the train, but a porte;·· on a train that p·ulled in next to us, said . the freight cars were always· put in place at least two hours before the train pulled out. That knowledge helped. some~ This sort of thing went on until about 9 o'cl9Ck that night and I was simply famishe(i. At that time Bender went out again, but said we were definitely going tt>night. He was still trying to get some rubles. While he was gone~all die sirens in the city cut loose and air raid lights went on, focussing on a squadron of about 20 planes. At first I wasn't sure whether or not it was the real thing. The city was in complete darkness and the passing trains had on blue lights. But I figured that it couldn't · be the real thing because I heard no anti-aircraft fire and the planes were flying very low. During this time Bender was on the streets, trying to get back to the train. · He to!d me he had been pulled in at every block by air wardens but bluffed his ·way with a white paper he had in his .pocket. He thought probably the train had gone without tlim. Just as he got on, a little engine came and pulled us into place and at 1 : 30 a. m., after 32 hours in the train yards, we are at last on our way. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 93

Moscow-:-August 19 Jl RRIVED in Moscow, broke, tired and damned hungry. I got the, car n_ unloaded and <;lrove to a . gas station nearby to get a few liters, . since I wasn't sure I had enough to reach the Embassy. They wouldn't give me the gas because it was a second class station and I had first class tickets. I said: "That's all right; I'll take the second class. I only want a little ~o I can be sure of getting to the Embassy." The answer was "no." I was in no mood to argue after that trip, so I took a chance on the gas and managed to get there. I had a good meal at the Embassy, then went to the N:ational for a room. They said they didn't have ·any but after some arguing and bribing with a carton of cigarettes I managed to get my old room again. I was so tired that night that neither tooting horns or the shouting over the telephones· bothered me. I sl~pt.

Moscow-August 20 Saw Mr. llenry Antiel this morning. He is connected with the American Chancery and is a m·ember of the diplomatic corps. He asked me how I liked· Finland and I couldn't praise the country enough. He had been there and had fallen in love with a Finnish girl and wanted to be assigned there.. He was a fine American and a fine man, well liked by the Russians. Mr. Antiel, like Mr. Gordon, gave me sound advice on how to get ·along in ·Russia and I was proud to have him for a friend.*

* After I had returned ·to the United States for good a terrible fate befell this man. A small item -in the newspapers said that he had been killed in an airplane accident over the Bay of Finland. The plane )1ad exploded in mid-air. I knew Henry had acted many times as a courier and that the accident must have happened in daylight as· the commercial· planes didn't fly at night. I read all the papers I could find, but all carried the same story. No account of the accident came out of the countries bordering the Bay of Finland. Russia didn't accuse Germany, Germany didn't accuse Russia. The Baltic states said nothing, nor did any one in our State Department raise any issue. My view is that the explosion was more than an accident. Later, in Washington, I met Mr. Antiel's sister and, when I told her I had been Henry's friend, she burst into tears. When I asked her if she knew what had happened, she said, "Charlie, I don't know any more than you do. It all seems to be a mystery." Could it have been possible that Henry Antiel, on that day, was carrying some­ thing somebody wanted-or that more than one somebody wanted-and that the plane was shot down, or blown-up and the crew considered "expendable"? The ring of the news stories didn't sound right to me. Maybe I will find out some day what really happened. He was only 25 and would have gone far in the diplomatic corps. 94 BOOKTAB NO. 1

This afternoon Dr. Bull came to the Embassy with the package he wanted to deliver. We took Garbachoff along in the car because he would know . the address. We drove to a street somewhere near the Greek Embassy and Garbachoff stopped and took the box -into. the house. vVhen he ·came out he said that Mr. Levy's sister had. opened the door and didn't believe him when he said he had a box from her brother in the United States. She had kept telling him to go away. He said she was terribly frightened, but finally took the box, but only after a lot of arguing. She wouldn't take the money at all. I said to Dr. Bull on the way back: "There you are, doctor, now you have seeri something of this for yourself. You can ·see that this is not a government of law but a government of men on horseback. The only la\vs they make are laws to make them stronger. Later I went to the barber shop for a hairc:ut. My, old barber greeted me and asked where I had been,. then how had I enjoyed the trip. He wouldn't take a tip in the shop, but did when he brushed my clothes. T:hen he asked me if . I would get him a pair of shoes on my n~xt trip. H~ lifted ~s foot to show me the very bad condition of the shoe$ he was we~ring. I promised .to let him know if I went ?Ut of the country again.*

Moscow_,_August 25 The Ambassador is still away and I have been killing time, while waiting for permission to return to the United States. . .. · · · · One day .I went to a football game at the ,Dynamo Stadium, which seats about 50,000 people. When the game was about to start, they played the Internationale and I stood at attention ~ith the others, thinking about the words ~ .. "Arise, ye slaves, etc." Only my interpretation was different. I saw one of the G. P. U. boys there ~nd he asked wh~n the Ambassador was coming back. I said I didn't know. Next day I went to see some horse-racing at th~ Hipp.odrome. · Their racing is what we call "pacing," with a small cart. Plen~y of money was going ~ver the counter and the horses were some of the best I had seen. This type of racing is ~een at Goshen, N. Y., a~d . I believe the Russians

• On my last trip to Moscow this man was missing from , the shop. I asked the 'manicurist about him, since she had known us both, and she dropped her eyes and said, "I dori't know." I knew enough not to press the · matter. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 95

would provide some stiff competition if a match were allowed. In the six races not one horse broke his pace.

The Remgrk Was "Revolufioncrry" Moscow-August 27 LEARNED to. night that the uncle of a friend of mine got locked up, but was allowed to go again the next morning and, indirectly, I I was partly to blame. I had bought some stockings and dresses for the wife of a Russian friend when I was in the States and, one night, when she was going out with friends, she put on her new things. On the way, she stopped at her mother's home, where a family party was in progress to celebrate her mother's birthday. She greeted everyone and, as she was preparing to leave, her uncle made some remark about how nice she looked, no doubt realizing that the clothes -had come from outside the country. He added: "When ·will our girls dress like that·again?" That, I was told, was all that he said. Those at the· party were close relatives, the most distant a first cousin, yet someone reported the remark. That man was locked up the !)ext morning and questioned rigorously and was told that next time the penalty would be severe. This simple remark was considered revolutionary. · My friend had hate in· his heart when he thought that a thing like this· could happen,. when relatives .were so close. He asked me: "In Moscow, who is your friend when a thing like this can happen?" After' some other comments he added quietly ... HDein Budyit." (The day comes.)

Moscow~August 28 We. went to the Metropole and had a swell time and I got to feeling good on the cognac. After waitihg a half hour we got a taxi. I could have walked to the hotel but . decided to wait until one of the taxis was going that way. At that time in the morning the taxis come to a taxi-stand and the driver asks the fiFst person in the line which way he is going. If he isn't going that way, the driver goes to the next person and on down the line and, if no one is going his way, he goes on. Well, one finally came that was going my way so I got in. At night · the Moscow taxi drivers always put the dome light on because so many have been hit over the head. By this means they can keep an eye on the passengers and can put their hands over their h~ads to protect themselves if they see actions that 96 BOOKTAB NO.- 1

make them think they are going to be konked, . The taxis are usually Model A Fords, or one of the Russian Fords called M Adien.

En route to Paris-August 30

BELIEVE I hung up some sort of a record today for getting- out of Moscow. At 3:45 p. m. I was notified by a member of the Chancery I staff that Mrs. Davies had phoned from Paris and that she h~d said I could go home whenever I wanted- to. After . I finished the conversation I looked at my watch and it was ten minutes to four. I ·caught the ten to : five train for Paris. Some of the .servants had talked to me at three and they just couldn't believe I -had gone. I had thought I might get the wprd to go at any time, so I had my passport with .me, with an exit visa good until the 22nd of September. All I had. to do was pack my things and check out of the hotel. The conductor on this train is the same one I met on my first trip to, Russia. He told me that a lot of men and women have. been leaving Russia, equipped with .. passports of almost every European nation, but that their .visas seldom go beyond Warsaw. A few went to Berlin and Paris. None further. He said that he had never .seen any of them on his train going to Russia; still they had passports from all other countries-. All spoke Russian, but kept very much to themselves in their compartments. ' The conductor told me that Polish army officers. had a lot of trouble with -these mysterious "tourists." By this 1 mean that they· were never satisfied · with their passports. · There . was always. something that drew • their attention, that made them always question thef!l, and the questioning _went on to such an extent that many times the train was late getting off, ·with the officer riding on to the next stop. He told me that not once 'has he seen the face of a man or woman that he had seen before, going into Russia. This had been going on, he said, since the last of April. The things this man tolp me started me thinking again about the Trotsky· trials and wondering if 'they were on the level. Perhaps . ~hese phony travelers were the men who. were supposed to have been "executed," going out-of the country to work as agents. I have long do~bted that they were killed, becaus(!, try as I might, I never could· find out how it was done. No one knew, or knew of anyone who performed the "executions." Some said vaguely that it was done with gas, others that the person walks into a room and a fusillade of bullets hits him when the door is closed (worked autom~tically) ; still others say the person is shot in the head BACKSTAIRS MISSION . IN MOSCOW 97

while sleeping. Even the G. P. U. boys didn't know, though I brought up the question plenty of times in a roundabout way. On this same trip I learned that· diplomatic passports weren't being recognized. An American woman, traveling on such a passport, from Harbin, Manchuria, through Russia to Paris was very closely questioned ·and her luggage thoroughly searched. I also have reason to believe that the French and Polish customs officers . on this trip were officers of military intelligence.

At Sea--September 3 Left Paris for New York about September 2, sailirig on the Europa. The boat is jammed with students going home to the States· and I have met several people that I met before.

"Sing tlte Praises of America" New 'York--September 7 Just coming up New York bay gives you a feeling that no words can explain. ·Home again. My wife and boy met me and we drove with a friend out to my home on Long Island. On the way I thought: "Good old U. S . A. How I have miss~d .you! No more frontiers, no more trains, no more boats, no more searching&, no more passports, no more questioning. No more G. P. U.! I want to say this while I think of it. These two trips to Russ'ia changed my way of thinking. I had been satisfied . _with ·my job and my life, just dri~ting along, and politics was the last thing in my mind. · Now, especially after the second trip, I had got ·interested i~, it and began to notice things tha.t I would have paid no attention to before. : I had gained perspective from my travels on the other side and saw America . with a new sense of appreciation. I was never trained along ~ political lines and had read little history, but now I resolved to study and read. In my capacity as a working man I had heard in New York ... Russia, Russia, Russia .... and, knowing first hand what Russia is like, it maddened me to he~r propaganda and lies about that country spread ·through the ranks of Americans, while those who loved ,this country seldom .raised their voices in its praise. 98 BOOKTAB NO. 1

New York-September 14 I shall have altogether about two weeks before Mrs. Davies comes back from England. Both she and the Ambassador are there with the yacht. She will come to New York at the end of this month and Mr. Davies will go back to Moscow. Meanwhile I am enjoying myself with my family and friends, ·and just enjoying America. ·Driving to New York from Long Island one day, I got to thinking about what I had seen and what we Americans take as a matter of course and I made up a little song ~ . I was singing it as loud as I could, all the way into New York. These are the words: uSing the praises of America; · Sing them , loud aru! clear, Sing the praises of America. Sing so all can hear, Sing the praises of America; Make them come from your heart's core. As you see, we are free,

And we intend to· ~. be; . ,• r · Free forever more." That may sound a little dramatic . but it is just th~ way ~ I felt many times .wh~p I ~eard _ the songs . they sang ·about Ru~sia, or ,_Germ~ny, or Italy, . or England, or any other country. I felt that we were not singing Q:Ur . praises, .and we, as. the world -kp.ows, _ re~lly have something to blow about. Through my song I gave vent t~ ~y feelings.

New ~qrk-September 23 Mrs. Davies arrived in Ne-w -York and my routine ·started.. It was nice to be working in. New York again · and meeting some of ,niy friends. All of them were interested- in Russia bu.t I had little to add to what I had already told them. I still felt the, same . as . I did. after the first trip: that ·the Russian people were getting an awful kicking around by a government that was · of itself, · by itself and for itself.

New Y or.k~O ctober 5 The Pinks are still after me, just as before. As soon as they know I have been to Russia, they ask the old. question, "How did . you like it?" Their faces are lighted with a half-smile when they pop their moth-eaten query, and their eyes are eagerly anticipating the answer. When I hit them . with BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 99

the truth the smile vanishes and they look at me almost with hatred. This time, though, I am not falling into the trap I fell into the first time. I let them tell me about Russia and all it is doing for the Russians. They all know more about it than I do without ever going there. I will not beat my brains out on people that want to believe that 2 plus 2 equals 3. The people I have known, who wanted to see the picture from an unbiased viewpoint, usually said: "I thought it was something like that, but, to listen to some people in America, who call themselves Americans, you would think that Soviet Russia was Utopia." I always did, and I always will, say that the common people of Russia were just like the common people of any other country. They only want what we have ... freedom. Freedom to go to bed at night and not have to think of what they had said during the day to make sure that the little black car wouldn't stop_ at their house that night. And I want to put this down while I think of it. There was no difference, none whatsoever, in the type of Pink or Communist that I met in the United States or any other country I visited. They looked alike and were of the same disposition. They insulted you in the same aggressive manner if you didn)t agree with them and when their anger mounted, were as like as not to call me a pro-Fascist. Smear is the Communists' first line of defense, here and in their own country. But I was on to them by now. I only listened to them and watched them and, in that way, I thil!k I got a pretty good picture of what the Communist set-up was. I, at least, had the advantage of knowing first­ hand how the Russian government worked. I had obtained the inside picture which the Russian Government is so anxious to conceal.

Dictatorship, Small Scale

NE thing that going to Russia did for me was to inject into my system an absolute hatred of dictatorial authority of any kind. I gave vent 0 to this hatred once, during an incident that I would not have noticed befqre my experiences in Moscow. I was sorry afterward that I did what I did, but any man, after being in Russia and seeing what I did, might have lost control of himself. It all happened in Pennsylvania Station, ~ew 1:ork. · 100 BOOKTAB NO. 1

There seems to be an unwritten law among New York chauffeurs that they must never argue with a cop. I broke this code only because of the love of justice that was awakened in me after seeing so much injustice in Russia. Afterward I apologized to the policeman and told him why I felt the way I did and we became fast friends. This is how it all happened. I went to the station to pick up the Ambassador who was coming in from Washington. I pulled in behind a ·car that was parked and was chauffeur driven. I didn't see any "No Parking" sign near the curb. I hadn't been there a minute when a policeman came up and said: "All right, chauffeur, get out of here." I started to comply, thinking he had said the same thing to the other chauffeur, but, when I started to back out, I noticed . that the other chauffeur w·asn't ·budging. I said to the cop, "What about him?" He said, "That car is Mayor Hague's car." Then I said: "If he stays, I do." "If you do," he said, "I'If give you a . summons.~' And I said, "If you do, you ~ill give him one too." Orie word led to another and the policemarl got pretty angry. But I wouldn't move. He told me he was going to take me to the station house and I said, "If you do, you will have ·to take him, too." He got madder and so did I. The other chauffe~r, who drove Mayor Hague, just sat in the car and listened. I didn't get a summons and I didn't move. Finally he said: "You must be a new chauffeur in this town." (Meaning arguing with a cop) . I said, "No, I haye been driving in this town 11 years and I know I ought not argue with you, but I have been through a lot in the last nine months and' that is probably the reason for all this." I told him who I was waiting for and that I had been to Russia with him. I said I had seen people who were so mentally beaten down by authority that maybe I was rebelling because of it. I apologized for my actions and he was very interested in my story. I think he understood my feelings because we became good friends.

·New York-January 5 I have been told that we are going back to Russia; I never thought I would. /-Am making the rounds of the stores again, buying gifts for my Russian friends. PART III

THIRD TRIP TO RUSSIA

February 12-June )1, 19'J8 BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 103

At Sea-February 12 Sailed for Germany today on the Bremen. In our party arc the Ambassa­ dor and Mrs. Davies, their secretaries and seven servants. The Ambassa­ dor returned in November for a vacation and to report to the President.

Bremen-February 17 Docked at Bremen and nothing much happened ... the same old stuff of declaring your money and having your luggage searched. In front of me in the line was a man who came from somewhere around Wisconsin and spoke German. When his turn came he pulled out a huge wad of money, in hundreds, fifties and twenties, all American currency, and, by the way he talked, ·he was elated to be getting back to Germany. He sure was making a long song and dane~ of it. I watched the customs officer's face and it was a perfect blank. It seemed to say, "You dope." The woman behind me understood German and told me this man had sold his house and was taking his whole family back to Germany. I could hardly believe that propaganda could have made a man, who had seen America and prospered there, go back to Germany. The customs man just kept counting the ·money and said nothing at all. When he handed it back, the bird from Wisconsin snapped to attention, heiled Hitler, and then strutted away. I thought to myself: "Mister, if that customs officer's face meant anything, you are in for a grand awakening." . This man had about $8,000 with him and that, in Germany, is a lot of marks. If he had had any sense, he would have bought marks legally outside of Germany and gotten four for a dollar, but he was satisfied to get two for one in Germany. I stood in line with the valet and two maids for passport inspection and, after they looked at ours, they made us get out of line and wait. No one else had to do that and I think it was because of our Russian visas. The passports went from one Gestapo man to another, until Carlson, the v·alet, got angry about it and told them he had a lot of work to do and wanted to get after it. Finally they handed the passports back and we left the boat. We boarded a private Wagon-lit right away and started our journey to Moscow. This evening we reached Berlin, stopped at the station. a few minutes where members of the Embassy staff in Berlin were waiting to pay their respects to the Ambassador. We are now en route to Moscow. 104 BOOKTAB NO. 1

On the train-February 18 Woke up about an hour's ride from Warsaw. The Ambassador and Mrs. Davies got off with some of the others. Nina and I went on to Moscow* The train started off again and I began to have the blues. We passed the same stations I had passed four times before, Centralia, Slonim, Bialstoyk and Stolpce, had the usual border scene, then we were over the border in Negoreloe, with Phil Bender waiting for us. AJI the old suspicions came down on us again. When I got into the Moscow station, Bender pulled out a piece of paper, telling me what had been planned and where I was to go. He said he had a room for me at the Metropole Hotel and, as he showed me this paper, the G. P. U. was looking at him and walked over to the customs officer. Bender said, "Watch; he will come over here." He did, after talking to the G. P. U. Bender already had the paper out again and explained what was on it. The customs officer looked it over and then gave it back. Here we were doing the same old thing again. With us was Mr. Stanley Richardson, the Ambassador's new secretary, a former newspaperman who had been in Moscow. · This fellow knew his way around. ~e had a brief case with him, filled with papers, and the Russians wanted him to open it. He wouldn't do it and growled at them about his diplomatic passport. It was to no avail. He finally had to open the brief case. There wasn't anything important in it but he was sure burnt up. We had our usual searching, then got on the Moscow train. Bender stayed to wait for the Ambassador. At Moscow we were met at the station by Garbachoff and the rest of the chauffeurs. It was cold, and snowing. The city looked the same as before, but I noticed that the women were wearing rubber overshoes, like those worn in the United States. This was the first change I noticed on the way to the Embassy. Before, the women had no protection for their shoes. The usual black clothes and shawl were still there.

*An amusing incident occurred in Warsaw, which I heard about later. A Polish newspaper photographer took a picture of Carlson, the valet, and Helen Christie, the maid, which was published in a Warsaw paper with this caption: "The Ambassador and Mrs. Davies enjoying a few days in Warsaw before returning to his post as U. S. Ambassador to Russia." The Ambassador and Mrs. Davies got a great kick out of that picture and so did Helen and Carlson. But I'll bet that newsman had a red face when the editor learned of the mistake. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCO\Xr 10'5

Moscow-February 22 Greeted everyone at the Embassy, then went to the garage and looked over my car. After that \vent to the 11etropole and found out that Bender's arrangements for a room had fallen through. Some Russian official had taken the room that had been reserved for me. Went to the National Hotel and after the usual arguing and bribing with American cigarettes, managed to get one, but only for a week. The hollering over the telephones in the lobby was a familiar sound and, when the 'Neek is up, I am to move back to the Metropole.

Moscou.:-February 23 The Ambassador and Mrs. Davies arrived and we started our round of visits to the other Ambassadors and Ministers.

Back in the Groove Moscow-March 1 It has taken me about a week to get back in the groove. I delivered my presents and got down to my self-assigned business of finding out what I could find out about Russia and the Russians. I had been away five months and a lot. had happened in that time. One thing I Was very curious about was the Rubens case, but I couldn't make head nor tails of it. No one seemed to know the details, or wanted to talk about it. These were two Americans who were locked up in Moscow and accused of something. They were said to have had forged passports and the case had been mentioned in the New York newspapers. I was told that they didn't want any help from the American Embassy, so I forgot it for the time being, but I thought that, some day, I would try to find out what the deal was.*

*Next summer, in Belgium, Mr. Loy Henderson, Moscow Charge d' Affaircs, told me he had gone to see Mrs. Rubens (the Ambassador was then in the U nitcd States) . He said he was compelled to speak in Russian and that she had said she didn't want • any aid. (Possibly becaust" she feared prosecution in American courts for alleged passport frauds.) He went on to deplore the condition of the diplomatic corps and questioned the integrity of some of the officials that were being sent over. He also feared for the safety of the Ame:·ican code books. Some of the men he thought were not capable of their jobs ; others, he felt, would have borne a little more investigation. This man was a caret"r man and extrt"mely capable. 106

Still The Purge Goes On

,. hree principal kinds of Soviet Purges going on simultaneously mystified and horrified foreign observers during Stalin's extermination cam­ T paign from December, 1934, to the Summer of 1938. They were: ( 1) The public propaganda trials described by Joseph E. Davies in MisSION To Moscow; (2) secret military trials which received little or no publicity,· and (3) continuous and wholesale arrests, trials and execu­ tions or imprisonment of ordinary Russian citizens, women as well as men. For the victims, ((liquidation"· meant death without court trial, imprison­ ment or, more frequently, exile to Siberia. This third process has been going on ever since the Revolution. It went on during World Wars I and II and-according to reliable sources­ is going on today. During this phase of Ciliberti's ((backstairs'' mission, the third Treason T1ial of former Bolshevik leaders took place in Moscow, with elaborate ceremonial, fanfare and publicity. Principal figure among 21 notable ' defendants was Nikolai I. Bukharin, a veteran Marxian war-horse widely 1 known for bitter opposition to Trotsky and Trotskyism. Yet · Bukharin, like the others in the Purge series, readily confessed on the witness-stand to plotting with T,rotsky-Rightists to . break up the Soviet Union and give a:.vay large portions of territory to Germany and Japan. The third trial began on March 2, 1937, and wound up on March 13, with a verdict of guilty for all. Death sentences were pronounced upon all but three who got prison terms of 20 and 25 years with loss of political rights. This was the end of the Moscow spectacle-trials. But still the purge of lesser suspects continued, finally tapering off in the summer of 1938. After that the Stalin government had other worries to contend with ... worries that came from the direction of Germany where Hitler was organizing his anti-Comintern war plans. EDITOR'S NOTE. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 107

Moscow-March 12 . NEW batch of purge trials are underway and this time the Russians are a little more inter~sted, although they have known, for weeks in A advance, that a number of "big shots" have been locked up. This they know, not through gossip, but because their pictures have been taken down from public buildings. · · It seems that when the Russians started to read the testimorw in the trials it was so fantastic that they .questioned it.. When the testimony came out that these men ha.d put glass in their bread, poisoned their water, poisoned their cattle and committed other dastardly crimes, and that these men trusted each other so, it was too much even for the average Russian. They started to raise questions. After going around for a couple of weeks and talking. to the man in the street, I find that most people sized things up the way one· aleit Russian mechanic summed it up to me. "Ther~ is something bigger behind this. than I \Can explain to my satis­ faction," said ·he. "When I read that ·testimony, knowing, what every Russian knows, that an act· against the state means death, I began to wonder. For these men. to plan all the things they say they planned, and to tell others about it, wi~h the G. P. U. as sharp as they are and bound to find out, is utterly fantastic . .No Russian trusts any other Russian, especially in a case like this. No, Charlie, I don't believe it; there's something else behind it. '·'When they testified that they planned to shoot Molotov, by stopping his car and letting him have it, that is absurd. You know and I know that that can't be done. You and I have seen Molotov and the rest of the big shots go through the streets too many times to think that could happen, with all the company he has around him ... and his car bullet-proof. What were .they going to shoot him with, a cannon? "Another thing. Why should these men want to overthrow Stalin? . They have been living on .the fat of the land. They had better homes than your so-called capitalists . in America. You should know, you have taken the Ambassador to their homes and know what they are like and how they live. No, these men got what they got us to revolt for. No, Charlie, maybe before you go away again, I will find the answer. These men were not fools and they didn't get where they a:re because they were fools. They think over everything they do a thousand times. No fools could have caused this revolution. These men were smart. I heard a lot of them talk when they were on top and· they didn't sound like fools to me., 108 BOOKTAB NO. 1

From the information I gave him about the mysterious tourists that were leaving Russia (which I had got from that , railway conductor on my last trip out) and from what my friend had gathered around town about the fantastic admissions at 'the trial, we really got to thinking that the whole thing might be a trick to get the men out as agents without anyone knowing about it. More likely, however, some of the supposed ringleaders who confessed so readily were promised a comfortable exile in some Siberian hinterland undergoing Soviet high pressure developments. "Charlie," my friend said after a while, "in Russia, when they tell you to look this way, you look the ot.her way." And that is how I got to believe what I do today. I tested out this theory many times. If they wanted me to think things their. way, I thought the exact opposite and often senseless things then made sense to me. Through help from my friends I learned to think like a Russian. Many of them have seen things looking nice and rosy arid then, all "of sudden, something terrible happen ~ · Through trying to think their way I sized up the Trotsky trials this way: I do not believe that any of the men convicted are dead, except the Red Army marshal and his generals who were purged. I do believe tha.t they are not in Russia, but in Siberia or in other countries, setting the stage for world revolution and that they were sent there by the Comintern. (All are men of experience and know how to set the stage.) Although I did see a picture of a Karl Radek, neither I nor many others, have seen pictures of any of the others. Even if we had, we wouldn't necessarily recognize them because the Communists are masters at camouflage. As for Litvinov, I believe that the only reason he was not "purged" was that he was too well known and in his case, even camouflage would fail. Besides, it is obvious that LitvinC:,v was not plotting against the Kremlin even if his "cooperation" policies were repudiated by Stalin. Moreover, Litvinov was still a member of the Comintern. I saw his car many times, wh~n the Comintern met. Indeed, whenever they met his car was there. The Comintern headquarters was on a street called Comintem. I passed it regularly going between the Embassy and the Chancery. I celieve that any person the Comintern backs is backed for one cause, their cause, and that they use what I call the "saturation method." If the BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 109

person is against them they saturate him with smear; if he is for them they saturate him with affection but often with tongue in cheek. I qelieve, further, that 50 per cent of the members of the various Russian Embassies are members of the G. P. U. I have watched these men come and go at the Embassy in Washington and ar the Chancery on 61st Street in New York and they act and look like the men I saw in Moscow. " I am positive that the Russian chauffeurs I have talked to in the United States are G. P. U. agents. · As for the Comintern, Litvinov is the only member that I can actually identify. Of the rest, I do~'t think 500 people in the world could identify the photo of even one of them. As Litvinov was the only one I knew, I looked up his history. I also read everything he wrote and listened to him especially whenever I had a chance .to. Litvinov is always talking to the working man, yet he never did a day's work in his life. He always knew vvhat the working man wanted, though, and directed his speeches to the "un.derdog." Litvinov ~ an agent for the Bolshevik group, dir-ected by Stalin·, that blew up a bank truck in Tiflis and robbed it. of around 90,000 rubles in gold. Litvinov was caught in Parjs, when he tried to change the money to lower denominations, and got three months in jail. I don't want to pick on Litvinov, but I believe that a man can be judged by ,what he did as well as what he preaches to others.

' M oscow-M4TCh 15 Today is Mrs. Davies birthday. Lindy an,d I played "Happy Birthday" for her in the morning, Lindy playing his guitar and I my accordion. The Russians in the house heard us and this afternoon I heard some comments about it: They liked our playing for her and our affection for her. As a matter of fact . they like the Ambass~dor and Mrs. Davies very much, too.

Luncheon with the Litvinovs Moscow-March 18 · N SPEAKING of Litvinov a while back, I said .he always directs his speeches to the underdog. It was interesting, recently, to see how he I. lives. The opportunity came when the Ambassador, Mrs. Davies and her daughter, Mrs. Rahel Walker, were invited to the Litvinov dacha for lunch. I drove them .out Gorki Street for about fifteen miles, then turned left into .the road to the house. We found that we were a little early so the 110 BOOKTAB NO. 1

'Ambassador and Mrs. Davies had a little walk and Mrs. Walker took some pictures. We then started again and knew we were near the dacha:~ when the tower loomed up and we saw the usual green fence that surrounds these · big estates. It was a large house with a double set of steps and a driveway in the middle. It reminded me of some big house I have seen in the states but I can't just remember whose. But, believe me, it is a big house . . ·. at least as big as Mrs. Davies' house in Washington and, from the length of · the green fence, had many times its acreage. There were a few other guests and the chauffeurs went ·in. I didn't know I was to have lunch there ·but was soon told that it was ready. What · a lunch! It was the same kind 'I had had at Molotov's house ... soup to nuts. Four kinds of fish, four kinds of meat, don't know how many kinds of vegetables, salads (but ·not for me), more caviar, in a huge bowl, than fifty people could eat and -a magnificent dessert. No one could possibly eat as much food as was offered and I wondered why they served so much. If they wanted to make an impression, they sure did. I thought again, as I did when I left the Mo!otov house, "They sure do right by · themselves." (You can see how sore I get when those pinks in the United States try to tell me how humbly the leaders of the Soviet live.) After the lunch was over and the other guests had gone, the Ambassador and Mrs. Davies and the Litvinov family went out on the steps and I took a picture of them. (See Mr. Davies' book.) They then said good-by and we left. On the way out I gave two blasts to tell the G. P. U. boys we were on our way, but no G. P. U. I looked around and gave two more blasts. Still no boys. I slowed down and kept my eyes on the mirror. The Ambassador asked me why I was going so slowly and I told him we had lost the boys. He told me to go ahead as he wanted to get to the Embassy as soon as possible, but I knew that if I arrived there the cop on duty would report our G. P. U.s and they would have hell to pay. I stalled in every possible way I could, became the most cou~teo~s chauffeur in Moscow; giving every pedestrian the right away. I got out to examine the tires, slowed down and stopped on the flimsiest excuse, . but still no boys! I was worried. Then, just as I was making·my right tum off Gorki into Bolshoi Sadovaya, I saw a Ford, way over on the left, coming like all get out. I hoped it was them as I h~d only a few miles to go, and sure enough it was. I hit the· foot pedal twice, showing my stop lights and they ·switched on their headlights in BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 111

reply. I wanted to play ball with these boys and didn't want them to get into trouble. On the way out to Litvinov's they had directed me by horn (one toot for a left turn, two for a right). I didn't know the way and would have had a terribl~ time without their help. After we got to the Embassy, I let the Ambassador out, then went to the gate, and all the G. P. U. said was " spaseba" (thank you). I kept quiet because the cop was there. Tonight I was with a Russian friend and told him where I had been and what I had eaten. He said: "And we are told that they live like us:' Perhaps I shouldn't have told him about it; it would only make him lose more sleep. Sitting here tonight thinking about it, I imagined the Czar getting out of his grave and appearing in the midst of these men at a meeting and saying (in words more cultured than these but with the same meaning): "Why did you fellows kill my family and me? We, and what we represented, were pikers compared to you." I am sure the Russian people didn't overthrow the Czar for this kind of government.

Moscow-March 21 Stolesnikov Periulook is a narrow little street, with a square at the foot · which I always called Mexa Square, beca\lse a large sign on the most conspicuous shop said, MEXA, which means "fur". I didn't have the Ambassador with me, and was sitting in my car read­ ing my book on the Russian language. I noticed people crowding around the car and peering into it, and in front was a sailor, holding the flag in his fingertips and saying something with a look of utmost contempt on his face. The only word I caught was "capitalist." Then he scornfully pushed the flag away from him. About six or seven Russians went for him and they sure gave him a lecture. When the sailor had gone away, they came to me and one of them said the sailor was crazy. I said, "If that had hap­ pened in America ..." Then I stoP.ped and ran my finger across my throat and made a . sound with my mouth. The reasons I didn't go after this man were that I couldn't get out of the car and that it was all over so quickly. When I told Bender about it he asked me not to tell the Ambassador. I did tell Mis~ Wells and was again reminded that under NO circumstances was I to make a scene, because of the near-scene the first night I worked and that scene with the drunk. But I can still remember that sailor's face. It made me wonder if the Soviet is 112 BOOKTAB NO. 1 teaching its military to hate us. Why else would he have done it? He knew only what he had been taught. I remember another scene on this same street, involving a man I believe to have been an army office.r:. He wore a uniform and had three small squares on his coat collar. · This time, too, the car was surrounded with people and the Ambassa­ dor's daughter was taking pictures of them when this man yelled at the crowd to go away and not allow the pictures to be taken. He spoke to the G. P. U. and the boys then went into action in earnest trying' to scatter the crowd. I wanted to laugh because the G. P. U. didn't have much luck, even when two policemen arrived to help. They couldn't touch the Ambassador's daughter; they could go after the people. But when the people were chased from one .end of the car they simply went to the other._end. Why did th~ officer want to disperse those Russians? Was he afraid that the people in the United States would get a real picture of what the Russian n1asses look like in unrehearsed photographs?

He Shoved the Boy Through the Fence Moscow-March 25

ARDLY a day goes by when some member of the. staff fails to report -the sudden ~rr:est or disappearance of a relative or friend. The purge His reaching into the humblest of homes. I ,was walking down the street one day with a Russian friend, when across the street I heard a boy shouting at the top of his lu~gs. He had a piece of paper in his hands. A ~uge man grabbed him and pushed him through a swinging door in a nearby .fence and down into the snow in the yard . . The last glimpse I had he was standing over the boy with his great hand completely covering the boy's face. I thought at first that it was the G. P. U. The Russian I was with knew this man and today I got the story. The boy had just received a letter from his father, whom he had not seen for six months. He· hadn't even known where. his fathe-r was, and this was hard because the two were extremely devoted. Then, when the letter came, the boy went to pieces. He had shouted invectives against Stalin and all the rest of the gang. The man who had pushed him through the fence was his uncle. He had done so to try to keep the boy quiet. I said to my Russian friend, "I BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 1 13

suppose they will pick the boy up." To my surprise he answered, "I don't think so. The same thing has happened to a lot of people in this neigh­ borhood.* I believe so many people are getting into the same boat now that they aren't quite so ready to squea) on each other. The cruelty of this Gov­ ernment may be, slowly but surely, throwing the people into each other's arms.

Moscow-March 27 Saw a second example today of a Russian showing his teeth. I was waiting for the Ambassador and first thing I knew the G. P. U. were struggling with a boy about fourteen years old, trying to put him into their car. The boy wouldn't get in, but fought them tC?oth and nail, screaming like mad. A large crowd gathered and when the Ambassador came out, the G. P. U. let the boy go. A large and sympathetic crowd gathered around him and the boy was crying very hard. In a roundabout way I asked what the trouble was. The only answer I got was that the boy wouldn't move when the G. P. U. men told him to. When th~y pushed him, he pushed back. This made me very happy. .

Mishap in a Fish Pond Moscow-March 28 Spanish refugees are coming into Moscow and a lot of them are living at the Metropole. I see them every time I go into the dining-room. They are very quiet people, with serious faces. I have seen very few of them smile. They stay by themselves, never dancing with, or being asked by the Rus­ sians to dance. I never had an opportunity to talk to them; but I could tell by their actions that they wanted to be alone. Their manners were flawless. One night a group of the Spaniards were sitting at a table next to mine, when a Russian boy and girl fell into the fish pond in the center of the dance floor of the dining-room. Everyone was amazed at- the sight. The boy just sat there, dazed, for about ten seconds, but the girl jumped out quickly and fled from the room. No . on~ laughed until they had left the room, then everyone did but the Spaniards. About 20 minutes later the girl came back with a new dress on and her hair all fixed up. The Spanish

• He was right. I saw the boy many times afterward. 114 BOOKTAB NO. 1 refugees gave her a big hand and the rest joined in. She laughed and bowed and went to her table, but the boy never came back. It really was funny,. though. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw it and the amazing thing was that the couple were absolutely sober.

Two GPU Men and a Riddle Moscow-Marth 29 This evening, when I was coming out of the Embassy with a batch of newspapers under my arm, the G. P. U. greeted me at the gate. Big Nick, one of them, asked if they were American newspapers and I said they were. He was a ·paratrooper of some kind and had told me that the last jump he made was from 3000 meters. For. that he had an emblem, showing an opened parachute. When he asked me about the papers I sort of flicked them open to show the headlines. On the front page there was the picture of a man . who was going to be electrocuted and that started the following conver­ sation. I said: "Too bad for that fellow." Then I went on to explain what crime he had committed . and how electrocutions are done, giving as many details as I could. I also remarked that all executions are not accomplished in the same way in our ~different states. Tfiis they couldn't figure out because they didn't understand our governmental set-up. They thought Wash­ ington was like the Kremlin. Then I asked Nick: "How do you execute criminals here?" It's funny how their faces drop c\lith a show of caution when you ask a question, unless you get them alone. Nick answered: "We shoot them." I asked, "How? Does one man do it . . . two men . . . five men . . ten men? How many?" He shrugged his sholders, remarking: "I don't know; nobody knows­ nobody ever saw an execution ... but we shoot them." The other G. P. U. seemed of a. like mind but they began to argue it in excited tones. They debated it for 10 minutes without settling the point. Neither had ever seen an execution or been an execution witness. It is plain the G. P. U. men, like the average Russian citizen, know nothing about the carrying out of supposed death sentences in the Purge trials. It simply doesn't add up to them, nor to me. At other times I've talked to various Russians. Not one of them knows BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 115 how executions are done. All of this convinces me that the Russian government does not shoot as many people as is believed. There's too much work to be done back in the Urals and in Siberia. Political prisoners are worked to death­ rarely shot by firing squads unless they try to escape from their desolate slave camps. As for the men convicted at the treason trials, I am now convinced they were not executed. I think the ring-leaders were induced to "confess" in exchange for a life of forced labor. Some of these confessed counter­ revolutionists are probably "out on parole," working as secret Soviet agents in the countries marked to be sovietized by stealthy methods. Karl Radek, the chief plotter, is supposed to go free in January, 1947 after serving his 10-year-term. Moscow-April 5 On my first trip to Moscow I noticed that the people seemed afraid to speak their minds even on subjects of an apparently trivial nature. On this trip I heard them speaking their minds openly upon a number of occasions and I began to wonder if they were reaching the stage when they would demand freedom of speech. The following is an example. I was walking along a street with a Russian friend on the outskirts of Moscow's inner circle (Moscow has three circles) when I heard this con­ versation between a boy of about 22 and a boy of about 16. The 22-year­ old boy was fixing the chain on a motorcycle and remarked in Russian, "This is a good Russian motorcycle," and was praising it. The 16-year-old boy then: said: "It is not a Russian motorcycle; it is a German motorcycle. The only thing Russian is the name." The older boy said, sharply, "You are not allowed to talk like that", and the younger one replied, "I will talk as I wish." When we heard this I expressed some surprise at the younger boy's language and my Russian friend said: "Maybe the people are realizing that they have had enough. They can't put all of us in jail." That sure started me thinking. • As for the motorcycle, I believe it was part British and part German, because that is the way they copied the patents.* They had a motorcycle which they manufactured that was of American design and a Russian

*I once heard a high official in Washington say: "The Russian Government doesn't do thitigs like the German Government. The Germans copy our things, disregarding our patents, and say they don' t; the Russian Government simply disregards our patents and doesn't care who knows it. 116 BOOKTAB NO. 1

policeman allowed me to sit in it. It was part Harley-Davidson and part Indian. When the Russian policeman told me that the gear selection and the gas throttle were on the same side, I said to him: "It is v~ry difficult · to operate. You have to leave the handle bar and change gear with the same hand." He laughed and said that that was the way they built them in Russia. He knew what I meant, as he had ridden both models of motor­ cycles. ·on the American motorcycles the gear selection lever is on one sid~ and the throttle on the other. This gives the driver the use of both hands at the same time.

• We Visit a. Jewelry Bank Moscow-April 7 Bender came in and said to get ready; we were going to a bank with the Ambassador and Mrs. Davies. Naturally, I thought we were going to get some money but he said, no, it was to see some jewelry. The Ambassador and . Mrs. Davies came down and Bender got up front .. with ~e. ~ e drove to Neglinnaya Ulitza, a few blocks from the Metro­ JX>le. I parked the car in front of the bank and the Ambassador, Mrs. Davies and I went in. As we werit upstairs we passed an armed soldier with pitched bayonet and were led into a room whose walls were lined with rows of steel yaults, about a foot deep and seven .feet high. An attendant started to, open the doors of the vaults .one after another, dis­ playing row upon row, from bottom to top and all around the room, of the most beautiful jewelry I have ever seen. I could not even attempt to estimate the value. On one shelf were ranged bars of gold and platinum. Mrs. Davies sat down and this man took a necklace from one of the drawers and placed it on her neck. She examined it thoughtfully and remarkecl.that the jewelry ought to be worn, especially the pearls, lest they lose their lustre. . . After we had left I asked Mrs. Davies if they were the real thing and she said they were. She should know; she has a few of her own. Seeing this jewelry reminded me of a story I had heard about the Torgsin store. In 1927, I was told, when the government was running out of side money, you could get anything you wanted in the Torgsin store, regardless of what it was, just as long as you had gold, · silver, furs, foreign currency, diamonds, or any article of value, to trade. This went on for several years, then stopped ... when the people had run out of things to turn in. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 117

What the Government didn't take from the royalty, they got from the people. From what I heard, every Russian had a good fur piece before the revolution, but I hardly ever saw a Russian woman with a fur piece in .the winter, though this is the country that a lot of fur comes from. No farmer sends all his grain to the city (he keeps at. least a little bit of it). When I saw this -fabulous jewelry I wondered what part of it they took away from the royalty and what part they took from the people. I thought of this place as the greatest hock shop in the world. Remem­ ber that· the Russian people were turning in articles of value that could be converted to cash anywhere on earth, and were getting back rubles which were printed by millions. To get this valuta, as they called it, the Govern­ ment purchased outside the country everything the people wanted . . ·. food, clothing, anything ... and this was the "come on". When the people saw the stuff, they dug down into · their trunks and out came the jewelry, furs and other treasures. When these were gone, and the people had nothing to trade, the whole thing stopped. This, at least, is the story I heard. It could explain why, from 1927 until about 1930, you could get anything you wanted in Russia and, after . that, you could hardly get a pair of socks. Today, when a load of shoes is due in, the people are lined up the night before, waiting.

Moscow-April 10

HE Russian friend ,who told me about the Torgsin Store also told me this. Since he w~rked somewhere for the government, I believe that T things he told me were true. He said that he had been looking through certain files and that he saw my complete record and also the record of an AmeriCan friend of mine, whom he also knew. We were all good friends and I am sure that I had th~ confidence of this Russian. Although he didn't tell me a grea~ deal I was .led to believe that the Russian Government had information about people who had not even been to Russia. From the way he spoke I got the impression that the informa­ tion could· have been obtained only through Americans working for the American Government ... persons who were not , true friends of our country. This Russian never said a word in my room, for fear of dictaphones, but talked when we· were out in the street. "Charlie," he said, "they know every­ thing." And I have reason to believe that he is right. Now who are these .so-called Americans who are giving this information to Russia? 118 BOOKTAB NO. 1

Moscow-April 11 To continue last · night's thoughts. While we are getting some reliable information about Russia, it is much more difficult because the G. P. U. is forever on guard and every foreigner is watched constantly. One day, while I was hanging around the gate talking with the G. P. U.~ Arthur King came out of the Embassy. We greeted each other and he went on. The G. P. U. man then said these two words, with contempt in his voice, "Foot man?" My interest quickened but he didn't say anything more. The remark started me watching King, trying to figure out if he was something other than what he was employed to be. Arthur King had been brought to the Embassy from England by Sidney, the butler, to serve as footrnan. I did notice that he always went out by himself and accumulated a trunkful of Russian propaganda,· which, funny as it may seem, the Russian Government wouldn't let him take out of the country when he left. He seemed a little more intelligent than the usual run of British footmen I had met and was a hard man to figure out. One night he probably was somewhere he should not have been and got picked up. He broke away from the policeman, however, and, by duc.k­ ing through alleys and going over back fences, got away. After that he quit his job and went back to England, paying his own way. Taylor pleaded with him to st~y but his words fell on deaf ears. His excuses seemed flimsy to me, because no footman would leave a butler like that in those circum­ stances, unless the reason wClas good. Remember that this man had been brought from England and had been there only a few months. Yet he was paying his own way back. Footmen in England just don't do that. Could he have been a British agent? And what the devil was he looking for . . . a trunkful of Communist propaganda that he wasn't allowed to take out? J. couldn't figure out what was behind it all.

. Moscow-April 14 People I know are talking a lot about the Russian General, Budenny, and I don't know what started it. Some say he has been "purged" in the Terror now gripping the country. Budenny and Marshal Voroshilov are the two men who are most liked by the Russians I know.* I saw only one picture of Budcnny posted on the wall of a building. I began to wonder about him too. I have seen this man a number of times, but have never talked to

* Later they were happy when they saw Budenny on his horse in the May Day parade. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 119 him. I liked him, though, for, if the Russian people liked him, he was all right with me.

Moscow-Ap_ril 16 We are already begi~ning our preparations to leave. The lift vans have been brought into the yard and the trunks are up in the hall ready to be packed. I have been in the garage a lot to make sure that the box for my car is made ready so that I can put the car in it the day after the Am­ bassador leaves. I also am planning to see as much as I can of my Russian friends, going all over the city with them and on many long walks. I intend to get two or three boxes of groceries from the commissary for each one of them, because it will be the last I can give them. The money it costs is a small item compared to the friendship they have given me, which I shall always treasure, and the things I learned from them about Soviet Russia.

M oscow___,.A pril 20 The Ambassador had been planning to leave May 3 for a trip through Southern Russia, but has become ill and has had to postpone it. This morning, when I was coming to work, the G. P . . U. at the gate asked me when the Ambassador was going aw_ay. (They were eager to go on the trip themselves.) I said I didn't know, but believed he would go when he got well. They told me to give him their best wishes and I said I would. When I got into the Embassy I went to Ambassador Davies' room and said, "The boys wanteq to send you their best wishes." He was pleased and asked me to thank them.

The May Day Parade : Moscow-May I .HIS is the day ~f the big annual mil.itary parade, called the May Day Parade. I left the hotel at 6 A. M. and fo1,1Ild the square in front of T the Metropole already blocked off, The police were holding hands to block the people from coming into the square and, when I came out, they were on the sidewalk of the Metropole. and wouldn't allow me through. 120 BOOKTAB NO. 1

I had· to get to the Embassy because the Ambassador and Mrs. Davies were going to the parade. He wasn't supposed to be there until 10, but I had been told to get there early or I wouldn't be able to get through. When I saw those policemen I thought I was stuck, but one I knew finally let me through. I was stopped many times,_ but managed to get to the Embassy by seven. ' On the day of this parade, everything stops ·in Moscow. E~ery subway. Every trolley. No civilian is aJl~wed ~ithin four blocks of the Kremlin. Most of the streets in that vicinity were already filled with military equipment. . At. about 9:45 I brought the, Ambassador and Mrs. Davies to the Moscow River side of the Kremlin and let them get out to proceed to the reviewing stand. He had to show his pass to the uniformed G. P: U. and go on foot ~nt~ Red Square. I went to the Chancery. No auto:rr;tobile was aliowed to rollin that area ~xcept the Ainbassado~s' cars. No o,ther member of the diplomatic ~orps could mov~ _an automobil~. I to~k several of the staff to different places and came back to the Chancery. . When the parade started I went up to the roof, where a number of members of the staff had gathered to watch the parade. I had a pair of high-powered Zeiss glasses with me and these enabled me to observe some of the details of the precautions that ·were taken. to protect Stalin. On the roof of the National Hotel was a :G. P. U. (I had wanted to watch from there but wasn't allowed to.) Using my glasses, I saw . members of the G. P. U. on roofs .all over the area surrounding the Kremlin. Stalin and his staff came up· onto Lenin's tomb to-view the' parade. The tomb was surrounded -by members of the G. P. U., three lines deep in the front and two lines deep on each side. I couldn't see-the rear. Tanks' and anti-aircraft guns then led the parade into the square. All anti-aircraft went across with their muzzles pointing into the sky. All drivers of tanks had been told they must be sure that their tanks would cross the square without mishap; otherwise they were not to enter. Many tanks ~ere left in the streets, but the penalty was severe if they went dead in Red Squ.are. At noon the planes went over,. flying in good formation. After they had passed I went down to the square at the point where the marching troops were entering and parked where ' l wouldn't be in their way to wait for the Ambassador. . As the troops · started up into Red Square they were brought to a halt and the· order rang out, "inspect arms!" Each soldier pulled the bolt of his gun open, dosed it, pulled the trigger;· then pulled the bolt open again, left- BACKSTAIRS MISSION lN MOSCOW 121

shouldered arms and proceeded ' in the Square. ( I wonder what would happen if a bullet carne out of one of those guns.) This ritual was performed by evety cornpany that went ~nto the square. ' Next came the cavalry. The men dismounted and, while a few soldiers held the horses;·the men' lined up·in company formation and went through the same arms inspection as the infantrymen. Then they put the guns on their shoulders, mounted their horses, and the men who had held the horses for them went through the inspection process:"' . At about 4 P·" rn. the civilian contingent went .through the square, carrying thousands of huge, fla.ming red banners. · After noticing.-all ~he precautions that were taken when the troops went through and that no precautions whatsoever were taken when the· civilians went through, I reached the conclusion that the ·real Stalin was ·no longer on the tomb. I had heard that he had at least one double and figur~d tha~ the double now had to take whatever. was coming that way. However, the G. P . . U. re­ mained lined up at the . tomb as before . . That story about the Austrian doctor, I thought, may well have been true. . I saw more airplanes at this parade th~n I have se~n ~nywhere I have ever been, even the United States, and I wondered: "Why all this display of strength .and why doesn't America wake up to the fact that Europe is going .to blow_up?" Everywhere I have been I have seen arms, arms and .more arms. America will ~urely see the· ,effects of it, it not get·into it, when war does break out. .. ' When M~. : Davies asked me what I thought' of the parade :i said; "For us it will be the three M's . ~ . Money~ - ~unitions ·and men. If we d.on't get into it, dictatorship will win, one way or the other."

M oscoiv~M ay I 0 Mr: Davies ·has· been selected as A'mbassador to· Belgium.

Moscow-May 18

Ambassador ' Dav~es i~ making an inspection tour of the south of Russia ~ The yacht. will meet. him at Odessa and he and Mrs. Pavies.will visit various Russian ports on the Black Sea.

* In London the King ancl Queen .had two policemen as protection m the great Coronation Parade. 122 BOOKTAB NO, 1

M ostow=-M tt)' 20 Mrs. Davies is planning to build a dacha at her camp in the Adirondacks and often wanted pictures of homes we pa~sed in and near Moscow. We would be rolling along, when suddenly she would say, "Charlie, stop .. I want to show you something. Do you see that houJe over there? And the one over there? Come back in a few days, will you, and get pictures of them . · .. especially the windows?" l would carry out her instructions and got many pictures of homes and especially attractively planned windows. The Russians are masters at wood .. working; some of their work was so beautiful that you couldn't put it into words. When I saw the things they made, I remembered Tom Hanson; a Danish friend of mine.~ who had sailed the !lleven seas as ship's carpenter in the old days of sailing ships. He told me . "Give a Russian a hammer, a saw and some sandpaper and he will build you a htJuse that is a house." He knew what he was talking about ~ becaus~ I have seen houses of e~qui "' site workmanship and I have also seen Russum children playing with wooden toys, made by their fathers, that would make New York's swankiest toy shop green with envy. · Going to the Italian Embassy for tea one day~ Mr8. Davies said, "Charlie, stop." I did and she pointed to the roof of a hou8e and 8tdd : "Do you see those chimneys and the orname.~tal work around the tops o£ them? See if you can get a picture of them for me/' (The ornamental iron work was designed to prevent burning pb.per, etc., from coming out and setting fire to the ·roof.) I went there today with Bender. We walked up the steps, knocked at one door and no one answered. We tried two more. · Still no answer. Bender then knocked once more and at the same time' opened the door. A Russian woman was in the room and Bender said something to her which I didn't quite catch. She made a gesture with her hand as if to say . • • "Do as you like". She didn't seem half-inter,es.ted in anything we were doing. We got up onto the roof, took the pictures, and came down into ' the room again. The woman was not there but I caught a. glimpse of her as I was at the threshold of the door, ready to leave. She had her back ·to us and didn't say one· word. I believe she thought we were G. P. U. agents, after some one on the roof. I also thought, "Would an American ·woman have stood for it?" The incident could have happened in the Unit~ States but pnly after BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW . ,t 123

the , polit~ formalities c;>f ",Would you allow us to . ~ . .", "please~' and "thank you so rri~ch." · · · · · E~e.rytiine i h~ve ·hea~d 'or ·read abo~t the fomier Russi~n secr~t po.lice it was referred to as the ."dreaded Okhrana., If the, Okhrana was dreaded

the G7 .P. p, ..·and . it~ pre~ec·e~sor, th~ Cheka, produced petrifaction. When a Russ~an tl;lipks .he is in the ., pr~~en~e of the. G. P .. U. he practically .turns to stone. I watched these scenes with keen interest.*

• r Mosc

Clima~ of the ·Mission Moscow;_June s ' ,I ''

E WERE at the Kremlin· earlier this week and I thought the trip was to say goodbye but apparently it wasn't because we were there again Wtoday. ·While we were ·at the Kremlin the ·most extraordinary thing happened. I am going to try to set down .the conversation that occurred word for word. I went to the Kremlin with Ambassador Davies to say (l thought) goodbye to President Kalinin and Premier Molotov. J let the Ambassador off .and parked about 100 feet from the door, with the G. P. U. parked alongside of me .. We had been thete only a . few 'minutes when one of the . G. P. ·U . .boys . (the one who .had , asked me to. give · his best wishes to Ambassador Pavies when he was sick) engaged me in .the following conversation: .. i· .... · "Charlie, why aren't you a Communist?" ;; 'Oh, I don't know. Politics isn't for . ~e. J know ~<;>thing abQut it."

• When, later, in the United States, I hea~d people trying ' to . sell us the idea oi Communism, I often thought: . •would I like to see that bird in a room with a Russian who had been raked over the coals by the G. P. U." 124 BOOKTAB NO. 1

"But you are a worker, · and Communism Is tor. the working. ~an." "All I know is that Communism consists of a lot of shooting ·and and I don't like to s€e people. killed." . . "Charlie, you have been reading a lot' of Fascist propaganda." , . ''I don't read , any propag~nda. If I did read it I ce~"taip.ly ·wouldn't believe it Furthermore I beli~ve that you have to crawl ' before you can walk." · · He went on to tell me the benefits of Communism and what it was doing, and will do, for the working man throughout the world. (He was winding up now.) . I said: "In America we can't do the. th_ings . that you say .we ·should do. Suppose I asked you which road was the . best . to Leningrad and you didn't like .me and said, "This is the best x:oad/' and I took that road and found out halfway that you had lied to me and that, furthermore, . I couldn't turn my car, around and get back. Then what? Would you want me to walk back, when I could have taken the best road in the first place, if, instead of asking you, I had just looked at maps made by people who know the t·oads? You show me that Communism is better than what I have and I will be the best Communist in the world." . Then he launched into a long tirade on the ills of America, how badly we treated the Negroes and how the ~ople starved; how bad the capitalists all were and on and on. While he was talking three Red Army men cam.e up behind· the car and were listening. Meanwhile, we had been there for an hour and Nick, the little G. P. U., said to me, "Charlie, the Ambassador has been there for an .hour. There must be something big going on as Stalin very seldom talks with a · person for an hour. I said, "Is he with Stalin? I thought he was with Mr.. Kalinin." Then· the other G. P. U. started in on me · again. He condemned capitalists from top to bottom and the more he talked the madder he got, until he made the crack that woke him out of his tantrum. He was leaning on the door of my Packard and was really giving capitalis'm a kicking around. Then he said : a Eta N ada Strilyali V ciye Capitalist, Davies Tawsja." · (It is necessary to shoot all capitalists, Davies also.) He hadn't got that out of his mouth when Victor, another G. P. · U., said, pointing a finger at him, aTahk Niliziya GavareetF' (You arc forbidden to speak like that!") BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 125

The first G. P. U. came out of his fit immediately and, realizing what he had just said, kept quiet. The other G. P. U. gave him a real verbal lacing. Then none of us seemed to have anything to say. After "¥[ while Nick said: "Charlie, the Ambassador will be there nearly two hours. Something big is going on." A few minutes later, I was called and we left the Kremlin. I have described this incident as minutely as it is possible to remember it and I have given this man's statement, word Jor word. Mind you, this happened while Ambassador Davies was talkir:g to Stalin. Mr. Davies was upstairs in the Kremlin, trying to straighten out our differences and lay the basis of a true friendship between the two countries, and the G. P. U., downstairs, was telling how to wreck it. I never told Mr. Davies about this. I didn't have the heart, but I did tell the secretary, Miss Wells. It was an incident that really told me to watch out for the Russian Government. Any time they patted you on the back they . were looking for the "spot of their future intentions." Probably Stalin thought the same thing, only the G. P. U. came out with it. That's why he was a G. P. []. and Stalin was at the pinnacle. It was a swell finale to my last visit to the Kremlin.

The Russians Cried When We Left Moscow-June 10 The last three days have been hectic. We have been making our final preparations to leave. The. trunks have been packed and taken to the station, where a big· crowd of members of the diplomatic corps were gathered to say goodbye for the last time. The scene at the Embassy was heart-breaking when the Ambassador left. All of the Russians cried when they said goodbye to Helen, Carlson, Lindy, and Nina. I took pictures of them all outside the Embassy door, with "Split Beard," the Russian doorman. After the Ambassador had gone I took my car to the garage and made it ready to put in the box the next morning. Tonight I went to the Metropole with a few Russians friends and we had a nice party. When I said goodbye to them there were tears in their eyes. I also felt very sad. Although I tried to tell them that I might come back some day, they knew I was going now for the last time. NO. 1 126 BOOKTAB Moscow-June 11 Packed my car in its box, first letting a customs officer look it over thoroughly and seal it. The carpenter at the Embassy then put the top on the box for me, as I didn't have time. I said goodbye to all the help at the Embassy and that night, at 10:45, I was driven to the station by Garbachoff. Garbachoff didn't say much, but I could read every one of his thoughts. When the train was ready to go, I took . his hand and said "goodbye." He took my hand, said "goodbye" quickly, and walked away. · I want to say here that Ambassador Davies left an imprint on Russia; as far as these Russians were concerned, that all the propaganda in the . world cannot erase. These people were shown that America is a very good place to be from.

On the train-June 11 I arrived at Negoreloe the next morning and saw Nick, one of the G. P. U. boys who had seen the Ambassador off the day before. He said he was waiting to bring someone else back. I got' my bags off the train and placed them on the counter for customs inspection. Then the search started. All ·of my clothes were placed on the counter and they went through them piece by piece. Then they went through every bit of mail that had been sent to me from the States. They examined every page of my sheet music. Never before had I been searched like this and I was simply boiling inside. They looked in all of my shoes. They took my alarm clock apart. They asked me how much money I had. I . reached into my . pocket, took my wallet out and they took it from me and went out of the room. Th~n one of them came back and asked me where my pistol was. I told them I didn't have a pistol. (My New York permit was the reason for this question.) In my wallet they found $20 that I hadn't declared because I had forgotten I had it, and they kept that.* They took· some old Russian coins that had been given me for keepsakes by my Russian friends, and then they came to my accordion and started to take it apart. I stopped them right there. By that time I was so angry I couldn't see. I said to them:

*I got my money back six months later, because I sent the receipt to the Chancery and they got it for me. Anna Antikanian and Weridla Taylor (wife of the butler) had money taken from them. Anna had $100 taken and Wendla $60. Up until the t~e I left the Davies' employ in 1942 they hadn't gotten it back. BACKSTAIRS MISSION IN MOSCOW 127

"Before you take that accordion apart, you will have to give me $350 in American currency." This was the first time I had shown my teeth. They looked startled. I added, "If you don't, I will go back to Moscow with it and ·you can't open it." When they saw I meant business, one of them went to the back of the room and then returned and told me I could pack up. Nick, the G. P. U., was watching this search all the time and, when I got my bags on the train, I came down again to the platform and walked up and down with hi1'1. He apologized to me for customs, saying: "Don't be angry with us, Charlie; he was only a young boy." But that went in one ear and out the other. I was too mad to listen to this swan song. The train was ready to go ·and I said to Nick: "My last day in Russia I shall always remember." I shook hands with him and he said, "Goodbye, Charlie, I don't think I will see you again." I said, "Who knows? Maybe.'" Then I got on the train. When I got on the car, there were three men in the aisle, looking out of the window as the train pulled out. I thought: "That's funny. I didn't see those men searched." Could they be what I believed them to be? One of them looked at me and gave me a faint smile; I gave him the · dirtiest look I could give anybody. They spoke Russian together and were dressed in Russian type civilian clothes, which, by this time, I could always spot. The style seems to speak out and the way the wearers. · carry them. When we crossed the border at Stolpce, a smartly dressed Polish army officer came aboard. He took my passport, looked at it, handed it back to me, saluted and then went to the compartment of these three men. He was there questioning them when we reached the station at Stolpce and, when we changed trains, he was still with them. And who was the porter on the train but the same fellow I had seen on two other trips ... the one who had told me about those people coming out of Russia whom he had never seen go in. These three men had the passports of three different countries, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and, I think, Greece. Although I was on that train for 27 hours, I never saw them again. They did not get off at Paris. And that was the end of my trip to Moscow. I left Russia a very much enlightened inan ... a man who never knew what America really was until he saw how the other half lived. CONCLUSION

1 JIIS> then, is my story. Every incident related in this book actually happened and I hope sincerely that my disclosures of ~hat everyday 1 !ifc is like in Soviet Russia, will make some foolish Americ an~ think t\vicc before stepping into the Communist trap. Perhaps the story ·. wjll encourage others, who take freedom for granted, to put a little cfTort, into our movem ent> instead of someone else's. l\'f y pw-pose has been to give the American people a picture of tlussia as I savv it, and to warn them that, if they listen to this Communist. maiarky too much, it may, as Mr. Davies said to me in . M oscow·, "get'~. them. Russia is, naturally;• entitled to her own form of govermp ~ nt; 'I challenge \·vhether she has the right to attempt to fois t it . upon other nations. I am a working man. I was born to a working man and a working woman. I have lived the life of a working man all my life and, .at'ter seeing for myself what the dictators have to offer, I wouldn't take it under. any circumstances. I was born under the principles set down by, the founders of this nation and I believe that those who try to change those principles, by means other than constitutional procedure, should be ·tr-ied for treason, be it in time of peace or in time of war. And I close by saying that no better document has been written for the freedom of man than our own political Bible, the Constitution of the United States of America. The Red Flag in any language means DANGER-Steer Clear, .and 'hat's enough warning for me. for this* the world waited

!, the undersi gned, sec<>nd 10 years ... S0cretarv of Euftmssv of the untte'u St{ltes of cA;nerica a t Mos c ow , r,S.S . R., hereby While Ambassador certify that . • . . . • . . Davies conferred with •• • CHAFtlsES CtLIBERTI , •• an Amerioan ci then, '1those Stalin about Soviet­ signed photograph appears below, is a ~ersons l employee American friendship up­ o.f '!'he Honorable Joseph E. Davies, Ambas~>ador Extraordinary stairs in the Kremlin, and Plenipotentiary of thH his loyal chauffeur United St.').tes of America to th1; Union of .Soviet sociali st mingled with GPU men J.enublics. ' downstairs. One blurted out a threat which Charles Ciliberti never could bring himself to tell his boss. Its publication· has been delayed until this time in respect to Russia's contribution to Victory. Ciliberti's three visits to Russia with the Davies enabled him· to observe from the back­ stairs how the Soviet millionaires and the low­ ly Russians actually live. What he saw he wrote down without an inhibi­ tion. And, placed along­ side Envoy Davies' famed and filmed Mis­ sion to Moscow, the diary of his chauffeur is doubly significant. It 'is ' \ the "other side of the s tory" for w hi c h the lacls about .lbe aulho.. world has long waited. From driving a truck for a perambulator company in New Jersey to Chauffeur 'Extraordinary for the U. S. Ambassador $1.00 Postpaid to the Kremlin, Charles Ciliberti has passed through strange cities, traversed foreign lands, always to find himself a true Day and night during American in a world gone crazy with war and dictatorships. his eventful trips to Ciliberti was born to parents of Italian origin on February 1, Russia, Charles Ciliberti 1906, in Jersey City, N. J. After finishing his elementary rubbed elbows with the schooling, he hastened through youth into man-sized jobs in GPU men, dreaded secret automotive work. His sure sense of tact and poise soon won Red police. N~ Ameri· can ever g·ot so close, him top-notch positions as private chauffeur to some of so often, to the· GPU and America's most noted millionaires. In Moscow, Ciliberti did lived to tell the story! much more than drive his diplomat-employer to and from the l Kremlin; he probed Russia's inner workings with a sharp eye. BOOKTABS reveal toclay's exciting story!

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