MOSCOW, 1939
Sm,—May I be permitted to answer a few points raised by Sir Evelyn Wrench in his article on Moscow? Having spent three weeks of August in Moscow and other Soviet cities, I may be in a position to compare impressions with Sir Evelyn. He says "all the joy has gone from the faces" of the people of Moscow, and adds the stale joke about a "people who never smile." I could hardly believe that anybody who had been in Moscow even a few hours could have written such phrases in good faith. My impression was completely the contrary. I may add that I was familiar with this allegation • about the people who never smile. It is about twenty years old, and my visit this year agreeably disproved it.
Your contributor also makes the statement that Englishmen who wish to make contacts will be disappointed and he attri- butes this to the riskiness, since the "purges," of a Soviet citizen being seen talking to a foreigner. Since I have enough Russian at my command to carry on a fair conversation, I was able to put just such an allegation to the test. In my case I found that the Russians were extremely eager to talk to me. On trains, on board ship in the Black Sea, in the parks and streets, I was able to talk to Soviet citizens (not Intourist guides) and so far from encountering any fear or chilliness I was often embarrassed by the crowds who collected round to take a share in the conversation. On one occasion I counted 43 people eagerly pressing round after I had been talking to two University students for a few minutes. This was on board the Baku-Odessa steamer. There were no signs of trepidation on the sunburnt good-humoured faces of that crowd. They roared with laughter when I told them some of the things the British Press prints about them.
On other points, the writer should make a few corrections. It would be interesting to know how many of the Moscow guides were members of the Communist Party. I met none who was, though some were Komsomols (members of the Young Communist League). There is no "Communist Faith" that I am aware of. Finally, it is entirely unneces- sary to visit Russia in a group, as the writer advises. It is the simplest matter in the world to discover from the authori- ties the kind of buildings and structures of which it is for- bidden to take photographs.—I am, yours faithfully,
135 Fleet Street, London, B.C. 4. R. K. COPE.
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