The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-07-08
Red Athletes on the
Red Square in Moscow
BY N. BUCHWALD

and giving inspiration to the work
ers of the rest OF the world. Hence
this flawless step, hence this per-
feet formation, hence-the splendor
of the parade behind the banners
of socialist industry.
OF PAGEANTRY
The full splendor of the parade
does not lend itself to description.
Leaving everything else aside, it was
a masterpiece of pageantry. The
Red Square, with its naturally dec
orative setting, was decked out not
merely with streamers, panels and
bunting, but with a skillful array
of masses of athletes as well. Long
before the parade began, several
units of the paraders occupied the
Red Square, forming two segmented
columns that ran the whole length
of the square. Banners, colored
sport uniformS and glittering in
struments Of the orchestraS COM
bined to give the scene a bright,
festive joyous appearance. A bril-
liant hot sun flooded the square,
adding luster to every color-shade
of the ensemble. A large yellow
balloon stood out strikingly in the
general color scheme. The balloon
was fastened at the end of the
Square nearest the st. Basil Cath
edral and itself looked like one of
the cupolas # that gorgeous his
toric monument, except for the
bright yellow and for the huge
"G.TO." emblem embroidered upon
it in red and white.
cHORTLY before 2 p. m, Stain,
y Molotov, Voroshilov, Kagano-
vich, Kalinin, Mikoyan and other
Soviet leaders appeared on the re-
viewing stand near the Lenin Maui
solemn. They were greeted with an
ovation. Then followed the cere-
mony of receiving the parade" by
a group of Moscow Party, govern
ment and trade union leaders.
whereupon Antipov, chairman Of
the Supreme Council of the Union
of Physical Culture, delivered a
short address that rang clear and
loud through the loud-speakers.
The parade then commenced. The
first unit, with the massed colors
of it's district, marched up, as the
spectators applauded and the cam
eramen got busy. The units sta
toned on the Square reformed to
allow for the massing of the Or
chestra into one giant orchestra
that remained on the Square thru
out the parade and supplied the
music for the occasion. Seemingly
the stationary athletic units on the
Square remained motionless all the
time and the general formation was
left undisturbed. Actually unit aft
er unit joined in the parade, with
other arriving units taking their
place unobsrusively and maintain
ing the same formation. Thus, the
Red Square was irridescent with
changing color not only of the
marching stream but also OF the
stationary ranks.
THE weather was hot and oppres-
1 sive. 1t looked as if a storm was
coming on fast. But the sky de-
layed its deluge which broke out in
all it's fury later in the evening. The
parade flowed on, the living color
wave continued swelling. Two So
Wet made dirigibles appeared and
circling over the Square added their
dazzling silver to the color-scheme
and their smooth graceful flight
to the sense of buoyancy and self
confidence of the marching ranks
of red athletes. Then came the
various exercises of the athletes, the
bicycle brigade, the calesthenic ex-
ercises, etc. The spectators were
particularly thrilled by the intri-
cate and marvelously precise move
ments of the athletes that resulted
in the words Greetings to Stain"
and Greetings to the Central Com
mittee" formed by red athletes upon
the Red Square.
The parade disbanded at several
points and the marchers soon were
mixed with the crowds in the streets
and squares. There was little diff
ference between the paraders and
the onlookers and passers-by. 1t
was the same mass Of Moscow toll
ers. Tomorrow they will be found
side by side in the factories, and
when the days work will be done
tens of thousands of workers will
again betake themselves to the ath-
letic fields of their factories, to the
gymnasia of their workers clubs,
to the shooting ranges Of their de-
Tense circles and again find recrea-
ton in various athletic practices, at
the same time proving their right
to wear the "G.TO." emblem which
means "fit for labor and defense
labor on behalf Of socialism and
defense of the socialist fatherland
Of the proletariat.
NOTE:-"GT.O." stands for
the Russian "gotov k-trudu i-Obo-
ronie," meaning "fit for labor and
defense" Every year millions try
for, and hundreds of thousands
win the "G.TO." emblem after
passing number of athletic tests.
The G.T.O." emblem is circular
plate with running athlete
framed in the five-pointed Red
Star.