The Washington times., 1935-11-20
WORKERS LIFE
IN RED RUSSIA
N0PARAD|SE
BY MICHAEL BURSTEIN
Shock Rrioddier of the FiUe-YeGr
Plan In Soviet Russia and

GHOCR HTIguuIeT Oy LiLS ctOS-A oU'
Plan in SoDiet Russia and
Formerly a Commander in
the Red Army.
The daily life Of the Soviet
worker begins at 5 a. m. From
that hour until midnight the
quest for bread is on, and the
gnawing sensation Of hunger rules
every moment Of the day and
evening.
Many have tried to c rict the
horrors of mass famine and mass
terror in Soviet Russia. But
would like to depict the horrors
of an average day in the cal
endar Of an average worker under
the Stain dictatorship. Perhaps
the American reader will then
be able to visualize what Com
munism really does to the human
being.
I had to report to work at 8
o'clock at the Red Putiloff plant
in Leningrad and had to rise at
s in the morning to get to my
Job on time. After getting into
my clothes which were nothing
but old rags, would run to the
faucet to wash. But there was
no waterl This was q frequent
occurance in the newly con-
structed as we'll as in the old
buildings.
Dry Bread '~r Breakfast
My mouth and throat dry and
parched, would finally give up
the thought Of washing. When
there was water, soap was so
rare that learned to get along
without it. When I did once
in a while obtain a piece Of
soap, it was of such poor quality
that it disappeared in no time.
Whether managed to wash
or not, the thought Of break.
fast loomed big from the moment
of awakening. If I had a piece
Of dry bread left over, I had
breakfast. No tea, no coffee.
Just a piece of dry bread.
Their came the dash for the
street car. More than once I
spent an entire hour waiting for
a chance to get a foot-hold on a
street car.
Packed Into Cars
Workers hung on to the wind
ows, the sides and even the
roofs Of the cars. Inside they
were packed to suffocation with
half-sleepy, unwashed, tattered
men and women.
Being late on the job at a
Soviet factory means a penalty.
Hardness is treated as diSloyalty
to the government. A record OF
arriving late two or three times
involves the loss of ones bread
card and other privileges" en-
joyed by "shock brigadiers" such
as myself.
More than once I endangered
my life so as not to be few min
utes late at the Putiloff plant.
Our tram-line was known as the
"meatchopper." Many workers
are killed and many others
manned for life every year on
Soviet street cars. The Soviet
newspapers never report such &C
cidentS.
185 Workers Killed
In 1892, for instance, there was
an accident near the Putilott
plant in which 1876 workers lost
their lives, but not word OF it
appeared in the Leningrad press.
It happened on an early win
ter morning. It was dark and
snowy. A train engine plowed
into a row of three loaded street
cars. came up shortly after
wards and witnessed the bloody
havoc.
In any other country the news
would have been published at
once, but in Soviet Russia it vHaS
suppressed, although the city was
filled with rumors for a long
time.
This is a regular Soviet policy
except when political campaigns
make publicity necessary. Thus,
in August, 1888, Volga steamer
carrying 460 workers on an ex.
cursion went down in a collision,
and the fact was not published.
A similar catastrophe occurred
in July, 1927, when the steamship
Burevestnik, loaded with Lenin.
grad workers, sank. on the way
to Krondstadt. Hundreds perished,