The Washington times., 1936-08-14
By ARNE STROM

Our little boy was now ole
enough to go to school. SO one day
my wife and I decided to go into
the town and have look at the
school.
We asked for the German teach
er, with the idea that she would
know enough German to make
conversation possible. She came
looking very uncomfortable, ano
she had every reason for it. Dirt
lay thinly scaled on her neck; in
some places it had flaked off,
pitileSSly showing the natural color
Of her neck. Her nails were long
and black, her eyes were red and
inflamed. Judging by her appear
ance. she was the worst-fitted per
son for educational activities that
I have ever come across.
It was impossible to make her
say one single word of German
She answered always in Russian
though she seemed to understand
what we asked her.
1--WE want a German book for
beginners" said my wife. "Will
you kindly tell me where we can
buy One?"
added that we would not dream
of sending our boy to a school
where the sanitary conditions were
so dreadful.
Agreed With Us 4
She nodded and thoughtfully
scratched herself in a curious
place as If to prove the truth
of my words, and with an in
gratiating smile on her dirty
face, said she certainly would not
advise any foreigners to let their
child set foot in a louse-trap like
this school. Owing to lack Of
soap and disinfectantS, it was
quite impossible to keep the place
clean.
Suddenly she pulled out a
cigarette and began smoking
with great vigor. She was just
going to begin a lesson in Ger
man and showed us the German
Russian beginners book. I
glanced through it and on one
Of the first pages my eye caught
the following sentence in spaced
type:
"Es Iebe die internationale
prOletariSche SOlidaritat t."
('LOng live international pro-
letarian solidarity!")
It seemed so quaint to find
this sentence in a German primer
for children that my wife and
I burst out laughing. Farther
on the same book said:
'ES lebe die weItrevOlution!"
(''LOng live the world revolu-
tiOn!")
The book also contained the
whole Of the internationale in Ger
man.
The Lesson Begins
A bell rang. The lesson was to
begin. The teacher asked whether
we would care to hear the children
sing the first verse of the inter"
rationale in German. It took
some time before there was order
and the German books were dealt
out. We had time to study these
children of Russia. 1t was a har-
rowing sight. Thin and underfed
were most Of them and in the
most fantastic rags.
Solemnly, with a strange hard
ring in their pure child voices,
wonderfully in tune, but quite
without understanding Of the
words and with dreadful pro-
nunciation, they sang the famous
lines:
''Wacht auf verdammte dieser
erden, die Stets man mock yum
hungern zwingt" ("arise We
damned of this world, who are
ever made to hunger'D. The
irony of it all!
A little girl called Verka was the
favorite playmate of my boy. She
lived with her parents in the long
house for families half kilometer
away.
every Good Mother"
"Verka is very good mother, !"
our boy declared enthusiastically
when he returned from his play
hours with her; and Verka loved
to come and play with him, for
there was always something good
to eat, and she was always hungry.
But every morning she had to
look after her little sister while
the mother went to work. She
did not like this, and my boy was
also sorry that she could not come
over and play.
One morning, however, Verka
came Sneaking along in a strange
way, and called to my boy outside
our windows.
"ASk her why she has not got
to stay at home and mind her
little sister today" I told him.
Little sister is sleeping beau
tifully. She won't wake up at
all. She is sleeping every bit