Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-07-04
By JAN VALTM

OF history.
Suddenly Dimitrov asked
me:
what do you think of the
German Party:"
Compared with other Com
munist Parties, II Is like an
express train among push
CARTS" I replied.
Dimitrov smiled long at me.
His eyes. his wide mouth, his
whole mobile fac were smiling.
maybe So" he finally said.
But the locomotive might be
rusty and burn tremendous
overload of coal. Maybe 10
stokers are necessary to make
II move 10 yards"
/ was dumbfounded TO hear
IL from the mouth of the in
fallible leader.
SWITCHES TO FUTURE
I'VE must never shy away
from BOlshevist self-criticism,"
He continued. "Selbstritik Is
a sharp weapon. The lOcOmO-
tive Is not beyond repair. The
rusty parts can he taken out;
shiny. new, young parts can
he put In. Maybe some of the
stokers are sabOteurs. Maybe
the coal Is not very good.
WeIl:"
Lets put on some good
stOkers and good coal" said.
Dimitrov laughed like a
gleeful boy.
"Why not" he said. ut
will run like the devil"
Then he switched 10 my
future work.
I'VE are sending you Ia
Moscow" he announced
nodded, intent on hearing
more.
"SailOrs belong 10 ships.
You'll continue with the Mari
time Section. We must push
ahead with full strength In
the shipping industry. When
war comes -. you know what
IL means.
I'VE must have capitalist
shipping i'm our hands. The
Soviet Union needs peace.
Nothing Is better for tanning
a capitalist shark than TO cut
eff his exports and imports.
You'll meet Albert Walter In
Moscow. A lot Of other
sailors will be there. You'll
all thrash things out with
Comrade LOsOvsky."
| was photographed on the
top floor of the Karl Lieb-
knecht House. Within day.
! received a Danish passport
in the name of Rolf Gutmund.
commercial traveller and
resident of Aalborg.
1t was good passport
Except for a change Of photo
graph, il had been left intact.
A Soviet visa and a Polish
transit visa were already
entered in il. In addition, |
received a special document of
identification. typed in Rus
sian, with instructions TO show
il only 10 the Soviet frontier
police.
/ Travelled with three other
comrades, a Hungarian named
Emmerich Sallai. a girl from
Cologne sent TO study at the
Lenin University, and an
apple-cheeked leader of the
Communist Party in Switzer-
land. Sallai, seeing that my
overcoat was shabby and light.
supplied me with heavy coat
he had in reserve.
An hour before my de-
parture, l had Unexpectedly
CHANGED upon Wollweber in
the restaurant OF the Karl
Liebknecht House. He sat
alone at a table, hunched over
a glass of beer. the personifi-
cation of a creature con-
tinuously brooding over con-
spiracies and alliances. He
looked askance at me when /
told him that l was going 10
Moscow.
"WhO Is sending you?"
"Comrade Dimitrov."
He gave a family sardonic
smile Then he shook my
hand "Gute Reise," he
growled. Don't forget 10
come back"
FEW CURT WORDS
He exchanged a few curt
remarks with my travel COM
panions before he walked
away, holding his hands
clasped behind him. Lights
danced in the eyes Of the girl
from Cologne.
do you know Comrade
Ernsts nickname ." she pur-
red intimately. "In meetings
he initiates the gestures of
Vladimir Ilyitch. We get him
mad by calling him Little
Lenin.' They say he practices
Lenin poses in front of a mir
rOr when he's alone"
With uncanny precision,
messenger from the Profntern
singled us out in the bedlam
of the station in Moscow. upon
our arrival there two days
later. We were driven 10 the
Bristol Hotel Couintern