Evening star., 1941-07-31
Air Raid Eyewitness
Tells How Moscow
Beat Off Attacks
SeurehIiehts Pick Out
.Bombers Until Doom Is
Sealed by Defenders
By AELXEI TOLSTOY,

attempted to raid Moscow.
They came in waves from all sides,
determined to drop an enormous
load of bombs on the Kremlin. so
that Reich Foreign Minister Joa-
chin Won Ribbentrop could rub his
hands with glee and exclaim to all
the world:
Listen! Listen! The Kremlin is
razed to the ground! The popula-
ton is fleeing in panic from the
shattered, burning city"
Theoretically speaking. several
hundred bombers attacking the city
at night from great height should
have done their sinister job, all the
more because the bomberS were
flown by pilots decked with Iron
Crosses and those bronze and sill
yer medals which Hitler awards for
large number of brutal raids
The raiders were experienced Nj
belungs with a passion for the sight
of city blocks blown sky high and
huge fires in which people roasted
alive.
Kremlin Still Stands.
After the bombardments I made
tour of Moscow, and this is what l
saw: The Kremelin. with its church,
es in their ancient style and its
high, crenelated walls and its peak
ed houses, which have guarded the
Russian soil for so many centuries,
and st. Basil's Cathedral. that mar
velouS creation of the PSkov archi-
tectS. are still standing as they have
always stood, soaring upward to the
July sky, where our planes buzzed
like angry hornets.
The Moscow streets were full of
people hurrying about their business
or engaged in perfecting the defense
of the city. Here and there bono
craters were being filled in. broken
glass was being removed and win
doWs were being boarded up.
People crowded about fruit drink
stalls, fire engines dashed by with
brass-helmeted crews. On boulevard
benches sat old men reading news
papers: on house roofs stood close
cropped, barefoOted youngsters with
their heads turned skyWard.
Here are two gutted houses. A
few nights ago Fascist bomber fell
on them. 1t was shot down by anti
aircraft guns while flying high. A
shell hit it amidShip and exploded
its bombs. Fragments of the craft.
together with its Nibelungs. came
crashing down on the house roofs
amidst a cloud of black smoke.
Children's Hospital Destroyed.
On the outskirts of the city a
children's hospital and clinic was de-
stroyed. Numerous bomb craters
were on the square outside the hos
pital. The Germans courageously
circles over the hospital until its
roof caved in. Luckily the children
had been removed beforehand. One
large school was shattered. The
wooden stalls of a collective farm
market were destroyed by fire. AS
the saying goes, the conflagration
was visible for miles around.
Here and there could be seen the
half-burned wreckage of wooden
houses which were due to be torn
down in the near future anyhow.
One bomb fell on a theater, burying
in the debris fine actor who nap
pened to be on fire duty on the roof.
The dozen or so planes which
reached Moscow showered down in
cendiary bombs. But the very first
night the Muscovites learned the
art of coping with attic fires; they
got first-rate assistance from boys
and girls in their teens, who pitched
in for the sheer excitement of the
work. The fire brigades did yeoman
service.
So little has been destroyed in
this huge city that one hardly be-
lieves ones eyes. Didn't Won Rib
bentrop announce that the central
power station had been blown to
smithereens? How terrible! But
there it stands and not even win
dowpane is broken. Streetcars,
trolleys and buses are plying as
usual. The city is living its GUS
tomary energetic, noisy life.
Searehlights Catch Plane.
Watching from just outside Mos
COW, l saw the raids begin like
this: In the twilight sky opposite
the glow of sunset. tender patches
of light began to steal across the
clouds, blueish rays of searchlights
swinging back and forth like levers,
and the choking, asthmatic cough
of NaZi bomberS could be heard
Hundreds of searchlights pierced
the sky. Two or three crossed, they
were joined by fourth, forming a
star with the bright ends resting
on the horizon and the pale ends
among the consultations
In the center of the star, clearly
visible, was a cleaning aluminium
airplane the size of fingernail. 1t
fioated along and the star fioated
with it. never allowing 1t to escape
Anti-aircraft guns flashed like light
ming from the ground, shells rose
with boom and began to burst in
flashes and zigZag from right to
left. above and below the aluminium
toy.
1t was flying at a great height
The crossed rays and bursting shells
passed it on to the next group OF
rays and shells. From the woods a
dotted line of red flashes, like an
animated cartoon. followed it. trac-
ing its course in the dark heavens
1t disappeared from sight.
The hum of other bombers could
be heard in the clouds. followed by
still others. They were intercepted
either here or on the subsequent
course to Moscow. Heavy machine
guns pierced the armament with
short salvos. Over toward Mos.
COW the fire of anti-aircraft shell,
seethed in a mad dance. Suddenly
three dazzling rockets f1ared up
suspending burning yellowisf
flame in the sky. Through the roal
of guns and the whir of plane:
heavy reverberations of bursting
bombs reached the ear.
Another Death Lighted Up.
Another plane was caught in th'
searchlight rays. 1t was flying ovel
-.:...x, ,,z1Iax, Cl,a11e n,,re