Evening star., 1942-10-17
(Fitth of a Series.)
BY LELAND STOWE,

Foreign Correspondent of The Star and
the Chicago Daily News.
WITH THE RED ARMY ON THE
RzHEV FRONT.-"What little
soldier. He must be boy. What's
he doing in uniform?"
We were just riding up to the
headquarters of Capt. Emma's unit
when Ivan the Terrible swerved our
jalopy within sight of the smallest
soldier I had seen since Jannina,
Greece But he looked so miniature
and out of place in this front sector
of the badlands that I couldn't
quite believe my eyes. The other
commissar, who was, in the front
seat, the battalion commissar, an
swered before Capt. Emma could.
"Oh, that's Petya. Sure he's
soldier. He's been adopted by the
regiment"
"AGopted?" Maybe my brain was
numb from the eternal bumps and
bounces. I didn't get it at all.
That's right" said Capt. Emma,
quite lot of Red Army units have
adopted orphan boys. If this one is
like the others, he probably lost his
parents and home when the Nazis
came. Then the regiment adopted
him."
well, can't we get to talk with
him? How about getting him to
drive back with us tomorrow? So
far I have only met one boy soldier
in three years of war"
Il could find you half dozen or
more along the Rzhev front alone"
laughed the battalion commissar,
"but We'll pick up Petya tomorrow
morning."
He's IL, But Real Soldier.
So here was Petya Kaputovski
standing all of four feet, six or
seven inches, in his trim, coffee-gray
Red army winter overcoat and smil-
ing shyly. He is IL years old and
if anything his boyish face looks
even more boyish underneath his
army cap with the red star on its
front. The tanned skin of his face
looks like satin-there is scarcely
bit of down on his upper lip-but
his cheeks are glowing with ruddy
crimson.
Petya climbs in the back seat with
Capt. Emma and I climb in the
front with Ivan, who has used up
another precious oblong of the back
page of Pravda for his morning
cigarette. Petya, it should be eX-
planned, is one of those musical
Russian diminutives-it means, little
Peter and you pronounce it Peetya
The things which impress me most
about Petya are his remarkably
soft voice and the straight, clear
gaze of his handsome gray eyes.
This is really Capt. Emmas in
terview. After all, she is just as in
terested as I am. Besides she is
not very much bigger than Petya
and I can see that Petya feels the
warmth in her dark eyes, There
hasn't been a mother or any other
woman in his life for many long
months now. He sits very erect in
the rear seat like a soldier should
sit and he answers Emma's ques-
tions like a soldier should answer
them
Petya Tells His Story.
We are starting back across the
battle-ravaged bogspotted marsh
lands with truck to pull us out OF
bitches, through pools and across
brooks and quagmires When Capt
Emma gets section of Petya's
story, she relays it to me in French
or Spanish and usually I can write
it down fairly well, because we are
stuck in the mud again or being
hauled by the truck.
Petya tells his story very simply
and when We ask for more details
he never hesitates. You need not
watch his face very long nor listen
to the gentleness of his voice tc
understand how very easy it would
be for Petya to get adopted any,
where in the world.
Il lived in a village near Kalinen.' >
Petya is saying. The Germans
came in October. Right away they
looked for all Jews and all relatives
OF partisans in our village. MY
father and many other men had
gone into the forest to be partisans
The Germans came looking for peo-
pie in every house. When they came
to our house I hid under the steps
and my brother, Shura. hid with
me. Shura was years old.
THE Fascists took my mother
and my two other younger brother;
and my two sisters. They tied theil
hands with rope. Then they lee
them away and put them into the
biggest house in our village. And al
the families of partisans and all the
Jews they could find they put ir
the same house We were terribly
frightened but we could see from
under the steps. And then wher
the Germans had filled the bis
house with people, they set it or
flre-they burned it down."
Hears Screams of Victims,
Suddenly Petya's voice had be.
come dull, almost lifeless, yet hi.
eyes never faltered
How many people were in tn,
big house?" I asked
There were very many-mort
than 100," Petya said. Many of tn,
women and children were erwin,
when they took them in. Then W,
heard them screaming and scream
ing when the fire began to blaz,
up high"
Petya stopped again suddenly ant
looked away-away toward tn,
front. Capt. Emma looked at m,
but what I saw in her eyes wa
something far more lasting and un
stemmable than tears have eve
been. What saw was the explana
ton of why she. woman and {
mother, was war commissar in {
front-line regiment in the Rex
Army.
did you know any of the children
whom the Germans put in the biz
house?" I asked Petya.
There was Kalia and Genia-
they lived in our street. And Valo
dia-he was II too and we wen
to school together. There wer,
others whose names I don't remem
Der. Then there were little children
r