Evening star., 1942-10-26

morale-building publications live
with the troops and travel with the
troops wherever they are fighting.
But if I was surprised by the
log cabin composing room of this
division daily, I was more astonished
by its pressroom. The editor of the
Son of the Fatherland is Regi-
mental Commissar Mihail Nosov,
who was Kiev newspaperman be-
fore the war began.
This is really something, but
where is your press?" I asked. Edi-
tor Nosov led me out through the
barn which is always attached to q
Russian peasants cabin and around
to the rear.
A big truck was standing parked
against the side of the barn, well
camoufaged under the naked limbs
Of tree. Editor Nosov opened the
back door of the trucking van and
pointed inside. There sat a bright
and shiny baby press, about 3 feet
high and 3 feet wide. The motor
which operates the press was in
stalled to one side. There were also
built in receptacles for type and
even a tiny stove with a chimney
protruding slightly through the roof.
Printing on Wheels.
So here was the newspaper plant
which publishes on wheels-news-
paper plants which ramble up
and down the Rzhev front or the
Briansk front or any front 1t may
be assigned to, and as tiny little
daily publishing setup as any re-
porter or member of a typesetters'
union would care to see. Standing
| guard beside the press was its opera
tor, Alexandra Stagkina, who previ-
Gus to the war worked as a typog-
rapher in Igarvsk for six years.
Alexandra's husband joined the
army the first days of the invasion.
II have had no news of him for
more than a year." she said. II
think he is dead. If he is dead I
think I should do the same as he
did. If they'll let me, want to take
his place in the army" Alexandra
didn't seem to think that running a
press in front-line sector was close
enough to the war.
Back in the cabins composing
room the five girl typesetters
worked with swiftly flying fingers.
They were all professional typog-
raphers and natives, respectively. of
Kalinen, Voronezh, Moscow, Smo-
lensk and Igavsk. The Moscow girl,
slender and blond, smiled at my
question.
This life is more interesting be-
cause we change all the time OF
course, don't mean I want the war
to last forever. We've been on the
southern front and in many places
along the central front. I can't
remember how many headquarters
we've had"
1S Hours a Day.
Editor Nosov pointed to a buxom
brunei from Voronezh, the 81
year-old Nastia That girl can work
1S hours a day without getting
| tired"
Tell her it's too bad I'm married"
said. At that all the girls burst
| into peals of laughter, Nastia first
OF all. Like all Russian girls they
looked amazingly strong and
healthy.
And like all Russian women, they
took their war service as matter
OF course. It didn't seem at all un-
usual to them that they had become
Journalistic gypsies of front zones.
I'VE must be near the soldiers in
order to know what they think -
Editor Nosov explained.
In the cabin next door, Regimen
tai Commissar Nosov has his edito-
rial room. 1t has big map of Rus
s!a on the wall and one typewriter
but Editor Nosov has several staff
reporters. One of them, Grigori
Verhkovsky, was so badly wounded
gathering news in front lines that
he spent five months in a hospital.
THE men don't like to talk about
their own heroism," Editor Nosov
told me, "but they'll always tell
what somebody else has done. We
interview men who have distin-
guished themselves for courage or
leadership and also run their pic
lures in our next edition. In that
way their whole unit knows imme-
diately what they have done and
that kind of recognition means a lot
to the men"
Morale Building Power.
I was beginning to grasp the
remarkable morale building power
OF these Red Army front-zone news
papers and news sheets. Later I
saw copies of many of them, such
AS Red Army Pravda, which is pub
lished somewhere along the central
front, and Forward Against the
Enemy, which appears en- the Ka-
linen front. Early in September the
latter paper put out a special issue
devoted to the Rzhev offensive
Some of its contents were as fol-
lows
A list of the newly decorated men
and officers belonging to the army
on this front.
A sketch of one captain who was
cited for special valor.
Photographs of the lieutenant
commander of e-throwing de-
tachment which destroyed 100 Nazis,
of whom the lieutenant himself
killed Is.
A news story about a Russian
armored train which made a sue
cessful attack against the Germans
on the Rzhev line.