Evening star., 1947-11-09
A Technicion Annonq the Diplomats
Examines the Shodings
of Thought and
the Meaning

Hopkins agreed to 60. It followed
as q matter Of course that Chip
went with him. The two had struck
up q warm friendship as result Of
their work together at previous con-
ferences. Mr.. Bohlen admired Mr..
Hopkins capacities as a negotiator
and Mr.. Hopkins respected Mr..
Bohlen's knowledge and ability.
Their schedule for the eight days
they spent In Moscow was stiff
one. Because of Mr.. Hopkins slen-
der reserve. Of strength he spent as
much of the morning as possible in
bed. At lunch and In the early
afternoon the two would plan the
forthcoming interview with Stain.
In the later afternoon they would
go to the Kremlin.
Often for as long as three or four
hours they would be closeted with
Stain. Occasionally Molotov was
present, but usually there were only
foM persons in Stalin's private Of
fee - Hopkins and Bohlen and
Stain and his interpreter. The boss
of the Soviets would speak in Rus
sian. His interpreter would trans
late into English. Mr.. Hopkins would
speak in English and Mr.. Bohlen
would interpret In Russian. Part of
the job Of the interpreter was to be
sure that his opposite number got
the meaning straight from one
language to another.
A Full Schedule
Back at the American Embassy,
Hopkins and Bohlen worked late
into the night phrasing the memo
randum on the conversation to be
wirelessed to the President in Wash
ington. Here, too, exact shadings of
thought and meaning were vital.
Now and then friendly arguments
developed between the two men over
the wording to be used. All this
added up to hard work and nervous
strain.
Returning from Moscow, the
party, which included Mrs. Hopkins,
spent five hours in Berlin as guests
of Marshal Zhukov. The marshal
took them through Hit1er's ruined
chancellery and, with Bohlen inter-
preting, offered them jeweled iron
crosses as souvenirs.
In Washington again, Mr.. Bohlen
had just two days in his Georgetown
home with his family, which now
included a small daughter. Then
he left for the San Francisco Con-
ference, where he had previously
spent almost month.
Helped With Charter
His assignment to San Francisco
was to help in the delicate task Of
translating the Charter from English
to Russian. Russian-speaking rep
resentatives Of the various language
groups were all to participate to
make sure that the meaning was
the same in each tongue. Mr..
Bohlen went with his friend, Isaiah
Berlin of the British Embassy, who
was on the same assignment for
Britain.
When they reached the Wash
ington Airport in the early evening,
they were told that all planes had
been Cancelled because of bad storms
in the Middle West. The conference
faced a deadline and the transla-
tion had to begin the following day.
Finally they succeeded in getting on
a plane going by circuitous route.
At San Francisco. Bohlen, Berlin
and the others worked for three
nights until seven In the morning.
Strange debates occurred In the
early morning hours. 1t was discov-
cred there was no Russian equiv
alent for the phrase full employ
ment," which occurs in the Charter.
After long discussion with the Rus
sian delegation substitute was
agreed upon which makes the Rus
sian text read, in effect, full busy
ness; in other words, every moment
Of the day fully occupied.
Sometimes" Mr.. Bohlen re-
marked to Mr.. Berlin as they walked
back to their hotel while the dawn
broke over San Francisco's hills, II
wonder why I ever learned Russian"
(By special arrangement with the st. Louis
Post-Dispatch)