REPORT FROM RUSSIA

[Music] [Applause] [Music] this is the Soviet Union the nation which first stopped the Conquering Nazis in their tracks huge unknown to many Americans a mixture of the very old and the very new of the familiar and the alien of the West and the East this is Red Square in Moscow where in peace time the Soviet people celebrated the revolution where they demonstrated their strength health and unity to the outside [Music] world in June 194 1 this great isolated nation was treacherously attacked overnight she mobilized tanks rumbled through Red Square blotting out the patterns of Peace the young athletes in full fighting equipment marched off to stop the Invader while Hitler raced through Western Russia the world wondered what was happening behind the 2,000m front how were the people of this vast Young Land standing up to the Invasion the world soon had its answer the Russian people were facing the war with a calm understanding of what it was about and what they had to do about it an army of women 19 million of them took over the farmwork they planted and harvested the crops sunflowers barley wheat to keep their armies in the field and their Nation from starvation men too old to fight joined the land Army 5 million children helped to bring in the Harvest Gleaners worked not for themselves but to add to the vital stocks every last kernel of wheat that could be grown factories blast furnaces heavy industries were moved to areas of safety behind the Euro mountains beyond the reach of enemy bombers and Long Range Guns the Russian army took many of the skilled mechanics and trained technicians but the wheels of war production never stopped long before any other country the Russians saw the value of training young women older women and old men for industry this girl is one of the country's leading Engineers efficient head of a huge plant in all 14 million women half of all the workers of Russia have taken their places at the workbench others are Manning the railroads maintaining and repairing Rolling Stock driving Munitions trains keeping open the lines of Supply one woman brought a train load of munition 65 cars long safely through a bombing attack and ahead of schedule women pilots fail the non-competent jobs of fing planes from factories to Advanced bases and flying the wounded back to hospitals in the interior feminine ground crews are common at all airfields with Hitler's armies almost at the gates of Moscow the steadfast people went about their War jobs with the same Grim determination that made their armies unconquerable they raak the snow around abandoned factories for shreds of steel iron shavings and other metal scraps left as waste before the war the scrap pile a familiar site in any village town or city in America grew here too as a monument to war from such junk is this new farm tools are made abandoned factories are refitted as territory is regained by the Soviet troops civilian mobilization was enthusiastic and complete rallies held by District leaders resulted in the government bond issue being oversubscribed in 2 days tens of thousands of rubles [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] tail in hand ready to extinguish incendiary bonds moscow's palatial Subway is regarded as one of the biggest and safest air raid shelters in the world an efficient system of artificial ventilation affords complete change of air 8 to 9 times an hour in the squares where fruit stands once did business anti-aircraft guns send up official welcome to Hitler's [Music] Flyers moscow's deadly air defenses have been a perfectly guarded secret from July 1941 until April 1942 the Nazis hurled 4,000 individual flights against the City 400 planes 10% of the total were knocked out of the sky by Soviet Gunners and fighter planes but through all those months the bombs dropped Moscow came to be known as the city that never [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] sleeps [Music] [Applause] [Music] children played their games in large Subterranean gas prooof shelter grandmothers chatted gossiped and boasted of Their Own Private [Applause] Heroes for moscow's secret weapon was the strength of her [Music] [Applause] people