World Battlefronts: Curious Russians

In Baku, en route to Moscow, TIME & LIFE Correspondent Richard Lauterbach was followed in the street by as many as 70 children, asking questions about the U.S. Militiamen finally had to break up the crowd. Adults also were voluble and curious. Russian questions:

When will the second front open? When will the war end? Is there still lynching in the U.S.? How much damage was done at Pearl Harbor? What are Willkie’s politics? What are Roosevelt’s sons doing? Where is Joe Louis? Do you like Negroes? Have you seen One Hundred Men and a Girl? and Union Pacific? What is the best U.S. jazz band? What did you pay for your shoes? Are English and American the same language? Have you been to Russia before? Where? Was it not beautiful?

From Baku one train daily now runs to Moscow via Rostov and Kharkov, cutting the south-north trip by two to three days. At the Baku station, Lauterbach asked why the first-class waiting room was filled with officers only. Replied the stationmaster: “It would cost too much to build a room like this for everyone now. It’s a matter of time. After the war we’ll build a big, beautiful one for all. Now it’s obviously impossible, so privileges must go to a few with the people’s consent.”

Roosevelt and Churchill, Lauterbach found, are extremely popular, and everywhere people ask about them and praise them. In the countryside, their names are known better than those of any but the dozen top Soviet leaders.

Maps and Money. Moscow, Lauterbach reported, seems vaster, busier, more confident than it was eight years ago when he last saw it. “The people look thinner, laugh less. Nearly everybody has a member of his immediate family wounded or killed. The war is followed closely and intently by families scrutinizing the great colored wall maps which hang everywhere. I searched Moscow for a week for a map and finally found a store that expected a shipment in the morning. The map is not good but sold out a thousand in a few hours.”

Money, Lauterbach found, is plentiful, but there are few opportunities to spend it. “Clothes are old but warm, and I was surprised at the frequency of fur hats, collars, even coats seen on the streets. These are needed, as wood and fuel are still not abundant. Food lines are not so long as I remembered but waiting for trams is the same. The well-stocked bookstores are as numerous in Moscow as drugstores in Los Angeles. Newspapers and magazines are still difficult to obtain.”

Horses and Generals. Sunday horse races are held at the Moscow Hippodrome, reopened this fall. The wooden stands are rundown, the stables scarred by bombs, the infield dug up for victory gardens. There are 14 trotting races, for purses ranging up to 1,000 rubles ($500). Like their brethren at Saratoga or New Orleans’ Fair Grounds, the Moscow fans place their bets at pari-mutuel windows. The bets are two, five or 100 rubles.