—— Guests of the Kirov Workers ——167Comrades! Today’s formal gathering dedicated to the
First of May is being attended by two esteemed guests- the top soldiers of the NKVD 21st Rifle Division,
which is sponsored by our works – outstanding snipers
from the Leningrad Front, Deputy Political Instructor
Yevgeni Nikolaev and Ivan Dobrik. Each of them has
wiped out over a hundred Nazis. How they achieved
this, they will tell us themselves. But in the meantime
let us welcome these dear defenders of our land.
All those gathered in the hall stood up together and began to
applaud.
‘Allow me to read the text of a telegram sent by the commander
of this division, Colonel Panchenko, in which, on behalf of the high
command and its personnel, he greets us all on this occasion,’ said
the chairman and, to thunderous applause, read out the telegram
which I had previously handed over to the presidium. The formal
gathering proceeded in a businesslike fashion. In frontline style,
it was brief and to the point.
Ivan and I did not know the names of the people sitting beside
us. One of them, apparently the works Party organiser, gave not so
much a May Day speech as a condensed report on the achievements
with which the Kirov staff were greeting this occasion. Referring
to the working difficulties created by wartime conditions, he said
that the works collective had coped with the objective it had been
set and would cope with any commission in the future as well.
The works were right next to the front line. Dozens of bombs
and shells destroyed workshops and equipment every day and put
people out of action. The lack of the essential specialists, most of
whom had been moved to the Urals, the acute shortage of fuel and
raw materials, the hunger, and the cold had not broken the will
of the workers remaining in Leningrad. They were confident of
v ic tor y.
In workshops wrecked by enemy shells, tanks, howitzers and
guns were being repaired and shells were being manufactured for