Further excerpts from a Russian diary

Sunday. We had a most amazing tour of the Kremlin today. None of our interpreters had ever been inside the Kremlin walls before, although it is possible to get tickets which allow Russians to go inside. But such tickets do not permit anyone into the buildings and rooms we visited. The normal visitor can only walk in certain places, and look inside the churches. We started our tour by entering the northeast gate under the famous clock tower, the Big Ben of Russia. We watched the changing of the guard at the Lenin‐Stalin mausoleum at 10 AM and followed the men as they goose‐stepped their way to the northeast gate of the Kremlin. We were taken to the large building where Lenin lived and worked. We passed down a long corridor, which reminded me of the corridor outside the Chiefs of Staff offices in the Pentagon Building. I translated one of the names on the impressive big doors as Mikoyan. We were surprised to find one of the offices open and noticed maps of Russia hanging on the wall. We soon found out, when we were taken inside, that this had been Lenin’s private office where he did all his work. The office was arranged exactly as it was when he left. (He was sick for several months in 1923 and died in the spring of 1924.) This room is one of the sacred shrines of Communism and our interpreters were absolutely bug‐eyed to find themselves there. Lenin worked at a small desk, sitting in a straight chair. The desk butted up against a felt covered table surrounded by large stuffed leather easy chairs. The table and chairs were for the visitors and government officials who came to talk with him. The room was roughly square and about twenty or twenty‐five feet on a side. The wall behind Lenin’s chair was covered with bookshelves which were filled with books in Russian, French, German, and English. Lenin read all these languages and was apparently a rather scholarly man. His private apartment, just down the hall, also was filled with books—the guide said there were 20 000 books in Lenin’s private study and 2000 in his office. We walked around the room and examined the various objects on the tables. I had the feeling that Lenin might show up at any minute—the room was in such a natural state. There was a large oil painting of Karl Marx on the wall, facing Lenin as he sat at his desk. The maps had been marked by Lenin, and the calendars on the desk and on the wall were opened to a day in 1923.