Friday, 11 August

Fine

At 11.00 a.m. we took a train to the Soviet-Finnish battle zone. We passed through Sestroretsk to Teruski, and en route we saw many trenches and fences. They were everywhere. The houses on both sides of the road were on the whole complete, but it was evident that nobody was living inside. I heard that half of the people in this area have been killed by the German army, and the other half have been transferred to Germany to work as hard labourers. We left the train at Teruski and took a walk. A soldier told me that nobody lived here and there were many fruit trees with no owners so we picked fruit to eat. At the relic of the cinema there, we met several female students from the architectural design school and we talked to them. They also came from Leningrad. One of the girls was around 17 or 18. She was so slim that she was different from normal Russian girls. I asked her and she said that her whole family starved to death during the siege of Leningrad. Only she and her mother survived. So she was not born to be slim but because of starvation. We then went to the beach there for a rest. There were many live fish on the beach. It was the first time I saw fish on the beach. Probably it was because the beach was shallow and flat. Probably the tide did not retreat fast and the water flow was quite slow, leaving the fish on the beach. There were many dry fish and fish. If one had time, one could easily have a good roasted fish meal. On our way back we passed through the old residence of the Soviet painter Repin. Repin was one of the most celebrated modern Soviet painters. Though he stayed in Finland after the revolution he still retained his Russian nationality, and just before he died he wrote in his will that he would give his house and property to the Soviet Government, but the house was burned to ash. Repin’s grave was next to it and we went to see it. On the way we passed through the area around sister town which Lenin took as asylum but the area was full of landmines, so it was a pity we could not go to the original place. After we returned to the city we went to an antique shop near the hotel. I knew the manager. In 1939 I always bought things there and the prices of its goods are cheaper than in Moscow.