Saturday, 18 November

Snow, cold

I studied Russian from 11.00 until 1.30. Recently I have practiced a lot of writing and the progress seems speedy. If we dont’t work hard, we will not have great progress.

Last night a certain secretary of the American Embassy was back from (place unknown) in Northern Russia. According to what he said, he saw Russian captives who were recently returned from France. They were hard labourers working in France during wartime or else they were sent from the German-occupied area to France. After the liberation of France, they sent them back to the Soviet Union and these captives are quite numerous. In Soviet newspapers they published how much the Soviet Union welcomed them on their return to the mother country, but as a matter of fact he saw that they were treated like prisoners. They are kept under close surveillance on trucks and concentration points, and absolutely not allowed to talk to other people. They are then sent to concentration camps direct. The Soviet Union views the lives and freedom of its people with contempt. It is caused by its history and environment as well as other factors, and this is not something other people can understand.

Roosevelt has decided to propose a new conscription law to Congress. It requires nationals to be on service for one year. After this war, the threats of Germany and Japan will be over, but on the contrary the United States strengthens its preparation of ammunitions, its purpose being to defend against the Soviet Union. With regard to Western Europe Britain has been active in fortification, and in France it was closely in touch with De Gaulle, and he annihilated the Communists inside France. Belgium and the Netherlands also did the same. Probably because of the Soviet attitude towards countries in Eastern Europe (For instance to Romania, recently the Soviet Union sent Vishinski on its own initiative to direct Romania’s affairs. Also it did the same to Bulgaria and others.). Its intervention in the internal politics of Iran, its refusal to come into diplomatic relations with Switzerland, its declining of the invitation of the United States to attending the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, which made British and Americans suspect or even firmly believe that the Soviet Union wanted to revive the aggressive policy of Imperial Russia. If this situation persists and the relations do not improve, the prospect will be unimaginable. I just hope that in the coming meetings Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin can be more understanding and accommodating. The British and Soviet sides could give up their policies of interfering with others, otherwise a third world war will be unavoidable, and the fortunes of the human race will become nothing.