(Sergeant's Report)

EUROPE'S LIFE

My overall impression of Europe was, of course, the expected one of a tired, devastated and morally rather bewildered place. There were, however, many exceptions to this prevailing impression, and some of them, I think, may constitute political, economic or cultural straws in the wind. Among these were the enormous sense of intellectual vitality in Germany; the surprising mental health of Italian artists and intellectuals; the curious and somewhat paradoxical attitude toward Russia and Communism that I found in talking to hundreds of ordinary people in bars, trains, slums, newspaper offices, etc.

The attitude toward Communism may be briefly stated. It is simply that the greatest bar to the communization of western Europe is, paradoxically, the existence of Communist Russia, of whom western Europe is so mortally afraid that even western Europeans who might under ordinary circumstances be Communists have been turned into conservatives because Communism means domination by a backward and deeply distrusted nation. Those few who believe in coming to terms with Russia no longer argue that Russia has a superior social philosophy to give the world. They simply argue that the Russians are a power to be reckoned with, and and that will still be there when and if American and British support is withdrawn.

Pea Soup & Potatoes. This hatred of Moscow is as strong as anywhere in Finland, which I found in extremely critical condition. The food situation is so bad that restaurants in small towns have only two items on the bill of fare: pea soup and boiled potatoes. Coffee and sugar are practically unheard of even in swank black-market restaurants. Clothing is made from wood pulp, liquor (schnapps) is distilled from wood alcohol, most automobiles are woodburning.

I found much of interest in Finland. I became acquainted with the work of Vaino Altonen, a sculptor who is practically unknown outside Finland but who should rank as one of the finest alive. I found what is perhaps the world's finest work in art ceramics being done in Helsinki's Arabia porcelain works, Finland's largest manufacturer of tiles, bathtubs, etc.

To Broadway's Shame. In Germany the amazing thing is the enormous evidence of intellectual energy that is still sprouting amid incredible physical devastation. While I was unable to find any substantial activity as yet among young German writers, I found the German theater, German opera and German music flourishing at a rate that undoubtedly ranks Berlin as the current theatrical and musical capital of Europe.

Theaters with their roofs blown off and their walls caved in are housing productions of Shakespeare, Chekhov, O'Neill, Ibsen, Schiller, and a repertory of at least 40 Broadway plays. Productions are on an artistic level (in direction, acting, scenery, etc.) that, except for sheer lavishness, would shame a good deal of the stuff shown on Broadway. You can see a wider variety of good theater of all kinds in two months in Berlin than in two years on Broadway.

Berlin alone has four opera houses, two of which (the Stadtische Oper and the Staatsoper) are open the year round. At a conservative estimate they produce about ten times as much opera per annum as is seen at the Metropolitan.

Latin Energy. For well-heeled foreigners, Italy is the most comfortable of all the European countries that took part in the war. There is hardly a pretense of rationing. The whole country is on the black market. For the rich there are unlimited quantities of consumer goods--women's clothing, shoes, leather goods, etc. of the most elegant quality. The poor are badly off, but not any worse off than they are elsewhere in Europe.

Despite a good share of war ruins and a great deal of real poverty, the Italians show little trace of the war neurosis that is attacking the rest of Europe. They have the practical resilience of a peasant people. Ninety-five percent of them have never thought of anything but work and simple pleasures, and they are back at work again.

Opera, Italian style, is flourishing in all its prewar luxuriance--a little haphazard by German standards but vocally superb. While in Rome I witnessed an outdoor performance of Aida with nearly a thousand people in the cast of characters, done on a lavish scale that made Radio City Music Hall look like a miniature. Italy shows no signs of a cultural letdown. It is excited, exuberant and ready to go.

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