him and kiss his bloodstained
hand which has defended Russia--vague, distant Russia? But these
reflections and questions came to my mind later. At the moment, I
beheld, with the eyes of a peaceful citizen, the bloody, hardened
blotch and the dreadful pallor of war, and the needless terror before
that which, after all, is your own, and I felt an overwhelming
depression and sadness.

* * * * *

HOW TO HELP?

_Catherine Kuskova is a journalist and social worker of
considerable note._

HOW TO HELP?

BY CATHERINE KUSKOVA

Lord, what a familiar sight! How many times have we seen it during the
last nine or ten months.... And every time you blush with shame and
you have the feeling of being overcome and petrified in the face of
the incomprehensible, elemental catastrophe.

The train slowly pulls up to the high structure of the station. The
scene is laid in one of the towns of the Western section. Faces of
passengers, restless, way-worn, sickly, are seen in the windows. The
cars are over-crowded beyond all measure. There are many black-eyed
children, with curly black locks, and also old people, decrepit with
age. The railway platform is crowded with Jewish youths, with
representatives of the Jewish community, and a mass of curious people
who eagerly scan the newcomers. A large crowd of passengers emerge
from the cars rapidly and in disorder. They are Jews deported from
the zone of military operations. The local Jewish community had been
notified by a telegram and now they are meeting the newcomers.

The community has seen to it that hot tea, bread, and milk for the
children is served to the deported right at the station. A most timely
measure! Many of them had had no time even to take food along; they
were deported on short notice, and, besides, a family is allowed to
carry no more than forty pounds of luggage. What is forty pounds for a
family often very large? They can hardly afford to take some underwear
and warm clothes.... Behind each family there remained a home,
probably a store, a stand, a workshop or simply a sewing-machine, the
sole source of income.... All are equal now in this dreadful train,
which carries them away from home, naked wrecks of humanity, torn from
their customary course of life and deprived of the daily toil, which
fed the family. And what a terror it is to look into their eyes. It is
plainly written in them: "This is nothing, the worst i