"Mummy, quick, wake up!"
I opened my eyes. Zoya was standing before me, barefoot, with a towel over her shoulder.
"No, no, nothing's wrong," she said hurriedly, in answer to my frightened glance. "Comrade Stalin is going to speak. On the radio. Hush…
A slight rustle in the loud-speaker. Silence. Then suddenly…
"Comrades! Citizens!" we heard. "Brothers and sisters! Men of our Army and Navy! My words are addressed to you, dear friends…We held our breath and forgot everything else. Zoya stood tense and rigid, her fists clenched, staring fixedly at the loud-speaker, as if beyond the disk she could see him who was speaking these words, full of restrained grief, love and faith, full of passionate strength and wrath: "…our country has come to death grips with its bitterest and most cunning enemy—German fascism… The enemy is cruel and implacable…
Our leader spoke of the enemy's aims, of how German fascism wished to seize our lands, the fruits of our labour, to restore the rule of the landlords, to enslave and Germanize the free peoples of the Soviet Union.
"…Thus the issue is one of life and death for the Soviet State," he said, "of life and death for the peoples of the U.S.S.R., of whether the peoples of the Soviet Union shall be free or fall into slavery. The Soviet people must realize this…All our work must be immediately reorganized on a war looting, everything must be subordinated to the interests of the front…The Red Army, the Red Navy and all citizens of the Soviet Union must defend every inch of Soviet soil, must fight to the last drop of blood for our towns and villages…
Our leader said that partisan groups should be formed in the enemy-occupied districts, and our land must burn and explode under the feet of the enemy.
His calm quiet voice went straight to our hearts. It rang with such faith in all of us, in the whole people and in every Soviet citizen! He told us that this was not an ordinary war between two armies. He reminded us that we must not only destroy the danger threatening our country, but also help all the peoples of Europe groaning under the yoke of German fascism.
"…All forces of the people for routing the enemy! Forward to victory!"
The radio was silent. And still we did not move, did not utter a word, as if afraid to spill even a drop of the immense feeling with which our hearts overflowed at that moment.
The man whom we had grown used to believe as ourselves, as our conscience, had just spoken to us. Teacher, Leader and Friend. We had relied on him always and in all things. We knew that he had just said all that was most important, and that he had appealed directly to each one of us. He had helped us to understand completely and feel how great was the danger threatening our Motherland, and how to deal with it. He had helped us to feel our strength in a new way—to feel the might of a freedom- loving and united people.
"I wonder if Shura heard him…" I said.
"Everyone heard him, all over the country," said Zoya with certainty. And almost in a whisper and with deep emotion she repeated, "My words are addressed to you, dear friends!"
Next: The First Bombs