8 Capital Journal, Salem, OregonTuesday, Dtci' 20, 't94f
Displaced Persons in Salem
Recall Christmas in Estonia
By AGU OUNAPUU
(Now a Resident of Salem)
(Author's Note: Estonia Is a country very far away from
here, on the beach of the Baltic tea. There now It li cold
and dark. The weak daylight lasts only six hours. The
following: line describes a Christmas eve of those happy
days when Estonia was still a free land and the people
could live there In ease. Now the violent rulers, the Rus
sian communists, have prohibited the celebration of Christ
mas eve and Christmas, too.)
Christmas eve is the most appreciated part of Christmas,
maybe even of all holidays in Estonia.
The children begin to talk about it a month or more before;
the Santa Claus would come, and verses and songs for him
must be ready. Adults are excited about gifts among them
selves and for the children.-
Mostly troubled are housewives
about holiday dishes. Dough
for gingerbread is made ready
long before. The most consid
erable dishes of Christmas eve
are Yule sausages- and roasted
nork. Home-made ale is the
care of men.
In another time there may be
some shortage of things in the
house, but at the ChriBtmas time
there must be an abundance.
Sixty or 70 years ago they
brought straw into the house,
In which the young people
played their Christmas games
striking of the straw shoemak
er's eye, wrestling like gypsies,
pulling the club of vigor, pull
ing the hooked fingers, etc.
But what makes Christmas
eve so longed for is going to
church this evening, and the
Christmas tree with presents.
At village churches the oth
er divine services are always
by daylight, but the service of
Christmas eve is in the evening,
when out-of-doors it Is dark and
the snow Is gleaming bluely.
Only the high windows of the
church shine then in the dark
ness with yellow candlelight.
As the church is not very far
from your home you walk to
the service. But It Is not very
easy to get along. The only way
Is the trace of sledges, and when
people come by In sledges you
have to step into the deep, soft
snow and give them way to pass
It hinders your approach to the
church, but you are not an
noyed. It Is Christmas eve, and
"peace is on the earth." You
ure not late, and you enter the
church together with the other
people.
The Church is decorated with
green firs and lighted by can
dles, which stay in the branches
of the green fresh firs In special
candlesticks. The shadows are
dancing on the walls and the
high ceiling, and the church,
usually so quiet and dull, is ani
mated and vivid.
Never are the churches so
crowded as on Christmas eve.
All people, children and adult,
young and old, want to take part
In the service of this evening.
Though they are solemnly silent,
the low-ipoken words, noise of
feet, and slight coughs fuse in a
soft rustle.
Then the bells of the church
ring, slowly, solemnly. The
organ begins so softly and re
motely, then stronger and
stronger it grows, and then the
whole church is full of the
mighty sounds. You are en
chanted. You sing, you follow
the well-known old prophecies
and the other familiar episodes
which you have learned by
heart at school In your child
hood, and sing again the old
Christmas carols with enthus
iasm that has seized all the con
gregation. The school children's choir
sings three hymns. The minis
ter sings the words of blessing
with arms lifted, accompanied
by the organ. You answer three
times "amen," and sit down to
sing the last hymn.
It is over. The organ bo
comes silent abruptly. Now it
is so still that you could hear
a pin drop. All the congrega
Hon is saying the Lord's Prayer
once more. After some time
It is over, and the noise of feet
begins. The bells of the church
ring again, the organ begins
to play for going out.
Suddenly all the roads around
the church are filled with peo
pie, like dark serpents among
white fields. The horses are
cold and rush from the church
The pedestrians have to look
out. The bells on the horses
behind you are too cutting and
annoying. You let them pass.
You arrive home. Your
hands are numb with cold, your
face Is insensible. How cozy
and caressing the warmth of
your home now. You are hun
gry, too. The table Is already
set. You see many attractive
things there. You get ready,
and sit with the others at the
table. And hear! . . . the still
frying and searing Yule saus
ages arrive on the table.
Afterwards, when all the peo
ple In the house are ready, the
candles on the Christmas tree
will be lighted. You sing "Still
the Night," "The Shepherd's
Christmas Bells" and other
Christmas carols. Then Santa
Claus comes in fur coat and fur
cap, with long beard, and knap
sack full of gifts. You sing him
1 J-
tH
Son-Heir Born to
Alfred Yanderbilts
Christmas Business Congests Post Office Hundreds of pa
trons with packages to mail crowded the parcel post and
stamp window at Salem post office Monday where an ex
panded staff Is working around the clock to expedite Christ
mas mall.
New York, Dec. 20 UP) A
son and heir was born early to
day to the Alfred Gwynne Van-
derbilts the first male addition
to the Vanderbilt clan In a num
ber of years.
The wife of the millionaire
sportsman gave birth shortly
after midnight at LeRoy sani
tarium. The mother is the former
Jeanne Murray, cousin of Mrs.
Henry Ford, 2nd, and daughter
of the late John F. Murray, stock
exchange firm head.
American Priest
Get Soviet Visa
Washington, Dec. 20 W)
State department officials said
today they do not believe that
permission granted an American
priest to conduct services in
Moscow indicates softening of
the Soviet front in the cold war.
A passport visa came through
yesterday from the Soviet em
bassy for Father Louis Robert
Brassard 10 months after the
priest had requested. It would
authorize him to serve the 116
members of the American colo
ny in Moscow.
Since Father Brassard first
applied for the visa, the state
department has sent several re
minders to the Russian govern
ment that Russia agreed in 1933
to permit one American Catho
lic pastor to work in Moscow.
Father Brassard was designat
ed to succeed the Rev. J. Anto
nio Laberge. Laberge left Mos
cow last January with a reentry
Wiierd Man may not
Venture Alone
Men climb moun
tains In tli company
of others and with ex
perienced guides . . , linked together so that each
individual is protected by tiia skill, strength and
experience of the group.
To protect the financial future of his loved ones,
the family man needs safeguards not aniike those
of tho mountaineer.
First he most join the thrifty, self-reliant people
ho own Life Insurance.
Seeomf as a policyholder be will be linked with'
thousands whose combined nnity and strength
guarantee security for the dependents of one and alL
Third the experienced guidance of a Life Insur
ance representative will direct him along the but
route to his objective.
There is no substitute for Life Insurance.
MANUFACTURERS
a suitable carol, and the distri
bution of the presents begins,
You all get yours, packed In
multicolored paper and bound
with a nice tape, but before
getting one you have to "say
your verse."
Some of the presents surprise
you. They were planned and
made secretly. You have to
show your presents to the oth
ers, too. Some of them may be
funny. They may be meant to
tease you, or to mark some faults
of your character from which
others want you to be rid.
The children have matched
and examined their presents
enough now, and come to show
you what they have got and
how to play with them. At last
the children become tired of the
exciting day and have to go to
bed. Tonight they do not pro
test. They are satiate. They
take only some of the things
to bed with them.
After that you listen in, or
chatter quietly, or read some
new books you have the habit
of buying for Christmas. Then
you also feel a little tired, and
go to bed, and say, "However,,
this world is worth living in."
French Commies to Purge
Ranks 'Tiioism, Trotskyism'
By JEAN DeGANDT
Paris, Dec. 20 (U.R) The French communist party, which has
publicly admitted "growing apathy" among members, today
faced a, large-scale purge of its ranks of leaders accused of "Tito-
ism" and "Trotskyism."
Earlier last week the communist party published a long resolu
tion of the communist party cen
tral committee accusing local
party leaders of all the crimes
in the current communist lexi
con, ranging from "deviation-
ism" to "opportunism."
Titoism and purges have crop
ped up in a number of other
Western European communist
parties. But France is the sec
ond largest communist center
west of the iron curtain.
The communist party here has
suffered a steady and continuing
decline in influence ever since
the government broke the gen
eral strike in the fall and winter
of 1947.
Three years ago the commu
nist party was the strongest sin
gle political group in France and
it controlled the biggest part of
the labor movement.
Today its influence in the la
bor movement has been weak
ened. The recent 24-hour gen
eral strike was considered a fail
ure, and the party's political in
fluence, although not by any
means a minor factor, has been
declining since 1947.
One of the most striking signs
of communist decline in addi
tion to a drop in communist
membership in trade unions and
election results is the decrease
in circulation of the two main
communist newspapers in Paris,
L'Humanite and Ce Soir.
Raymond Guyot, one of the
principal organizers of the party
electoral machinery, wrote early
this fall in L'Humanite about
the "growing apathy" of the par
ty cells. He referred to mem
bers failing to pay their com
munist newspaper subscriptions.
But the party's influence is
far from dead, even though it
probably would lose some of its
seats in parliament if elections
were held today.
Although no general elections
have been held since 1946, the
communist candidates in local
elections have polled even fewer
votes.
The communist - led general
confederation of labor (CGT)
claimed 6,400,000 members in
1946. But on Dec. 20, 1947, after
the general strike, a minority
group led by the "grand old
man' of French labor, Leon
Jouhaux, broke away from the
CGT. After the split, CGT
membership fell off to little
more than 2,000,000 and the
newly formed socialist force
Ouvriere has close to 1,500,000
members.
In October, 1947 the commu
nist morning paper L'Humanite
had a dally circulation of 450,-
000. It now has about 230,000.
The afternoon paper Ce Soir has
dropped from a circulation of
430,000 to 195,000.
permit but. this subsequently was cancelled.
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