(Testimony of Max E. Clark)
Mr. Clark.
might take 5 years to get another one and he was quite bitter about the fact that the managers had better houses and an automobile and the fact that they could go to, well, to the coast or to the beach in the summer on their vacations while he could not. I said, "Well, you were saying everyone got a month's vacation." He said, "That's true, but you had to pay your transportation," and it would take a year's salary to go from his place of employment down to the Black Sea.
Mr. Liebeler.
He told you that?
Mr. Clark.
Yes.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he tell you he had done any traveling while in the Soviet Union?
Mr. Clark.
He said he was limited because he did not have the money.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he tell you how much money he was paid at his job?
Mr. Clark.
As I recall, between 80 and 90 rubles and he was justifying that on this basis, he said actually it wasn't so bad except you had your housing taken care of and your medical expenses. That's the main things he seemed to count most important but he said that clothing, shoes was very expensive and traveling was extremely expensive.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he tell you that he received any income from any source other than his job?
Mr. Clark.
He said that's all he had and he had written to his mother to get money to come back to the States.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he mention receiving money from the Red Cross?
Mr. Clark.
No; he did not.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he ever mention to you that he had gone from Minsk to the United States?
Mr. Clark.
No; he did not.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he ever tell you that Marina went from Minsk to Kharkof for a 2- or 3-week vacation after they were married?
Mr. Clark.
No; he did not. He said that after they were married that she moved in this apartment with him and said they used to go out and walk around and do some hunting of some kind; I don't know. I didn't pay much attention to him. He said they went out for amusements for walks. I asked what he did and he said there wasn't too much to do, go to dances once in awhile. He indicated to me that Marina had to work up until a very short time before the birth of the child and that she was supposed to go back to work within a month after the birth of the child but by putting in his application to return to the United States somehow or other she delayed in reporting back to work and finally his permit and all to return had arrived and so that they left. She never returned to work after the birth of the child.
Mr. Liebeler.
Do you remember specifically that he mentioned the high cost of transportation?
Mr. Clark.
Yes; the reason I remember that is I had read an article recently about all of the resort buildings and had seen some pictures in Life or Time magazine on the Black Sea, this resort area, and asked him if he had been down there as I heard it was similar to the Riviera in France. He said no, he wanted to go there. I said, "Why didn't you go there during your vacation if you had a month?" He said he couldn't afford it. It would take nearly a year's salary for him to pay for the transportation. I said, "Isn't housing and food provided?" He said, "Oh, yes; if I could have gotten there I could have a free house but only people high up or special favors are given permission to go down there." He was quite unhappy about it.
Mr. Liebeler.
He mentioned to you that his apartment had a private bath while most of the other apartments had to share the bath?
Mr. CLARK, Yes; I was asking him what the apartments were like. He said most of the apartment houses would have, for example, on one floor have two wings; on the right wing would be a group of six apartments, would be just one big room leading off the hall and at the end of the hall would be the bath and kitchen and these six apartments would share that one bath and one kitchen. And the other side of the wing would be a duplication and he said the only difference between his and those apartments was his had a wash basin and private
|
