(Testimony of Ruth Hyde Paine Resumed)
Mr. Jenner.
Did she ever speak of her father?
Mrs. Paine.
She said that her father had died when she was very tiny, that she did not know her father, that she was raised by her mother and stepfather, and she did not know until it came out from something a neighbor let drop, when she was already in her early teens, that this man she thought to be her father was not in fact her father but her stepfather. This came as a shock to her. I knew that she had a younger brother and sister, Tatyana, I think, Tanya would be the diminutive. I don't recall her brother's name. It is my impression that she liked Leningrad, was proud of it.
Mr. Jenner.
Did she ever say why she went from Leningrad to Minsk, or the circumstances under which--which surrounded her going from Leningrad to Minsk?
Mrs. Paine.
No; she never did. She did say that some people commented to her that it was strange to be leaving Leningrad, because there were many people who wanted to work in Leningrad who evidently didn't have the necessary priority or permission to get into the city to work there. She having been brought up there had the right to live there and work there. But this was the first I knew that you could not just move from one city to another in Russia if you wanted to look for work.
Mr. Jenner.
Did you have a discussion with her from time to time about the fact that you could move about in Russia only by permission.
Mrs. Paine.
Well, she mentioned--and I think I have said so---that you don't go to a different city in Russia without its being known. You have to register immediately upon coming to the city, show all your papers, and then the government assigns you your quarters---hotel or apartment or any room. You cannot get a place to spend the night if you don't sign in. Which is certainly a far cry from our situation in this country.
Mr. Jenner.
Did she indicate any reaction on her part to the difference--that difference in America as compared with Russia?
Mrs. Paine.
It was not overtly stated. She did make clear to me that she thought the consumer goods here were superior to those in Russia. She said that very likely this was in part due to the fact that people are not sure of their jobs. In Russia you can do a bad job and still remain employed; whereas here she said a person had to produce good work or they didn't stay on the job.
Mr. Jenner.
This was a comment on her part on the difference in the system? Russia from that in the United States?
Mrs. Paine.
Yes.
Mr. Jenner.
Did she indicate any reaction to that?
Mrs. Paine.
She thought the system here produced much better goods, and she was pleased with that. She also commented that things were much more available in this country than they were in Russia. She was impressed, for instance, with the fact that my neighbor offered to loan things for the baby, and my friend Mrs. Craig offered to loan things for the baby. She said that in Russia people were not so sure that they could replace things that they had loaned or given away. You could not go to the store when you needed to have baby clothing and necessarily find it there. So there was much less--for that reason, and others--there was much less loaning and sharing of things than she found here.
Mr. Jenner.
Did she say anything about the period when Lee was hospitalized in Russia?
Mrs. Paine.
No; I don't recall it.
Mr. Jenner.
And her visiting him every day?
Mrs. Paine.
I have no clear recollection. I do, of course, recall her description of her own pregnancy, and the birth of June in the Minsk hospital. That Lee was in the hospital rings very faintly. I cannot think of anything he was in there for. I have completely forgotten any reference to it--I am not sure I remember now.
Mr. Jenner.
Have we exhausted you on that subject?
Mrs. Paine.
I am exhausted.
Mr. Jenner.
What is your reaction on the subject of Marina's reaction in turn to her husband? Did she love him? What was her opinion of him?
Mrs. Paine.
Well, I think it has already appeared pretty thoroughly in my
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