Show ghost of lauivaa recalls memories of belter days by now analyst and commentator washington at the end of one of those few pleasant aemmer days which washington gives us 1 I was walking homeward from a mission in a part of town which I 1 visited recently I 1 L found myself in a neighborhood which seemed to produce a slightly nostalgic feeling the street took a quick upturn up turn and for or 9 4 short block black was quite steep st most moat of the houses were now new but there was one with a colored glass window such as graced many a homo home that I 1 visited as a child such win aln dows were usually on the staircase landing at the turn and when the sun shone through them it tossed a handful of jewels on the carpet I 1 always wanted to pick then up that I 1 thought as I 1 walked along Is 18 nostalgic childhood memories but awas I 1 was wrong soon I 1 realized that the memory which tho the stained glass window evoked was much more recent but AI it did stir ghosts the ghost of a man band and tho the ghost of a notion nation fortiere for there Js Is noi HO reason why dead nations which really never quite died must not ilyo on in some form and washington Is 4 not without such disembodied sov I 1 had seen the man whose memory the multicolored window had stirred toy for the first time when he be was descending a stairway with just ju such a window behind him ile he was ivas alfred bil manigand mants mania and ho he died in july of this yeas year ile he was tho the minister of the republic of latvia which had died eight years ago but according to the state stata department was and Is in of such corporeal quality that thai along with its sister republics of lithuania end and estonia it still possesses diplomatic representatives who are recognized on equal terms with those of living nations it was la in august annual of 1040 that tho the red army marched marche dinto into the baltic states and they became by force maj majeune majeure eure territorially Ayar A part kor of the ho U 8 5 R cut but the three little democracies were prepared politically it pot diplomatically A month or so s earlier by duo aue process of pa bailla illa law a decleo was promulgated mul gated which mado the latvian minister to london chief of the latvian state if tho the russians took i over he her r territory today charles charle s aarena to britain the hoad of tho the diplomatic corps of tho republic of latvia ants continued to serve his ghost government in tiie tho united states after the russian seizure up to then he ha had helped to keep S th bonds firm bet between w een us and his r little country whose people reached i the shore s odthe of tho baltic back in the i early days of european history iloni alona with the 0 only two other re groups which are liro at least diguls iti cally if not ethically re to ta the ifie latts latta the tha finns and F the magyars magyari Magy ars tho the last president ot of the free republic of latvia carl was american trained mined lie ila lived in nebraska where he be waited la in exile and worked for his count rys imla pend pen dence otice ile ho studied agrical agri cul ture lire and when ho be returned to latvia in that hopeful bendey or of E Eu ropes new republics after world war 1 I he carried back idem ideas ono one of them was the 4 it 11 clubs latvia was 00 60 per cent agrical agri cul t duj al 1 and among its population of 1 i only 71 Y two million the 4 11 mover movement nent grew adapted of course to its now new environment to when I 1 heard of it last lasi before the iron curtain descended there were interchanges of visits between tho the countries and whenever the big encampment took place in washington tho tha little latvian legation echoed to the cheerful ful chatter of american children who drank lemonade and heard the tha big smiling man with tho the espres siv ruddy bonds tell ot of his coun 1 try and show pictures of the chil dren there thera et at work on their projects or going through their folk dances in tho the guy gay costumes of their land the american kids kada looked at the ho paintings that hat covered the walls for bilmanis BIl mants was quite a n collector they were allowed gingerly to try the tha great chair which napoleon Na polton had taken back bach to france from moscow examine asinethe ami nethe the delightful little ivories tho the china and the ha other dart which filled the ceat ei rallon toti and then one by one they tripped up tip the stairs to look at the life size model of it the latvian girl in the traditional robes of the tha country wearing the symbolic symbol necklace mad of preat great discs ot of ember amber amber had been a latvian article of export since the earliest earli eit traders from the tha mediterranean made their way to this northern land for it was a much admi admired reil ornament for the ladles ladies of ancient rome borne and greece A good necklace was supposed to til be worth an arabian mount if thera Is any amber being balna coli I 1 lec lecter tedon on latvian beaches today it la Is being turned into the tha coffers of the kremlin 1 I can well imagine what happened to the 4 II 11 eions when the reds stepped in they are about as closely akin to the communist youth as the boys boy scouts were to the hitler jugend but if 11 we are to believe nil all we hear latvia Is resisting communization only this week I 1 L received a copy of the tha baltic review Rev lev printed in sweden HMO here isono is paragraph with the coming scholastic year war games will be introduced as an obligatory subject in tho the schools cfall of all the constituent soviet republics writes cina 1 the organ of the communist party in latvia the tha paper goeson goes on to say that the international situation demands that children bo be taught tho the art of war as early as possible military discipline should be instilled ini tilled in them even before they come to school their toys should be model tanks and planes and so calad childrens Ime me chonos chanos or building boxes should consist of parts whereof these objects can be constructed ted the author relates about his trip to russia to study soviet education and military training and remarks that in this respect the baltic republics are very backward as yet pupils of seven and eight in the schools of moscow had displayed quite surprising knowledge as regards military matters ten year olds had been experts with the rifles and girls had been as competent as boys even tiny tots tour and five had known tho the rudiments of military drill how useful this proficiency may be in a g guerilla war exclaims the author what la Is going to happen to the next generation in tho the V 8 S K R itself and in the countries dominated by he her listen to io wa this farther extrait extract from the battle review co communists 8 as ideas j about education every soviet school manual every work of fiction for children and young people every periodical for the rising generation is a manifestation ife of a war ilke spirit worthy of the huns of old annu merable are the glorifications in them of all sorts of heroic exploits of soviet people during world war ll II to enter a military school Is represented as the highest alm aim of every soviet boy and CO 60 per cent of the pictures show guns tanks infantry or cavalry exercises picture books tor for tiny tots exhibit children playing with rifles tanks and grenades every game taught to the young has a military purpose the little bit of space that is left over from these aggressive and M W N w K alk Q 0 K t 0 40 0 ALFRED BILMANIS shoji ghost of a nation bellicose writings is used to extol the merits of the communist party find and its leaders lenin and stalin all this literary production exudes such a hate tor for the whole world tor for the bourgeoise imperialism and capital that the books of tho the hitler jugend seem mild nursery rhymes in comparison that thai Is not the kind of a state of which alfred 1311 manla dreamed alo hoped one day 0 to o return with his valuable possessions and build a museum in ids his own restored country though ho bo continued to servo serve as minister his ha funds ran low and he had to 0 o part with many of his things however ho he did save somo some of the paintings napoleons chair and the lad lady and her beads perhaps someday others may realize his dream some happy day when freedom in europe Is returned and the ghost republics of the baltic become real once more for the people who inhabit them 4 1 F I 1 |