Konstantin Simonov, editorial staff of Red Star:

New Zealand Listener, Volume 15, Issue 369, 19 July 1946, Page 22

Konstantin Simonov, editorial staff of Red Star:

"My dear friends -- I want to say ‘friends’ because if I said ‘colleagues’ I could say that still in Moscow, Iam deeply moved because I am to-day for the first time in my life in America, and America is a country that I have dreamed about since childhood. "I see that the majority of those of you who are here are older than I am. I am 30 years old, but I still have a right to speak here because certainly the majority of the blood that was shed for victory in this war came from men of my generation, I think that applies equally to the Soviet Union and to America. "I want now to talk about myself. My own basic personal desire is that my son, who is now seven years old, should not have to live through what I have had to live through in this life. It is very bad when fathers think a great deal about themselves and little about their children. I don’t belong among fathers like that and I don’t believe that those who ‘are in this room with me do either. There are many differences between us in our points of view, but I think in respect to this it is clear that we are . agreed. None of us wants our children to live through what we have had to live through. "This war did not begin either in 1939 or 1941. Nor did it finish on the 9th of May or on the 15th of August of last year when first the capitulation of Germany and then capitulation of Japan were signed. It began a good deal earlier, and it hasn’t finished yet, and those who think it has finished are bad fathers and bad mothers. . "I know that here in this room there are all kinds of people. I know that many are not agreed with me on very many different questions. But I don’t think there is a man in this room who could look at me and say, ‘No, Mr. Simonov, you are wrong. In 15 or 20 years I want to leave my home and leave my family and children and go off to war.’ I don’t count myself a coward, but I have had my fill of war. I don’t want war, and I believe that the people in this room this afternoon agree with me. "I believe that among journalists and writers there are all kinds of people, some good and some bad, but I believe that all of them, without exception, can exert an enormous influence on the ° people. Every man has his own weaknesses and his own mistakes. I think that the war with Fascism has not. ended and, therefore, I think that for us writers everywhere it is too early to demobilise our spirits. Let us stand for a while still on the alert. Let our people go back to peace, but we writers should remain mobilised, on the alert against Fascism, "Let us together, writers and newspaper men in Russia and in America, think about our children. Let. us think about those who are growing uf in this country and those who are growing up in Russia. If we think about them and think about them honestly, we will find an answer to our problems. I love very much my children and the future. I think you do, too. That is all honest men can say." . :