MOSCOW’S SPIRIT

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 21, 20 October 1941, Page 7

MOSCOW’S SPIRIT

Grim Determination Of Citizens (British Official Wireless and Press Assn.) LONDON, October 17. The Moscow radio stated: “Moscow is on guard, ready to repel the brutal invader. Everywhere there is grim resolution and determination among the people of Moscow to defend the city. Home guards and trained reserves are ceaselessly marching to the front line, and fighters are continuously patrolling the skies over our city.” The “Izvestia” stated: “In any advance on Moscow, the Germans will beobliged to pass over mountains of their own dead. Hundreds of Russians are holding out to the last, giving their lives unflinchingly in order to hold their positions. They are fighting against heavy odds, but the Germans are paying a terrible price for every inch of ground they take.” A broadcaster at Leningrad relayed a message to Moscow stating: Citizens of Moscow, take heart from us. Hitler, in September, gave the order to take Leningrad within three days, but for three weeks it is we who have been attacking. We are driving the Germans from one fortified point attei another. The Fascists are pressing hard to Moscow, but they will never see Moscow. Let us double our strength and achieve victory, at whatever cost. “Whole Nation is Rising.” The Moscow “Pravda” says: “There is grave danger, and the whole nation has only one wish and one thought, and that is to block the road of the enemy thid annihilate the enemy. Hi ler feared a long war, a war against the three most powerful countries in the world, well knowing that aid from Britain and the United States will come to Russia from overseas. Therefore he is in a hurry. Therefore he has thrown into battle all his reserves, the troops of his vassals, and a stream of tanks. “Now it is necessary to strengthen our ranks, and no losses will weaken our determination to annihilate the enemy. The more towns and villages that are occupied and destroyed by the enemy, the more the Soviet nation will hate him. In the hour of danger our nation will not know the feeling of panic. Now, when the situation has become more complicated, we shall be more brave than ever before. "The whole nation is rising. . In the factories production is increasing and more tanks, planes, and guns are being produced. Our Red Army is getting new reserves Partisans behind the front are indicting losses on the enemy . The Soviet people are looking danger straight in the eye, knowing well their own strength and tlie strength of their allies. Hitler has thrown into battle all his forces, but the Soviet people are confident of victory.” ... Saying that tlie peril to Moscow will strike the sympathetic imagination of the whole British people, “The Times' adds: “Hitler may, even now, cherish tlie illusion that if his generals succeed in hoisting tlie swastika over the Kremlin. Russia is defeated. Moscow will fight desperately, as Leningrad lias fought, to keep the invader at bay. But if the men and women of Moscow were once more overwhelmed by foreign hordes, Russia would still live and conquer.”