Still the Land of Liberty A small symptom can sometimes re- veal much about popular feelings. When Jerzy Putrament, a member of the Polish delegation to the United Nations, returned recently from New York to Warsaw, he published a ser- ies of articles on his impressions of America. Putrament is a Communist of long standing, and his account is of .course biased. However, the Spirit of Geneva still prevails in Eastern Eu- rope, and therefore Putrament’s report is not confined solely to the standard abuse and hatred. It contains some genuine information, some descrip- tions of American cities and of indus- tries (including the main Ford plant) ; and here and there are phrases com- plimentary to the American people.
Putrament’s story is being serialized in Przeglad Kulturalny (“Cultural Weekly”), and the public has shown an immediate reaction. The maga- zine’s sales have tripled. Everybody in Poland wants to read about Amer- ica. The official journal, Nowa Kul- tura, has commented with heavy irony that all of a sudden Przeglad Kultur- alny has become a national “bestsel- ler” — accenting the irony by using the word “bestseller” in English. Moscow’s Student Exchange
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