INTERESTING VISIT

KGB MUSEUM and RESTAURANT

The KGB Museum is not far from the Kremlin. We passed uniformed guards as we entered. A rather high-up member of the organization met us in the lobby. His English was good and he had a wonderful sense of humor.

He told us, “The KGB was started in 1917 and has changed its name 13 times. In fact it is in the Book of Guinness for that. The organization is presently known as FSB—Federal Security Bureau.

“KGB agents did not wear their rank when on a mission. The FSB reports directly to the President. Today our biggest problems are terrorism and drugs. We have lost 19 agents, ten in one day a while ago, in the fight on terrorism.”

Moving into one of the display rooms he continued, “The first director of the KGB used furniture in his office that was made in America.” In another room he continued, “The US counterfeited documents so perfectly that it was hard to distinguish them from the real thing. But what eventually gave them away was a high-tech secret. The US used stainless steel staples while the Russians still used a material that rusted and the deception was caught.”

Another room showed different secret devises for spying. One listening devise was discovered thousands of feet under the water. When Gary Powers’s plane was hit by a missile in 1960 his plane broke in two and Powers floated to earth. He had cyanide capsules but chose not to use them. Captured, he spent a year and a half in captivity and was eventually exchanged for some Russian the U.S. was holding.

The guide continued, “After Powers release the building was remodeled and his prison cell became my new office.”

It was an interesting tour and not being into that kind of stuff I cannot determine how good the museum was, but the men were well taken by all the spy stuff. I did enjoy the talk of the guide. Before heading to lunch we stopped briefly in a large, well-stocked KGB grocery/variety store.

We lunched at the Sword and Shield restaurant, which was the old KGB restaurant, located about a block down the street from the KGB museum. Pictures of KGB agents covered the walls. A great western-style salad started the meal, followed by a good borsch, pork and rice and finally topped off with ice cream and tea or coffee. We wondered if the chef was the same one who cooked for Brezhnev, Andropov, and Gorbachev. Probably not.

It was an interesting morning in Moscow, Russia.

PART OF HISTORY

THE ANNE FRANK HOUSE

In Amsterdam we visited the Anne Frank huis (house) early in the morning to avoid the crowds. Our guide told us, “The Germans occupied the Netherlands in May 1940 which started five years of repression, slave labor, terror, hunger, and fear for the Dutch people. When it was all over only one Jew out of four had survived.”

The Anne Frank house was built in 1635 as a merchant’s house. The price of a house  and its taxes  in Amsterdam were determined by its width. So it was common for homes to be two to three stories high, but very narrow and long, extending to the back of the lot. Often an annex house was built behind the original house.

Otto Frank, a displaced German Jew, established a wholesale herb and spice business from his house. Early in 1942 Mr. Frank started converting the annex house into a hiding place by slowly taking items from the main house and placing them in the annex. A hinged bookcase at the base of the staircase concealed the upper two floors and the attic of the annex.

Our guide continued, “The Frank family went into hiding in July 1942. Anne, then thirteen years old, kept a diary of  her life for the 23 months the family hid in the annex attic. Her last entry was August 1, 1944. The German police arrived on August 4 and the family was deported, eventually ending up in Auschwitz concentration camp. Anne died in March 1945 just shy of the war’s end. Mr. Frank was the only member of the family to survive.”

It was a bit unnerving to climb the stairs to see and stand in the rooms where this family had hidden safely for so long. The space was not large. It must have been so difficult to exercise and to be quiet day after day. The fear of discovery must have weighed heavy on the whole family.

One of Mr. Frank’s employees found Anne’s diary and kept it until Mr. Frank’s return to Amsterdam. Anne Frank’s Diary has been published in several languages and over 13 million copies have been printed.

This was a very moving visit and sobering experience.

HAPPY TO LEARN

TRAIN ETIQUETTE

On one trip to France I took the TGV train from Paris to Avignon, the capital of Provence. Our seats were upstairs. We were instructed about the  specific protocol for riding the train. First, one is very quiet; any talking is done at whisper level. Talking on a cell phone is considered rude---yea! If a phone did vibrate, the person immediately got up and hurried out of the car before answering it. I like how the French think regarding cell phone use!

There were many business men on the train. Some were reading, some working at a table and some just resting. No matter what they were doing it was quiet so they could carry on without interruptions or annoyances.

The doors were not automatic; one had to push a button to open them.

The seats were comfortable for the smooth two and a half-hour ride to Avignon. We were given a 10 minute warning so we could be ready to disembark in a timely manner as European trains do not stay in the station long.

The train transfer was quick and easy and in less than 15 minutes all the luggage had been transferred from the train to our van