S'R,— Amongst the students who travelled to the Berlin Festival there
were a number who went not as active supporters of the political aims of the Festival, but individually or as representatives of their college unions to observe the Festival and the University Games. Their . job was accurately and dispassionately to see what went on in Berlin and to report back to their organisations their assessment of the proceedings. I am writing as one of twelve union observers who Were stopped in Austria and there accorded the most humiliating treatment by the American authorities. Despite this, however, almost all of us succeeded in reaching Berlin.
It is therefore amazing to see the assertion in the article What Way for Yopth by another visitor to Berlin (issue of August 24th) that the percenthge of non-Communists who finally arrived was as low as one per cent. I was able to discover pretty accurately what the views of the small group with whom I travelled across Austria were, and would hesitate to say that genuine Communists predolinated.
I think your correspondent is also rather Ilifair to the XI World University Games ; unfortunately when they opined I was still under armed guard at Saalfelden, and did not reach *pin in time to see them. Nevertheless, the actual standard seems to be well in keeping with the tradition of the Games, -which have been organised on this basis since 1930. The fact that there was no British team is a reflection of the one-sided policy of the University Athletics Union, a body which on many occasions has shown itself not to be above politics in student sport.
Naturally there were numerous things which we observers found unsavoury about the Festival ; if we had got to Berlin earlier we might have found more. It was difficult, however, to try, as your correspondent does, to estimate the normal life of young people in Eastern Germany in terms of the demonstrations and camp-life we saw at Berlin, and I. would question some of his conclusions. He is also relying too highly on the credulity of your readers in attempting to obscure the success of many aspects of the Festival. It gave the opportunity for students of different nations and viewpoints to meet in a spirit of friendship. (None need have been embarrassed by the word " friendship.") For instance, I was able to meet students from Russia and talk to them of our work and relations between us, I was able to see their best cultural performers and they were able to see some of ours. The same was also true for other countries. S. A. HALL. 22 Beresford Road, Harrow, Middlesex.
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