free of charge. She got money for the journey and managed to obtain “return parcels” for him to improve his diet.
When Mrs H. is not busy at work or at home (she cooks, does the laundry, and tidies up herself) she devotes her free time to social work within the narrow framework of the House Committee. She is devoid of the snobbish careerist ambitions characteristic of a certain category of activists who desire honours and the title of “chairwoman,” “secretary,” etc. She fulfils all her duties dictated by the present situation. She is sensitive and strongly reacts to all manifestations of our misery. She also intervenes, equally vigorously, with various “influential persons” in [60] matters concerning both herself and her poor neighbours.
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In the tragic, destructive momentum of our present we can spot clear signs of creative pursuits—the slow birth and development of the energy that lays foundations for the future. Women play a significant role in the construction of our reality and their role is expressed in two main forms: in their efforts to slow down the pace of the cultural-moral decline, and in their new, creative endeavours [. . .], who having been forced [. . .] totally alien to them [. . .] exhibit extraordinary talents and can lift their work to a level of high productivity. Yet their work is clearly not creative. But there is another category of women who are veritable embodiments of the saying “the right person for the job.” The war not only did not rob them of the opportunity to work in the sphere of their calling, but also gave them an opportunity to become independent and for their talents to have a chance to soar. In the horrible conditions of our existence they still make surpassing achievements and fight bravely and with an idealist’s zeal for causes which surely will become a foundation for our future revival.
Mrs B.382 is one of the women privileged by fate in this sense.
