He attributed his desertion to the influence of his parents, who, he said, were "deeply religious" He had been told it would be "mean-ingles" to fight for the Soviet Union. He fed into the Japanese lines on August 9.
Political commissars address the troops once every other day principally to compare the condition of workers in Soviet Russia and those in capitalist countries, Shamov said. This was a favourite subject, he added.
"Regarding the conflict in China, the commissars were alleged by Shamov to have said that the Japanese would soon be wiped out since they were numerically inferior to the Chinese. "For every Chinese killed, a Japanese dies," the commissers were reported to have said "Soon there won't be any Japanese left" They were also said to have attributed China's. strength to the activities of the Chinese Communist Party.
Both deserters said they envied the lot of White Russians in Manchoukuo in comparison to the living conditions prevailing in Russia, where food and clothing were obtain—Domei.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.