When it came time to leave Lima, things looked somewhat better than when she arrived. The course had been a success: she had sixty- two students, more than in New York. Before Lidia had come, there had been only one Esperantist in Lima - Luella Beecher. After Lidia left, there were over sixty, two thirds of whom were Baha'fs, and they formed an Esperanto organization with Luella Beecher as president. But the course had not been a financial success: Lidia was perplexed when she was given a much smaller sum of money than she had expected. It turned out that almost half of the students had only paid a dollar for the lessons.
In spite of the financial and other difficulties that had arisen for Lidia in America, Della was changing her mind about Lidia's returning to Europe. Even though the 'pemicious gossip' was 'still being propagated, especially the communist angle', she confided to Josephine, the prospect of Lidia's retuming to Poland filled Della with fear for her. 'After her hard year here, to go back to that!'
The situation was indeed worsening in Europe as one international crisis succeeded another. In Germany, the summer of 1938 saw a 'tidal wave of terror' againstJews. Mass arrests had begun in the spring, and the concentration camps were being tumed into forced labor camps. But if Lidia had lost hope that peace could triumph over war, she did not reveal it. In a radio speech over WBLY in Lima, she spoke of hearing a short-wave Esperanto broadcast from Bmo, Czechoslovakia. 'The atmospheric conditions were very unfavorable on that day,' she said. 'A thunderstorm raged . . . but through that thunderstorm the words of the Esperanto language reached us clearly, words spoken about love between people and peace on earth.' It seemed, she said, iike a symbol of the present world. Winds blow. Thunder rolls. The earth seems to tremble. But in spite of that, people of good will extend their hands to people of other lands. They wish to understand. They wish to love. They wish to live in peace.' It was a poignant symbol indeed. Political thunderstorms did deluge Czechoslovakia in the summer of 1938 and that country did not have long to live in peace.
Because Lidia was in America, she could not attend the Thirtieth Universal Congress of Esperanto which was held in London in 1938. But she sent a message to the Union of Esperantist Women to be read at the congress. Although war seemed inevitable, she urged them to work even harder for peace. 'At a time like this,' she told them, 'when the horizon of the world is covered by thick clouds, more than ever we women must exert all the peaceful efforts of our hearts. We must loudly proclaim that we want peace on earth. But so that our words are not only vain sounds, we must build. The foundation upon which we must build is the hearts . . .'
Lidia Zamenhof, above all, could not lose hope. After all, Esperanto, as she told an American reporter, 'means one who hopes'.
50. The course in New York City
51. A group at the EANA Congress in Cleveland, July 1938, on the roof of the Hotel Allerton. (1) EmestDodge, (2) RoanOrloff, (3)JamesMorton, (^jCharles Simon, (5) Samuel Martin, (6) Lidia, (7) Louella Beecher
52. The Peace Pageant at Green Acre. Lidia as Zaynab
53. The cast in costume. Roan Orloff thirdfrom right, Lidia secondfrom left
TWENTY-FIVE
Green Acre
Although Lidia could not go to the London congress, her presence was the highlight of the Congress of the Esperanto Association of North America in July in Cleveland, Ohio. At the opening session, she greeted the congress-goers and told them: 'A great majority of the American people still does not feel the need of an international language. A great majority of mankind still does not understand the necessity of mutual understanding. To us belongs the lofty task of awakening in human hearts the consciousness of the solidarity of the human race, of the brotherhood of men wherever they are born, of whatever nation, race, faith.'
During the business sessions, Ernest Dodge reported, Lidia was called on several times 'to speak for instruction on some point or other'. She gave several talks including one at the Sŭnday moming nonsectarian service on the theme of human brotherhood, and at a special meeting on the subject of'Esperanto in the Service of Religion', at which it was discussed how Catholics, Protestants, the Society of Friends and the Baha'fs used Esperanto.
When Charles Simon first met Lidia in Detroit, he had leamed that she was 'quite a determined and strong-willed individual, notinclined to deviate very much from her established practices'. In connection with the Cleveland congress, a public meeting had been planned at which the mayor of Cleveland was to speak, and Lidia was to give a demonstration Cseh lesson, which usually lasted an hour. Dr Simon thought this was a bit too long, since there were other speakers on the program, so he asked her if she couldn't shorten her lesson.
'I could, sir,' she answered, 'But I don't want to!'
The demonstration 'came ofFbeautifully', he later recalled, 'and the audience reacted to it quite enthusiastically.'
Roan Orloff, who had been named to Lidia's organizing committee, served as her aparato for that lesson. Roan thought it was 'the most brilliant performance I have ever seen,' and Lidia's banquet speech, at which she recounted memories of her childhood and the last years of her father, 'spellbinding. Even when she was silent, her very presence electrified the air.'
The congress adopted a resolution expressing 'to Miss Lidia Zamenhof, talented daughter of the beloved founder of our language . . . our deepest gratitude for the inspiration ofher presence and for her unselfish cooperation in the various congress activities,' and another conveying 'our feelings of appreciation' to the National Spiritual Assembly 'for the great part they have played in making it possible to have Miss Zamenhof in America to spread the Cause of Esperanto throughout this country.'
Lidia continued to believe that the difficulties she had encountered in America would be surmounted, and she was confident she would be given an extension of her visitor's permit so she could continue her Esperanto classes. Although her permit was to expire on September 30, she made plans to begin a six-week course in Cleveland beginning on September 25, followed by a course in Minneapolis.
After the Cleveland congress, Lidia took the train to Maine to rest a few days before the beginning of the Cseh course at Green Acre.
Green Acre was a rambling estate on the banks of the Piscataqua River in Maine. It had been established in 1894 by SarahJ. Farmer as a retreat for the study of religion and philosophy. From an institution representing a variety of views, by 1938 it had become a Baha'1 Summer School and could accommodate about a hundred guests at the Inn, a four-story frame building surrounded by a covered veranda.
That summer, the days at Green Acre began with morning devotions in the Baha'f Hall. Besides Lidia's Esperanto classes, there were afternoon teas at the Ole Bull Cottage and study groups and conferences. In the evenings there might be supper parties, group discussions, musical recitals or lectures, readings from Baha'i literature or the latest moving pictures of Haifa; and on Saturday evenings, dances to a radio victrola in the auditorium of the Inn.
As Lidia had foreseen, the number of students in her Cseh course was small, only ten, but 'enthusiastic', Roan reported. Six had come especially for the course from New York, Philadelphia and Delaware. Some were beginners; others were there to learn the Cseh teaching method. As before, not all who attended paid for the course. 'She has goodheartedly allowed the poorer people to take part gratis,' Roan told Della. One of those who had come to study the Cseh method was Samuel Martin from Emporia, Kansas. Although only fourteen, he was already an enthusiastic and competent Esperantist. He had gone alone to the Cleveland congress, and when the other Esperantists learned he wanted to attend the Green Acre course, they got together and contributed the money to send him there. Years later Samuel Martin remembered Lidia as 'being a very kind and generous soul, with a warm personality; an excellent teacher.'