Richard Lauterbach
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Richard Edward Lauterbach (June 18, 1914,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
- September 20, 1950,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
) was the ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine Moscow bureau chief during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Background

Lauterbach was born in New York in 1914. He studied China and the Far East under Professor
John K. Fairbank John King Fairbank (May 24, 1907September 14, 1991) was an American historian of China and United States–China relations. He taught at Harvard University from 1936 until his retirement in 1977. He is credited with building the field of China s ...
(later, an namous " China Hand) at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
.


Career

Lauterbach was among a group of several journalists employed by ''Time'' magazine including John Scott that demanded publisher
Henry Luce Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an American magazine magnate who founded ''Time'', ''Life'', '' Fortune'', and ''Sports Illustrated'' magazines. He has been called "the most influential private citizen in the Amer ...
fire
Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer and intelligence agent. After early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), he defected from the Soviet u ...
as head of the foreign news department because of Chambers views toward
Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...
and Soviet Communism. Lauterbach was ''Time's'' Moscow bureau correspondent. According to
Jack Soble Jack Soble (May 15, 1903 – 1967) was a Lithuanian who, together with his brother Robert Soblen, penetrated Leon Trotsky's entourage for Soviet intelligence in the 1920s. Later, in the United States, he was jailed, with his wife Myra, on ...
, Lauterbach threatened to resign rather than write articles critical of the Soviet Union. Soble recommended Lauterbach for recruitment to the
KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
. In January 1944, Lauterbach was part of the delegation of Western correspondents who visited the graves in
Katyn forest Katyn ( ; ) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') in Smolensky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located approximately to the west of Smolensk, the administrative center of the oblast. The village had a population of 1,737 in 2007. Geography I ...
at the invitation of the Soviets. He believed the Soviet version that the Germans were the perpetrators. Lauterbach was one of the first American journalists to write about the liberation of
Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
. After visiting the
Majdanek Majdanek (or Lublin) was a Nazi concentration and extermination camp built and operated by the SS on the outskirts of the city of Lublin during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. It had three gas chambers, two wooden gallows, ...
camp near
Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...
in 1944, Lauterbach described how the impact of the "full emotional shock came at a giant warehouse chock-full of people's shoes, more than 800,000 of all sizes, shapes, colors, and styles.... In some places the shoes had burst out of the building like corn from a crib. It was monstrous. There is something about an old shoe as personal as a snapshot or a letter. I looked at them and saw their owners: skinny kids in soft, white, worn slippers; thin ladies in black highlaced shoes; sturdy soldiers in brown military shoes..." Lauterbach, then "associate editor of LIFE," wrote a January 1, 1945, ''Life'' magazine article marking Stalin's birthday, entitled "Stalin at 65." Lauterbach wrote that Stalin was driven to "push through collectivization of farms at any cost, to build up the morale, to promote the
Stakhanovite The Stakhanovite movement was a Mass movement (politics), mass cultural movement for Workforce, workers established by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Communist Party in the 1930s Soviet Union. Its promoters encouraged Rationalization (e ...
speed-up movement, to make peace with Hitler for enough time to plan and build for the war he knew was coming...." He quotes Stalin: "Those who think I would ever embark on the adventurous path of conquest blatantly underestimate my sense of realities." He closes by saying that Stalin had made his greatest contribution "to the workers of the world by establishing socialism in one country, by raising the economic level of the masses in Russia to new highs by setting up the Soviet Union as the shining example". After World War II, Lauterbach was a
Nieman Fellow The Nieman Fellowship is a fellowship from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. It awards multiple types of fellowships. Nieman Fellowships for journalists The Nieman Fellowship is an award given to journalists by the Nieman ...
in 1947 at Harvard's Nieman Foundation for Journalism and wrote his book ''Danger from the East'' while there. The book received a favorable review in the ''Nieman Reports'': "Lauterbach's is the first good account written about the Japanese occupation," thought the review did caution, "One does not have to agree with everything Lauterbach says to recommend his book as one of the best on the Far East." Lauterbach died of polio in New York in 1950, aged just 36.


Legacy

The Richard E. Lauterbach Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Civil Liberties has been established by the
Authors Guild The Authors Guild is the United States' oldest and largest professional organization for writers and provides advocacy on issues of free expression and copyright protection. Since its founding in 1912 as the Authors League of America, it has coun ...
of the Authors League of America.


Bibliography

*
These Are the Russians
' (1945) *
Through Russia's Back Door
' (1947) *
Danger From the East
' (NY: Harper & Bros., 1947) *


References


Sources

* *
Sam Tanenhaus Sam Tanenhaus (born October 31, 1955) is an American historian, biographer, and journalist. He currently is a writer for '' Prospect''. Early years Tanenhaus received his B.A. in English from Grinnell College in 1977 and a M.A. in English Liter ...
, ''Whittaker Chambers'' (New York: Random House, 1997), 182. *Interlocking Subversion in Government Departments, Report of the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws to the Committee of the Judiciary, United States Senate, 83rd Congress, 1st Session, July 30, 1953. * Robert E. Herzstein
Henry Luce, Marshall, and China: The. Parting of the Ways in 1946
George C. Marshall Foundation, 1998.


External links



{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauterbach, Richard 1914 births 1950 deaths American expatriates in the Soviet Union American reporters and correspondents Esquire (magazine) people Nieman Fellows