User:Carson277/Homer Smith, Jr

Homer Smith Jr. (1909 - 1972) was a foreign war correspondent in the Soviet Union during the Second World War. As a student, he studied journalism at the University of Minnesota. In 1932, following trials of the Scottsboro Boys and articles published on the success of the Soviet experiment, Smith made the decision to emigrate to the Soviet Union.

Early Years in Moscow
Homer Smith moved to the Soviet Union in 1932 after years of working for the U.S. Post Office. He arrived at the start of Stalin's second Five-Year Plan, during which Smith witnessed the poverty and starvation caused by the push for collectivization. Throughout his first years in Moscow, Smith tried to remain open minded to the Soviet experiment; however, he would eventually become disillusioned with Soviet practices.

As a foreigner, and more importantly an African American, Homer Smith received privileges by the Soviet government. Despite the food shortage, he was given passes to a food market known as Insab which was well-stocked with delicacies exclusive to the foreign community. At the height of the famine, Smith ventured to Ukraine where he learned that collectivized farming was not yielding food supplies at levels that Stalin had promised. While visiting Ukraine, Smith recounted being harangued by peasants who lost their farms after refusing to participate in collectivized farming. This experience caused him to become disillusioned with Soviet economic policies; in his own words, in the Soviet Union "People were expendable. Five year plans were not."

In 1932, Homer Smith was contacted by the Meschrabporn Film Corporation of Moscow to work on the production of a film Black and White. The film was going to serve as Soviet propaganda illustrating racism in the United States. Smith was able to meet prominent members of the Black community such as Langston Hughes, Wayland Rudd, Taylor Gordon, Loren Miller, Ted R. Poston, and Henry Lee Moon while partnering with the production company. In his free time, Smith frequently attended social events with the members of the film company. In his memoir, Smith recalls moments such as his double date with Langston Hughes and watching Ted R. Poston dance at parties. The initial excitement among the group eventually dissipated following the renewal of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the United States. While most of the travelers returned to the United States after production ended, Homer Smith remained in Moscow. Attempting to escape the summer heat in Moscow, Smith moved to an apartment in the suburb of Marina Roscha. One hot day, Homer Smith's apartment was burglarized – the thieves only managed to take clothing. Disliking his experience in Marina Roscha, Smith quickly returned to Moscow after finding housing accommodations.

Professional Life
Homer Smith's first job in Moscow was as an employee for the Post Office. He studied and assessed the operational status of post offices within the Soviet Union and recommended improvements. After his contract expired, Smith was offered a position as foreman of a smaller department within the Postal Service – in this position he would have to accept a significant salary reduction. In a letter to the Comintern, Smith refers to the offer as a "demotion both in salary and in rank!" Rather than lose faith in the Soviet government, Smith said that he would do anything to uplift Socialism; his main concern was that a demotion would be detrimental to the Socialist cause among African Americans in the United States. In 1935, Smith was invited to a double date by a colleague. After arriving in Pushkin Square, both Smith and his colleague were taken by the secret police to an interrogation room. In his memoir, Smith recalled that his coat was cut open and searched during the interrogation. Afterward, he met his colleague who – to Smith's surprise – looked untouched; he later concluded that his colleague deceived him and acted as a middle man for the NKVD. Following an encounter with the NKVD Smith decided against renewing his contract with the Post Office and instead focused on achieving his goal of becoming a journalist.

In 1936, Smith witnessed the signing of the Stalin Constitution. Initially, he hoped the new constitution would give Russians more civil liberties; however, during the Great Purges of 1938 Smith became disillusioned with the promises of nominal liberty.

During the Second World War, Homer Smith functioned as the only Black journalist stationed in Russia, the only Black journalist stationed on the Russian-German front, and the only Black accredited war correspondent. Initially, the Soviet government sent foreign correspondents to places such as Kuibyshev. While there, Smith visited Borodino where he interviewed a German prisoner of war. Smith was not allowed to ask questions directly to the prisoner. Instead, he had to address his questions to the Russian soldiers who would then communicate the question in English. Of the places he visited during the war, two events left a lasting impression in his mind. The first was the Katyn massacre in which occurred in Poland (at the time Poland had been annexed by Germany). Smith was invited to Katyn to conduct an investigation into the murder of 20,000 polish military officers and intelligentsia. The question of who committed the massacre was subject of international debate after Germany accused the Soviet Union of having committed the atrocity before Polands annexation. In response to the accusation, Stalin invited foreign correspondents to survey the area and conduct interviews a year after the Red Army recaptured the forest. Homer Smith was among the foreign correspondents – he was the only black correspondent invited to conduct an investigation. In 1944, Homer Smith was sent to Crimea to report on the Crimean massacre. In his memoir, Smith recounts witnessing the aftermath of the brutality which occurred – he encountered the bodies of Romanian cavalry and other soldiers lying dead in pits and in the streets. Also in 1944, Smith joined the Moscow Bureau of the Associated Press. During his tenure, he reported on the aftermath of WWII.

Personal Life
During his time in Russia, Homer Smith amassed a support system of influential African Americans and Afro-Russians such as, Catherine and Gregori Pushkin (Alexander Pushkin's descendants), Paul Robeson, and Emma Harris. As a "Moscow neophyte" Smith quickly befriended Catherine Pushkin and Emma Harris who became resources following the collapse of the Black and White film project. Homer Smith first encountered Marie Petrovna, eventually his wife, in 1935 at a students' ball New Year's Eve celebration. In 1938, the two went to the Marriage Bureau and signed their names in the marriage registry. As the Great Purge of 1938 grew in intensity, Smith decided to seek safety with Marie in Kuibyshev. As a foreigner married into a Russian family, he recognized the danger associated with remaining in Moscow during a time when suspicion of foreigners was high. During his time in Kuibyshev, Smith visited a collective farm to report on the experiences of peasants and farmers. As a journalist, Homer Smith traveled to different places in the Soviet Union and reported on the events of the Second World War.

When the war ended, Smith feared that Stalin would regress to the same pre-war repression of Soviets in Moscow; as a result, he moved to Ethiopia and pursued new professional opportunities. For some time, Smith was alone in Ethiopia because Marie was unable to acquire an exit visa from Soviet Russia – eventually, her visa was granted and Marie arrived in Ethiopia from Tehran. In 1962, Smith, Petrovna, and their two children returned to the United States where they lived out the rest of their lives in "what is for her [Marie Petrovna] the Promised Land."