and waged a victorious struggle against the invaders, so now
for already over a year the Soviet people, under the guidance
of their great leader, have been devotedly carrying out the
plan for the country's rehabilitation. Enormous tasks con-
front us in the restoration of industry, agriculture and trans-
port, in the rebuilding of demolished towns and villages, and
all the Soviet people are now absorbed in this labour of res-
toration, in this heroic and titanic task of restoring their
mills and factories, power stations and railways, and the
wrecked and demolished homes of millions of families. Tens
of millions of people are conscientious^ working on the new
Stalin Plan for their country's economic revival and recon-
struction.
In these conditions reparations are of no little economic
importance, as well as of enormous political significance, in
that they offer a certain moral satisfaction to our people,
who cannot acquiesce in a situation where countries whose
armies for many long months tyrannized and wrought
destruction on the territory of the U.S.S.R. should go un-
punished and not assume at least Isome share of material re-
sponsibility for the miseries they inflicted on the Soviet
Union.
The Soviet people have no misgivings regarding the feasi-
bility of these new and enormous tasks that confront them
in the economic rehabilitation and technical reconstruction
of their country. The very Soviet State is so constructed, and
enjoys such support among the working people, and is
headed by so great a leader as Stalin, that we, Soviet peo-
ple, are confident that the rebuilding of o-nr country is in
reliable hands and on the right road. We shall strive to carry
out the five-year plan sooner than the time indicated. And
we are certain that our country w^ll soon be able to tackle
new and still more majestic economic tasks than those it
tackled before the war.
1RG