Visitor Bound for Illinois

Almost lost in the stir created by the visit of Winston Churchill and his military entourage was another European statesman: stubby, sad-eyed Eduard Benes, Czecho-Slovakia's President in Exile. At the White House, where he was an overnight guest, Eduard Benes got a warm welcome; Franklin Roosevelt promptly raised to Embassy status the U.S. Legation credited to the Czech Government in London (see p. 82). Then the two Presidents sat up far into the night, ranging over the field of Central European relations.

Next day, in a soft voice and broken accent, Eduard Benes addressed the two Houses of Congress, recalled for his listeners Bismarck's once-famed phrase: "Whoever is master of Bohemia is master of Europe." Added the Czech President: "Europe must, therefore, never allow any nation except the Czechs to rule it [Bohemia], since that nation does not lust for domination."

After six more days at Washington's Blair House, official stopping place for visitors of state, Eduard Benes was off on a brief tour of the U.S. Notable stop: Lidice, Ill.

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