Lidia

Although that last week of August 1913, the Bern newspapers were full of unrest in the Balkans, revolution in China and Mexico and other disturbing events in the world, they printed many articles about the Esperanto congress. 'Welcome!' cried Der Bund. 'From all parts of the world, by ship and by train, hundreds of people are traveling at this hour to the capital of Switzerland to the ninth Esperanto World Congress.

'They wear a little green star in their buttonholes, the sign of hope (espero), and they all speak the same lovely language . . . Origin or extraction, language and religion, do not form an obstacle for any of them during these days, as the common language and the peaceful attitude make all equal and remove all the difficulties that are common to other international conventions.

'All public and hidden enemies of the international auxiliary language should cast a glance at this mixed meeting . . . Many of them would then suddenly have a different opinion about the utopia they enjoy condemning with a superior smile.'

The Casino, a stately building of sandstone, overlooked the green ribbon of the Aare River and commanded a splendid view of the Bemese Alps. On Monday Lidia was with the congress-goers who crowded into its Grand Hall. Attending the yearly Esperanto congresses would be an important part of her life as an adult, and this first experience made a strong impression on her, as she observed the Esperantists' great respect and adoration for her father. Lidia watched and listened as applause and cheers broke out when Dr Zamenhof stepped up to the podium, followed by the Esperanto dignitaries and congress delegates. In the midst of the cheering, the notes of the Esperanto anthem La Espero rang out in the deep tones of the organ, and a thousand voices sang the words of Ludwik Zamenhof:

Into the world has come a new feeling, Through the world goes a mighty call; On light wind-wings Now may it fly from place to place.

Not to the sword thirsting for blood Does it draw the human family:

To the world eternally at war It promises holy harmony.

Beneath the holy banner of hope Throng the soldiers of peace, And swiftly spreads the Cause Through the labor of the hopeful.

Strong stand the walls of a thousand years Between the sundered peoples; But the stubbom bars shall leap apart, Battered to pieces by holy love.

On the neutral foundation of common speech, Understanding one another, The peoples in concord shall make up One great family circle.

Our busy band of comrades

Shall never weary in the work of peace,

Till humanity's grand dream

Shall become the truth of eternal blessing.

After the welcoming speeches were given, a gold medal was presented to Dr Zamenhof in gratitude for his years of labor, and a girl in Swiss folk costume offered a bouquet of red roses and white edelweiss to Klara. Applause exploded like a hurricane, one observer noted, the audience 'sparing neither its palms nor its throats'.

Later, in the street outside, several hundred Esperantists assembled to parade through Bem, green banners and national flags flying above their heads. With a crowd of curious Bemese watching, the diverse collection of mostly foreigners marched to the square in front of the Federal Palace to sing the Swiss National Anthem - in Esperanto. Afterward they marched back to the Casino, where the Zamenhof family was sitting on the balcony. As they stood before Dr Zamenhof they cheered and sang La Espero.

The newspaper Der Bund reported that the official banquet held Wednesday at noon 'again filled the Grand Hall of the Casino . . . A well-made statue of the father of Esperanto, Dr Zamenhof, encircled with a laurel wreath, was placed on the podium which was decorated with the Esperanto star on a white field in a beautiful flower arrangement. The appearance ofDr Zamenhof- he came with his wife and a lovely blond little daughter - was greeted with a lively cry of celebration.' There were so many dinner speeches, the reporter commented wryly, that 'you really knew you were at a language conference!'

lidia

This was Zamenhofs first congress as an *ordinary Esperantist'. The year before, he had formally renounced his position of leadership in the Esperanto movement so that he could devote his time to Homaranismo. 'Esperanto is now so firmly established,' he told an interviewer in Bern, 'that I wish that Esperantists would no longer regard me as "chief" and "master". I have transmitted the language to the Esperantists themselves ... I have always thought that it is not fitting that the name of any one person should be identified with our movement. Someone may not like my political or religious ideas, or my personal character, and he might thus conceive objections to Esperanto. Everything which I do or say he would link with the new language; and it is better for the success of the movement that henceforth I stand not before the Esperantists but among them.'