The condemned ate and slept with the others. Before the eyes of the prisoners, they were led out at night and hanged in the prison yard, so that in the cells “were heard the cries and moans of the hanged.” All the prisoners suffered from the nervous strain. “Koba slept soundly,” says Vereshchak, “or calmly studied Esperanto (he was convinced that Esperanto was the international language of the future).”

En tiu renkontiĝo Prezidanto Ho parolis angle kaj france kun la gastoj. Turninte sin al polaj delegitoj li subite demandis: “Ĉi tie ĉeestas reprezentantoj de Pollando, la patrujo de Doktoro Zamenhof, la kreinto de la internacia lingvo? Do kiu el vi povas paroli Esperanton?”. Du el ili levis siajn brakojn. Ho Chi Minh montriĝis ĝoja kaj de tiu ĉi momento li babiladis kun tiuj poloj en Esperanto.

As long as the Jew has not become the master of the other peoples, he must, whether he likes it or not, speak their languages, and only if they would be his slaves then they might all speak a universal language so that their domination will be made easier (Esperanto!).

I didn’t realise how closely the Esperanto movement was tied historically to the left movement. But it makes sense. Pity Stalin and Ho Chi Minh never got together and used their resources to set up international academies.