Peace talks with Russia

"The Richthofen brothers arrived in Brest-Litovsk in mid January, and had their first look at Bolsheviks, which was fascinating to the unworldly young Prussians. Contrary to the German officers, whos grey dress uniforms and black boots were immaculate, the people's deputies took great pride in wearing the symbols of their revolution - workers' and peasants' clothing, dirty and foul-smelling from having been worn on the farms and in the factories. It was not fun for the Richthofens to mingle with the Communists, but it was interesting, at least at first. Manfred became particularly fascinated by Madam Bicenko, undoubtedly because he was amazed to see a woman negotiate something important as a peace treaty. He and Lothar also met Count Ottokar Czernin, the leader of the Austro-Hungarian delegation, with whom they talked about chivalry and air fighting. They soon tired of the pomp and politics, however, and, since their presence had been noted by most of the Bolsheviks (without noticeable effect), they were excused for bison- and elk-hunting in the snow-covered forest of Bialowieza, which had belonged to the Czar, but which was then held by the Germans. After that, Lothar visited Schweidnitz and Manfred went to Adlershof to look at new scouts.