"The front door had neither chain or lock. 'All doors must be left open,' I was told in answer to my question. We went along a dark hallway and climbed some stairs. Hall and stairway were crowded with people. They were lying on the floor, sitting on the steps of the stairway, huddled in coats, blankets and rugs. Mothers held their babies on their laps. Everyone pressed to one side to make way for me. A small boy held a door wide open. ... The room was being lived in by several families, or groups, who had taken over space in the corners and along the walls. There were just two chairs, an oval table and a couch that stood in the middle of the room. There were about twenty people. Most of them slept on the bare floor on blankets or newspapers covering themselves with coats. ... At a glance one could see the absence of any hygienic facilities and the misery that was there. The air was suffocating but cold too."