GERMAN IMPRESSIONS
9
From 1933 to 1939 I saw little of him because I was scarcely
ever in Germany, but I remember staying with him for a few days in
1934. At that time he did not concern himself with politics, but his
flat had become a centre where every visitor came and upbraided
the regime, usually from a Catholic point of view. It so happened
that I told him there were a few people in England who thought
that although the Nazis stood for many things of which the English
should disapprove, nevertheless there was an idealist side to the
movement, and that Hitler himself was an idealist unaware of the
evil of some of the men around him.
C-- got up from the chair in his study where he was sitting
when I said this, and said:
'If
you think that, come for a walk with
me.' We went along the shore of the Rhine. When we had got almost
as far as Godesberg, he stopped and pointing with his stick, said :
'Do you see that hotel? Well, that's the hotel where those rascals,
Hitler with them, stayed a few weeks ago, and deliberately plotted
the murders which took place on June 30th.' (Incidentally, it was the
hotel where Chamberlain later visited Hitler). He looked at me with
an expression of finality . Then, surprisingly, he burst out laughing.
We walked back to the house.
During the next years I heard from friends that his life became
increasingly difficult. At first he seemed indifferent to the Nazis and
went on teaching, while refusing to do any of the things which the
Nazis required of him. I suppose that later on he must have com–
promised to some extent, or he would have been imprisoned. Ap–
parently he became more and more unhappy and was driven into
greater isolation. Sylvia Beach, who saw him in Paris in 1936 or '37,
told me that then, before he would talk to her, he insisted on taking a
taxi to a cafe in a suburb, and even then he kept on looking round
to see if he was observed. He had to stop teaching French and took
to Media:val Latin. Then, finally, he gave up teaching almost entirely.
He and his wife saw almost no one. His reputation became gradually
smothered until he was scarcely known amongst the younger Ger–
mans. Ten years ago he was well known inside as well as outside
Germany. Today, in Germany, he is only known to scholars.
The rooms which had once been well lit, pleasantly furnished,
were now bare and dingy. As I came in through the front door, I saw
another door on my right with a notice on it: NO ADMITTANCE.
FOR OFFICERS ONLY. This had been put up by the Americans
who had requisitioned part of the flat when they were in Bonn. It
was being kept up as a memento.
