Masaryk came to impart the latest news to me. It is distressing. The anti-Czechoslovak campaign in Germany is growing daily. Henlein rejects all concessions. For his own part, he would certainly agree to a compromise, but Hitler does not allow it. Runciman’s mission is on the brink of collapse. The German ‘manoeuvres’ are taking their course and tension is mounting both in Germany and outside. What is the purpose of the manoeuvres, which have put more than a million people under arms? Is it a demonstration of force to scare Britain and France, or the preparation for real war? Two days ago, the German envoys to Bucharest and Belgrade made similar démarches on instructions from Berlin. Both declared to their respective foreign ministers that although Germany was striving for a peaceful resolution of the Sudeten problem, the German people’s patience was wearing thin and, if Henlein’s demands were not met quickly, the Germans would have to interfere and render assistance to their brothers on the other side of the border. Fabricius,

Wilhelm Fabricius, German ambassador to Rumania, 1936–41.

the envoy in Rumania, added that if France dared to interfere, the responsibility for the consequences would fall on France, not Germany. Clear enough, isn’t it?!…

The only bright spot in this gloomy picture is today’s communication from Moscow, relayed to Masaryk from Prague. The German ambassador, Schulenburg,

Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg, German ambassador to the USSR, 1934–41.

made a statement to Comrade Litvinov, similar to those made in Bucharest and Belgrade, and then, stressing Germany’s neutral conduct in the recent Japanese–Soviet conflict in Manchuria, expressed the hope that the USSR would reciprocate if Germany had to take the settlement of the Sudeten problem into its own hands. M.M., however, replied that the USSR would not be able to stand aside in this case, that the USSR would meet all its commitments under the Czechoslovak–Soviet pact, that France would also have to interfere, and that in the long run Britain would be drawn into the war, too. I confess that I have not been informed by Moscow of Schulenburg’s talk with Litvinov as yet, but perhaps the Czechs, being the most interested party, learned about it earlier?

Masaryk asked if Litvinov could make a similar statement in public, before the press. It would be of great significance and would greatly reinforce France’s resolve to come to the aid of Czechoslovakia. I promised to convey his request to Moscow.

I asked Masaryk: what was the stance of the British at present?

Masaryk waved his hand in despair and said: ‘Well, you know the English! Just yesterday Halifax said to Cambon

Roger Cambon, counsellor at the French embassy in London, Cambon stayed on as chargé d’affaires after the resignation of Ambassador Corbin on 26 June 1940, before himself resigning on 5 July 1940.

that although the British government deemed the situation in Central Europe to be very serious, it would hardly go beyond its declarations made on 24 March (Chamberlain’s speech)

Chamberlain announced that Britain had no obligations towards the region, where she did not have such vital interests as she had in France and Belgium; Hansard, HC Deb 24 March 1938, vol. 333, cols 1399–1407.

and on 21 May (Henderson’s démarche in Berlin).’ Simon is going to speak in the same vein tomorrow. Curses! What’s the use of ambiguous gestures and slippery half-promises? Today, when one must bang one’s fist on the table to avert the disaster?

Masaryk was livid, and at the same time you could sense the mortal agony in his mood. I felt ill at ease.

I recalled a motion picture I had recently seen (Her Jungle Love). It includes a ghastly scene. A semi-barbarian people on an island somewhere in the Pacific make a human sacrifice once a year to their god, the Crocodile. A huge crowd of negroes gathers on the shore of a lake half hidden by crags. A man tied hand and foot lies on the ground by the water’s very edge. Dull beats of the tambourine summon the Crocodile. Finally a huge monster emerges from under the dark crags, its small eyes glittering carnivorously. It slowly approaches the shore, its gaze fixed on its victim, filling the air with roars from an open mouth that has long, sharp teeth… Closer and closer… The wretched victim, facing the inevitable onset of death, writhes in convulsions… His face is a picture of inhuman horror… Wild screams burst from his mouth… In vain! The terrible Crocodile is already at the edge of the lake. It breathes heavily and produces a joyous growl… Another instant and the doomed victim and cruel Crocodile vanish under the water…

What an awful life!