Taking advantage of the fact that the commissions had not yet started working in earnest, Agniya and I drove out to Montreux. The weather smiled on us: the Lake of Geneva shone in its dazzling way, but a light haze, unfortunately, covered the French shore. We visited the Castle of Chillon. I’d been there during the emigration years and it had struck me as gloomy, menacing and majestic – perhaps I was under the fresh influence of the famous poem by Byron,

‘The Prisoner of Chillon’.

whom I’d been so fond of in my childhood and youth. The castle now seemed much less impressive, something between a museum and a hotel made out to look old. The romanticism had gone, leaving only the prose of life. I even felt bored. Or maybe it’s the years that have taken their toll? After all, 30 years have passed since I first set foot in the castle of Chillon – and what 30 years they’ve been!

The debate on the League of Nations began today in the Assembly. Article 16 was the main issue. Sandler

Rikard Sandler, Social Democrat prime minister of Sweden, 1925–26; foreign minister, 1932–39.

(the Swede) and Patijn

Jacob Adriaan Nicolaas Patijn, Dutch foreign minister, 1937–39.

(the Dutchman) made speeches. They advocate complete capitulation: Article 16 must be made optional. The Dutchman, an ancient and sickly creature who can hardly move on his legs, was particularly insistent. Is the struggle against aggression really a fit concern for such a man?! On hearing these speakers, Petrescu-Comnen,

Nicolae Petrescu-Comnen, Rumanian foreign minister, 1938–39.

the Rumanian foreign minister, exclaimed in my presence: ‘But this means the end of the League of Nations!’

The situation is becoming increasingly acute. After Hitler’s speech yesterday, Henlein announced today that the Karlsbad Programme was already obsolete and that a plebiscite was now the order of the day. Disturbances and provocations have begun in the Sudetenland. The tension grows with every passing hour. Attlee has again been to see Chamberlain and said that a plebiscite in the present situation would mean a partition of Czechoslovakia, which is why the British workers’ movement was against it. The PM replied that he, too, was against a plebiscite, but he did so in such a manner that Attlee departed full of suspicion…