It was pitch-black at the railway station. I had some trouble finding a porter and then my carriage. I said goodbye to Agniya and the train moved off. Louis Fischer

Louis Fischer, American journalist who gained access to the Soviet leadership in the post-revolutionary years.

turned out to be my travelling companion. We had a long talk about Spain and European affairs. He told me, among other things, that Chamberlain had spoken on the radio that evening. The prime minister was almost weeping, his voice trembled, and he couldn’t reconcile himself to the thought that the war could begin any moment now.

He was referring to Chamberlain’s infamous radio statement of 27 September, in the wake of the war scare, which led to trenches being dug in London’s parks while anti-aircraft guns were mounted: ‘How horrible, fantastic, incredible it is, that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas-masks here, because of a quarrel in a faraway country between people of whom we know nothing…’; quoted in E.R. May, Strange Victory: Hitler’s conquest of France (New York, 2000), p. 165.

That’s bad. A speech like that augurs ill. True, the partial mobilization of the French army began today, and the mobilization of the British navy was also announced. This must make some impression on Hitler, but the trouble is that Hitler shows utter contempt for bourgeois politicians, being sure that their nerves are weaker than his own. In this he is certainly right. And the kind of speech that Chamberlain made today can only further encourage the ‘Führer’ to stake his all.

As it happened, M.M. was in Lignon when I was leaving. It would have been risky to drive over there in full darkness. I might have missed my train. So we parted over the telephone.