Letter 20

23rd March 1933 Berlin-Charlottenburg

Russell! Life is becoming exciting. Sophie and I are in the thick of it now. Today we have been translating a very sensational bit of anti-Nazi propaganda. It is a letter from a man who has been imprisoned and ill-treated by the Nazis. It is absolutely authentic – written to a friend who is a friend of – but I’d better not mention names. They might be incriminating. Nobody would suspect us little innocents, so I shall keep records of all the letters etc. that we translate. It’s all wildly interesting with the necessary flavour of danger.
Oh! But I must tell you about the opening of the Reichstag. I cut a piano lesson without saying a word! Tra la! Tra! La!. We got to Potsdam at the inspiring hour of 9.25 and discovered that other people had got there earlier. However S and I, we can on occasion be determined females and somehow or other we found ourselves in front of the Nikolai Kirche I saw the back of Hindenburg’s hat as he went in. Whoops! The crowd crashed madly together and I shot up in the air since there was no room for me down below. I’ve never been in a crowd like that before, Heaven alone knows why we are both alive to tell the tale, and there was Hindenburg going up the steps.
Then the police charged us with their horses, and I was (this time literally) hurled off my feet. It was impossible to fall, or I should have and been trampled to smithereens. We saw Heil Hitler and Hindenburg – he magnificently attired (Hitler looked distinctly scruffy) – descending to their cars – another wild moment when the crowd went completely blotto and charged across the police. I took my feet off the ground because I was fed up with having ‘em walked on. And when the riot was over, turned and bullied, punched and kicked and shoved my way back to Sophie. We could see nothing at all but bodies seething like maggots. Soph took ever so many photos (strengst verboten) and we refrained from talking English as much as possible.
This evening we’re going to a concert. Probably we shall get mixed up in a Nazi torchlight procession afterwards –S. & I are feeling hecticly pacifistic – “2 Pacifists make an Army” but this time both on the same side. We long for a Nazi to thrust his collecting box under our noses so that we can refuse with a haughty stare. They are getting very aggressive and since we do work for the Quakers we have declared ourselves for the other side. Hitler! Shake in your shoes! S.A. men look under your beds before leaping into ‘em! Sophie and Mariana Hop. Are your enemies!
I’ll have a thing or two to show you when we meet in two weeks time (only 2 weeks ye gods! I drive Ma nearly crazy because I say to her in that tone of voice “Mother, do you think I shall live till April 5th?” and she says acidly “I can’t tell, Molly”). Life, Russell my dear, is moving; life is exciting; life is lively. You wait – We’ll soon be hustled out of the country, Sophie and I!
Sophie has removed herself these past few hours and is doing work at the Quaker offices while I buy tickets, stamps, food, music and change more money. Gosh! Shat a frightful smell of cheese there is in the room. I bought some very cheap at about 8d a pound! I shall have to keep it in the piano I’m afraid.
I’ve just had a p.c. from my Stettin lady, the daughter, to say she is coming to stay for a night in Berlin and wants to share my bed! Sophie entirely fills the orthodox one and my camp bed is 6’ x 21/2’. I daresay I can bundle myself on to the sofa and put Ursula in the camp bed. Probably the smell of cheese will lull her to sleep. I did put it in the piano as I said, because that was the only place where I could be sure it wouldn’t infect my clothes. When I took a look at it this morning to see if there were mice in the piano, I was nearly knocked over by the concentrated aroma.