These obvious, although to my mind necessary, remarks brought me
a shower of correspondence. The majority of the letters which I have received are on the whole favourable to my point of view. There were a few listeners, however, who wrote to abuse me for my " pro-German " sentiments and who contended that no distinction could or should be made between the leaders of the Nazi party and the " beasts " whom they ruled. All Germans, according to this school of thought, were treacherous and cruel. One corre- spondent enclosed a photograph from some illustrated news- paper which depicted a child survivor from the Athenia being carried ashore. " Look upon this picture," wrote the indignant lady who sent me the cutting," and blush." I did not blush ; I sighed. Among these letters was one from a man of education and intelligence who had lived for many years in Germany. He wroze with moderation. While agreeing that the Nazi system had destroyed many of the great virtues of the German people, and had exploited their vices, he contended that it was possible to push too far this distinction between the leaders and the led, between the Parer and what he has himself described as "that mutton- headed flock of sheep—the German people." "In every German," wrote my correspondent, "you will discover in the end some elements of cruelty, treachery and moral cowardice. Consider, for instance, how they behave towards each other."
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