Gover photo: Rou LA CUERRE, ‘Traneprency by Penis. Mager, N.C. Copyright © so by Aled A. Kt Ie Allright rcrvedsnder International und Paw Americon Sopmtgh ComentonsPablibed inthe Untied See by Reklom How, Tac, New Yok, ond salem fx Conaie 5y Retdom Hose of Cade United, Tron ‘Stanly pull by Apel A Knog, In i 196 Te Babe im French, wee selected Bore Joep 8 oy ke {Gala Actin, copyrigs 2930 y Libre Calan Pr eee lee Sorel ty Oss res © aps ye lie ‘ifeion sr lpn cpa, cpyighs © "957 Gilman ty, Bim "Sule page © 998 fen Gallart Tee he 2 {rary of Congr Catling in Pblaon Dua Goan Ate ignnee eller Addrene, ys, ct a. Gord cdl oie Bester AsraaAae tol ISBN espe rigee-= ‘Manufecrred inthe United Stes of Amesca by is material may be protected 17 US, Code) conwight law ‘Notice Th ‘Translated from the French and with an Introduction by JUSTIN O’BRIEN BIS (93219 @ wwrace s00Ks [A Division of Random House, Ne few York3 BREEELSEELESSSSSESISSR. PREFACE FOR THE ITALIAN EDITION a Letters to a German Friend* were published in France efter the Liberation ina limited et tion and have never been reprinted, Ihave always been opposed to their circulation abroad forthe ressons that I shall give "This isthe fist time they have appeared ouside of France and [should not have made up my mind to this had ie not been form long standing desc ocontbute, iol as [ean to removing the stupid frontiers sepa fat I cannot Tet these pages be reprinted without ing what they ae. They were writen and published landestiney during he Occupation. They had a pur pose, which wast throw some light onthe Blind bate tre were then waging and thereby to make our battle pote effective. They ace topical writings and hence they thay appear unjust, Indeed, if one were to write about defeated Germany, a rather diferent tone would be called for. But I should simply ike to forestall a mis “The tof these lees append in she soon ae of the ‘enue Libre ips the cod, in No 3 oft Cahiers de [bdr ln tn Cini of 944, The wo the, ten forthe Revue Libre ena’ unpublishedLETTERS TO A CERMAN FRIEND standing, When the author of these letters sys "he meins et "you Germans” but “you Nazis” F certain moment in history, these two nations personified two enemy attitudes. To repeat 2 rematk that is not Prine, I lve to bea navona Tod nt per Facet al oe ‘hing—qute the consary—if they both had broader hhoczons, But we ae sill wide ofthe mark, and Europe is sll torn, This is why I should be ashamed today if implied that a French weiter could be the enemy of, a single nation. lathe none but executioner. Any reader who reads the Leters toa German Friend in this pecive—in other words, as a document emerging agaist violence—will se how Tan the say tat don't diowarasagleWor! I have writen here, 5 BEPISELESSEEEEESSSEIEE FIRST LETTER ea wh pn fy cay yond price, Anything god tha concbutes tos genes And in woe here eeryhing has Tet naning, thse who ie young German ce TEL) enough fd meaning inthe deny of our tiga mt air everyhing be" Tlved you he, tat pane we diverged. "No" Td yo, “Lea Ne Pelee we eshing mst be scorned = SOME cal Thaw we meant War or be ered, And Sse ote abe wl unt ve uSLICE rE want just any for tt, Seas br fooled cond. Tene claps ses live” You reer: ‘Tall you dont love your sounty.” "Tha Eve eas oper We have been seperated since then and T oan say that not a single day has passed dhrng those long years Ceo brie, dazaingly sit for Seu thou Ry remembering your renak. “You XE tne your eoety When ko your wos Sy fe hing in. No Ee ey Say pun ot what unjust ia wat we love rents toot long insting that what we lve ‘Toul retureup tthe Boe ig we hav of er ‘Sodan tnar loving Tht was ive ynrag, ond any6 LETTERS TO A GERMAN FRIEND. ‘men in France thought at I did. Some of ther, however, have already been stood up aginst he wall facing the twelve litle black eyes of German destiny, And those zen, who in your opinion did not love ther country, Aid more for chan you wl ever do for yours, even if ‘were pessble fr you to give your life a hundred times. For theie heroism was that they had to conquer them selves ist. But Tam speaking hereof two kinds of great ness and of a contradiction about which T must em Tighten you ‘We shall meetsoonagnin—if posible, Butout frend: ship wil be over. You wl be fl of your defen. Yeu will not be ashamed of you former victory. Rather, you vill langingly remember it with ll your enshed might. “Today Iam sil close © you in aptit—your enemy, 12 be sure, but sil litle your fiend because Iam with holding nothing from you here. Tomorovr all wil be cover. What your victory could not penetrate, your defeat will bring to an end. But atleast, before we become in — April i946| 26 | IRIS RRR FOURTH LETTER Man te mortal, That say Sar od Sa ieee =e — N= the moment of your defeat is approaching. I ‘am writing you from a city known throughout the world which is now preparing against you a celebra tion of freedom. Our city knows tis is not ery and that firs i will have to live through an even datker night than the one that began, four years ago, with your coming. I am waiting you from a city deprived of every thing, deyoid OF ight and devoid of Ret, carved nd ssor shed Soon something you can even imigine will inflame te city. If we were lucky, you and I should then stand fe ofc. Then we ol ght each ter Inoring whats at sake. baer ides of our mote video nd youcen imagine mine “These Jy nigh at bth ight aid heavy. Light slong the Seine abd in the trees, but heavy in the eats of hoe who ae sang the ely dan they now long fox. am wang and ake yo, [all baveone more FOURTH LETTER 27 clit ed GeitedTrathehinirsotre way BurTeame to dient susand ofthreatsToryou. Fore ble the meaning of this wo and yon thew dele the Hen et eveything was ult and tha god and rl could be dled se ‘cording to one’s wishes. You supposed that in the ab- ene any human ovine ce he ony res were those of the animal world—in other words, violence and. ting ener yu conde hat manos eile tod he ssl oul eile, hat inthe ade of Hames te ony purser hina ws he esr of power od ely sai, the wlio conquests. And, to tll the truth, I, believing I thought ts you i ay moval epunent wo anwwer you cape ere vec unc wh arly sone Stren ete mon sudden peso, ‘Whey te iffrenes Simply tha you aly cxped dep ad I never eld wi Sn sa the Injustice of Our eoNeOH tthe POU S) Frees 28) LETTERS TO A GERMAN FRIEND: will od to it, whereas it seemed to me that man must exalt justice ia order to fight against eternal in- juste, ete Reppines onde to pots gt Te ‘gives of unlappisse Because ou nel Tour de ie ost, Pee a ea st eed goanell from by making « principe oF you were vig to desuoy man’? works and t Tight him Ta order to add to i Sase msey. Memwhte teh Sept chat pac aad that reared wool Tmerety want én o ‘Slee er ela one ope vr age thessevling ft Sana ‘As you, ome same pinile we devised quite diferent odes, bese long the wy you give up the Jud ew and considered it more convenient (you would have said a matter of indifference ) for another to de your thinking for you and for milion of Gemans indat hewsng seats oben oo in that exheuing adventure in which you ad oma ae sal ad dest te Wi Tn Sho you cose Fats and side withthe pls Your gis was mol risen th sh ler on the contr, chore juice in ode to remain {sidhflto the world. fcontinue to believe that is world ing. But 1 Enow that omashing in (Ge th of ma OUT AT vie lee ‘iar ia ee Ta-A Tas fueton bat ‘auplos be mar leave we vanttosmetiees we ih your you wl ek sme: what do you mean by saving man? And with all my FOURTH LETTER 29 ing shut you tha ean at mating hina yet giving a chance to the justice that man_alone-can recess eee wey em fig hy wc ides ree res Reem te le ee eee rea porno ‘Gere Teclating- with our eyes still Gxed on eppy eRe ohn onl Se = he ie i he sg see se Se venom Bere Scheme mete ike bli kerep err cr eh ec Soe ei ere em ee ceca ce sane ge Fee a he en con a rete nth ty acne tere ham A Secerpere eda et fee gf ep gee cede ‘eben ili ret es ime Doetey es eect Selle ed oa rie et30 LETTERS TO A GERMAN FRIEND _3'We had to enter into your philosophy and be willing gio raenble you somewtt You hae 3 vogue eins F because isthe only vac left in a weld that has last it meaning. And, bing chosen fo yourselves, you chat for everybody li od fous, Werwee fered wo Wipe yo nok ted But we Bene ne our superior over you consited in ou having 4 direction, Now that all hat about to end, we can tell yt what we have eared—that her ent much tad thathappinesismore dieu ‘A present everything must be obvious to you; you Jnow that we are enemies, You ate she man of injustice, there is and here nthing in she world that mp wats ‘Smut, But nowt know the rexen fr what was once ‘erly pasion I a ightng you becuse your logis tein your heat or he IEvRRET apa ot fr fo year, your reason playa lange apart as your instinct. Ths is why my condemna- tion will be sweeping; you are lady dead as trrasTam concemed. Bata the very moment when [am j our Borrible behavior, I shall remember that you and ‘we started out from the same salted, that you and we, ‘with ll Europe, are caught in the same tragedy ofthe in- telligence And, despite yourselves I shall til apply to you the name of man. In order wo keep faith with our selves, we are obliged to respeet in you what you do {not respect in others For along time chat wa your great advantage since you kill more easly than we do. And to the very end of dine that wl be the advantage of those who resemble you. But to the very end of time, we, who do net resemble you, shall have to beat witness so 1: POURTH LETTER 3 that mankind, despite is worst errors, may have its just- cation and its proof of innocence. "This is why, at che end ofthis combat, from the heat of ths cy dat hs ome to see ball te al iawn nied ore de ied 4 age peopled with orphans, I ean tell yousarart 3 wit pm sel no Fated ft yo, And ‘even TF tomorow, tke so many others, We tT die, we should still be without hatred. We cannot that we shall not be afraid; we shall any =. Bat we nice that we shal ing. And we have come to terms with the only ‘thing in the world I could loathe today, [assure you, and sguinyoursoul. “ators advantage you had overs, youse that you continue o have it. Butt likewise constitutes our supe- Toriy. And itis that makes ths nigh easy fr me. Our strength lies in thinking as you do about the essence of the wodd in rejecting no aspect the drama that sours. But at the same time we have saved the idea of man at the end ofthis disaster of the intelligence, and that idea { gves ur the undying courage to believe in arebih. To bresure, the accusation we make against the word is not mitigated by this. We paid so deat for this new know! tege that cur condition continues to seem desperate to to be heh SheunS no nator essso, In tas night of Europe ed with the ren Summer, milion of men, anmed or unarmed, ar getting ready forthe ght. The dawn about to break will mark your final defeat. I know that heaven, which was indi ferent to your horible victories, will be equally inci ferent to your just defeat. Even now T expect nothing Hite ce org te lt ee Si Rees jee th ai Sse teed endaciey July 1944 THE LIBERATION OF PARIS