Chapter 12.
Berlin! Berlin!
My train arrived at midnight at the Bahnhof Zoo, two hours later than scheduled. It stopped four times, in the middle of the countryside, while the rails were checked during its passage through Alsace. Apparently, the rails are sabotaged more and more frequently, the arbitrary arrest of those cheminots who happen to be living or working in the vicinity swiftly follows. Meant as a deterrent, these arrests anger the "regulars", and create bad blood among railway workers otherwise known to be a fraternal bunch. Here again, as in so many other areas of human life, fascism sullies the human soul. So the canker works its way into the flesh of ordinary citizens. Friendship and loyalty are turned into hate and betrayal. A palpable phenomenon. I walk out of the station
