- 1943, January 14, Thursday afternoon – At the Community at four, was right away chased over to the Police Presidium; after losing my way [in the building] I got the relevant officer as he was about to leave and received, with a growl, a form, which permitted “the Jew Klemperer” to leave the area of the city on January 14 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to go to Dolzschen. I should collect the requisite public transport permit from the traffic police at Sachsenplatz (on foot, of course) the next morning. **p188
1943, January 14, Thursday afternoon – At Sachsenplatz, where I had expected to wait a long time, I received the public transport permit very quickly. (As I was waiting, I overheard a series of telephone calls of the same kind. “Name? — How many persons? — 85 years of age? — Yes, you are allowed to go. Call the taxi switchboard in ten minutes.” So each time an Aryan orders a taxicab—Jews are completely forbidden to do so—it has to be done via the traffic police, a reason has to be given, and the police officer enters the trip in a notebook!) **p189 - 1944, June 18, Sunday morning – My walk yesterday was short; I came upon the Jewish cemetery employees in the neighborhood of Sachsenplatz. Some were more, some less anxious on account of the “new weapon,” but knew no further particulars. Meanwhile (radio heard by Eva) it seems to be more a means of reassuring Germany than a truly decisive weapon. Rocket projectiles, with a range as far as London, just as “Long Max” shot at Paris during the First World War. And the battle in Normandy appears to have stalled. **p330
- Page n349
1944, July 1, Saturday morning – To go out in the open air a little every day—despite the star—is the hardest thing. Once along the river to Sachsenplatz, once to the cemetery, the news center with its unchanging routine, once to Steinitz with the now- fulfilled, now-unfulfilled hope of a cup of sweetened coffee, a piece of cake… At home reading, falling asleep, reading, falling asleep. In the evening, however, the day was never quite as empty as in the times of the factory. [… ] **p325 - 1944, July 17, Monday toward evening – Monotony of the day; toward evening—as almost customary—a half-hour dutiful boring walk up the Elbe, a few yards past Sachsenplatz.
Reading Rosenzweig with a feeling of despair.
If one reads the military bulletin, then matters look almost lethally bad for Germany, falling ever farther back in the East (Grodno evacuated today, less than 40 miles from the German frontier), heavy fighting in the West, Anglo-American “suction pump”
Credit: AltesDresden.de
Source:
- ** I Will Bear Witness, Volume 2: A Diary of the Nazi Years: 1942-1945, Victor Klemperer, Publisher : Modern Library; Illustrated edition
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