I feel terribly sad because there are no bridges between certain races. There will never be a connection between Prussia and France. I am sitting in a restaurant, the waiter greets me, the waitress gives me a smile, while the Germans I am with are frosty to the manager and the errand boy. They give off a ghastly rigidity, they breathe out not air but walls and fences, even though their French is better than mine. Why is it? It’s the voice of blood and Catholicism. Paris is Catholic in the most urbane sense of the word, but it’s also a European expression of universal Judaism.
You must come here!
I owe it to you that I was able to come to France, and I shall never thank you enough. In a few days I’m going to take off for Provence, and I won’t write until my ecstasy has calmed down, and become the ground plan for the edifice of my descriptions.
My wife is staying here for the moment, she’s unwell, I’m afraid it may be her lungs. Please write to her:
Friedl Roth, Place de l’Odeon, Hotel de la Place de l’Odeon/Paris. It’s so cheap: 10 ff for a good meal, 15 ff for the night!
I’m also writing to the paper for the rest of my payment — perhaps you could remind them in accounts as well.
Greetings to you, and I kiss your wife’s hands,4
Your Joseph Roth
1. Reifenberg: Benno Reifenberg (1892–1970), journalist, and JR’s boss-cum-friend (though as he says frequently, this sort of mixed relationship is hard to negotiate; JR is forever talking to him privately in the office, or sending professional démarches to his home). Joined the staff of the Frankfurter Zeitung in 1919; editor of the feuilleton from 1924, Paris correspondent from 1930 to 1932, political editor from 1932 to 1943; co-founder and co-editor of the journal Die Gegenwart (1945–58); on the board of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung from 1958 to 1964.
2. General Paul von Hindenburg was elected president of Germany on 25 April.
3. O. A. Palitzsch, journalist.
4. Born Maryla von Mazurkiewicz, to whom JR had a cordial relationship.
15. To Bernard von Brentano
Paris, 2 June 1925
Dear Brentano,1
don’t be annoyed! In the first place, I’m incredibly mixed up. I don’t know if I’ll ever write another thing. Maybe I’ll go back to where I came from — you know — and herd sheep. I don’t see the point in being a German writer. Here is like being on top of a tall tower, you look down from the summit of European civilization, and way down at the bottom, in some sort of gulch, is Germany. I can’t write a line in German — certainly not when I am mindful of writing for a German readership.
Secondly, I’ve failed to do all the bureaucratic police stuff on time, and am forced to hang around waiting for a visa extension. Don’t snigger — it’s not the French who are to blame, it’s purely my fault.
Third, don’t give the O.2 episode any more importance than it has. Don’t bother your head about him, or Mr. Stark,3 or any of the rest of them. The Illustriertes Blatt4 is none of your beeswax. If someone tries to accuse you, shrug your shoulders. I can’t understand your worrying about it. Ott is a fanatic of bad behavior. Be distant to him. Don’t get “cross.” Be “nice” to him. Be like a father, or a nobleman: remember, distance. Basically he’s just a soft and decent human being, just a little “nervous.”
4. Be as industrious and objective as you can. Write, write! Then none of the others will get a look in. Why don’t you have anything for me to read? You’re my hope, and I’m too proud to admit you’ve let me down.
5. Thank you for giving me news from Frankfurt. It sounds rather favorable. I have no plan and a guilty conscience. I feel as though I’ve duped the paper.
6. We’re writing to your wife now.
7. I’ll write at greater length when I’m through with the police.
8. The mail is so unreliable here, if you could, let me know you’ve received this.
9. Even if I don’t get to Germany, I’ll always be your friend.
10. My wife sends her regards
Yours Joseph Roth
Hotel de la place de l’Odéon,
VIe, place de l’Odéon 6.
You’re wrong to think people are the same the world over. The French simply are different. Yes, they whistle and clap during war films. But trust a fanatic and a “subjective” like me: I’ve never heard such feeble applause.
1. Brentano: Bernard von Brentano (1901–1964), publicist, essayist, and novelist. Descended from the Romantic poet Clemens von Brentano. From 1925 to 1930, Berlin correspondent of the Frankfurter Zeitung. He owed his introduction to the paper to JR. There was a violent breach in the relationship in the late 1920s when Brentano swung first left, then hard right. JR was described as “foaming with rage” when BB’s name was mentioned. See no. 83.
2. O episode: Ott episode?
3. Stark: Oskar Stark (1890–1970) journalist. From 1920 to 1931 in the Berlin office of the Frankfurter Zeitung, from 1935 to 1943 in head office, after the war with the Badische Zeitung in Freiburg.
4. Illustriertes Blatt: magazine produced from the same stable as the Frankfurter Zeitung.
16. To Bernard von Brentano
Paris, 14 June 1925
Hotel de la place de l’Odéon
6. Place de l’Odéon
My dear Brentano,
many thanks for your letter. I haven’t seen your articles. It’s hard to find the Frankfurter Zeitung in Paris, it gets here a week late, and not always then, even to Dr. Stahl, its representative here. Put some clippings in an envelope, and mail them to me. Work harder! Three pieces a week. Practice that manner that’s eye-catching and load-bearing at the same time.
Thanks for your crossed fingers, my bureaucratic hoopla is looking reasonably promising just now. My wife went along to the Interior Ministry, and Frenchmen will do everything for a woman. Germans just get impatient. .