大象传媒

I've finished my story. Certainly I've been surprised by the amount there was in memory. I do hope that it is of some value to you.

I would like to add a personal note. When the war broke out I was 11 and when it finished I was nearly 16. I was, I like to think, wiser as well as older. One thing that strikes me is that I used to ready "The Champion" comic and in one of the stories the theme that "the only good German is a dead German" was promoted. This puzzled me as this did not seem to make logical sense but I was of such an age that I accepted what adults told me as gospel. By the time that the war was over I could see through that (unwise) proposition.

There was also a problem close to home in that my parents were both rabid anti-Semites. This was a result of their working class South London background, I am sure. A Jewish family lived near us and I have to say that my parents made their life hell for no reason at all. We never referred to them by their name but as "The Jews".

I picked this up and one day I went to a party and met the two daughters (who were charming). I reacted as if I had met someone with cholera or whatever. It took me years to learn the truth of the matter and I still regret the way in which we as a family treated these people. I raised the problem with a well known philosopher (we shared the same background and were of about the same age) and he regarded it as a puzzle. He cited someon he knw who was an absolutely charming lady but was completely unshakeable about racial or religious prejudice. He could find no way of explaining it or dealing with it.

I will now pass the whole story over to you. Certainly I have enjoyed writing it and the recollections have been most enjoyable.

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