Ernst Toller.

BY HAND.

London, October 16th, 1938.

His Excellency

The Spanish Ambassador

Don Pablo Azcárate y Florez

24, Belgrave Square

London, S. W. 1.

Your Excellency,

Allow me to write to you with the same frankness with which you spoke to me:

When I informed yesterday your private secretary that I shall see this week Mr. H. B., I asked her whether you think it right that I may reveal to this gentleman certain figures of the document (I thought only of the exact quantities of food of all kind which are needed, both in Castilia and Catalunya, as is stated by the authorities of the Sanidad and the Generalidad). I was given the message from you that I may stick to mutual understanding of our last talk. This proved to me again that you do not grant me the confidence, a man like me needs for carrying out such a great work. I must repeat here what I told you already: I have the experience of twenty years in political and public affairs and I know rather well how carefully one has to be. I know also that the immediate success one may get by a word spoken too much, does not compensate indeed the harm and damage it may bring for the whole cause.

I have never found the slightest encouragement from you. On the contrary: I think I am allowed to say it: I was always treated with the utmost unkindness and distrust. Allow me to give an example: Before I went to Paris I asked you whether you thought it right that the Parliamentary Committee might arrange a press conference where I should reveal my intentions and the letters of support I already got. You agreed to it. I worked from Saturday night to Sunday morning to write the speech for this conference. On Sunday, the 9th October in the morning I flew to Paris. In the night of the same day I spoke with permission of His Excellency, the Ambassador Pascua with my friend Del Vayo. I informed him about the press conference and he was glad about it. He has known me for many years and therefore knew also that I shall stress in this conference the military strength of the republic, the fact that the army is well fed, and that, as always in modern wars, the civil population suffers more than in wars of past times.

On Monday afternoon, October 10, I came back and found here a letter which runs as follows:

“PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE FOR SPAIN

10th October, 1938.

Dear Mr. Toller,

I regret very much to have to inform you that we have had to cancel the Press reception arranged for Tuesday afternoon.

We find that the Spanish Ambassador is rather hesitant about the wisdom of such an arrangement and as we are particularly anxious not to undertake anything with which he is not wholeheartedly in favour, we are afraid that it will not be possible for the Parliamentary Committee to arrange this reception.

I need hardly tell you how sorry I am about this, nor how disappointed I am from my personal point of view. We will, however, arrange for your material and photographs to be copied.

Yours sincerely

Margaret Stewart

Organising Secretary.”

I rang up one of the members of the Committee and was told, you are afraid, that I shall reveal certain confidential material. – You will understand my feelings: again I found the suspicion that I, who is deeply aware of the responsibility he bears, may reveal some details of confidential facts.

On Tuesday, October 11, I saw you and informed you about the new conference arranged by the General Secretary of the Friends Service Committee. I also showed you the draught of my speech: You read the speech and approved it, stated that, as my whole action is from now on of private character, you could not give officially your opinion on it, but said inofficially that you had no objections against this conference.

Whereas the conference which had to be given by the Parliamentary Committee has been carefully organised, the new conference was arranged with the utmost hurry and haste. As there was so much work to do and I found so little support, just some of the invitations could be sent out on Tuesday and Wednesday. Many very important ones were only posted in the night of Thursday to Friday, at two o’clock a.m. at Leicester Square Post Office, – I myself had to write the whole night the addresses on the envelopes. The Press Conference took place on Friday, October 14, at 3 o’clock at the House of the Friends’ Society. As one could have foreseen, under these circumstances, only a dozen papers sent their representatives. Many of the important London papers did not get the invitations in time.

The editor of the important London newspaper, “The Spectator” came after the speech to see me and told me that his paper will bring an article about the action. – The editor of the “New York Herald Tribune” told me that his paper will help me in America. And you know how essential it is to get also the mouthpiece of the republican party in the U. S. A.

There was no representative of the Spanish Embassy. There was no representative of the Spanish Press Agency. Both have been invited.

There is another personal experience, which, under different circumstances, I would have overlooked; but which now, I cannot help seeing in a different light: You had the great kindness to inform me that the four volumes of the new Goya editions, edited by the Calcografia Nacional in Madrid in 1937 had arrived at the Embassy by the diplomatic courier. I was very glad, as Goya represents for me the spirit and greatness of the Spanish people, and wanted to take the volumes with me. You told me that this was against your instructions and that I had to pay first the sum of Fr.Frs. 8000. I told you that I shall go from the Embassy straight to my Bank and order the immediate payment of this sum. After a short hesitation you answered: “I do it on my own risk!”

This, Your Excellency, was rather humiliating for me. I respect you as the representative of a people and a country which I admire and love, for which to work is an honour and pride for me. As I also am a human being, I do not want ever to lose my self-control towards the Ambassador of Spain.

I therefore think it better for me, if I go on working strictly privately in England.

Believe me, Your Excellency, that in view of this situation I shall be even more careful and – if that is still possible – even more aware of my great responsibility, than I was before. And I am not discouraged.

I do not overlook of course the unfortunate fact that Sr. Del Vayo did not give me the letter of support which he had promised to hand over to me in Barcelona before I left Spain, in our last talk, and which he then promised me to forward to Paris.

I am, Your Excellency,

Yours respectfully

(signed: E. T.)

P. S.

Allow me to put one question, which I always had on my tongue but forgot to ask you: Do you not think that the secret of the food situation in loyalist Spain, which, as you know, is unfortunately shared by millions of stomachs, is known to the enemies of the Republic? Perhaps even in more details than I know them?