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109 the sigfrid sChMidt fiLe 4 The trip left sad and lasting impressions on F.W. Wegenast. He could not get over his disgust for what he saw as the prevalent form of German thinking, as is evident from a thick file of yellowing papers he kept after returning home and which he named the Sigfrid Schmidt file. Wegenast provided the background behind the file, starting with his meeting of Sigfrid Schmidt, a young German living in France. o n the 5th May, 1938, as I drew up before the Cathedral in Reims, it occurred to me to have a snapshot of myself with the car in front of the Cathedral. I looked around for someone to take the picture, when I noticed a young man coming across the square. I walked up to him and explained what I wanted. He said he would be glad to take the picture; he had some experience with photography himself.… Then we got to talking about this and that. I judged by his accent that he was more familiar with German than with French, and addressed him in German. I had guessed right, and we continued our conversation in German. He had a job in Reims as a translator. He was much interested in my being from Canada. His ambition was to get to Canada or the United States. He asked me if I could give him any information about the country. I happened to have a C.P.R. folder in the glove-box of my car. The last two pages contained information about the C.P.R. Steamship lines. I tore these from the folder and gave them to him. He said he would have great difficulty getting away. His parents in Germany were well enough off, but they would not be allowed to supply him with the money. I judged he was one of those who would rather be out of Germany than in, and I talked to him on that basis. 110 Chapter 4 Some months after I had got back to Toronto, I received a letter from him asking whether I remembered him, and how the snapshot had turned out.1 I replied … [and] my letter [dated December 15, 1938] contained several enclosures.… In due time I received a long letter in reply [dated December 26].… A good while afterwards I received another letter from him, asking for news, and suggesting among other things, that I might visit him at his home in Germany the following summer.2 In the meantime I had made several essays at drafting a reply to the long letter of December 26th, which was in the nature of an exposition of the doctrines of the National Socialist party and a reply to my criticisms of Hitler’s policy. But each time I made the effort I ended by thinking: “What is the use? This man is in France where he has all the facilities afforded by that country for getting himself straightened away. If he will not hear them neither will he be persuaded [through one] who wrote from Canada.” However, one Sunday when I was up to see my friend Aaron Laidlaw, shortly before he passed away, and found Mrs. Folkes, a red Russian literary woman, also on a visit, and we got to talking about Germany. I remembered that I had my draft attempts out in the car. I got them in and read them for Mrs. Folkes’s benefit, and explained that I had given up the idea of sending them to Sigfrid Schmidt…. Aaron Laidlaw pulled himself together and said: “There is one thing I want you to promise me, Frank—that you will send that letter.” So I promised. But before I could get the letter in shape the war broke out. And so here are the shreds dangling in mid-air: Wegenast’s letter, dated December 15, 1938, and sent to Schmidt, contained the following passages. It is not clear whether Wegenast wrote the letter to Schmidt in English or in German. I have often thought of you and have mentioned you in some of my speeches. What struck me was your difficulty about getting away from Europe. I wonder if you would mind explaining that a little more. Shall I ask you some questions? What unpleasantness would there be if you took the boat and landed at Montreal or New York? Are you supposed to report to the German government before doing such a thing? Has...

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