I Shall Bear Witness

"In my opinion what a good diarist needs are an eye for detail, a light touch, and considerable self-discipline. You’ve got to make a record every day and the busier you are – at the top end of politics you do tend to be rather busy – the more difficult it is. As far as politics is concerned, the most successful diaries seem to be those who never made it too far up the greasy pole. Those who did either don’t have the time, or are too busy self-justifying to observe accurately. I think an element of ego is required as well because one is exaggerating one’s relevance and giving undue weight to one’s own contribution, because that’s what tends to stick in the mind. This is one of three volumes and in my view it’s one of the great unsung masterpieces of WWII. Klemperer was a Jewish professor who remained in Dresden just about throughout the entire Second World War while all his friends were disappearing to the camps, living in extraordinarily difficult circumstances as the noose tightened. His survival really was nothing short of miraculous. He always believes the Nazis will fall but what he doesn’t know is whether or not he can outlive them. We know there’s another three years to go, and it’s really a gripping read. It’s a worm’s eye view – it would be wrong to describe it as political because he wasn’t a politician but it’s relentlessly focused on the small picture, and yes, of course it was all politics really, what happened to him and all his friends and colleagues."