Albring’s next posting was to Rouen, where he celebrated his promotion to sergeant and increase in salary by buying several rare books with valuable woodcuts. Leafing through the bookseller’s stock of prints and antiquarian books, Hans spent hours in happy conversation with the Frenchman whose views he found ‘very sensitive and understated. I notice how everything he says is well-founded and profound, registered with all his senses.’ Eventually, the young soldier popped the question of whether the French hated the Germans. ‘No,’ the bookseller replied, ‘and if they do, it is like a child’s
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