The Oppermanns (McNally Editions)

by Lion Feuchtwanger

He stood up and marched with stiff and energetic strides around the room, breathing heavily through his fleshy nose. “Don’t try to frighten me with your old wives’ tales. There are no pogroms in Germany nowadays. That’s all over. It’s been over for more than a hundred years. For one hundred and fourteen years, to be precise. Do you believe that this whole nation of sixty-five million people has ceased to be a cultured people because it has conferred freedom of speech upon a few fools and scoundrels? I don’t believe it. I am against paying attention to a few fools and scoundrels. I am against erasing the good name of Oppermann from the firm. I am against negotiating with such a dour person as that man Wels. I am not going to let myself be infected with your panic. I won’t share it. I don’t understand how grown men can be taken in by all that tomfoolery.”