Day 42: Jena (Germany)

August 2, 1931

During the dinner I met a very nice man, his name is Benno. We have gone out to dinner a few times, he has invited me back to his family's estate instead of staying at the hotel I am in right now. I find him very interesting, he is very quiet but intimidating from his size. I found out he is studying to be a businessman and is planning on taking over his father's business. He gave me time to think and yesterday evening when we went out for dinner, I told him I would accept his offer. Tomorrow we are leaving to drive to his family estat. I am quite excited to go because it is off in the countryside, this will be the first time I will get to see what the quite side of Germany is like. The estate is near Rhine.

He says I would love it there; it's quiet and historic. Apparently his family has owned the land for decades. His great-grandfather bought the land in his late years. I am pleased to here it has some history, who knows I may find some hidden passageways or some dark secrets of the past. I will write more after I have settled in his home and have more to write about.   

Day 30: Weimar (Germany)

July 21, 1931

I have been looking around Weimar these past couple days and I am seeing a lot of men dressed in military uniform. It is very concerning, it scared me that I am in danger but I must stay to see what this is all about. It should be interesting to see how all of this pans out.

The streets are very dirty and there are a lot of poor people in this country. It saddens me to see this happen but in a way it makes Germany a lesser threat, I hope.

I am excited for tonight because I was invited to a dinner and dance, this should be fun I haven't gone out that much this whole trip. It will be nice to interact with people! I will write more in a few days when I find out more, until then all the best!

Day 22: Arriving in Weimar (Germany)

July 13, 1931

After a very long week, I have finally arrived in Weimar, Germany. The train rides were not that bad but very long and boring. The boat ride was not fun as I expected, on the upside it was not as long as my first boat ride. The train ride from Dunkerque was a very long one since it was from France and I took it all the way to Germany, I did meet a very nice young man on the ride though. We had some nice chats, turns out he is from England and came to Germany to study the economy and the sudden burst of the increasing jobs.

I did some research and talked to some people, it turns out this Hitler man is very persuasive and has given people lots of hope. It turns out from the decreasing rate of unemployment that Hitler has kept his word in providing jobs, but not enough to bring the economy back to health. Right now I am still not sure how he is managing this but he is and I don't know what to think of him.

Weimar is a very busy place and it is not the nicest of places either. It filthy much like many other parts of Germany because of the poverty from the blow of the defeat of the war. I have heard a lot of different opinions about Germany having to pay the Allies. In the U.K. it seemed like a good thing to help with the unemployment there, but here it is making it worse.

Since I have been here, I have picked up that there is some sort of debate over what kind of government the country should have. I find this a concern because if the leaders of Germany can't decide on how to govern the country, the people are at a loss. The Nazi Party as I have heard it been called is gaining more interest. It seems the Nazi Party keeps getting more popular by the minute!

I am planning on staying here for a while because Germany seems to be the main interest of every country.

Day 15: Reading (United Kingdom)

July 6, 1931

I got into my hotel room last night around dinner time. I walked around and explored this morning after having breakfast. I found out it is about the same size town as Exeter. The two towns are a lot alike. Tomorrow I am taking a train to Southend-on-Sea to take a boat to Dunkerque. Then I will take a train to Weimar in Germany. Once I reach Weimar I will write again. 

Day 11: Exeter (United Kingdom)

July 2, 1931

Right now I'm in Exeter, it is a fairly big town. The population is about 60 000, it is average temperature; it's about 20 degrees celsius. It is a busy town the railway goes right through the town. It rains on and off during the day. It is quite different from what I am used to.

While walking around the town, I noticed a lot of shops were closed down. It seems a lot of people have lost their jobs because of the economy, I guess it's not just the U.S. affected, it seems it spread throughout the world since the U.K. is a world leader.

There seems to be a lot of influence with the new leader of Germany, Hitler. It seems his method has given people jobs and the unemployment rate is decreasing. But it seems that Britain is very reluctant to trust or in the least follow Hitler's example. I found out from asking around and reading the papers that before Hitler actually came into power he caused a lot of trouble throughout Germany.

There is also a lot of talk about someone named John Maynard Keynes. He is saying he knows what the problem with Britain is. A lot of people believed him since he was well known for being an economist. He said that everyone should be spending their money instead of saving it. In a wayI find it makes sense because of the supply and demand factor. Since if we kept buying things then the taxes and prices would decrease and jobs would be made to make the product.

Well that's all for now, in a few days I will be on a train going to Reading and after that, I will be heading for Germany.



     

Day 8: Arriving in the United Kingdom

June 28, 1931

I finally arrived in the Britain yesterday, the ride over was worse than I thought. It was very choppy and it was not as fun as I thought it would be. I've been resting since I have gotten here. We arrived in Penzance and I am staying in a small inn here, tomorrow I am taking a train to Exeter and will be staying there a few days. Then, I will be heading to Reading, which shoulde be interesting. I will keep you up to date as my adventure continues!  

Day 1: Leaving the U.S.A.

June 20, 1931

I finally graduated a couple weeks ago, I’m free! Before things get even worse here, with the rising arguments with the restriction of immigrants it will be harder on everyone. With the restriction of letting in immigrants, the economy is already declining fast.  I've decided I am going to travel to the Britain first. I will be leaving in a couple of days for the Britain and I will write more once I arrive.