July 22, 1938. Herr von Kuppel escorted us to VIP seats in the stadium. This worker youth movement sprang up of its own accord among students, and met with the approval of the government, which has supported and developed it. Students must have participated in the League’s work for six months in order to qualify for possible employment in official posts, though in other respects such participation is largely voluntary. The rally began with a march that was drilled to a standard that fully trained soldiers would have been proud of. The bands played with great skill, with one person directing all exercises and displays. The climax of this pageantry came when the various groups flocked into the arena and arranged themselves into a series of military-style columns. Instead of weapons, they carried shovels, whose blades glinted in the sunshine as these regiments of youth paraded by. Now began a strange memorial ceremony, so simple and solemn, genuine and serious, that it mostly resembled a religious service, in the best sense of the word. Trumpets sounded and the audience stood up while hundreds of flags saluted. Then came a kind of litany and dialogue. First one person spoke, and sometimes the platoon leaders replied, at other times the whole group of workers. The main content of the speeches and songs was to encourage work and concerted effort for the fatherland, the brotherhood of all classes, magnanimity in everything, and complete trust in the Führer. It occurred to me that such a movement in Iceland would be able to tackle the building of the railroad, something that is undeniably in the interest of the whole nation…
July 25, 1938. Met with the Mannheim Stahlwerke representative in the Department of Commerce. The German consul in Iceland has done a good job. Everyone here involved in the business is completely familiar with it. The Department of Commerce has negotiated a loan for Isländische Bahn AG. The mechanical engineer presented a design for the locomotive. It is the latest type of dual-mode electro-diesel, powered by diesel oil or electricity…
July 26, 1938. I have had doubts about the Hitler regime’s decision to ban other political parties, and political discussion in the newspapers. People seem, however, not to miss it. I have asked people whether they do not find it dull that all the newspapers are of one opinion. One man replied that I had clearly not had to put up with over forty political parties fighting to get people to buy and read their papers, with each one of those papers claiming to report and defend the one and only true point of view. Some papers carried scandals and slanders about people and businesses, for days on end, year in year out, all more or less lies. The German nation, having had to tolerate this, is now grateful for peace. Now people can sit down with a newspaper without a feeling of sinking deep into mud and mire. The difference between the press before 1933 and that of today is principally that previously the papers had license to dehumanize and stultify their readers. Now that license has been taken away…
July 30, 1938. I feel certain that the German authorities seek peace. There are, however, some German leaders who prefer to gain a little by conflict rather than much by negotiation, but these men can be stopped if other countries demonstrate some resolve. The younger generation in Germany is fired up by military enthusiasm, and this produces anxiety elsewhere in the world, but it is preposterous to presume that these young men are longing to kill or be killed. They may kill or be killed, however, if other nations do not conduct themselves sensibly, but that is another story. Of course it is necessary for this nation to arm itself now, with the ever-increasing communist threat in the east. I am convinced that should Stalin present a danger to Germany, the British and the French will come to their assistance. The proliferation of communism must be stopped with all available means…
At the hospital, Hrefna, Jóhann, and Sigurdur were waiting silently to see a doctor—each lost in their own thoughts. Finally Hrefna looked up at Sigurdur and asked, “Are you tired?”
Sigurdur shot her cagey look before admitting he was.
“Elísabet told us that you had gone to Birkihlíd last Wednesday,” she continued. “All you have to do is to tell us a story that matches hers. Then the two of you are in the clear.”
“First I want to speak to Ella,” he said soberly.
“That doesn’t work. We need identical testimony without you having compared stories. Otherwise it’s no good.”
“How do I know that you’re not bluffing?”
“Ella’s story is very innocent. Confirming it shouldn’t harm you in any way.”
Sigurdur thought about what she had said. “Oh, well, okay. Ella had written this text and she wanted me to write a song to it. She was trying to explain what sort of geezer this granddad of hers had been. She thought I’d understand her better if we were to go to the house and have a look around. She didn’t want this uncle of hers to know about it, so we went in when the old housemaid went out shopping. But then Ella began to feel a bit weird, so we hurried back out, really more or less straightaway.”