Thursday, July 3. 47.

It is impossible to write down even the most salient things. I’ll have to rely on memory and shall just make notes.

Left Zürich Sunday ev. 1rst Class. Good trip, very crowded in Austria; I was the only paying passenger in the coupé. Good food in dining car. Complaints among people about Am. food! Much arrogance among free traveling railroad men. Russian control never reached me.

Parents & H. at Westbahnhof. Every one very happy & taxi to Mittermayerg. 4. Very nice apartment. Father & sister look very well, mother aged & suffering but in very fine spirits. All are intellectually excellent, not a bit infected by the Nazi pest; on the contrary. Strange to be in Vienna after almost 10 years, among my own furniture but in an unknown apartment and with people who have had totally different experiences & problems. Everyone is full of stories, wants to talk about his bomb, his Russians, his food-expeditions. These stories are sometimes quite annoying. Father is an excellent observer & tells his stories well so that I get a good picture. Mother´s heart condition is perhaps not serious, as Dr. York said, this may last a long time. She is now very happy to see me, very kind & I hope to God that it does her good to have me here.

Interruption. It is almost impossible to be left alone for some longer time & I begin to feel it. –

I went through Schönbrunn & the city with Father. The physical destruction is far less than I had imagined. The picture of Vienna is unimpaired; most essential damage can be repaired. The Gloriette is almost repaired already, but was reported totally destroyed; Schönbrunn is almost intact & the park etc looks beautiful. I visited Mr Mack, Engl. Minister. Very nice; we want to meet again when I have formed some ideas. Yesterday I saw Mr. Erhard, Am. Minister, a quite different type, not to pleasing but perhaps competent.