July 16, 1939 (Sunday) Bacharach
Helen’s Diary
I was awakened at 6:00 A.M. by the sound of a bugle. I got up and looked out of the window and saw the Hitler boys and girls taking an early morning run and then return to do setting up exercises. We had the usual breakfast and started out led by a Norwegian boy who stayed here last night. We got down to the boat very early. The trip up the Rhein was simply beautiful. It rained some when we got off the boat, so dolled up in our rain outfits and started for the hostel which was near. After putting our bikes away, we began the long climb up one half mile of steps to the castle on top. Our tour of the castle was guided by a German boy who spoke only German therefore have only a vague idea of it all. Had a grand supper- fried potatoes, egg, lettuce, tomatoes and pastries which Frank bought. After supper went down and poked around the village which is tucked in between the river and the hills. The streets are very crooked. The whole place has the characteristic odor since every gutter is a sewer as is the case in most of these towns.
Ruth’s Diary
No Entry
News from Europe
Oswald Mosley’s Fascist Rally in London
Sir Oswald Mosley, the leader of the British Union of Fascists, gave a major speech at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, attended by a crowd surpassing 20,000. He advanced an isolationist, antisemitic message, calling for British non-intervention in Eastern Europe, disarmament in the West, the return of colonies to Germany, and for the Empire to detach from continental entanglements—a pointed rebuttal to British pledges toward Poland. Mosley’s dismissive, inflammatory language regarding German violence toward Jews highlighted the ideological friction within British society and the persistence of fascist sentiment even at the brink of global war.