The World of Yesterday but hated politics and shunned political engagement. His autobiography shows some reluctance to analyse Nazism as a political ideology; he tended simply to regard it as the rule of one particularly evil man, Hitler. Zweig was struck that the "Berghof", Hitler's mountain residence in Berchtesgaden, was just across the valley from his own house outside Salzburg. Berchtesgaden was an area of early Nazi activity. Zweig believed strongly in Europeanism against nationalism. Zweig also describes his passion for collecting manuscripts, mostly literary and musical. Zweig collaborated in the early 1930s with composer Richard Strauss on the opera "Die schweigsame Frau", which
Fortified Sector of the Crusnes pierce the Line between Mauvais-Bois and Bois-du-Four on the 14th, but called off the operation. At the same time, the garrisons of the Fortified Sector of Montmédy evacuated ahead of schedule, leaving the Crusnes sector's western flank exposed. Ouvrage Ferme Chappy, a two-block "petit ouvrage", was now the westernmost extant outpost of the Maginot Line. While it was not in itself strong, it was well within the ranges of the guns of Fermont and Latiremont. Although the interval troops had escaped, by the 17th the Crusnes sector had been enveloped by the Germans from the east and west. Retreat was