'When my friends were exiled to Siberia, I was in Vienna; when others were being slaughtered by the Brown Shirts in Vienna, I was in New York. What's so damned important about staying alive? That's the question that needs answering.'

I found myself moved by Scriassine's voice. We, too, felt ashamed whenever we thought of the deportees. No, we had nothing to blame ourselves for; it was just that we hadn't suffered enough.

'The misfortunes you don't actually share ... well, it's as if you were to blame for them,' I said. 'And it's a horrible thing to feel guilty.'