arachuted down. Rumors of parachutists were being
bandied about the city. The Father Superior who was clothed only in a
shirt and trousers, complains of feeling freezing cold, despite the
warm summer night and the heat of the burning city. The one man among
us who possesses a coat gives it to him and, in addition, I give him my
own shirt. To me, it seems more comfortable to be without a shirt in
the heat.

In the meantime, it has become midnight. Since there are not enough of
us to man both litters with four strong bearers, we determine to remove
Father Schiffer first to the outskirts of the city. From there,
another group of bearers is to take over to Nagatsuke; the others are
to turn back in order to rescue the Father Superior. I am one of the
bearers. The theology student goes in front to warn us of the numerous
wires, beams and fragments of ruins which block the way and which are
impossible to see in the dark. Despite all precautions, our progress
is stumbling and our feet get tangled in the wire. Father Kruer falls
and carries the litter with him. Father Schiffer becomes half
unconscious from the fall and vomits. We pass an injured man who sits
all alone among the hot ruins and whom I had seen previously on the way
down.

On the Misasa Bridge, we meet Father Tappe and Father Luhmer, who have
come to meet us from Nagatsuke. They had dug a family out of the ruins
of their collapsed house some fifty meters off the road. The father of
the family was already dead. They had dragged out two girls and placed
them by the side of the road. Their mother was still trapped under
some beams. They had planned to complete the rescue and then to press
on to meet us. At the outskirts of the city, we put down the litter
and leave two men to wait until those who are to come from Nagatsuke
appear. The rest of us turn back to fetch the Father Superior.

Most of the ruins have now burned down. The darkness kindly hides the
many forms that lie on the ground. Only occasionally in our quick
progress do we hear calls for help. One of us remarks that the
remarkable burned smell reminds him of incinerated corpses. The
upright, squatting form which we had passed by previously is still
there.

Transportation on the litter, which has been constructed out of boards,
must be very painful to the Father Superior, whose entire back is full
of fragments of glass. In a narrow passage at the edge of town, a car
forces us to t