his colleague in the adjacent Army Corps. The
commander of Army Corps No. 1 issues a "pass" which entitles you to move
about freely in his district.

When Major Bach presented me with my "pass," he gravely warned me always
to have it upon my person, to show it upon demand, but never to allow it
out of my possession even for a minute, and if it should be taken for
inspection to insist upon its return at once. He assured me that the
mere production of the "pass" and the signature would permit me to go
wherever I liked, and to move to and fro throughout Germany. I firmly
believed his statement until I received my first rude shock to the
contrary. As a final warning he stated that if I happened to be stopped
by a soldier or anyone else and had not my "pass" with me, I should find
myself in an extremely serious position. Naturally I hung on to that
little piece of paper as tenaciously as if it had been a million pound
bank-note.

The Commanding Officer of an Army Corps always iterates this little
speech, I discovered. Naturally you leave the official, completely
relieved, thinking yourself virtually free. But the moment you cross the
boundary into another Army Corps you are held up. The official demands
to know why you are walking about a free man. You flourish the "pass"
signed by "A" in triumph, and with a chortle, point to the signature.
The official scans the "pass," shakes his head sagely, and with a curt
"Come with me!" orders you to follow him. You protest energetically, and
point to the signature. He shakes his head emphatically as he growls
"No! No!" and continues, referring to the owner of the signature on your
"pass," "we know nothing about him! You must see my Commanding Officer."
Reaching this official, who regards you as a criminal who has escaped,
you suddenly learn that the "pass" is not a passport for your movement
through Germany, but is valid only for the Army Corps in which it was
issued!

Consignment to prison is the inevitable sequel. You may protest until
you are black in the face, but it makes no difference. The papers which
you signed day after day until you became sick at the sight of them, but
which were necessary to secure your first "pass," commence their lengthy
and tedious trip through the German Circumlocution Office, the trip
occupying weeks. During this time you are kept in prison and treated as
if you were a common felon, until at last, everything being declared to
be in order, you rece