However, I cannot allow these pages to be reprinted without explaining exactly what they represent. They were written and published illegally. Their purpose was to shed some light on the blind struggle we were engaged in and make it more effective. They are occasional writings that can create a sense of injustice. If we really had to write about defeated Germany, we would need to adopt a somewhat different language. However, I would like to prevent any misunderstanding. When the author of these letters says "you," he does not mean "you Germans," but "you Nazis." When he says "we," it does not always mean "we French," but "we free Europeans." I am contrasting two positions, not two nations, even if at some point in history these two nations represented two hostile positions. To repeat words that are not my own, I love my country too much to be a nationalist. And I know that neither France nor Italy would lose anything - on the contrary, in fact - if they were to open up to a broader society.
But we are still far from that, and Europe continues to tear itself apart. That is why I would feel ashamed today if I let people believe that a French author can be an enemy of only one nation. I only hate enemies. Any reader who wants to read the Letters as a document of the struggle against violence, when sharing them with a German friend from this perspective, will acknowledge that I can now say that I do not renounce a single word of them.