In August 1947 Trudi and I travelled by train across Germany to Czechoslovakia. We had to buy our tickets on the train and, instead of US dollars or Swiss francs, the conductor preferred cigarettes. He got two packs and nearly kissed my hand.

Near Nuremberg on a siding, we asked for water. A man aged about 40 ran 500 metres to a pump and asked for one cigarette in return. The six that he got made him deliriously happy. This was the misery called Germany.

At about the same time, General George Marshall, the first military man to become US Secretary of State, was delivering at Harvard a speech of rare magnanimity. The war was over but the world had been facing a common enemy of poverty, hunger, desperation and chaos. The Marshall Plan was born. During the following years, $13 billion was pumped by the USA into Europe. By early 1952 the whole world was beginning to talk about the German Economic Miracle. The achievements of the Marshall Plan were and still are

• reversed the rule of all spoils going to the victor
• created a strong heart in Europe and the strength is still flowing to disadvantaged countries in and beyond Europe
• stood up to Communism
• co-operation and rational resolution of conflict prevails
• love of peace
• contribution to world trade
• laid a foundation stone to a Europe so self-assured that it can demonstrate to modem USA its lack of experience in leading the world.