‘Good God, that’s outrageous.’

‘His wife told me all this, and she is in despair. But how do you go home when you know what all your former neighbours really think of you, even when they now deny they were ever Nazis? So these people are left in limbo, hoping for visas to England or America. One problem is that Jews are not classified simply as Jews, but by nationality. So the Polish Jews are supposed to go back to Poland and the Romanian Jews are told they must return to Romania. But they won’t go because they have nothing to go back to. They only want America, Britain or Palestine. Zionism is burgeoning – encouraged by the Jewish Brigade.’

‘Not easy to solve.’

‘No, but despite all the bloody flies and the smell, this place is generally pretty clean and orderly now. We’ve got rid of the disease. The people live in makeshift cubicles in the barrack blocks and each family’s space is partitioned from their neighbours by flimsy sheets hung from hooks in the ceiling. Some of them put pictures up and have vases of flowers. They have even started bringing out their own newspaper here and staging their own plays. They have schools and a synagogue and a church. For the foreseeable future this is their home.’

‘And where do you call home, Dr Gray?’

‘For a few more days, this is home. After that, who knows? I rather like the thought of Paris. But if you mean, where do I come from, it’s Malaya. My parents managed to escape to India just before the Japanese arrived and are now in Bangalore.’

‘So your posting here is almost up?’

‘I’ve been here nearly three months and it’s enough. You can’t imagine what it was like when I arrived. People were dying by the dozen. The stench was unbearable, the conditions were foul – typhus, dysentery and starvation. We were living among corpses, and even those who were alive looked like corpses. But you’d be amazed how health returns, and it’s been wonderful to see. You cannot believe the joy of the women when they get their first period in years. It means life, fertility, a future.’

‘And they get enough to eat?’

‘There’s enough food at the moment. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is very efficient. I fear for the winter, though.’ She grimaced at the thought of what might lie ahead. ‘This place is almost full and we get new refugees every day. Other camps are coming into being all over Bavaria – hundreds of them to house the millions of Germans driven out of their homes in Sudetenland, Silesia, Pomerania and East Prussia. Anyway, Professor, it has been a pleasure chatting to you. If you’re passing again do come in for a cuppa. I love hearing about Cambridge.’

‘And I’d very much like to know more about your medical journey, Dr Gray. I’m sure your story will give great encouragement to Lydia.’

‘Tell her not to take no for an answer. What branch of medicine attracts her?’