Q. With what the Germans, Japanese and Italians are trying to do to the democracies of the world — especially our United States — do you really mean you would permit your children to number among their friends any Germans, Japanese or Italians?

A. I certainly do. How are we going to live in peace in the world of the future if we cannot be friends ourselves with Germans, Japanese or Italians? I have friends of all those nationalities; some of them have fled their own countries because they were in disagreement with the policies of the governments of those countries. I imagine there are many people still in those countries who are suffering because they do not agree with what their governments are doing. If we take the attitude that we can never be friends with people of these nationalities, our chance for a peaceful world in the future is slim indeed!

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1942-09), “If You Ask Me,” Ladies’ Home Journal, Vol. 59
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