(4) France

[In France], I felt at times intensely isolated and alone. French society and French science are hierarchical, and I was a relatively unknown scientist at the bottom of the latter…Neither Tauc nor any of the other senior people at the institute invited us or any of their other postdoctoral fellows to their homes or interacted with us socially. Moreover, I experienced a subtle degree of anti-Semitism—particularly from the technical people in the laboratory, the technicians and secretaries—that I had not experienced since escaping Vienna…Tauc’s technician quizzed me on whether I participated in the international Jewish conspiracy to control the world…This experience led me to wonder whether Elise, during her many years away from the United States, had encountered similar anti-Semitism and whether this demon might have contributed to her conversion.