ALL is not well here in Germany. Anxiety is widespread, for living costs have soared — gas and electricity but also groceries: meat and sausage, fruits and vegetables, bakery products, even margarine. The many, many foodbanks for the hungry, more than a few of them from the middle class, can no longer cope. Most frightening of all are the mounting monthly costs for apartments in a nation of renters.

Behind this distress — and for many like me, the most painful — is the Ukrainian war. Distorted or not, every report, every picture of death and destruction wrenches at my heart. Though I was always lucky enough to escape it, I hate war. And especially heart-wrenching for me is that Vladimir Putin, despite my hopes and expectations, took that fateful step on February 24 and sent troops, tanks and planes across the Ukrainian border.

There are so many uncomfortable questions. Yes, Russia has its oligarchs — too damned many in my view. And delusions of grandeur may be found in Putin’s court-like appearances, and possible overindulgence of Russian national pride.