Exile in Europe 103He took this opportunity to call on Romain Rolland at his Villa Olga in
Villeneuve, a site that afforded sweeping views of Lake Geneva. He had
long admired the French savant, and wrote a detailed account of their
two- and- a- half- hour conversation for the Modern Review. Bose asked
Rolland some leading questions about the potential con flict between
Gandhi’s priorities and the rights of labor, and was “delighted and
amazed” by Rolland’s unambiguous support for the workers’ cause.
Rolland declared himself to be in favor of internationalism, justice for
workers, freedom for suppressed nationalities, and equal rights for
women. Toward the end of the conversation, Bose ventured to say:
“For suppressed peoples and nationalities, war is not an unmixed evil.”
“But for Europe,” Rolland replied, “war will be the greatest di sas ter. It
may even mean the end of civilization.”^47
On April 24, 1935, after delaying the decision as much as possible,
Bose fi nally agreed to have a gallbladder operation. Professor Rudolf
Demel carried out the surgery at the Rudolfinerhaus, a sanatorium in
Vienna. Before being put under anesthesia, Subhas asked for a piece of
paper. “My love to my countrymen, my debts to my elder brother
Sarat,” he wrote.^48 Professor Demel removed the gallbladder, which
contained a large stone. A team of nurses led by Sister Elvira cared for
Subhas, and Emilie was a regular visitor. After three weeks, once he was
able to walk about a little, he moved from the Rudolfinerhaus to the
Westend Sanatorium in Purkersdorf, on the outskirts of Vienna. He
was rather impatient with his slow recovery, and as late as Septem-
ber reported having to wear an abdominal belt and avoid strenuous
exercise.
Bose left Vienna in mid- June for Karlsbad, where he remained for
nearly three months. From Vienna to Prague, he accompanied Kamala
Nehru, Jawaharlal’s wife, who was in Europe to be treated for pulmo-
nary tuberculosis while her husband was imprisoned in India. Bose
spent the period of enforced rest and recuperation reading a va ri ety of
books, including H. G. Wells’s The New America: The New World. In
September, at the suggestion of his doctor, he decided to try the “cure”
in Hofgastein. On his way from Karlsbad to Hofgastein, he made a de-
tour to Badenweiler to see Kamala Nehru. As her condition deterio-
rated, the British relented and released Jawaharlal from jail so that he