Only yesterday did I, upon returning to Paris, find your letter of 7 August; and I have quite regretted that it did not reach me several days earlier. Being in the country, and classifying and destroying some old papers, I saw in passing two or three letters from Raoul Hausman[2] that concerned the era that you evoked. I did not destroy them, naturally. But I have not had the leisure to re-read them. All the same, I can confirm to you the fact that Raoul Hausman quickly and spontaneously sent a German translation of The Poverty[3] around the end of 1966.
This translation, the historic value of which we recognized, was not used; and it soonafter disappeared unfortunately. Indeed, it was customarily communicated to our bilingual situ[ationist] assigned to German publications, someone named Holl,[4] who a few days later had to disappear, justly included in the proscription of the "Garnautine" tendency.[5] In sum, all this was quite dadaist.
Like you, I think that dadaism was much more important than its subsequent "French" interpretation. Among the situationists there were surely a number of references to dadaism, more than what you have cited and, throughout all of their activity, a permanent eulogy.
Quite sincerely,[1] Editor of Clement Pansaers, Bar Nicanor et autres textes Dada.
[2] Translator's note: see the letter from Debord to Hausman dated 31 March 1963.
[3] On the Poverty of Student Life.
[4] Translator's note: Herbert Holl. See the letter from Debord to Mustapha Khayati dated 13 February 1966.
[5] Translator's note: See the letter to the situationists dated 15 January 1967.
(Published in Guy Debord Correspondance, Vol 7: Janvier 1988-Novembre 1994 by Librairie Artheme Fayard, 2008. Translated from the French by NOT BORED! October 2008. Footnotes by the publisher, except where noted.)