In the garden of beastsThe time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany. A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd brings along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. At first Martha is entranced by the parties and pomp, and the handsome young men of the Third Reich with their infectious enthusiasm for restoring Germany to a position of world prominence. Enamored of the 'New Germany,' she has one affair after another, including with the suprisingly honorable first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. But as evidence of Jewish persecution mounts, confirmed by chilling first-person testimony, her father telegraphs his concerns to a largely indifferent State Department back home. Dodd watches with alarm as Jews are attacked, the press is censored, and drafts of frightening new laws begin to circulate. As that first year unfolds and the shadows deepen, the Dodds experience days full of excitement, intrigue, romance - and ultimately, horror, when a climactic spasm of violence and murder reveals Hitler's true character and ruthless ambition. |
Contents
Into the Wood | 7 |
House Hunting in the Third Reich | 51 |
Lucifer in the Garden | 91 |
Berlin at Dusk | 261 |
EPILOGUE The Queer Bird in Exile | 357 |
CODA Table Talk | 365 |
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American arrest arrived Arvid Harnack asked Bassett became Berlin Boris called chancellor Chapter Chicago Consul conversation Department Diary dinner diplomatic Dodd to Hull Dodd wrote Dodd's Embassy Eyes Fallada foreign Fromm Geist Germany Germany's Gestapo Gisevius Goebbels Göring guests Harnack Himmler Hindenburg Hitler Hitler salute Hitler's government Hubris Ibid Jay Pierrepont Moffat Jewish Jews July June Kaltenborn Kershaw knew later letter Lochner looked March Martha Dodd Papers Martha wrote Max Delbrück Messersmith Papers Messersmith wrote Mildred Moffat Mowrer Nazi Neurath night Nuremberg Papen party Phipps President Press Putzi Hanfstaengl Regendanz Reichswehr reports Reynolds Röhm Röhm's Roosevelt Rudolf Diels Secretary Hull seemed Sigrid Schultz speech State/Foreign stood Storm Troopers story things Third Reich Thornton Wilder Tiergarten Tiergartenstrasse told took unpublished memoir Vassiliev W. E. Dodd Papers walked wanted Washington Wheeler-Bennett wife William Phillips York