Die Amerikaner

During the visit to the library, I was divided between three books:  The Year of Living Biblically, The Devil in The White City, and In the Garden of Beasts.  In the end, my history buff took the best of me. I chose to read In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson, who also happens to be the author of The Devil in The White City.

The title, In The Garden Of Beasts, is a metaphor for the Dodd family’s experiences in the garden of the beasts, Nazi Germany. The book centers on William Dodd, a writer, historian, and professor at the University of Chicago. Dodd is appointed United States ambassador to Germany by FDR because no one else was willing to fill to job. Both William and his recently divorced daughter, Martha were initially sympathetic with the Nazi regime. William received his doctorate in Leipzig in 1897, so he believed that the Nazi’s weren’t as evil as everyone believed. Martha was so focused on the glam and glory of the Nazis, that she was defensive of their actions. She was known to even sleep with Nazi officials, such as Rudolf Diel, head of the Gestapo.

While reading the book, I noticed that Americans during this era had much different values than we do today. In today’s world, if a tyrant decided to persecute innocent citizens, Obama would probably intervene with the military. Back then, FDR was reluctant to do provide aid to those persecuted, instead he merely disapproved of the actions. The whole world was too traumatized by World War I and the Great Depression to do anything. Americans favored a policy of neutrality and believed that the Europeans should handle their own affairs. In a 1930’s poll, 41% of Americans believed that the Jews were too powerful and 1/5 believed that the Jews should be exiled, as opposed to 13% in 2009. It is shocking in the 20^th century, Americans shared such xenophobic tendencies.

 I look forward to learning about Hitler’s rise to power and the effects his actions have on normal citizens. The drama and political intrigue surrounding the Third Reich will make this an interesting read.