A Story of Violence, Denial, and the Fragility of Democracy
From time to time, Americans have been against immigration. Polling data revealed that close to two-thirds of respondents favored keeping refugees out of the country.
The president had publicly identified as an Evangelical Christian. Yet, the administration, described as an arrogant regime that only respected strength, continued to oppress minorities. The plans included stripping them of their citizenship.
The administration’s tough stance is reflected by the head of one of the detention camps who said, “Tolerance is weakness.”
Not surprisingly, people were killed by government agents. These murders were justified as “the emergency defense of the state.”
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Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts is a compelling and accessible account of two Americans who witnessed Hitler’s ascent to the head of the powerful Nazi regime—a regime that would soon plunge the world into its last global catastrophe of mass destruction.
The Dodds arrived in Germany on Thursday, July 13, 1933, the year Hitler became Chancellor. Ambassador William E. Dodd, though not President Roosevelt’s first choice, was selected because Roosevelt appreciated Dodd’s character. Dodd faced the daunting challenge of serving as a key diplomat in a regime described as arrogant and respectful only of strength.
Hitler had held the position of chancellor since January 30, 1933, appointed by President Hindenburg. Hindenburg, often referred to as the Old Gentleman and a self-proclaimed Evangelical Christian, stood as the last obstacle to Hitler’s absolute control over Germany, a nation still recovering from the financial burdens of the First World War.
Dodd gradually became more aware of the government’s oppression of Jews, including new laws stripping them of citizenship and civil rights, regardless of their prior service or contributions to the country. Many Americans were sympathetic toward Germany, and influential financiers hoped Dodd would encourage the Nazi regime to pay interest owed to American bondholders. A Fortune poll revealed that nearly two-thirds of Americans supported keeping refugees out of the United States.
As ambassador, Dodd represented Americans who had been attacked or faced difficulties with the Nazi government. For example, some were assaulted for failing to perform the infamous Nazi salute, even though they were not officially required to do so. Occasionally, Dodd attempted to address the issue of violence against Jews. His reports of Nazi terror did not win him favor back home, where mounting pressure called for an end to Dodd’s tenure.
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The other Dodd on Larson’s stage is Martha, the ambassador’s attractive daughter who, separated from her husband both in relationship and by thousands of miles, engaged in numerous affairs with influential men easily attracted to her lively and flirtatious manner. She’d deftly play one against another and dance on the edge of life and death with Nazi and Soviet officials. From Martha we learn intimate secrets perhaps unavailable from any other source. Initially, appreciative of the 1933 Nazification, Martha gradually shifted her feelings in favor of Russia and one man in particular.
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As students of history know, matters would only get worse. On the path to war, Hitler announced Germany’s withdrawal from the League of Nations on Saturday, October 14, 1933.
Was Dodd off the mark? The attitude of the Nazi government was already evident in the words of camp leader Theodor Eicke, who wrote: “Tolerance means weakness… any pity whatsoever for enemies of the state was unworthy of an SS man.”
The following year, Hitler’s purge of June 30, 1934—later known as the “Night of the Long Knives”—made the regime’s brutality unmistakable. No government recalled its ambassador. No formal protests were issued. Germans learned that “a law enacted the day before by Hitler’s cabinet… made all the murders legal; it justified them as actions taken in ‘the emergency defense of the state.’”
Who, then, was paying attention to this murderous rampage? In America, General Hugh Johnson—who had recently called for the deportation of all immigrants after a strike in San Francisco—reacted with shock to Hitler’s purge: “The idea that adult, responsible men can be taken from their homes, stood up against a wall, backs to the rifles and shot to death is beyond expression.”
Larson observed: “The killings demonstrated in what should have been unignorable terms how far Hitler was willing to go to preserve power, yet outsiders chose to misinterpret the violence as merely an internal settling of scores—‘a type of gangland bloodbath redolent of Al Capone’s Saint Valentine’s Day massacre,’ as historian Ian Kershaw put it.”
On August 2, President Hindenburg died. Hitler immediately proclaimed himself Führer and Reich Chancellor. Germany continued its march toward war, passing new laws that restricted and oppressed Jews, stripping them of citizenship regardless of how long their families had lived in Germany or how bravely they had fought in the Great War. William E. Dodd continued sending his unwelcome reports until the administration removed him. He departed Germany aboard the SS Washington on December 29, 1937.
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Erik Larson is a master at making history come alive, and I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Nazi path to power as seen through the eyes of two Americans. But there is another reason to recommend it. Larson’s narrative published 15 years ago reminds readers that democratic institutions are only as strong as the norms that support them. When a popular leader faces few constraints, dismisses critics as enemies, and uses fear to consolidate authority, the slide toward repression can be swift. The events Dodd witnessed are historically specific, yet the vulnerabilities they reveal are not confined to one time or place.
Larson, E. (2011). In the garden of beasts: Love, terror, and an American family in Hitler’s Berlin. Crown.
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