We’ve all seen the film reels, the photographs, and the evidence of Nazi atrocities. Through the great work of documentarians, we’ve seen and heard the testimony of survivors. With all this knowledge, it can be difficult for present day generations to remember a time when the world appeased Nazi Germany, when the powerful nations that would later become the Allies gave Hitler the benefit of the doubt, and tried to establish friendly relations with his government. It was a time when friendship with Germany was so important that the world decided to turn a blind eye to the reports of increasing violence against Jews and political minorities there.
Erik Larson, author of the amazing Devil in the White City, turns his attention to the first year after Hitler was declared Chancellor in his new book In the Garden of Beasts. Around that same time, the US Embassy in Berlin found itself in need of a new ambassador. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed an acquaintance of his, the unassuming chair of the history department at the University of Chicago, William E. Dodd. Dodd accepted the post, and took his family (his wife and his adult son and daughter) to Berlin with him. Dodd sought serenity in Berlin so he could finish his book on the history of the American South. Martha, his daughter and the other main historical figure in Larsen’s narrative, sought to escape a disappointing series of romantic entanglements in America, which culminated in a deteriorated marriage. Martha was also an aspiring writer, one who surrounded herself with talents such as Carl Sandburg and Thorton Wilder.
The Dodds did not share the extreme anti-Semitism that was so prevalent in Germany and in America itself before the second World War, yet they also lacked sympathy for Jews or their plight in Germany. Dodd felt that “the Jewish problem” (ie, Germany’s treatment of its Jewish population) took a low priority in his list of duties as ambassador. His primary purpose was to maintain friendship with Germany and to secure Germany’s repayment of its debt to the United States. He went further and tried to minimize press coverage of Nazi assaults on Jewish Americans in Germany, justifying his efforts with his sincere belief that Hitler would change or be brought down by his political opponents. Furthermore, Dodd was certain that he could influence and befriend the more moderate factions within the Nazi Party. For their part, the Nazis were putting forth their best attitude, and assured Dodd (and the rest of the world) that their only intention was peace. Hitler himself put forth his greatest assurances of goodwill.
Martha was awed by the splendor of the New Germany, a revitalized, energized nation that was renewing itself after its recent economic downfall. To Martha, the Third Reich was an example of a nation building government, and nothing her new friends could say would dissuade her from that idea. And she made lots of friends. From the local literati, to journalists and prominent members of the Nazi Party, Martha was a popular girl and the social whirlwind in Berlin enchanted her. The Dodds had finally arrived.
Larson’s greatest strength is the sense of mounting fear and horror that slowly erodes the Dodds’ romanticized view of Berlin. The title In the Garden of Beasts refers to the street on which the Dodds lived (Tiergartenstrasse), but also to the fact that they were surrounded by “beasts” like Ernst Röhm, the SA Chief of Staff, who lived a stone’s throw away. They met Adolf Hitler himself, as well as numerous luminaries of the Nazi government. The men who dined in Dodds’ home were also directly responsible for the deaths of millions. The Dodds believed the best of Germany and ignored all the early warning signs of the regime’s atrocities. Slowly, they find themselves trapped in international conflicts within Europe as well as conflicts within the German government itself, as one government official turns on another, with deadly results. In the Garden of Beasts is a portrait of a family and a portrait of the world between the two World Wars. It revisits a time when the appeasement of Germany allowed Hitler the time he needed to solidify his regime and build up his power. It’s also a parable teaching us that turning a blind eye to a problem won’t make it go away, that some people will not negotiate, preferring to destroy the world than to lose their power over it. The Dodds learned what the world learned soon thereafter: that inaction can be the most dangerous path to take.
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