What was it like to fall in love in Hitler's Germany? As the war tore them apart, how did young couples keep love vibrant, care for their children, and relate to the war? The earthy letters of Ernst and Lilo Sommer depict in unforgettable poignancy the collision of their personal dreams with the political and military realities of the Third Reich. Seventy years later their daughter, Heinke, reflects on this tragedy.
What was it like to fall in love in Hitler’s Germany? As the war tore them apart, how did young couples keep love vibrant, care for their children, and relate to the war? The earthy letters of Ernst and Lilo Sommer depict in unforgettable poignancy the collision of their personal dreams with the political and military realities of the Third Reich. They provide a vivid window into the lives of ordinary people in the midst of horrific conflict. Seventy years later their daughter, Heinke, reflects on this tragedy, while Peter Matheson provides a historical perspective. The encounter between past and present generations provides glimpses of a bygone age, and raises urgent questions for the future.
Erik Larson, New York Times bestselling author of Devil in the White City, delivers a remarkable story set during Hitler’s rise to power. The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Nazi Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history. 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. Suffused with the tense atmosphere of the period, and with unforgettable portraits of the bizarre Göring and the expectedly charming--yet wholly sinister--Goebbels, In the Garden of Beasts lends a stunning, eyewitness perspective on events as they unfold in real time, revealing an era of surprising nuance and complexity. The result is a dazzling, addictively readable work that speaks volumes about why the world did not recognize the grave threat posed by Hitler until Berlin, and Europe, were awash in blood and terror.
The 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.
The bestselling author of "Devil in the White City" turns his hand to a remarkable story set during Hitler's rise to power. The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history.
The turbulent decade of the 1930s in France saw the decay and final collapse of the once proud nation. Caught up in the maelstrom of Nazi occupation, ordinary citizens were forced to walk the narrow line between obedience and collaboration. No-one faced a more difficult set of choices than Nanette Lemond, a young singer and fashion designer living in Paris. Forced by circumstances to associate daily with German officers, her lonely existence made her an easy target for those seeking romance. Behind the scenes, the heroic men and women of the Resistance risked their lives to thwart Nazi hopes for an easy occupation. When allied armies liberated their nation, the time arrived for reprisals against those who aided the Nazi regime. Would Nanette's choices expose her to the wrath of France's patriots and to a life of shame, or would someone come forth to clear her name? Terror, bravery, heartbreak and love all combine in this fast-paced story set in the real history of World War Two
From USA Today Bestselling author Ryan Armstrong: My name is Hans Beck. I hate Nazis. I am a Nazi. I hate myself. This book is violent and graphic. To talk about what happened differently would not be fair to Lillo. World War II: A young Nazi guard stationed in a ghetto in Regensburg, Germany finds himself in a time and place that he hates. He has never directly participated in the bloodletting but has done nothing to stop it. He wonders if his soul can be saved. He saves a Jewish girl's life when ordered to murder her. He refuses despite the consequences. Perhaps the girl he saved can save him? Maybe she can be the key to his redemption and a light for his soul, to guide the way home.
The horrors of the Nazi regime and the Holocaust still present some of the most disturbing questions in modern history: Why did Hitler's party appeal to millions of Germans, and how entrenched was anti-Semitism among the population? How could anyone claim, after the war, that the genocide of Europe's Jews was a secret? Did ordinary non-Jewish Germans live in fear of the Nazi state? In this unprecedented firsthand analysis of daily life as experienced in the Third Reich, What We Knew offers answers to these most important questions. Combining the expertise of Eric A. Johnson, an American historian, and Karl-Heinz Reuband, a German sociologist, What We Knew is the most startling oral history yet of everyday life in the Third Reich.
Berlin, 1933. William E. Dodd, a mild-mannered academic from Chicago, becomes America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Germany, where he is about to witness a turning point in history. Dodd and his family observe firsthand the many changes — some subtle, some disturbing, and some horrifically violent — that signal Hitler’s consolidation of power. The ambassador has little choice but to associate with key figures in the Nazi party, and his increasingly concerned cables make little impact on an indifferent US State Department. Meanwhile, his daughter, Martha, is drawn to the young men of the Third Reich and their vision of a ‘New Germany’, and has a succession of affairs with senior party players, including the first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. As the year darkens, the Dodds find their lives transformed, and any last illusions they might have about Hitler are shattered. Suffused with the tense atmosphere of the times, and with brilliant portraits of Hitler, Goebbels, Göring, Himmler, and others, Erik Larson’s extraordinary book sheds unique light on events as they unfold, resulting in an unforgettable, addictively readable work of narrative history.
