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Travels in the Reich, 1933-1945: Foreign Authors Report from Germany
- ISBN13: 9780226496290
- Condition: New
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Product Description
“Even now,” wrote Christopher Isherwood in his Berlin Diary of 1933, “I can’t altogether believe that any of this has really happened.” Three years later, W. E. B. DuBois described Germany as “silent, nervous, suppressed; it speaks in whispers.” In contrast, a young John F. Kennedy, in the journal he kept on a German tour in 1937, wrote, “The Germans really are too good—it makes people gang against them for protection.”
Drawing on such p… More >>
Travels in the Reich, 1933-1945: Foreign Authors Report from Germany
Oct 1st, 2010 at 1:04 am
A nice selection of vivid writing by many noted and not-so-noted visiting writers to Hitler’s Germany. Most entries are brief but telling, with short, informative headnotes by the book’s editor, Professor Lubrich.
I found the material by Karen Blixen the most interesting, especially her comparison of Nazi ideology with Islam.
From what a cliff of its own making did the German nation fall.
Rating: 5 / 5
Oct 1st, 2010 at 4:03 am
This is an important book. The University of Chicago Press ought be commended for bringing this collection to the US market. More than anything else, reading this surreal travelogue is like receiving postcards from a slow motion train wreck, written by people who were on the train or along its tracks, writing without the benefits of editorial hindsight.
We read a collection like this to learn. We ought always place our own time within its proper context. To wit, with every possible contemporary information outlet spewing the venom of victimization, all the while advocating simple-minded and savage solutions to complex problems, we would be wise to understand what has gone before. Because there will never be a dearth of men (and women, no doubt) who seek to to lead from the lowest common denominator of ignorance, superstition and fear. And when they win, whole nations suffer, whole people perish; the world is a lesser place for allowing them the stage.
Alas, this book will get limited play; we each of us too busy rummaging around our respective corner looking for the evidence to convince others of the eternal veracity and moral rectitude of our corner.
Rating: 5 / 5
Oct 1st, 2010 at 6:57 am
This is quite a distinctive and interesting view of life in the Third Reich. The editor has combined a number of contemporary accounts, several by familiar names one does not usually associate with Nazi Germany, which offer some fascinating perspectives on what was occurring during this period. The editor puts the material into helpful perspective with some introductory discussion of the sources of the accounts, identifies some of the more perceptive pieces, discourses upon the reactions of some of the contributors to what they saw, and offers previews of nearly every excerpt in the collection. One of the most interesting aspects of the collection is how some of the most insightful pieces are writen by some surprising authors. For example, W.E.B. Dubois offers one of the most cogent explanations for why the German people embraced Hitlerism; Thomas Wolfe, who spent a good deal of time in Germany, uses a railway journey to explore various themes; and Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen) recounts her impressions during a wartime visit. There are also some more familiar contributors as well: Christopher Isherwood; Howard K. Smith; Sartre; William Shirer, and a very youthful JFK.
Each piece has a very brief introduction to establish its context, with a bit about the often unfamiliar authors (e.g., there are several Scandinavian journalists represented). Some pieces run a page or so; others, such as those of Dubois and Wolfe, are somewhat longer. The translations are uniformly effective. The collection is organized chronologically, so I found the most poignant selections appeared at the end of the book. These pieces deal with living in (principally) Berlin during the allied bombing that was so destructive. One can only wonder why the Nazis did not sue for peace as early as 1943. One contributor suggests, and I think this is the core of the matter, that the leadership feared what would happen to them because of their record of atrocities both before and during the war, especially in connection with the horrors inflicted on the Jews.
The editor has included some additional material at the end of the book which is quite helpful: a chronology; an author-by-author listing of where each selection was drawn from; and a 16-page bibliography of some published material about each contributor. It is often said that there is no substitute for personal on-site observation of historical events. This book certainly validates that statement, but also demonstrates that personal observations of everyday life (railroad journeys; shopping for food; eating in a restaurant or going to a bar) also add a vital perpective on such events.
Rating: 5 / 5