Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power
by Andrew Nagorski
400 pages
Simon & Schuster, March 2012
German History/politics/government
Read in 14 Days
My Rating: ★★★★ 1/2
My Review: I can't remember ever reading a book that I took such an interest in that was factually based on history. Everything I knew prior to reading this book on Hitler I got from history text books and what I was taught in school. I was amazed by how much I did not know. I came out of this asking questions, which, I believe, is essential to great literature. When your mind is further engaged to want to do further research on what you've just read, then the author has truly done their job. Of course not every book is written with that outcome in mind but this book definitely got me wanting to learn more about WWII. So much so I will be purchasing and reading the book on the History of the Third Reich written by Shirer, one of the main people in this book, Hitlerland.
If you want to get a first hand feel of what it was like to be an American living in or just visiting Germany just before Adolf Hitler came into power, this is the book to read. Not only that, but this takes the journal/diary entries of several journalists who were able to interview Hitler himself! It's mind-boggling to understand their mindset as they were sent to Germany with the express purpose of informing those in the United States is this man was truly a threat. Many either felt he was too insane to pay any real attention to while the few who had a bad feeling were told not to "over exaggerate" their isolated feelings so as not to incite an unnecessary fear here in the U.S.!
Of course, knowing the outcome that came about by our not intervening and stopping Hitler when he started out, it's even harder to read this story and just shake my head in shame at their ignorance or lack of fortitude to stand up to those above them telling them to be silent. In a way I have a better understanding of why we took so long to help the Jews and others being persecuted in Germany. You think you know who is to blame from top to bottom but there was truly so much going on from so many different hands all at the same time it's hard to place the blame on just one moment. Turning a blind eye and ear was the least of the problems going on then. And while this book takes just one point of view it should go down as one that many should read who need reconciliation for what took America and American's so long to join a fight that we should have, if we knew the truth about what was going on, years earlier.
There is no going back to correct the terrible tragedy, but what I found even more profound is the parallels of what went on during the mid 1930's to the mid 1940's and what is happening today. When will we learn?
Summary: Hitler’s rise to power, Germany’s march to the abyss, as seen through the eyes of Americans—diplomats, military officers, journalists, expats, visiting authors, Olympic athletes—who watched horrified and up close. By tapping a rich vein of personal testimonies, Hitlerland offers a gripping narrative full of surprising twists—and a startlingly fresh perspective on this heavily dissected era.
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