At the EastWest Institute where I now work, I’m grateful for the support of my colleagues and all the board members who keep us on track. I want to thank, in particular, John Mroz; Francis Finlay; Ross Perot, Jr.; Mark Maletz; Leo Schenker; Stephen Heintz; and Maria Cattaui. I also want to thank my talented, highly dedicated team of Abby Rabinowitz, Dragan Stojanovski and Tracy Larsen, and earlier Sarosh Syed.
Then there are the people who were directly involved in this project from the very beginning and really made it happen. My agent, Robert Gottlieb, enthusiastically encouraged me to pursue this idea, and Alice Mayhew at Simon & Schuster nursed it to fruition, providing the kind of subtle guidance each step of the way that any writer can only hope for.
Every superlative in the world has been used to describe Alice’s skills as an editor; they all are accurate. Her colleague Roger Labrie, as always, provided tremendous help as well. I also want to thank many other members of the Simon & Schuster team, including Rachel Bergmann, Julia Prosser, Rachelle Andujar, Michael Accordino, Gypsy da Silva, and copy editor Fred Wiemer. At the Trident Media Group, Gottlieb’s agency, I am grateful for the enthusiastic support of Erica Silverman, Claire Roberts, and Adrienne Lombardo.
Finally, of course, there is my family. My parents, Zygmunt and Marie, have always read everything I’ve produced, and they were eager to receive each chapter as soon as I wrote it. When my father was hospitalized in the summer of 2010, the first thing he told me was that he was sorry he had to stop reading the chapter he was on three pages before the ending. Although he lived for nearly another year, he wasn’t able to read again. But he kept asking me about my progress as long as he could. There’s no way to express fully my debt to him and to my mother. I also want to thank my sisters, Maria and Terry, and their spouses, Roberto and Diane.
My four grown children—Eva, Sonia, Adam, and Alex—know how much I rely on their love and encouragement, along with all their practical help whenever I need it (which is often). I want to offer special thanks to Eva and Taylor, who were always ready to be first readers and first responders on this project. Like Sonia and Eran and Adam and Sara, they have families of their own now. The names of all their wonderful off-spring appear in the dedication to this book. A promising young writer, Alex was my in-house sounding board for many ideas. I also want to make special mention of the generosity of spirit of my brother-in-law, Waldek Kowalski, and his wife, Ewa.
That brings me back to Krysia, who sparked this project in the first place. The best thing that ever happened in my life was meeting and marrying her during a whirlwind semester as an exchange student at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Because of me, she never finished her studies. But she has been educating me ever since and continues to be my muse, editor, and so much more.
Photo Credits
Associated Press/Wide World Photos: 1, 9, 13, 19, 23, 24, 25
Courtesy of Erich Hanfstaengl: 2
Bundesarchiv, Bild 102–00344A/ Photo: Hoffman: 3
Getty Images: 4, 20
Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library, Print Department: 5
Hoover Institution Archives: 6, 7
© Condé Nast Archive/CORBIS: 8
Bundesarchiv, Bild 119-0779/Photo: O. Ang.: 10
Bundesarchiv, Bild 102–14787/Photo: O. Ang.: 11
Hans-Fallada-Archiv: 12
Courtesy of Katharine (Kätchen) Truman Smith Coley: 14, 16
Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R74212/Photo: O. Ang.: 15
North Carolina Collection, UNC-CH: 17
Popperfoto/Getty Images: 18
Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-H12478/Photo: O. Ang.: 21
Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1970-083-42/Photo: O. Ang.: 22
© CORBIS: 26
Courtesy of Alice and Angus Thuermer: 27, 28, 29
Notes
INTRODUCTION
PAGE
1 Born in Chicago and other biographical background: Sigrid Schultz, Germany Will Try It Again, viii–ix, 123; and Nancy Caldwell Sorel, The Women Who Wrote the War, 3–4.
1 “Few foreign painters”: Schultz, 123.
1 “enemy aliens”: Ibid., viii.
2 “a sour, disagreeable little man” and other quotes about Raeder: Ibid., 11.
4 “Nobody had read”: Otto Strasser, Hitler and I, 58.
4 “most Americans”: Edgar Ansel Mowrer, Triumph and Turmoil, 164.
5 “the American colony” and other Lochner quotes: Louis Lochner, Always the Unexpected: A Book of Reminiscences, 151, 123.
6 reaching a peak: Howard K. Smith, Last Train from Berlin, 344.
6 Mowrer, for instance: Mowrer, 166.
6 “One thing one forgets”: Conquest interviewed by author (2009).
CHAPTER ONE: “NERVOUS BREAKDOWN”
PAGE
10 a loaf of bread: Peter Gay, Weimar Culture, 154.
10 “Orchestra stalls”: Anton Gill, A Dance Between Flames, 75.
10 Carl Zuckmayer attended and “could be freely handled” and other quotes about the party: Ibid., 85.
10 “People have forgotten”: Michael Danzi, American Musician in Germany, 1924–1939, 45–46.
11 “The contrast”: Kurt G. W. Ludecke, I Knew Hitler, 10.
11 “political zanies”: Ben Hecht, A Child of the Century, 252.
11 “all was politics” and “Germany is having”: Ibid., 264–265.
12 “a few years of” and “to be in” and “call into play”: Hugh R. Wilson, Diplomat Between Wars, 3–5.
12 “Rioting seemed to be” and “I myself have seen” and “vituperative”: Wilson, 94–95.
13 “The shabbiness”: Ibid., 94.
13 “traces of”: Ibid., 103.
13 “the interior was” and rest of Katharine Smith’s quotes and descriptions of early days in Berlin in this chapter: Katharine Alling Hollister Smith autobiographical writings and correspondence, Truman Smith Papers, box 14, Hoover Institution Archives.
14 He was a 1915 Yale graduate and other biographical details: Robert Hessen, ed., Berlin Alert: The Memoirs and Reports of Truman Smith, xiii–xiv; and Katharine (Kätchen) Truman Smith Coley interviewed by author (2010).
15 “With the end of the war”: Wilson, 103.
15 “The Germans, then”: Ibid., 98.
17 “A flame of resentment”: Ibid., 100.
17 Major General Henry T. Allen and quotes from his report: “Finds Negro Troops Orderly on Rhine,” New York Times, Feb. 20, 1921.
18 “I am afraid”: Schultz, 101.
18 “Your French friends”: Karl H. von Wiegand Papers, box 6, Hoover Institution Archives.
18 “a fair way” and “A cruel thing to do” and early bio of Wiegand: Ibid., box 47 (notes for outline of an autobiography he never wrote).
18 finding work at the Associated Press and subsequent move to United Press: Ibid., box 30.
19 “Food Shortage Alarms All Germany”: Ibid., box 25 (not marked from which Hearst paper).
19 In one letter from 1921: Ibid., box 6.
19 “I am looking” and Wiegand reply: Ibid., box 7.
20 “Houghton Girls Make Berlin Debut”: Ibid., box 25.
21 “Hitler Styled”: Ibid., box 25.
22 “Something is brewing” and account of Houghton’s concerns: Jeffrey J. Matthews, Alanson B. Houghton: Ambassador of the New Era, 68.
22 “being without” and “seems to have had” and “try to make”: Hessen, ed., 43.
23 a clear-cut set and orders as quoted: Ibid., 44.
23 four hundred visas and “It seemed to us”: Robert Murphy, Diplomat Among Warriors, 31.
23 “It was a welcome”: Ibid., 32.
23 Murphy told Smith and Smith’s quotes summarizing Murphy’s views: Hessen, ed., 48–50.
24 “healthy drift away” and rest of General von Kressenstein’s views: Ibid., 53.
24 Friedrich Trefz and his views as quoted by Smith: Ibid., 56.
25 Scheubner-Richter and rest of visit to Nazi headquarters: Ibid., 56–57.
>
25 General Ludendorff and his remarks: Ibid., 58–59.
26 New York tenement house: Ibid., 46.
26 “A marvelous demagogue”: Ibid., 60.
26 “Parliament and”: Ibid., 61.
26 The question whether: Ibid., 65.
26 “The diary I kept”: Ibid., 18.
27 “some arrangement” and “disquieting”: Matthews, 68.
27 “The most active”: Ibid., 69.
27 “How does this” and rest of exchanges with Drey: Murphy, 38.
28 “Interview with Adolf Hitler” and all quotes from it: State Department (RG 59) microfilm publication #M336: Records of the Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs of Germany, 1910–1929, file: 862.00/1228 on roll 18, National Archives. Also in Murphy, 40–41.
29 In a letter to Murphy: Robert D. Murphy Papers, box 43, Hoover Institution Archives (hereafter, Hoover).
29 “No, this is”: Murphy, Diplomat Among Warriors, 39.
29 “Look after him” and Fate Fakirs: Ernst Hanfstaengl, Hitler: The Missing Years, 31.
29 “I was the leading:”Ernst Hanfstaengl, taped interview by John Toland, Library of Congress.
30 “The Hanfstaengls were”: Hanfstaengl, Hitler, 24.
30 Putzi’s grandfather and family background: Peter Conradi, Hitler’s Piano Player, 12; and Hanfstaengl, 23–24.
30 Harvard days and details of time there: Conradi, 19–20; and Hanfstaengl, 26–27.
30 “I hate to say”: Hanfstaengl, taped interview by Toland, Library of Congress.
30 “Some fool” and rest of canoeing incident: Hanfstaengl, 26; and Conradi, 19.
31 “a fellow extrovert,” quotes about FDR and former President Teddy Roosevelt, and early World War I avoiding of internment: Hanfstaengl, 27–28.
31 A Department of Justice report and Nicholas Roosevelt quotes: Conradi, 31–32.
32 “riven by faction” and “It became evident”: Hanfstaengl, 29–30.
32 “a very pleasant”: Ibid., 31.
32 “A lovely way”: Katharine Smith, Truman Smith Papers, box 14, Hoover.
32 “worked like” and “I met the most remarkable” and rest of Smith-Hanfstaengl conversation: Hanfstaengl, 32.
33 “All that is”: Hanfstaengl, taped interview by Toland, Library of Congress.
CHAPTER TWO: UP IN THE AIR
PAGE
34 Kindlkeller description and “In his heavy boots”: Hanfstaengl, 33.
34 police agents: Hanfstaengl interviewed by Toland, Library of Congress.
34 “electric” and “In his early years”: Hanfstaengl, 33.
35 “a charge which” and rest of Hitler speech: Ibid., 35.
35 “especially the ladies”: Hanfstaengl interviewed by Toland, Library of Congress.
35 “Transfixed” and quotes on how Hanfstaengl was impressed and wanted to explain America’s importance: Hanfstaengl, 35–36.
35 “Ah, you are” and rest of exchange with Hitler: Hanfstaengl interviewed by Toland, Library of Congress; and Hanfstaengl, 36–37.
36 “a sallow, untidy”: Hanfstaengl, 32.
36 “The first followers”: Ibid., 37.
36 “the earnest, magnetic” and rest of Helen’s account and quotes: Helene Niemeyer “Notes,” FDR Library; and Helene Niemeyer, taped interview by John Toland, Library of Congress. Ernst Hanfstaengl’s comments in this section are from Hanfstaengl, 38–39.
38 family photos: courtesy of Eric Hanfstaengl, the grandson of Helen and Ernst Hanfstaengl.
38 “He had been so struck” and Kay’s account of visit by Putzi and Helen: Katharine Smith, box 14, Hoover.
39 “What wonder”: Niemeyer “Notes.”
40 “a definite public character” and Knickerbocker biographical details: H. R. Knickerbocker, Is Tomorrow Hitler’s? 200 Questions on the Battle of Mankind, foreword by John Gunther, xii–xiii.
40 “The first impression” and “the expression of his face”: Ibid., 1–2.
40 “He is softly fat”: Ibid., 3.
40 “He knew the thing”: Hanfstaengl, 49.
41 “hysterical enthusiasm” and Hanfstaengl’s introduction of Harvard marching songs and Hitler’s reactions: Ibid., 51.
41 he put up $1,000: Ibid., 53.
41 “If there is” and Hitler’s views of the U.S., Henry Ford and Ku Klux Klan: Ibid., 40–41.
42 the price for the three beers: Ibid., 96.
42 “Quiet!” and most of Beer Hall Putsch account: John Toland, Adolf Hitler, Vol. I, 163–165.
42 “Gentlemen, not one of us”: Otto Strasser, Hitler and I, 41.
42 press conference: Hanfstaengl, 99.
42 “REBELS IN COUP”: Wiegand Papers, box 26, Hoover.
43 Fourteen Nazis died and other putsch details: Ian Kershaw, Hitler, 1889–1936: Hubris, 210–11. (Other accounts put the number of Nazis shot and killed as sixteen, not fourteen. Hitler would regularly honor sixteen “martyrs” of the Beer Hall Putsch once he took power.)
43 “I can testify”: Murphy, 39–40.
43 Ludendorff surrendered: Kershaw, 211.
43 “My God” and Hanfstaengl’s actions and “The last place”: Hanfstaengl, 105–106.
44 “one of his theoretical passions”: Ibid., 50–51.
44 “a neuter”: Niemeyer interviewed by Toland.
44 “To my utter amazement” and rest of account of Hitler’s arrival through doctor’s explanation of how they got to the Hanfstaengl house: Niemeyer “Notes.”
45 The next morning and events then in Hanfstaengl’s house: Toland, 183–184.
45 “Now all is lost” and rest of Helen’s account of Hitler when facing arrest, along with scene with gun: Niemeyer “Notes” and Niemeyer interviewed by Toland.
46 “What are the bad”: Niemeyer “Notes.”
47 “a cultural riot” and “the leaders of” and other Mowrer descriptions: Edgar Ansel Mowrer, Triumph and Turmoil, 194–197.
47 “In Berlin ice” and other Lilian quotes about initial impressions: Lilian Mowrer, Journalist’s Wife, 180–183.
47 “but something in” and other comments on appeal: Ibid., 190.
48 “the most vital”: Ibid., 201.
48 “Nowhere in the world”: Ibid., 205–206.
48 “They were so wonderfully”: Ibid., 190–191.
48 “a full-fledged” and Lilian’s other comments about women: Ibid., 192.
48 “It was the greatest” and other film observations: Ibid., 213–214.
49 “Quit bothering”: Edgar Ansel Mowrer, 199.
49 “I was becoming”: Lilian Mowrer, 191.
49 “All in all”: Matthews, Alanson B. Houghton, Ambassador of the New Era, 75–76.
49 “to save what is”: Ibid., 77.
49 “I feel as if”: Ibid., 87.
50 “just claims”: Manfred Jonas, The United States and Germany: A Diplomatic History, 172.
50 “The United States is”: Ibid., 181.
50 “The Americanization”: Wiegand Papers, box 27, Hoover.
51 “By the early twenties” and “that complex of factors”: Edgar Ansel Mowrer, 187, 189.
51 “It’s madness” and “an intensity” and details of Baker’s stay, including gifts: Jean-Claude Baker and Chris Chase, Josephine: The Hungry Heart, 124–129.
52 “The period immediately”: Edgar Ansel Mowrer, Germany Puts the Clock Back, 153.
52 “sexual perversions”: Ibid., 155.
52 “These were elegant”: Hecht, 256.
52 “The air we breathed”: Franz Schulze, Philip Johnson: Life and Work, 412.
52 “I think if it” and “The Americans”: Ibid., 53–54.
53 “Treason to the Republic”: Lilian Mowrer, 186.
53 “had the same goal”: William Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, 115.
53 “You may pronounce”: Ibid., 118.
54 “He spoke with” and rest of Mowrer report: Lilian Mowrer, 186.
54 “While
the putsch” and “vanished into oblivion”: Murphy, Diplomat Among Warriors, 40.
55 “even as a side issue” and “as far as”: Hamilton Fish Armstrong, Peace and Counter-peace: From Wilson to Hitler, 309–310.
55 “Hemingway by the way”: Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker Papers, Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
55 Knickerbocker, who would: Richard Lingeman, Sinclair Lewis: Rebel from Main Street, 313.
55 some accounts claim: Peter Kurth, American Cassandra: The Life of Dorothy Thompson, 487.
56 “Do come on up” and rest of Lilian Mowrer’s account: Lilian Mowrer, 221.
56 “International relations”: Victoria de Grazia, Irresistible Empire: America’s Advance Through Twentieth-Century Europe, 75.
56 “These were the brilliant”: Kurth, 93.
57 “an authentic record” and “The Graf Zeppelin is more than”: Wiegand Papers, box 30, Hoover.
57 “You have indeed cared” and other correspondence: Wiegand Papers, box 8, Hoover.
57 “brilliant British woman” and “internationally-known”: New York American, Sept. 1, 1929; and Wiegand Papers, box 30, Hoover.
58 “full of promise”: Kurth, 92.
58 “Though externals”: Lilian Mowrer, 247.
58 “Where but”: Edgar Ansel Mowrer, Triumph and Turmoil, 160.
58 “They all had” and “These Germans”: Lilian Mowrer, 254.
58 “loose emotional fervor” and subsequent Lilian Mowrer quotes: Ibid., 255.
59 “If one wants”: Kurth, 93.
59 “like a death’s head” and “If only I could”: Lilian Mowrer, 225.
59 “Do you think”: Ibid., 224.
59 “The strange bit of history”: Hecht, 296–297.
60 “In him all morality”: Ibid., 298.
60 “I know who caused”: Max Wallace, The American Axis: Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, and the Rise of the Third Reich, 20.
60 “I regard Henry Ford” and description of Annetta Antona interview with Hitler: Ibid., 1–2.
60 “Mr. Ford’s genius”: Prince Louis Ferdinand, The Rebel Prince: Memoirs of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, 241.
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