imprisoned in Dachau by virture of their being Jews but because of their having been politically active opponents of National Socialism, or communists, or journalists hostile to NS or ‘reactionaries.’ ” Deschner, 79.
7 “Tolerance means weakness”: Noakes and Pridham, 284–86.
8 “Any pity whatsoever for ‘enemies of the State’ ”: Krausnick et al., 433.
9 “Outwardly Berlin presented”: Memorandum, David Schweitzer to Bernhard Kahn, March 5, 1934, vol. 10, pp. 20–30,
10 Some ten thousand Jews: Dippel, 114; Breitman and Kraut, 25.
11 “Before the end of 1933”: Testimony of Raymond Geist, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. 4, Document No. 1759-PS, Avalon Project, Yale University Law School.
Germany’s supposedly secret effort to rearm itself in contravention of the Treaty of Versailles was, to Berliners, no secret at all, as became evident in the rise of a popular joke. It went like this:
A man complains to a friend that he doesn’t have the money to buy a carriage for his new baby. The friend happens to work in a carriage factory and offers to sneak out enough parts to allow the new father to build one on his own. When the two men see each other again, the new father is still carrying his baby.
His friend the factory worker is perplexed, and asks the new father why he’s not using his newly built baby carriage.
“Well, you see,” the father replies, “I know I’m very dense and don’t understand much about mechanics, but I’ve put that thing together three times and each time it turns out to be a machine gun!” Wheeler-Bennett,
12 “Any one motoring out in the country”: John Campbell White to Jay Pierrepont Moffat, Nov. 27, 1933, Carr Papers.
13 “You must know that I am grateful”: Gallo, 7–8; Gisevius, 171. Gallo and Gisevius present two slightly different translations of Hitler’s greeting. I chose Gallo’s, but for no particular reason.
14 Soon afterward, however, Hitler ordered: Diels, 385–89; Diels, Affidavit, in Stackelberg and Winkle, 133– 34; Wheaton, 439; Metcalfe, 235–36.
15 “I am confident,” he wrote: Kershaw,
16 Rohm, the
1 “to read a whole series of letters”: Moffat, Diary, Dec. 26, 1933.
2 the number of Jews on his staff: Dodd to William Phillips, Dec. 14, 1933, Box 42, W. E. Dodd Papers. Dodd wrote this letter longhand, and added a note at the top, “For you alone.”
3 “righteous aloofness”: Dodd to William Phillips, Dec. 14, 1933, Box 42, W. E. Dodd Papers. This letter, with the same date as the letter in the preceding citation, is nonetheless markedly different in content and form. It is typed, and marked “Personal and Confidential.”
4 “As usual,” Moffat wrote: Moffat, Diary, Dec. 26, 1933.
5 “I hope it will not be difficult for you”: William Phillips to Dodd, Jan. 3, 1934, Box 45, W. E. Dodd Papers.
6 “I confess I am at a loss”: Ibid.
7 “would limit a little the favoritisms”: Dodd to Roosevelt, Jan. 3, 1934, Box 45, W. E. Dodd Papers.
1 Early in January, Boris arranged a date: Once again I have relied heavily on Martha’s unpublished recollections about Boris, “Bright Journey into Darkness.” And once again, this memoir provides invaluable detail. When I say Boris smiled as he opened the door to his room at the embassy, it is because Martha says he smiled at that moment. Whether her recollections are truly accurate, who can say? But she was there, and I am more than happy to rely on her testimony. Box 14, Martha Dodd Papers.
2 if your goal was seduction: MacDonogh, 31.
1 “How is Uncle Adolf?”: Memorandum, David Schweitzer to Bernhard Kahn, March 5, 1934, vol. 10, pp. 20– 30,
2 One German dreamed that an SA man: Peukert, 237.
3 “Here was an entire nation”: Brysac, 186.
4 “constant fear of arrest”: Johnson and Reuband, 288, 355, 360.
5 Some 32 percent recalled telling anti-Nazi jokes: Ibid., 357.
6 “whisper almost inaudibly”: 277. Martha does not refer to Mildred by name in this passage—in fact she never does so in her memoir, for fear of exposing Mildred and her nascent resistance group to danger—but many of Martha’s references in
7 One day he invited her to his office: Ibid., 53.
8 “a sinister smile crossed his lips”: Ibid., 55.
9 He filled a cardboard box with cotton: Ibid., 55.
10 “the German glance”: Evans,
11 Whenever he appeared: Dodd,
Also, see “Bright Journey into Darkness,” Box 14, Martha Dodd Papers.
12 “There is no way on earth”: Dodd,
13 “As time went on, and the horror increased”: Ibid., 368.
14 rudimentary codes: Ibid., 276.
15 Her friend Mildred used a code for letters home: Brysac, 130.
Another example: In
16 “It seems absolutely unbelievable”: Peter Olden to Dodd, Jan. 30, 1934, Box 45, W. E. Dodd Papers.
17 “to find out the contents of confidential reports”: Raymond Geist to Hull, March 8, 1934, 125.1953/655, State/Decimal.
18 “I shall be walking at 11:30”: Dodd,
19 “Could we meet tomorrow morning”: Sir Eric Phipps to Dodd, May 25, 1935, Box 47, W. E. Dodd Papers.
20 Despite the toll: Nonetheless, Messersmith claimed in his unpublished memoir that “on two occasions I was almost run over by a Gestapo car or an SS or SA car.” Both incidents occurred as he tried crossing the street to the Esplanade Hotel; both involved powerful cars speeding from a narrow alley. He believed the drivers had been waiting for him. Messersmith, “Additional paragraph to memorandum on attempts on my life,” unpublished memoir, Messersmith Papers.
21 “If I had been with people who had been brave”: Dodd,
22 “bordered on the hysterical”: Ibid., 54.
13 “I often felt such terror”: Ibid., 54.
1 “more living space for our surplus population”: Kershaw,
