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US Embassy
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Berlin
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Others
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William E. Dodd – Ambassador
Martha “Mattie” – wife
William Jr. “Bill” – son
Martha – daughter
George Gordon – 2nd in command
George Messersmith – Consul General – became ambassador to
Austria
Albert Stern – married Martha in summer 1938
1934:
*The Night of the Long Knives
– Hitler purged government – crucial to his ascent to power
*Martha started to be
disillusioned with Nazis
*Soviets interested in
recruiting her to be Soviet spy
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President Hindenburg
Vice Chancellor Papen
Edgar Jung – speech writer
Hitler
Goring
Goebbels
Himmler
Rohm – Storm Troopers
Bella Fromm – German society columnist
Mildred Fish Harnack – American – Am. Woman’s Club in
Berlin
Sigrid Schultz – correspondent for Chicago Tribune
Quentin Reynolds – reporter for Hearst News – introduced
Martha to the Nazis
Putzi Hanfstaengl – Martha’s lover
Rudolf Diels – Martha’s lover – became head of Gestapo
Boris Winogradou – Martha’s lover - Russian
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Rabbi Wise – Jewish leader
George Bassett Roberts – Martha’s estranged husband
Carl Sandburg – flirtation with Martha
Thomas Wolfe – affair with Martha
Franklin Roosevelt – appointed Dodd
Pretty Good Club – wealthy men in foreign service
Armand Berand – French Embassy – Martha’s lover
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1. After seeing Anna Rath dragged
through the streets, how could Martha continue to feel positively about the
Nazis? What might have been her train of
thought?
2. Discuss
Martha’s gradual disillusionment with the Nazis and her then interest in the
Soviets.
3. The Dodd’s butler, Fritz, criticized
Martha when he stated, “That was not a house, but a house of ill repute.” (page 115)
Also Messersmith stated that, “she had behaved so badly in so many ways,
especially in view of the position held by her father.” (page 115)
Do you think Dodd was blind to her behavior? Why did he let it continue?
4. Discuss
Dodd and his role as Ambassador to Germany:
- Given that Dodd was a historian, do you think he could or should have understood what was happening in Germany more than the average person?
- Dodd did not ask the State Department to put Germany on the endangered travel list even though people were being attacked. Why? Would this have made a difference?
- He eventually became one of few Americans who foresaw the dangers of Hitler and his regime. Dodd stopped having contact with Hitler and Third Reich and was then cut off by Hitler. Do you think he should have tried to keep communications open?
- What did you think about Dodd’s campaign against spending in the Embassy? Do you think it is important for ambassador’s to keep up a certain level of appearance?
- Do you think an ambassador needs to come from the upper class? Was Dodd’s background as a history professor appropriate to the situation?
5. Discuss the US Government’s reaction
to the Jewish “problem” in Germany: some wanted the US to speak out, others
wanted a calmer reaction and feared backlash against German Jews. Both sides saw this as an immigration
problem for the US. In hindsight, what
do you think we should have done?
6. The US Government also seemed
fixated on Germany paying back its debt to US investors. Dodd was criticized for not pushing harder
for repayment. Do you think Dodd
thought this was insignificant in the bigger picture and/or realized there
would be no repayment at all?
7. What did you think about the episode
in 1938 when Dodd was back at his farm and he hit a child with his car but did
not realize and kept on driving?
8. Discuss Martha and her life: her lovers, her behavior in Berlin, her
motivations. Would you have liked to be
her friend in Berlin?
9. Discuss the author’s writing
style. How was it similar to or
different from Devil in the White City? Did you like the foreshadowing? (page 69, 85, 119, 122, 146, 258……)
- How did you feel when you were reading the Epilogue where Larson followed up on many of the people?
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