Germany's Underground: The Anti-Nazi Resistance

by Allen W. Dulles

This classic account of the German Resistance during World War II remains one of the primary sources on a topic that continues to generate controversy more than a half century after the war's end. As OSS (office of strategic services) chief of station in Bern, Switzerland, from 1942 to 1945, Dulles was charged with determining the extent and commitment of the opposition to Hitler. Germany's Underground is the most important firsthand account we have of Allied contact with that opposition—and the most concise and readable history of the men and women from every stratum of German society who made up this complex web.

Genres: History

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1947

About the author

American public official Allen Welsh Dulles served from 1953 as director of the Central Intelligence Agency and after the failed invasion of the Bay of Pigs resigned in 1961.

This diplomat and lawyer flourished.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_D...

Reviews

[Augustus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many Americans will recall John Foster Dulles as the U.S. Secretary of State under President Eisenhower. Fewer may recall his brother Allen Dulles, who became the first civilian director of the CIA. Before then, and starting in 1943, Allen Dulles was chief of the OSS office in Bern, Switzerland. There, he made personal contacts with members of the German underground movement against Hitler, and this book (published in 1947) is a product of that involvement.

There are of course multiple histories of the German resistance, but Dulles' narrative is unusual in that much of it was based on personal interviews conducted during and shortly after World War II. He recounts the histories of attempts to assassinate the Fuehrer, with the final failed effort on July 20, 1944. He even tells of an offer of a meeting with Heinrich Himmler in 1943, which Dulles declined. The author analyzes the roles of various groups, emphasizing the inspirational resistance of devoted Christians like the Kreisau Circle that gathered at the estate of Count Helmuth von Moltke. He also notes that some aspects of Allied policy tended to undermine the anti-Nazi movement, including the mass bombing of civilian populations in German cities and the Allied insistence on ill-defined "unconditional surrender" as a pre-condition for peace. Dulles offers unique and incisive views from the perspective of someone in direct contact with the men and women who sought to depose the Nazi dictator.

[Denny Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even in those early days . . . it is about what the CIA wants you to know. Sets the stage nicely for misleading state sanctioned tomes like the “definitive” one from William L. Shirer. Sheds light in a few areas that might be useful to the class of mostly ignored authors found in the Revisionist Bibliography — 1981 by Keith Stimely. A lot of damage done since the late forties and it seems the general population in the US is still a very long way from believing the maxim that there is no such thing as a “good war.”
When you’re in the business of murder, there really aren’t any silver linings.

[Emilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent as by an author who met members of the resistance and was living during the events

[Tome Addiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written account of German soldiers against Hitler.

[Amy Sawyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interestin and detailed account of the attempt to remove Hitler from power.