Turisti nel Terzo Reich: Viaggiare in Germania all'epoca del nazismo

by Julia Boyd

Come nascono le dittature? È possibile per i contemporanei accorgersi della loro ascesa? In  Turisti nel Terzo Reich , Julia Boyd ci mostra come le risposte non sono sempre quelle più scontate, né le più rassicuranti. Gli eventi accaduti in Germania tra il 1933 e il 1945 cambiarono la storia del mondo in modo terribile e drammatico, ma solo questo libro si interroga su quanto di tutto quello che stava accadendo era percepibile in una normale giornata nella Germania nazista. Avventurandosi nella quotidianità, curiosa di scoprire come quelle vicende venivano osservate e discusse, Boyd racconta storie di gente comune, spesso ignara dell’orrore che di lì a poco si sarebbe abbattuto sull’Europa. Nelle pagine di Boyd prende parola una moltitudine di voci minori, solitamente relegate ai margini delle indagini e delle ricostruzioni una comitiva di giovani studenti in viaggio, un gruppo di appassionati musicisti, la passeggiata attenta di un giornalista che incontra lo sguardo curioso di un poeta, i dubbi e le preoccupazioni di un comunista e il distacco di un diplomatico in missione; c’è persino spazio per le testimonianze di personaggi illustri come Charles Lindbergh e Samuel Beckett. Questi racconti creano una straordinaria immagine tridimensionale della Germania nazista, così palpabile che il lettore ne sente, ne ascolta e ne respira tutta l’ambigua atmosfera.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Germany, Travel, Politics, World War II, War

521 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 10, 2017

About the author

Julia Boyd is the author of A Dance with the Dragon: The Vanished World of Peking's Foreign Colony, The Excellent Doctor Blackwell: The Life of the First Woman Physician and Hannah Riddell: An Englishwoman in Japan. An experienced researcher, she has scoured archives all over the world to find original material for her books. As the wife of a former diplomat, she lived in Germany from 1977 to 1981. A former trustee of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, she now lives in London.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have an interest in Weimar and Third Reich history, enjoy histories with views from the bottom—of how real people experience it—or like travel writing, you can’t go wrong with this thoroughly compelling book. Julia Boyd weaves together stories and anecdotes with such skill and fluidity, reading her account seemingly takes no effort whatsoever. It’s like sitting down with a good storyteller. We know where this story will eventually end, but the stories she recounts seem so fresh because they are written from the points of view of the travelers in their times, not “with the clarity of post-war hindsight.”

Most of the travelers Boyd describes generally fall into three categories: those who “had made up their minds as to which camp they belonged”, those who were naively or wilfully ignorant “because Germany’s cultural heritage was simply too precious to renounce for politics, however unpleasant those politics might be”, and those who were just plain confused and baffled by what they experienced and observed. I also liked that she didn't shy away from being judgmental when it was appropriate as in her comment, “The historian Sir Arthur Bryant was another notable foreigner whose benign view of the Nazis lasted longer than was decent.”

Boyd is British, so at times this does have the feel of being Anglo-centric, but this is not a criticism. Hers is an anthology highlighting the proximity between Britain and Germany and the relative ease with which people of middle class means could travel in the twenties and thirties. Many contemporary readers might be shocked with the number of prominent British citizens who were not only sympathetic to Nazi rule, but actively supportive, even up to the start of WWII. Often their views were tempered by latent-to-enthusiastic anti-Semitism and/or anti-Communism. The latter chapters about the time during the war were less about travelers than they were about people who had either married into German families, Chinese students who were stuck, or true believers who stayed.

I’d rather not recount too much more than the excerpts below because it would do injustice to Boyd’s work. And as depressing or baffling as some of the stories are, it is really worth reading the page on the exploits of the British spinster sisters Ida and Louise Cook to save the valuables of Jews. It made me cheer and put a smile on my face. Perhaps I’ll take a stab at writing the screenplay of what would be a fabulous movie.

The other inescapable aspect of this book is that I can’t, as an American living through a period when neo-fascism has taken hold of many parts of my nation (and perhaps Brits going through in opposing Brexit or Israelis who are horrified by Netanyahu feel the same way), read this without imposing it on the narrative of our times. Over and over again I read passages that seemed eerily contemporary. The feeling of history repeating never left me as I was reading. I can readily imagine a Studs Terkel of this age one day writing Travelers in the Age of Trump. And I feel that readers of that book may well have similar feelings and views that I had reading Travelers in the Third Reich.

Boyd’s writing doesn’t have the intellectual heft of a Hannah Arendt. But it certainly causes corresponding moments of reflection and contemplation. Man, this is one damn good read!

[Chele Hipp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly fascinating and terrifying. No, I don’t think Trump will try to exterminate people like Hitler. But, yes, I do believe he is attempting to lead us to fascism. And that he aspires to be a dictator.
This book BRILLIANTLY chronicles how and why ordinary people endured, accepted, and often cheered Hitler’s rise and if you don’t think you could do the same thing then you definitely need to read this book.

The primary reasons for the complacency and/or enthusiasm are happening here and now:
1. Pre-existing racism and fear. Anti-semitism was rampant in Germany and throughout the world. Just like anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant feelings are plaguing our world now.
2. Personal economic circumstances. In the short term, Hitler took Germany from desperation to prosperity and people were feeling much better. Sounds a lot like the 401(k) Trumpers.
3. Personal comfort. People were having a good time. Social life was fun and full. Food, drink, entertainment, travel, festivals. Just like our lives are when we choose to look away from the hardships others are enduring.
4. Propaganda. The Nazi propaganda machine convinced many people that Hitler was a peace loving man who only wanted the best for his country and was leading the country back to its pre-WWI greatness. Fox News and MAGA.
5. Ignorance. Citizens didn’t have access to information and eventually Hitler took control of all information anyway. This is the place where we differ the most. We have an informed citizenry and an extraordinary press. We must hold these things dear. It is what will protect us from fascism and maintain our American principles. That and voting. Vote. Vote. Vote.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are countless books on World War 2, from serious and weighty tomes, stories of daring do and detailed explanations of pivotal moments that changed the course of a continent. Whilst there has been lots of analysis about the failings of the post-World War 1 reparations and oppression by the victors led to the problems that Germany found itself in, there has been very little written about the way it was rapidly changing from the perceptive of holidaymakers and visitors to the country.

In Travellers in the Third Reich, Julia Boyd has documented the turmoil that Germany was in as seen through the eyes of the people that visited the country in the interwar period. Collecting together their stories and accounts we learn how the particular set of circumstances led to the political rise of an obscure Austrian, who had once been tried for treason. As Hitler gained in popularity, the twisted message that he was broadcasting became a cult movement. This fervent following he had at the huge rallies to hear his vitriolic speeches, scared some visitors and yet others from the British establishment were embracing this dystopia.

After gaining political power, it didn't take long for him to seize total control and begin to roll out the nationalist policies across the country. The people that were drawn to Germany at this time came from all walks of life and saw the way that it was changing, but there were glimpses of the persecution that was starting to happen across the country as the vision of the Aryan ideal was implemented. The Olympics were the point where the Third Reich could showcase itself on the world stage and athletes and visitors where shown a sanitised country. Those that managed to peer behind the scenes though, were startled and horrified by what they saw.

This book has stories from a diverse range of people, schoolchildren, musicians, tourist and the political classes that were in and travelling through Germany in the 1930's. At the time there was a certain amount of complacency as to what was happening there, but with hindsight it is easy to see the way things were going, the secret war preparations, buses that could be converted into armed troop carriers, arrests and the terrifying events that were unfolding if they had taken a few moments to look beyond the veneer. It is the human angle that makes this such a fascinating book, the family from Bournemouth on holiday who bump into Hitler whilst on a walk and take a snap, the couple who are moved to take the disabled child of a Jewish mother out of the country to give her a chance of life and two lads realising that they were cycling very close to the concentration camp of Dachau by accident. It is a fascinating book, full of detail on a country that stepped into the abyss and almost took the whole of Europe with it. There are echoes in here that have a resonance today and we would be wise to remember.

[Ieva Andriuskeviciene · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Germany invites YOU”
Vokietija utopija ar tragedija, Hitleris monstras ar superherojus?

Labai įdomi ir informatyvi knyga parašta neįprastu kampu. Trečiojo reicho valdoma Vokietija labai aktyviai skatino turizmą. Daug turistų važiavo savo akimis pamatyti šitą utopinę ir itin modernią šalį. Itin tvarkinga su itin svetingais žmonėmis sveiku gyvenimo būdu, ji tapo dideliu traukos centru.

Knygoje rasit visko. Paprasti turistai, menininkai, mokslininkai, politikai, studentai, kvakeriai, rašytotojai. Vieni labai stipriai prijaučiantys kiti bandantys nesivelti į poliką ir naiviomis akimis ignoruojantys kas ne taip. Remiamasi laiškais, dienoraščių įrašais, straipsniais kurie parašyti aplankius Vokietiją.

Labai įdomiai aprašomas vokiečių kūniškumas ir nauja liberalizmo banga kur tarpukariu iškeliama sveikata, saulė jūra ir nuogumas! Kažkaip net imu suprasti kodėl nudistų pliažuose Euopoje, daugumą sudaro būtent vokiečiai. Net universitetas sexual behavior įsteigtas tuo metu buvo.

SA lyderis Erns Rohm buvo homoseksualus ir gėjų barai ant bangos kur lietuviai berniukai linksmino vyrus. Hitleris tada buvo tiesiog nežinomas jaunuolis bandantis iškilti.
Visas liberaumas baigėsi su Dachau atidarymu kur gėjus siuntė “dėl jų pačių saugumo”

Keliautojai buvo itin subtiliai įtraukiami į propogandos mašiną. Kokia Vokietija didinga ir nuostabi, kokie sveiki žmonės, kultūra ir kaip viskam trukdo žydai.
Ypač ryški užsienio jaunimo stovyklose kurios buvo labai madoje tarp Anglijos ir Amerikos jaunimo. Susitikimai su valdančiaisiais tikintis, kad vaikai perduos viską tėvams. Pvz britų ambasadoriaus dukrai specialus spektaklis ir susitikimai su politikais suorganizuoti tam jog ji kuo teigimiau savo tėvui atsilieptų apie nacių gėrį

Įdomu tai, kad Hitlerio ankstieji įkvėpėjai buvo pagrinde britai. Šiaip Britanija labai pronacištiška buvo tarpukariu

Reicho didybė aprašyta taip stipriai ir taip įtaigiai, visokie festivaliai ir masiniai renginiai, kad net norisi laiko masina nusikelti. Kažkaip susišaukia su dabartine turizmo bangą į Šaiurės Korėją. Tiek daug mums žinomų vardų ir švenčių kurios minimos, pvz oktober fest arba Thomas Cook kuris šlovino ir skatino turizmą į Vokietiją

Visas skyrius apie “literatūros turistu” kurie šlovino nacistinę Vokietiją. Labiausiai žinomas visiems ko gero Knutas Hamsunas, T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats. Camiu, Somerset Maugham, Beckett, Woolf- visi vienu ar kitu metu lankė Vokietiją
Kol kultūros žmonės puotavo ir žavėjosi kita Vokietijoso dalis beveik badavo ir antisemitizmas visi augo.

Itin įdomus olimpiados aprašymas. Moterys, juodi atletai ir žydai, žinoma turėjo daug prastesnes sąlygas kai tuo metu baltieji arijai vyrai valgė steikus ir gyveno prabangoje. Hitleris tai pat atsisakė spausti ranką kai laimėjo ne tie.
Lietuvis krepšininkas Frank Lubin, gimęs JAV (paskui buvo LT komandos kapitonas) Vokietijoje žaidė olimpiadoje, po jos liko kelias savaites nes norėjo aplankyti Lietuvą. Su kitu žaidėju negalėjo niekur pavalgyti, nes po olimpiados visuose restoranuose atsirado Dovydo žvaigždės ir jų tiesiog neaptarnavo. Berlyne tuo metu visur skambėjo džinglas:
“When Olimpic Games are done
Then with Jews we’ll have some fun”

Galėčiau dar rašyti ir rašyti, bet tiesiog labai rekomenduoju. Stilius tikrai nesudėtingas, knyga įtraukia labiau nei koks trileris ir labai įdomiai nuspalvina tokią didingą ir paslaptingą trečiojo reicho Vokietiją.


Kam aktualu yra išversta į rusų kalbą

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating account of visitors to Germany from after WWI all the way through the Second World War. Indeed it is interesting to note that the hospitality industry was trying to entice overseas tourists immediately after the ending of hostilities in 1919. Also, that while British and American visitors were generally welcomed, the French were definitely not.

The book has a wide range of viewpoints; academics, oversea students, members of the British aristocracy, diplomats, journalists, politicians, and ordinary travellers, are all represented. There are those who, like Unity Mitford, staked out Hitler and infiltrated his inner circle out of fanaticism, through Virginia and Leonard Woolf, who were unimpressed, to those who immediately spotted the danger of the emerging National Socialist Party and those who, without the benefit of hindsight, were unquestioning and uncritical - even when visiting book burnings and labour camps. Persuasive propaganda and the distortion of truth, or simple politeness, led to some visitors remaining uncritical of a country not their own.

Indeed, it is the benefit of hindsight which really comes across. How easy is it to spot danger signs when visitors may have visited Germany many times before? How easy was it to ignore the pervading anti-Semitism? According to some of those who visited, the scale of military pageantry, constant saluting and fanatical support of Hitler was overwhelming and aggressive, while others were impressed and enthralled. Of course, anti-Semitism was also rife among many of the English upper classes and there were many apologists of Hitler, certainly before the war.

From the Olympics, to the visiting Charterhouse hockey team, through Chamberlain's visits, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Halifax mistaking Hitler for a footman, the outbreak of war and beyond, this is a glimpse into history, as it happened.

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism Through the Eyes of Everyday People reveals clearly the content of the book. Germans and Germany are viewed through the eyes of foreign travellers. Not all, but a large portion of the travellers are American or British visiting Germany during the 1920s and 1930s. Some remain during the war. The book compiles what they have said. What is delivered here are their quotes. We observe the rise of fascism and Nazi beliefs through words of foreigners—some communists, some socialists, some fascists, some devoted to democratic beliefs, authors, poets, musicians and celebrities, journalists, diplomats, athletes, students, Blacks and Whites, ordinary tourists and Royalty. People from all different walks of life are quoted—the spread is wide. This results in diversity of opinion, but at the same time, we do not come to know any individual well and the flow of the text is disconnected and jumpy. It is a little less jumpy as one approaches the end because fewer individuals are focused upon since most “travellers” returned home as the war dragged on.

It is assumed that before picking up this book, readers already know the progression of events that occurred during the Second World War. Terms and events are not explained. The approach here is different. Instead, events are illustrated through what visitors have said. For example: it is assumed you understand that Germany had occupied Norway when one British wife speaks of her German husband “being in Norway.” That’s it; no explanation is given.

Some of what we are told is irrelevant! Three examples should suffice—we are told of when Göring’s lion cub pees on him, of when Göring’s bison refuses to mate before an audience and of when the released Olympic doves defecate on a group of American Olympic athletes. Perhaps the author is trying to be funny. There is a lot of information that you just do not know what to do with!

The author has compiled bits of information previously presented in other books and has then set these tidbits in chronological order. The information is not analyzed. The validity of what is said may be right or it may be wrong. There is no discussion. The information lacks depth. Whole books have been written on some of the individuals quickly mentioned in Boyd’s book. In an afterword there is a short summary.

Stephanie Racine narrates the audiobook very well. Every word is clear. The text is easy to follow. Four stars for the narration.

Brits and Americans loved visiting Germany and the rise of Hitler didn’t stop them. The exchange rate was favorable; you could get a lot for your money. Ordinary German people were affable hosts. Resplendent nature and centuries of culture were at your fingertips. All appeared ordered, neat and clean. Most visitor simply didn’t bother looking under the surface.

The Germans originally hoped and thought that Hitler’s programs would provide jobs. Malnutrition was to become a dim memory of the past. The German people felt crushed after the First World War and the Versailles Treaty. Hitler gave back to the German people hope and lost pride. That Jews were to be the scapegoats was shoved under the mat. Anti-Semitism was prevalent not only in Germany but throughout the entire world. Maltreatment and discrimination of “inferior” groups were simply to be ignored. There is sarcasm in my last sentence!

**************************

Books by Julia Boyd :
*Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism Through the Eyes of Everyday People 3 stars
*A Village in the Third Reich TBR
*The Excellent Doctor Blackwell: The Life of the First Woman Physician TBR

Relevant Recommended Books :
*The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family 4 stars
*Hons and Rebels 4 stars
*On Hitler's Mountain: Overcoming the Legacy of a Nazi Childhood 4 stars
*The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics 4 stars
*Lindbergh 4 stars
*In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin TBR maybe

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author of this book has really done the legwork of trawling through the letters and diaries of many visitors to Germany in the 1930s, ranging from English aristocrats on tour to American high schoolers to a Chinese PhD student and W.E.B. DuBois. She doesn't succeed in truly reconciling what these visitors thought, because there are so many personalities and experiences involved, and she doesn't follow through to the obvious (if possibly unavailable) conclusion of what all these people thought later, in hindsight. But the book is studded with glints of the travelers' interesting observations and it portrays many facets of the 1930s, a period I am increasingly convinced most Americans know nothing about.

I had never really thought about what would have made Germany an attractive place to travel in this period. But imagine a place that offers reliable accommodation, beautiful nature, charming medieval towns, the high culture of the Enlightenment contrasted with the exciting world of jazz clubs, a soupçon of naughtiness in the form of nude swimming--and all at bargain prices. Certainly tourists today would flock to such a place. (Much as I love medieval towns, I confess I'd never really paused to reflect on how beautiful Germany must have been before the war, mainly because regret over this feels like a third rail in Germany today. But I think it can be acknowledged as long as we place the blame in the right place, on the Nazis rather than the Allies who were driven to bomb them.) The travelers in this book were students bumming around on bicycles, or middle-class professionals on bus tours, or aristocrats visiting the fine homes of acquaintances. Though they had different aims in visiting, they all seem to start with a sense of enchantment.

What did they make of the mistreatment of the Jews in the 1930s? Their own anti-Semitism contributed to an underwhelming response. Many thought that the Germans were justified in wanting less Jewish influence in their society and bought into mainstreamed lies about Jewish citizens' disproportionate or malevolent role. The regime was not successful in hiding their actions from either the local or tourists, but the tourists were more easily fooled. One group was taken to tour Dachau, where "the criminals paraded before them were in fact camp guards in disguise." (2618) Those who were present on Kristallnacht were horrified by the wantonness of the violence, but after that, the Jews disappeared from view, allowing visitors to think very little about them, with the exception of a delegation of American Quakers, who were given the runaround by Nazi officials.

There are a few genuinely hair-raising stories here. One young American woman, studying music in Munich and staying with a family, sneaked with her host brother into a speech by Julius Streicher, the Nazi propagandist. "I knew it was going to make me furious of course but I didn't quite realise that I'd be literally shaking with anger." (4234) A pair of English sisters, using their love of opera as a cover, made numerous visits to Germany where they smuggled out jewelry for would-be Jewish emigrés who were no longer allowed to take property or money out of the country. They'd arrive on Friday in plain attire, see an opera, and go back on Sunday, wearing furs and dripping with jewels. (Unfortunately this author does not report on whether any of the original owners were able to escape.)

I think this is a more worthwhile read than In the Garden of Beasts, because that is about only one family and an idiosyncratic one at that. This gives a much broader overview. Most of the travelers introduced here depart with the same impression, favorable or suspicious, that they started with. The author doesn't take the psychology head-on but I think there were several things in the mix: moral laziness, yes, but also aversion to war, and a lack of exposure to the kind of insidious propaganda that we, in 2018 at least, should be able to recognize.

Review copy received from Edelweiss.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Travellers in the Third Reich – Germany Invites You

Julia Boyd has written what has to be one of the most fascinating books of the using new material for private collections and archives around the world. She also asks the poignant question of without the benefit of hindsight, how do you interpret what’s right in front of your eyes? Clearly not an easy question to answer, but one Julia Boyd sets out to do with Travellers in the Third Reich.

Looking back as we do, it is hard for people today to understand why anyone would want to visit Germany, the Great War was over, the perception was Germany was to blame, the economy was weak and had collapsed, yet people still visited. During the 1930s Germany was a popular destination for British and American tourists, which also inspired people such as WH Auden and Christopher Isherwood.

What this book does do is describe what happened in Germany between the wars, and is based entirely on first-hand accounts written by foreign visitors to the country. There is also a sense of what it was actually like to visit the country, both physically and emotionally. As Boyd points out a large array of celebrities passed through such as Charles Lindbergh, Francis Bacon, Samuel Beckett and David Lloyd George. Add to this war veterans, academics, journalists, artists, Olympic athletes and the England football team.

From the poverty that the Germans were living in, and this includes a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Margaret of Prussia to the ordinary German. With witnesses to how the pain for the Germans got worse especially with the riots and revolutionary behaviour. After the Munich Beerhall Putsch, the French asked about the National Socialist Party and an Aloysius Hitler, and the British response was there was nothing to be alarmed about.

There are also the wonderful descriptions of some of the adventures and encounter some of the travellers had, and as Boyd note “There was no question that Berlin offered its visitors – especially the Anglo-Saxons – sexual and intellectual adventures unobtainable in their own countries”. It must also be remembered that Rupert Brooke wrote Grantchester in Berlin at this time.

What does come through the book is that if the British and Americans were relatively popular visitors to Germany, especially in the Weimar years, the French were not. There are also descriptions of President Hindenburg, who was half hidden by a curtain after he had inaugurated Hitler as Chancellor, as he received the plaudits from below while saluting the crowd. There are some wonderful descriptions of that day. Weeks after an English journalist notes that they were confronted everywhere by election propaganda.

Throughout the book there are excellent portraits of Germany pained by the travellers including the old soldiers, the literary set and those from academia. There are some interesting descriptions in the chapter that deals with Germany as it became an Academic Wasteland, with the exclusions and the lack of rights for the Jews.

This really is an interesting book, looking at Germany without the use of hindsight is a challenge, and sometimes makes you want to scream about not being able to see what is right in front of you, to many of the visitors. This will fascinate readers and is well written and well researched and oddly a great read, in spite of the subject matter.

[Jamie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Newspaper attacks on the Nazis from the earliest months of the regime, anecdotal evidence of street violence and repression, the opening of Dachau just a few weeks after Hitler became chancellor and, above all the book burning, in May 1933, should have alerted all would-be travelers to the reality of the new Germany. But once they were actually there, the propaganda was so pervasive and truth so distorted that many found themselves uncertain about what to believe. In addition, there were at this early stage respectable reasons for giving Hitler the benefit of the doubt – belief that his revolution would evolve into responsible government, guilt over the Treaty of Versailles or simply the memory of a good Germany holiday. ” (p. 369-370)

Travelers in the Third Reich has won several awards, and deservedly so. Julia Boyd gathered up letters, diaries, diplomatic dispatches, newspaper articles, and every other source she could find from people who had visited Germany between 1919 and 1945. The picture that emerges is complex but revealing. A disturbing number of visitors were as anti-Semitic as the Nazis, happy to gloat over the repression of the Jews, and fully supportive of Hitler’s government. For them, democracy meant chaos and corruption, and they were ready to throw their support behind any strong leader who promised to restore Germany’s strength and dignity. The parallels with populist politicians today should not be missed.

Germany was also seen as the last bulwark against the spread of communism, and if keeping Europe safe for capitalism meant suppressing the rights of German citizens, many visitors were happy to look the other way. The Soviet menace seemed like a real and present threat in Europe and America, where most countries had their own restive communist movements which were under the control of Moscow. The Great Depression had battered the world’s economies, and many workers were starting to ask why their lives were so hard when the rich, whose wealth was earned on the backs of the workers, lived in luxury. It was easy for people in the West to see communism crouching at Germany’s borders, ready to sweep across the continent. “[E]ven those suffering under the new regime continued to support Hitler because they regarded the Nazis as the only alternative to Bolshevism.” (p 124) If Germany needed to rearm in violation of the Versailles Treaty, and to crush internal dissent, whether communist or from other political parties, much of the West was willing to cheer them along.

Many people were appalled by the harsh peace terms imposed on Germany, which was forced to accept sole responsibility for the war and pay a massive indemnity. The Germans had asked for an armistice based on President Wilson’s 14 Points, but the Allies kept the blockade in place until Germany was faced with capitulation or starvation, and so capitulated. The Germans felt humiliated and betrayed, and were willing to listen to any politician who offered to restore their pride.

And for a lot of visitors, Germany was simply the place to go for a wonderful vacation. It was a beautiful country, filled with picturesque castles and medieval towns, a rich culture of symphonies, operas, museums, and magnificent churches. For many visitors German laws and Nazi oppression were not felt by them personally, so they were ignored. They studiously avoided acknowledging Nazi thuggery and war preparations, and accepted the propaganda without looking too closely at it.

The British government was warned of the Nazi threat by its professional diplomats but had plenty of German sympathizers in its own ranks, and was terrified of provoking another war, so they failed to create a unified diplomatic front with France. Hitler got his way again and again until he was convinced the West was so weak and degenerate it would never challenge him. England did not even act when Hitler himself gave clear indications of his intentions. “On 7 April [1933] Hitler told McDonald in a private interview, ‘I will do the thing that the rest of the world would like to do. It doesn’t know how to get rid of the Jews. I will show them.’” (p. 104)

Added to this was the fact that many in Europe and American disliked the French more than the Germans. The French were seen as arrogant, chaotic, and ungrateful for the aid they had been given in the First World War, and were thought to have been the driving force behind the harsh peace terms that devastated Germany. For many people it seemed obvious that the future of Europe lay with the alliance of the Germanic peoples in Britain and Germany, an alliance which would dominate the rest of the world politically, economically, and militarily. British Admiral Sir Barry Domvile (whose support for Hitler’s regime was so enthusiastic the British government interned him at the start of the war), was a true believer in this kind of alliance, and a visit to Germany “confirmed a deep belief, shared by so many men who had fought in the Great War, that without a strong alliance between England and Germany there could be no world peace.” (p. 181)

The book also makes an interesting comparison between fascism and communism. In Robert Kaplan’s Balkan Ghosts, he surveyed the wrecked economies and beaten down peoples of southeastern Europe and remarked that “Communism would exit the world stage revealed for what it truly was: fascism, without fascism’s ability to make the trains run on time.” As the Nazi state went forward, its actual policies – as opposed to its rhetoric – became almost indistinguishable from what was going on in the Soviet Union.

W.E.B. DuBois loved Germany. He received much of his education there and revered its history and culture, and appreciated that it had been a respite from the endemic racism he had faced in the United States. Yet on returning after the Nazis had taken over

[He] saw things rather differently. He argued that it was entirely because of Hitler that Germany had in fact already ‘lapsed into Bolshevism’. In his view, the Nazi government was copying the Soviet Union to such an extend that there was now almost no difference between their two systems. He cited ‘its ownership and control of industry; its control of money and banking, its steps toward land ownership and control by government; its ordering of work and wages, its building of infrastructure and houses, its youth movement and its one party state at election’.” (p. 250)

As the 30s progressed, the drums of war began to sound. Attempts at appeasement only encouraged Hitler to demand more territory for lebensraum that would be cleansed of its Slavic and Jewish populations to make room for German settlers. Even as war drew inevitably closer, travelers to Germany returned convinced that all was well. “Despite the new frost in relations with Britain, despite air-raid [preparation] week, despite the persistent cry of ‘guns before butter’ and despite Hitler’s relentless push for a free hand in Eastern Europe, one distinguished foreigner after another returned home from Germany convinced that war was the last thing on the Führer’s mind.” (p. 268)

And finally, there were some who thought that what happened in Germany was none of anyone else’s business. There are echoes of this today when people ask what right the United States has to insert itself in the domestic affairs of other countries. Every time the United States points out glaring human rights violations in China or other places the response is sure to be that the West’s history is not exactly spotless. In the 1930s “What Germany could not comprehend…was why Great Britain insisted on acting as the moral godmother to the rest of the world. And why did the British press and Parliament concentrate on Germany’s supposed iniquities, and ignore the shortcomings of other countries such as Russia.” (p. 329)

The book ends with chilling accounts of life in Germany during the war, as shortages gave way to terror and constant bombing raids. The Americans bombed during the day and the British at night, and slowly Germany industry was destroyed, and its cities – some of which were among the great cultural jewels of civilization – were reduced to piles of rubble. By the end of the war anything, even communism, would have been better than freezing and starving in the cellars of bombed-out cities.

The documents collected in this book have a sense of immediacy, an on-the-ground look at what it was like in Germany as it descended into Nazi hell. Julia Boyd has done a fine job collating them and providing amplifying information to tie things together. For anyone interested in what happened to Germany, and by extension what can happen to any country that values order more than justice, this book is superb.

[Constantin Beda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imaginează-ți că mergi în Germania în anii '30 ai secolului trecut. În scop turistic doar, o călătorie pentru propria relaxare, pentru peisaje, pentru cultură, oameni și așa mai departe, adică toate motivele pentru care mergi în vacanță. Și acolo, în timp ce îți savurezi binemeritatul concediu, începi să vezi - sau să auzi - diferite lucruri nelalocul lor: o ură irațională împotriva evreilor, cărți arse în public, un stat militarizat cu un conducător oarecum carismatic pentru publicul larg, care vedea în el un salvator al națiunii. Sigur, ai putea să vezi toate astea, o parte din ele sau pur și simplu să nu sesizezi nimic. Ce ai face, ce ai zice? Ce aș face eu, mă întreb, în asemenea cazuri? Mi-aș vedea mai departe de vacanță dacă aș fi observat lucrurile cu claritatea pe care o avem acum? Greu de răspuns pentru o situație ipotetică. Și sigur că nu putem compara ce era atunci cu prezentul și informațiile pe care le avem acum. Dar dacă? Cât de mult ne pasă de nivelul economic și traiul oamenilor din țările pe care le vizităm? Totuși cred că ajung prea departe cu speculațiile...

Am început cu perioada anilor '30 pentru că atunci a fost apogeul celui de-al treilea Reich, și acea perioadă e cea mai semnificativă și importantă. Însă cartea pornește aproape după încheierea primului război mondial, din care Germania ieșise extrem de șifonată. Economia era la pământ, avea de plătit datorii de război, iar inflația atinsese cote uriașe, de neimaginat. Țara avea nevoie de banii străinilor și de aceea agențiile de turism au pornit diverse campanii de atragere a acestora. Și au început să vină de peste tot, îndeosebi britanici și americani.

Anii au trecut, Germania a reușit să se stabilizeze și la putere venise partidul naționalist-socialist, cu Hitler în frunte. Străinii nu mai veneau doar ca să vadă o țară bucolică, ci și pentru studii și mediul cultural. Însă totul era înșelător, iluzia s-a spart destul de repede odată cu Anchluss, anexarea Austriei. Cu toate astea, oamenii si-ai văzut mai departe de viețile și concediile lor. Liniște a fost și la anexarea Cehoslovaciei. Abia în Noaptea de Cristal, când sunetul vitrinelor sparte, a strigătelor de spaimă și durere, când persecuția evreilor a devenit evidentă, când nu se mai puteau închide ochii la uciderea acestora, la existența lagărelor în care erau închiși, abia atunci situația reală a început să devină zgomotoasă. 

Mulți au fost seduși de ideologia nazistă, printre care capete încoronate, politicieni, diplomați, scriitori, sportivi și oameni obișnuiți. Mulți erau antisemiți. Puțini au recunoscut regimul exact așa cum era el, dar chiar și aceia credeau că Hitler era trecător, că nu va rezista mult. S-au înșelat, evident, dar pe atunci nu știau asta. Noi însă știm și sper să nu uităm. "Călători în al treilea Reich" (traducere de Adriana Bădescu) nu ne lasă să uităm prin informațiile noi pe care le aduce, prin mărturiile străinilor care au trăit în Germania nazistă și care au lăsat scrisori, jurnale, note personale și însemnări despre ce se petrecea acolo. Mărturii despre o istorie care nu trebuie să se repete. Tocmai de aceea cărți ca aceasta trebuie scrise.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all know hindsight is 20/20. It’s always been a mystery post WWII why intelligent people could not grasp the threat that NAZI’s posed to the world. Boyd’s book does not give a definitive answer to the question but lays out massive amounts of first person books, letters, diaries and speeches reported by people, primarily British and American, who traveled in Germany beginning just after WWI through the beginning of WWII.

She includes professionals such as diplomats and journalists, famous writers, students and holiday takers and everything in between. Everyone thought Germany was beautiful with its landscapes, music culture and its universities. Very few included significant negative comments. NAZI’s were very good with PR, showing how the country had improved since the war and the draconian policies of the Versailles Treaty. And were they ever good at putting on a show! All that hid the very nasty core of their racism that eventually led to the halocaust.

Did anything change in the attitudes of the travelers after their experience? It doesn’t appear so in most cases. People saw what they wanted to see and ignored the things that might have troubled them. It was common early in the 30s for NAZI’s to give tours of work camps such as Dachau. Most travelers were untroubled. Of course they were getting a much sanitized tour in which guards were dressed as prisoners and were not experiencing abuse.

Travelers from England and America especially (the vast majority of travelers to Germany at that time) had their own “casual” racism toward Jews and seemed pretty unconcerned with what they saw. Hopefully the rough edges of the NAZI’s would smooth out over time. Jackboots and shouting were attributed to “oh, that’s just Germans for you.” People loved their cheap vacations and even rational people liked to send their children to Germany for “finishing” and fun.

My favorite story is that of Milton S. J. Wright, the only black American known to have had an extended conversation with Hitler. He was a doctoral student in economics at the University of Heidelberg. German universities were very well respected and Wright probably experienced less racism there than he would have in the states at that time. One night while out with friends to hear one of Hitler’s raving speeches he was grabbed by some SS guards. He quickly gave his passport to his friends in the event he was disappeared. It turns out that Hitler wanted to speak with this “oddity” in his country. He was kept for hours, questioned about current events in the US, education etc. Wright said he did very little talking as Hitler would pose a question and then answer it himself. Hitler seemed polite and calm. A very weird four hours passed and I’m sure Wright never forgot his experience.

Some things that were often noticed by travelers: NAZI’s had improved the economy and were loved by the masses for that. Youth were particularly caught up with the movement. NAZI’s were great at spectacles such as the Olympics, rallies and torchlight parades. Many travelers noted that the NAZI’s emphasized the need for annexing (taking) lands around them that had once been part of Germany or which now were seen as places needed as a buffer to protect the safety of the Fatherland. Sounds like a familiar old excuse today.

In all, the book makes an impression because of thorough research. Nothing can totally explain why so many ordinary people were so deluded. It may actually be too long and include too many examples. The book is certainly worth reading.

[Nigeyb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism Through the Eyes of Everyday People by Julia Boyd is a fascinating snapshot of the 1930s and war years in Nazi Germany as seen through the eyes of visitors.

From the end of World War One onwards Germany marketed itself as a tourist destination and plenty of people went to visit. Some, like Christopher Isherwood, were attracted by the liberty of the bohemian scene, others simply loved the country and its culture. A few were unapologetic Fascists.

The number of different perspectives is dizzyingly diverse. Indeed sometimes I found it too detailed and repetitive.

Many visitors went with preconceptions and saw what they wanted to see however, as the 1930s rolled on, it became clear that it was only the most rabid Hitler supporters who could not perceive the regime in its true colours.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this interesting study is just how difficult it is for any individual to discern what is going on without the perspective that hindsight offers.

3/5




More information about Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism Through the Eyes of Everyday People...

Without the benefit of hindsight, how do you interpret what’s right in front of your eyes?

The events that took place in Germany between 1919 and 1945 were dramatic and terrible but there were also moments of confusion, of doubt – of hope. How easy was it to know what was actually going on, to grasp the essence of National Socialism, to remain untouched by the propaganda or predict the Holocaust?

Travellers in the Third Reich is an extraordinary history of the rise of the Nazis based on fascinating first-hand accounts, drawing together a multitude of voices and stories, including students, politicians, musicians, diplomats, schoolchildren, communists, scholars, athletes, poets, journalists, fascists, artists, tourists, even celebrities like Charles Lindbergh and Samuel Beckett. Their experiences create a remarkable three-dimensional picture of Germany under Hitler – one so palpable that the reader will feel, hear, even breathe the atmosphere.

These are the accidental eyewitnesses to history. Disturbing, absurd, moving, and ranging from the deeply trivial to the deeply tragic, their tales give a fresh insight into the complexities of the Third Reich, its paradoxes and its ultimate destruction.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, readable, thoroughly researched and horrifying. Books about WWII are trending, partly because of the anniversaries but perhaps too in response to the rise of extreme right-wing parties across Europe and elsewhere. It is very concerning and this book will not bring much comfort.

I had no idea there was such a healthy tourist industry in Germany right up to 1939 with large numbers coming from the UK and the USA. Many of the letters Boyd quotes are from these ordinary travellers, as well from visiting politicians, academics and their families. Germany is beautiful – the holidays sound wonderful.

Boyd charts the perfect storm that allowed Nazism to take hold: the humiliation of the WWI defeat; the crippling reparations of the Versailles Treaty; the careless liberalism of the Weimar Republic; and the global financial crash of 1929 that sent inflation spiralling and brought Germany to the brink of starvation.

The Nazis offered a return to order and traditional values; they brought inflation under control; they improved transport, rearranged food supplies and built schools, hospitals and good, inexpensive homes. Critically – absolutely critically – they rejected the terms of Versailles and restored a sense of national pride. Bluntly, it is easy to see within these pages why so many Germans adored Hitler and his Nazis, even as they dismantled democracy.

Hitler was admired (admired!) across Europe and in America as a strong leader who had rebuilt Germany and resisted the threat of communism from Russia. Ironically, many of Boyd’s correspondents see little difference between Stalin’s totalitarian, communist ideals and those of the Nazis.

They were master propagandists. Hitler understood completely the power of theatre: the weekly rallies, the speeches, the marching songs, the torchlight processions and, importantly I think, the semi-erotic power of all those alpha males in beautifully designed uniforms. Let us not be naïve about any of this.

To modern eyes, the failure of many of these correspondents to recognise the dangers of Nazism is galling. The complacency and the wilful blindness to sinister truths are plain to see, though it became impossible to maintain as the Nazis started openly persecuting the Jews and annexing surrounding territories. For who could sensibly fail to understand the implications of cities festooned in massive Nazi banners flapping above state-sanctioned, anti-Semitic graffiti – the writing, literally, on the walls?

We know the rest. God help us if we ever forget and let it happen again.

[Jo Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

My book of the year so far! Fascinating look at Nazi Germany, as told by travellers into Germany at the time. We look at this evil regime in hindsight, and wonder how it ever could have happened. For people at the time, it was not so obvious. Many British people visited the country to enjoy the beautiful scenery, medieval towns and sublime culture. Many were also entranced by the Nazis - they had brought hope, pride and prosperity back to the war-beaten country. Sure, they were harsh on the Jews, but this was easily ignored as anti-Semitism was rife across Europe anyway. Many politicians also visited the country, in search of assurances of peace or tips to take back to their home countries. The former Liberal Prime Minister Lloyd-George was one of them and greatly admired Hitler. I found much of this really shocking, but it put Britain's appeasement policy in the 1930s into context. People wanted to believe that the Nazi regime was benign, they did not want a repeat of the carnage of the First World War. The voices of the travellers ring out loud and clear. I thoroughly recommend this book.

[Eren Buğlalılar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Subtitle of the book could be a bit misleading. It promises to show us Hitler's Germany "through the eyes everyday people" but it turns out the majority of those eyes belong to the European nobility, high diplomats, industrialists and artists most of whom were mere passers-by rather than local observers. So the most of what they reported were shallow observations based on what the Nazis wanted to project to the tourists.

At times, therefore, the book resembles a big pile of chronologically ordered quotes from the letters and diaries of European ruling classes and elite intellectuals, with many of them open or secret admirers of the Third Reich and celebrated it for crushing the communists.

Yet it was interesting to see further evidence of the fact that only the communists were able to immediately recognise the actual essence of fascism and fight against it at a time when the European bourgeoisie tailed Hitler or tried to accommodate it at best. It was tragic to see that the Nazi extermination campaign against the communists, socialists, Jewish were experienced as a mere nuisance by the visitors.

As a citizen of the Turkish Republic, I couldn't but spot the uncanny resemblances: Throughout the first and second decades of the new century, European politicians, diplomats, judges of the ECHR regularly showed up one after another in President Erdogan's court; European tourists flocked the beaches of my country every summer while communists, socialists, Kurds, intellectuals and working classes were being violently murdered, bombed and arrested...

The book in general was below my expectations but its accessible, non-academic prose reads like a novel with some interesting characters and anecdotes. I recommend two better books if you really want to have an idea about how it was like to live in the Third Reich:

1. The Language of the Third Reich: LTI--Lingua Tertii Imperii: A Philologist's Notebook
2. Defying Hitler: A Memoir

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I don't have much to say about 'Travellers in the Third Reich'. I was given it for Christmas in 2018 and hadn't read it before now as I correctly predicted it would be a downer. The writing style is very engaging and readable, not at all dry or academic. It collects diary entries, letters, and other similar accounts from foreigners who visited Germany during the 1930s. The subtitle, 'The rise of fascism through the eyes of everyday people' says it all, really. The main messages are that a few visitors were actual Nazi converts, but far more were antisemitic enough not to care and/or willing to ignore all the warning signs for the sake of a cheap package holiday. Surprising numbers of British parents continued packing children off to a rapidly re-arming and politically aggressive totalitarian state because the exchange rate was good. Boyd suggests that many tourists focused on a nostalgic vision of pre-WWI Germany, looking past all the swastikas in favour of historic architecture and pretty countryside. There's a running theme of German cultural Anglophilia, which meant UK tourists specifically may have felt more welcome and perhaps receptive to Nazi propaganda. I was mostly depressed by how much wilful naivety was on display, among academics, students, diplomats, writers, and tourists alike. Perhaps the most clear-eyed commentator quoted is an unfortunate Chinese PhD student who got stuck in Germany throughout WWII.

A particularly notable detail is that Thomas Cook was still advertising package holidays to lovely Germany in 1939, right up until the outbreak of war. This reminded me of seeing an ad from the same company last week, hawking international package holidays during a global pandemic. Seventy years later, their marketing is still strikingly irresponsible. Boyd synthesises a wide range of material into a chronological narrative very effectively, employing only loose themes. There are lots of little details that remind you of the seemingly mundane normality that can coexist with a brutal fascist regime. In these times of resurgent neo-fascism, it all felt a little too close to home. A well-written book, but not one I could really appreciate.

[Richard Durrans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absorbing book...difficult to put down. Fast moving and fascinating glimpse into the 1930s in Germany - original accounts. Reflects day to day life and feelings from foreigners in Germany. Conflicting views of the third reich - the beauty of the german countryside and cities, the vibrancy and friendliness of the people, the discipline and purposefulness of life particular for the young people , the prospering of the economy and the richness of the music, art and culture seemed to dominate peoples thoughts and "excuse" the nasty things going on. The German propaganda machine and understanding of media was a big help. Also one big theme at the time was even if Hitler is "bad" he is protecting Europe from communism. Accounts of meeting Hitler are very favourable - a charming, interested and motivated individual who was not the ranting person of his speeches. Visits to the annual Nuremberg rallies and Bayreuth festivals were big highlights. Most of the positives are still positives today.....you get the feeling that the plunge into war was all very avoidable. Anti semitism was easy to see and yet many foreigners ignored it (partly because many were also anti semitic). Lloyd George for all is charm and leadership has alot to answer for....not only was he a key decison maker for Versaille (disasterous agreement and a key reason for WW2) but he also met Hitler in the 1930s and thought him a fantastic fellow and one the world should be happy to have.....Leaders do not have monopoly on the truth no matter how impressive they are

The key lesson to learn is that the end nevers justifies the means...if something smells bad it probably is.....

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly readable account based on mostly new sources. (I guess we couldn't skip Unity altogether.) Fascinating and rather depressing; people won't see what they don't want to see, and Germany was so pleasant and cheap! Nothing groundbreaking here, but a worthy addition to the literature about the interwar period.

[Lucia Nieto Navarro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinante obra de no ficción que recopila testimonios, diarios, cartas y crónicas de personas que visitaron Alemania durante los años del ascenso y consolidación del nazismo, antes y durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
La autora construye con estas voces un mosaico que muestra como era vivir o visitar un país que de primeras, parecía ordenado, moderno, orgulloso pero solo de primera ocultando mucho.
El libro se apoya en personas muy diversas, desde estudiantes, diplomáticos, artistas, misioneros, periodistas o incluso simples turistas. Algunos se dejan “seducir” por la aparente eficacia que tiene el régimen, otros perciben el peligro desde el primer momento, la violencia, el antisemitismo… Y esta mezcla de perspectivas convierte esta lectura en la que el lector compara y sacas sus propias conclusiones.
Con una prosa ágil, clara, y muy bien documentada, sin ningún tipo de dramatización pero con un profundo sentido moral y con grandes partes para reflexionar.
Un ensayo para aprender bastante sobre esta época y saber lo que pensaban muchos tipos de personas.

[Wick Welker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vacationing in Nazi Germany.

What did the world think of the new regime that had legally taken hold of the Weimar Republic in the 1930s? Were they roundly condemned for their antisemitism or ultranationalism? What would YOU have thought of this regime change that occurred in one of the world’s most prestigious scientific and cultural centers? This book opens up the letters, correspondence and journal entries of visitors to the Third Reich during the intervening time between the formal fall of the Weimar Republic and World War II and I will tell you this: people weren’t too bent out of shape over the Nazis.

Despite the fallout of WWI, Germany was still highly revered and a choice vacationing spot for Europeans and Americans. The Nazi uprising was not seen as a terrifying totalitarian state, to most people it was either a curious oddity or signs of a new age in Germany. What’s a little harmless antisemitism when the streets are clean, the girls are pretty and the towns are lovely? This was the prevailing sentiment to Nazi Germany during this time. Either that, or ardent foreign supporters of the aims of the Nazis. The Olympic games were held in Nazi Germany where the party strived to hide the uglier side of their antisemitism and presented an organized and polite people to the world. Hitler and the Nazi party, in fact, seeked the approval of England and America and were constantly courting their people through carefully cultivated tourism. WEB Du Bois visited Nazi Germany in 1936 and actually expressed words of admiration for what the Nazi party had done with the economy, himself unable to distinguish national socialism from communism. However, Du Bois could clearly see the horrific treatment of the Jewish people in Nazi Germany.

People during this time were very confused about what the Nazi party even stood for. The Nazis were ardently anti-communist and anti-bolshevik yet they used national socialism as a means to collectivize national wealth and resources. How was national socialism different from the red communism to which the Nazis were so vehemently opposed? People were confused then just as they are confused today. And that’s why this is such an important book to read today. Sure the Nazis used a form of state socialism to protect and favor the ethnic in-group, this gives ample ammunition to call the “National Socialists” a left wing movement. However, when you look at the underlying ideology of the Nazi party, it was very clearly extreme conservatism: anti-homosexual, anti-intellectual, book burnings, white supremacy, bismarckian, racial segregation, anti-urban and anti-Marxist. It was a rainbow coalition of the rural and racially discontent who scapegoated the Jews, the communists, the Marxists and Leftists and stoked the very real grievances of the Treaty of Versailles and massive poverty, unemployment, inflation and hunger of the German people. The Nazi party was a contortionist party, molding its rhetoric to fit its audience to gain power. People are confused then about what the Nazi party stood for, then and now. This book helps to see the reality: it's complicated.

[Jaksen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book, esp. for anyone interested in WW2 and how and why and when it all began.

(And what were ordinary Germans thinking at the time? And what about the MULTITUDE of tourists, journalists, students, scholars, political figures and even entire happy families doing visiting Germany right up and to the very day the war began?)

Yes, one must understand a few facts before even starting this book. Germany was a tourist haven between the wars. Clean country, lovely villages, beautiful countryside. Cheap fares and lodging, lovely host families or magnificently-maintained hotels. Great food and drink. Tours and hostels and natives who bent over backwards to cater to your every whim. You could bike everywhere. Or take a cheap train. But all the while...

It's like seeing a perfectly made, elegant bed. Big fluffy pillows. Immaculate quilt. Fresh linens. But you pull back the duvet or spread and the darn mattress is full of maggots.

Yeah, that's how I see it.

So what this book is, is a series of letters, diary entries, reflections, magazine and newspaper articles - or portions from them - which go on and on about the joys of visiting Germany, and how all that brown shirt, Nazi stuff will just go away - give it time! Yes, the government is going a little overboard on race, but that's just an aberration which will sort itself out in time. Because, really, the German people will never allow this to go too far.

Well, news alert, it did. Now, the visitors at this time couldn't have seen the future, or could they? You're biking through the German countryside, passing 'youth' are singing vibrantly and maybe they are Hitler Youth or just a church group. Hard to tell. Everyone's friendly. There's little crime to speak of. You bike past a few closed-up stores with Jewish owner's names on them, but so what? (And maybe you're a bit anti-Semitic yourself.) But the facade over everything - it's not so much you're fooled by it, but you're in just in love with this country!

That's it, over and over, so many times in this book. You can tell the writer is appalled sometimes at the utter blindness of people, of the fact that people WANT to see what fits most into their worldview, as well as not conflict with their comfort level. There are letters which some wrote back home (to America, England, etc.) describing how happy the inmates in a concentration camp were. (The first camps were work camps.) 'I shall emerge from here a better person!' one inmate claims. Some foreign visitors saw through all this, and voiced their disapproval or shock, but many did not.

(And btw, in more than one instance the 'inmates' of the camps who spoke to foreign visitors were not inmates, but actors and German soldiers pretending to be inmates.)

It's an eye-opening read, and an historical judgement, IMO. It also reveals how easily the German population were guided-goaded-tricked into war; but also, in another sense, how easily any people can be conned into doing things they never dreamed possible.

There were even Americans who saluted and met Hitler! In a restaurant, a parade, a ceremony and thought he was just superb! Kind, soft-spoken, intelligent, and he likes children!

How could such a man, and such a country and population ever do the things they did?

One other thing, after my summation here: this is a complex book, with endless names of foreigners who visited or lived in Germany, along with descriptions of towns and cities, historical events, and so on. There's a good section on the 1936 Olympics, and the book covers some of the many rallies the Nazis held to excite and influence the population. The book also moves on a timeline, so that helps, but it's an extraordinary read.

Five stars.

[Maine Colonial · Rating 4 out of 5]

For decades after the Nazis came to power, most outside Germany had the attitude that it was a one-off. “It can’t happen here” was said so much that Sinclair Lewis chose it as the title of his 1935 novel about the rise of a US dictator.

You can read hundreds of histories of the Nazi era, and they will all describe the steps to Hitler’s takeover. The ones I’m most interested in focus on the social history of the era. How did authoritarianism, race hatred, and war-mongering take over a country most known for its beauty and culture? A particularly striking way to gain some insight is to read first-hand accounts.

Author Julia Boyd’s thoroughly researched history shows us what non-Germans from all walks of life and across the political spectrum thought of Germany during the Nazi era. It’s a fascinating demonstration of how difficult it is to fully comprehend history while it’s in the making. It’s human nature to see what we want to see, to relate to what feels most familiar and comfortable. Many visitors were charmed by the beauty of the country, the friendliness of its people, and what seemed to be a country getting on the path to prosperity. Up until Kristallnacht in 1938, visitors could downplay or even ignore anti-Jewish measures and the treatment of political foes of the Nazis, because they weren’t so easy to see for an outsider.

Reading the contemporary accounts of travelers to Germany from the 20s through the war is utterly fascinating. There is great historical value in this book, but considering the rise of authoritarianism today, it has current relevance as well.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a fascinating read especially as a follow on to the excellent Hitler: Ascent: 1889-1939 which I read recently and which showed how the German people were duped by Hitler and ultimately were complicit in what happened once he had supreme power. This brought a different perspective to that as it was based on writings of overseas visitors to the Third Reich. It was striking what a popular destination it was for both British and Americans despite the persecution of the Jews that had started and was clearly going on. It seems that the English upper classes saw Nazi Germany as the lesser of two evils compared to the communist threat from Russia - and thank goodness for Wallis Simpson as Edward VIII would have been a disastrous king for the period that his brother ended up reigning.
Almost 5 stars but I felt that the book would have been better finishing once the War started as the quality of contribution understandably diminished in both volume and detail after that.

[Stephen Goldenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent idea for a book of popular history looking at the rise of Hitler and the Nazis from the end of World War 1 through to World War 2 through extracts from diaries, journals and reports written by mainly British and American visitors to Germany. Not all of them are ‘everyday people ‘ - there are sections on writers, musicians, actors and sports men and women (mainly those taking part in the 1936 Berlin Olympics). It’s organised chronologically so it is not so surprising that so many of these accounts are so favourable to Hitler when he first comes to power. However, as the regime’s horrors grow and its anti-semitism becomes more blatant, it is shocking how many of these travellers were either blind to it or totally supportive.
At a time when the anti-Semitic far right is growing across Europe, this is a timely reminder of the dangers of turning a blind eye to it.
My only complaint about the book is that, like so many recent works of both fiction and non-fiction, it could have done with some editing. Some of these accounts are repetitious and, therefore, a tad boring.

[David Canford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an interesting read. It describes life in Germany from the end of WW1 right through into WW2 as seen through the eyes of those visiting the country, from diplomats and aristocracy to ordinary people. Much has been written about WW2 and the politics leading up to it. This book covers a longer period and is more a social history, and on a more human scale.

[Einu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Travellers in the Third Reich is a chronological overview of the history of the Third Reich, supplemented with the accounts of a wide variety of foreign visitors (mostly from the UK and the US). The book doesn’t put forward any grand conclusions. Rather, it offers a new perspective on Germany during this time and a glimpse into the political attitudes around the world.

The main takeaway is that whilst the warning signs of Hitler’s regime are obvious with the benefit of hindsight, the situation was much murkier to those living in the midst of it. The author notes that even many “politically sophisticated” visitors of the Third Reich were unsure what to think of Hitler’s Germany. She puts this down to a number of things:

Many people wanted to give Hitler the benefit of the doubt (or simply didn’t care)

Early on many foreigners were impressed with how Hitler was rebuilding Germany after the depression. Many of them, as well as many Germans, believed that the Nazis’ anti-Semitism would be temporary. Evelyn Wrench, chairman of The Spectator, was one of them. Although “condemning unreservedly the regime’s treatment of Jews”, he tried to put it in context. He reported that many of his German friends reminded him that “Germany had just undergone an almost bloodless revolution and, naturally at such times, ‘as you English know from history,’ regrettable things happened.”

The unsettling truth is that due to many visitors’ ‘casual’ anti-Semitism, “the discomfiture of a few Jews seemed a small price for the restoration of a great nation – a nation, moreover, that was Europe’s chief bulwark against communism.” Ariel Tennant, a teenager who studied art in Munich in the 1930s, “was struck by how many people in England refused to believe her accounts of Nazi aggression. When, on a brief visit home, she described some of her more alarming experiences, she was dismissed as being too young to understand.”

Another reason for many people’s willingness to ignore – at least to an extent – the darker sides of National Socialism, even late into the 1930s, was their love for Germany. Many academics “chose to travel in the Third Reich because Germany’s cultural heritage was simply too precious to renounce for politics, however unpleasant those politics might be.” Others were taken in by the idyllic atmosphere of Germany’s cities and landscapes. The writer J.A. Cole, who was not a Nazi sympathiser, wrote: ‘I cannot see a German town for the first time on a sunny morning without a rising of the spirits, a feeling that here is place delightfully foreign yet at the same time a place where one could live happily.’ The author comments that “it would seem that those travellers fundamentally hostile to the Nazis instinctively looked beyond the regime to what they imagined to be the real Germany; a country that, despite everything, maintained its enduring power to beguile and entrance.”

Hitler’s Germany was ambiguous

Travellers with strong political views usually didn’t change their mind once they visited the Third Reich. Regardless of whether they were left or right-wing, they found ample evidence to support their views. Considering this duality, it’s not surprising that many others weren’t sure what to make of Hitler’s Germany: “Was the implementation of socialist principles inspired by idealism or dictatorship? Were voluntary labour camps genuine philanthropy or a front for something more sinister? Were the endless marching bands, swastikas and uniforms joyful expression of restored national pride or harbinger of renewed aggression?”

To add to the confusion, it became increasingly difficult to see what differentiated National Socialism from communism. When Denis de Rougemont, a Swiss literary and cultural philosopher, arrived in Germany in 1935 he was convinced that ‘Hitlerism’ was a right-wing movement. But after a few weeks of talking to people from varying backgrounds, he was no longer sure.

What unsettled him was the fact that those who stood most naturally on the right – lawyers, doctors, industrialists and so on – were the very ones who most bitterly denounced National Socialism. Far from being a bulwark against communism, they complained, it was itself communism in disguise. They pointed out that only workers and peasants benefited from Nazi reforms, while their own values were being systematically destroyed by various methods. They were taxed disproportionately, their family life had been irreparably harmed, parental authority sapped, religion stripped and education eliminated.

W.E.B. Du Bois, a prominent African-American academic, agreed that there was almost nothing differentiating the Nazi government from the Soviet Union. He cited ‘its ownership and control of industry; its control of money and banking, its steps towards land ownership and control by government; its ordering of work and wages, its building of infrastructure and houses, its youth movement and its one party state at elections’.

De Rougemont managed to get some insight into how this was possible when he talked to a former militant communist who decided to change sides at the age of fifty:

we want work and our cup of café au lait in the morning … that is enough. Politics don’t interest the workers when they have food and work. Hitler? Now that he has won, he has only to implement his programme. It was almost the same as ours! But he has been more cunning, he reassured the bourgeois by not immediately attacking religion … I will tell you one thing: if they abandon him, all these fat pigs who are around him … I will go and fight for him! He at least is a sincere man; he is the only one.

The thing was that no matter their political stance or personal situation, most Germans strongly believed in Hitler. In 1935 Truman Smith, the first American official to have interviewed him, noted that while ‘Germany is still not of one mind’, people’s criticism was almost always direct at the Party, not at Hitler himself: ‘Germans, irrespective of class adore and revere this strange man and the qualities they attribute to him of selflessness, lack of ostentation and participation in the joys and sorrows of the German people.’

Alarmingly, their support often ran so deep that they could not imagine Hitler being behind any atrocity. Manning Clark, a young future historian, talked to a retired professor of physics after Kristallnacht. The professor voiced his strong disapproval of the pogrom but was convinced that Hitler would never have allowed it to happen had he known about it beforehand. Clark noted that ‘this was the first time I realized that the person of Hitler was sacrosanct. He was never connected in any way with instances that were doubtful or likely to prove unpopular. It was always Göring or Goebbels’.

The Nazis were masters of propaganda

Adding to the confusion, German propaganda and the distortion of truth were pervasive. You didn’t even have to set foot in Germany to be subjected to it, as from 1933 onwards the Reich Committee for Tourism did everything they could to lure foreign tourists to Germany in an effort to counter the Nazis’ negative image abroad. The Committee reassured potential visitors that “whatever they may read in their ‘Jewish’ newspapers – life in the Third Reich was entirely normal. Germany was a ‘peace-loving, trustworthy and progressive nation, a joyful country of festival-goers, hearty eaters, smiling peasants and music lovers’.”

Once in Germany, the Nazis employed an array of tactics to convince visitors of their righteousness. All important visitors were received warmly by a welcome committee, like the 1936 Olympic athletes who arrived by ship when “thousands of Germans, singing, dancing and cheering, crowded on to the riverbank to watch [the ship] pass.” During the games there was little to no outright hostility towards Jewish and black athletes, so when Lithuanian basketball player Frank J. Lubin stayed in Berlin for another week once the games had ended, he was surprised to find a restaurant with the Star of David in the window and a large board inscribed ‘Juden verboten’ by the entrance of the baths he had visited before. When he remarked that these signs hadn’t been there a few days ago, the response was ‘no, but now the Olympic Games are over.’

Knowing that anti-Semitism and animosity towards communism were widespread sentiments in the 1930s, the Nazis happily made use of the idea that there was a common enemy. As part of this effort, from the mid-1930s onwards, guided tours of Dachau became a kind of tourist attraction – and it worked. ‘Adjutant says most prisoners Communist,’ Victor Cazalet MP wrote in his diary. ‘If that is the case, then they can stay there for all I care.’ Two other visitors praised the Nazis for giving these ‘dregs of humanity’ a new chance. When James Grover MacDonald, American High Commissioner for Refugees coming from Germany, questioned the necessity of Dachau, his guide told him “Germany was still in the throes of a revolution, and that whereas in most revolutions political prisoners were shot, at Dachau ‘we try to reform them’.” What none of them could have known was that the prisoners they saw on their guided tours were usually guards in disguise.

The author aptly finishes her book with the following words:

Perhaps the most chilling fact to emerge from these travellers’ tales is that so many perfectly decent people could return home from Hitler’s Germany singing its praises. Nazi evil permeated every aspect of German society yet, when blended with the seductive pleasures still available to the foreign visitor, the hideous reality was too often and for too long ignored. More than eight decades after Hitler became chancellor we are still haunted by the Nazis. It is right that we should be.

The book contains countless more impressions, like those of Geoffrey Cox, who spent three voluntary weeks in a labour camp; Unity Mitford, who was famously infatuated with Hitler; Ji Xianlin, a Chinese student who ended up living in Germany throughout WWII; and Michael Burn, who was in Germany in the 1930s as a young journalist and later published a memoir in which he openly discusses his shock at his lack of concern during his travels.


The main reason I gave this book 4 stars rather than 5, is that the vastness of the different accounts made the book come across as slightly chaotic and unclear at times. Once travellers had been introduced, subsequent mentions often contained little to no context about their political background. Coupled with the fact that many accounts in the book are recounted without comment by the author, this sometimes made it difficult to know whether the author intended them to be interpreted in a certain way. And at times, comments from the author actually added to my confusion.

Nevertheless, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of the Third Reich, and specifically those who want to know the sometimes unsettling, sometimes surprising and sometimes bizarre reality of what it was like to live and travel in Hitler’s Germany.

[Marty Fried · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't actually quite finish this one, and I skimmed over a bit of the repetitive stuff, but I did learn a bit about the life and thought processes of both the Germans and other countries during this period. Most of the book was opinions and recollections from various people, and so was not really reliable factual information, except for information about the opinions of people at that time, perhaps.

In a lot of ways, things were politically similar to today's state of affairs. Instead of social media spreading misinformation and propaganda, they had handouts and posters telling people about how the Jews were greedy and unfair, that even though they were a small percentage of the population, they had a large majority in the government, or were influencing all the bad policies that made the common Germans suffer. Also, they were deathly afraid of the Communist menace, and were trying to convince the world to join them in fighting this menace. Oddly enough, the Nazi ideal were very similar to the Communists, but nobody was allowed to mention this.

When they began rounding up Jews, they claimed they were reeducating the "bad" Jews to make them good citizens, and they showed people, especially visitors from England, etc, the good conditions in the camp, and also displayed some of the "bad" Jews, who looked scary. But in reality, these were guards pretending to be Jews, and everything was theater. Also, nobody seemed to ask how they determined who were the "bad" Jews and who were good citizens. They just accepted what they were shown. And this was partly because Hitler himself was apparently very personable and likable, so people believed him. He managed to fool a lot of people, even some of the well-known poets, philosophers, etc from England and the US. In fact, the German people themselves seemed like they might be less prejudiced than the US and some other places. During the Olympics in Germany in the 30s, some of the black athletes mentioned how they had no problems in Germany, where if they were in the US, they would have expected problems.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly fascinating. The author deftly ties in the accounts of tourists, intellectuals, business men and the curious, to shed new light on well covered ground. I just wish we could have found out what happened to Greta. Highly recommend to anyone who has ever wondered what it was like in the Third Reich.

[Bill FromPA · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding work. Boyd’s book forces the reader to look at the Third Reich through the eyes of contemporary observers, so that what we now think of as the “reality” of Nazi Germany was largely or entirely hidden from these visitors, who traveled for a range of reasons: pure holiday recreation, cultural tourism (one chapter concentrates on Bayreuth and Oberammergau), diplomacy, journalism, governmental fact finding, or improving German-Anglo relations, the latter shading at times into advocacy of cross-national totalitarianism. . A historical perspective makes all of these witnesses “unreliable narrators” to one degree or another, a further level on which one is required to read the book.

Boyd concentrates heavily on British travelers and this book serves as a ground level view of Germany’s attempts to woo Britain as an ally against France and other non-”Nordic” countries; we also see travelers’ experience when these attempts are abandoned - bitterness and criticism replace the Germanic friendliness and interest experienced by so many visitors during the Weimar Republic and the early years of Hitlerism.

After the Britons, Americans are the next most well-represented, but they are in fact a far second, making for little overlap with Adam Nagorski’s Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power, for which this work serves as an excellent complement. Beyond the Anglophones, there is only a sprinkling of other nationalities but these become essential for Boyd’s coverage of the war years – a Chinese scholar of Sanskrit unable to leave, a businessman from neutral Sweden, visitors and soldiers from conquered Scandinavia, along with a few Englishwomen married to Germans. An account of one of those wartime visitors:

Knut Hamsun was emotionally devastated by the war. Not that the Nobel laureate had lost any of his admiration for Hitler or, more especially, for Goebbels. On 19 May 1943 he spent several hours with the literary-minded minister for propaganda at the latter’s house in Berlin. Goebbels was so incensed to learn that Hamsun’s Collected Works was no longer being read in Nordic countries that he at once decided to print an edition of 100,000 copies. Hamsun demurred, pointing out that it was hardly the right moment given Germany’s severe paper shortage. The brief encounter must have left a deep impression on the Norwegian because, as soon as he reached home, he made the remarkable decision to send Goebbels his Nobel medal. ‘I know of nobody, Herr Reichsminister,’ he wrote in an accompanying note, ‘who has unstintingly, year after year written and spoken on Europe’s and humanity’s behalf as idealistically as yourself. I ask your forgiveness for sending you my medal. It is of no use to you whatsoever, but I have nothing else to offer.’ (352-3)

Comparison with Nagorski’s book is informative, whereas the “Night of the Long Knives” and announcement of 1939’s German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact are major events for his witnesses, mainly reporters and diplomats, they are mentioned by Boyd but not by the travelers she quotes. On the other hand Boyd gives us eyewitness accounts of 1933 book burnings and the 1937 Much “Degenerate Art” exhibit, neither of which I recall in Nagorski. Both books give much emphasis to the 1936 Olympics and 1938’s Kristallnacht.

On the general absence of much concern by the book's overwhelmingly Gentile "travelers" about pre-1938 German anti-semitism, it should be noted that Americans, and no doubt Britons as well, were quite accustomed to having their vacations Judenfrei, as documented in the post-war novel Gentleman's Agreement. Boyd should perhaps have mademore of a point of this for today's reader, but of course she couldn't be expected to fill in all the social history necessary to put the experiences reported in perspective.

Boyd’s brief afterword is unnecessary – her point that “there are surely few totalitarian states that welcome foreign visitors with as much friendliness and enthusiasm as did Nazi Germany” would have served better in the introduction. The book should have ended with the close of Chapter 21

But one thing was clear – the war had ended. Never again would anyone travel in the Third Reich.

Art Appreciation I expected that among the many visitors to the Third Reich in Boyd's book there would be some who were in agreement with Nazi political and racial ideas. But finding those sympathetic to Nazi aesthetics came as something of a surprise, perhaps because such expressions of artistic agreement are not commonly remarked upon.

Kay Smith, wife of US military attache Colonel Truman Smith, after a visit to the now infamous "Degenerate Art" exhibit in Munich had a reaction which fell in with the intentions of the exhibit's organizers:

'The continuous viewing of ugly distorted faces and forms, with blood and vomit spewing from them - vulgar disgusting scenes - produced a definite physical reaction.' ... Kay, who had been reading articles in the American press condemning Nazi philistinism, was now, on this issue at least, entirely in sympathy with the Führer. 'I heartily supported the name Degenerate Art which Hitler had given it,' she wrote, 'and was delighted when he announced that "the era of the purple cow" was over.' (276)

Briton Vice Admiral Sir Barry Domville, who was to be interred in his home country during WWII, combined art with politics while attending the 1937 Reichsparteitag in Nuremberg:

Despite his packed programme, Domville found time to buy a print of the oil painting In the Beginning Was the Word by Hermann Otto Hoyer depicting Hitler as 'The Bringer of Light'. He was so pleased with it that he returned to buy a second copy for a fellow guest. 'It is a wonderful bargain for DM 3.60' he noted in his diary, adding, 'I am sure they intend to deify Hitler.' (265-6)

Sir Barry's "wonderful bargain":

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book considering everything that's going on in the world at the moment.

Slow read but had some fascinating insights into the environment that led to the rise of National Socialism in the 30's through the lens of multiple diaries of non-Germans who visited Germany during this time.

Some of my favourite quotes or tidbits;

"Berlin brewed with unemployment, malnutrition, stock market panic, hatred of the versailles, and other potent ingredients that the Nazi's needed to convince voters"

"Hostile criticism from a German was suicide - more often economical but sometimes physical"

"At Dachau, they could not have known the 'degenerate criminals' paraded before them were in fact camp guards in disguise"

"No speed limits, no early closing 0f bars, and you can park anywhere... a real land of the free!"

"He saw Hitler leading the Germans to a bright new future while the same time rekindling their hunger for national tradition"

LOADS of mention of Irish BlueShirts which is quite amusing. Really good read overall.