Assignment to Berlin

by harry flannery

1942 Alfred A. Knopf; First Edition Hardcover

Genres: History

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1942

Reviews

[Federico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent report on life in Nazi Germany during the first years of the Second World War. Harry Flannery was a radio reporter for CBS. He was sent to Nazi Berlin when the then American CBS reporter there, William Shirer (who eventually wrote the definitive "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich") returned to America, thoroughly disgusted with the constant interference of the German propaganda machine. Flannery too, had everyday run-ins with the radio censors and with the brass who ran interference over anything foreign correspondants wanted to put in their reports back to America. While describing his delicately balanced life there, Flannery shared with regular Berliners the often-nightly British bombing attacks (that the censors refused to let him talk about on his show). Flannery also takes time to describe more fully how life was lived by the regular Germans, how the laws affected everyone, how they all reacted when Hitler invaded Russia, what a night spent in a Berlin bomb shelter could be like, how to deal with the imperatives of strict food and clothing rationing, what life (if you could still use that term in this instance) was like for Jews, how German youths were "educated" in a system that smacked of brain washing, etc. And when it became evident to everyone that America was close to joining the war, Flannery describes his cliffhanger, drawn-out fight to obtain the exit visas he needed to leave Germany, then Spain, then Portugal, before America declared war with Germany, and before he became a real "ennemy". Fascinating stuff!