Nonfiction Navigators discussion

Have you ever wondered why Hitler was not caught sooner? Why did America’s ambassador in Germany ignore what was happening with the rise of Hitler’s regime? In Erik Larson’s, In The Garden of Beasts, the recollection of William E. Dodd, as he grudgingly accepts becoming America’s ambassador to Germany, moves from an ordinary life in Chicago to being the first account witness to the brutality that the Jews in Germany were facing. As President Franklin D. Roosevelt struggles to find an ambassador for Germany, Dodd’s name is sort of thrown in as a joke. He was not the first or second or even third option. In reality, no one wanted to take on this job. William Dodd “was anything but the typical candidate for a diplomatic post” (Larson 18) although he had connections with previous United States presidents, he was a historian who knew how to speak German. Soon after being convinced and pressured by the president to take on this job, he gathers his whole family and moves them all to Berlin.
The Dodds, especially young 23 year old Martha Dodd, fell in love with Berlin because of how it appeared as such an extravagant and youthful city. They saw nothing of the unordinary in Germany and thought that Hitler’s manners were simply to restrict the Jews. For awhile William Dodd showed to partake in anti-semitism, he witnessed the Jews slowly losing their rights in Germany. He would write back to President Roosevelt that they must “exercise patience even when cruelties and injustices are done. Give men a chance to try their schemes” (Larson 82). The ambassador did not see Hitler as a threat. Dodd believed that Hitler was trying to rebuild Germany and bring in new ideas. Things started to get out of hand when American travelers were getting injured by Hitler’s Storm Troopers. It was made clear that Americans and foreigners did not have to participate in a Hitler salute. However, many Americans were faced in this situation where they did not salute and then they would get brutally attacked. As this reaches Mr. Dodd’s attention, he stops the news from spreading back to America because he finds the attacks as more of a “nuisance than dire emergency” (Larson 105). He knew if he were to release this to the media then it would damage the Nazi’s prestige worldwide.
This nonfiction book really makes you feel as if you are in Berlin in 1933. The author,
Erik Larson undoubtedly captures the point of view of the Dodd family who witnessed the rising of the Third Reich. Although it does capture the young life of Martha while in Germany and helps to understand why many were so swayed by Hitler, the book unnecessarily dives in on all of her affairs and her love life. It feels like it was something that does not quite fit in, since the main focus point is to understand what it was like in Germany in 1933. The book does go back and forth with narration of either William Dodd’s perspective, Martha Dodd’s adventures, and U.S. Consul General George S. Messersmith. It can be confusing at times to understand what was happening in the background, but Larson did a great job of making this feel like a story and gave a better insight of history with depth and meaning.