Transcript 4 Roads in the Garden of Beasts

Appeasement
Collaboration
Resistance
Dissent
Kevin P. Dincher
www.kevindincher.com

Bachelor of Arts, Accounting
 Canisius College

Master of Arts, Philosophy
 Fordham University

Master of Divinity
 Weston Jesuit School of Theology

Master of Arts, Counseling Psychology (MFCC)
 Santa Clara University

Master of Science, Organizational Development
 University of San Francisco
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
High School Teacher

Student Services

Mental Health

Non-profit Management

Organization/Business Development Consulting
 Crazy Moon Consulting
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
Osher Lifelong Learning – since 2003
▪
▪
▪
▪

UC Santa Cruz Extension (Cupertino Campus)
CSU-East Bay (Concord Campus)
San Jose State University
Santa Clara University
“What do you teach?”
 Historical Anthropology?
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Complexity
Ambiguity
Paradox
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“… a wave of amnesia
that has overtaken
the West .”
William Shirer
1960
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Ambassador William E. Dodd and family arriving
in Germany (1933)
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
Some History

4 Roads
 Appeasement

What was going on?
 Collaboration

What were they thinking?
 Resistance

What were they responding to?
 Dissent
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
Handout:
 Resources, p. 2
 Timeline, p. 3

Online
 www.kevindincher.com/beasts
▪ PowerPoint Slides
▪ Links to additional resources
 FaceBook
▪ Kevin P. Dincher
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Tiergarten: Animal Garden
• Not a zoo (Zoologischer Garten Berlin)
• 520 acre urban park
▪ Munich’s Englischer Garten: 910 acres
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Golden Gate Park
• 1017 acres
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
Hitler
 Welthauptstadt Germania
▪ World Capital City Germania
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Volkshalle (“People's Hall”)
Große Halle (“Great Hall”)
Ruhmeshalle (“Hall of Glory”)
Arch Of Triumph
350 feet
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The Olympiastadion in 1936
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Capacity: 110,000 spectators
(Candlestick Park Capacity: 69,732)
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
Schwerbelastungskörper (heavy load-bearing body)
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Reichstag/Bundestag
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Reichstag (Parliament, 1894 to 1933 )
• Dem Deutsches Volk – To the German People (1916)
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Reichstag Fire
27 February 1933
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Reichstag in postwar
occupied Berlin
3 June 1945
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Siegessäule (Victory Column)
2 September 1873
• 1865: Danish-Prussian War
• 1866: Austro-Prussian War
• 1870-1871: Franco-Prussian War
• Goldelse: "Golden Lizzy".
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Siegessäule (Victory Column)
1939: relocated to Großer Stern (Great Star)
1941: tunnels and street widening
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Brandenburg Gate
Hotel Adlon,
Pariser Platz
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US Embassy (Blücher Palace)
De facto US Embassy on
Bendlerstraße 39
Dodd’s Residence
27a Tiergartenstraße
(Stauffenbergstraße)
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Some History: If Clocks Could Talk
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Junghans Grandfather Clock
•
•
1910-1920
Junghans und Tobler
•
Established: 15 April 1861
• Schramberg, Baden- Württemberg (Black Forest)
• Erhard Junghans with his brother-in-law Jakob
Zeller-Tobler
• 1900: world’s largest clockmaker
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Paul and Emma Kramer
1916
1915
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Hildegard Kramer
 1919: Born in Berlin

1923 (4): Beer Hall Putsch, Munich


Mein Kampf
1933 (14):
•
Jan: Hitler named Chancellor
•
Feb: Reichstag Fire and Reichstag Fire
Decree
•
Mar: Enabling Act
•
April: Gestapo formed
•
May: Trade Unions dissolve; leaders sent
to concentration camps
•
Jul: NSDAP (Nazi Party) becomes the
only legal party
1935
16 years old
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
Mein Kampf
 My Struggle
▪ 1923: Munich
▪ 1925: Volume 1
▪ 1926: Volume 2

Viereinhalb Jahre (des
Kampfes) gegen Lüge,
Dummheit und Feigheit,
 Four and a Half Years (of
Struggle) Against Lies, Stupidity
and Cowardice
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Mein Kampf
 Judaism
▪ “The Jewish Peril”
 Communism/Marxism
 Weimar Republic
▪ Parliamentary System
 Re-emergence of Germany
▪ Stage 1: Treaty of Versailles
▪ Stage 2: Align with Britain and
Italy
▪ Stage 3: War against France and
Russia
 Lebensraum
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Hildegard Kramer
 1919: Born in Berlin

1923 (4): Beer Hall Putsch, Munich


Mein Kampf
1933 (14):
•
Jan: Hitler named Chancellor
•
Feb: Reichstag Fire and Reichstag Fire
Decree
•
Mar: Enabling Act
•
April: Gestapo formed; Jews banned
from civil service jobs
•
May: Trade Unions dissolve; leaders sent
to concentration camps
•
Jul: NSDAP (Nazi Party) becomes the
only legal party
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1935
16 years old
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Gestapo Headquarters, Prinz-Albrecht- Straße, Berlin (1933)
Rudolf Diels,
first
Commander of
the Gestapo
(1933–1934)
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Niederkirchnerstraße
Topography of Terror
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Gestapo (Geheimne Staatspolizei)
 Secret State Police
 1933 – 1945
SA (Sturmabteilung)

Storm Troopers (Brown Shirts)
▪

Paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party
1920 - 1934
SS (Schutzstaffel)


Defense Corps
1929 – 1945
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Hildegard Kramer
 1919: Born in Berlin

1923 (4): Beer Hall Putsch, Munich

1933 (14):
•
Jan: Hitler named Chancellor
•
Feb: Reichstag Fire and Reichstag Fire
Decree
•
Mar: Enabling Act
•
April: Gestapo formed; Jews banned
from civil service jobs
•
May: Trade Unions dissolve; leaders sent
to concentration camps
•
Jul: NSDAP (Nazi Party) becomes the
only legal party
1935
16 years old
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Hildegard Kramer

1934 (15):
•
Hitler becomes Führer
•
Nacht der Langen Messer
• Night of the Long Knives (June 30)

1935 (16):
•
Germany rearms
•
Hildegard graduates “high school” and
receives Abteilung
•
Sep: Nuremburg Laws
• The Law for the Protection of
German Blood and German Honor
• The Reich Citizenship Law
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1935
16 years old
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Hildegard Kramer

1936 (17):
 Hitler Youth made mandatory
▪ Hitler-Jugend: Boys, 14-18
▪ Deustches Jungvolk: Boys, 10-14
▪ Bund Deutscher Mädel in der HitlerJugend: Girls, 14-18

1938 (19):


Kristallnacht
1939 (20):
 Invasion of Poland; “Final Solution”
ordered

1945 (26):

Battle of Berlin (16 April – 2 May)
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1935
16 years old
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Paul and Emma Kramer with Putzl about 1950
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First Road: Appeasement
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Appeasement
The policy of acceding to the demands of a
potentially hostile nation in the hope of
maintaining peace
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
William Edward Dodd (1869 – 1940)
▪
▪
▪
1869 – 1940
Historian/Academic
US Ambassador to Germany: 1933 – 1937
▪
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“Telephone Book Dodd”
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I wish it were really possible to make
our people at home understand, for I
feel that they should understand it,
how definitely this martial spirit is
being developed in Germany. If this
Government remains in power for
another year and carries on in the
same measure in this direction, it
will go far towards making Germany
a danger to world peace for years to
come. With few exceptions, the men
who are running this Government
are of a mentality that you and I
cannot understand. Some of them
are psychopathic cases and would
ordinarily be receiving treatment
somewhere.
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George S. Messersmith
American Consul General for
Germany, 1930-1934
June 1933 dispatch to the State
Department
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In France, Britain, the United States and elsewhere,
policymakers had to decide whether they were dealing
with the mad, belligerent Hitler of Mein Kampf or the
public, more cautious Hitler, the one who constantly
praised the merits of peace, sought no more than equality
for his nation, and cursed the useless strife of war.
Kevin P. Glowalla
 An American Ambassador in Berlin: Observing Hitler’s Gambles
in Foreign Policy 1933-1937
 Link to the full article: www.kevindincher.com/beast
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1.
Political/Economic Instability
2.
Nativism, Isolationism, Neutrality and
Pacifism
3.
Hitler’s Message
4.
America’s “Affinity” with Germany
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POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC INSTABILITY

Loss of WW I and the Abdication of Kaiser
Wilhelm II (1818)

“German Revolution” (1918-1919)

The Weimar Republic (1919)

Treaty of Versailles (1919)

Economic Collapse and Hyperinflation
(1921-1923)
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
Loss of WW I and the Abdication
of Kaiser Wilhelm II (1918)
▪ Conditional Surrender:
▪
Abdicated: November 9, 1918
▪
Armistice: November 11, 1918
Kaiser Wilhelm II
1859 – 1941
Reign: 1888 – 1918
(picture: circa 1890)
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Abdication: 9 Nov 1918
Armistice: 11 Nov 1918
Authority: church and state
Kaiser’s role?
Personification
Dolchstosslegende

Germany

German people

German way of life

“dagger thrust” myth
 stabbed in the back myth

November Criminals
Psychological Impact
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1919 Austrian postcard
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1924 German political cartoon
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1924 German Magazine
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
Loss of WWI and Kaiser’s Abdication
 Psychological wounding of the Nation
 Dolchstosslegende
 Political vacuum

German Revolution of 1918




Revolutionary Period: 1917—1921
1918—1919
WW I surrender
Abdication:
▪ Kaiser Wilhelm II
▪ King Ludwig III of Bavaria
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1845 – 1921
King of Bavaria
(1913 – 1918)
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German Revolution of 1918
 November 1918 – August 1919
 Social Democrats (Democratic Republic)
 Communists (Socialist/Marxist Republic)
▪ First Red Scare (1919–1921)
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Revolutionary Movement

A "new" conservatism

Ethnic nationalism
▪

Anti-democracy
▪

Opposed individualism/liberalism (anti-democracy)
Anti-communism
▪

German people/heritage (völkisch)
Advocated their own brand of "conservative socialism“
Authoritarian/militaristic
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The Weimar Republic (1919)
 Weimar Constitution (11 Aug 1919)

Proportional Representation
 1930: 28 parties in the Reichstag
 1933: 40 parties in the Reichstag

Presidential Powers
 Replacement Kaiser
 No “checks/balances”

Emergency Provisions
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Major Political Parties of the Weimar Republic
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Bavarian People's Party
Centre Party (Zentrum)
Christian Social People's Service
Communist Party of Germany
Communist Party of Germany
(Opposition)
Conservative People's Party
German Democratic Party
German National People's Party
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9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
German People's Party
German Racialist Freedom Party
German State Party
German Workers' Party
Independent Social Democratic Party
of Germany
National Socialist German Workers'
Party (NSDAP - Nazi Party)
Socialist Workers' Party of Germany
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
Political/Economic Instability
 Treaty of Versailles (1919)
▪ Dissolution of the Army
▪
Paramilitary/Militia Groups
▪ Reparations
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
Versailles Treaty Reparations
 1921: 226 billion Gold Marks
▪ 100,000 tons of pure gold = 50% of all gold ever mined
▪ $53.8 billion ($757 billion in 2012)
 1929: reduced to 132 billion Gold Marks
▪ $31.4 billion ($442 billion in 2012)
 1931: Germany suspended annual payments
 1954: London agreement
 Oct 4, 2010: final payment – 20th anniversary of unification
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
Versailles Treaty Reparations
 Loans:
▪ 1933: Owed US banks $1.2 billion
▪ In 2013 dollars?
= $212 billion
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
Versailles Treaty Reparations

Hyperinflation
 1914 – 1918 (WW I):
▪ Amount of currency in circulation rose 400%
▪ Prices doubled
 1921: January – June – Prices doubled again
▪ 1921: $1 = 75 DM
▪ 1922: $1 = 400 DM
▪ 1923: $1 = 7000 DM
▪
▪
Aug: $1 = 1 million DM
Nov: $1 = 4 billion DM
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Hyperinflation
•
1923

Loaf of Bread
▪
▪
▪


•
Sep 1922: 163 DM
Sep 1923: 1,500,000 DM
Nov 1923: 200,000,000,000 DM
Workers: paid hourly
Restaurant Menus: no prices
November 1923: Rentenmark (RM)



Debt Security Mark
Eliminated 9 zeros
Backed by mortgages and bonds
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
Political/Economic Instability (1918-1933)

America
 Nativism, Isolationism and Pacifism
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Nativism, Isolationism and Pacifism

Immigration Laws



Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907
Immigration Act of 1917
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
Homosexuals
“Idiots” and “feeble-minded persons
Criminals
Epileptics
“Insane persons” and alcoholics
“Professional beggars”
All persons “mentally or physically defective”
Polygamists
Anarchists
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
Nativism, Isolationism and
Pacifism
 Immigration Laws
▪
1921: Emergency Quota Act
▪
▪
3% based upon 1910 census
1924: Immigration Act
▪
2% based upon 1890 census
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
Nativism, Isolationism and Pacifism

Immigration Laws

Isolationism
▪

Neutrality
▪
▪

League of Nations
German Americans
Irish Americans
New Pacifism
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American
Nativism,
Isolationism and
Pacifism
Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in
American War and Diplomacy
Andrew Preston
 World War I





Inter-war Years





Peace movement
Christian pacifism
Returning veterans
Failure of the Great War to end all wars
America


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The war to end all wars
Crusade: use of war for holy cause
Pacifism = treason
War = “glorious paradox”
Lead the world into a warless future
War = “impossible, hateful contradiction”
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
Political/Economic Instability (1918-1933)

American Nativism, Isolationism and
Pacifism

Hitler’s Message
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
Hitler’s Message
 social justice for Germany and the German
people
 1920s – 1930s America
▪ Unprecedented economic prosperity and then
the worst depression in history
▪ Social conflict and suffering
▪ Questions of recovery, reform and social justice
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
Political/Economic Instability (1918-1933)

American Nativism, Isolationism and
Pacifism

Hitler’s Message

America’s “Affinity” with Germany
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1.
America’s “Affinity” with Germany
 German-Americans
 Anti-semitism
The German authorities are treating Jews
shamefully and the Jews in this country are
greatly excited. But this is also not a
government affair. We can do nothing except
for American citizens who happen to be made
victims. We must protect them, and whatever
we can do to moderate the general persecution
by unofficial and personal influence ought to be
done.
FDR to Dodd
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1.
Political/Economic
Instability
2.
American Nativism,
Isolationism and
Pacifism
3.
Hitler’s Message
4.
America’s “Affinity”
with Germany
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William Dodd
•
Ambassador: 30 August 1933 – 29 December 1937
•
Instructions: “don’t upset the apple cart”

$1.2 billion in loans; American domestic politics
•
Pro-German

Initially saw the “positives” of a strong leader

Concerned by militaristic spirit
•
Critical

Oct, 1933: American Chamber of Commerce (Berlin)

Jul, 1934: Night of the Long Knives

Nov, 1936: Report to the State Department

Annual Nazi Party Rallies (Nuremburg)
•
Lack of “Style” – Not a Member of the “Club”
•
“Resigned” in 1937
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First Road: Appeasement
William Dodd
•
“There were very few men who realized what
was happening in Germany more thoroughly"
than Dodd, who proved ineffective because he
"was completely appalled by what was
happening.” (George S. Messersmith)
•
“Sincere though impulsive and inexperienced.“
•
Dodd “has impressed his diplomatic associates
as a man who is inclined to forget his
responsibilities as an envoy in his zeal as an
historian and in his views as a contemporary
observer of governing trends.”
•
“A tragic misfit … "a babe-in-the-woods in the
dark forests of Berlin”
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First Road: Appeasement
William Dodd
•
•
•
Several policies were adopted during the first two years of the Nazi
regime.
Speaking tour of Canada and
the US
The first was to suppress the Jews.... They were to hold no positions
in University or government operations, own no land, write nothing
Warned against the dangers
posed by Germany, Italy, and
Japan, and detailed racial and
religious persecution in
Germany
Predicted German aggression
against Austria,
Czechoslovakia, and Poland
for newspapers, gradually give up their personal business relations,
be imprisoned and many of them killed....
And of course there is not a word … to warn the unwary … that all
the people who might oppose the regime have been absolutely
silenced.
The central idea behind it is to make the rising generation worship
•
Nuremburg Trials:
"one of the few accredited
diplomats in Berlin who very
obviously had no sympathy
of any sort for the regime in
power".
their chief and get ready to "save civilization" from the Jews, from
Communism and from democracy—thus preparing the way for a
Nazified world where all freedom of the individual, of education, and
of the churches is to be totally suppressed.
Dodd, 1938
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