Hitlerland. The Third Reich Through the Eyes of Ordinary Tourists

Is it possible to understand in advance what kind of blood and sacrifices will end the policy of another statesman? Hitler's example shows: few possess the gift of foresight, but the price of a mistake can be excessively high. The author studied dozens of memoirs of his compatriots, smart and talented people who lived in Germany or visited the country in the thirties of the last century: American diplomats, military personnel, journalists, writers, artists, athletes, businessmen, tourists. In relative safety, they observed the rise of Hitler as the unchallenged leader of the Reich. They saw the violence of the ruling party against political opponents; repressions against national minorities, homosexuals, social democrats, and all those who did not march in step with the surging juice of hatred of the totalitarian state. Some of these observers did not consider the horrors of war and the Holocaust that could result from Nazi populism. Others consciously turned a blind eye to the excesses because they liked the new energetic and inspired Germany. But even those who were critical of Hitler were able to realize the true scale of the catastrophe when it was already too late to change anything. However, they tried… The author himself partly repeated the fate of these people: as an unreliable correspondent for the leading global media outlet Newsweek, he was expelled from the USSR during the period of "tightening the screws" and the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. Thanks to Nagorski, the living voices of Americans who witnessed the rise of the Nazi regime resonate in the book.