Erik Larson: In the Garden of Beasts

14 A front-page article: United Press, “Dodd Is Attacked…”, n.d., Box 2, Martha Dodd Papers.

15 “ill and not entirely responsible”: Bailey, 199.

16 “If they had co-operated”: Dallek, 332.

17 By fall, Dodd was confined: Bailey, 199–200; New York Times , Feb. 10, 1940.

18 He was buried: Martha later had Dodd’s body moved to Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C., Dec. 6, 1946, Section L., Lot 37, Site 4. One lovely spring afternoon, accompanied by one of my daughters, I visited the Stoneleigh Golf and Country Club, which is part of a development that includes large faux-colonial houses on outsized parcels of land an hour or so west of Washington, D.C. Though the golf course (18 holes, par 72) is necessarily closely manicured, I nonetheless got a sense of how compelling this terrain must have been for Dodd, especially during his first visit home from Berlin when the farm’s soft hills must have been deeply soothing. His old barn is still there and a few stretches of ancient stone fence, but now instead of pigs the barn shelters masses of suckling golf carts. Dodd took a dim view of golf and golfers, especially those members of his Berlin staff who were continually skipping work to play a few rounds at their Wannsee club. It is a good thing Martha moved his body, because his ghost surely would have proved a daunting hazard, blocking putts and hurling balls far off into the adjacent swales and roughs.

19 Five years later: Ryan, 418.

At war’s end the remains of the Tiergarten came under further assault, this time by the starving populace, who cut the shattered trees and stumps into firewood and turned portions of the park into a vegetable garden. In 1947, Berlin’s mayor described the devastation of the park as “the most painful wound inflicted on our city by the war.” Daum and Mauch, 205.

20 “Knowing his passion”: New York Times , Feb. 11, 1940.

21 “the best ambassador”: Schultz, “Sigrid Schultz on Ambassador Dodd,” January 1956, Box 2, Schultz Papers.

22 “Dodd was years ahead”: Wise, Challenging , 234.

23 “I often think”: Messersmith, “Some Observations on the appointment of Dr. William Dodd, as Ambassador to Berlin,” 11, unpublished memoir, Messersmith Papers.

24 “a renewed pride and faith”: Thomas Wolfe to Maxwell E. Perkins, May 23, 1935, Wolfe, Selected Letters , 228.

25 “Above all, not too much zeal”: Brysac, 224.

26 “Jewish controlled”: Stiller, 129; Weil, 60.

27 “the man who pulled his people”: Stiller, 129.

28 “idiotic things as a rule”: Weil, 60–61.

Ultimately even Roosevelt was taken aback by Wilson’s attitude, as George Messersmith learned during a conversation he had with the president. By this time, Messersmith had been posted to Washington as assistant secretary of state. In a personal memorandum dated Feb. 1, 1938, Messersmith summarized the president’s remarks. “He”—Roosevelt—“said he was much surprised that Wilson had indicated that he thought we ought to lay less stress on the democracies and democratic principles.” To which Messersmith replied, “There were some things concerning human psychology, and particularly German, that were a strange country to Wilson.” The president, he noted, was “somewhat disturbed concerning Wilson’s ideas.” Messersmith, Memorandum, Feb. 1, 1938, Messersmith Papers.

29 “I do think the chances”: William C. Bullitt to Roosevelt, Dec. 7, 1937, Bullitt, 242.

30 “But history,” wrote Dodd’s friend: New York Times , March 2, 1941.

1 “If there were any logic”: Dodd, Embassy Eyes , 228.

2 “I told her that if she published my letters”: Messersmith, “Goering,” unpublished memoir, 7–8, Messersmith Papers.

3 Martha at last created her own successful salon: Vanden Heuvel, 248.

4 “growing effectiveness”: Martha Dodd, unpublished memoir, 4, Box 13, Martha Dodd Papers.

At its peak, the network included an operator in Hitler’s wire room and a senior officer in the Luftwaffe; Arvid Harnack became an adviser to Hitler’s economics minister.

5 By now, however, Martha knew: Falk Harnack, “Notes on the Execution of Dr. Arvid Harnack,” Box 13, Martha Dodd Papers; Axel von Harnack, “Arvid and Mildred Harnack,” translation of article in Die Gegenwart , Jan. 1947, 15–18, in Box 13, Martha Dodd Papers; Falk Harnack, “2nd visit to the Reichssicherheitshauptamt, ” Box 13, Martha Dodd Papers. Also see Rürup, 163.

The network got wind of Germany’s surprise invasion of the Soviet Union and tried to notify Stalin. Upon receiving this information, Stalin told its bearer, “You can send your ‘source’ from the German air force staff to his much fucked mother! This is not a ‘source’ but a disinformer.” Brysac, 277.

6 “And I have loved Germany so”: Falk Harnack to Martha, Dec. 29, 1947, Box 13, Martha Dodd Papers. Arvid, in a closing letter to “my beloved ones,” wrote, “I should have liked to have seen you all again, but that is unfortunately not possible.” n.d., Box 13, Martha Dodd Papers.

7 “a gifted, clever and educated woman”: Weinstein and Vassiliev, 51, 62.

8 “She considers herself a Communist”: Ibid., 62; Vassiliev, Notebooks, White Notebook #2, 61.

9 Through Martha’s efforts: Haynes et al., 440; Weinstein and Vassiliev, 70–71; Alfred Stern to Max Delbrück, Nov. 23, 1970, Box 4, Martha Dodd Papers; Vanden Heuvel, 223, 252.

When toilets broke the Sterns called the Czech foreign minister to effect repairs; they owned paintings by Cézanne, Monet, and Renoir. Vanden Heuvel, 252.

10 They bought a new black Mercedes.: Martha to “David,” Feb. 28, 1958, Box 1, Martha Dodd Papers.

11 Martha became “obsessed”: Alfred Stern to Max Delbrück, Nov. 23, 1970, Box 4, Martha Dodd Papers.

12 “We can’t say we like it here”: Martha to Audrey Fuss, July 25, 1975, Box 5, Martha Dodd Papers.

13 After two years in Cologne: Metcalfe, 288.

14 “It was,” she wrote, “one of the ugliest”: Martha Dodd, “Chapter 30, August 1968,” unpublished memoir, 5, Box 12, Martha Dodd Papers.

15 “Max, my love”: Martha to Delbrück, April 27, 1979, Box 4, Martha Dodd Papers; Delbrück to Martha, Nov. 15, 1978, Box 4, Martha Dodd Papers.

16 “that ass”: Martha to Sigrid Schultz, April 25, 1970, Box 13, Martha Dodd Papers.

17 “a real buffoon”: Martha to Philip Metcalfe, April 16, 1982, Box 7, Martha Dodd Papers.

18 Bassett confessed he had destroyed: George Bassett Roberts to Martha, Nov. 23, 1971, Box 8, Martha Dodd Papers.

19 “Such love letters!”: Martha to George Bassett Roberts, Feb. 19, 1976, Box 8, Martha Dodd Papers.

20 “One thing is sure”: Martha to George Bassett Roberts, Nov. 1, “more or less,” 1971, Box 8, Martha Dodd Papers.

21 In 1979 a federal court: New York Times , March 23 and March 26, 1979.

22 Bill Jr. had died: New York Times , Oct. 19, 1952, and April 22, 1943.

23 “Bill was a very swell guy”: Martha to Audrey Fuss, Oct. 31, 1952, Box 1, Martha Dodd Papers.

24 “Where do you think we should die”: Martha to Letitia Ratner, March 9, 1984, Box 8, Martha Dodd Papers.

25 “Nowhere could be as lonely”: Martha to Van and Jennie Kaufman, March 6, 1989, Martha Dodd Papers.

26 He had forsaken the magnificent copper beech: New York Times , Sept. 4, 1996.

1 Years after the war, a cache of documents: Hitler, 102. Hitler’s off-the-cuff remarks, though passed along with inevitable modifications, provide a chilling and compelling glimpse into his mind.