In the Garden of Beasts

An American Family Arrives in Nazi Berlin

In June 1933, as Washington sweltered under a record heat wave, a surprise phone call from the White House interrupted the academic routine of William E. Dodd. A quiet history professor who felt most at home on his Virginia farm, Dodd was struggling to finish a definitive history of the American South. President Roosevelt needed a new ambassador for Berlin, a post that several prominent and wealthy men had already refused. Dodd, a Jeffersonian democrat who spoke German, was chosen to serve as a standing example of American liberalism in a changing Germany.

The appointment was less a calculated strategic move and more a result of exhaustion and timing. While the Nazi regime had already begun its descent into state-sanctioned violence, many in the administration believed the new government was a temporary phenomenon. They hoped a sober historian could manage the billion-dollar debt Germany owed to American creditors while maintaining a moderate influence.

This was the Berlin that Dodd was about to enter, a city where power was the only language understood. Just before his appointment, a New York doctor named Joseph Schachno arrived at the American consulate with his skin flayed from his body, having been whipped by uniformed men until his flesh was raw. For George Messersmith, the consul general, this brutal attack on a U.S. citizen was proof that Nazi violence was no longer a secret and that Germany was preparing for war. He believed the new leaders were unstable and worried the incoming ambassador was too modest for such a violent place.

For Dodd, the position offered a chance to escape university drudgery and perhaps find time to write his book. He also saw it as an opportunity to gather his grown children, Bill Jr. and Martha, for one last family adventure. Martha, a vibrant young woman entangled in a secret, failing marriage and an affair with the poet Carl Sandburg, was particularly eager to leave Chicago. Berlin represented a fresh start and a grand stage for her own ambitions.

During a White House lunch, Roosevelt instructed Dodd to protect American citizens but to use only unofficial influence to moderate the persecution of Jews, reflecting a broader American reluctance to intervene. Even within the State Department, an undercurrent of prejudice led to a strict interpretation of immigration laws that kept many refugees from finding safety in the United States.

The voyage across the Atlantic on the SS Washington served as a quiet prelude to the challenges ahead. Dodd spent his hours reading German aloud to his children, expressing his hope that he could cultivate American liberalism on German soil. He believed in the inherent rationality of men, feeling that a sympathetic approach would prevail over the current political volatility.

The family’s arrival in Berlin was a jarring introduction to diplomatic life. They were met by George Gordon, a stiff counselor who was visibly disappointed by the Dodds' lack of servants and simple appearance. They were ushered into a magnificent suite at the Hotel Esplanade, a world of satin brocade that Dodd found deeply uncomfortable. Despite warnings of political upheaval, the city itself felt remarkably vibrant. On their first night, the family walked through the Tiergarten, admiring the statues and the soft glow of streetlamps. Martha felt a rush of affection for the country, convinced the international press had exaggerated the dangers. To a family of scholars, the peaceful summer air of Berlin masked the gathering darkness that lay just beneath the surface, a darkness whose monstrous face would soon be revealed.