William E. Dodd: Life In Nazi Germany

William E. Dodd lived in Chicago with his wife Mattie, his son Bill, and his daughter, Martha. Mr. Dodd was working at his desk at the University of Chicago when he received a phone call from president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt called to offer Dodd a job inside Germany as the American Ambassador to Germany. He was given two hours to consider the position. Soon, he took up the offer and his family and him headed for Berlin. The mission of Dodd was to let America see the brighter things to Germany. Rather than bashing Nazi Germany, he wanted to see the beauty in the people and in the landscapes he will encounter. Indeed, there was many beautiful things to Berlin. There was one in particular garden at the end of the street named Tiergarten which means “garden of the beasts.” The Dodd’s often took walks here because it reminded them of home. Mr. Dodd took walks here to and from work and invited fellow

One American citizen named Philip Zuckerman had a story on July 16. Zuckerman was walking along the street with his German wife and her family. All four of them were Jewish and 140,000 Storm Troopers crowded the streets where they were walking. The family was violently attacked to the ground. This left the family hospitalized. Another story was the story of H.V. Kaltenborn, another American. The family had been walking and spotted Storm Troopers. Kaltenborn refused to give the Hitler salute. So, the family acted as if they had not seen the Storm Troopers. They were approached by the Storm Troopers and questioned why they had not done the salute. The SA soon moved on but the terror was not over. A man from the crowd began hitting Kaltenborns son. The police did nothing but smile. Nazis also start pestering a man named Edger Mower, whom they want to leave Germany. When Mower asks Dodd to help him stay in Germany, Dodd refuses because he does not want to get involved in German