Did you ever wonder how some women have strange powers over men? I'm sure you have. Me too. I just don't get it.
Several months ago I read Erik Larson's excellent book, In the Garden of the Beasts. It's about Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the mid 30s. It takes place primarily in Berlin and is chilling in its' revealing how Hitler was able to, not only put down opposition, but to brutalize folks who even whispered disapproval to a neighbor.
Prior to reading the book I had never heard of Martha Dodd. She was the daughter of William Dodd who was sent to be our ambassador to Germany in 1933. He took his wife and two grown children with him.
From the get-go Martha was what we used to call a "party girl." She was an indiscriminate dater. She dated Americans, Nazis, and Communists alike. Because it was the 1930s I wasn't sure what this "dating" really meant. But, apparently it meant just what you're thinking it meant.
By, the way, after the war Martha came back to America, became a writer and a spy for the communists, among other things. She lived a big life in a number of ways.
The other day I read a review of the book Hitlerland by Andrew Negorski. This book's about how many Americans cozied up to Hitler in the 30s even though many of them could see that he was a monster. It's just that nobody, including Martha's father, Ambassador William Dodd could get the American home front to listen.
But who fascinated me was Martha. To say she had a way with men would be big understatement. I know there are women like this, but, as I said earlier, I just don't get it. Below is an excerpt from the new book Hiterland.
Putzi Hanfstaengl, who was still on the scene during Hitler's first years of dictatorship, introduced the chancellor to Martha Dodd, the flamboyant young daughter of the scholarly American ambassador. "Hitler needs a woman," Putzi told her. "Martha, you are the woman!" Dodd had been making the rounds of handsome young men in Berlin, and also managed to include the much lionized American novelist Thomas Wolfe among her conquests when he visited Germany. (Wolfe told a friend she was "like a butterfly hovering around my - private parts." But Hitler didn't quite know what to make of her when Putzi presented her to him in a Berlin hotel...Hitler kissed her hand, mumbled a few words, kissed her hand again, and then cast "curious, embarrassed stares" at her the rest of the evening.
In other words, Martha was too much for Adolf Hitler!
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