Ambassador to Hitler - An unusual inside perspective on the "Third Reich" | DW Documentary

Adolf Goebbels
Published on Jan 28, 2023
In July 1933, a few months after Hitler seized power, William E. Dodd arrived in Berlin. His appointment as ambassador of the United States of America by President Roosevelt came as a surprise.

As an historian and university professor, William E. Dodd had no experience with diplomacy and was unfamiliar with its linguistic codes. In the French embassy, the experienced diplomat AndrÃ© FranÃ§ois-Poncet had already been observing the rise of the Nazi Party for two years. Within months, the National Socialists had brought the entire state apparatus under their control. But they did not yet feel comfortable in diplomatic circles - apart from a few, including Hermann GÃ¶ring or Gestapo chief Rudolf Diels, who soon became welcome guests at chic embassy dinners. Hitler himself appeared only rarely.

The numerous receptions increasingly became a stomping ground for spies, the scene of intrigue, love affairs, and information. William E. Dodd's daughter Martha even embarked on affairs with both SS men and Soviet attachÃ©s. Until the outbreak of war in 1939, the diplomats observed the rise of the Nazi dictatorship with a mixture of fear, anxiety and disgust, but also with fascination and an eye for opportunity, as they report back to their capitals.

Authors Pierre-Olivier FranÃ§ois and Jean-Marc Dreyfus have analyzed secret embassy reports, diaries, and memoirs. They have also been able to draw from numerous new sources, including the private archives of the FranÃ§ois-Poncet family.

The film provides an unusual inside view of the "Third Reich" through a multifaceted tableau of people. It poses the crucial questions of those years, from a new perspective: "How could it have come to this? Could Hitler have been stopped? How did it all begin?"

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