Background
In the summer of 1936 Bill Daniel was 22 years old and had just finished his first year of medical school. He and his friend Sherman Egan, both eager to see more of the world, signed on to a ‘workaway’ on a steamship bound from New Orleans to Gdynia, Poland, with a stopoff of five to seven days in Germany while the steamship went on to England, then came back to Bremen, Germany. Due to a dock strike in England, that five to seven days turned into a month where Bill and his friend Sherm traveled all over Germany, seeing Hamburg, Munich, Nuremburg, Dresden, Rothenberg, and Berlin.
Modern Day Significance
Perhaps most importantly for a historian, Bill kept a journal of his trip, especially of his impressions of Germany under the rise of Nazism. I do not have this journal yet, but I will have it in another few weeks. The extracts I am about to present are not, then, directly from the journal, but from a typed summary of the journal written many years later using the journal.1 I hope for my final project to make a more expanded website, using this journal and also, hopefully, other tourists' accounts from this period of time in Germany.
Excerpts
It did not take long to realize Hitler had taken over and was in command. Swastikas were everywhere. On walls were copies of “Der Sturmer”, an anti-Jewish newspaper. We could read German and were amazed at the vile things in the paper. Everything was blamed on the Jews.
The Hope of the World
On the train one afternoon a small, old man leaned over and asked, “Are you Americans?” We said we were and he, talking very softly, told us he had a son working for Ford Motor Co. in Detroit. The man said he could not leave Germany and it would be very dangerous for his son to visit. Could we take a letter for the son and mail it in the U.S. We said we would and later wondered how wise it was.
We did mail [it] in the U.S. The man said Jews were receiving horrible treatment, were limited in where they could travel, and that things would become much worse. He said, “President Roosevelt is the hope of the world.”
Years later, I remembered that when Roosevelt was a candidate for the fourth time. I was not in favor of continued presidencies, but I knew if he were not elected that people all over the world would feel hopeless.
Military People
As we walked thru [sic] cities, or even in the country, we could often hear the clump, clump of marching feet and eventually young boys, many adolescent, would appear in marching ranks with their swastikas and other flags. Both Sherm and I felt that the kids were being brainwashed and wouldn't know any better or how to think for themselves. The members of the SS wore black uniforms with a small red band or two and carried small daggers hanging from their waists. Most of them were obviously of a group selected for appearance and size. Sometimes we would be on the periphery of a group that was discussing something and when an SS man came close, the conversation stopped or changed in subject. There were thousands of “ordinary” Nazi's [sic] wearing the rather plain brown uniform, and all of these military people seemed strange to us.
Be Careful What You Say
Another day on the train an attractive older woman asked if we were Americans. We chatted and she said she and her husband had been in China for many years with the German cable company. He had retired and now they were in Germany. “You boys must be very careful what you say and how you act. I would not want you to be arrested, and I ashamed to say that it is very common [to] arrest people who criticize the government.” We told her we did not approve of Hitler and his policies but were visitors and wished only to visit the country and meet the people.
Future Soldiers
We met many young people on the trains, streets and in beer stube's [sic] and restaurants. Our German was acceptable if not fluent, and many of them could speak a little English. Many young men were excited with Hitler's program and when we mentioned war might come, they said, “Well, everyone has to die sometime.” I have often wondered if they ever remembered that remark when their time came. Some were opposed and they were cautioned by their friends. They, as a group, believed Austria would be taken into the Reich and that proved to be true.
The Fuhrer
One day in Berlin, a crowd was gathering at a street corner and we could see no reason for it. When we asked why people were standing there we were told “The Fuhrer is coming.” So, we stayed and finally a long, black Mercedes sped by. Then they, and we, all ran toward the plaza in front of the Chancellery. Soon the plaza was so filled with people it was impossible to move.
They began chanting “Wir wollen unswer Fuhrer sehen!” over and over and louder and louder. That means, “we want to see our leader.” After about half an hour, the doors behind a small balcony opened and Hitler stepped out giving the Nazi salute. Immediately the crowd started shouting “Zeig Heil! Zeig Heil!” and Hitler would turn from one side to another and give the outstretched arm salute. He was then joined by Goebbels, Goehring, Hess, and others. The crowd went wild. After about five minutes, Hitler gave the salute again, everyone responded, then he and the others went back into the building. It was a great demonstration of mass hysteria, and we remarked that it wouldn't take much to start a mob doing whatever Hitler might ask it. Dangerous.
The Gathering Storm
The longer we were in Germany the more we believed war would come and were astounded when we returned home to read that some of our Senators and many industrialists either gave a degree of support to Hitler or believed no war was in the future. I believed one young man who told us, “When your Senators or your industrialists come over here, they're told and shown only what the German government wants them to hear and see.” True.
1 Neither the summary nor the journal are available for review, they are the private papers of my grandmother. Anyone wishing further information may contact me at: elaram@mac.com.