Seduction Hitler, one of the most notorious leaders of the twentieth century is a man who terrorized vast numbers of Jews, Gypsies and even Germans, launched the Second World War, and ordered atrocities beyond human comprehension. Yet, Hitler and his Nazi party appealed to the majority of Germans and some of them even participated in murdering millions of harmless, innocent people. How was it possible for the German nation to abandon their moral responsibilities and blindly follow its dictator? Seduction, a chapter from Erik Larson’s The Garden of Beasts illustrates Hitler’s rise to power in 1930s Germany. As a good seducer, Hitler was able to blind the whole nation into committing the greatest crime in history. According to a dictionary …show more content…
Seduction illustrates the experiences of Martha Dodd in Berlin during 1930s. Martha Dodd was a daughter of the first American ambassador in Nazi Germany, William Dodd. Upon arriving to Berlin, Martha found the city to be “a delight”. “Here too stood Haus Vaterland, a five-story nightclub capable of serving six thousand diners in twelve restaurant milieus, including a Wild West bar… ‘What a youthful, carefree, won’t-go-home-till-morning, romantic, wonderful place!’ (Larson 55). Busy streets, packed five-store restaurants and night clubs appealed to Martha’s vivacious spirit. Enchanted by the city’s vibrancy and optimism, she highly admired Hitler for the accomplishments of Nazi Revolution. Even when confronted by her friend’s stories of Nazis violence against Jews, “Martha countered that Germany was in the midst of a historic rebirth. Those incidents that did occur surely were only inadvertent expressions of the wild enthusiasm that had gripped the country” (Larson 53). Overwhelmed by the signs of a rapid revolution Germany was undergoing, Martha seemed oblivious to Nazis corruption. During 1930s, Berlin was one of the most exciting cities in the world. The city was unsurpassed for its art, opera and theater and many Germans, as well as visitors, shared Martha’s “rosy view” of Nazi regime. Stricken with widespread