They won't be so stupid as to fall for that clown

'You may think that Germans are political idiots [-] and you may be right, but of one thing I can assure you, they won't be so stupid as to fall for that clown.'

Such was the opinion of many in Germany in the early 1930s, including Peter Bielenberg, the lawyer husband of Christabel, an English woman who took German citizenship following her marriage. The Past Is My Life is based on diaries she kept while living in Germany during the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, through to the end of WW2.

In January 1933 Hitler was appointed Chancellor, with "only two other National Socialists with him in his Cabinet," there was a belief "that he was well hemmed-in" by the respectable, old-school elite politicians of the Weimar Republic. However, "the whole process of what was called 'co-ordination' was over and done with" within five months. Hitler became Germany's dictator.

How could the political situation change so fast? Bielenberg's memoir is not a historian's analysis, but shows how a shared feeling of being betrayed at the end of WW1 fed into the propaganda that was used to justify military aggression. Her viewpoint is privileged, not that of the working-class, yet it provides plenty of insight into living in the Third Reich as an opponent of the regime. What particularly comes across is how exhausting it was to be constantly on guard against making a thoughtless comment, and the need to be wary of every new acquaintance.

Peter Bielenberg's description of Hitler as a clown should sound a warning bell in 2019. One should be wary of buffoonery and deceit, neither of which are impediments to reaching the highest position of Government.

Update 11 November 2021: The Road Ahead

The second part of Bielenberg's memoir begins with the defeat of Nazi Germany. It contains examples of how badly Germans were treated after the end of hostilities, regardless of their political affiliations. In occupied Frankfurt, Bielenberg believes her ability to speak German, French and English might make her useful as an interpreter. She's told she has no chance, not because she lacks ability, but because, " you were a poor fool to marry a bloody German". War is hell and it can bring out the worst in people, but there's no guarantee of a better future once it's over.

The writer's happy ending is achieved by distancing her family from the memories in a farm in the Republic of Ireland.