# Pre WWII Germany **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 31, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078 "2014-08-31T21:23:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/1 "2014-08-31T21:23:22Z")
Prior to September 1939 for Brits, and December 1941 for Americans, how easy was it to visit Germany for business or pleasure the years leading up to WWII? I assume that a visa was required, but would they allow anyone into the country, or was it fairly restrictive? What happened if you were Jewish and wanted to visit Germany? Were you excluded based on your religion? Once the US had declared war on Germany I assume that it would be impossible for Americans to legally enter the country. Were there any American diplomats in Germany, or German diplomats in the US, after 1941 (until the end of the war)? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/2 "2014-08-31T21:27:19Z")
Prior to 1939 it was very easy for foreigners to visit Germany; indeed Hitler positively wanted them to so that they could spread the word about how wonderful the Third Reich was. There was, of course, the Olympic games in Germany in 1936. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/3 "2014-08-31T22:30:29Z")
Erik Larson’s “In the Garden of Beasts” is a well-written account of a real-life American family living in Germany from 1933 to 1937. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/4 "2014-08-31T23:22:39Z")
The family was that of the US ambassador, so not really a good answer to the OP. Damn fine read, though, and a good account of how the Nazis evolved into what we know them as. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/5 "2014-08-31T23:35:53Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Were there any American diplomats in Germany, or German diplomats in the US, after 1941 (until the end of the war)? No. Back when countries declared war, they were required to call home their diplomats. Diplomats were given a short period to gather their belongings and not be hindered in their passage home. After that time frame, they could be interned for the duration of the war. The country leaving would also designate another embassy to handle diplomatic contacts; IIRC, the US chose Switzerland to act in its place. The same rules applied to Japanese and German diplomats in the US: they were allowed to leave without hindrance. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/6 "2014-08-31T23:46:13Z")
It’s more complicated than that. Diplomats in both countries were “interned” when war broke out, but they were held in high-end resort hotels until exchanges could be made via neutral countries. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/7 "2014-09-01T00:11:18Z")
Shirer’s _The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich_ is one of the best accounts of pre-war Germany, from the perspective of an American journalist living and working in Germany. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/8 "2014-09-01T00:44:49Z")
Okay, I will join in the semi-hijack and recommend [Victor Klemperer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Klemperer)’s superb chronicle (his diary) as an unsurpassed primary source describing life in The Third Reich for a Jew (from 1933 to 1945). [I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years](http://www.amazon.com/Will-Bear-Witness-Diary-1933-1941/dp/0375753788/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409531356&sr=1-1&keywords=victor+klemperer&tag=donations09-20) by Victor Klemperer. Klemperer was a brilliant man, a professor of French Literature and fluent in more than a couple of languages. His insights and observations, while focusing on the Jews naturally, extend to his remarkable perspicuity regarding how the Nazis quite deliberately altered and corrupted the German language, and the meaning of various words and phrases, as a means of consolidating their control of all aspects of life. In his diaries, he begins to note this phenomenon immediately, within weeks of Hitler’s coming to power in January 1933. After the war, he actually wrote [a book](http://www.amazon.com/Language-Third-Reich-Lingua-Imperii/dp/0826491308/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409531356&sr=1-6&keywords=victor+klemperer&tag=donations09-20) on the Nazi’s use of words and language. In any case, his description of daily life as a Jew, and his observations of ‘the Aryans’, during the entire twelve-year Reich, is an extraordinarily compelling read. (You may have heard of his cousin, the conductor [Otto Klemperer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Klemperer).) ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/9 "2014-09-01T01:14:04Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Prior to September 1939 for Brits, and December 1941 for Americans, how easy was it to visit Germany for business or pleasure the years leading up to WWII? I assume that a visa was required, but would they allow anyone into the country, or was it fairly restrictive? As already noted, the Nazi government welcomed visitors. There were border formalities, but they had more to do with customs issues than with visas or immigration control. Germany had extensive land borders, and there were regular international train services between all major German cities and points outside Germany. > [@dolphinboy](#): > > What happened if you were Jewish and wanted to visit Germany? Were you excluded based on your religion? No. How would they know you were Jewish? The passports issued by Germany did indicate if the holder was Jewish, but the passports issued by other countries mostly did not. > [@dolphinboy](#): > > Once the US had declared war on Germany I assume that it would be impossible for Americans to legally enter the country. Well, from late 1944 onwards they entered in fairly large numbers! ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/10 "2014-09-01T02:38:35Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Klemperer was a brilliant man, a professor of French Literature and fluent in more than a couple of languages. His insights and observations, while focusing on the Jews naturally, extend to his remarkable perspicuity regarding how the Nazis quite deliberately altered and corrupted the German language, and the meaning of various words and phrases, as a means of consolidating their control of all aspects of life. In his diaries, he begins to note this phenomenon immediately, within weeks of Hitler’s coming to power in January 1933. After the war, he actually wrote [a book](http://www.amazon.com/Language-Third-Reich-Lingua-Imperii/dp/0826491308/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409531356&sr=1-6&keywords=victor+klemperer&tag=donations09-20) on the Nazi’s use of words and language. > > In any case, his description of daily life as a Jew, and his observations of ‘the Aryans’, during the entire twelve-year Reich, is an extraordinarily compelling read. > > (You may have heard of his cousin, the conductor [Otto Klemperer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Klemperer).) You are probably even more familiar with his nephew [Wernor Klemperer](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0459252/). [Really](https://www.google.com/search?q=werner+klemperer&client=firefox-a&hs=ndy&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=AtwDVLrPO5W4ggTQgoHAAQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=672)! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/11 "2014-09-01T03:01:24Z")
[Christopher Isherwood](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Isherwood#Early_life_and_work) found it easy. His recollections were eventually made into the film _Cabaret_. Sounds like there was quite a foreign scene in Berlin back in those days. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/12 "2014-09-01T03:02:28Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > You are probably even more familiar with his nephew [Wernor Klemperer](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0459252/). [Really](https://www.google.com/search?q=werner+klemperer&client=firefox-a&hs=ndy&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=AtwDVLrPO5W4ggTQgoHAAQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=672)! Yeah, I didn’t include Werner because I was trying to emphasize the genius in the family. In retrospect, I suppose it does take a measure of genius to play the buffoon and, indeed, to become iconic in the role. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/13 "2014-09-01T03:05:00Z")
He got six Emmy nominations for his role of Klinck, winning twice, which is a pretty good indication of greater-than-average dramatic talents. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/14 "2014-09-01T03:57:33Z")
Since the question’s been pretty well answered, I’ll finally give in to my inner pedant and point out that for a good 15 or so years of the interwar period, Germany wasn’t controlled by the Nazis; for probably ten of those, the Nazis weren’t even in the government at all in any significant numbers. While the Weimar Republic certainly had its issues, I’m not aware of any reason to think that they would’ve had a particularly harsh passport control regime. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/15 "2014-09-01T14:28:37Z")
Thanks everyone. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/16 "2014-09-01T16:34:38Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > What happened if you were Jewish and wanted to visit Germany? Were you excluded based on your religion? > [@UDS](#): > > No. How would they know you were Jewish? The passports issued by Germany did indicate if the holder was Jewish, but the passports issued by other countries mostly did not. They’d ask if you were Jewish on your visa application. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/17 "2014-09-01T16:38:04Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > They’d ask if you were Jewish on your visa application. So were there restrictions based on religion? Why else would they ask? BTW, when I applied for a business visa a few years ago to go to Saudi Arabia they required that I state my religion, although I don’t think they had any way to check whether what I put down was correct. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/18 "2014-09-02T01:04:40Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > They’d ask if you were Jewish on your visa application. I don’t think you had to apply in advance for a visa. If you were coming by train from Amsterdam, say, you just sorted out a visa at the station before boarding the train. In fairness, I don’t know whether they asked your descent as part of the process but, if they did, they would have had no way of checking your answer. In reality, I doubt they asked. I suspect the issue of finding practical and effective ways of preventing the migration of Jews _into_ Germany was not one that occupied much of their time; the numbers seeking entry would have been vanishingly small. Nazi border formalities were mainly focussed on economic issues; preventing the smuggling of currency out of the country, or of contraband luxury goods into it. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/19 "2014-09-02T03:24:27Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > (You may have heard of his cousin, the conductor [Otto Klemperer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Klemperer).) > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > You are probably even more familiar with his nephew [Wernor Klemperer](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0459252/). [Really](https://www.google.com/search?q=werner+klemperer&client=firefox-a&hs=ndy&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=AtwDVLrPO5W4ggTQgoHAAQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=672)! Nit pick: Werner was Otto’s son. If Otto was Victor’s cousin, then Werner was also a cousin, not a nephew. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078/20 "2014-09-02T06:38:02Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > What happened if you were Jewish and wanted to visit Germany? Were you excluded based on your religion? And more importantly, were you _safe_, once you entered the country? Strange as it seems, it did happen that Jewish people visited Nazi Germany during the 1930s, among them Harpo Marx in 1934, on his way to Russia where he’d been invited to tour as a single. The ship landed in Germany, whence he’d planned to take his time on the overland journey to Moscow, “moseying along and see the sights”, evidently ignorant of how bad things had gotten. His mother had been born in Germany, and IIRC he’d also intended to look up some of his cousins. Once he got there and saw for himself how things were, he couldn’t get out fast enough. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-wwii-germany/697078.md?page=2)