“We are staying here”: This material is from Ambrose, D-Day, 313; and Hastings, Overlord. For Hitler sleeping, see Kershaw, Hitler, 804–6; Walter Warlimont, Inside Hitler’s Headquarters (Presidio Press, 1962), 403–6.
“We could not see”: Ambrose, D-Day, 264.
“Most of us”: Ambrose, D-Day (from which I’ve drawn extensively for this section), 263; for list of ships, see 235.
“crescendo of a great symphony”: Ibid., 271. Goodwin, No Ordinary Time, is very good on the mishaps at Omaha Beach.
And along Omaha beach: For more on the mishaps at Omaha, I have heavily tapped into the descriptions provided by Ambrose, American Heritage, 467. For more on the Bedford boys, see Alex Kershaw, The Bedford Boys: One American Town’s Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice (Da Capo, 2003). Bedford, Virginia, was a small blue-collar town of some three thousand people. No town in America endured such a great loss on a single day, and Kershaw’s vignettes—for example, of mothers and wives being notified by Western Union telegrams—are deeply moving. Many were devastated by the loss.
“I became . . . a visitor”: Ambrose: D-Day, 331; the next two paragraphs closely follow 331–35. For further tribulations encountered by the Americans, see especially 337–38; for “Mother, Mom,” 337.
retreat was not a feasible strategy: Max Hastings, Overlord (Simon & Schuster, 1984), 92; Ambrose, D-Day, 435. For a while, Bradley was close to despair; see Omar Bradley and Clay Blair, A General’s Life: An Autobiography (Simon & Schuster, 1983), 249. One German observed, “Here they had to fight savagely for every inch,” Lewis, D-Day, 148.
the Allies kept coming: As one soldier put it, “Now it was open country and we had broken through the ‘Atlantic Wall,’ ” Lewis, D-Day, 135. Nonetheless, as one lieutenant pointed out, “the bombs were bursting literally everywhere all the time,” Lewis, D-Day, 134. See also Ambrose, D-Day, 340.
“run us right back . . .”: Ambrose, D-Day, 381, 340–42. And as Kershaw, Hitler, points out, almost pathetically, Hitler was still sleeping.
word about the invasion: Details of the giddy reactions to the Allies’ successes closely follow New York Times, June 6 and June 7, 1944; Michael Korda, Ike (Harper Perennial, 2007), 479–81; Ambrose, D-Day, 486–508, especially 489–90.
“Here is something material”: This vignette is from my April 1865: The Month That Saved America (HarperCollins, 2001). International and national reaction in New Yorker, June 10, 1944; Wall Street Journal, June 7, 1944; Milwaukee Journal, June 7, 1944; New Orleans Times Picayune, June 7, 1944; New York Times, June 7, 1944; David Lang, “Letter from Rome,” New Yorker, June 17, 1944; Times (London), June 7, 1944; Alexander Werth, Russia at War, 1941–1945 (New York: Dutton, 1964), 853–55; Atlanta Constitution, June 7, 1944; Bedford Bulletin, June 8, July 6, 1944. For an overall compilation, see also Ambrose, D-Day, 494.
CHAPTER 6
the bloody North African campaign: See the magisterial work by Rick Atkinson, The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943–1944 (Holt, 2007), 269.
As he rode with Eisenhower: Ibid. for these three paragraphs.
Rommel wasn’t even at the front: See Michael Korda, Ike (Harper Perennial, 2007), 479, for this and “Faster.”
“We waited”: D-Day, Jon E. Lewis, ed. (Magpie, 2010), 92.
“The sun is shining”: See Stephen Ambrose, D-Day (Pocket Books, 2002), 483. So stunning was the Allies’ offensive on D-Day that Rommel told an aide on his ride back from Germany, “If I was commander of the Allied forces right now, I could finish off the war in 14 days”: from Korda, Ike, 483.
“Hitler must have been mad”: Ambrose, American Heritage, 476. The pilot saw the action from his P47. For these paragraphs, see also Korda, Ike, 477–83; James MacGregor Burns, Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom (Harcourt, 1970), 476–77; and Ambrose, D-Day, 530, 548, 576–77. Later there was a Wehrmacht joke—“If the plane in the sky was silver it was American, if it was blue it was British, if it was invisible it was ours”: see Ambrose, D-Day, 578.
“Wetzler and I saw”: Martin Gilbert, Auschwitz and the Allies (Holt, 1981), 231–32; for the two additional escapees, 222.
Otto Frank: For the Franks, including Otto, once the owner of a successful spice company, following the progress of the war became an emotional lifeline. For more on this, see the excellent website of the Anne Frank House and Museum, which takes the viewer to the secret annex behind the bookcase, where by day the eight people in hiding had to be completely silent and had to subdue every move, every action, and every cough.
“the whole globe”: Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl (Longman, 1993), 55, 53, 65. The diary, actually an autograph book that she was using, ranks as one of the great works of literature. Of the million children who died in the Holocaust, Anne is surely the most famous.
“from one room to another”: For these quotes, ibid., 55, 67.
his terrible secret: I have drawn heavily on Kershaw, Hitler, 691, 698, in these paragraphs. Kershaw underscores the seeming paradox of Hitler’s secrecy regarding the destruction of the Jews. For various quotes, including “the unity of the European states,” see 677, 691.
CHAPTER 7
“I have very often in my lifetime”: Kershaw, Hitler, 469. In retrospect, this was surely one of Hitler’s most significant speeches, even if it was not recognized as such at the time.
“lice,” “vermin”: Ibid., 468. See also Martin Gilbert, Auschwitz and the Allies (Holt, 1981), 13.
“If only the anger”: Kershaw, Hitler, 456. See also Walter Laqueur and Richard Breitman, Breaking the Silence: The German Who Exposed the Final Solution (Brandeis University Press, 1994), 56. For more on the “night of broken glass,” see Martin Gilbert, The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War (Holt, 1985), 69–75; this book is a remarkable resource, filled with a compendium of the voices of Jews throughout the war and in the Holocaust itself. The reader may also consult two excellent works: Yehuda Bauer, A History of the Holocaust (Franklin Watts, 2001), 116–17; and Jean Edward Smith, FDR (Random House, 2008), 426. Three weeks earlier, in Berlin, famed aviator Charles Lindbergh was decorated by Hermann Göring with the Service Cross. See William Shirer, The Nightmare Years 1930–1940 (Birlinn, 1984), 238. The “night of broken glass” caused mass panic among the Jews, who were forced to pay a staggering 1 billion reichsmarks for the destroyed property. For more see Lucy S. Dawidowicz, The War Against the Jews (Bantam, 1986), Hitler’s Reichstag speech, 142.
“Bravo”: Kershaw, Hitler, 458. Kershaw makes significant copious use of Goebbels’s diaries.
“How can this barbarity”: from the marvelous story by Diane Ackerman, The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story (Norton, 2007), 103. For “I myself could scarcely,” see Smith, FDR, 426. For “I ask nothing,” see Ackerman, Zookeeper’s Wife, 104.
economic solution: Here I draw upon Kershaw, Hitler, 459–61. Kershaw makes this astute observation: Consider the titles of the German laws themselves. For instance, there was the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor. While severely circumscribing the ability of Jews to participate in civic life, it stated almost ludicrously that the right of Jews “to display the Jewish colors” enjoyed “the protection of the state.” See Bauer, History of the Holocaust, 111 and for texts of the laws, 108–112.
convened the Évian Conference: On Roosevelt and immigration, see, for example, Smith, FDR, 427. When Roosevelt was given political latitude, Smith points out, he sought to do what he could. After Kristallnacht, he suggested that German citizens in the United States on visitor permits be allowed to stay longer. “I don’t know, from the point of humanity, that we have a right to put them on a ship and send them back to Germany,” he said (428). Yet a key point would be that Roosevelt was unwilling to expend too much political capital.
“It is a shameful spectacle”: For quotes from session 9, see Morris Wortman, MD, The Holocaust: From Poland to Barbarossa (1939, online).
the luxury liner St. Louis: I have relied on Doris
Kearns Goodwin, No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt—The Home Front in World War II (Simon & Schuster, 1994), 102. For more on the Évian conference and the St. Louis episode, see “Topics of the Times: Refugee Ship,” New York Times, June 8, 1939; the Times put it well when it wrote, “Germany, with all the hospitality of its concentration camps, will welcome these unfortunates home.” See also David S. Wyman, The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941–1945 (New Press, 1984); Arthur Morse, While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy (Overlook, 1967), 270–88. In their careful study, Richard Breitman and Allan Lichtman, FDR and the Jews (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2013), 136–39, give a very different interpretation of the St. Louis affair, stating that only 254 of the passengers eventually died either in the camps or seeking to evade the Nazis. They also detail the Coast Guard was not seeking to prevent any passengers from reaching American shores—rather, it was simply trying to maintain a chance to find a solution. See also Sarah Ogilvie and Scott Miller, Refuge Denied: The St. Louis Passengers and the Holocaust (University of Wisconsin Press, 2010); and Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Writt, Voyage of the Damned: A Shocking True Story of Hope, Betrayal and Nazi Terror (Skyhorse, 2010). For “what I am interested in,” see Geoffrey Ward, A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt (Harper and Row, 1989), 254.
“The children are not”: New York Times, July 7, 1940, A5; see also Goodwin, No Ordinary Time, 100.
The British refugee children: See the excellent and nuanced discussion in Goodwin, No Ordinary Time, 101.
The Roper polls consistently found: Daniel Yankelovich, “German Behavior, American Attitudes,” talk given in May 1988 at a conference at Harvard on the Holocaust and the media. See also Goodwin, No Ordinary Time, 102.
“treacherous use of the fifth column”: David S. Wyman, Paper Walls: America and the Refugee Crisis, 1938–1941 (Pantheon, 1985), 188–91; see also Henry Feingold, The Politics of Rescue: The Roosevelt Administration and the Holocaust, 1938–1945 (Rutgers University Press, 1970), 128–31; Goodwin, No Ordinary Time, 103; and clips of Roosevelt’s speech on YouTube and on American Experience, FDR, PBS documentary by David Gruban.
responsibility of one man: Nation, December 28, 1940, 649. For more on the critical figure, Breckinridge Long, see Feingold, Politics of Rescue, 131–35. For “an enormous psychosis” see Breckinridge Long, The War Diaries of Breckinridge Long: Selections from the Years 1939–1944, Fred L. Israel, ed. (University of Nebraska Press, 1966), 108.
secret intradepartmental memo: New York Times, December 11, 1943, A1. This memo by Breckinridge Long about delaying and effectively stopping immigration ranks among the ugliest in State Department history.
“There does seem”: Goodwin, No Ordinary Time, 173.
the president met with Long: Nation, December 28, 1940, 648.
Roosevelt met with James G. McDonald: Ibid., 649. The Nation proved to be one of the most eloquent voices on behalf of the embattled Jews and on the immigration issue. For more on McDonald, see James McDonald, Refugees and Rescue: The Diaries and Papers of James G. McDonald, 1935–1945, Richard Breitman, Barbara McDonald Stewart, and Severin Hochburg, eds. (Indiana University Press), 2009.
“pull any sob stuff”: Wyman, Paper Walls, 147; Goodwin, No Ordinary Time, 174.
SS Quanza: For this episode, see the detailed article in the New York Times, August 19, 1940, A5. For extensive details, see YouTube video by Greg Hansard of Virginia Historical Society.
“Mrs. Roosevelt saved my life”: Stella Hershan, A Woman of Quality (Crown, 1970), 41; Goodwin, No Ordinary Time, 174.
“deepest regret”: From Eleanor’s interview with James Roosevelt; for more, see Goodwin, No Ordinary Time, 174–76. Eleanor’s contention that Long was a Fascist comes from Justine Polier, oral history in FDRL.
Baffled observers wondered: Churchill’s biographer William Manchester, a fan of Roosevelt’s, makes this point about Roosevelt’s reticence in Winston Spencer Churchill: The Last Lion (Delta 1988), 465. “The record is one”: For these eloquent words, see the Nation, December 28, 1940, 649.
find another route for help: Wyman, Abandonment, 15.
sitting this one out: See James MacGregor Burns, Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom: 1940–1945 (Harcourt, 1970), 11; Smith, FDR, 447.
“Full speed ahead!”: And other quotes, see, for example, Smith, FDR, 448–49. By any measure, this was a deeply expressive speech, making it clear where Roosevelt’s heart was in this war.
Churchill huddled by the radio: New York Times, December 18, 1940, 1, 10. For Churchill’s jubilation, and critics of Roosevelt, see Smith, FDR, 449, 436. As a result of what came to be known as the “stab in the back speech” (Italy declaring war on France), Smith makes the point that Roosevelt was now standing shoulder to shoulder with France and England.
a Gallup poll found: See, for instance, Smith, FDR, 464.
Yet bit by bit: Goodwin, No Ordinary Time, 194. For more on the America First committee, see Wayne S. Cole, America First: The Battle Against Intervention, 1940–1941 (University of Wisconsin Press, 1953), 14.
Roosevelt was reelected: MacGregor Burns, Soldier of Freedom, 4. Stephen Ambrose, the noted historian, had in the past been critical of Roosevelt’s timidity about getting into the war.
“The more I sleep”: Smith, FDR, 481; Goodwin, No Ordinary Time, 191.
“with great respect”: Smith, FDR, 467; Ambrose, American Heritage, 113. This is among Churchill’s most famous lines in the entire war.
“the most important action”: This paragraph from No Ordinary Time, Goodwin, 142; Smith, FDR, 472. See also Winston S. Churchill, The Second World War, Volume 2, Their Finest Hour (Houghton Mifflin, 1949), 358.
“America’s first dictator”: MacGregor Burns, Soldier of Freedom, 441; Goodwin, No Ordinary Time, 148.
how to help a beleaguered Britain: See, for instance, Smith, FDR, 483; I’ve drawn extensively on this in-depth discussion.
“most important”: For Churchill’s crucial 4,000 word letter see Smith, FDR, 484; Ambrose, American Heritage, 114; Goodwin, No Ordinary Time, 192–93; MacGregor Burns, Soldier of Freedom, 12, 13.
question of Britain’s troubled finances: There are many fine accounts. I have used Smith, FDR, 484.
dubbed Lend-Lease: This was vintage Roosevelt. See, for starters, the outstanding portrait by Jon Meacham, Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship (Random House, 2003), 78–81; MacGregor Burns, Soldier of Freedom, 25; Smith, FDR, 485.
numerous meetings: MacGregor Burns, Soldier of Freedom, 26.
“eliminate the dollar sign”: MacGregor Burns, Soldier of Freedom, 26. These paragraphs draw extensively from Burns’s detailed recounting of Roosevelt’s speech. See also Smith, FDR, 485.
“most unsordid act.” Which was not an understatement. See Smith, FDR; MacGregor Burns, Soldier of Freedom, 27.
“Arsenal of Democracy”: For this speech, I’ve chosen Smith, FDR, 486.
ended with an equally eloquent: Meacham, Franklin and Winston, 79. The Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia has put Fireside Chat 16 on YouTube, with photos. This speech was one of Roosevelt’s most stunning efforts; his voice is clear, resonant, and authoritative. For quotes, see also MacGregor Burns, Soldier of Freedom, 27–29. Roosevelt himself emphasized that this was not “an ordinary” fireside chat.
“We are strong enough”: See Smith, FDR, 489–90; Meacham, Franklin and Winston, 81. In the actual defense supplemental, Congress authorized 900,000 feet of fire hose. Notably, Wendell Willkie broke with his party’s leadership and publicly endorsed Lend-Lease.
public was with the president: MacGregor Burns, Soldier of Freedom, 44–48. Roosevelt, at the White House Correspondents’ Association, memorably said that the decisions of democracy may be slowly arrived at, but that they are proclaimed “not with the voice of one man but with the voice of 130 million.”
a lightning assault on Yugoslavia and G
reece: This passage closely follows Ambrose, American Heritage, 114.
Churchill, his head sunk in despair: See New York Herald Tribune, April 6, 1941, A1; Ambrose American Heritage, 98.
preparing to quietly meet: See, for example, Smith, FDR, 492.
“I am waiting”: Ibid., 493; see also MacGregor Burns, Soldier of Freedom, 66.
remaining noncommittal: On Roosevelt’s strategy, and “I am waiting to be pushed,” see, for instance, MacGregor Burns, Soldier of Freedom, 91–92; Smith, FDR, 492. In a sense, this is what Abraham Lincoln did in the Civil War, insisting that it be the Confederates who would fire first on Fort Sumter and be regarded as the belligerents. That said, there are of course profound differences between World War II and the American Civil War.
CHAPTER 8
“they sat there”: James MacGregor Burns, Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom, 1940–1945 (Harcourt, 1970), 72.
“We have only to kick”: Ibid. For other quotes, Kershaw, Hitler, 620. I have relied extensively on Kershaw’s book, which could well be the finest one-volume modern work on Hitler. For more on Hitler’s relations with his generals, which are crucial to the story, see Hitler’s Secret Conversations (Farrar Straus and Young, 1953), especially the introduction by Hugh Trevor-Roper; Hugh Trevor-Roper, ed., Blitzkrieg to Defeat: Hitler’s War Directives, 1939–1945 (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965); Walter Warlimont, Inside Hitler’s Headquarters (Praeger, 1964); Barton Whaley, Codeword Barbarossa (MIT Press, 1973); Hugh Trevor-Roper, Hitler’s Tabletalk, 1941–1944, (Enigma Books, 2007); Telford Taylor, Sword and Swastika (Simon & Schuster, 1952).
“to intervene”: MacGregor Burns, Soldier of Freedom, 68–70. For this paragraph, see Kershaw, 587, on which I’ve relied.
code name was Barbarossa: This paragraph relies principally on MacGregor Burns, Soldier of Freedom, 68; and Kershaw, Hitler, 619. Operation Barbarossa was Hitler’s most significant strategic military decision, all but ensuring his eventual defeat.