The Berlin Mission

Raymond Geist was sent to Berlin as a consul in 1929. He was not from the right social class to become an ambassador - a role reserved for men of means in the 1920s - and in his duties as a consul he primarily handled visas for emigrants intending to move to the US. Once Hitler's government began to oppress certain categories of German and Austrian citizens as well as foreigners, the consular office became vitally important. It was Geist who expedited the exits of Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud, and Geist who understood best the urgency of the situation in Germany and the potential catastrophe that awaited the persecuted groups.

Geist was a constant presence in Berlin while US ambassadors and consul generals cycled in and out. Despite a secret homosexual relationship with a German that posed a threat to his career-and to his lover's life-Geist fearlessly challenged the police state whenever it abused Americans in Germany or threatened US interests. He balanced his diplomatic discretion with the imperative to save lives: he secured visas for hundreds of refugees and unaccompanied children while he maintained a working relationship with the most important Nazi officials, including Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Hermann Goring. As relations between the US and Nazi Germany deteriorated, Geist remained the most knowledgeable, capable and valuable analyst and problem solver in Berlin. He was the first American official to advise his government that what lay ahead for Germany's Jews was what would later become known as the Holocaust.

“"Inspiring...This stirring history, which unearths a little-known role model of resistance, will move readers."-- Publishers Weekly”

"A vivid chronicle of 1930s Germany conveyed through the life of a lesser-known historical figure."--Kirkus Reviews
"Breitman has...located a 1938 document, published in full as an appendix, which today reads with a terrifying clairvoyance. 'The Germans are determined to solve the Jewish problem without the assistance of other countries, and that means eventual annihilation, ' Geist wrote. This, Breitman says, amounts to the first, explicit warning of the coming Holocaust by an American official, and certainly qualifies as the book's most significant contribution to the historical record."--James Kirchick, Tablet
"In Berlin Mission, Richard Breitman tells us the riveting story of Raymond Geist, an American diplomat stationed in Nazi Germany throughout the pre-war years. Based on entirely new documentation, the book presents the difficult path of an official in charge of visas to the United States, who witnessed and understood the growing plight of German Jews and helped many to reach the American safe haven, notwithstanding a restrictive immigration policy. Geist's efforts became the more crucial as, in early as in December 1938, he deduced from his contacts at the highest ranks of the Gestapo that the Jews remaining under Hitler's domination would ultimately perish. He conveyed his assessment to Washington. In our times of moral uncertainty, this book is a must."--Saul Friedländer, professor emeritus in history, UCLA
"Inspiring...This stirring history, which unearths a little-known role model of resistance, will move readers."--Publishers Weekly
"No American knew Nazi Germany better than Raymond Geist--and no one is better qualified to tell his story than Richard Breitman. As the long-serving US consul in Berlin, Geist served as the trusted intermediary between terrified Jews and their Gestapo tormentors. One of America's leading Holocaust historians, Breitman has skillfully pieced together Geist's extraordinary, largely untold life, including a politically risky homosexual romance. A thrilling read, and a great achievement."--Michael Dobbs, author of The Unwanted: America, Auschwitz, and a Village caught in between

Richard Breitman is distinguished professor emeritus in History at American University and the author or co-author of twelve books and many articles in German history, U.S. history and the Holocaust. Apart from his latest book, FDR and the Jews, co-authored with Allan J. Lichtman, he is best known for The Architect of Genocide: Himmler and the Final Solution and Official Secrets: What the Nazis Planned, What the British and Americans Knew. He lives in the D.C. metro area.

Raymond Geist was sent to Berlin as a consul in 1929. He was not from the right social class to become an ambassador - a role reserved for men of means in the 1920s - and in his duties as a consul he primarily handled visas for emigrants intending to move to the US. Once Hitler's government began to oppress certain categories of German and Austrian citizens as well as foreigners, the consular office became vitally important. It was Geist who expedited the exits of Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud, and Geist who understood best the urgency of the situation in Germany and the potential catastrophe that awaited the persecuted groups.Geist was a constant presence in Berlin while US ambassadors and consul generals cycled in and out. Despite a secret homosexual relationship with a German that posed a threat to his career-and to his lover's life-Geist fearlessly challenged the police state whenever it abused Americans in Germany or threatened US interests. He balanced his diplomatic discretion with the imperative to save lives: he secured visas for hundreds of refugees and unaccompanied children while he maintained a working relationship with the most important Nazi officials, including Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Hermann Goring. As relations between the US and Nazi Germany deteriorated, Geist remained the most knowledgeable, capable and valuable analyst and problem solver in Berlin. He was the first American official to advise his government that what lay ahead for Germany's Jews was what would later become known as the Holocaust.

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