In the Garden of Beasts

Short for “Secret State Police,” the Gestapo uses terror and intimidation to monitor and control the German people. Its first director, Rudolf Diels, is ruthless but a far cry from the extreme cruelty of his successors. The Gestapo will, through political machinations, fall under the control of Heinrich Himmler, who also controls the SS and uses both for similar purposes. 

Gleichschaltung, or “coordination,” is the policy of homogenizing German society into a unified culture that espouses and practices only Nazi principles. Gleichschaltung proceeds rapidly, as Germans are anxious to renew their country’s pride and position under Hitler’s programs; its speed also is due to Nazi tactics of terror and intimidation that quickly bring doubtful Germans into line. 

The salute—right arm outstretched upward from the shoulder, fingers straight, palm down—is first for Nazi use, but is mandatory for all citizens beginning in 1933. The person saluting says, “Heil Hitler!” (“Hail Hitler”), and the recipient responds in kind. Any citizen, and the occasional foreigner, who refuses to salute is subject to arrest and/or street violence. 

Originally a minor, if violent, party within the Weimar Republic, the National Socialist Party—Nazis, for short—climbs its way into power in 1933 in a minority government headed by Adolf Hitler. The party soon legislates absolute power for itself and Hitler, and in the November 1933 election, it acquires 100% of the seats in the Reichstag parliament.

The Nazis hold that Germany must purge itself of traitors, especially Jews, whom Nazis believe betrayed the nation in World War I, causing Germany to lose the war. Germany must purify its ethnicity until only strong and able “Aryans,” or Germans of good lineage, populate the country. The German nation must finally rid itself of the restrictions placed upon it by the Versailles Peace Treaty, re-arm itself, and take its rightful place as the leading nation of Europe.

Nazis enforce their beliefs through terror and intimidation, using Storm Troopers, the Gestapo, and the SS to abuse, arrest, round up, or execute opponents. Nazi concentration camps collect people, especially Jews, considered undesirable; eventually, some of these camps become extermination centers. 

The Reichstag is the German parliament; it is also the name of the building in which the parliament sits. That building is severely damaged in a fire early in 1933, the arson blamed on Communists. From that event, Hitler gets a decree that nullifies German civil liberties. The Reichstag parliament continues to meet, and soon becomes entirely populated by Nazis, a rubber stamp for Hitler and his cabinet. 

The Sturmabteilung, or “Storm Division”—SA, for short—is Hitler’s private army of Storm Troopers. He uses the army, during his political ascent and beyond, as a force of intimidation that helps clear away opposition to Nazi rule. Ernst Röhm, SA commander, wants to combine the SA and regular army under his command, but Hitler—suspecting Röhm's motives—has Röhm arrested and shot. Thereafter, the SA declines in number and serves as an anti-Jewish force. 

The Schutzstaffel, or “Protection Squadron”—SS, for short—is a private army that becomes the premier intelligence, security, and terror organization in Nazi Germany. 

William Dodd buys a small Virginia farm that he names “Stoneleigh”; here, he can retreat for the summer from his duties as university professor and department chair. He loves to tend the farm’s cows, horses, and fruit trees. Dodd’s wife, less enthusiastic, visits from time to time and makes small efforts to beautify the farmhouse. The farm stands in for Dodd’s Jeffersonian beliefs about independence and self-reliance; it is a refuge from the strife of public life. Dodd lives out his final days at the farm and his family buries him there. Jefferson also had a farm project, Monticello, which he would retreat to after various political battles.