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ProQuest Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. WINDOW AND WALL: BERLIN, THE THIRD REICH, AND THE GERMAN QUESTION IN THE UNITED STATES, 1933-1999 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Brian Craig Etheridge, M.A. The Ohio State University 2002 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Dean Michael J. Hogan, Adviser Professor Peter Hahn / Adviser Professor Alan Beyerchen History Grad Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3059239 ___ <® UMI UMI Microform 3059239 Copyright 2002 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT This dissertation examines representations of Germans during and after the Cold War. More specifically, it explores how during this period the American cultural landscape was populated by several mass media “sites of memory,” places where collective memories and understandings of Germans in the United States were revealed, constituted, and contested. It investigates how American and German actors, both public and private, attempted to create, promote, manipulate and suppress certain representations. It uses the notion of "interpretive communities" to organize and discuss the various responses to these images. Ultimately, it argues that two main narratives—a World War narrative and a Cold War narrative-structured American interpretations of the Germans. The World War narrative, symbolized primarily by the Third Reich and the Holocaust, portrayed the Germans as unreconstructed Nazis still bent on world conquest, whereas the Cold War narrative, primarily through the symbol of Berlin, depicted the Germans as brave democrats dedicated to the defense of the West. The dissertation examines how these different narratives competed for dominance and how they fared in light of different international and domestic contexts. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dedicated to Erica and my parents iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people helped make this dissertation, and the process that it both culminated and represented, possible. I would like to thank the members of my committee for reading and commenting on various drafts. Professor Beyerchen helped deepen my understanding of the German side of my story, and forced me to question unwarranted and unrecognized assumptions. Professor Hahn helped in almost every stage of the process, encouraging and demanding my best. Dean Hogan served as a model mentor in every way. Both Professor Hahn and Dean Hogan furthered my professionalization in innumerable ways. Several colleagues provided the intellectual sustenance and stimulation necessary for the completion of this degree. I would like to acknowledge the work and encouragement of such outstanding scholars in the field as my old adviser, William Stueck, Frank Ninkovich, Frank Costigliola, Emily Rosenberg, Kristin Hoganson, Jessica Gienow-Hecht, Ernest May, Akira Iriye, Eileen Scully, and Melvyn Leffler. Whether they only offered a few words o f support or provided detailed and thoughtful commentary on my work, their words meant a great deal to me. As for the next generation of excellent scholars, I would like to acknowledge the assistance and support of a number of fellow travelers in graduate school, including, but not limited to, Todd Bennett, Yuji Tosaka, Matt Masur, Jenn Walton, Brad Austin, and Nick Steneck. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Finally, no such laborious and emotionally draining task as earning a Ph.D. is accomplished without the loving support and understanding of family. To my parents, who scrimped and saved to send me to college, only to watch me turn aside from more practical (and lucrative) professions to enter the uncertain world of academic history, I say simply thank you for your love, tolerance and faith. To my beautiful wife Erica, who has been with me throughout graduate school, who has endured the highs and lows, the long absences, the absent-minded conversations, the fitful sleeping, the general obnoxious and occasionally boorish behavior, I can only say that there is no way to repay all that you have given me during these years, but I'll spend the rest of our years trying. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. VITA July 19, 1973 ...............................................Bom - Atlanta, Georgia, USA 1998.............................................................M.A., History, the University of Georgia 1996.............................................................B.S. International Affairs and History, Technology, and Society, Georgia Institute of Technology 1998-present............................................... Graduate Associate, the Ohio State University 1996-1998 ...................................................Graduate Associate, University of Georgia FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History Specialties: International History, Modem U.S. History, and Modem European History vi Reproduced with permission of the copyrightowner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract.................................................................................................................................... ii Dedication............................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments....................................................................................................................v Vita...........................................................................................................................................vi Chapters 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................1 1.1 Theory.................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Historiography....................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Organization and Summary................................................................................11 2. "TOMORROW, THE WORLD"?................................................................................. 15 2.1 Roosevelt and Germany...................................................................................... 20 2.2 The Germ an-American Bund.............................................................................. 26 2.3 Confessions of a Nazi Spy.................................................................................. 28 2.4 The War Years.....................................................................................................32 2.5 Conclusion........................................................................................................... 45 3. "OUR PENNANCE FOR HAVING ALLOWED THE NAZI TYRANNY" 47 3.1 Drawing the Line................................................................................................. 53 3.2 The Dissenting Narrative.................................................................................... 58 3.3 American Government Propaganda.................................................................... 63 3.4 German agency closed.........................................................................................71 3.5 The Search for Germans......................................................................................73 3.6 The Frontier of Freedom......................................................................................85 3.7 Understanding the Germans.................................................................................94 3.8 Conclusion............................................................................................................99