What an amazing real life story of courage, determination and grit in the face of unimaginable evil.

From the publisher - In 1929, Raymond Geist went to Berlin as a consul and handled visas for emigrants to the US. Just before Hitler came to power, Geist expedited the exit of Albert Einstein. Once the Nazis began to oppress Jews and others, Geist's role became vitally important. It was Geist who extricated Sigmund Freud from Vienna and Geist who understood the scale and urgency of the humanitarian crisis.
Even while hiding his own homosexual relationship with a German, Geist fearlessly challenged the Nazi police state whenever it abused Americans in Germany or threatened US interests. He made greater use of a restrictive US immigration quota and secured exit visas for hundreds of unaccompanied children. All the while, he maintained a working relationship with high Nazi officials such as Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, and Hermann Göring.

This biography of Geist provides a rare look inside the US Consulate in Nazi Germany during the period prior to WWII. Geist realized the horrors to come and dedicated himself to ensuring as many people were saved as possible. It is well written, engaging and thought provoking. I highly recommend reading it to those with an interest in the WWII era or human interest stories.

I received an ARC of this from Netgalley. Thank you to the publishers and the author.

“The Berlin Mission” is the lesser known story of Raymond Geist, who was the senior consul at the American embassy in Germany in the years leading up to WWII. Geist was an unlikely hero, a clerk in an embassy that at times had no leadership except him. He was a man with morales who found himself in a tenuous situation and was able to use his position to gain information and ultimately save lives.

While Geist may not be as famous as Schindler or vice counsel Sugihara in Lithuania, Geist was able to work for years within the constraints of his consular duties and saved thousands of German Jews. It is important to remember that at that time, the world was recovering from a depression, and most countries, especially the U.S. had strict limits and restrictions on immigration-you must have funds, you must have someone to sponsor you, you can’t be a burden to society, etc. On the other side, In the 1930’s Germany was willing to allow its Jewish citizens to emigrate as long as they could pay the fees, and they would not be allowed to take any of their assets with them. The catch-22. Go, but leave everything. Many families sent their children abroad, and this was also how people like Einstein and Freud were able to emigrate. That and a lot of publicity. Geist was also able to remain friendly with leadership in a German, some believe as high as Himmler-not friends, but enough to be invited to official functions where Geist would learn of policies and plans. Many Germans did not believe in Hitler’s final solution and worked with Geist to help where they could.

This is a very interesting book, full of details that I’m sure only the most scholarly have heard about before now. Raymond Geist was a hero. A normal American boy from Ohio who served his country in the State Department and when he saw the horror of what was happening in Germany and did what he could, thousands of miles away from his country, and without any additional support.

This is a fascinating story of how Jews were helped to escape. I think this is a good book to aid in the understanding of everything that was going on during the rise and reign of Hitler and the Third Reich.

I've always enjoyed books that deal with the lesser-known parts of infamous historical events, and this book fits that bill perfectly. I learned a lot about the inner workings of this period of history from reading this and was surprised by some of the stereotypes this book broke through.

This is written in a way that makes it approachable and easy to understand for the average person, but without dumbing down the facts. I was impressed by the scope of the author's research and organisation, as it made for an entertaining and informative book. I had never read a book that explained so well the struggle to try and save Europe's Jewish community from the clutches of Nazi power. It was a fascinating account.

I liked that this book featured an American and the unusual sort of situation he found himself in and truly explained the dangers of his position. Overall, I really thought this was a fantastic book, worth the time to read carefully, both for the intriguing nature of the subject matter, and the lessons we can still learn from this history today. Recommended to others who are interested in WWII and the related history.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

Richard Breitman's account of U.S. Foreign Service Senior Consul Raymond Geist's heroic efforts at warning FDR and other high U.S. officials of the evil of Hitler's grandiose plans to conquer and dominate the world and Geist's efforts from the mid to late 1930's through the end of WWII to save as many as possible European Jews from Hitler and his sustained barbaric efforts to rid the world of Jews through economic, social and emotional, and physical isolation and ultimately extermination through implementation of the final solution is readable as it is dense (i.e., packed) with little known details, entities and figures.

Of course, besides Hitler, there is the SA, SS, Göring, Himmler, Goebbels, and to a lesser extent, Heydrich and others who are well-familiar to those who are fairly well-read in this area. More importantly, Breitman's account reveals the actions of far more lesser officials that Geist dealt with. Many histories of Nazi Germany only mention in passing and sometimes not at all. 

As always with books of these kind, it is an eye opener and a learning experience. It is a daunting prospect to get a sense of Geist's unflagging efforts during the period of time before Germany declared war on the U.S.  His knowledge of Nazi Germany, its policies and leaders and its efforts to become a world power was immense and unparalleled at the time. Still further was Geist's ability to get in good with leaders and officials of all stripes in the Nazi government without raising alarm bells from within. His experiences are the building blocks of "neutral" diplomacy that that extracts from one's enemies results in areas they never intended to give ground on. Geist exemplified Sun Tzu's maxim, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

Breitman's book goes into the labyrinth of immigration policies that changed by the minute and often were contradictory and made little or no sense and which Geist had to negotiate to accomplish what he did. Geist's world was one of hostile disbelieving keep-away tactics of Congress, administration officials, and other influential policy, religious, and business leaders in their efforts to stem the tide of Jewish immigration prior to and during WWII for reasons that included rampant and unapologetic -Antisemitism and appeasement of Hitler. 

The Berlin Mission: The American Who Resisted Nazi Germany is a good companion to Robert Murphy's Diplomat Among Warriors and the encyclopedic account, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer.

Copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

Book received for free through Netgalley

I loved this book. It told about Raymond Geist who worked as an American consul in Germany doing the rise of Hitler. It offers insight into that time by allowing a glimpse through his eyes during that time. A must read that flows well and keeps you reading.

I read this as an ARC from NetGalley and was glad I had the opportunity.

This book is a well written examination of the life and career of Richard Geist, a career civil servant who did what he thought best to stand up for the rights of German Jews prior to the start of WWII.

When studying WWII Germany, most are acquainted with the key players and politicians but rarely does a book focus on those tireless civil servants who work to make everything flow together.

I was fascinated by the look into how visas were issued, immigration battles, and the parallels to modern US politics.

If you are a student of 20th century politics or WWII, I would add this book to my reading list.

Raymond Geist worked as a consul in Berlin during the 1930s. He had worked with Herbert Hoover’s organization to feed Europe after World War I, feeding children, and the Austrians asked for his continued presence. He gained confidence in making connections and faced pressure without flinching, important aspects for his job in Berlin.
His experience as an actor and lecturer enabled him to assume different roles at different times. He had good communication skills with Germans of all classes. As an avid reader of the German press and his many contacts, he had a good grasp of Germany’s political situation.
At a time when anti-Semitism was rife throughout the world, he worked hard to help Jews flee Germany. He didn’t hesitate to meet with Himmler, Heydrich, Göring, and others to benefit Jewish emigration.
His experience in Germany is fascinating. His unsurpassed expertise on Nazi Germany made him a fortuitous representative of the U.S. And all the time he was at risk to be blackmailed because he engaged in a homosexual relationship in a country that sent gays to concentration camps.