Hitler's Exiles: Personal Stories of the Flight from Nazi Germany to America

Half a million citizens fled Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945; of these, nearly 132,000 came to the United States. Among them were writers such as Thomas Mann and Alfred Döblin, scholars such as Hannah Arendt and Peter Gay, politicians such as Ernst Toller and Alice Salomon, scientists such as Albert Einstein and Elisabeth Freund, and thousands of ordinary citizens from all walks of life. This useful volume gathers some of their accounts of the perilous flight from Europe, documents their resistance to the Nazi regime, and recounts their impressions of America. Among the writings Anderson reproduces is an impassioned letter by Einstein, Arturo Toscanini, and others to President Franklin Roosevelt protesting these new immigrants being categorized as "aliens of enemy nationality," asking instead that they be recognized as "staunch and consistent defenders of democracy." Some of the men and women who figure in this book returned to Europe after the war. Many others remained; as political scientist Henry Pachter remarks in an essay included here, "Perhaps we can be better Europeans in the United States than anywhere in Europe." --Gregory McNamee