Against Two Evils: Memoirs of a Diplomat-Soldier During the Third Reich

"Jonny" Herwath von Bittenfield enlisted in the diplomatic core during the Weimar years and was posted to the Soviet Union as the Nazis came to power. He witnessed the schizophrenic relations between the two countries and also the frustrations of his generation with the social, economic and political systems that saw unemployment in Germany surge above 20%, and the widespread starvation of a whole generation of former serfs in the Soviet Union. The author, frustrated at his lack of success in finding a job admits to a fascination with all things Soviet including communism. After a posting in Paris which he recalls as frivolous and boring, he asks to be sent to Moscow and spends the next nine months teaching himself Russian in anticipation of his assignment. The posting is a quirky one and it seems that only someone genuinely curious would have requested it because life in the Soviet Union is filled with deprivations, surveillance, and duplicity. Although the countries are wary partners through favorable trade relations conveniently beneficial to Stalin's plans to industrialize the Russian economy, and the German need for raw materials, they are mutually distrustful as well. As Germany schemes to lull the Russians into an alliance the author records diplomatic relations between the countries as well as the activities of diplomats from France, Britain and the US. When Hitler and Stalin sign a non-aggression agreement in '39 the author is surprised; when Germany attacks Russia less than two years later he is again surprised as well as disappointed. Initially Herwath is denied his request to enlist in the military because his grandmother was Jewish. He finds a way to circumvent this through personal connections, and is posted to the Eastern Front. Initially he is condones the he invasion of the east because he sees Germany as a liberator of those ensnared under the yoke of communism. After witnessing the slaughter and starvation of civilians in the occupied territories his idealism is destroyed and he begins working clandestinely to remove Hitler from power, while remaining steadfastly loyal to Germany. After the war the author continued his career as a diplomat, renewing contact with many of those he first met during the 30s in the USSR. A well written and thoughtful account of how a thinking person of Jewish heritage was swept into collaboration with the Nazis.