Dorothy Thompson: The Journalist Who Warned the World About Hitler

Dorothy Thompson: A Voice Against Nazism

• 💡 Dorothy Thompson was a foreign correspondent in Germany who became known for her bold commentaries on the rise of Hitler in the years leading up to World War II.
• 🎯 She was described by Time Magazine in 1939 as a woman who "thinks, talks, and sleeps world problems and scares men half to death."
• ⚡ The Nazis recognized her influence, even creating a "Dorothy Thompson Emergency Squad" to monitor her work.

Early Warnings and Expulsion

• 🔍 Thompson first encountered the Nazi movement in the early 1920s and kept a close eye on them, even interviewing Hitler in 1931.
• 🗣️ In her writings, she initially described Hitler as "formless, almost faceless" and "ill-poised, insecure."
• ⚠️ Her outspokenness led to her expulsion from Germany in 1933, with the Gestapo giving her 24 hours to leave the country.

Broadcasts and Advocacy

• 🎙️ After returning to the United States, Thompson became a prominent voice on the airwaves, broadcasting to millions and becoming an immediate opponent of Hitler.
• 🌍 Her broadcasts often served as appeals to rally and strengthen opposition to fascism internationally.
• ✡️ She was particularly insightful about Hitler's anti-Semitic agenda, understanding his attack against Jews as a race when many Americans were indifferent.

Confronting the German American Bund

• 🚩 In 1939, Thompson attended a large rally of the German American Bund, an organization of American Nazis, at Madison Square Garden.
• 😂 During the speeches, she openly laughed and called out the rhetoric, leading to a confrontation where police had to intervene to protect her from angry attendees.
• 🌟 She was recognized for her influence, appearing on the cover of Time magazine alongside Eleanor Roosevelt as one of the most influential women in the United States.

Shifting Stance on Palestine

• 🇵🇸 After World War II, Thompson became an avid Zionist but later shifted her views after visiting Palestine in 1945.
• 💔 She witnessed internment camps and the displacement of the Palestinian population, which reminded her of the hatred and violence she had seen in Germany.
• 🕊️ Thompson concluded that the Zionist project was not what she believed it to be and stated that the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine was a recipe for perpetual war.
• 📢 This stance made her unpopular, leading to accusations of anti-Semitism and her eventual dismissal from the New York Post.
• ⚖️ Near the end of her life, she asserted that she had to speak out against attacks on Palestinian civilians for the same reason she spoke out against Hitler, lamenting that her Zionist friends did not understand the universality of moral principles.