Germany had for generations been a site where originality flourished in philosophy, scientific investigations, poetry, and music. Achievements in intellectual life, plus the material wellbeing enjoyed by its inhabitants, assured the country an honored place in civilization. Germany also possessed traditions of tolerance and equality, indicated by the vibrancy of its Social Democratic party. These appreciations were deeply felt by FDR's principal envoy in Berlin, Professor William Dodd, who had earned (1900) his Ph.D. in History at the University of Leipzig. He lauded the rigorous standards of the German academy, shared its democratic yearnings, and was drawn to its theological intensity. He counted Dürer, Goethe, Kant, and Beethoven among his idols. The reason for Germany's slide from cultural eminence into its antithesis during Hitler's reign baffled Dodd.

Scholarship since his day has sought to identify the mix of underlying forces and contingencies that created the Third Reich. The puzzle of Germany's descent might yet be grasped, whence may come steps to ensure that nothing like Nazi murderousness can arise again.