By George Platt Waller
Drafted whereas occasions have been clean in his brain in 1942–1943, Alabama-born American diplomat George Platt Waller's memoir chronicles his war-time event within the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. In vibrant prose, he remembers the outbreak of global warfare II in September 1939, the "Phony War," the German invasion of may perhaps 10, 1940, and the Wehrmacht profession. in detail concerned with the political and public lifetime of this small democratic country, Waller didn't keep on with Grand Duchess Charlotte and her executive into exile. in its place, he remained so long as he may well to witness and champion the Luxembourg humans, doing his most sensible to rescue the flood of refugees looking visas and asylum within the usa. Waller bitterly condemns the Nazi civilian management, its oppressive racial legislation, and its makes an attempt to annex the rustic to Germany less than the banner of Heim ins Reich.
From his pivotal place as dean of the diplomatic group, consultant of the robust usa; and depended on confidant of leaders, executives, and electorate alike, Waller used to be aware about details from a variety of assets: govt, army, the church, the professions, the resistance, traditional humans, and refugees. He narrates gripping money owed of person initiative and braveness and exposes the various reputable stumbling blocks to the well timed rescue of refugees. His observations shed new gentle on existence in Luxembourg from 1939 to 1941, while he was once ultimately expelled from the country.
The editors' creation areas this short yet hugely major memoir within the context of Waller's relatives history, schooling, and occupation, together with his dramatic go back to Luxembourg at its liberation by means of American troops in 1944 and his participation within the Grand Duchy's postwar renaissance. wide annotations and pictures supplement the textual content.
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Additional info for Defiant Diplomat George Platt Waller: American Consul in Nazi-Occupied Luxembourg, 1939-1941
Sample text
Two days earlier the German Foreign Office had instructed its ministers in The Hague, Brussels, and Luxembourg to deliver nearly identical notes in which Germany promised to respect the neutrality of each of these states, on condition that they would observe an unconditional neutrality toward Germany. See DGFP, ser. D, vol. 7, no. 272, note 2, 287. 14. , no. 321, 326–27; “Offizielle Mitteilungen unserer Regierung,” LuxWort, 28 August 1939, 4. 15. 00111EW/186 RG59 NARA; “Offizielle Mitteilungen unserer Regierung,” LuxWort, 29 August 1939, 6.
Had I returned to America in silence and prudently devoted myself to routine duties, I would have had little to fear, even after all that I did to thwart Nazidom in Luxembourg. In order that I may not be unmindful of its power, Deutschland Sender in Berlin has already honored me as an object of mild attack, having accused me of being an instrument of Jewish world domination, of having “poisoned the mind of the Prince of Luxembourg against the Third Reich,” and of having been largely responsible for the formidable moral resistance to Germany that the people of Luxembourg have continuingly offered.
7 But Luxembourg has never been any more German than has Spain. 8 But no one since the French reign of terror has dared to pretend that Luxembourgers are French! No, these noble people are what they are. 10 The language of Luxembourg is a vestigial remnant of Anglo-Saxon, a living and close brother of that tongue spoken in England about the time of political arena. In the l930s neither the Communist Party nor the very small, fragmented rightist groups presented a threat to Luxembourg’s political and social stability.