TO DODD, PAPEN'S REMARK ranked as one of the most idiotic he had heard since his arrival in Berlin. And he had heard many. An odd kind of fanciful thinking seemed to have bedazzled Germany, to the highest levels of government. Earlier in the year, for example, Göring had claimed with utter sobriety that three hundred German Americans had been murdered in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia at the start of the past world war. Messersmith, in a dispatch, observed that even smart, well-traveled Germans will sit and calmly tell you the most extraordinary fairy tales.
In "In the Garden of Beasts," Erik Larson highlights the absurdities and delusions that permeated German high society in the lead-up to World War II. Dodd found Papen’s remarks to be among the most nonsensical he had encountered during his time in Berlin, reflecting a broader trend of fanciful thinking throughout the German government. This atmosphere of bizarre claims was not limited to politicians; even educated and well-traveled Germans propagated outlandish stories as if they were truths.
For instance, Hermann Göring's bizarre assertion that three hundred German Americans had been killed at Independence Hall served as a prime example of this irrationality. Such fabrications revealed a disturbing disconnect from reality among the elite, illustrating how propaganda and fantastical narrative began to shape public perception. This phenomenon left observers like Messersmith astonished, showcasing how deeply ingrained these myths had become in the political discourse of the time.
