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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful Study of Hans Litten and the German Legal System of 1930s in Turmoil., October 29, 2008
This review is from: Crossing Hitler: The Man Who Put the Nazis on the Witness Stand (Hardcover)
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"Crossing Hitler: The Man Who Put the Nazis on the Witness Stand" is a biography of Hans Litten, a crusading German lawyer whose life ended prematurely at Dachau concentration camp in 1938, seven years after he pressed Adolf Hitler into a fit of rage on the witness stand at the Eden Dance Palace Trial. A recent revival in interest and regard for Litten in Germany has led to some sanitizing of his character and politics, which author Benjamin Carter Hett attempts to dispel. He presents a picture of a complex and radical man, a champion of the downtrodden, intolerant and inflexible, anti-Weimar Republic, anti-Nazi, anti-democratic, sympathetic to Communists but not one of them, who believed in the law, which he used to advance social and political consciousness in the volatile last years of the Weimar Republic.
Hett doesn't dedicate much space to Litten's personal life, if, indeed, he had a personal life. He was an obsessive man for whom everything revolved around the goals he pursued in the courtroom. There is detailed coverage of Litten's role and Hitler's difficulty in the 1931 Eden Dance Palace Trial in which four Nazi stormtroopers were accused of the attempted murder of three people at a Berlin party, a trial that may have sealed Litten's fate years hence. A year later, Litten was expelled from court for politicizing another trial of Nazi stormtroopers, this time for a violent clash with the communist Combat League Against Fascism. The book then follows Litten's movement through a series of prisons and concentration camps as a political prisoner after he was arrested in 1933.
Hans Litten is an interesting, if not likeable, man who had an important career at a pivotal time and place in history. But I found "Crossing Hitler" most illuminating when discussing the legal climate in Germany in the years just before and after the Nazi party came to power. The author goes beyond the idea that the Weimar judicial system was simply soft on the political right to present a broader picture of a varied legal system that was in the throes of upheaval in the early 1930s, yet managing still to function. The tireless efforts of Hans Litten's friends Max and Margot Furst and his mother Irmgard to free him from prison reveal a bureaucracy in the grasp of Nazi power but not yet entirely subdued by it. "Crossing Hitler" is an insightful and sometimes eloquent look at how a legal system behaved in the midst of political turmoil, through he experiences of a revolutionary lawyer.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A somewhat heavy, but well researched biography of Hans Litten, October 24, 2008
This review is from: Crossing Hitler: The Man Who Put the Nazis on the Witness Stand (Hardcover)
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To be honest, I usually read fiction, especially sci-fi/fantasy and occasionally thrillers with WWII links (Enigma, Black Cross, The Shadowman). Enigma was a work of pure fiction, based on the premise that the Third Reich had expanded, survived and become a permanent fixture on the European landscape.
My apologies for mentioning another book. However, the reason why I do so, is because Crossing Hitler is a biography of Hans Litten, who put Hitler on the witness stand in the Eden Dance Palace trial of 1931. What few realize is that Litten's questions had the potential to cause Hitler to pejure himself (thus throwing him in jail) and fracture the Nazi party. Indeed, it takes little imagination for an "alternative history" sci-fi reader such as I, to wonder what would have happened if such a thing had come to pass? How many lives would have been spared? How much destruction avoided? How different would the world now be?
This is the concept that intrigued me into deviating into the realm of non-fiction.
The book really delves into Hans Litten's personality, beliefs and motivations. It looks closely at his life both from childhood right up to his death in Dachau concentration camp - the ultimate price paid for humiliating Hitler. Likewise, it looks closely at those who surrounded Litten, and the consequences of their association with him. To give him credit, Hett (the author) did a fantastic amount of research for the book, basing the arguments he provides largely on documented historical fact, backing it up with notes at the end citing the exact references.
Likewise, while the author clearly is familiar with other biographies of Hans Litten, he strives to fully understand this brave lawyer and uses historical facts to justify his views.
Personally, I found the book rather heavy, and would have enjoyed it more if more time had been devoted to Hitler's time on the witness stand.
In all, though, I recommend this well researched book.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cross examining the madness of the Nazi party, October 28, 2008
This review is from: Crossing Hitler: The Man Who Put the Nazis on the Witness Stand (Hardcover)
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In 1931 the Nazi party hadn't gained complete control of Germany and Hitler's mad shadow hadn't begun to complete plunge Germany in darkness. Han Litten had the Nazi party on the stand when four of Nazi stormtroopers were accused and tried for attempted murder and assault. Litten did what would in retrospect be unthinkable by many people--he put Hitler on the stand. Hitler desperately sought the support of the German middle class and decided to distance himself from some of the more extreme behavior from the Nazi party. Hitler wanted to be seen as someone who was using the political and legal system properly to deal with issues within his party and outside of it. Litten knew differently. The prosecuting attorney called proceded to grill Hitler on the stand about his association with the Nazi party, what he knew and condoned managing to make the future Furher furious with Litten. Bravery has its cost even when we don't see the outcome of our actions or others.
Litten who esposed left wing political causes and embraced his Jewish heritage found himself in constant conflict with the Nazi party and what they were attempting to do in Germany. The result once Hitler took power was that Litten was thrown into Dachau first as a political prisoner and, later, because of he was a Jew. Hitler had Litten tortured, humiliated and tried to defeat him. All the while Litten held on to the knowledge of that he was on the side of right and that eventually Hitler would get his due.
A fascinating biography, Crossing Hitler is well researched and written by Benjamin Carter Hett. Hett knows his history--he is an Associate Professor of History at Hunter College and also knows the law having practiced as a former trial lawyer. His background gives us unique insight into Germany just as the country was turning the corner from the devestation of the first World War only to be plunged into darkness by the Hitler and the Nazi party. The only flaw with the book is that sometimes Hett lets the pacing lag a bit. Given that this book operates as both biography and history focusing on the trial where Litten put Hitler on the stand, I expected the book to open with that trial and work in details backwards from there. Perhaps it was my expectation but a chronological detailed account of Litten's life while important should have been bookended by the trial and its aftermath. To Hett's credit, he isn't pedantic and his style immediately involves you in the events he describes.
Hett gives us a unique portrait of Litten through interviews and correspondence that reveals a complex man who while a hero could be every bit as human and frail as you or me. Once the moment of bravery has past, it's how you deal with the consequences of that bravery that gives us a sense of the character. This is an extremely well written book that despite some minor flaws should be read particularly by those who felt that all Germans didn't oppose Hitler, the Nazi party and their transformation of Germany from a rising nation to a butcher shop that tore apart the country as it needlessly took human lives.
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