Customer Reviews

Unity Mitford Pb (Phoenix Giants S.)

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4 star:		(1)
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Unity Mitford, born in 1914 into a dysfunctional aristocratic family, early on developed a rebellious personality and urge to impress by shocking conduct. So she was in 1932 when at the age of 18 she joined the British Union of Fascists and became an enthusiastic (without experiential basis) anti-semite. In 1933 she traveled with the BUF to a Nuremberg rally and, on hearing Hitler speak, was so struck that she moved to Munich to stalk him. Frequenting Hitler's favorite restaurant, she finally got his attention and a relationship began which gradually evolved until she was considered the British Eva Braun. Hitler was drawn to Unity by her admiration of him, by her aryan good looks, by her aristocratic British ancestry, and by her unbridled commitment to nazism. Their relationship grew into one of mutual (asexual) love, ending precipitously with Unity's attempted suicide in 1939 when Britain declared war on Germany for its invasion of Poland.

Revelatory is the disclosure that Hitler viewed his relationship with Unity (whom he undoubtedly loved) to be consistent with and useful in advancing his hope that Britain, a brother aryan nation, would not object to Germany's invasion of the slavic nations (particularly communist Russia) and would ultimately join Germany in a new world aryan order led by Germany. This was also Unity's hope and it was the dashing of this hope when Britain declared war on Germany that the author posits as the motive for Unity's suicide attempt. Maybe. I'm not convinced because Unity clearly had serious personality disorders with suicidal tendencies. Her politics were too superficial and shallow. More likely the motive for her attempted suicide was simply to carry out the final shocking act of her life's drama. (But don't feel any sympathy for Unity who displayed her cold heart when she went to an apartment given to her by Hitler and ignored the Jewish owners being forcefully evicted.)

I give this work less than 5 stars because too much of it is devoted to upper class name dropping which is probably titillating to Brits familiar with the rich and famous of the era, but a total bore to me.