Book Review: "Goodbye to Berlin" by Christopher Isherwood

Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm not sure where to begin. As I'm sure everyone who picks up the book knows, this is the work that spawned the movie and Broadway musical, "Cabaret." There certainly are similarities that carry from one into the other.

With that said, they most certainly aren't the same by any stretch. Yes, "Cabaret" included the Nazis on the march and foreshadowed their antisemitic oppression, but "Goodbye to Berlin" makes clearer how everyday Germans shrugged off the very obvious evil around them and how some applauded it. It is this indifference and even tacit acceptance that is a warning that needs to be heard generation after generation, including the current one, where too many are ready to ignore authoritarian efforts.

Isherwood shares an overheard conversation: "Those Nazis . . . They mean business . . . You mark my words: they're going to clear the Jews right out of Germany. Right out." This is just one example, but clearly, the "we didn't know" crowd, after the Nazis were routed, were as disingenuous as suspected.

Describing a night of Nazi violence, he shares the comments of one of the ladies of his acquaintance: "Frl. Mayr, of course, was delighted: 'Serves them right!' she exclaimed. 'This town is sick with Jews.'"

While describing the difficult circumstances of many Germans in the aftermath of their loss of World War I, it's painfully clear how these circumstances surfaced the very worst impulses.

By the same token, we see the foolishly naive view of some. A lady with whom Isherwood stayed is annoyed at her debt to the local Jewish tailor, despite his having made it possible for her family to purchase his skills by extending her credit. "'When Hitler comes, he'll show these Jews a thing or two.' But when I suggested that Hitler, if he got his own way, would remove the tailor altogether, then Frau Nowak would immediately change her tone: 'Oh, I shouldn't like that to happen. After all, he makes very good clothes. Besides, a Jew will always let you have time if you're in difficulties. You wouldn't catch a Christian giving credit like he does . . . You ask the people round here, Herr Christoph: they'd never turn out the Jews.'"

Of course, we know all too well the horrors that soon would follow. All of this to say, "Goodbye to Berlin," published after Nazi rule was a reality but before their "final solution" came fully to fruition, is an interesting but, of course, deeply disturbing view of Berlin as Germany and the world hurtled towards unspeakable nightmare. If you're expecting a book that will have the bounce of the very catchy "Cabaret," then you'll be disappointed. But if you're interested in the backstory that informed the creation of that catchy musical, together with an interesting historical perspective on a very important time in history, then grab a copy!

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