In The Garden Of Beasts

I just finished reading Eric Larson's book In The Garden of Beasts, which tells the story of the ambassador to Germany and his family back in the 1930s, when Hitler came to power.  It is a fascinating story, and like his previous book, The Devil in the White City, which tells the story of a serial killer during the 1892 World's Fair in Chicago, reads like an exciting novel.  The book gives you a good look at what it was like, and the thinking of politicians during that period, but I especially was struck by the antisemitism that was prevalent at that time not only in Germany but in the American diplomatic core.  It is of course hindsight I am expressing, but if only those diplomats woke up and realized what they were witnessing and what the end result would be, perhaps 6 million lives might have been spared.  A very sad chapter of history, especially considering that maybe it could have been avoided.