This is an entertaining tale that doubles as an important work of scholarship. From its first days in power, Mr Jeffreys-Jones shows, the Nazi party strove to undermine American democracy. Along with recent work by other historians, his suggests that Nazi hostility to America—with its bill of rights, balanced constitution and thriving Jewish community—equalled or even exceeded its hatred of the Soviet Union.
這是一個有趣的故事，同時也是一個重要的學術著作。杰弗里斯-瓊斯表明，從執政第一天起，納粹黨就一直在努力破壞美國的民主。聯系到其他歷史學家最近的研究，他認為納粹對美國的敵意，是針對美國權利法案、平衡憲法和繁榮的猶太社區，這份敵意等同，甚至超過了對蘇聯的恨意。
Blind to the threat, America had made itself an easy target. The army gave its data on the spread of venereal diseases to a Nazi agent, inadvertently revealing up-to-date statistics on American troops and bases. This was a mix of incompetence and institutional failure. In 1918 America had 1,441 military-intelligence officers. In 1935 it had 69. Mr Jeffreys-Jones touches only lightly on the strategic lessons, observing that the episode “carries a serious message about spies from a foreign country who try to subvert American democracy”.
美國對這份威脅視而不見，還把自己變成了一個容易攻擊的目標。美國軍隊將自己軍中性病傳播的數據交給了納粹特工，無意間泄露了美國軍隊和基地的最新統計數據。這件事展示了其無能以及制度失靈。1918年，美國有1441名軍事情報官員。1935年有69名。杰弗里斯-瓊斯只談到了戰略教訓，他認為這一事件“傳達了一個關于外國間諜試圖顛覆美國民主的嚴肅信息”。
The agents who had not already fled to Germany were tried in late 1938, as Hitler’s troops were marching into Czechoslovakia.American legislators were clinging to the neutrality doctrine, and the politically astute judge opted for leniency: the four main conspirators received a combined sentence of just 14 years.Dissatisfied, Turrou left the FBI to write newspaper articles about the Nazi threat. In 1939 Hollywood adapted his exhortations into a film, “Confessions of a Nazi Spy”, in which Turrou had a cameo.This was America’s first anti- Nazi blockbuster, and public attitudes were changing.
1938年底，希特勒的軍隊向捷克斯洛伐克進軍時，還沒有逃到德國的特工受到了審判。美國立法者堅持中立原則，政治精明的法官選擇了寬大處理：四名主要共謀者僅被判處14年的合并刑期。圖魯對此十分不滿，他離開了聯邦調查局，在報紙上編寫關于納粹威脅的文章。1939年，好萊塢將他的勸誡改編成電影《納粹間諜的自白》，圖魯在其中客串。這是美國第一部反納粹大片，公眾的態度正在改變。
In 1941 the discovery of another spy ring in New York provoked outrage. Its three leaders were awaiting sentencing when Japan attacked Pearl Harbour. A few weeks later, the spies received a combined sentence of 52 years.
1941年，在紐約發現了另一個間諜集團，這引起了人們的憤怒。日本襲擊珍珠港時，該間諜集團的三名領導人正在等待宣判。幾周后，這些間諜被判處52年的合并刑期。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
評論
打印
