Right-wing terror in Germany began long before the rise of the Nazis. So-called “Freikorps” began targeting political opponents right after the creation of the Democratic Republic. On June 24, 1922 German Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau, an exceptional figure who combined Jewish origins and German patriotism, was assassinated.
Hüetlin writes about the course of this tragic day and its political repercussions up to the present day. Like in a thriller, the operations of “Organisation Consul” converge towards Day X – just like the life of Walther Rathenau. The reader is immersed in the world of the perpetrators, a dark world of toxic, elitist, anti-Semitic alliances of men and their reputable supporters in the judiciary, military, and politics, whose deeds were more than a prelude to the Nazis’ later seizure of power. The ideological parallels to today’s rightwing radicals and their supporters are unsettling.
“Want to know why the Third Reich could happen again at any time? Then read Thomas Hüetlin’s heartrending political thriller about the rise and death of the great German politician Walter Rathenau, who had the misfortune of being born Jewish.” - Maxim Biller
