{"id":82941,"date":"2026-03-12T09:34:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T13:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=82941"},"modified":"2026-03-12T15:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T19:12:11","slug":"the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/","title":{"rendered":"The Voice Who Warned America About Hitler"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Dorothy Thompson reporting in 1939. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Editors Note: In honor of Women\u2019s History Month<\/a>, we\u2019re sharing profiles of influential women in <\/em>journalism.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1931, journalist Dorothy Thompson became the first American to interview Adolf Hitler. The resulting article she later published, I Saw Hitler<\/em><\/a>, was scathing. She described him<\/a> as \u201cformless, almost faceless\u2026a man whose countenance is a caricature, a man whose framework seems cartilaginous, without bones.\u201d Perhaps unsurprisingly, her work also resulted in her becoming the first American journalist to be expelled from Germany. However, her warnings to the rest of the world about the rise of fascism would solidify her status as one of the most influential journalists of the 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thompson was born on July 9, 1893, in Lancaster, New York, the daughter of a Methodist minister. She attended the Lewis Institute in Chicago and then enrolled at Syracuse University, where she studied politics and graduated in 1914 \u2013 a time when relatively few women completed four\u2011year degrees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After university, Thompson became involved with the women\u2019s suffrage movement and contributed op\u2011eds on social justice issues to major newspapers. This early activism<\/a> set the tone for how she would write and report for the rest of her career: She had a fundamental conviction that politics were inseparable from questions of justice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, Thompson sailed to Europe to make her way as a foreign correspondent. She was drawn to stories about nationalist movements, reporting on events like the Irish struggle for independence, even securing a final interview<\/a> with Sinn F\u00e9in leader Terence MacSwiney before his arrest and death on hunger strike.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n

Related<\/h4>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n \"Nellie\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\n

\n \n Ten Days in the Madhouse: Nellie Bly\u2019s Undercover Mission Inside an Insane Asylum\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n

By 1925, she was the head of the Berlin bureau for the New York Evening Post<\/em>, a rare position for a woman journalist in that era. There, Thompson became a close observer of the rise of Nazism. In 1931, she managed to secure a one\u2011on\u2011one interview with Hitler\u2014at that point a rising but not yet dominant political figure\u2014that would become her famous interview (for Cosmopolitan, <\/em>then a general-interest magazine) and later a book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During their interview, Thompson asked Hitler<\/a>, \u201cWhen you come to power will you abolish the constitution of the German Republic?\u201d To which he responded, \u201cI will get into power legally\u2026I will abolish this parliament and the Weimar [German Reich] constitution afterward. I will found an authority-state, from the lowest cell to the highest instance; everywhere there will be responsibility and authority above, discipline and obedience below.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thompson, who clearly recognized the threat Hitler posed to the German Republic, would later write a warning to Americans<\/a>, of the possibility of something similar occurring in the States:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cNo people ever recognize their dictator in advance\u2026He never stands for election on the platform of dictatorship. He always represents himself as the instrument for expressing the Incorporated National Will. When Americans think of dictators they always think of some foreign model. If anyone turned up here in a fur hat, boots and a grim look he would be recognized and shunned\u2026But when our dictator turns up you can depend on it that he will be one of the boys, and he will stand for everything traditionally American.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Her reporting was sharp, critical and filled with contempt for the \u201cvery prototype of the Little Man<\/a>.\u201d The vehemence and reach of her writing angered Nazi leadership and in 1934, by Hitler\u2019s personal orders, Thompson was expelled from Germany, becoming the first American journalist formally forced out of the Third Reich, according to the New York Times<\/a> and the Holocaust Memorial Museum

<\/a>Back in the United States, Thompson transformed her exile into a powerful platform. She began writing \u201cOn the Record,\u201d a thrice\u2011weekly political column, syndicated to as many as 150 newspapers<\/a> during its 22-year run<\/a>, reaching up to 10 million readers. She also regularly appeared live on air for NBC radio, reporting for 15 straight days after the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939. Time<\/em> magazine put Thompson on its cover that year, calling her the second most influential woman in America \u2013 after Eleanor Roosevelt, of course.

During the war, Thompson became a high-profile advocate for Zionism, sympathizing with Jews who sought a homeland. However, after visiting Palestine in 1945, and witnessing Palestinian refugees forced off their land, she began to criticize aspects of Israeli policy, calling it a ‘recipe for perpetual war,’ according to historians<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n

Related<\/h4>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n \"Ida\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\n

\n \n She Exposed the Darkest Aspects of American History\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Thompson married three times, most famously to novelist Sinclair Lewis, whom she met in Europe and married in 1928; the two apparently shared an intense, often stormy relationship and had a son, Michael. Their marriage, marked by Lewis\u2019s alcoholism and the strains of two demanding careers, ended in divorce

She continued writing and speaking into the 1950s, though her prominence gradually waned as the political landscape shifted from anti\u2011fascism to Cold War debates. Thompson died of a heart attack in 1961 at the age of 66, her career standing as a landmark example for future generations of female journalists. As one of her contemporaries once said of her<\/a>: \u201cNot only does she cross the ice but [she] breaks it as she goes.\u201d ◼<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dorothy Thompson was a World War II reporter and broadcaster who challenged fascism and redefined women\u2019s voices in public life. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":82942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"Dorothy Thompson was a World War II reporter and broadcaster who challenged fascism and redefined women\u2019s voices in public life.","autoblue_shares":[{"did":"did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f","date":"2026-03-12T13:34:11+00:00","uri":"at:\/\/did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mgujbfythu2s","response":"{\"uri\":\"at:\/\/did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mgujbfythu2s\",\"cid\":\"bafyreih5hh6cwc6yfxcdsh75j4skqyoahem6qjkpglrjlwkksparsv5x7u\",\"commit\":{\"cid\":\"bafyreifscinycnaqrci76fhyidoxwprrztbceiam2fxqvqmo34wqbvpv4e\",\"rev\":\"3mgujbfz5ae2s\"},\"validationStatus\":\"valid\"}"}],"autoblue_post_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[187],"tags":[21932,21933,19671,20066],"class_list":["post-82941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-fascism-and-politics","tag-social-justice-advocacy","tag-whm-section","tag-women-in-journalism"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Voice Who Warned America About Hitler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dorothy Thompson was a World War II reporter and broadcaster who challenged fascism and redefined women\u2019s voices in public life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Voice Who Warned America About Hitler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dorothy Thompson was a World War II reporter and broadcaster who challenged fascism and redefined women\u2019s voices in public life.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Story Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheStoryExchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-12T13:34:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-12T19:12:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dorothy-thompson.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"899\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Victoria Flexner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TheStoryXchange\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TheStoryXchange\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Victoria Flexner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Voice Who Warned America About Hitler","description":"Dorothy Thompson was a World War II reporter and broadcaster who challenged fascism and redefined women\u2019s voices in public life.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Voice Who Warned America About Hitler","og_description":"Dorothy Thompson was a World War II reporter and broadcaster who challenged fascism and redefined women\u2019s voices in public life.","og_url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/","og_site_name":"The Story Exchange","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheStoryExchange","article_published_time":"2026-03-12T13:34:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-12T19:12:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":899,"url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dorothy-thompson.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Victoria Flexner","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@TheStoryXchange","twitter_site":"@TheStoryXchange","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Victoria Flexner","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/"},"author":{"name":"Victoria Flexner","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f37b2c44616522eac3feb2369cdcf8dc"},"headline":"The Voice Who Warned America About Hitler","datePublished":"2026-03-12T13:34:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-12T19:12:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/"},"wordCount":862,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dorothy-thompson.jpg","keywords":["Fascism and Politics","Social Justice Advocacy","WHM section","Women in Journalism"],"articleSection":["Features"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/","url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/","name":"The Voice Who Warned America About Hitler","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dorothy-thompson.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-12T13:34:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-12T19:12:11+00:00","description":"Dorothy Thompson was a World War II reporter and broadcaster who challenged fascism and redefined women\u2019s voices in public life.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dorothy-thompson.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dorothy-thompson.jpg","width":1200,"height":899,"caption":"Dorothy Thompson"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-voice-who-warned-america-about-hitler\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Voice Who Warned America About Hitler"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/","name":"The Story Exchange","description":"Inspiration and information for women entrepreneurs","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#organization","name":"The Story Exchange","url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/24161459\/TSE-logo-web-e1525383604615.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/24161459\/TSE-logo-web-e1525383604615.png","width":500,"height":180,"caption":"The Story Exchange"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheStoryExchange","https:\/\/x.com\/TheStoryXchange","https:\/\/instagram.com\/thestoryexchange\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/the-story-exchange","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/StoryExchange"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f37b2c44616522eac3feb2369cdcf8dc","name":"Victoria Flexner","description":"Victoria Flexner is the editor of the 1,000 Stories Project and more recently helped launch, 1,000+ Stories Project. Victoria has a background in food and history. She is the founder of Edible History, a historical supper club based in Brooklyn and author of \"A History of The World in Ten Dinners\" to be published by Rizzoli Fall 2023.","sameAs":["https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/author\/vic"],"url":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/author\/vic\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82941"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82955,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82941\/revisions\/82955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}