Back in the 1970s, I was a very young writer piecing together a living with freelance writing assignments. One of my most interesting and memorable was with Tony Ingram (not his real name).
Tony was several decades older than me and was then retired. He had had a long and distinguished career as an inventor-scientist. He had traveled the world many times and was involved in some of the key discoveries that helped power our modern civilization.
Tony was not a writer, but he had several projects that he thought might make interesting books. So he hired me to see what we could come up with. We worked together off and on for several weeks.
I had a great liking for Tony. He was very enthusiastic and a great raconteur. He had had a fascinating life and loved talking about it.
In addition to being impressed with his professional accomplishments, I admired Tony as a person. It seemed to me that there was a fundamental goodness and decency about him. He even taught a Sunday School class!
He had a great fund of stories from his career, and his adventures started very early in his life. He won a very prestigious science award when he was still in college. And when he graduated, he received a very high level science assignment in Germany, which at that time was the world leader in science and technology.
Once, when talking about that time in his life, he described a lavish, high-level dinner party he had attended. He said, “I’ll never forget that night. Hitler was at the next table.”
When Tony said that Hitler had been seated at the next table, I was totally stunned.
I realized for the first time that Tony’s exploits had all occurred in the context of world history. And that when Tony was in Germany, the year was 1933, the year Hitler came to power!
So when Tony described a dinner party where Hitler was at the next table, I suddenly realized that Tony had been an eyewitness to Hitler’s Germany!
It was a stunning and chilling realization. As it was sinking in, I said to Tony, dumb-struck, “You witnessed Hitler! What were your thoughts about Hitler?”
He replied very enthusiastically, “We thought he was terrific!”
I have replayed this scene many times since then.
It stunned me then. It stuns me now. I didn’t follow up on it. Tony’s comment told me everything I needed to know.
Tony was a brilliant man, a world leader in science and technology. And yet, he told me, with great enthusiasm, that he thought Hitler was terrific.
I continue to be amazed at how differently Tony and I understood the effect of Hitler on Germany and the world. How is it that people can perceive the same things so differently? It’s one of life’s gigantic mysteries!
© David Evans
Hitler? "We Thought He Was Terrific!"
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09.04.2024
Back in the 1970s, I was a very young writer piecing together a living with freelance writing assignments. One of my most interesting and memorable was with Tony Ingram (not his real name).
Tony was several decades older than me and was then retired. He had had a long and distinguished career as an inventor-scientist. He had traveled the world many times and was involved in some of the key discoveries that helped power our modern civilization.
Tony was not a writer, but he had several projects that he thought might make interesting books. So he hired me to see what we could come up with. We worked together off and on for several weeks.
I had a great liking for Tony. He........
© Psychology Today
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