Why do some people risk everything to oppose an authoritarian regime? And why do others collaborate— or become bystanders? That’s what Jonathan and I discussed in our talk about his riveting new book, The True Story of a Secret Resistance Network in Nazi Germany—and the Spy Who Betrayed Them. Freedland, a prize-winning Guardian columnist, talked (without giving any spoilers) about a group of elite German resisters who “shared a common denominator of belief in an authority higher than the rulers of the day.” When they were betrayed by a spy who penetrated their inner circle, these “faithful patriots,” whose “self-confidence hardened into courage,” suffered terrible fates.
We also covered what Freeland called a “chilling echo today,” the danger of “anticipatory obedience,” and the dilemmas global citizens face amidst the rise of overt or creeping authoritarianism.
