By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

During the past decade, an increasing number of books – fact and fiction – have been published that offer information about the Nazi movement in the United States during the 1930s and early 1940s. Several discuss how Germany hoped these groups would sabotage the American military industry in preparation for a Nazi takeover of the U.S. government. The books also include lists of those their agents hoped to assassinate, many of whom were Jewish and, at least in California, part of the motion picture industry. Two recent works discuss this time period: “Hollywood vs. Nazis: How the Movie Studios Took on Nazis Infiltrating Los Angeles” (Citadel Press) is Michael Benson’s second nonfiction work focusing on Nazi activity in the U.S. (The Reporter review of his first work, “Gangsters vs. Nazis” can be found at www.thereportergroup.org/book-reviews/off-the-shelf-criminals-or-heroes.) “Midnight Patriots: An Einstein Chaplain Thriller” by Paul Levine (Herald Square Publishing) is the author’s second novel featuring real-life characters who sought to stop the Nazis. (The Reporter review of Levine’s first novel in the series can be found at www.thereportergroup.org/book-reviews/off-the-shelf-gangsters-detectives-and-spies?entry=509021.) What prompted me to review these works together is that they both contain fictional and nonfictional elements: Benson notes that he created some of the dialogue in his book, along with adjusting the chronology to make the work easier to read. Levine includes a section at the end of this work explaining which characters and events are real, and which are from the author’s imagination. 
Many books about Hollywood’s actions during this period suggest that the studios were not actively involved with stopping the Nazi menace. Those writers felt the studios were more concerned with the income they received from their films being shown in Nazi Germany than they were about any threats to the U.S. The studios were also willing to censor films that criticized Germany or the Nazis so those works could continue to be screened. Benson disagrees with that assessment, not so much about the films not openly criticizing Germany, but whether studio executives helped fight against Nazis in the U.S. He believes their secret monetary support of Nazibusters, as he calls those agents who risked their lives to work against the Nazis, proves they supported those actively working to stop the Nazi menace.
The head of the Nazibusters was Leon Lawrence Lewis, a 45-year-old Jewish lawyer, whom the Nazis would come to consider the most dangerous Jew in Los Angeles. Benson writes of the numerous spies – male and female – whom Lewis recruited to infiltrate groups that were considered dangerous. Most of these groups were not publicly known as supporting the Nazi cause. Rather, they portrayed themselves as patriotic Americans of German extract who wanted to keep the U.S. from becoming involved in European politics. Many offered antisemitic material, though, that said that Jews ruled the U.S., some even going as far as suggesting that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was Jewish. Since they were not openly supportive of Nazi Germany, many in law enforcement saw them as legitimate patriots. 
However, even when these groups were known to be pro-Nazi, the Los Angeles Police Department and other law enforcement agencies did not originally see them as a problem. In fact, law enforcement focused on what they saw as the communist threat against the U.S. Benson also writes of how members of the LAPD at that time were also members of the antisemitic Ku Klux Klan. At first, the police refused to recognize that some Nazis were planning to destroy American military sites and assassinate Jews connected to Hollywood. (Among those who were on the list were Charlie Chaplin, although there is a debate about whether he had Jewish ancestry. It was clear, though, that he was anti-Nazi.) German agents worked with local groups and supported plans to overthrow the federal government and destroy American democracy. Fortunately, after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the U.S. declared war on Germany, these threats were taken far more seriously.
“Hollywood vs. Nazis” is a popular history, rather than a scholarly work. The prose is newspaper style and the writing breezy. Each chapter is divided into short sections, each with its own headline, for easy reading. That means this nonfiction work reads as if it were a thriller because its focus is on action, rather than analysis. This is not a complaint because the book managed to be page-turning and educational at the same time.
While Benson’s work is clearly nonfiction that contains some fictional elements, “Midnight Patriots” is fiction that contains nonfictional elements. What ties both works is the Nazi threat to Albert Einstein and Chaplin, and their actions to prevent that threat from being successful. The two men were friends in real life, although it’s doubtful that they actually fought against Nazi spies. This second book in the series takes place in 1940 after Einstein and Chaplin has successfully prevented Nazi agents in Hollywood from assassinating the heads of movie studios and other prominent Jews. However, that makes them even greater targets for Nazi supporters. One agent plans to assassinate Chaplin while a different one looks to kidnap Einstein and send him back to Germany. To complicate matters, the U.S. is hoping Einstein will be willing to help create a powerful bomb that the Army believes the Germans are already working on. Chaplin has his own problems, including trying to convince Charles Lindbergh, whom the Nazis want to run for president because he is sympathetic to Germany, that the U.S. should support England.
As if this wasn’t enough plot, the novel also features Mickey Cohen, a real-life gangster who first threatened Chaplin (for having an affair with a powerful man’s mistress) and who is now charged with protecting Einstein. Although this flamboyant gangster may not be someone readers would normally like or admire, he comes across here as almost a sweetheart and someone for whom to cheer. To add to the complications, all these characters are together on a train traveling to Los Angeles. That includes the potential kidnapper and the assassin.
Levine does an excellent job creating suspense, not an easy thing to do when readers with any knowledge of history know that Chaplin was not assassinated nor was Einstein kidnapped. What makes the book fun is that the author also acknowledges his characters’ flaws, particularly those of Chaplin, who, although married, seems willing to sleep with almost any attractive woman he meets. The debate for Einstein, who is a pacifist, is whether the Nazi threat of a bomb is enough for him to help the U.S. develop one of its own. Levine also offers insights into the mind of the Nazi spy and his reasons for supporting the German cause. 
The work concludes with a section offering information about which characters are taken from real life and which are fiction. That means the work does offer historical information about the time period. However, lovers of thrillers may care more about the excitement and suspense than whether a particular event took place. Those who read the first novel in the series will not be disappointed. It’s also certain to win Levine new fans.