What sort of person would voluntarily travel to Germany in 1944? As it turns out, thrill seekers, competitive journalists, and exiled German artists and writers.
Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn—Hemingway’s third wife and an enterprising war correspondent—followed the Allied armies into the heart of Nazi Germany in the autumn of 1944. That same year, Marlene Dietrich traveled to Europe to sing for the USO. She also entertained Hemingway: At one point she found herself in Paris, serenading the writer in his bathroom while he shaved.
By 1946, Hemingway was back in Cuba. But Gellhorn, increasingly estranged from her husband, remained. She would soon strike up an intense if short-lived affair with U.S. Gen. James Gavin. He also happened to be bedding Dietrich at the same time.
Read Full Article »