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The Nazis would have embraced these elite Germans — nevertheless, they resisted
The Traitors Circle : The True Story of a Secret Resistance Network in Nazi Germany—and the Spy Who Betrayed Them
By Jonathan Freedland
Harper, 480 pages, $26
Sometimes resistance is just mindfully walking around the streets of Berlin with shopping bags in both hands so that you have a reason not to give the Heil Hitler salute. As Jonathan Freedland told the audience at a live taping of John Heileman’s Impolitic podcast, that was the practice of Countess Lagi von Ballestrem — one of the two countesses in the “Traitors Circle” that gives his new book its title. Though members of the circle were involved in more significant opposition to the Nazi regime, this small, practical, personal act of defiance sings to us at our own moment of mounting authoritarianism.
Following on from his 2022 book, The Escape Artist, which traced the story of the first and only Jewish prisoners to escape from Auschwitz through their pre-War lives, capture and imprisonment, flight and depressingly unsuccessful attempts to convince Jewish and wartime governments to take action, Freedland turns his attention to a tea party. At roughly the same time as the events of his other book, these upper-class non-Jews in Berlin met regularly for companionship, dissent and mild subversion. It’s an entirely different form of resistance from Rudolf Vrba’s heroic escape, but one that speaks more directly to our time.
Freedland and his researcher Jonathan Cummings, were tipped off to the existence of this previously little-known coterie of “traitors” by the transcript of a speech from Heinrich Himmler to high-ranking Nazis in August 1944. He was referring to these regular anti-Nazi social gatherings hosted by widow of the late German Imperial Foreign Minister Wilhelm Solf. Just after Operation Valkyrie’s attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler had failed. Himmler — head of the SS, architect of the Shoah, and Hitler’s number two — reassured attendees that the SS was in full control and had also foiled a “traitors circle” from the “reactionary cabal” who were “prattling over tea” at the home of the Widow Solf.
As its subtitle suggests, The Traitors’ Circle tells the story of a small group of German men and women — aristocrats, army officers, diplomats, teachers — who saw what their government had become and decided to fight it from within. From the countesses like von Bellestrem and Maria von Maltzan, to wealthy mandarins like Arthur Zarden, to protestant nobility like Elisabeth von Thadden, they were German insiders, not romantic rebels or racially suspect. They, mostly, came from the right families, wore the right uniforms, spoke with the right accents, and moved in the right circles. Yet, even a decade into the Nazi takeover of Germany, they resisted.
In a breathless prose that he developed in his side hustle as thriller writer Sam Bourne, Freedland dashes through the histories and stories of the seven or eight main characters. The cadence can sometimes be a little repetitive and annoying, but for the most part, it shuttles through the nearly 400 pages of the story in entertaining, if horrifying, fashion. As is the case with the The Escape Artist, though, the events are entirely true. The hardback stretches to more than 450 pages because, to reinforce its facticity, it contains 30 character summaries, maps, more than 45 pages of endnotes and almost the same number of pages listing sources.
The book mainly centers on the time between the Solf-group celebrating Anza von Thadden’s birthday and surviving interrogation at Ravensbrück concentration camp. In sections, though, it extends well before that time to establish the backstories of the resisters, their betrayer, and some of the Nazi elite that prosecuted them. These backstories are crucial to understand not only what they did – hide Jews, sabotage the army, encourage army intelligence to desert – but what gave them the perspective and the moral compass to stand up against a state that would have happily embraced them.
Freedland has noted that, though 3 million Germans were arrested and imprisoned for their anti-Nazi activities, they represent only 5% of the German population. Even before the Nazis had fully consolidated their power over the country, the vast preponderance of people and corporations went along with the vicious lies that legitimized the Reich. Education, empathy, experience of other countries and cultures, true patriotism unfounded in personality cults, and a religious moral upbringing are some of the traits that impelled them to oppose the inhumanity of the regime.
Sadly, corporations like BMW, Porsche, and IG Farben were also deeply complicit in the Nazi takeover. Indeed, Freedland notes that Siemens drew slave labor from the prison population at Ravensbrück, where the Solf-group was held. During the Nazi era, corporations willingly took money and economic control in exchange for loyalty.
Today, corporations are massive but equally tractable. Advances in technology mean that their control of capital and information dwarfs even the great corporations of the past like the East India Trading Company or U.S. Steel. Furthermore, economic logic dictates that they must maximize profit so, especially when faced with egregious retaliation from an ideologically-driven regulatory power, they toe the line. Indeed, corporations throughout modern history have mostly acted as a lever of ideological power not as a bulwark.
From Pharaonic atrocities in antiquity, through capitalist colonial processes like the African Slave Trade to the murder of millions in the Russian and Chinese Revolutions, humans have been cruel and inhuman to other humans for millennia. As Kafka and Orwell recognized, though, the truly frightening potential of the 20th century – being realized in the 21st — is when the networks and system of the modern state are mobilized to identify, delegitimize, isolate and destroy individuals or groups it designates as undesirable.
Every act of resistance teaches the system what it cannot understand. That’s as true of dissenting Germans in 1943 as it is of whistleblowers and protesters today. Freedland’s conspirators exposed the blind spots of totalitarian logic: that obedience cannot erase morality, that even the most efficient machine depends on the fragile cooperation of individuals.
Their story reads as both a historical thriller and a moral syllabus. Resistance is not a fixed ideology; it’s a form of literacy. You learn how to read the shapes of power and to write between its lines.
In his theoretical discussion of the concept of “resistance” in “Resistances to Psychoanalysis,” Jacques Derrida talks about the emotional pull of the term. He begins nostalgically, thinking about the resonance of the French Resistance “blowing up trains, tanks, and headquarters between 1940 and 1945,” but spends the rest of the book backing away from that macro, material definition. For his part, Freedland shows that resistance is not simply heroic, even violent, self-assertion but rather can be deliberate, pre-planned or responsive, acts of mindfulness. It teaches us to see how ordinary habits — bureaucratic procedures, polite greetings, professional codes — become instruments of control, and how they can also be reclaimed as tools of subversion.
Indeed, in a world of misinformation overload where so many of the platforms that feed us our news and opinions are corrupt — by state interests (TikTok), laissez faire enrichment (Meta), or billionaire racism (X/Twitter) — copious, accessible notes and references are Freedland’s full shopping bags. Presenting the truth is sadly a mark of resistance in a decade marked by lies, propaganda, and deliberate attempts to rewrite the historical record.
The post The Nazis would have embraced these elite Germans — nevertheless, they resisted appeared first on The Forward.
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Somalia’s South West State Says It Has Severed Ties With the Federal Government
FILE PHOTO: Somalia’s presidential candidate of South West state Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed speaks inside the Somali Parliament house in Mogadishu, Somalia April 30, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Feisal Omar/File Photo
Somalia’s South West state said on Tuesday it was suspending all cooperation and relations with the government in Mogadishu, the latest sign of strain in the Horn of Africa country’s fragile federal system.
At a press conference, South West officials accused the federal government of arming militias and trying to unseat the state’s president, Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen. Somalia’s defense and information ministers did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Disputes over constitutional changes, elections and the balance of power between Mogadishu and regional administrations repeatedly open up political fault lines in Somalia. The South West administration says relations with Mogadishu worsened after the federal government pushed through constitutional amendments opposed by some state leaders.
Travel agencies told Reuters on Tuesday that commercial flights between Mogadishu and Baidoa, the administrative capital of South West state, had been halted. Humanitarian flights, including for United Nations operations, were continuing. Baidoa, which lies about 245 km (150 miles) northwest of Mogadishu, is a politically and militarily sensitive city because it hosts federal troops, regional security forces and international humanitarian operations in a zone affected by drought, conflict and displacement.
The Mogadishu government’s relations with other states have also been fraught. Somaliland declared independence in 1991 and has long been outside Mogadishu’s control. The administration of semi-autonomous Puntland said in March 2024 it would no longer recognize the federal government until disputed constitutional amendments were approved in a nationwide referendum.
Semi-autonomous Jubbaland suspended ties with Mogadishu in November 2024 in a dispute over regional elections.
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Report: Iran Sees Control of Strait of Hormuz as Victory Over US, Israel
An LPG gas tanker at anchor as traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Shinas, Oman, March 11, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
i24 News – Iran is showing no indication it is ready to end the war with the United States and Israel, as officials say Tehran is relying on its control over the Strait of Hormuz to increase global economic pressure and strengthen its position.
According to regional officials cited by The Washington Post, Iran is rejecting diplomatic efforts to identify an off-ramp and instead escalating attacks on neighboring countries. An Iranian diplomat said the strategy is to “make this aggression super expensive for the aggressors,” as Tehran faces sustained military pressure.
The Strait of Hormuz remains central to Iran’s calculations. The waterway carries roughly one-fifth of global fuel shipments, and its partial closure has disrupted energy markets. US President Donald Trump issued a 48-hour deadline for Iran to reopen the route, warning of further escalation if it does not comply.
Iranian officials and diplomats said the leadership views its ability to maintain pressure through the strait as a short-term success, even as infrastructure damage mounts. “They don’t feel any pressure to negotiate,” one European diplomat based in the Gulf said, adding that Iran sees its influence over oil markets as a form of leverage.
At the same time, efforts to mediate a ceasefire have so far failed. Officials from Qatar and Oman approached Iran last week, but Tehran said it would only engage if US and Israeli strikes stopped first. An Iranian diplomat said the country would not accept a “premature ceasefire” and is seeking guarantees, including compensation and commitments to prevent future attacks.
The war has already caused significant damage. The Pentagon says more than 15,000 targets have been struck across Iran, while Iranian authorities report over 1,200 civilian deaths. The conflict has also expanded regionally, with Iranian strikes targeting energy infrastructure in Gulf states following attacks on its own facilities.
Despite mounting losses, analysts say Iran’s leadership believes prolonging the conflict could shift pressure onto Washington and its allies through rising energy prices and regional instability. “We’re still on an escalatory path,” said Alan Eyre, a former US official, adding that Tehran is attempting to “up the costs” rather than move toward negotiations.
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Persistent Iran War, Energy Price Surge Set to Sway Wavering Stocks
Stock ticker. Photo: Ahmad Ardity/Wikimedia Commons.
A Middle East crisis that has convulsed markets should remain the focal point for Wall Street in the near term, as investors stay glued to developments in Iran and the fallout from surging energy prices.
As the US-Israeli war on Iran stretches to three weeks, an over 40% jump in oil prices is driving worries about higher inflation and stagnating economic growth.
Inflationary concerns on Friday were prompting markets to rule out any equity-friendly interest rate cuts this year, which investors previously had been counting on, with futures trading instead suggesting modest chances of hikes in 2026. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell expressed deep uncertainty at the US central bank’s meeting on Wednesday about how the crisis would factor into the economy, muddying its ability to forecast conditions ahead.
US stocks suffered sharp declines to end the week. The benchmark S&P 500 stock index posted its fourth straight weekly decline and hit a six-month low, while the Nasdaq Composite ended down nearly 10% below its October all-time high.
Middle East tensions escalated this week. Iran attacked energy facilities across the region following Israel’s strike on its gas field, while officials told Reuters on Friday that the US military is deploying thousands of Marines to the Middle East.
“This is a situation that’s so fluid,” said Chris Fasciano, chief market strategist at Commonwealth Financial Network. “We could have a resolution in the next week or it could go on for some time. And the longer it goes on, you start to think about the impacts it could have on the US economy.”
WATCHING OIL, STOCKS’ ‘ORDERLY’ REACTION
Swings in crude prices have rippled through asset classes. US crude settled around $98 a barrel on Friday, while Brent ended around $112. In addition to the attacks on energy infrastructure, traffic has stalled in the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes.
The 20-day correlation between the S&P 500 and US crude stood at -0.89 late on Friday, according to LSEG data, a strong inverse relationship that showed they have tended to move in opposite directions.
“If you’re a trader, you watch oil prices because I do think that that’s generally giving the leading indicator as to how the financial markets are viewing the outlook for the conflict,” said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management Corp.
The S&P 500 energy sector, which includes shares of oil companies, has gained since crude prices began to spike in late February, but the group accounts for less than a 4% weight in the benchmark index.
The latest declines left the S&P 500 down 6.8% from its record closing high set in late January. The pullback has mostly lacked the chaotic quality of the abrupt equity slide last April following President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement that set off broad economic worries, Fasciano said.
“This has been fairly orderly, which I think is an encouraging sign,” Fasciano said. “And I think it’s because the underlying fundamentals for corporate America are still fairly robust and are offering some support.”
TREASURY YIELDS, MARKET TECHNICALS ALSO IN FOCUS
Fast-climbing Treasury yields, driven higher by the energy price spike and caution from global central banks, were looming as a risk factor for stocks. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was last at 4.38% on Friday, its highest level since last summer.
Keith Lerner, chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services, said he was watching whether the 10-year Treasury yield sustainably rises above 4.3%, which could increase pressure on stocks, while he was also eyeing 4.5% as a key level.
“Rates going higher means borrowing costs are somewhat higher. And then that could actually slow the economy,” Lerner said. “At some point, if they keep going higher, then the relative attractiveness of (bond) yields becomes more attractive relative to equities.”
Stocks were also around key technical levels. The S&P 500 on Thursday closed below its 200-day moving average — a closely watched long-term trendline — for the first time since May. With another decline on Friday, the index ended at its lowest point since September and fell below November lows that strategists had also identified as worrisome levels.
Reports on manufacturing, services activity and consumer sentiment highlight a relatively light week ahead for US economic data. A major energy conference in Houston that will feature top global industry executives could draw Wall Street’s attention.
Events in Iran were likely to loom largest. In a note on Thursday morning, analysts at UBS Global Wealth Management said the latest developments were “pushing markets to price in a higher risk of prolonged conflict, deeper infrastructure damage and higher-for-longer crude prices.”
“While a less damaging outcome in the Strait of Hormuz remains possible, recent events have narrowed that path and heightened the risk of continued volatility,” the UBS analysts said.