This is an entertaining tale that doubles as an important work of scholarship. From its first days in power, Mr Jeffreys-Jones shows, the Nazi party strove to undermine American democracy. Along with recent work by other historians, his suggests that Nazi hostility to America—with its bill of rights, balanced constitution and thriving Jewish community—equalled or even exceeded its hatred of the Soviet Union.
这是一个有趣的故事，同时也是一个重要的学术著作。杰弗里斯-琼斯表明，从执政第一天起，纳粹党就一直在努力破坏美国的民主。联系到其他历史学家最近的研究，他认为纳粹对美国的敌意，是针对美国权利法案、平衡宪法和繁荣的犹太社区，这份敌意等同，甚至超过了对苏联的恨意。
Blind to the threat, America had made itself an easy target. The army gave its data on the spread of venereal diseases to a Nazi agent, inadvertently revealing up-to-date statistics on American troops and bases. This was a mix of incompetence and institutional failure. In 1918 America had 1,441 military-intelligence officers. In 1935 it had 69. Mr Jeffreys-Jones touches only lightly on the strategic lessons, observing that the episode “carries a serious message about spies from a foreign country who try to subvert American democracy”.
美国对这份威胁视而不见，还把自己变成了一个容易攻击的目标。美国军队将自己军中性病传播的数据交给了纳粹特工，无意间泄露了美国军队和基地的最新统计数据。这件事展示了其无能以及制度失灵。1918年，美国有1441名军事情报官员。1935年有69名。杰弗里斯-琼斯只谈到了战略教训，他认为这一事件“传达了一个关于外国间谍试图颠覆美国民主的严肃信息”。
The agents who had not already fled to Germany were tried in late 1938, as Hitler’s troops were marching into Czechoslovakia.American legislators were clinging to the neutrality doctrine, and the politically astute judge opted for leniency: the four main conspirators received a combined sentence of just 14 years.Dissatisfied, Turrou left the FBI to write newspaper articles about the Nazi threat. In 1939 Hollywood adapted his exhortations into a film, “Confessions of a Nazi Spy”, in which Turrou had a cameo.This was America’s first anti- Nazi blockbuster, and public attitudes were changing.
1938年底，希特勒的军队向捷克斯洛伐克进军时，还没有逃到德国的特工受到了审判。美国立法者坚持中立原则，政治精明的法官选择了宽大处理：四名主要共谋者仅被判处14年的合并刑期。图鲁对此十分不满，他离开了联邦调查局，在报纸上编写关于纳粹威胁的文章。1939年，好莱坞将他的劝诫改编成电影《纳粹间谍的自白》，图鲁在其中客串。这是美国第一部反纳粹大片，公众的态度正在改变。
In 1941 the discovery of another spy ring in New York provoked outrage. Its three leaders were awaiting sentencing when Japan attacked Pearl Harbour. A few weeks later, the spies received a combined sentence of 52 years.
1941年，在纽约发现了另一个间谍集团，这引起了人们的愤怒。日本袭击珍珠港时，该间谍集团的三名领导人正在等待宣判。几周后，这些间谍被判处52年的合并刑期。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
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