"He was, and would remain until shortly before he became Chancellor, technically a foreigner, an Austrian, in the German Reich. It is only as an Austrian who came of age in the last decade before the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire, who failed to take root in its civilized capital, who embraced all the preposterous prejudices and hates then rife among its German-speaking extremists and who failed to grasp what was decent and honest and honorable in the vast majority of his fellow citizens, were they Czechs or Jews or Germans, poor or well off, artists or artisans, that Hitler can be understood."
A powerful, angry denunciation by William Shirer. Diagramming the sentence, we can feel its full effect:
A foreignerwho failed to take root in its civilized capital
who embraced
preposterous prejudices
and hates
who failed to grasp
in the vast majority of his fellow citizens
were they Czechs
or Jews
or Germans
poor
or well off
artists
or artisans
what was
decent
and honest
and honorable
"It is only as" that man that Adolph Hitler can be understood.
