Marlene Dietrich’s Brave Return to Germany And How She Found Peace After War

When the Nazis took power in Germany, screen siren Marlene Dietrich gave up her German citizenship to become an American.

It wasn’t until 15 years later that she returned, uncertain of the reception she’d get from the German people. “Marlene always considered herself a Berliner,” reveals her grandson, Peter Riva, who adds that the capital was the “most open and tolerant city in the world.” That is, until the Nazis took control.

Marlene had shouted, “Hitler is an idiot” — words that were blasted over the radio — and left Germany to put down roots in Hollywood, where she found fame and fortune.

But she couldn’t ignore the horrors she’d left behind.

In the late 1930s, she and director Billy Wilder set up a fund to help Jews and dissidents escape Germany.

In fact, Marlene donated her entire $450,000 paycheck from the 1937 film “Knight Without Armor” to help the refugees.

She was one of the first Hollywood stars to sell war bonds after Pearl Harbor, and entertained more than 250,000 troops during her USO tours.

“Out of decency,” she even braved entering Germany during the war, despite the danger of being within a few miles of the fighting. Wilder joked that Marlene spent more time on the front line than Allied leader Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Marlene was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 1947 for her “extraordinary record entertaining troops overseas during the war.”

But it wasn’t until 1960 that she agreed to sing at Berlin’s Titania-Palast festival. And her welcome was mixed.

“This is impudence,” wrote one livid nationalist. “We shall give her the proper German reception.” Dietrich became the target of two bomb threats, while protesters and some newspapers condemned her.

But she was also greeted with hugs in the street by fans, and her 18 sold-out shows were a great success.

“After 18 curtain calls there was no doubt on either side of the footlights that Marlene and her homeland were at peace again,” wrote a Life magazine journalist.

And Marlene lived to see the reunification of Germany.

“Of course I’m happy,” she said in 1990. “Anything that brings people together and en- courages peace always makes me happy. Happiness is so rare in this troubled world.”