Paris in the 1930s: A City on the Edge

In the 1930s, Paris was a city of contrasts, where art and culture thrived while political tensions simmered beneath the surface. Janet Flanner, an American writer, captured this duality in her columns for The New Yorker.

A Unique Perspective

She wasn't your typical journalist. She wasn't political, but she had a sharp eye for detail and a knack for storytelling. Her columns were more about culture and society, but as the decade wore on, she found herself writing about darker topics, like the rise of Hitler and the trial of a notorious serial killer, Eugen Weidmann.

The Complexity of Evil

Flanner's profile of Hitler was unique. She didn't just denounce him as a villain. She tried to understand him, to show him as a complex figure. This made some people uncomfortable. They thought she was being too sympathetic. But Flanner believed that understanding the enemy was the first step in fighting them.

Weidmann, on the other hand, was a different kind of evil. He was a criminal, a killer who believed he was a genius. His trial was a sensation, partly because he was handsome and had female admirers. But Flanner saw beyond the spectacle. She saw a man who was a product of his time, a time when violence was becoming normalized.

A Decade of Change

The 1930s were a complex time. Europe was still recovering from World War I, and the global depression was hitting hard. Fascism was on the rise, and liberal democracy was struggling. Flanner witnessed all this, and she wrote about it in a way that was both engaging and thought-provoking.

A Love Letter to Paris

But she wasn't just a journalist. She was also a woman who loved Paris, a city that was changing rapidly. She wrote about the food, the art, the people. She wrote about the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. And in doing so, she gave us a glimpse into a city on the edge of something big.