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Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra
The book was highlighted during a conversation where Tony Kushner noted that Edith Loewenstein had translated it, describing it as the first U.S. publication to explain how fascism operated in Nazi Germany. He explained that it introduced the concept of a dual state, with parallel legal and emergency systems. The discussion presented the title as a seminal analysis of authoritarian structures, conveying strong endorsement.
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Edith Loewenstein, a member of the prosecution team in the sedition trials who later became a renowned immigration lawyer, translated Ernest Frenkel's book "The Dual State." The book provided an early analysis of fascism's functioning in Nazi Germany and highlighted the concept of a "dual state" where legal and emergency systems operated concurrently.
One of her first jobs was translating this book by a guy named Ernest Frenkel called "The Dual State" that lays out the first time I think that anyone in the United States had published a book sort of explaining how fascism was working in Germany and the dual state was essentially, if I'm right about this, there were two states operating side-by-side.